Bausset, Louis Francois De

Bausset, Louis Francois De a French cardinal, born at Pondicherry Dec. 14, 1748, died June 21, 1824. Having finished his theological studies in the seminary of Saint Sulpice, he obtained an appointment in the diocese of Frejus. In 1770 he was deputed to the assembly of the clergy, and in 1784 consecrated bishop of Alais. He was sent by the Estates of Languedoc to the two assemblies of notables in 1787 and 1788. In 1791 he adhered to the protest of the French bishops against the civil constitution of the French clergy. Soon after he emigrated, but in 1792 he returned to Paris, where he was put in prison. Being set free on the 9th of Thermidor, he devoted himself entirely to literature. In 1806 he obtained a canonry at the chapter of St. Denys. Abbe Emery having handed over to him all the manuscripts of Fenelon, he undertook to write the history of Fenelon. This work (Histoire de Fenelon, 1808-09, 3 vols. 8vo) established the editor's literary reputation, and in 1810 procured for him the second decennial prize. Bausset compiled on the same plan the Histoire de Bausset (Paris, 4 vols. 8vo, 1814), which, however, did not meet with an equally favorable reception. When the Council of the University of Paris was reorganized, Bausset was appointed a member. On the return of Louis XVIII he was appointed president of this council, but this position he lost during the "Hundred Days." After the second restoration he entered the Chamber of Peers; in 1816 he became a member of the French Academy; in 1817 he received the cardinal's hat, and was minister of state. Besides the histories of Fenelon and Bausset, Bausset wrote biographical essays on the Cardinal of Boisgelin (1804); on Abbe Legris-Duval (1820); on Archbishop Talleyrand, of Paris (1821); and on the Duke of Richelieu, the latter of which was read in the Chamber of Peers by the Duke of Pastoret on June 8, 1822. Against the civil constitution of the clergy he compiled, in 1796, conjointly with Abbe Emery, a pamphlet entitled Reflexions sur la Declaration exigee des Miinistres du culte par la loi du 7 Vendemiaire an IV. In 1797, this pamphlet, with additions, was again published under the title Expose du principe sur le Serment de Liberte et d'Egalite, et sur la declaration, etc. See Hoefer, Biographie Generale, 4:834; M. de Villeneuve, Notice historique sur le Cardinal de Bausset (Marseille, 1824); G., Notice sur Bausset (Marseille, 1824, 8vo); De Quelen, Discours sur Bausset.