Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/474

BEA devoted herself to the cultivation of letters, produced many works, and became the centre of a body of distinguished literary characters. A piece which she wrote for the stage having failed, her mortification was increased by the circulation of a rumour that she was not the author of the various works published under her name; a report which was sanctioned by the poet Le Brun. She has left poems, plays, and romances.—J. F. C.  BEAUHARNAIS,, marquis de, peer of France, born at Rochelle 12th August, 1756; died in 1823. He was brother of Alexander Beauharnais, father of the preceding. In 1789 he was elected deputy to the states-general and the national assembly, in which he constantly voted with the côté droit, and on the 12th and 15th September, protested against all the acts of the assembly. He was warmly attached to the Bourbons, assisted in an attempted escape of the king, and followed the royal princes into exile. His strong royalist tendencies were of course highly distasteful to Napoleon, who, however, employed him as his ambassador, first to Etruria, and afterwards to Spain; but having failed to act in conformity with his instructions, he was recalled from the court of Madrid, and banished to Poland. In 1814 he returned to Paris, where he was well received and raised to the peerage.—G. M.  BEAUJEU, the name of an ancient and noble French family, the following members of which may be noticed:—

, constable of France, died 21st May, 1250. He served with his father in the armies of Philip Augustus and Louis VIII., by the latter of whom he was named governor of Languedoc. In 1240 he accompanied St. Louis in the crusade, and is said to have displayed much valour.

, surnamed, died 24th September, 1331. He served with distinction under Philippe le Bel, Louis le Hutin, Philippe le Long, Charles le Bel, and Philippe de Valois. On the 9th August, 1325, he was made prisoner at the battle of Saint Jean le Vieux, and remained in captivity until 1327. In 1328 he accompanied Philippe VI. to the war of Flanders, and commanded the third corps d'armée at the battle of Cassel.

, maréchal of France, son of the preceding, born 11th April, 1316; died in August, 1351. He took part in the battle of Crécy, and in all the wars with the English until 1351, when he fell at the battle of Ardres.

, sire de Beaujeu, died in 1502. He was constable of France during the life of his brother John, who died in 1488. He married the daughter of Louis XI.

, lord of Jeaulges. He at first followed the profession of arms, and distinguished himself in the wars of Spain under Henry III. and Henry IV.; but having fallen into disgrace with his prince, he was exiled for ten years, which he passed in Switzerland and Italy, where he cultivated the art of poetry. His verses have been collected and published under the title of "Amours, ensemble le premiere livre de la Suisse," 4to, Paris, 1589.—G. M.  BEAUJOLAIS, an ancient French family originating under the Carlovingian emperors. At the time of the establishment of the feudal regime, the Beaujolais were included in the etat of Guillaume I., count of Lyonnais and of Forez. Since the middle of the seventeenth century, the Beaujolais, with the title of count, has frequently been the appanage of the princes of the house of Bourbon. The last count of that name is—

, comte de, third son of Louis-Philippe-Joseph, duke of Orleans, surnamed "Egalité," and brother of King Louis Philippe, born at Paris 7th October, 1779; died 30th May, 1808. At the commencement of the Revolution, he was detained with the rest of his family for three years and a half in the prisons of the abbey. He was afterwards deported to the United States, whence, after long travelling about with his two brothers, he proceeded to England in 1800. Eight years afterwards, an attack of pulmonary disease having induced him to seek a milder climate, he set out for Sicily, accompanied by his brother, the duke of Orleans; but becoming worse on the voyage, he was obliged to land at Malta, where he died.—G. M.  BEAUJON,, an eminent French banker and philanthropist, born at Bourdeaux in 1718; died 26th December, 1786. He was successively banker to the court, receiver-general of finances for the généralité of Rouen, treasurer and commander of the order of St. Louis, and conseiller d'etat a brevet. In these positions he acquired a vast fortune, much of which he expended in deeds and enterprises of benevolence. He founded and endowed with great liberality, the hospital that bears his name, situated in the faubourg du Roule at Paris.—G. M.  BEAUJOUR,, baron de, a French diplomatist, successively employed as consul in Sweden and Greece, and as consul-general in America, was born in Provence in 1765. He was latterly consul-general at Smyrna. During his residence in America he composed his "Aperçu des Etats-Unis au commencement du dix-neuvieme siecle," Paris, 1814. Died in 1836.  BEAULIEU,, a French navigator, born at Rouen in 1589; died at Toulon in 1637. At the age of twenty-three he obtained the command of a vessel in the expedition to Briqueville, on the coast of Africa. In 1616 he went to India, and was subsequently employed in several other expeditions, which he conducted with courage and ability. He afterwards took part in the siege of Rochelle, and the taking of the isles of St. Marguerite. He wrote an account of his voyage to the Indies, which forms part of the great Collection des Voyages published by Thevenot.—G. M.  BEAULIEU,, a French courtier, and favourite of Charles VII., died in 1427. He became the victim of a court intrigue, and perished by the hands of assassins. <section end="474H" /> <section begin="474I" />BEAULIEU,, a French political economist of the school of Quesnel and the elder Mirabeau, wrote on the projects of reform which occupied public attention in the two or three years immediately preceding the Revolution. <section end="474I" /> <section begin="474J" />BEAULIEU,, a French writer, born at Rouen, 1754; died in 1827. He came to Paris in 1782, and was engaged as a journalist. He was arrested in 1792 for his political opinions, and was not liberated from prison till 1794, when he resumed his labours as a journalist, and established the Mirror, a journal opposed to the Revolution. After a life of much vicissitude, he passed the evening of his days in retirement at Harly. Beaulieu has contributed a great number of articles to the Biographie Universelle. He also wrote historical essays on the causes and effects of the Revolution.—J. G. <section end="474J" /> <section begin="474K" />BEAULIEU,, or , a poet and theologian, born in Beaulieu (bas Limousin) in the beginning of the sixteenth century. He rivalled Juvenal's Greek in the variety of his accomplishments, having been successively organist to the cathedral, comedian, catholic priest, and protestant minister. He left a "Manual of Christian Instruction," and "Poems." <section end="474K" /> <section begin="474L" />BEAULIEU,, baron de, a general in the Austrian service, born in 1725; died in 1820. He was of an ancient though poor family of Namur, and first distinguished himself as an officer of artillery, in the Seven years' war. In 1789 he was again summoned into active service, and was appointed, with the rank of major-general, to the command of the Austrian army sent against the revolted Brabançons. In this contest he contributed by his zeal and bravery, more than any one else, to bring about a speedy and successful result. In 1792 he was attacked near Jemappes by General Biron, whom he completely defeated. He was equally fortunate in various subsequent actions, but he was at last arrested in his career of victory by General Buonaparte, by whom he was again and again totally defeated. On the 25th June, 1796, he resigned his command, which was intrusted to General Wurmser, and retiring to Lintz, died at the advanced age of ninety-five years.—G. M. <section end="474L" /> <section begin="474M" />BEAULIEU,, sieur de, mareschal-de-camp, and chief engineer to Louis XIV., died in 1674. He was the author of a remarkable work, known by the name of "Grand Beaulieu," consisting of a collection of plans and views of the places besieged and taken by Louis up to the time of the author's death, together with portraits and memoirs.—G. M. <section end="474M" /> <section begin="474Zcontin" />BEAUMANOIR, an ancient French family of the province of Maine. About the middle of the fifteenth century, the seigniory of Lavardin, since erected into a marquisate, came into that house by a marriage alliance, and, in consequence, the members of the family came to be known under the name of Lavardin. Among these the two following have been noted:—

, marquis de, mareschal of France, born in 1551; died at Paris, 13th November, 1614. He was educated in the protestant religion, which he abjured in 1572, after the massacre of St. Bartholomew, in which his father was killed. He then entered the service of the catholic party, under mareschal de Mantignon. In 1611 he was appointed under Louis XIII., ambassador extraordinary to England, to renew the ancient treaty of alliance.

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