the reign of the Hundred Days, he received from Napoleon the command of Bayonne. On the return of Louis, Beauvais retired into private life, and edited successively three opposition journals, le Mercure, la Tribune, and le Constitutionnel. He wrote, also, nearly the whole of a vast popular compilation, entitled "Victoires et conquetes des Français," Paris, 1817, and following years, twenty-eight volumes in 8vo, besides editing a work still more popular, "Correspondance officielle et confidentielle de Napoleon Buonaparte avec les cours etrangeres," &c., 1819-20, seven volumes in 8vo. He also took part with Barbier and other men of letters in the "Dictionnaire historique, ou Biographie universelle classique," and published a French translation of the Letters of Philaris.—G. M.
BEAUVAIS, Jean Baptiste Charles Marie de, bishop of Jersey, celebrated as a bold and eloquent preacher, was born at Cherburg in 1731, and died in 1790. Called on one occasion to preach before Louis XV., with a hardihood for which he had been frequently remarked in the same presence, he chose for his text, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed." Forty days afterwards the monarch expired. Beauvais was one of the deputies to the states-general in 1789.—J. S. G.
BEAUVAIS, Palisot de. See Palisot de Beauvois.
* BEAUVALLET, Pierre Francis, born at Pithoviers, 13th October, 1801. Having studied painting under Delaroche, he quitted the studio for the stage, to which he felt attracted by the twofold capacity of dramatic author and actor, but not in equal degree; for while Beauvallet's tragedies of "Robert Bruce" and "Le Dernier Abencerrage," have enjoyed but moderate success, his powers as an actor are of a distinguished kind. His fine person, poetic temperament, and rich sonorous voice, well fit him for those heroic declamatory parts drawn with unrivalled power by Corneille. He is one of the very few still able to support the old classic French drama, which is gradually losing hold of public taste.—J. F. C.
BEAUVAU, the name of an ancient and noble French family, originally of Anjou, and possessors of the citadel of that name in the same province. The following are among the more remarkable members of the house of Beauvau:—
Beauvau, René de, one of the most valiant chevaliers of the thirteenth century, died in 1266. In 1265 he accompanied Charles of Anjou in the expedition to Naples, and contributed so much to the gaining of the battle of Benevento, that he was appointed constable of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He did not, however, long enjoy his new dignity, as he died shortly afterwards of his wounds.
Beauvau, Pierre de; died in 1435. He was seneschal of Anjou, and chief counsellor of Louis II., duke of Anjou.
Beauvau, Louis de, son of the preceding, and grandson of Jean III., born about 1410; died in 1462. He occupied successively several important offices under René, seneschal of Anjou, and was distinguished both as a soldier and as a statesman. He died at Rome, whither he had been sent as ambassador from the king of Sicily to Pope Pius II.
Beauvau, Bertrand de, lord of Precigny, of Sille-le-Guillaume, and of Briançon, born about 1400; died about 1474. He was chosen to represent Louis III. in August, 1441, when that prince was married by proxy to Margaret of Savoy. He was equally in favour with the son and successor of Louis, René of Anjou, who intrusted him with several important offices. He was afterwards intrusted on various occasions by Charles VII. with the execution of diverse important matters of public business, in which he acquitted himself with great ability and success.
Beauvau, Pierre de, lord of Bessière, of Rivau, of Boisbarré, Villebernier, and Courville, born about 1415; died in 1453. He entered into the service of Charles VII., and took part in the expeditions directed against the English. He particularly distinguished himself in 1453 at the battle of Castillon, where he received wounds of which he died three days afterwards.
Beauvau, Henri, baron de, general and diplomatist, lived in the second half of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries. He served first under the Emperor Rodolph III. in Hungary, and afterwards under the elector of Bavaria. In 1590 he commanded a corps of 1000 cavalry and 2000 infantry against the Turks, and contributed to the victory obtained over them, and to the conquest of Gran. He subsequently travelled in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and, on his return, wrote an account of his campaigns and travels. The best edition of the work is that published at Nancy, 1619, in 4to.
Beauvau, Henri, marquis de, son of the preceding; died in 1684. He was author of a work entitled "Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de Charles IV., Duc de Lorraine et de Bar," Metz, 1686, in 12mo, and Cologne, 1689.
Beauvau, Marc de, prince of Craon; died in 1754. He served under Leopold, duke of Lorraine, and accompanied him in 1695 to the battle of Temisvar, in which he greatly distinguished himself. Charles VI. conferred on him the dignity of prince, and Philip V. that of a grandee of Spain of the first class. He was afterwards sent by Philip as governor to Toscara.
Beauvau, Louis Charles Antoine, marquis de, a French general, born in April, 1710; died 24th June, 1744. He commenced his military career as captain of the regiment of Lambesc. In 1734 he distinguished himself at the siege of Philipsburg; and in 1735 at the affair of Clausen. He was engaged in 1741 at the taking of Prague, and in the defence of the same place in 1742. On his return to France with his army in January, 1743, he was nominated mareschal-de-camp. He was afterwards employed in the army of Flanders, and was mortally wounded at the siege of Ypres.
Beauvau, Charles-Juste de, mareschal of France, born at Luneville, 10th September, 1720; died 2nd May, 1793. He entered the army when very young, and at the age of twenty was made colonel of the guards to King Stanislaus. Having offered himself as a volunteer to the French army then engaged in the siege of Prague, he served in the capacity of aid-de-camp to the mareschal de Belle-Isle. He was now rapidly advanced, having been named successively lieutenant-general of the armies and captain of the guards, and throughout his whole career he showed himself worthy of the promotion he had received. He commanded the principal attack at the assault on Mahon, and was one of the first to mount the breach. He distinguished himself, also, at the battle of Corback, and greatly contributed to the victory won on that occasion. Beauvau was not less distinguished in his political career, on which he entered in 1763, when he was appointed commandant of Languedoc. In that capacity he showed that his benevolence and his love of justice were at least equal to his bravery and his military skill. Having learned that fourteen women had been imprisoned for a number of years in the Tour de Constance, for refusing to abjure the reformed religion, he proceeded to the dungeon in which they were confined, and set them unconditionally at liberty. This act of humanity was displeasing to the court, who ordered ten of them to be recommitted to prison. Beauvau, to his honour, refused, and nobly replied, that "the king might take from him his command, but could not hinder him from discharging the duties of it according to the dictates of conscience and honour." In 1782 he became governor of Provence, into which he introduced many important improvements and ameliorations, some of which were cut short by the outbreak of the Revolution. Beauvau was also a man of letters, and a member both of the Academia della Crusca and of the French Academy.
Beauvau, Marc-Etienne-Gabriel de, prince of the holy empire, and grandee of Spain of the first class, born 22nd Sept., 1773; died in 1849. He was chamberlain to the Emperor Napoleon, while his wife was one of the ladies of honour of the Empress Maria-Louisa. He adhered to the fortunes of the emperor during the reign of the Hundred Days, performed as before the functions of chamberlain, and was honoured with a seat in the chamber of peers. After the second restoration he was set aside, but was recalled to his seat in November, 1831.
* Beauvau, Charles-Juste-François Victurnien, prince de, son of the preceding, and a senator of France, born at Haroué (Meurthe), 29th March, 1793. Having embraced the profession of arms, he became an officer of carabineers under the empire, and in that capacity distinguished himself in the campaign of Russia in 1812. He was severely wounded at the battle of Weronowo, and had to be left on the field. He retired from the service in 1814, and lived in retirement until 1852, when, by a presidential decree, he was called to a seat in the senate.—G. M.
BEAUVAU, René François de, a French prelate, born at the chateau du Rivau in 1664, was admitted doctor of the Sorbonne, and named grand vicar of the church of Sarlat in 1694. Some years afterwards he was raised to the see of Bayonne, where he remained till 1707; in which year, contrary to his own inclination, and much to the regret of the inhabitants of his diocese, he was transferred by Louis XIV. to the more important
