214 
not refuse, which gave him the opportunity 
of frequently remarking that he was made 
a prefect par lettre de cachet! Thus he was 
placed at the head of the most classical de- 
partment for geology. He saw himself on 
the spot where Pascal* had caused to be 
made the discovery of heights by the baro- 
meter; and here it was that M. Ramond 
brought it to perfection. It was here, also, 
that he announced his curious views on 
the diurnal movements of the atmosphere. 
Nor will his memory be easily forgotten at 
Auvergne ; for it was during his administra- 
tion that the establishment for the baths of 
Mont-d’Or took place. 
In January, 1813, he obtained leave to 
retire, and established himself once more at 
Paris, with the intention of applying the re- 
mainder of his days to the education of his 
son, and in editing definitively his researches 
on natural history, geology, and botany, to 
which he added memoirs of his life. But, 
during the invasion of the allied armies into 
Paris, his journals, correspondence, and all 
the materials he had collected, were in one 
fatal day destroyed by the Cossacks ; and, of 
all his works of forty years, recollections 
only remained. In such a calamity, nothing 
now was left him (says M. Cuvier) but to 
plunge himself again into immediate occu- 
pation. He fulfilled, in the most honour- 
able and advantageous manner for France, 
different functions with which he was 
charged ; and at last was nominated (June, 
1818) conseiller d’état ; from which, with- 
out any apparent cause, he was deprived, in 
1802. He supported this last disgrace, per- 
fectly unmerited, as he had the other inci- 
dents of his life to which fate had exposed 
him. Neither the gaiety of his conversation, 
nor the piquant energy of his ideas, suffered : 
indeed, one might have said that age had 
added fire to his discourses; and, even to 
his last homents, his temperament and the 
vivacity of his manner not only brought to 
one’s recollection the painter of the moun- 
tains, but the historian also who ably charac- 
terized those persons who had appeared on 
the political, scientific, and literary horizon, 
well judging his fellow-beings through all 
the phases of an adventurous life and a 
sanguinary revolution.—He died in the pre- 
sent year. 
THE HON. MRS. DAMER. 
The Hon. Mrs. Damer was the daughter 
of Field Marshal Conway, by his wife, the 
beautiful and accomplished widow of the 
Earl of Aylesbury. Miss Conway was born 
in the year 1748. Her father lived on terms 
of intimacy with all the men of genius and 
taste who were his contemporaries. The 
Hon. Horatio Walpole, afterwards Earl of 
Orford, was one of his oldest friends. Struck, 
* The famous experiment made at Puy-de- 
Dome was performed by M. Perrier, the brother- 
in-law of Paseal ; but it was repeated afterwards 
onthe tower of the chureh of St. Jacques-de-la- 
Boucherie, at Paris, where Pascal himself ascer- 
tained its complete success. 
Bwgraphical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 
[Aveust, 
at a very early period, with the dawning ge- 
nius of Miss Conway, his lordship employed 
every means within the power of friendship, 
cultivated taste, and polished society, to 
render her as complete: in every classical 
perfection of mind, as nature had made her 
in person. Of all the minor accomplish- 
ments indispensable to an elegant woman, 
she soon became mistress. Nor did she rest 
satisfied with these, but made herself con-~ 
versant with the best authors in the English, 
French, and Italian languages, and also 
acquired a competent knowledge of ‘Latin. 
After the dismissal of many a lover, Miss 
Conway, in 1767, married Mr. Damer. 
With that gentleman she lived until 1778, 
when a melancholy death deprived her of his 
society and protection. 
Mrs. Damer was long an interesting ob- 
ject of anxiety to her relatives and friends. 
It was from her own resources, however, 
that she derived the truest consolation. She 
dedicated all her hours to the cultivation of 
her talents : she read during whole days; and, 
when reading fatigued her, she took up the 
pencil, or applied herself to the chisel. 
Early in life she had began to model in wax ; 
and she gradually attained higher flights of 
art, until, at length, she established a claim 
to be ranked amongst the artists of her coun- 
try. What Maria Cosway and Angelica 
Kauffman were in painting, Mrs. Damer 
was in sculpture. Indeed, had it not been 
for an express, and certainly very ungallant, 
decree of the Royal Academy, for the exclu- 
sion of female artists as members of that 
body, Mrs. Damer would have been duly 
enrolled at Somerset House. Ceracchi, who 
was executed at Paris, in the year 1802, had 
been one of her masters in sculpture. 
Amongst the productions of Mrs. Damer’s 
chisel were—a noble statue of King George 
the Third, which formerly embellished the 
Leverian Museum ; a statue of Mrs. Sid< 
dons ; several fine busts ; the colossal heads 
of Thame and Isis, which form the orna- 
ments of Henley-bridge; and an eagle, 
which Horace Walpole fondly coneeees to 
the works of Praxiteles. 
Wherever taste, elegance, and accom- 
plishments were prized, Mrs. Damer found 
admirers and friends. His Grace the Duke 
of Richmond (grand-uncle to the present 
duke) distinguished her with a very marked 
portion of his esteem, and obtained, with 
sincere satisfaction to the lovers. of the dra- 
ma, her assistance in his private theatricals. 
Mrs. Damer was the Thalia of the scene. 
Her Violante, in “ The Wonder,” with 
Lady Henry Fitzgerald, as Don Felix— 
Mrs. Lovemore, in ** The Way to Keep 
Him,” with Lady Buckinghamshire as the 
widow Belmour—and Lady Freelove, in 
* The Jealous Wife,”’ with Lady Bucking- 
hamshire as Mrs. Oakley—are yet remem- 
bered by many with feelings of delight i 
admiration. 
Horace Walpole, Lord. Orford, the ola 
friend of Mrs. Damer’s father, participated 
—— 
