the name of one branch of the Capet family, which has given kings to France from 1589 to our own times. This branch succeeded the House of Valois on the throne. It derives its origin from Robert, youngest son of Louis IX. See FRANCE.

Charles, Duke of, and constable of France, was born A.D. 1489. He was the son of Gilbert, Count of Montpensier, and of Clara, daughter to Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua. As a statesman and a warrior, he eclipsed all the princes of France of his time; and the simplicity and gentleness of his manners made him the idol of the soldiery. By Francis I. he was made constable of France when only twenty-six years of age, and he gave abundant evidence that this honour was not undeserved. As viceroy of the Milanese he made himself universally popular, and his warlike prowess was particularly displayed at the great battle of Marignano, where he fought by the side of the illustrious Bayard. Having become embroiled, however, in a legal suit with the queen-mother respecting some very large estates, part of which he held in right of his deceased wife, Suzanne de Bourbon, by an injurious decision his estates were sequestrated. The Duchess d'Angoulême is believed to have been instigated to this act of revenge by his coldness in slighting her addresses. Charles of Bourbon, in indignation, entered into the service of Charles V., and made himself master of the whole Milanese. He then led the emperor's troops against Rome; but while in the act of placing a scaling-ladder Bourbon, against the walls, he was killed by a random shot, May 6, 1827.

Bourbon (Borbonius), Nicolas, a Latin poet, born in 1503 at Vandevreuve, near Bar-sur-Aube, was the son of a master blacksmith. Margaret de Valois appointed him preceptor to her daughter, Jeanne d'Albret of Navarre, mother of Henri IV. After residing several years at court he retired to Candé, where he had a benefice. He died about 1550. He wrote eight books of Nuyce; a poem on the forge, entitled Ferraria; De Puerorum moribus, &c. Erasmus praises his Nuyce. Scaliger, however, speaks of him with contempt.

Bourbon, Nicolas, one of the best Latin poets France has produced, grand-nephew to the preceding, was born in 1574. He was professor of eloquence in the Royal College, canon of Langres, and one of the forty of the French Academy. At length he retired to the house of the fathers of the Oratory, where he died in 1644. His poems were printed at Paris in 1651, 12mo. His chef-d'œuvre is a poem on the assassination of Henri IV., entitled Dirce in Parricidam. Modern criticism, however, is not very favourable to it.

Bourbonos, Isle of, an island in the Indian Ocean, belonging to France, about 400 miles E. of Madagascar and 90 miles W.S.W. of Mauritius, in Lat. 21° 30', S. Long. 55° 30', E. It was discovered in 1545 by Mascarenhas, a Portuguese navigator, whose name it originally bore. It remained uninhabited till 1646, when De Prony, the French commandant of Madagascar, formally took possession of it in the name of his sovereign, and gave it the name of Bourbon. It was at first employed only as a penal settlement; but in 1654 De Hacourt, a director of the French East India Company, established a small settlement, which, however, never prospered, and the colonists, becoming disheartened, embarked for Madras in an English vessel which happened to touch at the island. It was unvisited save by pirates and buccaneers, till a remnant of the French who had escaped the massacre of their countrymen in Madagascar took refuge in the island, and, with the crew of a privateer, which happened to be wrecked on the shore, formed a colony, which in a short time began to prosper. In 1661 it was made over by Louis XIV. to the East India Company, who sent out small relays of workmen from time to time. In 1710 a regular administration was organized, and a governor despatched from France. The council by which he was assisted comprised the principal officials of the government, and was subject in appeal cases to the sovereign council of Pondicherry. Two years after, the new settlement was strong enough to take possession of the Mauritius, which had been abandoned by the Dutch, and in 1732 the seat of government was removed to that island. In 1735 the governor, La Bourdonnais, fortified Bourbon with such skill that an English fleet under Boscawen attempted in vain to take possession of it. At the outbreak of the French Revolution the home government abolished slavery in all their dominions, but the people of Bourbon, much of whose wealth consisted of slaves, refused to obey orders, and deposed their governor, though they still acknowledged the authority of the mother country. From 1790 to 1795, the principles of the Revolution continued to gain ground; but at the latter date a reaction took place, and, in 1799, 7108 proprietors, who had countenanced these principles, were banished to the Seychelles. The ship in which they sailed was attacked by an English frigate, and the whole ship's company was shot or drowned. Till 1803 Bourbon, which under the republic had assumed the title of Ile de la Réunion, was self-governed. In that year Napoleon sent out a governor, and in 1806 the island once more changed its name, and became the Ile Bonaparte. In 1810, after a gallant resistance, it fell into the hands of the English, who retained it till the general peace of 1814, when the island resumed its old name of Bourbon. In the following year, before the downfall of Napoleon, it was once more besieged by the English, and along with the Mauritius again fell into their hands. After the general pacification of Europe Bourbon was restored to France, in whose possession it now is, but the adjoining island has since been retained by its English conquerors. In April 1848 a decree of the National Assembly abolished slavery in all the French dominions, and an indemnity of nearly L5,000,000 sterling was awarded to the slaveholders of Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Bourbon, which in this year once more changed its name for the old one of La Réunion. It was ordained, however, that a year should elapse between the passing of the act and the manumission of the slaves. In 1852 the last instalment of the indemnity was paid.

Bourbon, which is nearly elliptical in form, measures 40 miles at Physical its greatest length, and at its greatest breadth and, following the aspect width of the shores, its outline is consequently. The whole island is, as it were, one mountain, having its highest point in the centre, and sloping thence gradually to the sea. This great mass, however, is split into two systems. In the northern range is the Piton des Neiges, the highest peak in the island, about 10,000 feet above the level of the sea. Of the southern system the highest point is the Piton de Fournaise, an active volcano, 7000 feet high. The northern parts of the island present every indication of having been at one time subject to volcanic action of the most violent kind; but the operation of nature and the industry of man have long since converted them once dense plains of forest and fertile fields. In the southern, however, the state of matters is quite different. The scarcity of water, and the vicinity of the volcano, which is the most active in the world, bursting forth at least twice every year, and sending its lava streams sometimes as far as the sea, combine to make this portion of the island the exact antithesis of the other. One portion of it, known as the Pays Brûlé, comprising 11,543 acres, is a desert waste, untenanted by man or beast. Between the two mountain systems are the Plaine des Cafres and the Plaine des Palmistes. The first of these, sloping to the south, exhibits no signs of cultivation except a few trees and shrubs, while the latter, sloping to the north, is covered by numerous streams and is remarkably fertile. Both are at a considerable elevation above the sea. In the centre of the island is a lake, called the Grand Étang, which, though it derives its waters only from the rain, is half a mile in diameter, and in winter 30 feet deep. It has no outlet, yet in summer the evaporation is so great that it is sometimes nearly dried up. The rocky and mountainous nature of the entire island precludes the existence of deep or navigable streams. Such as it possesses are merely mountain torrents, reaching the sea by a succession of waterfalls. Their waters are supplied entirely by rain and the melting snows of the high mountain peaks. The chief of these are the St Denis, Siebe, Le Mat, and Remparts. Of these the Mat is the largest, and has a course of nearly 30 miles. Cultivation is confined almost entirely to those parts of the island that border on the sea-shore. The whole of the interior, except the Basin de Salazie in the Gros-Morne, is uninhabited. According to M. Bory, the island is divided into eleven parishes, St Denis, containing the capital of that name, which is the seat of government—St Marie, St Suzanne, St André, St Benoît, St Rose, St Joseph, St Pierre de la rivière d'Abord, St Louis du Gaal, St Lou, and St Paul—and politically into two arrangements, civil and religious communities. There are no natural harbours in the island, and no safe anchorage off the coast. The effect of this disadvantage is to throw the trade into the hands of merchants from the Mauritius.

The climate of so mountainous a country as Bourbon is very varied, but on the whole healthy and pleasant, and by no means so hot as might be anticipated from its latitude. The hot season continues from the beginning of December to the end of March. The mean temperature throughout the year is 78° Fahrenheit. The inhabitants are healthy and long-lived, and the average annual mortality is only 1 in 42. They attribute their longevity in part to the periodical recurrence of tornadoes, which last for three or two days, and have the effect of purifying and cooling the atmosphere. Coffee, which was introduced from Mocha in 1717, was for a long time the staple article of culture in Bourbon, and was reckoned little inferior to that of Arabia. Cloves were also introduced and carefully cultivated, but never so as to compete successfully with those of the Eastern Archipelago. Cotton was formerly produced in large quantities, but in 1801 hurricanes and a disease which broke out among the trees discouraged the planters, who substituted coffee in its room. Of late years, the quantities of all these articles have greatly diminished, partly from local causes, and partly from the effects of competition upon the European market. Since 1818, the cultivation of the sugar cane has almost entirely superseded that of coffee in the eastern and most fertile part of the island. The tobacco and cereals grown in the island do not satisfy the demand. Yams, potatoes, beans, and fruits are found to thrive extremely well; and maize, the food of the black population, grows in great abundance. Cattle are imported in considerable quantities from Madagascar, as the pasturage of Bourbon is insufficient to maintain their usual number. The fisheries on the coast are valuable, and afford employment to nearly 500 persons. Coral and ambergris are found in considerable quantities off the shore. The manufactures of Bourbon are yet in their infancy. The principal articles of manufacture are bricks, iron and tin goods. There are also several lime-kilns and tanneries, and one brewery. The annual value of the articles thus manufactured is estimated at about £50,000.

In 1836 the amount and value of goods exported were—

| Goods | Amount | Value | |----------------|--------------|---------| | Sugar | 18,173,092 | L508,846| | Coffee | 990,013 | 55,440 | | Cloves | 556,650 | 56,140 | | Salt-petre | 79,879 | 1,757 | | Wood for cabinet work | 112,811 | 1,619 | | Dye-woods | 165,303 | 843 |

The total value of exports in this year was nearly L670,000. The total value of imports, which, besides cattle and cereals, included oil, wine, timber, salt, &c., amounted to L560,780. In 1832 the production of sugar amounted to 25,000,000 kilos, and was in the fair way of doubling itself within two or three years.

The chief magistrate of the island is the governor, who is sent out from the mother country. He is assisted by an assembly of thirty, elected from those French residents who pay at least L8 upwards of direct taxes. The electors in 1837 amounted to 1,145, distributed into eight electoral colleges. They have also two representatives at Paris, with salaries of L1,800 each year. Justice is administered by an imperial court, which sits at St Denis, two courts of assize, two tribunals of primary jurisdiction, one of which sits at St Paul, the other at St Denis, and by six justices of peace. In 1837 the troops of the line amounted to 814, the national guard to 6000. The revenue of the island in 1837 was L85,982, the expenditure L117,297, leaving a deficit of L31,315. A college has been established in St Denis, and throughout the island there are 29 boys' schools and 24 girls' schools. The total number of pupils was, in 1837, 2216, of whom 1486 were boys and 830 girls. There are two hospitals, one at St Denis, and another at Port Louis. In addition to these there is also an establishment for the relief of the poor; sixteen churches, two prisons, a chamber of commerce, a public library at St Denis containing about 4000 volumes, and three private printing establishments. A bank was established in 1832. Four newspapers are printed on the island. In 1841 the population was 106,682, of whom 65,993 were free blacks. In 1850 it was 102,584.

Bourbon-Lancy, a small town of France, in the department of Saone-et-Loire, 27 miles W.N.W. of Charolles. It has numerous mineral springs, known to the Romans as the Aquae Nisiani. Pop. 2848.

Bourbon-L'Archambault, a town of France, in the department of the Allier, 19 miles W. of Moulins. It was anciently the capital of the dukes of Bourbon, from whom the late royal family of France, and the existing sovereigns of Spain, Naples, and Lucca, are descended. It is now much frequented on account of its mineral waters, which are found to be peculiarly efficacious in nervous and rheumatic diseases. In 1789 it changed its name for that of Burges-les-Bains. It contains some remarkable specimens of Gothic and Byzantine architecture. Pop. 3017.

Bourbon-Vendée (now Napoleon-Vendée), a town of France, capital of the department of La Vendée, on the river Yon, in Lat. 46° 41'. N. Long. 1° 26' W. It was founded by Napoleon on the site of the ancient La Roche-sur-Yon, and was called Napoleon-Vendée, in honour of its founder. At the Restoration its name was changed; but on the accession of Napoleon III. it resumed its original designation. Having neither trade nor manufactures, and situated in the midst of a heathy waste, it is regarded as the dullest town in France. The public buildings, erected by command of Napoleon, were so hastily built that they have already begun to fall into ruins. Pop. (1851) 6186.

Bourbonnais, an ancient province in the centre of France, embracing the present department of the Allier, and a portion of that of Cher. In 1527 it was forfeited to Bourbon, the French crown.

Bourbonne-les-Bains, a town of France, in the department of Haute Marne, in the arrondissement of Langres, and 21 miles E.N.E. of that town. It is much frequented on account of its hot saline springs, which are found on the site of the old Roman baths. The heat of these springs varies from 120° to 156° Fahrenheit. The number of visitors is about 800 annually. Pop. 3683.

Bourchier, John, Lord Berners, grandson and heir of a lord of the same name, who was descended from Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, and had been knighted of the Garter and constable of Windsor Castle. Bourchier was created a knight of the Bath on the marriage of the Duke of York, second son of Edward IV., and was first known by quelling an insurrection in Cornwall and Devonshire, raised by Michael Joseph, a blacksmith, in 1495, which service recommended him to the favour of Henry VII. He was a captain of the pioneers at the siege of Theronne under Henry VIII., by whom he was made chancellor of the exchequer for life, and lieutenant of Calais and the Marches; appointed to conduct the Lady Mary, the king's sister, into France on her marriage with Louis XII.; and had the extraordinary fortune of continuing in favour with Henry VIII. for the space of eighteen years. He died at Calais in 1532, aged 65. By King Henry's command he translated Froissart's Chronicle, which was printed in 1523, by Pynson, the scholar of Caxton. His other works were a whimsical medley of translations from French, Spanish, and Italian novels. These were, the History of the most Noble Valyaunt Knight, Arthur of Lytell Brytayne; the Famous Exploits of Sir Hugh of Bourdeaux; the Golden Boke of Marcus Aurelius; and the Castle of Love. He composed also a book on the duties of the inhabitants of Calais; and a comedy entitled Ite in Vineam, which was acted at Calais after vespers.

Bourdaloue, Louis, a celebrated preacher, and one of the greatest orators that France has ever produced, was born at Bourges, August 20, 1632. At the age of sixteen he entered the Society of Jesus, of which he was destined to become one of the greatest ornaments, and there completed his studies. His able masters, who early discerned his talents, successively confided to him the chairs of humanity, of rhetoric, of philosophy, and of moral theology; and it was only after passing through these different probationary employments that he arrived at the eminent post which was designed for him, and was deemed qualified for mounting the pulpit.

In order to form an idea of the difficulties which he had to surmount, and of the talents which he displayed, it is only necessary, on the one hand, to call to mind the ridiculous manner and inflated style of the preachers of that period; and, on the other, to figure the young Jesuit at issue with the bad taste as well as the bad habits of the time; combating at once the passions, the vices, the weaknesses, and the errors of humanity, and overcoming his enemies, sometimes with the arms of faith, and sometimes with those of reason.

At first he preached for some time in the province, but his superiors afterwards called him to Paris. This took place in 1669, at the most brilliant epoch of the age of Louis XIV., when nothing was talked of but the victories of Turenne, the festivities of Versailles, the masterpieces of Corneille and Racine, the encouragement afforded to the arts, and the general impulse given to the human mind. Bourdaloise suddenly appeared in the midst of these fascinations, and, far from diminishing their effects, the severity of his ministry, and the gravity of his eloquence, served rather to enhance their splendour. His first sermons met with prodigious success, and all voices were raised in loud applause of the preacher. Madame de Sévigné, sharing the universal enthusiasm, wrote to her daughter that "she had never heard anything more beautiful, more noble, more astonishing, than the sermons of Father Bourdaloue." Louis XIV. also wished to hear him, and the new preacher was in consequence sent to court, where he preached the Advent in 1670, and the Lent in 1672; and he was afterwards called for the Lents of 1674, 1675, 1680, and 1682, and for the Advents of 1684, 1689, and 1693. This was a thing unheard of before, the same preacher being rarely called three times to court. Bourdaloue, however, appeared there ten times, and was always received with the same ardour. Louis XIV. said that "he loved better to hear the repetitions of Bourdaloue than the novelties of any one else." After the revocation of the edict of Nantes, he was sent to Languedoc to preach to the Protestants, and confirm the newly-converted in the Catholic faith; and in this delicate mission he managed to reconcile the interests of his ministry with the sacred rights of humanity. He preached at Montpellier in 1686 with prodigious success, Catholics and Protestants being all equally eager to recognise in this eloquent missionary the apostle of truth and of virtue.

In the last years of his life Bourdaloue abandoned the pulpit, and devoted himself to charitable assemblies, hospitals, and prisons, where his pathetic discourses and insinuating manners never failed of their effect. He had the art of adapting his style and his reasonings to the condition and the understanding of those to whom he addressed either counsel or consolation. Simple with the simple, erudite with the learned, and a dialectician with sophists and disputants, he came off with honour in all the contests in which zeal for religion, the duties of his station, and love of mankind, led him to engage. Equally relished by the great and by the commonalty, by men of piety and by people of the world, he exercised till his death a sort of empire over all minds; and this ascendancy he owed as much to the gentleness of his manners as to the force of his reasonings. "His conduct," says one of his contemporaries, "is the best answer that can be made to the Lettres Provinciales." No consideration was ever capable of altering his frankness or corrupting his probity.

Boileau, who detested the Jesuits, loved and often visited Bourdaloue. He may with justice be regarded as the reformer of the pulpit and the founder of Christian eloquence among the French. That which distinguishes him from other preachers is the force of his reasoning, and the solidity of his proofs. Never did Christian orator infuse into his discourses more majesty, dignity, energy, and grandeur. Like Corneille, he has been charged with overlabouring his diction, and accumulating idea upon idea with a needless superfluity of illustration—of speaking more to the understandings than to the hearts of his auditors, and sometimes enervating his eloquence with too frequent a use of divisions and subdivisions. But even in subscribing to these criticisms, which are to a certain extent well founded, it is impossible not to admire the inexhaustible fecundity of his plans—the happy talent eulot imperatoria virtus, which he possessed, of disposing his reasonings in the order best calculated to command victory—the exact, constructive logic with which he excludes sophisms, contradictions, and paradoxes—the art with which he lays the foundations of our duty in our interest—and, finally, the inestimable secret of converting the details of manners and habits into so many proofs of his subject. Parallels have often been drawn between Bourdaloue and Massillon; but the talents of these great pulpit orators lay in different directions, and they may therefore be more fitly contrasted than compared. If Massillon is now read with a more lively interest, he owes this advantage to the charms of his style rather than to the force of his reasonings. Among the critics of the present day, the preference is unhesitatingly given to the rival of Racine, to the painter of the heart, to the author of the discourse on the small number of the elect; but if we consult the contemporaries of Massillon himself, we shall find that they assign him only the second rank. According to them, Bourdaloue preached to the men of a vigorous and masculine age; Massillon to those of a period remarkable for its effeminacy. Bourdaloue raised himself to the level of the great truths of religion; Massillon conformed himself to the weakness of the men with whom he lived. The bishop of Clermont will always be read; but if the simple Jesuit could raise his commanding voice from the tomb, and again roll forth a majestic stream of divine truth, the courtly accents of his rival would no longer be heard, and the charms of his diction would be forgotten. The first part of his celebrated Passion, in which he proves that the death of the Son of God is the triumph of his power, has generally been considered as the great masterpiece of Christian eloquence. Bossuet has said nothing stronger or more elevated. The second part, however, is inferior to the first, though considered by itself, alike beautiful and convincing.

The discourses of Bourdaloue have been described by a celebrated French critic as embodying in them a complete course of theology. This is perhaps going a little too far; but still their general merit is very great, and for nothing are they more distinguished than their comprehensiveness. The diction of this great preacher is always natural, clear, and correct; sometimes deficient in animation, but without vacuity or languor, and generally relieved by outbreakings of much force and originality.

Two editions of Bourdaloue's works were published at Paris by Père Bretonneau, a Jesuit; one in 16 vols. 8vo, 1707–34, and the other, from which the editions of Rouen, Toulouse, and Amsterdam were afterwards printed, in 18 vols. 12mo, 1709–34. The works are distributed as follows, viz., 1. Deux Aventes, prédicées devant le Roi, 1 vol.; 2. Carités, 3 vols. 8vo, or 4 vols. 12mo; 3. Mystères, 2 vols.; 4. Fêtes des Saints, Vérités, Professions, Oratiques Funèbres, 2 vols.; 5. Dominicales, 3 vols.; 6. Exhortations et Instructions Chrétienques, 2 vols.; 7. États de l'âme, 1 vol.; and 8. Sermons, 3 vols. It is much inferior to the former. Of recent editions, the best are those of 1822–23, 17 vols. 8vo, of 1833–34, and of 1840, 3 tom. gr. 8vo. The Sermons Inédites de Bourdaloue, published by the Abbé Sicard in 1810, are apocryphal. (Vie de P. Bourdaloue, par Madame de Prigny; Esprit de Bourdaloue, par l'Abbé de la Porte; et Biographie Universelle.)