MARETS

MARETS, JEAN DE, a Parisian, one of the finest geniuses of the 17th century, became at last a visionary and a fanatic. He was a great favourite of Cardinal Richelieu, who was greatly delighted with his facetious conversation. He was a member of the French academy from its first erection. He wrote several dramatic pieces, which were well received. He attempted an epic poem; but after spending several years about it, dropped the design to write books of devotion. He likewise wrote romances, which are not very rigid for their morality. He was a declared enemy of the Jansenists. His visions are well described by the Messieurs de Port Royal. He promised the king of France, by the explication of prophecies, the honour of overthrowing the Mahometan empire, and every species of what he was pleased to denominate heresy, bringing the whole world to the profession of the true faith. This he said Louis XIV. was to accomplish at the head of 144,000 elect. Extravagant and absurd as these declarations were, he was, notwithstanding, admired and patronised by some of the bishops; and though a layman, he was permitted to vent his reveries in religious houses, and assume the direction of devotees of both sexes. He maintained his credit with the great to the very last, and died in 1676, at the age of 81. In his last years he wrote something against Boileau's Satires.