B O I 



juftice. He died of a dropfy in the bread in 1711, at the 

 age of 75, and bequeathed the greater part of his property 

 to charitable ufes. His funeral was attended by a very con- 

 hderable number of perfons of rank and literature. How 

 came this man (exclaimed a woman in the ftreet) to have fo 

 many friends i Tliey fay he never fpoke well of any body in 

 his life. 



As a poetical writer, he has been denominated the " poet 

 of good fenfe," corrctl in his verfification, choice and pure 

 in his language, jull and' rational in his fentiments, always 

 guided by judgment and tafte, obferving the limits of de- 

 corum, and never betrayed by wit or fancy into extrava- 

 gancies. Few, if any writer, ever compolcd fo much, with 

 fo little occafion for erafement or alteration, Voltaire, who 

 often denied the eqiiity of his decifions in matters of criti- 

 cifm, fays of him, in a letter to Helvetius ; " I agree with 

 you that Bollcau is not a fublime poet ; but he executed 

 admirably whatever he undertook. He is clear, eafy, happy 

 in his exprefTuin ; he feldom rifes very high, but he never 

 finks. IJtfides, the fuhjtfts of whicli he treats are not of a 



kind to require great elevation. 1 fhall, therefore, always 



warmly recommend that kind of writing which he has fo 

 well taught, that refpcft for language, that quick fucceffion 

 of ideas, the art and facility with which he condufts his reader 

 from one fubj-cl to another ; and above all, his fimplicity, 

 which is the true fruit of genius." Boileau was the firft 

 writer who formed the national tafte of France, and by his 

 tranflations and imitations gave his countiymen a true relifli 

 for the epiftles and fatires of Horace, which before his time 

 ufed to be much lefs efteemed than his odes. The great 

 defeft of Boileau, according to D'Alembert, is want of 

 fenfibility ; and if cnthufiafm, which is incompatible with 

 that coldnefs of heart that diftinguiflied his charaftcr, is ef- 

 fential to a true poet, his claim to this honourable appella- 

 tion mull be difallovved. Neverthclefs, his works may be 

 juftly regarded as mafter-pieces of their kind, and can never 

 die, as long as the language in which they are written exifts. 

 Having taken great pains in the compolition of them, he was 

 not infenfible of their peculiar and charatlcrilHc excellence ; 

 accordingly, in fome lines written by himfclf, and intended 

 to be placed under his portrait, he makes no hefitation in 

 affirming that he had united the merits of Perlius, Juvenal, 

 and Horace. Boileau and Pope have been thought much to 

 refcmble one another, as to both the kind and difcriminating 

 characler of their writings ; but, fays a very competent 

 judge, " Boileau, with a nearly tqual portion of wit, has 

 much more delicacy and correftncls ; while Pope as much 

 furpaflcs him in force and fancy. Both abound in good 

 fenfe, and each has enriched his language with nervous lines 

 that have pafTed into proverbial fentences." In another 

 place the fame writer obferves, that after we have rendered 

 to Boileau Defpreaux all due homage as a great poet, and 

 as the legiflator of talle, his faults as a fatirift indicate an 

 acrimonious and unfeeling charafter, a high conceit of his 

 own powers and confeqnencc, and an unpardonable difregard 

 of the happinefs and reputation of others. " If the Englifh 

 poet had as much cauilicity as the French, and more peevifh 

 irritability, he feems to have had a more feeling heart, and 

 a nicer fenfe of jultice." We may remark, that perfonal 

 fatire foon Icfes its fait and poignancy ; and that the fatires 

 of Boileau, as well as the Dunciad of Pope, are lefs read now 

 than any of t'eir other works. 



Btfides tht works of Boileau, already mentioned, there are 

 feveral liiiallcr piece s both in piofe and verfe. Of the whole 

 there have been various editions, with explanatory notes; and 

 of thefe the principal are that of Geneva, 2 vols. 410. 17 16, 



B O I 



with illullrationj, by Brofette ; that of the Hague, with 

 Picart's figures and notes, 2 vols. fol. 1 7 18, and 4 vols. J2mo, 

 1722; that by Alhx, with Cochin's figures, z vols. 4to. 1740; 

 and that of Durand with illuftratious, by St. Marc, 5 vols. 

 8vo. 1747. 



Boileau had feveral brothers of very fingular charaders. 

 Jajiies, a dodor of the Sorbounc, was born in 1635, ftudied 

 in the univcrfity of Paris, took his degree of doitor in 

 theology in 1662, was appointed dean of Sens, and vicar of 

 the archbidiop Gondoin, in 1667 ; and in 1694, was pre- 

 fented by the king with a canoniy in the holy chapel of 

 Paris. He died dean of the faculty of theology in 1716. 

 He is well known by a number of works in a peculiar 

 ftyle, fome of which were not remarkable for decency ; but 

 thefe he wrote in Latin, " left the bifliops," lie faid " ftiould 

 condemn them." He was not more a friend to the Jefuits 

 than his brother ; and he defcribed them as " Men who 

 lengthened the creed, and ftiortened the commandments." 

 As dean of the chapter of Sens, he was appointed to 

 harangue the celebrated prince of Conde, when he paffed 

 through the city. This great commander took partieular 

 pleafure on thefe occafions m difconcerting his panegyrifts ; 

 but the doclor, perceiving his intention, counterfeited great 

 confnfion, and addrelTed him in the following manner: 

 " Your highnefs will not be furpriled, I truft, at feeing me 

 tremble in your prtfence, at the head of a company of peace- 

 ful priefts ; I ftiould tremble ftill more, if I was at the head 

 of 30,000 foldiers." He manifefted a contempt of fanaticilm, 

 as well as of decorum, by his " Hiftoria Flagellantium, &c." 

 or, an account of the extravagant, and often ir.decent, prac- 

 tice of difcipline by flagellation, in the Chriftian church. 

 It was tranflated into French ; and not many years ago 

 (viz. 1777, 4to. and again in 1782, 8vo.) by M. de Lolme, 

 into Englilh. In his treatife " De antiquo jure prcfbyte- 

 rorum in regimine ecclefiallico," he difcovcrs the greateft 

 freedom of fentiment, endeavouring to fhew, that in the 

 primitive times the priefts participated with the biflrops in 

 the government of the church. He was alfo the author of 

 feveral other publications, difplaying much curious learning 

 and a fatirical turn, which are now configned to oblivion. 



Gilles, the eldeft: brother of Boileau Defpreaux, was 

 born in 163 I, and had a place in the king's houfhold. He 

 was a man of wit and learning, and publilhed a tranflation of 

 Arrian's Epiftetus, with a life of the philofopher, Paris, 

 165";, 8vo. He alfo publifhed a tranflation of Diogenes 

 Laertius, in 2 vols. l2mo. i66y ; and two difiertations 

 againft Menage and Collar. His " Pofthumous Works" 

 were publifticd in 1670. He alfo wrote verfes, in no high 

 eftimation ; and his poetical pretenfions exited a jealoniy of 

 his brother's rifing fame, which produced an open variance 

 between them. He was a member of the French academy ; 

 and died in 1669. Gen. Did. Nouv. Diil. Hift. D'Alem- 

 bert's Hift. dcs Membres de I'Acad. Franc. 1 787, and 

 Eloges, he. 1779, — tranflated by Aikin in 2 vols. 8vo. 1799. 



BOILED, or BovLEoJi/is, thole which have been put, 

 while in the balls, into hot water, to make them wind the 

 better. 



In which (enfe, boiled filk ftands oppofed to raw. 



BOILER, or Boyler, a large copper veffel, wherein 

 things are expofed over the fire to be boiled. 



The boiler in the alum-works is a veffel, in which the 

 liquor is evaporated to a confiftence, and is made of lead. 

 The general fize is about eight feet fquare, and they contain 

 about twtlve tons each. 



They make them in this manner : firft, they lay long 

 pieces of call-iron, twelve inches fquare, as long as the 



breadth 



