Td90 aoe soL begmer yO % 
(GE rienoil ocd niOeneP A I Memoirs of Li 
Tad Ades ‘ted ort a jon'' te memoir of M. 
ian todcéphalows fetuses!’ M. 
olladot ae emoir oti the ‘Deviation 
of a M: agnétic! Yeedle exposed to the Ctir- 
felt Bom: an “Electri¢ Machine,’ and’ on the 
Electricity of th ‘the Clouds 3? and M+ Bec- 
“quéreone, on thie’ 'Chemicit’ Decomposi- 
tons affected Pe slight électrical forces.” — 
August » Moreau de Jonnés read 
a ‘memoir ¢ oli ‘the quantity of corn at pre- 
“sent ‘stored up i in Europe.” Dr- Audouard 
“communicated tivo Tetters regarding the 
“yellow ‘fever. ~M. Desfontaines, in’ the 
“hame of a commission, m made a favourable 
SH on’ the memoir of M. Turpin, en- 
f - 
DSS! 
titeity Ba 
OOM. TALMA. 
Since’ ‘the departure. of this’ ‘unrivalled 
omament of the French stage, the news- 
papers, ‘English as well as foreign, haye 
teomed with notices and anecdotes of his 
life. | “About: two years ago, M. Talma 
Whimself transmitted to’ the writer. of this 
osketeh an authorized memoir, which, with 
other ‘interesting materials before us, would 
occupy at least, sixteen pages of our maga- 
gine, Kor the leading facts and» dates of 
‘alma’s ‘life, we shall rely chiefly on. the 
memoir alluded to, filling up our brief 
- Notice from other authentic sources. 
Francis Joseph Talma was born at Paris, 
onthe 15th of January, 1766. His father, 
a celebrated © dentist»: having: -established 
himself in London, left him in France for 
the commencement iof his education... At 
the early age of ‘ten years, his scliool-mas- 
ter, or one of hiscassistants, having written 
a tragedy, entitled Tamerlane, young ‘Tal- 
ma was selected, on its representation, to 
personate one‘of the chief characters of the 
piece. So thoroughly did he enter ito the 
spirit’ of the performance—so completely 
was he-earried away by the iilusion of his 
imagination—that his feelings overpowered 
him, and: he was removed from the stage 
in a'state of agitation not to be described. 
‘Yalma’s. early'studies haying been com- 
pleted, ‘his father took him to, London. 
There some of his young countrymen, having 
invited him to join them in the performance 
of light French comedies, the noyelty of the 
spectacle attracted:a numerous and distin- 
guished audience, amongst whom appeared 
His Royal: Highness the Prince of Wales 
(now George IV.) and the Duke of York. 
‘This was at’ the anover Square Rooms, 
which were then under the superintendence 
of Sir John Gallini, | Talma’s performance, 
by its spirit aud crigmality of manner, at- 
tracted great notice ;.and, in consequence, 
Lord Harcourt and others exerted. their 
iifluence with: his father, to allow him’ to 
devote himself to the English stage. . Fa- 
mnily circumstances, howeyer, rendexed. this 
sume impracticable, and youtig ‘Talma 
returned to France. There he for ‘some 
vaontal, lnonlqn rapes. f-ogst - 
Eminent Persons. [ Dec. 
yhomoo if mriolisg of bormotyennos 
titled®“‘ observations on some microscopic 
‘vegetables, “and ‘on’ the ‘effect'produeell by 
‘those anulagous to:them: (n' the © fornma- 
tion® ‘and increase of | the: cellularomem- 
brane.” MM:'Mirbel and! Fresnéb reported 
‘on @ paper of M: Lollier, in whieh-he»pro- 
posed ‘to try°the:! action ‘of: the ‘coloured 
‘Yay$ of solar: light ono fowérs|without co- 
‘Jour, atid 'to‘employ electrical! ednductors 
for telegraphic correspondence.) M2) Geof- 
froy' St. Hilaire, ‘inv the name-of a eonimis- 
sion, read a memoir “on thevsingular Chi- 
nese human monstér -rezarding owhich! Dr. 
Bordot had made van ‘interesting: Commu- 
nication! to the para oor Aoyct ai 
7 i D* Omg 
rasibeqxs gi bsatush 
FAY? SSIRG 
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF EMINENT ( PERSONS!” h rei 
hd Neavey 
time. attended, the Royal School ‘of, Dasle- 
mation, under, the direction of .M 
Dugazon, and speedily obtained, pe ; 
to make his debut on. the stage.;., His, first 
appearance was in the character of, Seide, 
in Voltaire’s " ‘ragedy,of Mahomet, .on, the 
27th of November 1787... The effort.was 
eminently successfuls Henceforth, Talma 
devoted himself to..the, study, of his, art, 
sought with eagerness, the, society of men 
of. letters, of painters, and, of, sculptors, 
and determined toform a.style. of his own. 
This, notwithstanding the force of scent 
prejudice and innumerable other ‘obstac 
he accomplished...) He wrought.a, pass 
reformation. in, the, style, of, stage. wii 
causing all the, characters, tobe, attired, i 
the costume of the age and away ae 
which the. scene of, the. drawna,, might jhap- 
pen to be laid. sq anv -ond. doidyy 
At the commencement of, the, French 
Revolution,  Talma sas, most, intimately 
connected with Mirabeauw, and. oth r dema- 
gogues. ofthe day; and, he, yas Mee tan 
the leaders: of a political as, well as of ‘ 
theatrical faction... From, the Bernat of 
the French Bishops. to the performance . of 
the tragedy of Charles IX, in. consequence 
of itsallusions to, the massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew, a division. arose, amongst the 
actors. Those who were attached t to. Pan- 
cien régime, published. a memorial against 
Talma, who defended himself i ina pointed 
reply. Ultimately Talma,. wi Mito vel, 
Dugazon, and Madame Vestris, establis hed 
a new theatre in the Rue de, Ri che chieu, 
upon the scite of the old. Theatre. of -Varie- 
ties, which, by the. superior. talents. and 
reputation, of those, by whom it, was found- 
ed, soon took the first station, and, brought 
over the other performers.,))0 gcc ify siy 
Amongst the political friends of ‘aha be e~ 
sides Mirabeau, were Condorcet, Gens 
Claviére, &c. 'Tatma, was.an active) 
violent partizan ; consequently . he caatie- e- 
nounced with fury by the opposing factions ; 
and, upon more occasions than Tey dais es~ 
cape trom the scaffold was alii tule ti 
When , Larive,retined from, Ae stage, 
Talma, who until that period had beer 
