dozen or dozen persons only. But the work progressed under his wise direction, and after forty years labour he addressed on one occasion a meeting of 10,000 on the spot where at first he could scarcely gather fifty. In 1724 another heavy blow was struck at Protestantism in the edict of Louis XV., which again assuming that there were no Protestants in France, prohibited the most secret exer cise of the Reformed religion, and imposed monstrous penal ties. It was impossible fully to carry out its menaces. But persecution raged, especially against the pastors. Many of them were executed, and many fled. A price was set on the life of Antoine Court; and in 1730 he quitted France and took up his abode at Lausanne. He had seen that it was necessary to have a theological college, and Lausanne appeared to be a fitting place for it. He there fore, with the aid of some of the Protestant princes, established the college, and during the remaining thirty years of his life he filled the post of director. He had the title of deputy-general of the churches, and was really the pillar of their hope. He carried on a very extensive correspondence ; and, through the often repeated persecu tions of his fellow-religionists, fought their battle man fully. The college of Lausanne sent forth all the pastors of the Reformed Church of France till the days of the first French empire. Court formed the design of writing a history of Protestantism, and made large collections for the purpose ; but this he did not live to carry out. His character has been thus drawn by M. de Ve"gobre : he possessed sound straightforward sense, wonderful facility of expression, intrepid courage joined with consummate prudence, astonishing vigour to support the greatest fatigues of body and mind, purity and integrity ever beyond suspicion, and unshaken devotion to the holy cause to which he had consecrated himself. Antoine Court died at Lausanne in 1760. He was the father of the more gener ally known Court de Gebelin. He hardly finds a place in biographical dictionaries; indeed, for a long time his name and work were almost ignored even by French writers on
the history of the Reformed Church.
For details of his life see Peyrat s Histoire des Pasteurs du Desert, Coquerel s work bearing the same title, and De Felice s Histoire dcs Protestants de France. The first special biography of Court appears to be that by M. Edmond Hugues, entitled Antoine Court, Histoire de la Rcstauration du Protestantisme en France au XVIII. Siecle, published in 1872.
COURT DE GEBELIN, Antoine (1725-1 784), a cele brated French scholar, was the son of the preceding, and was born at Nimes in 1725. He received a good educa tion, and became, like his father, a pastor of the Reformed Church. This office, however, he soon relinquished, to devote himself entirely to literary work. He had con ceived the project of a work which should set in a new light the phenomena, especially the languages and mytho logies, of the ancient world ; and, after his father s death, he took up his abode at Paris for the sake of being within reach of the necessary books for his intended researches. After long years of studious devotion, he published in 1775 the first volume of his vast undertaking under the title of Le Monde Pritnitif, analyse et compare avcc le monde moderne. The ninth volume appeared in 1784, leaving the work still unfinished. The literary world marvelled at the encyclopaedic learning displayed by the author, and supposed that the Forty of the Academy, or some other society of scholars, must have combined their powers in its production. Now, however, the world has well-nigh for gotten the huge quartos. These learned labours did not prevent Gebelin from pleading earnestly the cause of religious tolerance. In 1760 he published a work en titled Les Toidousaines, advocating the rights of the Protestants ; and he afterwards established at Paris an agency for collecting information as to their sufferings, and for exciting general interest in their cause. He co-operated with Franklin and others in the periodical work entitled Affaires de UAngleterre et de VAmerique (1776, sqq.), which was of course devoted to the support of American indepen dence. He was also a supporter of the principles of the economists, andQuesnay called him his well-beloved disciple. In the last year of his life he became acquainted with Mesmer, and published a Lettre sur le magnttisme animal, He was imposed upon by speculators in whom he placed confidence, and was reduced to destitution by the failure of a scheme in which they engaged him. He died at Paris, May 10, 1784.
COURTOIS, Jâques and Guillaume (1621-76 and 1628-79). The two French painters who bore these names are also called by the Italian equivalents Giacomo (or Jacopo) Cortese and Guglielmo Cortese. Each of the brothers is likewise named, from his native province, Le Bourguignon, or 11 Borgognone.
Jâques Courtois was born at St Hippolyte, near Besan- 9on in 1621. His father was a painter, and with him Jaques remained studying up to the age of fifteen. To wards 1637 he came to Italy, was hospitably received at Milan by a Burgundian gentleman, and entered, and for three years remained in, the French military service. The sight of some battle-pictures revived his taste for fine art. He went to Bologna, and studied under the friendly tutelage of Guido ; thence he went to Rome, where he painted, in the Cistercian monastery, the Miracle of the Loaves. Here he took a house, and entered upon his own characteristic style of art, that of battle-painting, in which he has been accounted to excel all other old masters ; his merits were cordially recognized by the celebrated Cerquozzi, named Michelangelo clelle Battaglie. He soon rose from penury to ease, and married a painter s beautiful daughter, Maria Vagini ; she died after seven years of wedded life. Prince Matthias of Tuscany employed Courtois on some striking works in his villa, Lappeggio, representing with much his torical accuracy the prince s military exploits. In Venice also the artist executed for the senator Sagredo some remarkable battle-pieces. Returning to Florence, he entered the Society of Jesus, taking the habit in Rome in 1655 ; it was calumniously rumoured that he adopted this course in order to escape punishment for having poisoned his wife. As a Jesuit father, Courtois painted many works in churches and monasteries of the society. Hs lived piously in Rome, and died there of apoplexy on 20th May 1676 (some accounts say 1670 or 1671). His battle-pieces have movement and fire, warm colouring, and great command of the brush, those of moderate dimensions are the more esteemed. They are slight in execution, and tell out best from a distance. Courtois etched with skill twelve battle- subjects of his own composition. The Dantzic painter named in Italy Pandolfo Reschi was his pupil.
Guillaume Courtois, born likewise at St Hippolyte, came to Italy with his brother. He went at once to Rome, and entered the school of Pietro da Cortona. He studied also the Bolognese painters and Guercino, and formed for him self a style with very little express mannerism, partly re sembling that of Maratta. He painted the Battle of Joshua in the Quirinal Gallery, the Crucifixion of St Andrew in the church of that saint on Monte Cavallo, various works foi the Jesuits, some also in co-operation with his brother. His last production was Christ admonishing Martha. His draughtsmanship is better than that of Jaquos, whom he did not, however, rival in spirit, colour, or composition. He executed some etchings, moreover. Guillaume Courtois died of gout on 15th June 1679.
