Jean Pierre Abel, a celebrated orientalist, was born at Paris on the 6th of September 1788. A severe fall which he received in infancy, and which kept him lying on his couch for several years, was the means of making him a student. Cut off from all the engrossing bustle of life, his mind eagerly sought for amusement and interest in books. The severest studies became in course of time mere pleasant exercises. English history, botany, and Latin were mastered with little or no difficulty. His mental activity continued when he went forth again into the world, and began to fit himself for being a medical man. Besides pursuing his professional studies with great success, he applied himself to oriental languages. At length falling in with a magnificent Chinese work on botany, and desirous of being able to peruse it, he began to learn the language in which it was written. With no other aid than Fourmont's Grammar he accomplished the task in the course of five years; published his Essai sur la Langue et la Littérature Chinoises in 1811; and at the age of twenty-three appeared before the world as a Chinese scholar. The great acquirements of Rémusat soon came to be recognised in different quarters. The academies of Grenoble and Besançon received him among their members. The faculty of medicine at Paris gave him the diploma of doctor at the age of twenty-five. He was also patronized by the great scholar Silvestre de Sacy, and obtained through him the appointment of chief doctor of the hospital of Montaigne. But it was not until the restoration of the Bourbons that the good fortune of Rémusat's career really commenced. The great reputation he had achieved now recommended him for promotion. This was ably seconded by his cringing and selfish policy. A long series of appointments was the result. In 1814 the newly-appointed Chinese professorship