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A distinguished French philosopher, author, and traveler; born in Craon (Mayenne), February 1757; died in April 1820. He published in 1789 his "Travels in Egypt and Syria" (2 vols.), the best description of them to that date. In 1789 he was elected a deputy to the States-General. In 1791 he produced a work still remembered, and on which his fame rests,- "Ruins; or, Meditations on the Revolutions of Empires". Imprisoned in 1793, on his release he passed two years in the United States, publishing in 1803 his "Description of the Climate and Soil" of the country. Among his other works are: "The Natural Law; or, Physical Principles of Morality" (1793); and "Researches in Ancient History" (3 vols., 1814).