Francois Xavier Joseph Droz, a French author, born in Besancon, Oct. 31, 1773, died Nov. 4, 1850. In 1803 he removed to Paris, where he became acquainted with the prominent philosophers of the day. After a variety of smaller works which failed to attract attention, he published in 1806 an Essai sur l'art d'etre heureux, which passed through numerous editions, and was translated into English. In 1812 he published Eloge de Montaigne, in 1815 Essai sur le beau dans les arts, and in 1823 De la philosophie morale, ou des diffe-rents systemes sur la science de la vie, which received the Monthyon prize, and paved the way to his admission to the French academy, La-martine being his competitor. In 1825 he wrote a book on the application of morals to philosophy and politics. He is also the author of an essay on political economy, and of a work on Christianity, which derives interest from the personal religious experiences added to the book, under the title of Aveux d'un philo-sophe Chretien, in which the author abandons his early theology and returns to the doctrines of the church of Home. His most important work is his Histoire du regne de Louis XVI. (3 vols., Paris, 1839-42), with an introduction on the history of France from Louis XIV.