Dutens, Louis

Dutens, Louis was born at Tours, France, January 16, 1730. When he was about eighteen his sister was put into a convent by order of the archbishop of Tours. This violence so irritated the young man that he left his country and settled in England, where he entered the ministry of the Established Church, and became rector of Elsdon, in Northumberland. He died in London, March 23, 1812. Dutens was a man of varied culture; was a member of the Royal Society, and had the title of historiographer to the king. Besides writing numerous works in science and literature, he edited the works of Leibnitz, Opera Omnia nuncprimum collecta, etc. (Geneva, 1769, 6 volumes, 4to); Le Tocsin, 1769 (against the infidels of the 18th century; reprinted under the title, Appeal to Good Sense (London, 1777, 8vo); De ieglise, du Pape, etc. (Geneva, 1781,. 8vo); Recherches sur origine des decouvertes attribues aux modernes (Paris, 1766, 8vo; 4th edition, 1812, 8vo; translated, An Inquiry into the Origin of the Discoveries attributed to the Moderns, London, 1769, 8vo). Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, 15:496.