640 



Retrofpe£l of French Literature. — Mifcellaneous. 



«).tde acquainted with the fecret hiftory 

 of the dil'giace of M. D'Argerfon and 

 De C'loil'eul, as well a's ihe pirticulais of 

 the elevation and the fall of kver.U other 

 minirters. 



Tne details relative to the death of 

 Louis XV., are (hocking, if we cither 

 confider the fiiuation of ihat inonirch on 

 liis dea'-h bed, or the account of his bu- 

 »ial. M. De Vtnguyon, the Chmcellor 

 Minpeou, the Prelii'ent De Lamoignon, 

 M. De Vergrnncs, M. De Nicker, whf> on 

 Ms recall laved the aiuh< r fiom the fury of 

 The mob, M. De Muy, M. De Sai.t- 

 GLfmain, M. M. de Csl^rifs and Segur, 

 Midav.e de GuemenCi and Madame Oe 

 olignac, all p>!s in review before him. 



The Baron coes not apiiear to hive 

 given a very favourable account of Ma- 

 ne An.rinet;e, the late unfor'.unate Queen 

 of F. ar.ce, alth' iU;h he e^ joye;1 her confi. 

 d lite, and had accefs to her M.ijelty on ail 

 occ«fjons. He defcribes the duel between 

 tlv: Count D'Art->i3 and the Duke De 

 Bourbon with mici minu entfs, airi ap- 

 pears on n'oie than one occWiou to have 

 written the leticrs and dictated the an- 

 fwcr.t (if the fwrmtr of ihel'e i>riiices. 



The third volume contains an account 

 of the operations of M. de Lam ^iE;n!n, 

 M. De Calonne, M. Necker, &c., &c. 



Thrfe merr' liis are wrjrten with linnpli- 

 city, and muit be read with intereil, mere 

 efpeciaDy on the part of thofe who have 

 been acquainted with the late Cpurt of 

 Virfailies. VVe perceive, from the ac- 

 knowledgment* of a ni bleman intimately 

 acquainted with all its tranfaffions, that 

 e\ery th'ng wis acccnipiifhed by inrrigue, 

 that merit had no cha;;ce of preferment, 

 ami that influence ahme predominated. 

 Jnftead of attending to n's mili'.ary ar- 

 rangemen's, we find the author, although 

 a loreianer, ad a co'oncl of the Swils- 

 guirds, inteitcrirg in the nomination of 

 n>in;fters, directing the civil operations of 

 government, and cabalbng about the ad- 

 vancement cf favourites. 



" Voyage dans les qintre principales 

 lies des Mei s d'Afiique, fait par Ordre 

 du Governenicnt; pendart les Annees IX. 

 et X. tie la Rfpubbque (1801 et 1802) ; 

 avec l-Hiftoire de la Fiaveifee du- Capi- 

 tainc B vUD:N jufqu' nu P rt-Louis de 

 rifli Maurice ; par J. B. G. M. Bory 

 HE St. -Vincent, Oificinr d'Etat-Majc, 

 NatBiahftc cii Chtf (iir la Corvette Le 

 Natural lie, dans L'Eipe 'ition des De- 

 couvertiS command ee par le Capitaine 

 Baudin." — A Voyage to the four princi- 

 pal Iflands tn the Atncan Seas, by Order 

 •f the Government, duii.g the Years IX- 



and X cf the RepuMic (1801 ant? tSoz), 

 wi h the Hitfory of the PalTage of Captain 

 Bandm to Poit-Lou's in the Ifland of 

 Maiiiitliis, &c., &:c. 



M. Bory De St. Vincent having a decid- 

 ed a tachment to travels and voyiges, 

 dr-emed htmftlf peculiarly fortunate in 

 being empli-.ed in the exp; ition com- 

 manded by Capt in Baiidin. He ^cc rd- 

 ingly embarked on board 'e co'vtte* 

 calbd the Natural (fe, in qtialitv oi cnief 

 naturalilf to the expcd tion. They failed 

 from Havre on the 2 7,th ot' Vendemiaire oi 

 the Th year, and ai lived at the poit of 

 St. Croix In til" idanf of Teneriffe afier a 

 voyage ot no moie than (ourtetii days du- 

 ration. 



We are here fiv.?uied with a foccmfl 

 account of the firft inhabitants of tiie Ca- 

 naries, ufually dtnomi ated Guantf-.s^ 

 who always cmbalincJ : eir dead, a cuf- 

 tom fuppo'ed to l>c derived from the an- 

 C;ent Fgy - ians. Several fragments of 

 mimimes arc accordingly to he met with 

 at Teni riff ; and iiir traveller aflerts that 

 he polT^lTesa com,>Iete one. Fliofe called 

 xoxo by the perfor s who pre|,ar d them, 

 after being d:ied, were (cwed ud in (kins, 

 and then dep^fited in grottos, which were 

 refpefled as a facred aiylum. 



Af er !re;iting of the numerical ft^m, 

 which confi/fed ot baked earth, and alTert- 

 ing th-r the GuancS'.es, being Uiiacquai'tT 

 ed vi'i;h the precious metals, made ufe of 

 no other money, he proceeds to give a de- 

 fcrif.tionof the principal towns. 



Soon after this follows an account of the 

 Ifle of France and its produSinns. M. 

 De St. Vircent mentons not orly what- 

 ever is rare in the vegetable kingdom, but 

 alfo in theadjoinii-.g leas ; and hedeicrihes 

 the lingular movements of ?n animal 

 caded bourfe, or the teiraodon tortue, 

 with particular accuracy. Am mg the in-; 

 (eel tribes, he notices the kahrrlac and 

 the yellow-mufquito as paniculaily offeu- 

 live. 



.-^ficr tii.is he vifitsthe I(le cf Bourbon, 

 v»hich during the Revolution was termed 

 Ifle de la Reunion. The coffee tree has. 

 been introduced here, but its berries are 

 acknowledged to be far inferior in point 

 of flavour to thoie produced at Cayenne 

 or St. Domingo. Our traveller, while 

 there, vifued thofe p^rts ^ the mcunt.iins 

 famous for being the frat of volcanoes, 

 and affixed the name of Dlomeu to t'.e 

 central crater of the mod dillinguifhed 



* The French corvette is on the I'aTie 

 eftjbliihnrient in every particular ■a% an EnglilT* 

 (loop of war. 



one. 



