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Extraordinary Collection of Saltpetre in France.

ufual occupations, and to put them under intelligent and skilful masters; thefe alfo were to be inftructed by artists still more experienced, who would throw a light upon the practical part, rectify, fimplify, and intirely change it, in certain cafes, by taking advantage of the acquired and accurate knowledge of the first men of the kind: in fhort, it was neceffary, that all fhould be conftantly inftructed, moved to action, encouraged, and fuftained, by a powerful government, which gave every proof of being devoted to the fervice of its country, and was endowed with found judgment and energetic will. But, if I may be allowed the expreffion, it was neceffary to give impulfe to a whole nation, when the bufinefs was brought forward, of extracting every where the faltpetre earth contained in the French foil. This art was, in fact, an object more confined; it was almost generally unknown. Private interest was alarmed at seeing it fet on foot; and still more numerous prejudices produced a variety of obftacles. Men could not be perfuaded that perfons fo untaught, and at that time perfect ftrangers to the business, could all at once engage in it with fuccefs; they could not believe that France was fo rich in that precious commodity, which was never known to have been extracted in fufficient quantity for ordinary ufes; and of which a full fupply had only been obtained, by means of what was brought from India.

"In the mean time, at the invitation of the National Convention, proclaimed by a decree of the 14th of Frimaire, an. 2, the citizens gave themselves up to the making of faltpetre. The number of buildings erected in the Republic, on this grand occafion, amounted rapidly to 6000. Neceffary inftructions were every where diftributed by order of government. France was divided into large diftricts, each of which was continually furveyed, by an infpector fkilled in arts and fciUnder each inspector, in every department, was placed a former Director of the National Administration of Saltpetre Works; who appointed in each district, a citizen fufficiently intelligent to prefide over the formation of the offices, and to regulate the works; and thus was activity established in every place at once.

ences.

On the other hand, a fummons was iffued, for every district to fend two robuft and intelligent cannoniers to Paris, to receive their inftru&tions from the most

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skilful perfons *; who were to explain to them the art of preparing faltpetre-of refining it, and of making gunpowder; and to fome of them, the mode of cafting cannon. Thefe pupils were then fent back into the different establishments, according to their capacities, to affist in the works. Government kept up an active correfpondence with all its agents; it fupplied them occafionally with every neceffary, and every where made eafy the executive part. It was known, that every diftrict could eafily furnish a thoufand weight of faltpetre every decade, and orders were given for that quantity; places were pointed out where to fend it to; the means of conveying it were fixed upon; and frequent accounts were rendered of every operation. In fhort, fo much care produced the defired effects; more than fixteen millions of pounds of rough faltpetre were collected in one year; and the working of it up, although recalled in the following year, to the laws formerly enacted, still yielded nearly five millions and a half of this faline fubftance.

"But thus filling the magazines was not fufficient, it was neceffary to refine it for making powder; the former mode was too tedious, too embarraffing, in a word, was impracticable, confidering the urgent neceffity for powder. A new and more advantageous procefs was propofed by M. CARNY, which when properly executed, required lefs time, confumes lefs fuel, difpofes the falt petre to dry more readily, demands lefs extent of ground and buildings, and confequently occafions lefs lofs of faltpetre.

* There were fent to Paris, in confequence of this order, about 1,100 men, to whom Citizens GUYTON, FOUR CROY, DUFOURNY, BERTHOLET, CARNY, PLUVINET, MoNGE, HASSENFRATZ, and PERRIER, gave inftructive lectures, on the fabrication of faltpetre and cannon. This courfe commenced on the 1t Ventofe, an. 2. and the. fummary of each lecture was formed into a little work, and printed by order of the Committee of Public Safety. This Committee

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gave charge to Citizen MONGE, to draw up a complete defcription of the procefs for making cannon; in confequence of which, he published a most valuable work upon that fubject, in large 4to, with a number of plates.

The fumming up of the decadary accounts, addreffed officially to government, announce a prodnction of 16,754,039lbs of faltpetre, from the 14th Frimaire, an. 2. to the fame date, an. 3.

Cc 2

"In

194 Mr. Bruce on an Atmospherical Phenomenon at Edinburgh.

"In a fhort time, the refinery of l'Unité was built, on the abbey-ground of St. Germain-des-pres, at Paris. Saltpetre flowed there in profufion; and this establishment alone yielded in the refined ftate, regularly every day, near 30,000lbs*.

"As to the procefs of making powder, it has not only been abridged, brought to perfection in the old powder works, and carried to a degree of ftrength hitherto unknown; but a fabric, which may be called gigantic, the works of Grenelle, was erected at one of the extremities of Paris. There, methods altogether new, were put in practice, for mixing and triturating the ingredients, as well as rendering the compofition more compact, and for granulating it: the machines and mechanical means were alfo entirely newt. This immenfe fabric, which scarcely existed five months from its commencement, had delivered out to the armies more than 1500,000lbs. of good powder, before the conftructions neceflary to the establishment were compleated and, at a time, when it had proceeded fo far as to fabricate daily 33,000 weight of well conditioned powder, it was accidentally blown up, and reduced to a frightful heap of ruins.‡

clouds paffed over it, now and then the darkened part made a beautiful break, or interruption, which was presently restored when the cloud had paffed over. But the pillar, or body of light itself, had not the leaft appearance of that quivering or vibrating motion peculiar to aurora borealis; neither did it fhift its fituation during the whole time, fo far as could be obferved, which was a point or two to the north of eaft. About eight o'clock, or a quarter after, the fky grew hazy, then cloudy, and the whole was obfcured.

At its first appearance, and indeed all the day, there was a pretty high wefterly wind, and, except near the horizon, the fky was quite clear; but except the above perpendicular fiream of light, there was not the smallest appearance of aurora borealis vifible all the time.

If any of your correfpondents have obferved this phænomenon, or know of any fuch appearance upon record, it is requested they will be fo kind as to favour the public with their farther obfervations. Edinburgh, A. BRUCE.

13th Feb, 1798,

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

A

SIR,

S it is one object of your valuable Mifcellany to elucidate great and To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. interesting characters, by the publication

SIR,

of authentic documents, I communicate

AN uncommon phænomenon appeared the two following letters of Frederic the

in the fky laft night, and was obferved from about half past fix till near eight o'clock. It had the appearance of one large pillar or pencil of whiteish light, as if rifing from fome luminous body near the horizon; its lower part being hid behind Salisbury-Hill, where the light fhowed much brighter for a great way up, and as it afcended to the zenith, where it alfo diffipated, it grew much fainter and broader; the fixed itars being visible enough through it. Near the lower part, to the eaft, as fome fmall

*It was in part burnt, by accident, on the 4th Fructidor, an. 2. which circumftancce did not long interrupt the bufinefs, although it was renewed on a lefs fcale than before.

This new method of making powder, was ftill due to Citizen CARNY, whofe zeal was equal to his knowledge and talents.

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This catastrophe happened on the 14th. Fructidor, an. 2. It was thought to have. been occafioned by the imprudence of a workman, notwithstanding the strictest police and vigilance. It was afterwards judged prudent, to form feveral eftablishments on a fmaller fcale.

Great, King of Pruffia. They were first given to the German public, by Mr. Nicolai, of Berlin, who received them from the Duchefs of Brunswick, to whom they were written by that illuftrious monarch. The firft is on the death of her fon Leopold, a prince no lefs diftinguished for humanity than talents; the other, on the approach of his own diffolution, and written only fix days before that event. They both difplay the mild and philofophic firmnefs of a character on which fo much has been faid, and fo little is accurately known, because it has been delineated by men wanting either opportunity or abilities for fuch a talk. Even the celebrated Zimmermann has greatly mifrepresented this illuftrious monarch, in thofe anecdotes which Mr. Nicolai proves to be a fabrication of error and mifinformation.

LETTRE I.

I. S.

Ce 12 Mai, 1785.

MON ADORABLE SOEUR,

IL y a 70 ans paffés, que je fuis au monde,

et dans tout ce tems je n'ai vû que des jeux bizarres de la fortune, qui mêle quantitê

d'évé

Letters of the King of Pruffia.-Spanish Poetry.

d'événemens facheux à quelques favorables qui nous arrivent. Nous balottons fans ceffe entre beaucoup de chagrins, & quelques momens de fatisfaction. Voilà ma bonne foeur, le fort commun de tous les hommes ! Les jeunes gens doivent être plus fenfibles à la perte de leurs proches & de leurs amis, que les viellards. Les premiers fe refentent long tems de ces privations, au lieu que les perfonnes de nôtre age les fuivent dans peu. Les morts ont l'avantage d'être à l'abri de tous les coups de la fortune, & nous qui reftons en vie, nous y fommes fans ceffe expofés. Toutes ces reflexions, ma bonne foeur, ne font guères confolantes, je l'avoue. Heureufement que votre fageffe, & votre efprit vous ont donné la force de refifter à la douleur qu'éprouve une tendre mère, en perdant un de fes enfans cheris. Veuille le ciel continuer de vous affifter, en confervant une

foeur, qui fait le bonheur de ma vie ! Daignés ma bonne foeur, me croire avec le plus tendre attachement & la plus haute confideration. Mon adorable foeur, votre fidèle frère & ferviteur,

LETTRE II.

FEDERIC

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MY BELOVED SISTER,

I HAVE lived above 70 years in the world, and in all that time, I have feen nothing but the capricious freaks of fortune, who mingles with the few pleafing circumftances of our existence, a great number of mournful events. We fluctuate between continued troubles, and momentary gratifications. Such, my dear fifter, is the common lot of mankind! Young people cannot but feel the lofs of friends and relations, more acutely than

the old. The former continue long to recollect their lofs; while perfons, of our age, fhortly follow thofe whom they lament. The dead have the advantage of being beyond the reach of fortune, but we who remain alive, continue expofed to her fhafts. These reflections, my dear fifter, afford but little confolation, I confefs. Happily, your

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dom and fortitude enable you to bear up against that forrow, which a tender mother muft feel for the lofs of a beloved child. May heaven continue to fupport you, and preferve to me a fifter, who conftitutes the chief happinefs of my life. Believe me, my dear fifter, with the tendereft attachment, and the highest esteem, your faithful brother and fervant, FREDERIC.

LETTER II.

10th of Auguft, 1786.

MY BELOVED SISTER,

THE Havoverian phyfician* was defirous

of recommending himself to your favour, my dear fifter; but the truth is, that he was of little fervice to me. The old muft give place to the young, in order that each generation may find its place; and if we fairly enquire in what life confifts, it is in feeing our fellow-citizens fucceffively entering and quitting existence. Meanwhile, I should tell you, that I have felt myself rather easier for thefe few days paft. My heart remains inviolably attached to you, my dear fifter, and I am, with the highest esteem, my beloved fifter, your faithful friend and fervant, FREDERIC.

For the Monthly Magazine. ON THE POETRY OF SPAIN.

BERNARDINO de Rebolledo was a

count of the holy Roman empire, lord of Yrian, head of the Rebolledos of Caftille, knight of the order of Santiago, comendador and alcayde of Villanueva de Alcardete, governor and captain general of the Lower Palatinate, general of artillery, minifter plenipotentiary in Denmark, minifter of the fupreme council of war, &c. &c. but if Rebolledo had not been a poet, these titles would have been remembered only in the family pedigree, and on his own monument. On the 31st of May, 1597, he was baptized in Leon, his native city. From his earliest years, fays the Spanish biographer, our Bernardino difcovered his inclination for that happy union of arms and letters, which fo many have made. Two centuries ago this union was lefs extraordinary than at prefent: in England we had a Raleigh and a Sydney. Spain affords more inftances; Lope de Vega ferved in the Armada; Garcilafo died in battle, and the poem of Ercilla was written in his tent. But the world is grown wifer, though it may not have grown better, and the trade of war, once held fo honourable, is now estimated as it fhould be. At the age of fourteen

* Zimmermann.

Rebolledo

196
Rebolledo entered into the fleet of Naples
and Sicily, in which fervice he remained
eighteen years, and honourably diftin-
guifhed himself. Afterwards he fe ved
in Lombardy, under Spinola. At the
fiege of Cafal, his right arm was broken
by a mufket ball. Perhaps the poet re-
members his wound, when, in that part
of his "Selva Militar y Politica," which
treats of befieged places, he enumerates,
among the provifions neceffary for the
fiege, phyficians, furgeons, and medicine

Poetry of Spain....Bernardino de Rebolledo.

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Amid the toils and occupations of fo adventurous a life, Rebolledo produced thofe poems that have ranked him among the nine Caftilian mufes. They were printed feparately at Amberes and at Copenhagen. An edition, in four volumes, was published about thirty years fince at Madrid; but it is fuppofed, that fome of his publications efcaped the editor's fearch. The firft of thefe volumes contains his "Ocios," chiefly confifting of lyric pieces. From this volume a curious epiftle is extracted in the " Parnofo Efpanol," hitherto my guide.

The editor felects it as, in his opinion, the beft poem in the Ocios of Rebolledo, and as difplaying profound erudition, folid piety, exquifite taite, and accurate judgment. This praife is fomewhat enormous, for what he calls a Poema Bibliografico, and what may properly be ftated a catalogue in rhyme; for it is only a litt of books recommended to a young ftudent. In enumerating thefe, he begins with poetry; the names alone are mentioned of various poets, Greek, Latin, Italian, French, and Spanish, without one difcriminating epithet or remark; except that Virgil is called, agreeably to Spanish gallantry, "the elegant defamer of Dido." England is only mentioned under the head of hiftory, and the writers

he recommends are Camden, Hector Boethius, and Biondi, a name with which I am unacquainted. He advifes his friend to fly from the madness of Copernicus, whofe opinions are contrary to revelation and common fenfe. Afterwards he mentions all the books in the Old and New Testaments, and gives the number of chapters in each; recommends for frequent perufal, the works of St. Terefa and Kempis, and concludes thus; "as you now afpire to a more fecure state, you must abhor your former way of life; but if you look back upon iniquity, I fhall regard you as a new pillar of falt."

In the fame volume there is a madrigal, curiously exemplifying the text; "every one that exalteth himself shall be abafed, but he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." On the entrance into Biscay from Caftile, through the Sierra de Orduna, between the little towns, or rather perhaps villages of Berberana and Lezama, a ftream falls from the height of a mountain into a deep valley; through which a current of air continually paffes, with fuch force, as to fcatter the water on its fall, and sweep it away in vapour. The vapour, on its elevation, condenfes, and falls in perpetual rain. This fingular fport of nature is the fubject of this little poem.

With what a deafening roar yon torrent rolls Its weight of waters, from the precipice, Whofe mountain mafs darkens the hollow

vale!

Yet there it falls not, for the eternal wind, That fweeps, with force compreffed, the Scatters the midway ftream, and, borne afar, winding ftraits,

Methinks that Eolus here forms his clouds, The heavy mift defcends, a ceaseless shower. As Vulcan, amid Etna's cavern'd fires,

Shapes the red bolts of Jove. Sure if some fage

Of elder times, had journied here, his art, With many a myftic fable fhadowing truth, Had fanctified this fpot, where man might learn

Wisdom from nature; marking how the ftream, That feeks the valley's depth, borne upward, joins

The clouds of heaven; but from its height When it would rife, defcends to earth in rain.

abafed,

T. Y. [The analysis of the 2d and 3d volumes will be given in our next.]

( 197 )

WALPOLIANA;

OR BONS-MOTS, APOPHTHEGMS, OBSERVATIONS ON LIFE AND LITERATURE, WITH EXTRACTS FROM ORIGINAL LETTERS, OF THE LATE HORACE WALPOLE, EARL OF ORFORD,

NUMBER I.

This Article is communicated by a Literary Gentleman, for many years in habits of intimacy zwith Mr. WALPOLE. It is partly drawn up from a collection of Bons-Mots, &c. in his own band-writing; partly from Anecdotes written down after long Conversations with him, in which be would, from four o'Clock in the Afternoon, till two in the Morning, difplay thofe treasures of Anecdotes, with which his Rank, Wit, and Opportunities, had replenished his Memory; and partly from Original Letters to the Compiler, on jubjects of Tafe and Literature.

Mr. Gray, the poet, has often obferved to me, that, if any man were to form a book of what he had feen and heard himself, it must, in whatever hands, prove a most useful and entertaining one.

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III. THE CLERICAL GOWN.

Mr. Suckling, a clergyman of Norfolk, having a quarrel with a neighbouring gentleman, who infulted him, and at laft told him, "Doctor, your gown is your protection," replied, "it may be mine, but it shall not be your's;" pulled it off, and thrashed the aggreffor.

IV. PATRIOTISM OF WILKES.

Depend upon it, my dear Sir, that Wilkes was in the pay of France, during the Wilkes and liberty days. Calling one day on the French minifter, I obferved a book on his table, with Wilkes's name in the first leaf. This led to a converfation, which convinced me. Other circumstances, too long and minute to be repeated, ftrengthened, if neceffary, that conviction. I am as fure of it, as of any fact I know.

Wilkes at firft cringed to Lord Bute. The embaffy to Conftantinople was the object of his ambition. It was refufedand you know what followed.

* My Lord, I shall wait.

Walpole.

V. BUTE'S MINISTRY. Lord Bute was my fchool-fellow. He was a man of taste and science, and I do believe his intentions were good. He wished to blend and unite all parties. The tories were willing to come in for a Share ofpower, after having been fo long excluded-but the whigs were not willing to grant that share. Power is an intoxi cating draught; the more a man has, the more he defires.

VI. LADY WORTLEY MONTAGUE.

The letters of Lady Wortley Montague are genuine. I have feen the ori. ginals, among which are fome far fuperior to thofe in print. But fome of them cation was about to take place, Lord were very immodeft. When the publiBute, who had married her daughter, fent for the editor, and offered one hun

dred pounds to fupprefs them. The man took the money, promifed-and publifhed.

Lady Wortley Montague was a playfellow of mine when both were children. She was always a dirty little thing. This habit continued with her. When at Florence, the Grand Duke gave her apart ments in his palace. One room fufficed for every thing. When he went away, the stench was fo ftrong, that they were obliged to fumigate the chamber with vinegar for a week.

Pope gave her the Homer he had ufed in tranflating. I have got it: it is a finall edition by Wetftein. Here it is. She wrote that little poem in the blank leaves.

VII. CONJUGAL AFFECTION.

A French gentleman, being married a fecond time, was often lamenting his firft wife, before his fecond, who one day faid to him," Monfieur, je vous affure

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