Henri François d', Chancellor of France, illustrious for his virtues, learning, and talents, was born at Limoges on the 27th of November 1668. His father, at that time intendant of Languedoc, and afterwards a counsellor of state, was a man of great worth and abilities. He seems to have taken the sole charge of his son's education; and having destined him for the bar, he took uncommon pains to exercise him in every branch of knowledge which could contribute to his success in that profession. His care was rewarded with the happiest success. Young D'Aguesseau gave early indications of uncommon abilities; and such was his thirst for knowledge, and his habits of application, that he soon acquired the reputation of an almost universal scholar. He had a particular relish for poetry, which, he used to say, "was the only passion of his youth;" but this passion was so far from withdrawing him from severer studies, that it was allied in his mind with a nearly equal taste for mathematics. He studied law with the zeal of an antiquary, and the spirit of a philosopher; and, in order to form his taste as a pleader, he employed a whole year in repeated perusals of the most esteemed productions of ancient eloquence. After this thorough course of preparation, he became an advocate in 1690; and by the interest of his father, who then resided in Paris, he was soon furnished with opportunities of distinguishing himself, and of rising to the highest honours of the profession. When little more than 21 years of age, he was appointed one of the three Advocates-General—an office which imposed the duty of assisting in those causes where the king, the church, or the public was concerned. The king, Louis XIV., in appointing him, yet untried, to this situation, acted solely upon the recommendation of the elder D'Aguesseau, "who was incapable," said Louis, "of deceiving him, even to advance his own son." D'Aguesseau's first appearances as an advocate-general were such as amply to fulfil the expectations of his father, and to warrant the appointment which he had obtained from the king. Denis Talon, an old lawyer, who had long officiated with great reputation in the same capacity, was heard to say, that "he should have been glad to have finished his career as that young man had begun."

D'Aguesseau held this office for ten years, during which period he greatly distinguished himself; both for learning in his profession, and for a superior style of forensic eloquence. The society which he chiefly frequented was well adapted to improve his taste; for the chosen companions of his leisure hours were Racine and Boileau, the latter of whom has frequently mentioned him with praise in his writings.

It was D'Aguesseau's opinion, that no one could rise to distinguished eminence as an orator, who did not labour to enlarge his mind, and to improve his taste, by the study of philosophy, and by exercises of literature; and he accordingly employed several of those stated discourses which the usages of France required from the advocates-general Aguesseau, at the opening of the Sessions, to impress these views upon the minds of the younger members of the bar.

In the year 1700 he was appointed Procurator-General; an office of higher dignity, and of more various and extensive duties, than that of advocate-general. He filled this office for seventeen years with the most splendid reputation; adding, by his lenity in criminal cases, and by his care of the public hospitals, the praise of humanity and benevolence to his other claims to the respect and admiration of his countrymen.

It had been early predicted of D'Aguesseau, that he would one day fill the place of Chancellor; and this prediction was at length realised in 1717, upon the death of Voisin, who then held the seals. Though he was yet only forty-eight years of age, his nomination to this high dignity gave general satisfaction, and was, indeed, intended as a popular measure by the Duke of Orleans, who had lately assumed the regency. D'Aguesseau soon began to experience the difficulties and perils attendant upon his elevation; for he had not been installed above a year, when he was deprived of the seals, and exiled to his estate. His steady opposition to the delusive projects of the famous John Law, with which the regent and his ministers were wholly intoxicated, was the honourable cause of this first reverse of fortune. In 1720, when the ruinous consequences of these schemes had filled the nation with distress and alarm, the chancellor was recalled from banishment; and he contributed not a little, by the firmness and sagacity of his counsels, to calm the public discontent, and repair the mischief which had been committed.

Law himself had acted as the messenger of his recall; and it is said that D'Aguesseau's consent to re-accept the seals from the hand of this adventurer was much blamed by the literary corps, with which he had hitherto stood in high favour, as well as by the parliament. But his reputation appears to have sustained a much severer shock, when he endeavoured to prevail with the latter body to register the declaration of the late king in favour of the bull Unigenitus,—a measure which they held in great abhorrence, and which he had himself firmly opposed during the life of Louis. The regent's favourite, Dubois, then Archbishop of Cambrai, had moved his master to insist upon this act of registration, in the hope that he might thereby obtain a cardinal's hat; and it seems to have been thought that the chancellor had yielded his better opinion in compliance with the wishes of this worthless minion. Be this as it may, it is certain that he opposed the favourite with firmness, when he attempted, after being made prime minister, to take precedence in the council; and he was in consequence, in 1722, sent a second time into exile.

He now passed five years on his estate at Fresnes; and he always spoke with delight of this tranquil period, when he was left free from the cares of professional duty, and the distractions of public life, to cultivate his mind. The Scriptures, which he read and compared in various languages, and the Jurisprudence of his own and other countries, formed the subjects of his more serious studies; the rest of his time was devoted to philosophy and literature, and the improvement of his park, where he was sometimes to be seen employed with a spade.

From these noble and congenial occupations he was again recalled, by the advice of Cardinal Fleury, in 1727; but the seals were not restored to him till ten years thereafter. During the intervening period he had endeavoured to mediate in the new disputes which had arisen between the court and the parliament; but his interference seems to have given satisfaction to neither party,—the one reproaching him with desertion from their cause, and the other with too great a