OBITUARIES, FOREIGN. 



mained an invalid until the time of his death ; 

 still he continued at intervals to compose his 

 merry music. His last published work was 

 "La Fille du Tambour Major." At the time 

 of his death the Opera Comique was preparing 

 to produce his new and most ambitious work, 

 " Les Contes d'Hoffmann." Besides this, he 

 left behind him a three- act opera, "La Belle 

 Lurette." 



ORENSE, JOSE MARIA D'ALBAIDA, Marquis, a 

 Spanish statesman, born in 1802 ; died No- 

 vember, 1880. He took throughout his life an 

 active part in all the republican movements in 

 Spain. He headed the republican insurrection 

 in Madrid in 1848. In 1868, after the overthrow 

 of Isabella, lie was the chief agitator for the 

 establishment of a federal republic, and became 

 chairman of the Liberal Committee, which de- 

 manded the abolition of slavery in the colo- 

 nies. On the abdication of Amadeo in 1873, 

 there was a general call for Orense to assume 

 the Presidency of the Republic; but he de- 

 clined, and absented himself from Madrid, 

 though he subsequently accepted the Presi- 

 dency of the Cortes for a brief period. Under 

 Alfonso XII he took little part in public affairs. 



PEREIRE, ISAAC, a French financier, was born 

 November 25, 1806 ; died July 12, 1880. He 

 was, with his brother Emile, an ardent votary 

 of St. Simonism, and he was the last survivor 

 of the great representatives of that school. He 

 originated the idea of publishing a daily report 

 of the Bourse, which appeared at first in the 

 " Journal des Debats." He had previously 

 contributed financial articles to the " Globe " 

 and the " Temps." With his brother Emile he 

 was largely interested in the construction of 

 French and Austrian railroads, and of a num- 

 ber of other public works. They were the 

 founders and chief managers of the Credit Mo- 

 bilier. Ten years ago he became blind, but he 

 never ceased to take the greatest interest in 

 the financial schemes of his day, and the 

 movements of the Bourse. He had bought 

 the daily paper "La Liberte," and was himself 

 its editor - in - chief. His contributions for 

 charitable purposes were very large. Shortly 

 before his death he offered 100,000 francs for 

 the best essay on the distinction of pauperism. 

 He was from 1863 to 1869 member of the 

 Corps Legislatif. He published in 1864 a 

 brochure, entitled " Le Role de la Banque de 

 France et 1'Organisation du Credit en France." 



PETERS, CHRISTIAN AUGUST FRIEDRICH, a 

 German astronomer, born September 7, 1806; 

 died May 8, 1880. He was employed in the Ob- 

 servatory of Hamburg, and afterward of Pul- 

 kova, near St. Petersburg, and in 1839 became 

 a director of the latter. He was appointed in 

 1849 Professor of Astronomy at Konigsberg, 

 in 1854 director of the Observatory of Altona, 

 in 1872 director of the new Observatory of 

 Kiel, and in 1873 professor of the university 

 of the same city. He reported on his discov- 

 eries and observations in Schumacher's " As- 

 tronomische Nachricten," in the memoires 



and bulletins of the Academy of St. Peters- 

 burg, and in the " Zeitschrift fur PopulareMit- 

 theilungen aus dem Gebiete der Astronomie," 

 of which he himself was the editor. 



PLANCHE, JAMES ROBINSON, an English au- 

 thor, born in London, February 27, 1796 ; died 

 May 30, 1880. He produced more than 

 two hundred plays for the theatre, of which 

 " Charles XII " was considered one of the best. 

 He also wrote a number of works on antiqua- 

 rian subjects. 



POUJOULAT, JEAN JOSEPH FRANQOIS, a French 

 author, born at La Fare, Bouches-du-Rhone, 

 February 26, 1808 ; died at Paris, January 7, 

 1880. The first part of his life was mainly de- 

 voted to travel, the second to politics, and the 

 third to essay-writing. He formed, when a 

 very young man, the idea of illustrating the 

 history of the Crusades, and for that purpose 

 made extensive journeys in the East, the re- 

 sults of which he published conjointly with 

 Michaud. He wrote a history of the French 

 Revolution, biographies of St. Augustine 

 (whose complete works he translated), Bos- 

 suet, Cardinal Maury, and many others. In 

 the Constituent Assembly, to which he was 

 elected in 1848, as well as in the Legislative 

 Assembly, he constantly voted with the Right, 

 the principles of which he defended in the 

 brochure " La Droite et sa Mission." 



RICASOLI, BETTING, Baron, an Italian states- 

 man, born at Florence, March 9, 1809; died at 

 Rome, October 24, 1880. He was descended 

 from an ancient noble family, and, after re- 

 ceiving an excellent education, devoted him- 

 self with great success to the cultivation of his 

 extensive lands in the Maremma of Grosseto. 

 He began to take an active part in Italian poli- 

 tics in 1847, when, conjointly with other Lib- 

 erals, he demanded the introduction of con- 

 stitutional institutions and of a liberal press 

 law. In the same year he became gonfaloniere 

 (mayor) of Florence. In 1848 he was elected 

 member of the Tuscan Parliament, but in Oc- 

 tober of the same year he resigned, because he 

 was opposed to the radical policy of Guerazzi 

 and Montanelli, which was then in the ascen- 

 dancy. After the battle of Novara, Ricasoli was 

 in favor of recalling the Grand Duke; but 

 when the latter invoked the invasion of Aus- 

 tria, and refused to restore the Constitution of 

 1848, he retired to private life, and did not re- 

 appear in politics until 1856. In 1859 he took 

 a leading part in the overthrow of the Tuscan 

 dynasty, and the union of the country with 

 Sardinia. He was regarded as the principal 

 coadjutor of Cavour in building the edifice of 

 united Italy; and on the death of the latter, 

 in 1861, became himself Priine Minister. In 

 March, 1863, he was succeeded by Rattazzi, 

 but he was recalled to the headship of the 

 Ministry in 1866. He tried to regulate the re- 

 lations between Italy and the Catholic Church 

 by complete separation between church and 

 state; but, being unable to secure a compact 

 majority in Parliament, he resigned in April, 



