B o tr 



alto^f thcr neglcacd in liis youth, attained i> a Ttry accuratt 

 aoquaiiit.'.iice with the French language. After his ft;tt!ij- 

 ineiit at Pari*, he was <-mpl,ovea by ihc ki;ig in coniFoGng 

 a worltforlhc Dauphin, entitled " Tiic tree Study of So- 

 vereigns." which was fo well received, that t'ac author would 

 liave been appointed fiib-preceptor to the djuphin, if he had 

 iindcrflood Latin. Tor a weekly pzcHe in verfe, with 

 which he amufed the court, he obtained a pcnfion ; but, on 

 aeeount of a!i imprudent attack upon .the Capuchins, a 

 complaint was lodged a,;ain(l him by the queen's Spanilli 

 confcffor, who belonged to that order, and in confcquenee 

 of it his gazfttc and pciilion were fupprelTed, and he him- 

 felf was in daiisrer of being conlincd in the baftilc. , In a 

 finnlar gazette lie afterwards intioduccd a fatire on the 

 prince of Oranc;e, which political coiilidei-alions induced 

 the court to fupprcis. At length, however, he was ap- 

 pointed receiver of the taillc» at MontU:(,on, where he died 

 in I -01. As a writer for the ftage, Lourfiiult was diltiii- 

 jruilhed by his talents for agreeable ridicule, united with 

 I'ood fenfe, and alfo by an haVmonious verlilication, as well 

 US a ftvle that w.ns ea'fy and adapted to his fubjetts. His 

 " Efope a la Ville," and " Efope k la Cour" ftiU retain 

 their reputation on the theatre. An attack, upon Boileau, 

 by way of retaliation for fomc pcrfonal refleftions in this au- 

 thor's fatircs, prevented the introduclion of his piece in one 

 act, entitled " La Satyre des Satyres," on the ilage ; but 

 it was afterwards printed with a preface. Some years after- 

 wards, Bonrfault, by his polite attention to Boileau, cor.ci- 

 luUtd his friendlhip, and induced him to mfert fome oilier 

 name terminating v.ith tjn.'l, in his fatires. Bourlault alfo wrote 

 tragedies and operas ; and his dramatic works were published 

 in 1746, under the tltla of " Theatre de Bourfauh," in 3 

 vols. 1 2mo. His letters, mifccUaneous pieces, and romances, 

 are now forgotten. Nouv.Dift. Hid. 



BOURSE, in Ichthyology, in the ides of France and 

 Madagafcar, the common name of all the lifhes of the Te- 

 TRODOS genus. In the I'rench American colonies, halifts 

 I'k'tlle (bali/les -vetula) bears the fame name. Lacepede like- 

 ■wife aifigns the word bourfe as a fpecific name to a new fpe- 

 cies of baliftes defcribed by Sonntrat, the firll dorfal fin of 

 which has three rays ; the fecond is fpotted ; tail forked ; 

 and below the eye a black lunated fpot. 



BOURSIER, Lawrence-Francis, in Biography, an 

 eminent theologian and metaphyiician, was born at Econen, 

 in the diocefc of Paris, in 1679, and entered into the Sor- 

 bonneini709, where, in 171 1, he obtained the degree of 

 doftor. As he devoted himfelf to lludy, he refnfed feveral 

 benefices which were offered to him ; and, at the age of 31, 

 accuired great celebrity, both as an eloquent writer, and 

 'irofound reafoner, by a work entitled " Tlie Adion of 

 God on the Creatures," or " PhyGcal Premotion proved 

 by reafoning," 2 vols. 4to. and 6 vols. izmo. This work 

 was hi»hly extolled by the Janfenitts ; and Voltaire fpeaks 

 of it (Age of Lewis XIV.) as deeply argumentative, 

 learned, and fomctimes extremely eloquent. It involved him 

 in a controverfy with the famous M.debranche. He was 

 alfo the author rf a memoir prefented to Peter the Great by 

 the doflors of the Sorbonne, concerning a propofed union 

 between the Ruffian and the Latin churches, which origi- 

 nated from a conference held by the author with the czar, 

 on his vifit to the Sorbonne. His other works, v/hich were 

 numerous, chiefly related to the difputes that fubfifted in the 

 Galilean church. In 1729, he was one of many doftcrs 

 who were expelled the .Sorbonne ; and from this time he vvfas 

 under a neceffity of fecuring his perfonal liberty by liv- 

 ing in privacy, He died at Paris, in 1749. Nouv, Did. 

 iiift. 



B O U 



BOURSIRES, in Entomology, the isnar biru. Rochcf. 

 Ant. 1. c. 21. See Latro. 



BOURTANG, in Gtogrr.phy, a town ana fortrcfs of 

 Groningcn ; 12 miles S.S.W. of ViTinfchotten. 



BOURTH, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Eure ; 2 leagues N.W. of Verneuil. 



BOURTHES, a town of I'rance, in the department of 

 the Stritits of Calais, and chief place of a cantonj in the di- 

 ilrift > f Boulogne ; 4 leagues S.E. of Boulogne. 



BOURTRY, or BoTRO, a village of Africa, in the 

 kingd-jm of Anta, on the Gold coaft, feated on a fmall- 

 river, at the foot of an eminence, on which the Dutch have' 

 built an irregular and mean fort, of an oblong form, divided 

 into two p>iris, each defended by four fmall pieces of can- 

 non. The fort was built by one Carolus, in the fervice of 

 tlie Dutch, who afterwards pafi'ed into the pay of France,. 

 and obtained that privilege from the king of Anta, en ac- 

 knowledging, his fuperiority by a flighti tribute. This tort 

 is called Badenilyn ; its batteries command the village of 

 Bourtry, which has no other com.nTerce befides the gold' 

 trade carried on witli the negrjcs of Adorn. The inhabit- 

 ants are of a mild and gentle difpofition, much attached to. 

 the Europeans, whom they con!ider as their protedlors. In 

 1708, the Dutch concerted a plan for forming fugar-p'anta- 

 tions, which alarmed fir Dalby Thomas, then the* Englifh 

 governor at cape Coaft, who rcprefented to the Royal Afri- 

 can company the danger of permitting the Dutch to execute 

 a fchtmc, which would diminiPa the value of the Brltidi co- 

 lonies in the Weft Indies. Tlicfc fugar-piantations, the 

 plan of which was thus counteratlcd, never anlvvered the 

 great expeflations of the Dutc'.!. 



BOURY, in Zoology, a fpecies of 0:3, that inhabits Ma- 

 dagafcar. It is of the fize of a camel, of a fnowy white co- 

 lour, and, like that animal, has a protuberance on the back. 

 Boury is the name by which this kind is called by the 

 natives. 



BOUSCH, or Bouch, i.i Geograpljy; a town of Upper 

 Egypt, lituate about a quarter of a league from the weft 

 bank of the Nile, and 4 miles N.E. of Benifouef. Tiie 

 houfcs are built ot brick, and ti'.e roofs are elevated in the 

 form of pigeon-houfes. The inhabitants occupy the ground- 

 floor, and the pigeons the f ril ; a praflice \\ hich is general 

 through the relt of the T;iebais. Tiiefe houfes, which- 

 make lome figure at a diftance, exhibit on entering them 

 only tokens of wretchednels in the midil of an abundantly 

 rich country. In this town is occafionally held a confider- 

 able market for cattle and piovifions. The canal of Boufch 

 formerly poured its waters into the river for iix months of 

 the year. At prefent it conveys them through the whole 

 year into the lake Moeris, which docs not receive a iuflicient 

 quantity by Jofeph's canal, half choakcd up as it is, to ad- 

 mit of its relloring any to the Kile. 



BOUSIER, ot the French Er.tomohg'ijls. SeeCopRis. 

 BOU.SKAVIR, in Geography, a river of Perfia, which 

 difcharges itftlf into the Perfian gulf, near Bender Rik. 



BOUSSAC, a town of Frjance, and principal place of 

 a diilrift, in the department of the Creuie, 6 leagues N.E. 

 of Gucret. The place contains 5S6, and the canton 7-787 

 inhabitants ; the territory includes 3J7i kllioi-netres, and 17 

 communes. 



BOUSSANGES, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Herault ; 6 leagues N. of Be-z-ieres. 



BOUSSIE^RE, a town of France, in the department of 

 the Doubs, and chief place of- a canton, in the diftridt of 

 Befangon ; the town contains 347, and the canton 70:5 

 inhabitants; the territory comprehends aj5 kiucmetres/and 

 aj communes. 



EOUSSU, 



