A chartered academy was first founded here in the year 1705; and
it continued to exist, till it was suppressed, like all others
throughout France, at the revolution. The present establishment arose in
1800, under the auspices of General Dugua, then prefect of the
department, who had been urged to the task by the celebrated Chaptal,
Minister of the Interior.--Some interesting, letters are annexed to the
second part of the poems of Mosant de Brieux, in which, among much
curious information relative to Caen, he describes the literary meetings
that led to the foundation of the first academy. The town at that time
could boast an unusual proportion of men of talents. Bochart, author of
_Sacred Geography_; Graindorge, who had published _De Principiis
Generationis_; Huet, a man seldom mentioned, without the epithet
_learned_ being attached to his name; and Halley and Menage, authors
almost equally distinguished, were amongst those who were associated for
the purposes of acquiring and communicating information.
Indeed, Caen appears at all times to have been fruitful in literary
characters. Huet enumerates no fewer than one hundred and thirty-seven,
whom he considers worthy of being recorded among the eminent men of
France. The greater part of them are necessarily unknown to us in
England; and allowance must be made for a man who is writing upon a
subject, in which self-love may be considered as in some degree
involved; the glory of our townsmen shining by reflection upon
ourselves.
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