640 
had fwallowed up; to multiply, as it 
were, the remaining portion of falts 
and potath, which the extraordinary 
demand for gunpowder had fubde&ed 
from manutactures ; to fimplify and 
elucidate the art of making foap, and 
enable ‘all the citizens to fabricate it ; 
and tq tan leather in the {pace of afew 
days, which formerly required the pre- 
paration of years, 9) 
" € En fine, with a view of difcrimi- 
nating, and preferving in future. that 
theo.etic knowledge which conftitutes 
the foundation of ajl the arts, two infti- 
tutions were founded on the moft ex- 
tenfive and liberal plan hitherto con- 
ceived—the Polytechnic and the Nor- 
mal fchools. In the meantime thé an- 
cient eftablifhments ‘for inftruétion 
were perfecied and organized anew.— 
The Mufeum of Natural Hiftory, 
which originally was only the depofi- 
tory of medicinal plants, became a {e- 
minary in which all the different 
branches of the natuzal fciences were 
cultivated. 
alfo ereted, in which medicine and fur- 
gery, tog long rivals, as well as the 
kindred fciences which affift their 
courfe, fuch as phyfiology, phyfics, and 
chemiftry, were itudied. in fhort, the 
College of France was inftituted, the 
aimand end of which is unceafingly to 
diffeminate the knowledge which arifes 
eut of literature and the {ciences. 
«¢ Behold (adds Citizen Biot,) thofe 
noble monuments which a fimall num- 
ber cf learned men, fearcely efcaped 
from the ravages of terror, were enabled 
to erect! .Let the annals of nations be 
inveftigated, let feveral countries and 
many ages be joined together, and nei- 
ther peopie nor epoch will be difcover- 
ed in which fo much has been done for 
the human race.”’ 
«¢ Hiftoire de la Rivalité de la France 
et de l’Efpagne,” &c.—A Hiftory of 
the Rivalry between France and Spain, 
8 vols. 8vo. 
This work is the production of 
a writer who had before compof- 
ed one on a fimilar plan, and with 
nearly a fimilar title, (Hiffoire de la 
Rivalité dela France et del’ Angleterre,) 
in which he has been at great pains to 
trace the caufes and effeéts of the jea- 
loufies which have fo long taken place 
between England and France. 
On the preient occafion the author 
is affuredly more intitled to the atten- 
tion of the public than on the former, 
as there are iome good Hiftories of Eng- 
Schools of health were 
Retrofpet? of French Literature,— Hiffory. 
land, but none of Spain. Neither 
ought it to be omitted, that the annals - 
of Italy, particularly of the kingdoms 
of Naples and Sicily, are neceffarily en- 
grafted on this work, becaufe it was 
thofe countries that occafioned many 
of the difputes, not only in the times 
of the Houfe of Swabia, but during the 
reign of the Houfe of Arragen, as well 
as that of the Houfe of Auftria. . 
One leading feature of the prefent 
work, and which diftinguifhes it from 
moit contemporary ones, confifts in 
feveral new, or at leaft hitherto unpub- 
lifned  hiftorical memoirs, extraéted 
from the Manu({cripts of the National 
Library, fuch as the negotiations rela- 
tive to the kingdom: of Majorca and 
its dependencies ; the artifices, ftudied 
delays, and various frauds made ufe of 
by the King of Arragon ; the extraor- 
dinary condu& of the Prince d Arbo- 
rée to the Ambafladors of the Duke of 
Anjou; the treaties that took place be- 
tween Spain and Henry HI. of France, 
after the aflaffination of the Guiles ; the 
corre{pondence, half politic, half gal- 
Jant, between Henry 1V. and Eliza- 
beth of England,. &¢. &e. Dake ae 
In addition to the general hiftory 
which has been detailed by former au- 
thors, every portion of this work con- 
tains either new or important facts and 
defcriptions, fome of which we fhal] 
here endeavour to point out. 
Vol. {. contains the portraits of the 
Count d*Anjou and his firf-rival Main- 
froy, baitard of Frederic IE. ; the inte- 
re{ting hiftory of the unhappy Conra- 
din; the extraordinary events which 
enabled the Count of Anjou to gain 
the battle of Tagliacozzo; the true 
hiftory of the Sicilian Vefpers, which 
are here proved to have been unpreme- 
ditated ; an account of the captivity of 
Charles le Boiteux, with.the fentiments 
of his father on that fubjeét ; to which 
is fubjoined a defcription of Peter of 
Arragon. 
In Vol. If. weare prefented with the 
portraits of Charles Je Boiteux, already 
alluded to ; of the Duke of Calabria, 
fon of Robert King of Naples, called 
le Bou et le Sage; the hifiory of Joan I. 
with that of Andrew of Hungary, her 
hufband ; anaccount of the expedition 
into Hungary, by Charles de Duras ; 
and alfo of the murder of Queen Joan ; 
a defcription of the reign of.Joan H. 
together with an enuieration ef the 
favourites and generals of that Prin- 
cels. ‘ ' 
Tn 
