DUPONT DE NEMOURS DUQUESNE. 



755 



to the parliament of Bourdeaux, afterwards president 

 a mortier of that body, drew upon himself, by his love 

 of strict justice, the persecutions of the ministerial 

 despotism which oppressed France in the last years 

 of Louis XV. Having written, in the name of the 

 parliament of Bourdeaux, against the duke of Aiguil- 

 lon, when this nobleman became minister (1770), he 

 was sent to Pierre-en-Cise (a fortress at Lyons, once 

 a state prison), and afterwards banished, until the 

 accession of Louis XVI. Being acquainted with the 

 defects of the ancient administration of justice in 

 France, he made every exertion to expose them. 

 The memorial by wliich he preserved the lives of 

 three innocent citizens of Chaumont, who were con- 

 demned to the wheel, deserves particular mention. 

 His other works are, Reflexions historiques sur les Loix 

 criminelles, a valuable work ; various Discours aca- 

 demiques ; and Lettres sur I Italic en 1785, which ap- 

 peared 1788, in 2 volumes. These letters, among many 

 prejudiced views, contain some excellent observations 

 on the arts, and interesting descriptions of natural 

 scenery ; but his style is often disfigured by laboured 

 ornaments. He died, 1788, at Paris. His son 

 (Charles Mercier), born at Bourdeaux. September 

 29, 1771, died at Paris, November 12,' 1825. He 

 was the restorer of sculpture in France, a member of 

 the institute, and professor in the ecole des beaux arts ; 

 was at first an advocate, served during the revolution 

 as a dragoon, then as dessinateur gcographe, and 

 finally went to Rome, where he studied sculpture, 

 under the direction of Lemot, and, during a residence 

 of eight years, made himself known by numerous 

 works. His principal productions are Ajax pursued by 

 Neptune ; his equestrian statue of Louis XI II. (1816); 

 and Orestes pursued by the Furies. Cortot, his suc- 

 cessor in the academy, completed some of his works. 

 DUPONT DE NEMOURS, PIERRE SAMUEL, born 

 at Paris, December 1739, distinguished as well for 

 his knowledge and talents as for his mild and bene- 

 volent character, his excellent principles, and his 

 blameless life, lived almost unknown, at Paris, as a 

 private man of letters, until 1773, when his principles 

 of philosophy and political economy, set forth in his 

 Les Ephemerides du Citoyen, excited the displeasure 

 of the minister Choiseul, and obliged him to leave 

 France. Several foreign princes offered him a recep- 

 tion, and conferred honours upon him. He returned, 

 however, to his native country, and accepted of a 

 small place, given him by Turgot, minister of finance. 

 In 1782 and 1783, with Dr Hutton, the English agent, 

 he negotiated the basis of the treaty by which the in- 

 dependence of the United States of America was 

 acknowledged. As inspector-general of commerce and 

 manufactures, and as a counsellor of state, he after- 

 wards did much to encourage French industry. In 

 1787 and 1788, he was appointed, by Louis XVI., 

 secretary to the assembly of the notables. In 1789, 

 he became a member of the first national assembly, 

 where he distinguished himself by his principles, his 

 courage, his talents, and his firm opposition to the 

 intrigues of factions. He was twice president of the 

 national assembly, and always supported moderate 

 principles. Under Robespierre, he was imprisoned, 

 and nothing but the fall of the tyrant preserved him. 

 He was afterwards a member of the council of elders. 

 After the directory was abolished, he went to Ame 

 rica, in 1798. In 1802, he returned to France, but 

 did not, at that time, take any office, notwithstanding 

 the offers made him by Napoleon. The confidence 

 of his fellow citizens followed him in his retirement, 

 as was shown by his appointment to several importanl 

 offices. In 1814, Dupont was made secretary of the 

 provisional government which prepared the way for 

 the return of the house of Bourbon to the throne ol 

 France. After Napoleon's return from Elba, he went 



again to America, of which country his two sons had 

 already become citizens. Here he terminated his 

 useful life, August 6, 1817, at the advanced age of 

 seventy-eight. 



DUPONT DE L'ETANG. See Baylen. 

 DUPUIS, CHARLES FRANSOIS, a member of the 

 French national institute,was born at Trie-le-Chateau, 

 near Gisors, in 1742, and instructed by his father in 

 mathematics and surveying. The duke de la Roche- 

 foucault sent him to the college d'Harcourt, to pursue 

 tiis studies ; and, in his 24th year, he was made pro- 

 fessor of rhetoric at Lisieux. His intimacy witli 

 Lalande, and his own inclination, led him to devote 

 liimself particularly to mathematics ; the knowledge 

 and the prejudices of that learned man had a great 

 influence on him. In 1778, he invented the tele- 

 graph, which was afterwards improved by the bro- 

 thers Chappe. His Memoire sur I'Origine des Con- 

 stellations et sur I' Explication de la fable par PAstro- 

 nomie (1781), is full of originality and learning. In 

 1788, he became a member of the academic des 

 Inscriptions et belles-lettres, and went to Paris, where 

 he was named one of the four commissioners of public 

 instruction, to ascertain the resources of all the institu- 

 tions for education and learning in Paris. As a mem- 

 ber of the national convention, he was constant in 

 his support of moderate measures. On this account, 

 he was chosen a member of the council of five hun- 

 dred ; and the reputation which he there acquired for 

 activity and information, procured him admission into 

 the national institute. The tribunat and the legislative 

 body proposed him as a senator. His work, Origine 

 de tons les Cultes, ou la Religion universelle (1794, 3 

 vols., 4to, with an atlas), was severely criticised in 

 Germany, Holland, France, and Italy, but is a re- 

 markable monument of his learning. In this work, 

 he attempted to explain, not only all the mysteries 

 of antiquity, but also the origin of all religious tradi- 

 tions. An abridgment, in one volume, afterwards 

 followed. His two works on the Pelasgi, their 

 origin in Ethiopia, their spreading over Lybia, Cyre- 

 naica, and the north of Africa, and thence to Spain, 

 Greece, and Italy, attracted great attention. His 

 treatises on the zodiac of Denderah, and on the 

 Phitnix, succeeded. In his last work, Memoire ex- 

 plicatif du Zodlaque chronologique et mythologiqtte 

 (1806, 4to, engravings), he maintained that the 

 astronomical and religious opinions of the Greeks, 

 Egyptians, Chinese, Persians, and Arabians, had a 

 common origin. He died at his estate near Dijon, 

 1809, 67 years old, and left, in manuscript, a work 

 on cosmogony and theogony, the object of which was 

 to confirm the theory he had laid down in his Origine 

 de tout les Cultes. He also endeavoured, in this 

 work, to explain hieroglyphics. 



DUQUESNE, ABRAHAM, a French admiral, under 

 Louis XIV., was born at Dieppe, in 1(310, and 

 acquired his knowledge of naval a flairs under his 

 father, who was an experienced captain. In his 

 seventeenth year, he was in the sea-fight off Rochelle, 

 and distinguished himself, during and after the year 

 1637, in the war against Spain. In 1644, he entered 

 the service of Sweden. He was recalled, in 1647, to 

 France, and commanded the expedition against Na- 

 ples. Bourdeaux, which had rebelled, he reduced, 

 notwithstanding the assistance afforded it by Spain. 

 In the Sicilian war, he thrice defeated the combined 

 fleets of Holland and Spain, under the renowned De 

 Ruyter. After he liad reduced Algiers and Genoa 

 to the necessity of supplicating the mercy of Louis 

 XIV., the king conferred upon him the fine estate 

 of Bouchet, and made it a marquisate, with the title 

 of Duquesne. More than this he could not do, be- 

 cause Duquesne was a Protestant. He was, also, 

 the only person exempted from the banishment of 

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