Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/313

FONTANES FONTENOY 305 charge of his having acquired his fortune dis- honestly, he spent the latter part of his life in Naples. Another eminent architect, CARLO (1634-1714), was employed in Rome under seven successive popes. Among his best known works are the Cibo and Ginetti chapels and the Griinani and Bolognetti palaces, the latter since known as the palazzo Torlonia. FONTANES, Louis, marquis de, a French wri~ ter, born in Niort, March 6, 1757, died in Paris, March 17, 1821. Going to Paris when still very young, he contributed some poetical pieces to the Nercure de France and the Alma- nack des muses, but his reputation began with his translation of Pope's "Essay on Man," published in 1783. On the breaking out of the revolution he joined the moderate party, and in 1793 wrote the petition which the citizens of Lyons presented to the convention against the bloody tyranny of Collot d'Herbois. After the 9th Thermidor he became one of the con- tributors to the Moderateur, a newspaper in the royalist interest. After the 18th Fructidor he took refuge in England, where he met Chateau- briand, and a lasting friendship grew up be- tween them. Allowed to return to France after the 18th Brumaire (November, 1799), he was appointed by the first consul to deliver a panegyric on Washington. He became a mem- ber of the legislative body in 1802, and was chosen its president in 1804. On the reestab- lishment of the French university in 1808, Napoleon placed him at its head with the title of grand master, and in 1810 appointed him senator. Fontanes, who had always been a royalist at heart, deserted his protector in 1814, voted against him in the senate, and joined the new king. He thus secured the tenure of his offices and dignities, and was promoted to the peerage. During his later years he devoted his leisure hours to an epic, La Grece delivree, which he did not complete. His adopted son having been killed in a duel, he died broken-heart- ed. His finished style of oratory and the purity and terse elegance of his poetry have given him the title of " Racine's last descendant." A collection of his speeches was published in 1821, and his works were edited by Sainte- Beuve, with a biography (2 vols. 8vo, 1837). FONTANGES, Marie Angelique de Seoraille de Ronssile, duchess de, a mistress of Louis XIV., born in the district of Rouergue in 1661, died in Paris, June 28, 1681. A member of a no- ble but impoverished family, she went to the French court as a maid of honor of the queen dowager, and became through her remarka- ble beauty Mme. de Montespan's successor as chief favorite of the king. Her discarded rival characterized her as a provincial statue. Her extravagance knew no bounds ; the king sup- plied her with 500,000 francs a month, which was hardly sufficient for her wants. She brought into fashion a head dress arranged with leaves and ribbons, which was adopted all over Europe under her name. Louis XIV. conferred upon her the rank of duchess, but became indifferent to her after the loss of her beauty in childbed. She retired to the abbey of Port Royal, where the king paid her a visit in her last moments. FONTARABIA. See FUENTEBKABIA. FONTENAY-LE-COMTE, a town of France, for- merly the capital of a department in Poitou, now in the department of Vend6e, 33 m. S. E. of Napoleon-Vendee; pop. in 1866, 8,062. It has several remarkable churches, a college, four convents, a fine theatre, and three yearly fairs, and carries on a considerable trade in wine, staves, charcoal, leather, linen, coarse cloth, cordage, and timber. During the French rev- olution its name was changed to Fontenay-le- Peuple. In a public square is an ancient foun- tain, from which the town takes its name. FONTENELLE, Bernard le BoTier or le Bonyer de, a French writer, born in Rouen, Feb. 11, 1657, died in Paris, Jan. 9, 1757. He was the nephew of Corneille by his mother. He stu- died law, but not succeeding in his first suit devoted himself to literature. His first per- formances were light poems, pastorals, and plays ; his tragedy of Aspar, which appeared in 1680, was hissed by the public, and ridiculed by Racine and Boileau. In 1683 he published the Dialogues des morts, which made the be- ginning of his reputation. His Entretiem sur lapluralite des mondes (1686) and Histoire des oracles (1687), the latter an abridgment of a Latin work by Van Dale, a Dutch author, ren- dered him popular among those who were fond of scientific matters expounded in an elegant and somewhat affected style. In 1688 he pub- lished Poesies pastorelles. His Histoire de Vaca- demie des sciences (1696-'99) and fi.loges des academiciens (1708-'19) are still admired for their clearness and elegance. In 1699 he was elected perpetual secretary of the academy. FONTMOY, a village of Belgium, in the prov- ince of Hainaut, 5 m. S. E. of Tournay ; pop. 800. It is noted for a victory of the French over the English, Dutch, and Austrians, May 11, 1745, fought by the latter for the relief of Tournay, then besieged by the French. The French, 76,000 strong, led by Marshal Saxe and animated by the presence of Louis XV. and the dauphin, were posted on a hill with Fontenoy before them, the village of St. An- toine and the river Scheldt on the right, and a small wood on the left. Their naturally strong position was so fortified as to be deemed almost impregnable. The allies, numbering 50,000, more than half of whom were English, were under the duke of Cumberland. They attacked the French outposts on the 10th, and early the next morning began the engagement by a fierce cannonade. The Dutch undertook to carry St. Antoine and Fontenoy by assault, but were driven back in disorder. Gen. Ingoldsby, who had been ordered to pierce the wood with a British division, retired with dishonor, while the duke of Cumberland, with 14,000 British and Hanoverian infantry marching in columns of 30 or 40 front, led the assault upon the