BOULTON, MATTHEW. 



BOURBON. 



be particularly addicted himself to the somewhat dry pursuit o! 

 genealogical history. After a abort period of military *ervice, embar- 

 rassed family circumstance*, arising chiefly from an imprudent second 

 marriage which hi* father contracted late in life, induced him to quit 

 the army, and to live upon bis estate* in retirement His time was 

 devoted to literature; but none of hi* writing* were published from lit* 

 own manuscript! till after hi* death, which took place on January 23rd, 

 17Z1 Hi* work* on different portion* of the feudal history of bis owu 

 country occupy three volume* folio, and are characterised by the 

 President Hcnault a* being so rigidly framed on a false system, as to 

 permit their author to appear " ni bon critique, ni bon publiciste." 

 Mouteequieu and Voltaire however give a more favourable judgment 

 perhaps from partiality for his sceptical principle*. A marked anti- 

 pathy to revelation pervade* hi* writings, and exhibits itself in singular 

 contrast with a superstitious reverence for judicial astrology, and the 

 mystic sciences, which be cultivated with much diligence. A ' Life of 

 Mohammed* extend* only to the Hegira, and represent* him as a 

 bbuueloM hero. Languet du Fresuoy committed to the press the 

 manuscript of the treatise which ia called ' Refutation de* Erreurs de 

 Benoit de Spinosa, par M. da Fe'ne'lon, Archeveque de Cambray, par 

 le Pore Loui* rVuexlictin, et par M. le Comte do Boulainvilliera ; avec 

 la Vie de Splnoaa, ecrite par Jean Colerus, miuistro de l'r'gli*e 

 Lntherieune h la Haye, augment^ de beauooup de Particularites 

 tire* d'une Vie mauuscrite de ce philosophe faite par un de sea amis' 

 (Lucas, a physician), Brussels, 1731, 8vo. The tract instead of being, 

 a* it* title import*, a refutation of Spinoao, is an arrangement and a 

 defence of his materialism. In the well-known letters on the Purlin- 

 menu of France, which were translated into English, the author 

 bow* clearly that ho was fully aware of the defects of the political 

 system of France, as exhibited in the want of an efficient national 

 legislature. 



BOULTON, MATTHKW, was born September 3rd, 1723, atP.ir- 

 mingham, where his father carried on the business of a hardwareuian. 

 He received an ordinary education at a school at Deritend ; and also 

 acquired a knowledge of drawing and mathematics. At the age of 

 seventeen be effected some improvements in shoe-buckles, buttons, and 

 several other article* of Birmingham manufacture. The death of his 

 father left him in possession of considerable property ; and in order 

 to extend his commercial operation*, be purchased, about 1762, a 

 lease of Soho, near Handswortb, about two mile* from Birmingham, 

 but in the county of Stafford. It would scarcely be possible to select 

 a more striking instance of the beneficial changes effected by the com- 

 bined operations of industry, ingenuity, and commerce, than that 

 which wa* presented by Soho after it bad been some time in Mr. 

 Boulton'* p coses lion. It had previously been a bleak an 1 barren h. at h, 

 but wa* soon diversified by pleasure grounds, in the midst of which 

 stood Mr. Boultuu's spacious mansion, and a range of extensive 

 and commodious workshops capable of receiving above a thousand 

 artisan*. 



To Mr. Boulton'* active mind thi* country i* eminently indebted 

 for the manner in which he extended iu resources, and brought into 

 repute it* manufacturing ingenuity. Water was an inadequate moving 

 power in seconding hi* design*, and he had recourse to (team. The 

 old engine on Savary'i plan wa* not adapted for some purposes in 

 which it wa* requisite that great power should be combined with 

 delicacy and precision of action. In 1769 Mr. Boulton having entered 

 into communication with Watt, who bad obtained a patent for improve- 

 ments in the team-engine, Watt was induced to settle at Soho. In 

 1775 parliament granted him a further extension of hi* patent for 

 improvements in the ^team-engine ; and on hi* entering into partner 

 ship with Mr. Boulton. the Soho work* soon became famous for their 

 excellent engine*. Not only wa* the steam-engine itself brought to 

 greater perfection, but it* power* were applied to a variety of new 

 purpose*. In none of these perhaps wa* the luccess so remarkable a* 

 in the machinery for coining, which wa* put in motion by steam. The 

 coining apparatus was fint put into operation in 1783, but it soon 

 underwent important improvement*, until it wa* at length brought to 

 an astonishing degree of perfection. One engine put in motion eight 

 BoOirn**, each of whicb stamped on both aide* and milled at the 



ed* from sweaty to eighty-four piece* in a minute ; and the eight 

 machine* together completed in a style far superior to anything which 

 bad previously been accomplubed, from 30,000 to 40,000 coin* in an 

 bour. Tbe manufacture of plated-ware*, of work* in bronze, and or- 

 molu, such a* vac**, candelabra, and other ornamental article*, was 

 ocoeaaively introduced at Soho, and the taste and excellence which 

 these production* displayed soon obtained for them an unrivalled 

 reputation in every part of the world. Artist* and men of taste were 

 warmly encouraged, and their talent* called forth by Mr. Boulton's 

 liberal spirit. The united labour* of the two partners contributed to 

 five that impulse to British industry which ha* never since ceased. 



Mr. Boulton ha* been described by Playfair a* possessing a most 

 (ocrou* and ardent mind, to which was added an enterprising spirit 

 that Ud him to grapple with gnat and difficult undertakings. " II,. 

 wa* a man of addnav" (continue* the same writer), "delighting iu 

 oejety. active, and mixing with people of all rank* with great 

 rrsedom and without ceremony." Watt, who survived Mr. lloulton, 

 d 0< ~* 1 Partner in the highest term*. He said, " Ti! 



friendly 



, 

 t, to his partiality for scientific improve- 



menU, and to hi* ready application of them to the purpose* of art, 

 to his intimate knowledge of business and manufactures, and to his 

 extended views and liberal spirit, may in a great measure be ascribed 

 whatever success may have attended my exertions." Mr. Boulton 

 expended about 47,0001. in the course of experiment* on the steam- 

 engine, before Watt perfected the construction and occasioned any 

 return of profit 



Mr. Boulton died August 17th, 1809, in his eighty-fint yew. Hi- 

 remains were attended to the grave by several thousand individuals, 

 to whom medals were given, recording the age of the deceased and the 

 day of his death. The body was borne to the grave by the oldest 

 workmen connected with the works at Soho, and about five hundred 

 persons belonging to that establishment joined in the procession. 



BOURBON, the name of a family that succeeded the line of Valoi* 

 in 1589, and reigned in France from 1589 to 1848, with an intermission 

 during the republic and the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. The 

 families, both of Valois and Bourbon, were branches of the stdck 

 of Capet The Bourbons bad branched off earlier than the Valoii; 

 the former bring descended from a son of St. Louis, the latter from a 

 brother of Philip the Fair. The genealogy of the Bourbons, here 

 given, i* chiefly taken from the elaborate work of M. Ueeormeaux, 

 historiographer of the house of Bourbon, ic. tic. Thi* work i* 

 " de rimprimerie royale," and may be considered as an official docu- 

 ment, and the best authority ou the points within its province. The 

 following have also been consulted : ' Histoiru dea Bourbuns,' 4 vols. 

 12mo, Paris, 1793; 'Mcmoirea et Recueil de 1'Origiue, Alliances, et 

 Succession de la Famille Royale de Bourbon, Brauche de la Maisun <>< 

 France, h la Rochelle,' 1597; Coxo'a 'Memoirs of the Kings of Spain 

 of th" House of Bourbon.' The ancestor of the Bourbon branch of 

 the royal family of France was Robert, the tilth and youngest sou of 

 I.OUH IX., commonly called St Louis, a title which few of the so- 

 called saints have better earned, if the virtues of justice, temperance, 

 and rigid probity confer a chum to that title. 



ST. Locu. 



I 



llobcrt, Count de ClermoaU 

 Louis I., Due de Bourbon. 



Jacques de Bourbon, Count de Is 

 Marsh*. 



John, Count dc la Marche, mairicd 

 Catherine de Vvndume. 



Jacqnca II., Count de la Marche. 



Peter I., Duo de bourbon, became ex- 

 tinct in the Constable, or rather iu 

 l.i, wife. 



Louis de Bourbon, Count de VendOmr, 

 ancestor of the Counts and Duke* of 

 Vendom*, and of the loyal family of 

 France of the name of Bourbon. 



Antuino dc llourbon. Due dc VcndAme, 

 by marrying Jeanne d'Albrct, became 

 King of Navarre. 



Louin, f,rt Prime de Condi', from 

 whom ire desoended tbt branches 

 of Coudt and Comi. 



Henry IV. 

 Louis MI!. 



Philip, Duke of Orleani. 



I 

 Kef ent Orleans. 



Louis I., Duke uf Orleans. 



Loui. XIV. 



I 

 Dauphin (Montcigncur), son of Louis XIV. 



I > niiiiiiii, Duke 

 of Burgundy. 



LouU XV. 



Louis Philippe, ditto. 



I 



Louis Philippe Augusta 

 Kfalite. 



Louis Philippe, sometime King 

 of the Franca. 



Louis Dauphin, *on 

 of LouU XV., and 

 rather or LouU X VI. 



I 

 Louii XVI. 



LouU XVII., ton or Louis XVI. 

 Louis XVIII., brother of do. 



Duke of Anjou, who by 

 the ill oiriurle.il. 

 of Spain lucceeded to 

 the throne of Spain, 

 and from whom are 

 descended tin 

 hounn of Spain and 

 Jiaples. 



Chsrles X., do. do. 



Robert wa* bom in 1256. In 1270 bis father set out on his African 

 expedition, where he perished before Tunis. Philip the Har.ly, uc- 

 ce**pr of St Loui*, gave Robert in marriage to Beatrice of Burgundy, 

 a prince** of the blood, only daughter aud heiress of John of Burgundy, 



