(Jean Jacques), the Nestor of French literature, was a man so eminent for his knowledge of antiquities, that every classical reader must be interested in his fate. He was born, we believe, at Paris about the latter end of the year 1715; and being educated for the service of the church, he became prior of Courcy, keeper of the medals and antiques in the French king's cabinet, and in 1747 was elected a member of the Academy of Inscriptions. From that period his life was wholly devoted to letters; and in recording the principal events of it, we can only enumerate, in their order, his various publications.

A dissertation of his on the river Pactolus was read 1748 (Hist. de l'Acad. X. 29.); Reflections on a Medal of Xerxes, King of Arianaea (Mem. de l'Acad. XXXVII. 171.), found, or said to be found, by Fourmont in the temple of Apollo Anyceles (XXXIX. 129.); Essay on Numismatic Palaeography, ib. 223; Dissertation on two Samaritan Medals of Antigonus [King] King of Judea, ib. 257; Remarks on some Inscriptions published by different authors, XLV. 99; Dissertation on Arabic Coins, ib. 143; by which it appears that the Mohammedan princes copied the heads of Greek and Roman ones on their coins, and gave Arabic inscriptions of their own names on the reverse. On the Ancient Alphabet and Language of Palmyra, ib. 179; on the Ancient Monuments of Rome, the result of a tour in Italy to collect medals for the royal cabinet, to which he added 300, XLIX. 151; on some Phoenician Monuments, and the Alphabets formed from them, LIII. 23. The characters on the written mountains, which he here cites, have been proved of no value; and he illustrates the conformity between the Phoenician and the Egyptian characters from the latter on the bandages of the mummies. Explanation of the Mosaic Pavement of the Temple of Pessinote, ib. 149; of which there have been four engravings since its first discovery in 1650, and which Barthélemy refers to the voyage of Adrian into Egypt. It may be of that date, but there is no reason to suppose that it represents anything more than an Egyptian landscape. The form of letters determines the date in the judgment of the learned Abbé. On the Relations of the Egyptian, Phoenician, and Greek Languages, LVII. 383; on some Medals published by different authors, LIX. 270; Exposition of an Inscription under a Bas-relief in the Bishop of Carpentras's Library, 1767, ib. 355; on the Number of Pieces represented in one Day on the Theatre at Athens, LXII. 286; three Comedies, as many Tragedies, a Satire, and a Petite Pièce; Remarks on some Medals of the Emperor Antoninus struck in Egypt, LXXX. 484.

His interpretation of the Phoenician inscription at Malta, LIII. 23, was controverted by our learned linguist, Mr Swinton, in Philos. Transact. LIV. art. xxii. p. 119; in farther remarks, ib. art. lxx. p. 393.

In 1792 he published a dissertation on an ancient Greek inscription, containing an account of expenses of the public funds under the archonate of Glaucippus, 410 years before Christ.

The intimate acquaintance which he had cultivated with classical antiquity, enabled him, in the cloister of a long life, to compose that chrestomathic, the "Travels of the Younger Anacharsis into Greece" in the middle of the fourth century before the vulgar era. In representing the curiosity of a Scythian savage (for we cannot consider in any other light the man who puts music and the excellencies of the table on the same level), he takes occasion to interweave very curious and instructive details on the laws, religion, manners, customs, and general spirit, of a great nation, as well as its progress in arts and sciences. The epoch which he has chosen is that of letters and arts, combining the age of Pericles with that of Alexander, the revolution which changed the appearance of Greece, and soon after overturned the empire of Persia. The introduction comprehends the 1250 years elapsed from the age of Cecrops to the impolite era of Anacharsis, in two intervals; the first reaching to the commencement of the Olympiad, the second to the capture of Athens by the Lacedemonians. The

Suppl. Vol. I. Part I.

(a) The references here are to the duodecimo edition of the Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions. Barthelemi more dear to man, and contribute to the splendour of his country. A single trait will convince you of the mildness of his philanthropic mind: 'Why is it not permitted (he often said) to a mortal to bequeath property to his fellow-creatures?' After having been overwhelmed with the favours of fortune, which came unexpectedly and unthought, he became poor; yet his character, far from shrinking under the pressure, acquired new respect; and he proved that poverty, supported with dignity, is not less honourable than wealth accompanied with benevolence. Perfected, as all virtuous and enlightened citizens were, he carried with him to the dungeon of that tyranny which you have so gloriously destroyed, the constancy and ferocity of Socrates. It was there that the venerable old man offered to his companions in misfortune the magnificent spectacle of a good man struggling with adversity. I have said that he was rich; but let us not forget that he was not rich at the expense of the unfortunate, and that he adopted all the branches of his numerous family. The republic has gained by that family good citizens, who serve her in the most useful and brilliant manner. Barthelemi felt that the period of his dissolution was approaching; yet though exhausted by long fatigue, and bending beneath the weight of 80 years, his sensibility was still vigorous, and your just decrees made the closing scene of his life happy. When he heard that you were endeavouring to repair the ills under which so many thousand innocent men laboured, he lifted up his hands to heaven, and exclaimed, 'Glory to God—honour to the national convention—I have lived long enough!' In the present posture of affairs, the country demands all your attention. I shall therefore confine myself to request the favour due to the names of the illustrious Barthelemi. One of his nephews, I do not mean your respectable ambassador at Basle, but the citizen Courcey, has, for 25 years, discharged all the duties of a son to his uncle, and for a long time has performed the functions of keeper of the medals and antiquities of the national cabinet. I move, that the citizen Courcey be appointed to that office, which he has already proved himself so worthy to fill."

Whatever became of this motion, which was referred to the committee of public instruction, the cruelty of the government purified the family; and the late banishment of his other nephew by the directory, of which he was a member, surpasses, if possible, the injustice of Robespierre to the uncle. But their crimes were the same: both Barthelimi were men of mild dispositions and friends to peace.