JOUY, VICTOR-JOSEPH-ETIENNE, DE, was born in the hamlet of Jouy, near Versailles, in the 1769. When only thirteen he accom panied the governor of French Guyana as aouadieutenant to that colony, but remained there scarcely a year. He returned to Versailles, continued his education for two years, and then left France a second time for the French East Indian possessions as an officer in the Luxembourg regiment. In 1790 he was again in France, joined the revolutionary party, and rapidly attained military promotion; but during the Reign of Terror became suspected, and fled to On Robespierre's fall in July 1794 ho returned to Paris, was placed ou the staff of the army of Paris under General Menou, and contributed to the triumph of tho Convention in the streets of that city on the 21st of May (2nd Prairial) 1795. Very shortly afterwards be was arrested ; then released, and sent as commauder to Lille ; then again arrested on an accusation of being in communication with Lord Malmesbury the English minister, but acquitted and restored to his functions. Disgusted however with these repeated persecutions he resolved to abandon his military career ; he therefore solicited his discharge, which be obtained together with a pension for his good services and wounds. He was now thirty years old, sod after a few months' service in a civil capacity at Brussels, ho took up his abode at Paris and devoted himself to literature. His first efforts were some vaudevillea, written in conjunction with Messrs. Delonchamp and Dieulafoy ; but his first great success was the opera of La Vestale,' the music by Spontini, which gained him admission to the Academy in 1815. This was followed by several other operas, among which were Les Amazonee,' with music by Mehul, and 'Les Abeneerrages,' with music by Cherubini, which still retain possession of the stage.
He also wrote comedies, both in prose and verse, with considerable success; and several tragedies, of which Sylla ' obtained a marked success. The work however on which his reputation mainly rests is L'Hermite de Is Chasms& d'Antin,' a series of essays on men and manners in France, which first appeared in the Gazette de France,' in 1813-14, and were afterwards collected and published in five volumes, 12mo, 1815. They were considered in France as the suc cessful rivals of the English Spectators," Guardians,' and 'Ramblers.' They no doubt have considerable merit, the style is &ley, the obser vation acute, the description animated, and the characters often drawn with much quiet humour. They may exhibit some resem blance to the essays of Addison or Steele, but none whatever to those of Johnson. They display with sufficient accuracy the surface of society, but they have little depth. Some attempts are made at the pathetic, but they are rather maudlin. They were however very successful in France, and tho author followed up his success by the France Parleur," L'Hermite de la Guyana,' L'Hermite en Province,' the last a collection by several writers, but all infinitely inferior to the first. L'llermites en Prison,' however, an d L'Hermitea en Libert6,' written in 1823 and 1824, in conjunction with M. Jay, were of a better kind, and were received with much applause by tho liberal party in France. M. Jouy has also written on political economy, and likewise two novels, 'Cecil; and Le Centenaire,' in 1827 and 1833. Ile edited for some time tho Journal des Arts,' and ha contributed innumerable articles to various newspapers and journals. He died at Paris in October 1846.