Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/332

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324: DU PONT DE NEMOURS called to public life by Vergennes, he negotia- ted with the English envoy, Dr. James Hutton, the treaty of 1782, which recognized the in- dependence of the United States, and later the commercial treaty of 1786 with Great Britain. For these services he was made councillor of state and inspector general of agriculture and commerce. In 1787 he was secretary of the assembly of notables, and instigated and drew up the famous memorial upon abuses which Oalonne laid before it. On the fall of this min- ister the personal interference of Louis XVI. saved him from another banishment. Mem- ber of the states general from Nemours in 1789, and later of the constituent assembly, of which he was twice president, he was a stead- fast advocate of constitutional monarchy and opposed the extreme revolutionists. For his opposition to the issue of assignats he was mobbed on leaving the assembly, and his life was with difficulty saved by the national guard. Upon the dissolution of the constituent assem- bly he exerted himself to resist the excesses of the revolution, but was marked for destruction after the 10th of August, 1792, when he went armed to the palace with his son to defend the king. He succeeded in escaping to the coun- try after being hidden in the observatory for several weeks by the astronomer Lalande, and while in concealment wrote his Philosophie de Vunivers. Finally arrested and imprisoned in La Force, the death of Robespierre saved him from the guillotine. As soon as he was liberated he renewed his struggle against the Jacobins, and helped to organize the unsuc- cessful revolt of the sections. He was elected member of the council of ancients from Loiret, and became president of the council on the success of the reactionary party in the elections of 1797. When the republicans broke up the councils with Augereau's troops, Du Font's house and property were destroyed by the mob, and he narrowly escaped transportation to Cayenne. In 1799 he emigrated with his family to America, where he-was received with much consideration. Returning to France in 1802, he declined the various appointments which Napoleon offered him, but as a friend of both countries was instrumental in bringing about the treaty of 1803 by which Louisiana was sold to the United States. During the empire he published a work on the bank of France (1806), and Memoir es sur different* sujets d^histoire naturelle (1807), and wrote many papers for the institute of France and other learned societies of which he was a member. His plan of national education for the United States, prepared at the request of Jefferson, and published in 1812, though not carried out in the country for which it was intended, has been partly adopted in France. Upon the fall of Napoleon (1814), Du Pont was secretary of the provisional government, and at the restoration became councillor of state. On Napoleon's return from Elba he rejoined his sons in America, where he died DUPRAT two yeara afterward. In addition to numer- ous pamphlets on financial and political sub- jects, Du Pont also published De Vorigine et des progres d'une science nouvelle (1767) ; De I 1 administration des chemins (1767) ; Objec- tions et reponses sur le commerce des grains et des farines (1769); Observations sur les effets de la liberte du commerce des grains (1770) ; Table synoptique des principes de Veconomie politique (1775) ; Idees sur les secours a don- ner aux pauvres malades dans une grande mile (1786) ; Notice sur la me de M. Poivre (1786) ; Analyse historique de la legislation des grains depuis 1692 (1789). DCPORT, James, an English scholar, born in Cambridge in 1606, died July 17, 1679. He re- ceived his early education atWestminster school. In 1622 he entered Trinity college, Cambridge, and devoted himself especially to the study of Greek. He graduated in 1627, and was im- mediately elected fellow. In 1630 he was or- dained to the ministry, in 1639 became regius professor of Greek in the university, and in 1641 was made prebendary of Lincoln and arch- deacon of Stow. During the commonwealth he was one of the few who were not expelled from the university; but in 1654 he was dis- placed from his professorship, although he continued his labors as fellow and tutor. On the restoration Duport was appointed king's chaplain. He was made D. D. in 1660, dean of Peterborough in 1664, master of Magdalen college in 1668, and vice chancellor of the uni- versity in 1669. Among his numerous publi- cations are a Greek poetical version of the book of Job (1637), also of Proverbs, Ecclesi- astes, and Song of Solomon, with Latin trans- lations (1646) ; Gnomologia Homeri (1660) ; translation into Greek of the "Book of Com- mon Prayer" (1665) ; the Psalms of David in Greek hexameters (1666); and Lectures on Theophrastus's Characters " (1712). DUPRAT, Antoine, a French cardinal and statesman, born at Issoire, Jan. 17, 1463, died July 8, 1535. He was successively bailiff of Montferrand, government advocate at Tou- louse, member of the council of state, and president of the parliament of Paris. On the accession of Francis L, in 1515, he became chancellor and prime minister. In a conference with the pope at Bologna he conceded the abolition of the pragmatic sanction, and se- cured for the king the power of appointing the French bishops. His wife dying in 1516, he took orders, and was made archbishop of Sens, and finally a cardinal. The great object of his administration was to centralize all power in the hands of the king. To this end he sought to lessen the consequence of the consta- ble duke de Bourbon by setting up the adverse claim of the queen mother Louise of Savoy to his great inheritance, thus driving him into an alliance with Charles V., and securing at his death in 1527 the confiscation of all his posses- sions in favor of Francis I. For the same pur- pose Duprat attacked the powers and privileges