CHAPELAIN, JOHN, an eminent French poet, born at Paris in 1595, and often mentioned in the works of Balzac, Ménage, and other learned men. He wrote several works, and distinguished himself by a heroic poem called La Pucelle, ou France Délivrée, which employed him several years, and which, the expectation of the public being greatly raised, was as much decried by some as it was extolled by others. He was one of the king's counsellors, and died in 1647. Besides his Pucelle, published in 1656, folio, Chaplain translated the Spanish romance of Guzmán d'Alfarache, and wrote Paraphrase sur le Miséricorde, 1636, 4to; several Odes; and Mélanges de Littératures, including Mémoire de [sur] quelques gens vivans en 1662, drawn up by order of Colbert.