BOUHOURS (Dominic), a celebrated French critic,
was born at Paris in 1628; and has been by some
considered as a proper person to succeed Malherbe, who
died about that time. He was entered into the society
of Jesuits at the age of 16; and was appointed to read
lectures upon polite literature in the college of Cler-
mont at Paris, where he had studied: but he was so in-
cessantly attacked with the head-ach, that he could not
pursue the destined task. He afterwards undertook the
education of two sons of the duke of Longueville,
which he discharged with great applause. The duke
had such a regard for Bouhours, that he would needs die
in his arms; and the "Account of the pious and Chris-
tian death" of this great personage was the first work
which Bouhours gave the public. He was sent to Dun-
kirk to the Popish refugees from England; and, in the
middle of his missionary occupations, found means to
compose and publish books. Among these were, En-
tretiens d'Ariste & d'Eugene, or "Dialogues between
Aristus and Eugenius;" a work of a critical nature,
and concerning the French-language. His book was
printed no less than five times at Paris, twice at Gre-
noble, at Lyons, at Brussels, at Amsterdam, at Ley-
den, &c. and embroiled him in quarrels with a great
number of cenors, with Menage in particular, who,
however, lived in friendship with our author before and
after. The fame of this piece, and the pleasure he took
in reading it, recommended Bouhours so effectually to
the celebrated minister Colbert, that he trusted him
with the education of his son the marquis of Segnelai.
He wrote afterwards several other works; the chief of
which are, 1. Remarks and doubts upon the French
language. 2. Dialogues upon the art of thinking well
in works of genius. 3. The life of St Ignatius. 4. The
art of pleasing in conversation. 5. The life of St Fran-
cis Xavier, apostle of the Indies and of Japan. This
last work was translated from the French into English
by Mr Dryden, and published at London in the year
1688, with a dedication prefixed to James II.'s queen.