534 
Rural Economy of France since 1789. 
examination of each well-defined region of France, our author 
defines the share that each contributes to the statistical figures 
we have given above. For a country like France, such a special 
examination is indispensable to convey an idea of the variety of 
its climates, local requirements, usages, wants, and resources. 
The Southern Provinces, bathed by the blue Mediterranean, bear 
no resemblance whatever to the northern departments bounded 
by the stormy waves of the English Channel and the Atlantic 
Ocean. An equally striking contrast exists between the banks 
of the Rhine and the Pyrenean regions — between the east and 
the west — the centre and the frontier. There are, indeed, few 
countries in the world where so little analogy exists between their 
component parts, and where perhaps material prosperity is dis- 
tributed so unevenly, as in the French Empire. It is through 
this heterogeneous mass that M. de Lavergne, with all the 
charms of his graphic pen, lucid diction, and clear exposition, 
takes his reader, relieving his attention from dry statistical facts 
by interesting allusions to curious historical reminiscences, pic- 
tures of scenery and manners, portraits of men, narratives of 
travelling incidents — in fact, everything that can make his book 
instructive and entertaining in the highest degree. This work 
is at once a text-book for the economist, a most accurate travelling 
guide for the tourist, a pleasant pastime for the idle, and a valu- 
able record of the most accurate statistics that have ever been 
published on the territorial riches and resources of France. 
Having thus taken a primary survey of the history of French 
agriculture through the troubled times of the revolutionary era, 
we will now examine that part of M. de Lavergne's book which 
describes the present state of agriculture as displayed in the 
varied features of the six divisions into which he has parcelled 
the whole territory of France, from a consideration of the natu- 
ral affinities of the districts thus grouped together. These divi- 
sions are as follows : — 
1. The North- Western, comprising the 15 departments into 
which the ancient provinces of Flanders, Artois, Picardy, Nor- 
mandy, and the Isle of France were divided. 
2. The North-Eastern, comprising the 15 departments, formed 
out of Champagne, Burgundy, Franche Comte, Lorraine, and 
Alsace. 
3. The Western, comprising the 14 departments substituted 
for the provinces of Touraine, Maine, Anjou, Britany, Poitou, 
Saintonge, and Angoumais. 
4. The South-Eastern, including the old provinces of Lyonnais, 
part of Burgundy, Forez, Dauphiny, Vivarais, county of Avignon, 
Lower Languedoc, and Provence, now split up into 15 depart- 
ments. 
