gard to the solidity of the French doctrine relative to constituent and integrant molecules, and if we firmly believed in the infallibility of chemical analysis.

From the Count's observations, it moreover results that this mineral species is not confined to secondary strata, but that it occurs in some veins in primitive rocks. The idea of its transition into gypsum, by the intervention of water, which has introduced itself into the interior of the substance, as alleged by the Abbé Haüy, is very ably, and (we think) successfully combated. The Count is likewise inclined to dissent from the Abbé with respect to the determination of the primitive crystal of Bardiglione.

Notice respecting Native Concrete Boracic Acid. By Smithson Tennant, Esq., F.R.S. &c.-The purport of this notice is to apprize the public that the mineral substance to which it refers has been actually found in the Lipari islands; and to suggest its probable occurrence in volcanic districts.

Sketch of the Geology of Madeira. By the Hon. Henry Grey' Bennett, in a Letter to G. B. Greenough, Esq., F.R.S., Presi dent of the Geol. Soc.-Since the geology of Madeira has not hitherto formed an object of particular investigation, Mr. Bennett's hints may serve as the basis of future inquiries. Although this gentleman encountered no depositions of sulphur, the frequency of beds and currents of lava, and the occur rence of pumice, permit us not to doubt that, at some period, this island must have been the theatre of volcanic eruptions. Mr. B. thus concludes his brief communication:

To my mind, the most interesting geological facts are, 1st, The intersection of the lava by dykes at right angles with the strata. 2dly, The rapid dips the strata make, particularly the overlaying of that of the Brazen Head, to the eastward of Funchal, where the blue, grey, and red lavas are rolled up in one mass, and lie in a position as if they had all slipped together from an upper stratum. 3dly, The columnar form of the lava itself reposing on, and being covered by, beds of scorix, ashes, and pumice, which affords a strong argument for the volcanic origin of the columns themselves; and, 4thly, The veins of carbonate of lime and zeolite, which are not found here in solitary pieces as in the vicinity of Ætna and Vesuvius, but are amid the lavas and in the strata of pumice and tufa, and are diffused on the lava itself, and occasionally crystallized in its en vities.'

· Notice respecting the Decomposition of Sulphate of Iron by Animal Matter. By W. H. Pepys, Esq., F.R.S., Treasurer of the Geological Society. With a view to throw some light on the penetration of organic remains by pyrites, Mr. Pepys records the followng fact:

I was engaged a few years ago in a course of experiments on hydrogen gas, which was procured in the usual method, by the solution of iron tinnings in diluted sulphuric acid. The sulphate of iron hence resulting, to the amount of some quarts, was poured into a large earthen pitcher, and remained undisturbed and unnoticed for about a twelvemonth. At the end of this time, the vessel being wanted, I was about to throw away the liquor, when my attention was excited by an oily appearance on its surface, together with a yellowish powder, and a quantity of small hairs.

The powder, on examination, proved to be sulphur; and on pouring off carefully the supernatant liquor, there was discovered at the bottom of the vessel a sediment consisting of the bones of several mice, of small grains of pyrites, of sulphur, of crystallized greensulphate of iron, and of black muddy oxyd of iron.

These appearances may with much probability be attributed to. the mutual action of the animal matter and the sulphate of iron, by which a portion of the metallic salt seems to have been entirely deoxygenated.'

From these first fruits of the labours of the Geological Society, we are warranted to draw the most flattering auspices with respect to its future progress and utility; and we cannot," for a moment, listen to the insidious whispers, which would represent its existence and establishment as giving umbrage to the patrons of another associated body, whose views embrace the ample field of the three kingdoms of Nature, and an account of whose Transactions we have repeatedly had the pleasure of laying before the public. The two institutions are congenial, but not incompatible; and much important benefit may be derived from the united inquiries of individuals, directed to exclusive departments of the History of Nature.

ART. III. Historical Memoirs and Anecdotes of the Court of France, during the Favor of Madame de Pompadour; from original Paperspreserved in the Port-Folio of Madame la Marechale D' ***. ByJ. Soulavie, the Elder, Author of the Historical Memoirs of the Reign of Louis the Sixteenth. Second Edition. 8vo. pp. 428. 10s. Boards. Lindsell, and Longman and Co. 1811.

THE

HE lives of sovereigns well deserve a close inspection, not merely from being connected with the events of civil history, but as studies of human nature. Superior from station to the controul of others, and free from any anxious dread of public opinion, they are little coerced by the artificial restraints of subordination and society. They therefore usually exhibit the natural man in naked sincerity, and are found progressively to lay aside the hypocrisies of polish and the toil of courtesy. All. the advantages which a dramatic artist can derive from mingling,

among

among the vulgar and the young, in order to observe undisguised the instinctive moral propensities, he may also derive from contemplating the biographies, of kings. So many are interested in penetrating their characters, that they are known, to the core; and though this knowlege, while they live, may frequently be confined to the bystanders, it is gradually diffused into a wider circle, and at last becomes the property of history.

The character of Louis XV. had no marked peculiarity. He had a fine person, a regular understanding, and a mild temper. Ignorant, because he had been suffered to be idle, and without any habitual amusement, because he had never been compelled to habitual employment, he became the victim of a tedium bordering on hypochondriasis. His ennui amounted to annoy. With the intellect of academies obedient to his whisper, and with the revenues of a nation at his finger-ends, he was still unamusable; he could do as he liked, but he knew not what to do with. himself. Crebillon paints him in the Sultan of his novels, who, liftens to the voice of wit, presides at the banquet of luxury, and receives the caress of beauty, with the yawn of indifference and satiety.

the

At fifteen years of age, Louis married the Polish Princess Mary Leczinsky, daughter of the dethroned King Stanislaus. He served a seven years' apprenticeship to conjugal fidelity, and was rewarded by anumerous issue for his juvenile constancy. The Queen, however, was at least seven years older than the King; her beauty suffered by her repeated lyings-in; and at. age of thirty she found herself avowedly superseded in the King's affection by women of a more enticing form., Madame, de Mailly, and her sisters, were successively favourites of the monarch: but Madame d'Etioles, afterward Marchioness of Pompadour, had alone the power to fix the royal attentions.. She was of ordinary birth, a Mademoiselle Poisson, but had been drawn by her early beauty and fascinating accomplishments into high circles; where a wealthy nobleman, Monsieur le Normant d'Etioles, saw, admired, and married her. His love for her was stronger than her attachment to him. She threw herself repeatedly in the King's way, at hunting-parties, and elsewhere; her wiles succeeded: yet, even, after she. had forsaken her home to inhabit a villa belonging to the monarch, her husband was loud in his regret, and avowedly wished for a re-union. A letter of exile compelled him, to retire to Avignon, where his grief evaporated; and he at length determined to accept a pension of indemnity.

The History of the Court of France during the favor of Madame de Pompadour, says M. Soulavie in his Epistle Dedi

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catory,

catory, is the most useful present that modern literature can make to the sovereigns of Europe. An enemy to the esta blished religion of the nation, she was even the protectress and the rallying point of its adversaries; and, the Aspasia of philosophism, her drawing-room served to combine the men whose opinions were destined to shatter France with the explosions of a revolution. She was adapted by her attractions, her talents, and her licentiousness, for the situation which she assumed. Not only beautiful, she was gifted by nature with the expression of a consummate actress; and she could pass in a moment from asperity, or tears, to that smile of exulting gratitude and approbation, which recompences the generous lover for his ruin. Her passions were not less under command than her features; and she was never suspected of infidelity to the King, even with her obedient humble servant the Prince of Soubise. After her form had ceased to charm,-and it declined early,—hercomplaisance engaged her in the abominable office of providing younger (very young) companions for the private hours of his Majesty: but her influence, when confined to that of a Platonic friendship, was still unbounded. She distributed all the officers of the state, and obtained permission to sit in the presence of the Queen. She sold these offices, and enriched herself and her family with the perquisites.-The introduction of venality into public employments can never be meritorious in the individual who gains by it: nor can we in any view be advocates for it but perhaps it has this utility, that it reveals to the public what situations are overpaid, and would find competitors enough on smaller salaries. It has also the good effect of abolishing privileges of opinion, and of opening to Catholic or Protestant the road to advancement in the state. Birth sinks, and industry rises, in a scale of which the level is to be ascertained by golden weights; and if the community alone ought to profit by such sales, perhaps it does benefit indirectly by the diminished necessity for increasing the revenue of the sovereign.

On the subject of literature and literary men, much may be said in favour of Madame de Pompadour. She was greatly attached to Voltaire; she valued his sagacity and good sense; she contributed to give a fashion to his writings; and she obtained for him one of those "travelling fellowships," if we may so call them, which the French ministers for foreign affairs distribute among the young nobility, and which secure their introduction at the European courts. Some obligations of correspondence are connected with these half-official situations. Voltaire's first visit both to London and to Berlin is said. to have been thus facilitated.

During the administration of Cardinal Fleury, Louis XV. had prevented the election, as academician, of the author of Lettres Persannes: but, after the ascendancy of Madame de Pompadour, when Montesquieu fell ill, the King sent to inquire concerning his health. She brought Royal intolerance thus to apologize for its hostility to genius.

To Quesnay, also, the founder of the physiocratic sect, which maintained that the rent of fixed property is the only real source of revenue and the only proper object of taxation, Madame de P. always shewed a marked friendship, and bequeathed by will a considerable annuity.

Diderot, D'Alembert, and the Encyclopedists, had been ordered by the police to desist from printing their Encyclopedie at Paris, in consequence of the objections made by the Archbishop to the article Ame in the first volume; and they were obliged to treat for transferring their contract to Geneva. The covert interference of Madame de Pompadour, however, obtained a practical connivance at the continuation of the undertaking; and though Geneva was adopted for the epigraph of the title-page, the printing went on at Paris.

When the interests of France required that the King should accompany the armies into Flanders, Madame de P. chose to follow the camp, and forced the indolence of the monarch to attend in her train. Having perceived that Generals of rank over-ruled officers of merit, she induced the King to call in the critical aid of the Maréchal de Saxe, and to supersede the titled commanders, previously to the battle of Fontenoy.

The Queen, if she dissembled her jealousy, could not but feel mortification; and she sought comfort, or condolence, in a morose devotion, with which she had also inspired her son. Surrounded by ecclesiastics, especially of the Jesuitic class, the Dauphin and his mother lived with little pomp, and with an exemplary morality which attached to them the purer part of the community. M. Soulavie thus depicts this pious

court:

The virtuous and regular life led by the Dauphin and his wife, was a bitter and striking reflection on the life of the King, who lived in a state of separation from his wife.

The Queen was no longer either young, or handsome; she had, nevertheless, some remaining attractions, and a great deal of personal merit.

The Dauphin's second wife was a Saxon by birth; and brought with her, into France, a deep and ambitious character capable of very great undertakings. She had received a more studied and more diversified education, than that of the Princesses. She was learned, without any of those singularities which learning generally gives a woman. She lived in a very retired manner with her husband, REV. FEB. 1812.

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shewing