NICHOLAS ANTHONY, a very singular Frenchman, was born at Paris in 1722, and died there in 1759, aged only thirty-seven. During his education he is said to have come out of the college of Beauvais almost as ignorant as he entered it; but struggling hard against his unaptness to learn, he at length overcame it. At seventeen he began to study mathematics and architecture; and in three or four years made such progress, as to be useful to the Baron of Thiers, whom he accompanied to the army in the capacity of engineer. Subsequently he had the superintendence of the highways and bridges; and he executed several public works in Champagne, Burgundy, and Lorraine. The author of his life, in the Dictionnaire des Hommes célèbres, writes, that in this province a terrible spirit discovered itself in him, which he himself did not discover before; and this was, it seems, the spirit of "thinking philosophically." In cutting through mountains, in directing and changing the courses of rivers, and in breaking up and turning over the strata of the earth, he Boulangar saw a multitude of different substances, which, he thought, evinced the great antiquity of it, and a long series of revolutions which it must have undergone. From the revolutions in the globe, he passed to the changes that must have happened in the manners of men, in societies, in governments, in religion; and he formed many conjectures upon all these. To be further satisfied, he wanted to know what, in the history of ages, had been said upon these particulars; and, that he might derive information from the fountain head, he learned first Latin, then Greek, and afterwards Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic, and Arabic; and, by dint of unwearied perseverance, acquired such a stock of erudition, that, if he had lived, he would have been one of the most learned men in Europe. But, as we have observed, death stepped in and cut him off in the full vigour of life, while ardently pursuing his studies. His principal works are, 1. *Traité du Despotisme Oriental*, 2 vols. 12mo, 1761. 2. *L'Antiquité dévoilée*, 3 vols. 12mo, 1761; posthumous. 3. He furnished to the *Encyclopédie* the articles *Défuge, Corvée, Guébres, Langue Hébraïque, et Économie Politique*. 4. He left behind him, in manuscript, a Dictionary, which may be regarded as a concordance of ancient and modern languages. As a man, he is said to have been of a sweet, calm, and engaging temper; which, however, it is very difficult to reconcile with the dark, impetuous, ardent spirit, which appears to have animated him as a writer. During the latter period of his life he was connected with a set of writers, illustrious in point of talent, but utterly devoid of all principle, who openly professed themselves the enemies of religion, and were heated with the idea of effecting its destruction. In the society of these men, whose opinions he participated, Boulanger contributed his share to the common enterprise, by the arguments which he drew from his studies and the hypotheses he had conceived; but several of the irreligious writings which have been ascribed to him are nevertheless not of his composition, and his memory ought therefore to be exonerated from the opprobrium which has in consequence been cast upon it. He was a speculative infidel, not a common blasphemer, and ought not to be held answerable for the abominations which weaker and worse men have published in his name.

**Boulanger, John**, an engraver, was a native of France, and born at Amiens in 1607. His first manner of engraving appears to have been copied, in some degree, from that of Francis de Poilly; but soon after he adopted one of his own, which, though not original, he nevertheless greatly improved. He finished the faces, hands, and all the naked parts of his figures, very neatly, with dots instead of strokes, or strokes and dots; and the effect, though singular enough, is by no means unpleasing. In some few instances, however, the coarse graving of his draperies and back ground presents so violent a contrast to the neater work of the flesh, that the outline of the latter is rendered hard, and the general appearance of it flat and chalky. He did not draw the naked parts of his figures correctly, or in good taste; whilst his draperies are heavy, and the folds not well marked. However, his best prints possess merit, and are deservedly held in considerable esteem.

**Boulay, César Egasse Du**, in Latin *Bulæus*, was born at St Ellier, on the Lower Maine, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and became professor of humanity at the college of Navarre, as well as register, rector, and historiographer of the university of Paris. He died in 1678, after having published several works. The principal of these are, a History of the University of Paris, in Latin, 6 vols. folio, 1665 and 1673; and the Thesaurus of Roman Antiquities, in one volume folio.

**Boulder-Wall**, a kind of wall built of round flints or pebbles, laid in strong mortar, and used where the sea has a beach cast up, or where there are plenty of flints.

**Boulette**, in the manège. A horse is called *boulette* when the fetlock, or pastern joint, bends forward and out of its natural situation, whether through violent riding, or by reason of the animal being too short jointed, in which case the least fatigue will bring it down.

**Boulogne**, an arrondissement of the department of the Pas de Calais, in France, extending over 318 square miles, comprehending six cantons and 100 communes, and containing 76,220 inhabitants. The chief city, of the same name, on the sea shore, is divided into the lower and the upper town, together having six churches, a hospital, 1600 houses, and 16,650 inhabitants. In the summer it is resorted to for sea-bathing both by English and French visitors. It is a place of some trade, but its harbour is only capable of admitting vessels at high tides.

Long. I. 30. 43. E. Lat. 50. 43. 33. N.

**Boulter, Dr Hugh**, was born in or near London, of reputable and wealthy parents. He was educated at Merchant-Taylor's School before the Revolution, and was from thence admitted a commoner of Christ-church in Oxford. Some time afterwards he was chosen a demy of Magdalen College, at the same election with Mr Addison and Dr Wilcox. From the merit and learning of the persons elected, this was commonly called by Dr Hough, president of the college, the "golden election." He afterwards became fellow of the same college; in which station he continued till the year 1700, when he was invited to London by Sir Charles Hodges, principal secretary of state, who made him his chaplain, and recommended him to Dr Tennison, archbishop of Canterbury; but for his first preferments he was indebted to the Earl of Sunderland, by whose interest and influence he was promoted to the parsonage of St Olave in Southwark, and the archdeaconry of Surrey. Here he continued discharging very faithfully and diligently every part of his pastoral office, till he was recommended to attend George I. as his chaplain when he went to Hanover in 1719. He had the honour to teach Prince Frederick the English language; and by his conduct he so won the king's favour, that he promoted him to the deanery of Christchurch and the bishopric of Bristol in the same year. As he was visiting his diocese five years afterwards, he received a letter from the secretary of state, acquainting him that his majesty had nominated him to the bishopric of Armagh and primacy of Ireland. This honour he would gladly have declined, and desired the secretary to use his good offices with his majesty to excuse him from accepting it. At this juncture Ireland happened to be in a great flame, occasioned by Wood's project; and the ministry thought that the bishop would greatly contribute to quench it by his judgment, moderation, and address. The king therefore laid his absolute commands upon him, and he submitted, but with some reluctance. As soon as he had taken possession of the primacy, he began to consider the country in which his lot was cast for life as his own, and to promote its true interest with the greatest zeal and assiduity. Accordingly, he exerted himself in performing the noblest acts of beneficence and public spirit. In seasons of the greatest scarcity he was more than once instrumental in preventing a famine which threatened that nation. On one of these occasions he distributed vast quantities of corn throughout the kingdom, for which the House of Commons passed a vote of public thanks; and at another time two thousand five hundred persons were fed at the poor-house in Dublin, every morning, and as many every evening, for a considerable time together, mostly at the primate's expense. When schemes were proposed for the advantage of the country, he encouraged and promoted them not only with his counsel, but his purse. He had great compassion for the poor clergy of his diocese, who were disabled from giving their children a proper education; and he maintained several of these children in the university. He erected four houses at Drogheda for the reception of clergymen's widows, and purchased an estate for the endowment of them. His charities for augmenting small livings and buying glebes amounted to upwards of L30,000, besides what he devised by will for the like purposes in England. In short, the instances he gave of his generosity and benevolence of heart, his virtue, piety, and wisdom, are almost innumerable, and the history of his life is his noblest panegyric. This excellent prelate died at London, on the 2d June 1742, and was interred in Westminster-abbey, where a beautiful monument of finely-polished marble was erected to his memory.