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 we