ARGENS, JEAN BAPTISTE DE BOYER, MARQUIS D' (1704-1771), was born at Aix in Provence on June 24, 1704 and died at Toulon on Jan. 11, 1771. After a dissipated and adventurous youth, he settled for a time at Amsterdam, where he began his Lettres juives (The Hague, 1738-42), Lettres chinoises (The Hague, 1739-42), and Lettres cabalistiques, 2nd. ed. (1769); also the Memoires secrets de la republique des lettres (1743-48), afterwards revised and augmented as Histoire de l'esprit humain (1765-68). He was invited by Prince Frederick (afterwards Frederick the Great) to Potsdam, and received high honours at court ; but Frederick was bitterly offended by his marrying a Berlin actress, Mlle. Cochois.