PEER 
duke of Orleans,. In its mafonry, Perrault employed the 
praflice of the ancients, of rubbing the furfaces of the 
Hones together with grit and water, fo as to make them 
cohere without mortar; and he invented a machine for the 
purpofe. Other works of this architect were the chapel at 
Sceaux, that of Notre Dame in the church of the Petits 
Peres in Paris, the water-alley at Verfaiiles, and moll of 
the deligns of the vafes in the park of that palace. By the 
king’s command he undertook a tranflation of Vitruvius 
with notes, publilhed in 1673, fol. All the deligns for 
the plates of this work were drawn by himfelf, and were 
regarded as mafter-pieces of the kind. He afterwards 
publilhed an abridgment of that author for the ufe of itu- 
dents. He likewife facilitated the lludy of architecture 
by a work entitled, “Ordonnance des cinq Efpeces de Co- 
lonnes, felon la Methode des Anciens,” fol. In its preface 
he maintains that there is no natural foundation for the 
architectural proportions, but that they may be infinitely 
varied according to talle and fancy; an opinion which 
has given much offence, though jultified by the practice of 
the ancients themfelves. A Colle&ion of feveral Machines 
of his invention was publilhed after his death in 4to. 1700. 
Claude Perrault alio holds a refpe&able place among the 
writers in his original profeflion. He employed himfelf 
afliduoully in the difieClion of animals; and, befides va¬ 
rious memoirs on this fubjefl communicated to the Aca¬ 
demy of Sciences, he publilhed “ Memoires pour Servir a 
l’Hiltoire natureliedes Animaux,” in 2 vols. fol. 1671-6, 
with fine plates. Du Verney affifted in the difleCtions 
and defcriptions, which were from fubje&s in the royal 
menagerie. His other writings of this clafs are contained 
in his “ ElTais de Phyfique,” 4. vols. 1680—88. One of 
thefe volumes relates entirely to the organ of hearing ; 
and includes a Dilfertation upon the Mufic of the An¬ 
cients, which is chiefly employed in proving that counter¬ 
point was unknown to antiquity. He has ifianifefted him¬ 
felf to have been perfectly mailer of the fubjefl : he had 
read all the ancient authors who have written exprefsly 
tipon it; he had examined the paflages which have been 
thought the moll favourable to it, in fome authors who 
have only mentioned it occafionally; and had confidered 
the marvellous effedis attributed to it in others. He rea- 
fons forcibly, and the fadls he alleges in fupport of the 
fide he has taken are ftrong and well Hated. He had in¬ 
deed given his opinion upon the fubjeft very freely in the 
notes to his excellent tranflation of Vitruvius in 1673; 
where, in his commentary of the chapter upon Harmo¬ 
nic Mufic according to the Dodlrine of Aritloxenus, he 
declares that, “ there is nothing in Ariftoxenus, who was 
the fil'd that wrote upon concords and difcords, nor in 
any of the Greek authors who wrote after him, that ma- 
nifells the ancients to have had the leail idea of the ufe 
of concords in mufic of many parts.” Another volume 
of the Eflays relates to the mechanifm of animals, in 
which he has anticipated Stahl in fome of his opinions 
refpediing the functions of the animal foul; and in other 
parts of them he treats on the perillaltic motion, on the 
fenfes, on nutrition, on the regeneration of loll parts, 
&c. on all which topics he has many good anil ingenious 
obfervations, mixed with much hypothefis. 
From this account of his labours in art and fc'ence, it 
appears that he was not a man to be rendered ridiculous 
and contemptible by the petulance of wit; and Boileau, 
who attempted it, has injured his own memory by ihe at¬ 
tack, rather than that of his foe. Claude, who was a 
man of a kind and gentle difpofition, had expreffed him¬ 
felf in difapprobation of the feverities of the fatirifl; on 
which account Boileau, in his Art of Poetry, brought 
him forward under the fidfion of a dodtor of Florence, 
who, from a bad phylician, became an able architedl. 
Perrault’s complaint of this outrage only produced a 
more flagrant infult from the poet, in an epigram in 
which he pretended not to have had him in his view, be- 
caule, though an ignorant phylician, he was not a flcilful 
architedl. But this double injullice was too grofs for the 
Vol. XIX, No. 1331. 
AULT, 639 
public feeling; and Boileau afterwards thought fit to re- 
tradl part of his cenfure. Claude died in Paris in 1688, 
aged 75. His death is faid to have been in confequence 
of difl’edling a camel which had died of difeafe. His por¬ 
trait was placed in the hall of the faculty of medicine, 
with an honourable infcription. 
Claude had three brothers.— Peter, the elded, receiver- 
general of the finances of the generality of Paris, wrote a 
Treatife on Fountains, and a tranflation of the Secchia 
rapita of Talfoni. Some of his ^papers are contained in 
the “ Oeuvres Phyfiques de Claude et de Pierre Perrault,” 
Leyd. 1721. 
Nicholas, the fecond brother, was a dodlor of the Sor- 
bonne, and publilhed “ Theologie Morale des Jefuites,” 
4-to. 1677. The youngeft is the lubjedt of the following 
article. 
PERRAULT (Charles), younger brother of the pre¬ 
ceding, and alfo a diltinguilhed literary character, was 
born at Paris in 1633. He was placed at an early age in 
the college of Beauvais, where he foon attracted notice 
by his facility in making verfes. He was dill more ad¬ 
dicted to fcholadic difputati.on ; but a quarrel with his 
mader, which obliged him to quit the college, interrupted 
the ordinary courfe of his dudies. He however by no 
means deferred literary purfuits ; but, alfociating himfelf 
with a friend of the fame age, they read good authors to¬ 
gether, and dilcufled their merits ; and this fecond edu¬ 
cation was, in his opinion, more ufeful to him than the 
firll. They alfo indulged themfelves in burlefque, which 
was then much in vogue; and they joined in a travedy 
of the 6th book of the Eneid, which juvenile talk might, 
perhaps, produce a more permanent eft'edl upon the tade 
of Perrault than he was aware of. He was brought up 
to the profeflion of the law; and, having been admitted 
an advocate, began to plead caufes. He was, however, 
taken from this career by the minider Colbert, who 
chofe him for fecretary to a fmall fociety of men of let¬ 
ters which aflembled twice a-week, at his houfe. Their 
buflnefs was to plan devices fpr medals, and other me¬ 
morials, at the king’s requifition, and commemorative of 
the glories of his reign ; and this was the germ of the 
celebrated Academy of Infcriptions and Belles-Lettres. 
Charles Perrault had a lingular talent for inventions of 
this kind, and thofe which he propofed commonly ob¬ 
tained the preference. His influence with the minider 
was condanily employed in the fervice of fcience and li¬ 
terature. He procured, for the French Academy, apart¬ 
ments in the Louvre ; and, with his brother Claude, 
lhared in the elhblilhment of the Academy of Sciences. 
When Colbert caufed a fum to be let apart in the trea- 
fury, for penfioning, in the king’s name, the moll emi¬ 
nent men of letters, as well in foreign countries as in 
France, its didribution was principally confided to Per¬ 
rault. This was an office likely to give him much con- 
lequence.among the literati, and alfo to procure him 
much envy and ill-will. He feems to have executed his 
trud very honourably ; yet the lid of penlions granted in 
France was far from being a fcale of relative merit. 
The edeem of Colbert for Perrault was fubllantially 
proved by appointing him controller-general of the royal 
buildings, of which he was himfelf fuperintendant. In 
this polt he conduced himfelf with equal difintereded- 
nefs and intelligence; and he was of great ufe to his pa¬ 
tron, by fuggeding to him, in converfation, much infor¬ 
mation on points which he had no time to dudy, and 
which he could afterwards difplay to advantage before 
the king, who was equally unindrubled with himfelf. 
During his pofleffion of this office, he obtained the efla- 
blilhment of the Academies of Painting and Sculpture. 
The French Academy manifelled its gratitude for his 
fervices, by admitting him as a member in 1671 ; and 
his difcourfe at reception gave fo much fatisfa'clion to 
that body, that it thenceforth became a cullom to print 
admiffion-harangues. 
His connexion with Colbert was at length interrupted 
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