As both sorts of bile were his ordinary executioners and ours, after he had discharged his venom on the multitude, there still remained much more in reserve for his own wretchedness. He was more ambitious than all the rest of the world combined; he was as covetous as any individual who can be mentioned; and while he was prodigal and lavish of the substance of the people, and of the revenues of his prince, he was extremely œconomical of his own. If he was cruel to those who offended him, he was irreconcileable to those whom he had once injured. In return for the numberless favours which he received from the Queen-mother, who had raised him to the summit of influence and honour, this ungrateful man ceased not from his machinations, till he had created a misunderstanding between her and the king, her son; till he compelled her to quit France, and wander, as a fugitive, from kingdom to kingdom, from eity to city, and, at length, to take refuge in Cologne, where she expired in consequence of his wicked devices. That he might triumph over her even after death, and testify his immortal hatred, he controuled at pleasure the terms of her last will; and for five months, during which he continued to live, he denied the right of sepulture to her remains, which, during all that time, had no other grave than her chamber. He condemned many noblemen of distinction to perpetual imprisonment, and many more to banishment. He made his king's court a desert to increase his own; and he proscribed an incredible number of people of rank and military station, lest they should oppose his pernicious counsels. In short, the French never manifested so much moderation, and never contemplated more calamitous and bloody scenes.”— The rest of the canvass is of the same horrible colouring, and seriously admonishes the rulers of nations to beware of delegating power to an unprincipled individual. Only three letters are published as from the pen of the Countess of Caylus: which, though neatly expressed, have no claims on our particular notice. In concluding our report, we have to observe, in general, that these Recollections contain several passages that are at once entertaining and beautiful; others which possess no peculiar attractions; and a few which all who are interested in the preservation of good morals could wish to blot out for ever. In several places we have perceived a want of precision in the style, and a strange partiality to laconic sentences and paragraphs: but the performance, on the whole, whether posthumous or not, can scarcely fail to be acceptable to those readers who are fond of memoirs, anecdotes, and sketches of distinguished characters. ART. X. Tableau Elementaire de Botanique, &c.; ir. An Elementary View of Botany, in which all the constituent Parts of Vege tables are explained in the most intelligible Manner; with an Account of the Systems of Tournefort and Linné, and of the natural Families of Jussien. By SEBASTIAN GERARDIN (de Mirecourt,) Ex-Professor of Natural History in the Central School of the Vosges, and attached to the Museum of Natural History of Paris. 8vo. pp. 470. Paris. 1805. Imported by De Boffe. Price 8s. sewed. THE HIS modest treatise is professedly destined for those botanical students, who cannot easily afford the more expensive elementary works. It is dedicated to François de Neufchâteau, President of the Conservative Senate, &c.; who, in the midst of a bustling political career, has deigned to direct his attention to the promotion of science. From a marginal note annexed to the preliminary discourse, we are sorry to observe that the author, who has devoted thirty years of his life to the study of Natural History, has been obliged to struggle with those pecuniary embarrassments which so often repress the zeal and ardour of inquiry. Previously to entering on the explanatory parts of his work, M. GERARDIN gives a short historical abstract of the progress of Botany, from the earliest to the present times; and succinct biographical sketches of Tournefort, Linné, and Bernard de Jussieu. The subject of the book properly commences with definitions of Botany and Vegetables, and then treats successively of the seed, germination, roots, stems, branches, external and internal organization, buds, leaves, organs of reproduction, times of flowering, constituent parts and modifications of the flowers, of the fruit, diseases, and death of plants; and these physiological details are succeeded by an exposition of the methods of botanists, especially of those of Tournefort, Linné, and Jussieu. This ample and accurate view of the modern nomenclature of the science is followed by some excellent directions for laying out a Botanic Garden to the best advantage, on a small scale; and for preparing a hortus siccus according to the author's successful practice. The medical virtues of plants most generally known are set down in alphabetical order. An analytical table of the contents, and an explanation of the plates, (which are very neatly executed,) conclude the vo lume. From this rapid sketch of M. GERARDIN's publication, it will be manifest that it can afford little scope for criticism, or entertaining extracts. The various definitions and explanations are stated with becoming plainness and precision; and if the L12 reader reader should sometimes wish for more particular information, he should recollect that the author purposely aimed at brevity, and intended only a volume of moderate size. The writings, from which he seems chiefly to have condensed his compilation, are those of his countrymen Jussieu, Lamarck, Desfontaines, and Ventenat: while the list of the medical properties of the most popular plants is avowedly borrowed from Gilibert's Demonstrations de Botanique, Buchan's Domestic Medicine, and the Encyclopedie Methodique. Here we may be allowed to express our regret that no mention is made of Woodville's Medical Botany; and that the alleged uses are, in general, noted with too little discrimination. The subsequent remarks will be found to merit the attention of the curious: It was long supposed, is still believed, and has been repeatedly affirmed to me by the forest officers, that the number of the years of a tree can be ascertained by that of its concentric ligneous layers. But this is, doubtless, a fallacious criterion; for the celebrated Duhamel has very properly observed, that there are a great many trees which do not complete a layer in the course of a year; while others, from causes which are unknown to us, produce several in the same space of time. Some botanists have imagined that the vegetable life of trees depends in part on the existence of their pith. Hence we may presume that they never saw, as we do every day, many willows, oaks, &c. of a considerable diameter, which are not only hollow within, but often retain only the half or the fourth part of their trunk; and that, too, of a very trifling thickness, covered with a rotten back, and which nevertheless produce every year new branches, leaves, and even fruit. An important observation of M. Ramatuel, communicated by M. Ventenat, in his excellent Botanical Dictionary, p. 48. strikes us as too interesting to be passed over in silence. "Such exotic plants," says he, "as have scaly buds both at the base of the leaves and at the top of the stems, can exist in the open air, whereas those which have them at the base of the leaves only will perish unless they be reared "in a hot house." I have tried the experiment indicated by these authors, in my own garden, which is exposed to a very cold tempera. ture, and it has completely succeeded." The original parts of M. GERARDIN's book, and which are really intitled to the consideration of every botanist, are those which relate to the distribution of a garden, and the proper management of an herbal: but, as we cannot follow him in all his details, especially without the aid of the plates,—and as those who are anxious to avail themselves of his instructions will, no doubt, have recourse to the original,- we shall only mention that, in the course of two or three years, an arpent of neglected surface was converted into the orderly and beautiful repository of nine hundred and fifty-seven species of herba ceous plants, and one hundred and twenty trees and shrubs; and that the author's herbal consists of twenty-two port folios, containing between two and three thousand species, in the most approved state of preservation, Should any of our countrymen be induced to translate, this Elementary Essay, we would recommend the suppression of those parts which relate to the methods of Tournefort and Jus-; sieu, and which are chiefly adapted to the exigencies of continental botanists. This retrenchment would, in course, leave room for a greater extent of more important explanations; or it might admit the incorporation of the must useful parts of other works of a similar description. ART. XI. Vogage en Portugal, &c.; ie. Travels in Portugal, by the Count of HOFFMANSEGG, prepared for the Press by M. Link, being a Supplement to his Travels in the same Country. 8vo. pp. 350. Paris. 1805. Imported by De Boffe. Price 6s. sewed. The Br Y referring to the 41st volume of our New Series (p. 167.), the reader will find an account of Professor Link's Travels in Portugal; and we mentioned that, on his return to Germany, he left his companion, the Count of HOFFMANSEGG, to prosecute some farther journeys in the same country. object of this supplementary volume is to correct some misstatements which occur in the preceding, and to convey the additional information suggested by the Count's subsequent excursions. M. Link holds himself responsible for the manner in which he has digested the materials, and for the physical and moral observations which he has blended with them. The first chapter contains a series of rather minute and dry remarks on the province of Tras os Montès. The elevated soil of this district frequently gives birth to plants which are not found in the lower valleys of Portugal; and the Serra de Navalheira is particularly noticed on account of its fertility and diversified vegetation. Among other rare plants, it produces Pistacia Terebinthus, the wild vine, which twists round the trunks of the largest trees to the height of forty or fifty feet; Saxifraga hypnoides; and various mosses which overgrow the rocks. This valley is narrow, picturesque, and covered with brushwood. The only iron foundery in the kingdom is at Chapa Cunha, under the direction of Antonio Braga, who has introduced some important improvements in the process of converting the ore into metal. The same gentleman discovered plumbago at Ventizello: but he was enjoined by the government to desist from his researches. In the second chapter, which relates to the province of Entro Minke Douro, the obliging and disinterested hospitality of the inhabitants of the banks of the Homen is commemorated with warmth and gratitude. We are here transported into a new Arcadia, surrounded by inaccessible rocks, where the traveller is received with boundless confidence and an unceasing cheerfulness, which sweeten every moment of his stay.' With respect to this province in general, Southern Europe,' the author remarks, presents no country in which, under a temperate and even a warm climate, are to be found so many valleys shaded by beautiful trees, and watered by limpid streams;-in which, too, the culture of the ground, and the active industry of a numerous population, are combined with the charms of nature. I may add, a country of which the amiable inhabitants welcome every traveller with confidence and kind ness. • Minho, compared with the other provinces, contains a great many considerable towns and villages. A part of the population is, however, scattered in detached houses. There are Concelhos of two thousand and even of five thousand families, including the separate dwellings, which are dispersed to some distance from the place itself. This circumstance forms one of the principal comforts of the district. When we have reached one of these fine valleys, we always travel among men ; one habitation succeeds another; a continued shade protects us from the solar rays; and clear rivulets diffuse that agreeable coolness, which, under these degrees of latitude, is felt with a gratifica tion unknown to the inhabitants of northern countries. The fair plains of the south of Europe, as for example those of Italy, borrow their charms from art. The Appennines, if we except a few valleys, present a sombre and uniform aspect, and the upper parts of Italy and the south of France begin to verge too much to the north. Ac cording to the descriptions of antient and modern authors, the beautiful Tempe must resemble one of these delightful valleys of the Minho.' The province of Beira forms the subject of the third chapter. One of the principal objects, on which the writer here dwells with complacency, is the romantic and majestic site of the convent of Bussaco. This religious house is occupied by Carmelite monks of the order of Marianos; and without permission from the General of the order, no stranger is allowed to intrude on their privacy. Much of their time is passed in the performance of stated acts of devotion; and their rules proscribe butcher's meat and conversation. They are, however, permitted to talk to one another once in a fortnight, during an evening walk. The prior alone can receive and converse with strangers; and as none had visited him for a long time, he amply availed himself of his privilege, and talked incessantly with these travellers. They were treated |