DUBOIS, Gum.AumE, Cardinal, was b. 6th Sept., 1656, tit Brives-la-Gaillarde, in Auvergne, where his father was an apothecary. At the age of 12, he came to Paris, and entered the college of Saint Michel, as a domestic of the principal. here he made such good use of his opportunies for acquiring knowledge, that he was afterwards selected as tutor to the son of a merchant named Mauroy, and gradually rose till he became tutor to the young due de Chartres. Although of an ugly exterior, he contrived, by his mixture of wit and hypocrisy, to win the esteem of the boy's mother, while he possessed the most unlimited confidence of his pupil, partly through their common love of let ters, and partly because he took upon himself the odious office of pander to his vices. His public career commenced after the marriage of his pupil, in 1692, with Mademoi selle Blois, a natural but legitimatized daughter of Louis XIV. He then received from that monarch, for his services in bringing about the match, a gift of the abbey of St. Just, in Picardy. He was next attached to the French embassy at the court of London, where he formed some important political connections. On his return, he became pri
vate secretary to his old pupil; and when the latter (now duke of Orleans) became regent in 1715, D. became virtually the most powerful man in France. The great act of his life was the famous treaty signed at La Haye, 14th Jan., 1717, and known as the triple alliance, between England, Holland, and France. The importance of this act lies in the circumstance that it effectually changed the foreign policy of France, in spite of the French princes, in spite of the traditions of Louis XIV., in spite of the dislike of the English king for the regent, and finally, in spite of cardinal Alberoni himself, the Spanish minister. In reward for his brilliant dexterity, D. received the office of min ister of foreign affairs, and in 1720, on the solicitation of George I. of England, was appointed to the vacant archbishopric of Cambray. In 1721, he obtained the cardi nal's hat, and in the followingyear became prime minister of France, when his authority seemed unbounded. He died 10th Aug., 1723, a victim to hard work and the wildest debauchery.