B O I 



B O I 



BOISMONT, Nicholas Theinel de, in B'lograplj, 

 abbot of Greftain, preacher in ordinary to the king, doctor 

 in theology, and member of the French academy, was born 

 in 1715, and obtained great reputation for eloquence, parti- 

 cularly in the compofition of funeral orations. His princi- 

 pal works are, a panegyric of St. Lewis, and funeral ora- 

 tions on the Dauphin, on the queen of Lewis XV. and on 

 that king himfelf. Thefe pieces are diftinguifhed by great 

 fertility of ideas, a rapid and animated ftyle, lively and noble 

 imagery, and philofophical refleftion. Or fterile fubjeAs, 

 the orator exercifes too much art in decoration, and is too 

 ford of antithefcs. He is reckoned, however, the moit 

 eloquent of French orators in this department, and M. 

 D'Alembert has alluded to him in a ftrain of high applaufe 

 in his eulogy of Flechier. Nouv. Diet. Hift. 



BOISROBERT, Francis le Metel de, a man of 

 wit and pleafantry, much favoured by cardinal Richelieu, 

 was born at Caen in 1^92, and contributed much to the 

 eftablKhment of the French academy, of which he was a 

 member. He wrote poems, comedies, tragedies, tales, let- 

 ters, romances, &c. which fucceeded for a time, but are now 

 almoll forgotten. He was the amufing companion of Riche- 

 lieu, and gained by his buffooneries the abbacy of Chattillon. 

 fur-Seine, though his habits were far from being clerical. 

 He was generous and beneficent, and tookpleafnrc in ferving 

 men of letters. He died in 1661. Nouv. Ditt. Hift. 



BOISSARD, John-James, an eminent antiquaiy, was 

 born at Befangon in 1^28, and travelled, for the purpofe of 

 collefting antiquities, into Italy, the ides of Coifu, Cepha- 

 lonia, and Zante, and the Morea. After his return home, 

 he was made governor to the fons of the baron de Clcrvaut, 

 and travelled with them into France, Germany, and Italy. 

 Having loft a great part of his valuable coUettion at Mont- 

 belliard, when the Lorrainers ravaged Franche Comte, he 

 took pains in repairing his lofs, and publiftied his great 

 work, much valued by antiquaries, and now fcarce, entitled 

 " De Romanae urbis topographia et antiquitate," in 4 vols. 

 fol. Ij97 — 1602, enriched with many engravings by Theo- 

 dore de Bry, and his fons. He alfo publifhed a work, en- 

 titled '• Theatrum vitx humanas," 1597 — 1599, 4to. con- 

 fifting of the lives of 19S illuftrious perfons, with their por- 

 traits. His " Book of Emblems" was publifhed, with 

 figures, by Theodore de Bry, in 159,), 4to. His Latin 

 verfes were inferted by Gruter in the " Deliciae Poetarum 

 Gallorum ;" and after his deatli was printed his work " De 

 Divinatione et magicis prseftigiis," fol. He finally fettled at 

 Metz, and died there in 1602. Gen. Dift. Nouv. Did. 

 Hifl. 



BOISSEAUX, in Geography, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Loiret, 4 leag'jes N. of Neuville. . 



BOISSEZON d'Aumcntel, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Tarn, and chief place of a canton, in the 

 diftricl of Caftres, 2\ leagues E. S. E. of Caftres. 



BOISSIERE, La, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Somme, and chief place cf a canton, in the 

 diftrift of Montdidier, 2 leagues E.N.E. ofMontdidier. 



BOISSIEU, Bartholomew, Camillus de, fon of 

 a phyfician at Lyons, was born in the year i7.;4. His 

 father dying when he was only fix years of age, his mother 

 is faid to have taken on herfclf the care of his education, 

 until he was fufficiently advanced to be fit to be fent to 

 Montpellier. PafTing through the ufual ftages, in 3 756 he 

 was admitted doftor in medicine, and went thence to Paris, 

 where he ccntiuued his ftudies for twelve months longer. 

 He here became acquainted with Sauvages, with whom he 

 afterwards kept up an epiftolary correfpondence. He now 

 returned to Lyons, and was admitted of the college of 



phyficians, and attained to conflderable praftice. His ca- 

 reer was however (hort, for he died in 1770, aged only 36 

 years. He was author of two differtations, the one on the 

 power of antifeptic medicines, the other containing a com- 

 parative view of the cordial or heating, and the cooliBg or 

 antiphlogiftic, mode of treating fevers, and gives the pre- 

 ference to the latter. He received for each of them a medal 

 from the academy at Dijon. They were pubhfhed in the 

 years 1770, and 1772. Eloy. Difi. Hill. 



BOISSY, Louis de, a dramatic writer of France, was 

 born at Vic, in Auvergne, in 1694, and, though originally 

 dcftined for the church, indulged his more prevalent incli- 

 nation to the theatre. His firft performance was a tra- 

 gedy, which failed of fuccefs ; bnt he was m.ore profperous 

 in comedy. His btft pieces are " L' Impatient," " Le 

 Francois a Londres," " Les Dehors Trompeurs," " Le 

 Babillard," " La Surprife de la Haine," " Le Comte de 

 Neuilli," ard " La Piece fansTitre." BcifTy's diftinguifliing 

 merit confifted in availing himfelf of the ridicule of the day. 

 His verfes are often ingenious, but his plots are defeftive. He 

 became a member of the French academy in J751 ; and 

 had the honour of reviving the credit of a periodical pub- 

 lication, called the French Mercury. He died In 1758. 

 His dramatic works have been collected in 9 volumes, Svo. 

 Nouv. Dic't-Hift. 



BoissY, Si. Leger, in Geography, a town of France, in 

 the department of the Seine-el-Oife, and principal place of 

 a canton, in the diftridl of Corbeil ; the place contains 470, 

 and the canton 14,224 inhabitants ; the territory compre- 

 hends 1775 kiliometres, and 26 communes. 



BOISZKY, a town of Poland, in the palatinate of Bielflc, 

 13 miles S.W. of Bielftc. 



BOITIAPO, in Zoology, a fort of ferpent that inhabits 

 Brafil, and is called by the Portiiguefe cobra de c'lpo. This 

 is an ambiguous fpecies. It is defcribed as being feven or 

 eight feet long, as thick as a man's arm, round, and point- 

 ed towards the tail, like a fhoe maker's awl. The body- 

 covered with fine fub-triangnlar fcales, the colour olive and 

 yellowifh. It lives on frogs, and muft be of the poifonous 

 kinds, fince its bite is reprefented dangerous. 



BOITMANZDORF, or Boesdorf, in Geography, a 

 town of Silefia, in the principality of Neyfz, 5 miles N.N.E. 

 of NeyfT:. 



BOITZENBURG, a town of Germany, in the circle 

 of Upper Saxony, and Ucker Marck of Brandenburg, 8 

 miles S. W. of Prenzlow. 



BoiTZENBURG, Or BoTZENBURG, 3 town of Germany, 

 in the circle of Lower Saxony, and duchy of Mecklenburg, 

 at the conflux of the Boitze and the Elbe. It was fuiTounded 

 with walls in the 14th century; at this town, vefl'cls 

 that pafs the river pay a toll, producing annually 40,000 dol- 

 lars, of which the duke of Mecklenburg-Strclitz is entitled 

 to 9000 ; ,? leagues E. of Lauenburg. 



BO IV IN, Louis, mBiogrnphx,?i diflinguilTied fsholar and 

 penfionary of the academy of belles letters, was born at Men- 

 treui! I'Argilc in Upper Normandy, and educated, firft 

 under the Jefuits at Rouen, and afterwards at Paris, where 

 he fettled. His acquirements in literature were various and 

 extenfive ; but his temper, according to his own account, 

 was intraftable and unfocial, enterprifing, vain, and vcrfatile. 

 He was employed by feveral eminent magillrates as the 

 affociate and diredlor of their private iludies ; but the litigi- 

 oufnefs of his difpolition involved him in great trouble and 

 expence. He publilhtd fome learned diftertations on hif- 

 torical fubjefts, in the " Memoirs of the Academy of Belles 

 Letters ;" and made great progrtfs towards a new edition 

 ©f Jofephus. He died in 1724, aged 75 years. 



4 Y 2 BoiviN, 



