ROUSSEAU (John Baptist); a celebrated French poet, was born at Paris in 1669. His father, who was a shoemaker in good circumstances, made him study in the best colleges of Paris, where he distinguished himself by his abilities. He at length applied himself entirely to poetry, and soon made himself known by several short pieces, that were filled with lively and agreeable images, which made him sought for by persons of the first rank, and men of the brightest genius. He was admitted in quality of élève, or pupil, into the academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, in 1701, and almost all the rest of his life attached himself to some of the great lords. He attended marshal Tallard into England, in quality of secretary, and here contracted a friendship with St Evremont. At his return to Paris, he was admitted into the politest company, lived among the courtiers, and seemed perfectly satisfied with his situation; when, in 1708, he was prosecuted for being the author of some couplets, in which the characters of several persons of wit and merit were blackened by the most atrocious calumnies. This prosecution made much noise; and Rousseau was banished in 1712 out of the kingdom, to which he was never more to return, by a decree of the parliament of Paris. However, he always steadily denied, and even on his death-bed, his being the author of these couplets. From the date of this sentence he lived in foreign countries, where he found illustrious protectors. The count du Luc, ambassador of France, in Switzerland, took him into his family, and studied to render his life agreeable. He took him with him to the treaty of Baden in 1714, where he was one of the plenipotentiaries; and presented him to prince Eugene, who entertaining a particular esteem for him, took him to Vienna, and introduced him to the emperor's court. Rousseau lived about three years with prince Eugene; and then retired to Brussels, where he afterwards usually resided. The duke d'Aremberg gave him an apartment; and, in 1733, settled upon him an annual pension of 1500 livres. Rousseau also found generous protectors in the count de Lannoy governor of Brussels, and in the prince de la Tour Tassis. He died at Brussels in 1741. He wrote several odes, some of which are on religious subjects; Cantatas, Epistles in verse, Allegories, Epigrams, Miscellaneous Poems, and four Comedies in verse, and two in prose, &c. The best edition of his works is that of Paris, in 1743, in 3 vols 4to, and in 4 vols 12mo, by M. Seguy. Rousseau is justly allowed to have been one of the best French lyric poets; and
to have also excelled in cantatas, of which he was in a manner the inventor.