of _Vairasse_. Some of the religious opinions expressed in this fiction
were thought bold, and the authorship of the work was at one time much
discussed: it was attributed both to Isaac Vossius and Leibnitz. It was
translated into Dutch, German, and Italian; and there is an English
edition, London, 1738, in 1 vol. 8vo., in which the preface from the French
edition, alluding to Plato's _Republic_, More's _Utopia_, and Bacon's _New
Atlantis_, not to be found in the original English edition, is introduced.
This volume is entitled--

"The History of the Sevarambians, a people of the south continent, in
five parts, containing, &c. Translated from the Memoirs of Capt. Siden,
who lived fifteen years amongst them."

The work is included in the collection of _Voyages Imaginaires_, tom. v.,
where the editor speaks of the distinguished place which it holds among the
fictions of that class; but he says that its authorship was unknown or
uncertain. An account of another fictitious voyage to the Terra Australis,
with a description of an imaginary people, published in 1692, may be seen
in Bayle's _Dict._, art. SADEUR, _Voyages Imaginaires_, tom. xxiv.

According to the account given by Marchand, Vairasse began life by serving
in the army in Piedmont, and he afterwards studied the law. Subsequently he
went to England, where he is stated to have attempted to penetrate the
intrigues of the court, and to discover the maxims of the English
Government. In 1665, he was in the ship commanded by the Duke of York
against the Dutch; and some years afterwards, having been regarded as an
accomplice in the designs of a public minister (apparently Lord Clarendon),
he was forced to retire with him, and follow him to Paris. He re-entered
the military service, and was with the French army which invaded Holland in
1672. Afterwards he taught English and French at Paris; he likewise