450 
the character and the virtues of the inha- 
bitants,' all contributed to render the re- 
Higious and political diffeations long and 
obitinate. Proteftants and papilts, royal- 
afts and leaguers, alternately mafiered and 
ravaged this country !! : ew 
To this general hiftory of La Vendée, 
extizen Reveillere Lepeaux annexes a par- 
ticular hiftory and delcription of the ci- 
ties and principal places contained in this 
department and the three ifles that de- 
pend on it. 
René Garnier, André Tiraqueau, Ja- 
ques Goupil, Sebaitian Colin, Barnabe 
Brifion, Francois Viete, Nicolas Rapin, 
BHancelot du Voifin de la Poneliniere, Ga- 
briel Hulin, Romain Dupin Pager, Jean 
Beilig, Julien Colardeau, &c. 53 fuch is 
the chronological lit of the mof diftin- 
guifhed names in the literary hitory of 
Ea Vendée. Cirizen Reveillere Lepeaux 
gives a fuccin& notice of the labours by 
which thofe writers illuiirated their coun- 
try. 
He afterwards aefcribes the monuments 
that La Vendée exhibits; Celtic monu- 
ments (the dolmines and the mexirs,) Ro- 
man monuments, monuments of the mid- 
dle ages, as the cathedral of Lucon, the 
fiéches in the churches of Fontenay, &c. 
the modern monuments, as the labours ex- 
ecuted in the Sables d’Olonne, the aque- 
dus, canals and dykes. | Thefe laf arti- 
cles give rife to general reflections on the 
materials and on the forms of conftruc- 
tion in this department. 
Here follows a fummary of the chap- 
ter intitled, “ Pidure/gue View of La 
Feadée,’—All the woody parts borrow a 
lively intereft from the diverfity of the 
rees and fhrubs. Thegay and brilliant 
colouring of the flowers in fpring, the 
more temperate but fweeter lufire of the 
fruits in autumn, give diltinét features to 
each of thofe feafons. . The plain which 
only forms the 7th part of the depart- 
ment, is for the moft part deftitute of 
water and movement, as likewife of trees 
and bufhes. When once defpoiled of its rich 
harvelts, it lofes the figns of fecundity, 
and fatigues the eye anc the imagination 
with its tirefome uniformity. The 
marfhy difirict, which in point of extent 
is nearly dcubie to that of the plain, feems 
to be the abode of gloomy fadnefs, an 
immenfe plain of water, or an inundated, 
impracticable clayey ioi! ; habitations ifo- 
Jated and, as it were, abandoned, in the 
midft of this immeafurable {pace ; a win- 
try fky, a folitude which is only difitrbed 
by aquatic birds, a filence which is only 
interrupted by their wild icreems, and by 
Proceedings of Learned Societies. 
[Dec. Ty 
the roarings of a ftormy fea—fuch isa 
picture of the marfhy region during the 
winter. There is lefs monotony in it dur- 
ing the fummer. The meadows are co- 
vered with flocks, and the fields with the 
produce of the ripening harvet. But 
even then the peafant has to make long 
journies acrofs the falt marfhes, partition. 
ed, as it were, with the frigid fymmetry 
of chefs work, and whofe naked banks 
have no other decoration thao heaps of 
falt, difpofed with an appearance equally 
frigid. The (poiled lands ave divided 
by deep guliies, and frequently the eye, 
the {mell, and the tafte are at once difguft- 
ed with a naufeous corrupted water. 
‘The habitations are next defcribed ; 
but one of the largeft chapters has for its 
object the charaéter and the manners of 
the Vendeans. A grofs air, miry roads, 
narrew vales, falls of water, the views of 
ruins, the folitude and the remembrance 
of the civil wars—every thing in this 
country engenders a profound melancholy, 
which creates durable affeétions and ener- 
getic characters that difpofe men’s minds 
to great firmnefs in their opinions, and 
their fouls toa lively and touching fenfi- 
bility. ae ae 
The author afterwards treats of the dar 
meltic manners, marriages, fongs, {ports, 
food, apparel, &c. of the Vendeans, &c. ~ 
Dieux de Radier, a former writer, hag 
afferted that the language of the Italians, 
and that of the Spaniards, owe their ori- 
gin to the lancuage of Poitou—Citizen 
Reveiller2 Lepeaux, after having refuted 
this Poictevin’s opinion, exhibits the pres 
fent ftate of the Vendean patois, its heavy, 
aulj, monotonous prolody,its pronunciation 
fiinilar, in refpe& of certain letters, to that 
of the Italians, its particular terminati- 
ons ;—as, likewife, the mofl ftviking parts 
of its vocabulary and fyntax. It fhould 
feem from thefe grammatical obfervati. 
ons, that the Vendean language, taken in 
general neither belongs to the language of 
ac, nor the language of oil ;* but that it is 
in fome meafure, an intermediate dialeét, 
between the two. 
ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. 
ieee HATcHETT, Efq. at the 
commencement of the prefent year, 
laid befove this learned body an elaborate 
and highly interefting account of experi- 
ments and obfervations en the various al- 
Joys : on the {pecific gravity ; and on the 
* The word ouf (yes, in Englifh) is ex- 
prefied three different’ ways in La Vendée, 
Gil, fay and vai, 
compazative 
