MARSAIS, Cesar Chesneau du, an eminent literary [7:14:260]character, was born at Marseilles in 1676. He attached himself at an early period of life to the order of the Congregation of the Oratory; but the situation was too confined for his genius, and he soon left it. At Paris he married, became advocate, and entered on this new profession with great approbation and success. Disappointed, however, in his expectations of making a speedy fortune, he abandoned the law; and about this time the peevish humour of his wife occasioned a separation. We next find him as governor to the son of the President de Maisons; and when the premature death of the father deprived him of the fruits of his industry, he engaged with the famous John Law in the same capacity. After the fall of this extraordinary projector, he superintended the education of the Marquis de Beaufremont’s children, and reared pupils worthy othis genius and industry. Although he was accused of a tendency to Deism, and there seemed good reason for the accusation, yet he never infused into the minds of his scholars any principle inconsistent with sound morality, or with the Christian religion. When he left Μ. de Beaufremont’s family, he took a boarding house, in which, after a method of his own, he educated a certain number of young men. But unexpected circumstances obliged him to abandon this useful undertaking; and he was even constrained to give some occasional lessons for the bare necessaries of life. Without fortune, without hope, and almost without resource, he was reduced to extreme indigence. In this situation he was found by the authors of the Encyclopedic, and admitted a partner in conducting that great work. Amongst many other excellent pieces of his, may be mentioned the article Grammar, which breathes the spirit of sound philosophy. His principles are clear and solid. He discovers an intimate knowledge of the subject, great accuracy in expressing the rules, and perfect propriety in their application. Μ. le Comte de Lauraguais was so much affected with the, distresses, and so much convinced of the merit, of Dumarsais, that he procured him a pension of 1000 livres. Dumarsais died at Paris on the 11th of June 1756, in his eightieth year, after having received the sacrament. The compliment which he paid to the priest on this occasion has been considered by some as rather equivocal. But there is no necessity to deprive religion of the triumph, or philosophy of the honour, which conviction and penitence must confer on it. “The faith of a great genius,” says Bayle, who is entitled to credit on this subject, “is not totally extinguished; it is like a spark under the ashes. Reflection and the prospect of danger call forth its exertions. There arc certain situations in which philosophers are as full of anxiety and of remorse as other men.” Whatever were the last sentiments of Dumarsais, it cannot be denied that in the vigour of health he furnished several examples of irréligion; and to these have been added many absurd stories. The superiority of Dumarsais’s talents consisted in exactness and perspicuity. His ignorance of the world, and of the customs of mankind, together with the greatest latitude in expressing whatever he thought, gave him that frank and unguarded simplicity which is often the chief ingredient of genuine humour. Fontenelle used to say of him, “that he was the most lively simpleton, and as a man of wit the most simple, that he ever knew.” He was the Fontaine of philosophers. In consequence of this character, he was a nice judge of what was natural in every production, and a great enemy to all kind of affectation. His principal works are, 1. Exposition de la Doctrine de l’Eg-lise Gallicane par rapport aux prétensions de la Cour de Rome, 12mo. This accurate work was begun at the desire of the President de Maisons, and did not appear till after the death of the author. 2. Exposition d’une Methode raisonnée pour apprendre la Langue Latine, 12mo, 1722, rare. This method appears conformable to the natural development of the powers of the mind, and on that account renders the acquisition of the language less difficult; but, to vulgar and unenlightened understandings, it was liable to two great objections, namely, its novelty, and the censure which it conveyed of the method formerly in use. 3. Traité des Tropes, 1730, 8vo, reprinted in 1771, 12mo∙ This work is intended to explain the different significations of the same word. It is a masterpiece of logical accuracy, perspicuity, and precision. The observations and rules are illustrated by striking examples calculated to show both the use and abuse of rhetorical figures. Yet this excellent book had but very little sale, and is scarcely known. 4. Les Véritables Principes de la Grammaire raisonnée pour apprendre la Langue Latine, 1729, 4to. There was only the preface of this work published, in which he introduced the greater part of his Methode Raisonnée; 5. Abrégé de la Fable du Père Juvenci, arranged after the manner of the original plan, 1731, 12mo; 6. Une Réponse manuscrite à la Critique de l’Histoire des Oracles, par le Père Baltus. There are only imperfect fragments of these papers to be found. 7. Logique, ou Réflexions sur les Opérations de l’Esprit. This is a short tract, which nevertheless contains everything necessary to be known in the art of reasoning. It was reprinted at Paris in two parts, together with the articles which he had furnished for the Encyclopédie, 1762.