•4 M A B 
curious documents as might contribute to illuffrate the 
liiftory of France, and that of the church in general, and 
of the church of France in particular. In this journey he 
fpent five months, and after his return publifhed an ac¬ 
count of it, which forms the fourth volume of his Ana¬ 
lecta. His next publication appeared in 1685, and was 
entitled, “ De Liturgia Gallicana Libri tres, in quibus ve- 
teris Miffas quse ante annos mille apud Gallos in ufu 
erat, forma ritufque eruntur ex antiquis Monumentis, 
LeCtionario Galiicam haCtenus ineditam, &c.” 4to. In 
the fame year father Mabillon was fent at the king } s 
expenfe into Italy, with the fame view as he had been 
formerly fent into Germany; and was received at Rome 
with all the refpeCt which was due to his great merit. 
He was honoured with a place in the Congregation 
of the Index, and had free accefs to all the archives, and 
to all the libraries, from which he collected a vaft num¬ 
ber of interefiing and important papers, adapted to the de- 
fign of his journey. In the following year he returned to 
France, with a noble collection of above three thpufand 
rare books, both printed and manufcript, which he placed 
in the king’s library; and in 1687 he publifhed an account 
of his Italian journey, and of the pieces which he had dif- 
covered, under the title of Mufasumltalicum, feuColleCtio 
veterum Scriptorum ex Bibliothecis Italicis eruta, &c. in 
two volumes quarto. 
In the year 1688, our author became involved in a dif- 
pute between the Benedictines of the province of Burgun¬ 
dy, ar.d the canons-regular, on the fubjeft of the prece¬ 
dence of thofe orders in the ltates ; and in 1691, he entered 
into a controverfy with father Ranee, abbot of La Trappe, 
yvho maintained that learning and the fciences were fo¬ 
reign to the monaftic profeffion, and prohibited his monks 
almoft all forts of reading, excepting that of the feriptures 
and fome treatifes of morality. In 1698 he publifhed 
Eufebii Romani ad Theophilum Galium Epiftola de Cultu 
fanCtorum ignotorum, 4to. Among the immenfe num¬ 
ber of objeCts which arrefted his attention during his vi- 
fit to Rome, the catacombs more particularly excited his 
curiofity, and the pretended relics of faints which are dug 
out of them. Both before and during repeated vifits to 
them, he endeavoured to inform himfelf of the precautions 
taken there, and the rules neceffary to be obferved, with 
regard to fuch bodies as are offered to the veneration of 
the public. He alfo confulted all perfons who could give 
him any light upon the fubjeCl. The refult of his ob- 
fervations and enquiries was a conviction, that grofs abufes 
had been fuffered to take ffiace; and that the bodies found 
in the catacombs were too haftily, and without fufficient 
foundation, concluded to be the bodies of martyrs. Five 
or fix years paffed over after his return to France, before 
he thought of making ufe of the obfervations which he 
had penned on this fubjeCf, till in the year 1692 he drew 
up the treatife above-mentioned. But, as the i'ubjeCt was 
of a delicate nature in a catholic country, and might pro¬ 
bably give offence, he kept it by him five years, without 
communicating it to more than one perfon ; and then fent 
it under the feal of fecrecy to cardinal Colloredo at Rome, 
who was not of opinion that it fhould be publifhed in the 
Hate in which it then was. In the year 1698, however, 
the author ventured to fend it into the world ; and, as 
might have been expected, it was received in a very unfa¬ 
vourable manner by the fuperftitious and interefted, par¬ 
ticularly at Rome. For fome time it was attacked only 
by complaints, murmurs, and criticifms, publiftietl in Ger¬ 
many, France, and Italy ; but in the year 1701, it was 
brought before the Congregation of the Index. Here it 
was with great difficulty that the intereft of all Mabillon’s 
friends could prevent a cenfure from being palled on it; 
and even this would not have fucceeded, if he had not 
agreed to publifh a new edition of it fo altered as to be 
unexceptionable to his judges, whofe efteem for his learn¬ 
ing and virtue made them not very ready to condemn 
him. 
In the year 1701, our author was chofen honorary mem- 
m a b 
ber of the Academy oflnfcriptions; and in the fame year 
he publifhed the firft volume of the laft great work to 
which he devoted his labours, entitled, “ Annales Ordinis 
S. Benedict!, in quibus non modo Res Monafticse, fed 
etiam Ecclefiafticre Hiftoricae non minima pars conti- 
netur, Tomus I.” See. folio. The fecond volume of this 
work appeared in 1704; the third in 1706; the fourth in 
1707 ; and the fifth was compofed by father Mabillon, but 
publifhed after his death, by father MafTuet, in 1713, with 
fome additions of his own and father Ruinart, who com¬ 
piled part of a fixth volume, which was afterwards car¬ 
ried on by father Vincent Thuilier. In the year 1707, 
the fubjeCt of this article terminated his very laborious 
life, being affliCled with retention of urine, which proved 
fatal to him in the month of December, foon after he had 
completed his feventy-fifth year. “ It would be difficult,” 
fays Du pin, “to give our author the praife which hedeferves. 
The voice of the public and the general efteem of all the 
learned are a much better commendation of him than any 
thing we can fay. His profound learning appears from 
his works; l)is modefty, humility, ineeknefs, and piety, are 
no lefs known to thofe who have had the leaft convemtion 
with him. His ftyleis mafeuline, pure, clear, and metho¬ 
dical, without affectation or fuperfluous ornament, and 
fuitabie to the fubjefts of which he has treated.” In the 
year 1724, father Thuillier publifhed the pofthumous 
works of our author, confiftingof improved editions of fe- 
veral pieces which had appeared before, together with a 
great number of letters and fome original tracts; forming 
three vols. in 4to. Gen. Did. 
MA'BLY (Bennet de), an eminent French political 
writer, was born at Grenoble in 1709. He was brother of 
the abbe Condillac, whom he refembled in acutenefs and 
penetration. Quitting his native province for the capital 
at an early period, he paffed his life chiefly as a retired 
man of letters, and made his way to reputation by his own 
efforts, without the aid of party or intrigue. His career 
as an author comprifed a fpace of forty-four years, clofing 
with the year'preceding his death, which took place in 
1785. The principal works of the abbe Mably are, 1. Pa¬ 
rallel des Romaines et des Frangois, z vols. 12010. 1740. 
2. Le Droit public de l’Europe, 2 vols. 3. Obfervations 
fur les Grecs. 4. Obfervations fur les Romains, 2 vols. 
5. Des Principes de Negociations. 6. Entretiens dePho- 
cion fur le Rapport de la Morale avec la Politique. 7. 
Obfervations fur l’Hiftoire de la France, 2 vols. 8. Ob¬ 
fervations fur l’Hiftoire de la Grece. 9. Entretians fur 
l’Hiftoire. 10.’ Sur les Conftitutions des Etats Unis de 
l’Amerique, 1784. All the writings of this author difplay 
deep thinking, found moral principles, and a regard for the 
good of mankind. He is however, too much of a panegy- 
rift of the ancients, and too fond of applying their political 
maxims to the very different circumftances ofmodern ftates. 
He likewife gives offence by a dictatorial manner, and an 
unqualified licence of cenfure when fpeaking of modern 
hiftorians. The work of liis old age, on the American 
conftitutions, gave great offence by fome fentiments ad- 
verfe to civil liberty and religious toleration, and proved 
that in real political wufdom his theory was much behind 
the praftice of a free people. Nouv. Did. Hijl. 
MABOU'L (James), a French prelate in the eighteenth 
century of diftinguifhed eminence as a preacher, was de- 
feended from a relpeCtable family. Of the date of his birth 
we have no information ; but we learn that he was born 
at Paris, and, having been educated to the church, culti-. 
vated pulpit-oratory with uncommon fuccefs. After dif- 
charging for a long time the duties of grand vicar of .Poi¬ 
tiers, he was made biihop of Aeth in the year 1708. In 
1716, he was employed by the duke of.Orleans, the re¬ 
gent, in a fruitless attempt to reconcile the hoftile parties 
who were contending about the bull Unigenitus. But he 
is now entitled to notice only on account of the excellence 
of his funeral orations, which, though few in number, 
will tranfmit his name to pollerity, if the commendations 
paffed on him by the French critics are not exaggerated. 
3 They 
