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BOS part of his lyric poetry, and an epic poem on the unfortunate death of the prince of Brunswick, who was drowned on the 27th of April, 1785, whilst endeavouring to save several labourers who were in imminent danger. This poem, entitled "Elliot e L'Ollanda Pacificata," is a faithful account of all the historical facts and personages connected with Holland. When the French revolution broke out, Bossi was sent by his government to the camp of the king of Prussia, to consult with that sovereign on the perilous position of Piedmont, and to find out the conditions on which rested the Austro-Russian alliance. From thence he went to Prussia as envoy extraordinary, and remained there for two years. The king of Sardinia having signed a treaty of alliance with France, Bossi was ordered by Paul I. to quit his dominions; and on his return to Turin he received as a reward for his ability and courage the embassy to Venice. That aristocratic republic having fallen in 1797, Bossi returned to Turin, whence he was deputed as an "alter ego" from the king of Sardinia to the general-in-chief of the French armies. From that moment Bossi always followed Napoleon, and rendered most important services to his king. After the treaty of Campo Formio in 1797, Bossi was sent as ambassador to Holland, where he became acquainted with General Joubert, whose friendship he enjoyed, and who gave him the most indisputable proofs of his unlimited confidence. Joubert having deprived King Emmanuel of his crown, requested Bossi to repair to Turin and assist him in laying the foundations for a new government more suitable to the wants of the time. Bossi had also the confidence of Talleyrand, who more than once profited by the consummate knowledge in politics that the Italian diplomatist had acquired in his travels, and during his long residence in Russia, Prussia, and Venice. It was in his daily intercourse with the French minister that Bossi discovered the real intentions of France towards Piedmont, and endeavoured by all means to avert from his country the impending catastrophe, by effecting a reconciliation between the two republics. The French army having been beaten by the Austrians and compelled to retreat, leaving Piedmont in the hands of the enemy, Bossi fled from Italy and came to Paris, where he devoted his time to literature. After the victory of Marengo and the dispersion of the Austro-Russian army, he returned to Italy, and was appointed by General Berthier minister plenipotentiary to the Ligurian republic. That appointment did not meet with the approbation of the first consul, who instituted a government commission, well known in Italy by the name of the government of the three Charleses, for its members were—Carlo Bossi, Carlo Giulio, and Carlo Botta. It was Bossi who advised Napoleon to join Piedmont to France, that territory being indispensable as a military station, of an immense strategical importance, and as a magazine for the French armies in Lombardy and Germany. Napoleon understood the purport of such a counsel and executed it, to the detriment of the nationality and independence of Italy. Bossi was accused of treason by his countrymen, and endeavoured to explain his conduct in a pamphlet, which was translated into French by the order of government, and circulated throughout the empire. From that time to 1805 Bossi lived in complete retirement from public affairs, and reappeared on the political stage at the request of Louis Napoleon, then king of Holland, who induced Bossi to accept the governorship of the department of Ain. In 1810 Bossi was created a baron of the empire, and sent with the same rank to the department of La Manche, where he remained till the year 1814. In 1815 he was made a knight of the legion of honour, and was presented with letters of naturalization by Louis XVIII., but soon after being suspected of leaning towards Napoleon, he was deprived of his governorship, although the most influential inhabitants memorialized the king in favour of their governor, and entreated that he should be left unmolested. This demonstration of affection and esteem determined Baron de Bossi to fix his residence in France; and it was only after thirty-five years of high diplomatic and political functions that he revisited his native country. Whilst he was governor of Ain he wrote a poem, entitled "Oromasia," the subject of which is the French revolution. His versification is noble and faultless, and under the assumed name of Albo Crisso, we can easily discover a scholar well acquainted with the prince of epic poets whom he successfully imitates. This extraordinary man, the principal events of whose life have been briefly registered here, died in Paris, regretted by a numerous circle of friends and admirers, on the 20th of January, 1823.—A. C. M.  BOSSO,, born of a noble family at Verona in 1428. He was sent early by his parents to Milan, under the direction of Pietro Perleoni, an eminent rhetorician, whose school was then frequented by many foreigners. Having completed his studies, he obtained the direction of the chapter of canons at Fiesole—a dignity which introduced him to Lorenzo de Medici, through whose powerful recommendation he was elected a member of the Platonic Academy. Poliziano and Pico della Mirandola became his friends; and such was the esteem in which he was held by Lorenzo de Medici, that he was chosen as the fittest person to present the cardinal's hat and purple to his son Giovanni, afterwards Pope Leo X., an honour which is generally reserved for the most intimate friend of the family. Sixtus IV. many times wished to confer on him the episcopal dignity, which he always refused through christian humility. He was considered an accomplished orator and a sound philosopher, and has left many Latin works, which are considered by Poliziano of great literary merit. His collection of letters, under the title of "Epistolæ Familiares et Secundæ," are full of moral and philosophical doctrines, and his orations are cited by Rosini and Bayle as models of sacred oratory. His work in eight books, "De Vero Sapientiæ Cultu," was adopted by many Italian and foreign universities. His translation, with notes, of five of Cicero's orations, was interrupted by his death, which took place at Padua in 1502.—A. C. M.  BOSSUET,, bishop of Meaux, the glory of the church of France in these later ages, was born at Dijon on the 27th September, 1627. His father, Benigne Bossuet, was descended from an ancient and honourable family in Burgundy, and was himself a councillor in the parliament of Metz. The duties of this function obliged him in 1633 to transfer his residence to Metz, leaving the young Bossuet under the care of his uncle Claude, a man in every respect worthy of the charge. The boy was designed from the first for the ecclesiastical state, and received the tonsure in his eighth year. At the age of thirteen he was nominated to a canonry in the cathedral of Metz. Soon after his father's removal to Metz, he was placed at the college of the jesuits at Dijon, where he remained about eight years. His punctual and faithful mode of working even then procured for him from his schoolfellows (punning on his name) the title of "bos suetus aratro." For a similar reason St. Thomas Aquinas, when studying at a college in Paris, was called by his companions "the great dumb ox," or "the Sicilian ox." The earliest trait recorded of him, which shows in a marked way the bent of his genius, is the impression made upon him at a very early age by reading some pages of a bible which he found one day on his father's desk, and obtained leave to take away with him. From that time he read and pondered on it incessantly, and with extraordinary devotion; and in his mortal illness, seventy years later, we shall find that the same book was still his darling resource, and his unfailing consolation. The jesuits, soon discovering the great abilities of their pupil, evinced a desire to attach him permanently to their society; but as this did not meet the wishes of the family, his uncle in 1642 sent him up to Paris, where he entered in the college of Navarre as a theological student. He remained at the college, with intervals, for ten years. On the day he entered Paris he saw Cardinal Richelieu, then sinking under a mortal disease, being carried in a litter into the city, and a few days after, he followed his body to the tomb. It was while at the college of Navarre that that extraordinary eloquence which afterwards spread his fame through Europe, found the first occasion to display itself. One evening at the hotel Rambouillet, the conversation turned on preaching, and M. de Feuquières, who had known Bossuet at Dijon, remarked to Mme. de Rambouillet (a member of the royal family), that he knew of a young student at the college of Navarre, who, if he was sent for at that moment, and if a text were given to him, and a few minutes allowed for preparation in a room by himself, would preach to them an eloquent discourse an hour long. This strange sort of wager was at once taken up; Bossuet was sent for, and after a short meditation, came forward and preached a sermon, the force and eloquence of which astonished all his hearers. The good bishop of Lisieux hearing this, and knowing already something of Bossuet, sent for him, and had the experiment repeated in the presence of himself and two other bishops. But when it was over, seeing all the danger to which such a talent in one so young (Bossuet was at the time only sixteen) exposed its possessor, M. de Lisieux, in a kind and paternal admonition, entreated the young prodigy 