Career
Afterwards he was appointed pastor to several small parishes in Normandy. In 1690, at the suggestion of Fontenelle and the Abbé de Saint-Pierre, he wrote his Histoire de la conjuration de Portugal. The book was received with favour, and in 1695 appeared the Histoire des révolutions de Suède (History of the Swedish revolutions).
Besides contributions to the Mémoires of the Académie and other minor works, he wrote the Révolutions romains (1719) and Histoire des chevaliers hospitaliers de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem (History of the Knights Hospitallers).
Another interpretation of the comment is that he simply wished to get rid of an intruder who was trying to force upon him documents whose authenticity was very doubtful.