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 ANQUETIL, a French historian, was born at Paris, on the 21st of January 1723. At the age of seventeen, he entered the congregation of St Genevieve, where he taught theology and literature with ability and success. He afterwards became Director of the academy at Rheims; and, in 1759, he was appointed Prior of the abbey de la Röe, in Anjou. Soon after this, he was sent, in the capacity of Director, to the college of Senlis. In 1766, he obtained the Curacy or Priory of Chateau-Renard, near Montargis, which he exchanged, at the commencement of the Revolution, for the Curacy of La Villette, in the neighbourhood of Paris. During the reign of terror, he was imprisoned at St Lazare. On the establishment of the National Institute, he was elected a member of the second class, and was soon afterwards employed in the office of the minister for foreign affairs. Endowed with a robust constitution, which was preserved by a natural equality of temper, and general moderation in diet, Anquetil was capable of very laborious exertions, and is said to have passed ten hours every day, regularly, in study. When upwards of eighty, he still meditated extensive literary undertakings; but he was carried off by death, in the midst of his projects and researches, on the 6th of September 1808, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. On the evening previous to this event, he is reported to have said to one of his friends, “Come and see a man who is dying full of life.”

As an author, M. Anquetil does not stand very high in the ranks of literature. He possessed more industry in research, than ability or judgment in execution. His style is censurable in many respects, and he appears to have been almost entirely destitute of the critical discernment and philosophical sagacity, which are requisite to form the character of a good historian. The following is a list of his principal works.

1. Histoire Civile et Politique de la ville de Reims, 1756-57, 3 vols. 12mo. The history is brought no farther down than 1657; a fourth volume should have been added, but it never appeared. Anquetil js said to have written this work in concert with one Felix de la Salle, and it is, perhaps, the best of all his productions. 2. Almanach de Reims, 1754, in 24mo. 3. L’Esprit de la Ligue, ou Histoire Politique des Troubles de France, pendant les 16 et 17 sièctes, 1767, 3 vols. 12mo. This work has been frequently reprinted. 4. ''Intrigue du Cabinet sous Henri IV. et sous Louis XIII. terminée par la Fronde'', 1780, 4 vols. 12mo. 5. ''Louis XIV. sa Cour et le Regent'', 1789, 4 vols. 12mo; reprinted In 1794, 5 vols. 12mo. 6. Vie du Marechal Villars, ecrit par lui-même, suivie de Journal du la Cour de 1724 à 1734, Paris, 1787, 4 vols. 12mo; reprinted in 1792. 7. Precis de l’Histoire Universelle, 1797, 9 vols. 12mo; reprinted in 1801 and 1807, in 12 vols. 12mo. This work has been translated into English, Spanish, and Italian. 8. ''Motifs des Guerres et des Traités de Paix de la France, pendant les regnes de Louis XIV. Louis XV. et Louis XVI''. 1798, 8vo. 9. Histoire de France, depuis les Gaules jusqu’à la fin de la Monarchie, 1805 et seqq. 14 vols. 12mo. This work was composed in haste, and is of no great value. 10. Notice sur la vie de M. Anquetil du Perron. M. Anquetil likewise wrote several papers in the Memoirs of the Institute. See Biographie Universelle.

 ANQUETIL DU PERRON, brother of the subject of the preceding article, was born at Paris, on the 7th of December 1731. Having distinguished himself as a student at the university of that city, and acquired a considerable knowledge of the Hebrew language, he was invited to Auxerre by M. de Caylus, then the Bishop of that diocese. This prelate made him study theology, first at the academy of his diocese, and afterwards at that of Amersfort, near Utrecht; but Anquetil had no desire to embrace the ecclesiastical vocation, and devoted himself with ardour to the study of the different dialects of the Hebrew, and of the Arabic and Persian. Neither the solicitations of M. de Caylus, nor the hopes of rapid preferment, had the power to detain him at Amersfort, after he thought he had acquired every thing that was te be learnt there. He returned to Paris, where his diligent attendance at the Royal Library, and his ardour in the prosecution of his favourite studies, attracted the attention of the Abbé Sallier, keeper of the manuscripts, who introduced him to the acquaintance of his associates and friends, whose united exertions procured for him a small salary, as student of the oriental languages. He had scarcely received this appointment, when, having accidentally laid his hands on some manuscripts in the Zend, he formed the project of a voyage to India, with the view of discovering the works of Zoroaster. At this period, an expedition was preparing at the port of L’Orient, which was destined for India. M. du Perron, however, applied in vain, through his protectors, for a passage; and seeing no other means of accomplishing his plan, he enlisted as a common soldier, and set out from Paris, with a knapsack on his back, on the 7th of November 1754. His friends procured his discharge; and the minister, affected by this romantic zeal for science, granted him a free passage, a seat at the captain’s table, and a salary, the amount of which was to be fixed by the governor of the French settlements in India. After a passage of nine months, Anquetil landed, on the 10th of August 1755, at Pondicherry. Here he remained no longer than was necessary to make himself master of the modern Persian, and then hastened to Chandernagore, where he thought to acquire the Sanscrit. But in this he was deceived; and he was on the point of returning, when a serious complaint threatened his life. He had scarcely escaped from this danger, when war was declared between France and England; Chandernagore was taken; and Anquetil resolved to return to Pondicherry by land. After a journey of one hundred days, in the course of which, he encountered many adventures, and suffered many hardships, he arrived at Pondicherry. Here he found one of his brothers who had arrived from France, and embarked with him for Surat; but, with the view of exploring the country, he landed at Mahe, and proceeded on foot. It was at Surat that he succeeded, by perseverance and address in his intercourse with the native Priests, in acquiring a sufficient knowledge of the languages, to enable him to translate the Dictionary,  Rh