Part 26

BOUCICAUT, JEAN [JEAN LE MEINGRE, called BOUCICAUT] (c. 1366-1421), marshal of France, was the son of another Jean le Meingre, also known as Boucicaut, marshal of France, who died on the 15th of March 1368 (N.S.). At a very early age he became a soldier; he fought in Normandy, in Flanders and in Prussia, distinguishing himself at the battle of Roosebeke in 1382; and then after a campaign in Spain he journeyed to the Holy Land. Boucicaut's great desire appears to have been to fight the Turk, and in 1396 he was one of the French soldiers who marched to the defence of Hungary and shared in the Christian defeat at Nicopolis, where he narrowly escaped death. After remaining for some months a captive in the hands of the sultan, he obtained his ransom and returned to France; then in 1399 he was sent at the head of an army to aid the Eastern emperor, Manuel II., who was harassed by the Turks. Boucicaut drove the enemy from his position before Constantinople and returned to France for fresh troops, but instead of proceeding again to eastern Europe, he was despatched in 1401 to Genoa, who in 1396 had placed herself under the dominion of France. Here he was successful in restoring order and in making the French occupation effective, and he was soon able to turn his attention to the defence of the Genoese possessions in the Mediterranean. The energy which he showed in this direction involved him not only in a quarrel with Janus, king of Cyprus, but led also to a short war with Venice, whose fleet he encountered off Modon in the Archipelago in October 1403. This battle has been claimed by both sides as a victory. Peace was soon made with the republic, and then in 1409, while the marshal was absent on a campaign in northern Italy, Genoa threw off the French yoke, and Boucicaut, unable to reduce her again to submission, retired to Languedoc. He fought at Agincourt, where he was taken prisoner, and died in England. Boucicaut, who was very skilful in the tournament, founded the order of the _Dame blanche a l'ecu vert_, a society the object of which was to defend the wives and daughters of absent knights.

There is in existence an anonymous account of Boucicaut's life and adventures, entitled _Livre des faits du bon messire Jean le Meingre dit Boucicaut_, which was published in Paris by T. Godefroy in 1620. See J. Delaville le Roulx, _La France en Orient: expeditions du marechal Boucicaut_ (Paris, 1886).

BOUDIN, EUGENE (1824-1898), French painter of the _paysage de mer_, was the son of a pilot. Born at Honfleur he was cabin-boy for a while on board the rickety steamer that plied between Havre and Honfleur across the estuary of the Seine. But before old age came on him, Boudin's father abandoned seafaring, and the son gave it up too, having of course no real vocation for it, though he preserved to his last days much of a sailor's character,--frankness, accessibility, open-heartedness. Boudin the elder now established himself as stationer and frame-maker; this time in the greater seaport town of Havre; and Eugene helped in the little business, and, in stolen hours, produced certain drawings. That was a time at which the romantic outlines of the Norman coast engaged Isabey, and the green wide valleys of the inland country engaged Troyon; and Troyon and Isabey, and Millet too, came to the shop at Havre. Young Boudin found his desire to be a painter stimulated by their influence; his work made a certain progress, and the interest taken in the young man resulted in his being granted for a short term of years by the town of his adoption a pension, that he might study painting. He studied

## partly in Paris; but whatever individuality he possessed in those years

was hidden and covered, rather than disclosed. An instance of tiresome, elaborate labour--good enough, no doubt, as groundwork, and not out of keeping with what at least was the popular taste of that day--is his "Pardon of Sainte Anne de la Palud," a Breton scene, of 1858, in which he introduced the young Breton woman who was immediately to become his wife. This conscientious and unmoving picture hangs in the museum of Havre, along with a hundred later, fresher, thoroughly individual studies and sketches, the gift of Boudin's brother, Louis Boudin, after the painter's death. Re-established at Honfleur, Boudin was married and poor. But his work gained character and added, to merely academic correctness, character and charm. He was beginning to be himself by 1864 or 1865--that was the first of such periods of his as may be accounted good--and, though not at that time so fully a master of transient effects of weather as he became later, he began then to paint with a success genuinely artistic the scenes of the harbour and the estuary, which no longer lost vivacity by deliberate and too obvious completeness. The war of 1870-71 found Boudin impecunious but great, for then there had well begun the series of freshly and vigorously conceived canvases and panels, which record the impressions of a precursor of the Impressionists in presence of the Channel waters, and of those autumn skies, or skies of summer, now radiant, now uncertain, which hung over the small ports and the rocky or chalk-cliff coasts, over the watering-places, Trouville, Dieppe, and over those larger harbours, with _port_ and _avant-port_ and _bassin_, of Dunkirk, of Havre. In the war time, Boudin was in Brittany and then in the Low Countries. About 1875-1876 he was at Rotterdam and Bordeaux. That great bird's-eye vision of Bordeaux which is in the Luxembourg dates from these years, and in these years he was at Rotterdam, the companion of Jongkind, with whom he had so much in common, but whose work, like his, free and fearless and unconventional, can never be said with accuracy to have seriously influenced his own. Doing excellent things continually through all the 'seventies, when he was in late middle age--gaining scope in colour, having now so many notes--faithful no longer wholly to his amazing range of subtle greys, now blithe and silvery, now nobly deep--sending to the Salon great canvases, and to the few enlightened people who would buy them of him the _toile_ or panel of most moderate size on which he best of all expressed himself--Boudin was yet not acceptable to the public or to the fashionable dealer. The late 'eighties had to come and Boudin to be elderly before there was a sale for his work at any prices that were in the least substantial. Broadly speaking his work in those very 'eighties was not so good as the labour, essentially delicate and fresh and just, of some years earlier, nor had it always the attractiveness of the impulsive deliverances of some years later, when the inspired sketch was the thing that he generally stopped at. Old age found him strong and receptive. Only in the very last year of his life was there perceptible a positive deterioration. Not very long before it, Boudin, in a visit to Venice, had produced impressions of Venice for which much more was to be said than that they were not Ziem's. And the deep colouring of the South, on days when the sunshine blazes least, had been caught by him and presented nobly at Antibes and Villefranche. At last, resorting to the south again as a refuge from ill-health, and recognizing soon that the relief it could give him was almost spent, he resolved that it should not be for him, in the words of Maurice Barres, a "_tombe fleurie_," and he returned, hastily, weak and sinking, to his home at Deauville, that he might at least die within sight of Channel waters and under Channel skies. As a "marine painter"--more properly as a painter of subjects in which water must have some part, and as curiously expert in the rendering of all that goes upon the sea, and as the painter too of the green banks of tidal rivers and of the long-stretched beach, with crinolined Parisienne noted as ably as the sailor-folk--Boudin stands alone. Beside him others are apt to seem rather theatrical--or if they do not romance they appear, perhaps, to chronicle dully. The pastels of Boudin--summary and economic even in the 'sixties, at a time when his painted work was less free--obtained the splendid eulogy of Baudelaire, and it was no other than Corot who, before his pictures, said to him: "You are the master of the sky."

See also Gustave Cahen, _Eugene Boudin_ (Paris, 1899); Arsene Alexandre, _Essais_; Frederick Wedmore, _Whistler and Others_ (1906). (F. We.)

BOUDINOT, ELIAS (1740-1821), American revolutionary leader, was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of Huguenot descent, on the 2nd of May 1740. He studied law at Princeton, New Jersey, in the office of Richard Stockton, whose sister Hannah he married in 1762, and in November 1760 he was licensed as a counsellor and attorney-at-law, afterwards practising at Elizabethtown, New Jersey. On the approach of the War of Independence he allied himself with the conservative Whigs. He was a deputy to the provincial congress of New Jersey from May to August 1775, and from May 1777 until July 1778 was the commissary-general of prisoners, with the rank of colonel, in the continental army. He was one of the New Jersey members of the continental congress in 1778 and again from 1781 until 1783, and from November 1782 until October 1783 was president of that body, acting also for a short time, after the resignation of Robert R. Livingston, as secretary for foreign affairs. From 1789 to 1795 he sat as a member of the national House of Representatives, and from 1795 until 1805 he was the director of the United States mint at Philadelphia. He took an active part in the founding of the American Bible Society in 1816, of which he became the first president. He was a trustee and a benefactor of the college of New Jersey (afterwards Princeton University). In reply to Thomas Paine's _Age of Reason_, he published the _Age of Revelation_ (1790); he also published a volume entitled _A Star in the West, or a Humble Attempt to Discover the Long Lost Ten Tribes of Israel_ (1816), in which he endeavours to prove that the American Indians may be the ten lost tribes. Boudinot died at Burlington, New Jersey, on the 24th of October 1821.

See _The Life, Public Services, Addresses and Letters of Elias Boudinot_, edited by J.J. Boudinot (Boston and New York, 1896).

BOUE, AMI (1794-1881), Austrian geologist, was born at Hamburg on the 16th of March 1794, and received his early education there and in Geneva and Paris. Proceeding to Edinburgh to study medicine at the university, he came under the influence of Robert Jameson, whose teachings in geology and mineralogy inspired his future career. Boue was thus led to make geological expeditions to various parts of Scotland and the Hebrides, and after taking his degree of M.D. in 1817 he settled for some years in Paris. In 1820 he issued his _Essai geologique sur l'Ecosse_, in which the eruptive rocks in particular were carefully described. He travelled much in Germany, Austria and southern Europe, studying various geological formations, and becoming one of the pioneers in geological research; he was one of the founders of the Societe Geologique de France in 1830, and was its president in 1835. In 1841 he settled in Vienna, and became naturalized as an Austrian. He died on the 21st of November 1881. To the Imperial Academy of Sciences at Vienna he communicated important papers on the geology of the Balkan States (1859-1870), and he also published _Memoires geologiques et paleontologiques_ (Paris, 1832) and _La Turquie d'Europe; observations sur la geographie, la geologie, l'histoire naturelle, &c._ (Paris, 1840).

BOUFFLERS, LOUIS FRANCOIS, DUC DE, comte de Cagny (1644-1711), marshal of France, was born on the 10th of January 1644. He entered the army and saw service in 1663 at the siege of Marsal, becoming in 1669 colonel of dragoons. In the conquest of Lorraine (1670) he served under Marshal de Crequi. In Holland he served under Turenne, frequently distinguishing himself by his skill and bravery; and when Turenne was killed by a cannon-shot in 1675 he commanded the rear-guard during the retreat of the French army. He was already a brigadier, and in 1677 he became _marechal de camp_. He served throughout the campaigns of the time with increasing distinction, and in 1681 became lieutenant-general. He commanded the French army on the Moselle, which opened the War of the League of Augsburg with a series of victories; then he led a corps to the Sambre, and reinforced Luxemburg on the eve of the battle of Fleurus. In 1691 he acted as lieutenant-general under the king in person; and during the investment of Mons he was wounded in an attack on the town. He was present with the king at the siege of Namur in 1692, and took part in the victory of Steinkirk. For his services he was raised in 1692 to the rank of marshal of France, and in 1694 was made a duke. In 1694 he was appointed governor of French Flanders and of the town of Lille. By a skilful manoeuvre he threw himself into Namur in 1695, and only surrendered to his besiegers after he had lost 8000 of his 13,000 men. In the conferences which terminated in the peace of Ryswick he had a principal share. During the following war, when Lille was threatened with a siege by Marlborough and Eugene, Boufflers was appointed to the command, and made a most gallant resistance of three months. He was rewarded and honoured by the king for his defence of Lille, as if he had been victorious. It was indeed a species of triumph; his enemy, appreciating his merits, allowed him to dictate his own terms of capitulation. In 1708 he was made a peer of France. In 1709, when the affairs of France were threatened with the most urgent danger, Boufflers offered to serve under his junior, Villars, and was with him at the battle of Malplaquet. Here he displayed the highest skill, and after Villars was wounded he conducted the retreat of the French army without losing either cannon or prisoners. He died at Fontainebleau on the 22nd of August 1711.

See F...., _Vie du Mal. de Boufflers_ (Lille, 1852), and Pere Delarue's and Pere Poisson's _Oraisons funebres du Mal. B._ (1712).

BOUFFLERS, STANISLAS JEAN, CHEVALIER DE (1737-1815), French statesman and man of letters, was born near Nancy on the 31st of May 1738. He was the son of Louis Francois, marquis de Boufflers. His mother, Marie Catherine de Beauveau Craon, was the mistress of Stanislas Leszczynski, and the boy was brought up at the court of Luneville. He spent six months in study for the priesthood at Saint Sulpice, Paris, and during his residence there he put in circulation a story which became extremely popular, _Aline, reine de Golconde_. Boufflers did not, however, take the vows, as his ambitions were military. He entered the order of the Knights of Malta, so that he might be able to follow the career of arms without sacrificing the revenues of a benefice he had received in Lorraine from King Stanislas. After serving in various campaigns he reached the grade of _marechal de camp_ in 1784, and in the next year was sent to West Africa as governor of Senegal. He proved an excellent administrator, and did what he could to mitigate the horrors of the slave trade; and he interested himself in opening up the material resources of the colony, so that his departure in 1787 was regarded as a real calamity by both colonists and negroes. The _Memoires secrets_ of Bachaumont give the current opinion that Boufflers was sent to Senegal because he was in disgrace at court; but the real reason appears to have been a desire to pay his debts before his marriage with Mme de Sabran, which took place soon after his return to France. Boufflers was admitted to the Academy in 1788, and subsequently became a member of the states-general. During the Revolution he found an asylum with Prince Henry of Prussia at Rheinsberg. At the Restoration he was made joint-librarian of the Bibliotheque Mazarine. His wit and his skill in light verse had won him a great reputation, and he was one of the idols of the Parisian salons. His paradoxical character was described in an epigram attributed to Antoine de Rivarol, "_abbe libertin, militaire philosophe, diplomate chansonnier, emigre patriote, republicain courtisan_." He died in Paris on the 18th of January 1815.

His _OEuvres completes_ were published under his own supervision in 1803. A selection of his stories in prose and verse was edited by Eugene Asse in 1878; his _Poesies_ by O. Uzanne in 1886; and the _Correspondance inedite de la comtesse de Sabran et du chevalier de Boufflers_ (1778-1788), by E. de Magnieu and Henri Prat in 1875.

BOUGAINVILLE, LOUIS ANTOINE DE (1729-1811), French navigator, was born at Paris on the 11th of November 1729. He was the son of a notary, and in early life studied law, but soon abandoned the profession, and in 1753 entered the army in the corps of musketeers. At the age of twenty-five he published a treatise on the integral calculus, as a supplement to De l'Hopital's treatise, _Des infiniment petits_. In 1755 he was sent to London as secretary to the French embassy, and was made a member of the Royal Society. In 1756 he went to Canada as captain of dragoons and aide-de-camp to the marquis de Montcalm; and having distinguished himself in the war against England, was rewarded with the rank of colonel and the cross of St Louis. He afterwards served in the Seven Years' War from 1761 to 1763. After the peace, when the French government conceived the project of colonizing the Falkland Islands, Bougainville undertook the task at his own expense. But the settlement having excited the jealousy of the Spaniards, the French government gave it up to them, on condition of their indemnifying Bougainville. He was then appointed to the command of the frigate "La Boudeuse" and the transport "L'Etoile," and set sail in December 1766 on a voyage of discovery round the world. Having executed his commission of delivering up the Falkland Islands to the Spanish, Bougainville proceeded on his expedition, and touched at Buenos Aires. Passing through the Straits of Magellan, he visited the Tuamotu archipelago, and Tahiti, where the English navigator Wallis had touched eight months before. He proceeded across the Pacific Ocean by way of the Samoan group, which he named the Navigators Islands, the New Hebrides and the Solomon Islands. His men now suffering from scurvy, and his vessels requiring refitting, he anchored at Buru, one of the Moluccas, where the governor of the Dutch settlement supplied his wants. It was the beginning of September, and the expedition took advantage of the easterly monsoon, which carried them to Batavia. In March 1769 the expedition arrived at St Malo, with the loss of only seven out of upwards of 200 men. Bougainville's account of the voyage (Paris, 1771) is written with simplicity and some humour. After an interval of several years, he again accepted a naval command and saw much active service between 1779 and 1782. In the memorable engagement of the 12th of April 1782, in which Rodney defeated the comte de Grasse, near Martinique, Bougainville, who commanded the "Auguste," succeeded in rallying eight ships of his own division, and bringing them safely into St Eustace. He was created _chef d'escadre_, and on re-entering the army, was given the rank of _marechal de camp_. After the peace he returned to Paris, and obtained the place of associate of the Academy. He projected a voyage of discovery towards the north pole, but this did not meet with support from the French government. Bougainville obtained the rank of vice-admiral in 1791; and in 1792, having escaped almost miraculously from the massacres of Paris, he retired to his estate in Normandy. He was chosen a member of the Institute at its formation, and returning to Paris became a member of the Board of Longitude. In his old age Napoleon I. made him a senator, count of the empire, and member of the Legion of Honour. He died at Paris on the 31st of August 1811. He was married and had three sons, who served in the French army.

Bougainville's name is given to the largest member of the Solomon Islands, which belongs to Germany; and to the strait which divides it from the British island of Choiseul. It is also applied to the strait between Mallicollo and Espiritu Santo Islands of the New Hebrides group, and the South American climbing plant _Bougainvillea_, often cultivated in greenhouses, is named after him.

BOUGHTON, GEORGE HENRY (1834-1905), Anglo-American painter, was born in England, but his parents went to the United States in 1839, and he was brought up at Albany, N.Y. He studied art in Paris in 1861-62, and subsequently lived mainly in London; he was much influenced by Frederick Walker, and the delicacy and grace of his pictures soon made his reputation. He was elected an A.R.A. in 1879, and R.A. in 1896, and a member of the National Academy of Design in New York in 1871. His pictures of Dutch life and scenery were especially characteristic; and his subject-pictures, such as the "Return of the Mayflower" and "The Scarlet Letter," were very popular in America.

BOUGIE, a seaport of Algeria, chief town of an arrondissement in the department of Constantine, 120 m. E. of Algiers. The town, which is defended by a wall built since the French occupation, and by detached forts, is beautifully situated on the slope of Mount Guraya. Behind it are the heights of Mounts Babor and Tababort, rising some 6400 ft. and crowned with forests of pinsapo fir and cedar. The most interesting buildings in the town are the ancient forts, Borj-el-Ahmer and Abd-el-Kader, and the kasbah or citadel, rectangular in form, flanked by bastions and towers, and bearing inscriptions stating that it was built by the Spaniards in 1545. Parts of the Roman wall exist, and considerable portions of that built by the Hammadites in the 11th century. The streets are very steep, and many are ascended by stairs. The harbour, sheltered from the east by a breakwater, was enlarged in 1897-1902. It covers 63 acres and has a depth of water of 23 to 30 ft. Bougie is the natural port of Kabylia, and under the French rule its commerce--chiefly in oils, wools, hides and minerals--has greatly developed; a branch railway runs to Beni Mansur on the main line from Constantine to Oran. Pop. (1906) of the town, 10,419; of the commune, 17,540; of the arrondissement, which includes eight communes, 37,711.