. vb - 
672 
partie, avec 26 Planches gravées dansle 
genre du_lavis. Volume in 4to.”—A 
Treatife on Carpentry, approved and 
adoped by the National Inftitute, in or- 
der to form a Supplement tothe Trades 
and Arts, publifhed by the Academy 
of Sciences ; by J. H. HASSBNFRATZ. 
Part I. with twenty-fix plates in aqua- 
tinta. 1 vol. 4to. 
The Academy of Sciences, anxious 
to promote and elucidate the arts con- 
neéted either with the wants or the la- 
bours of the bulk of the-community, 
was at great pains to defcribe the pre- 
cife ftate of perfeétion, which they had 
at that period attained in France. C. 
Haffenfratz, with a view of furthering 
this laudable defign, has extended its 
operation } and yet fo,multifarious are 
the operations of the carpenter, that, in 
the buiky volume before us, he has 
only been enabled to fell, and conduét 
his wood to the confines of its native 
foreft ! 
In Chap. I. he enquires what fpecies 
of timber was formerly employed in 
building, &c. and what are the beft 
kinds for that purpofe. He then treats 
of the growth of treés, their fpecific 
gravities, the experiments which have 
been made, to prove the degree of re- 
fiftance of which they are capable. their 
corruptibility, and conbuftibility. The 
fecond is dedicated toa defcription of 
- the different procefles now in ufe, for 
clearingand cutting down woods ; this 
leads him to give anaccount of the va- 
rious faw-mills, moved by horfes, wa- 
ter, wind, and fteam. 
In Chap. III. our author treats of the 
carriage of timber; in the IVth of the 
proceis of giving it a proper curve, both 
while growing, and after the tree has 
been felled; and in the Vth of the belt 
mode of meafuring it. 
In the courfe of the introduction, he 
introducesa differtation on the original 
ftate of mankind, and thofe obvious 
wants, which obliged them to have re- 
courfe to their own ingenuity for fhel- 
terand protection. This fubject leads 
him to prefent his readers with a com- 
parative account, accompanied with, 
and elucidated by means of engravings 
of the different degrees of civilization, 
as traced out and exemplified by build- 
ings, from the hats of the Hottentots to 
the villages of the Swils. He maintains 
that it is not climate alone, but preju- 
dice and political confiderations that 
have determined the form and materials 
of private edifices. Asa proof of this, 
Ret?ofpeat of French Litératire-Mifcellancous. 
he maintains that we are as yet unacs 
quainted with the deftination of the py- 
ramids, and the gigantic monuments 
of Upper Egypt, and prefumes to al- 
lude toa period, when our religion will 
yield to others, and a-Roman Catholic 
or Proteftant Church become a fubject 
of eritical difcuffion ! | 
_ M. Haffenfratz concludes by remark- 
ing that about twenty different kinds 
of trees only, have~been hitherto em- 
ployed by the houfe-carpenter inFrance, 
whereas he has here given a catalogue 
of one hundred and fifty, -all of which 
may be ufed with advantage. 
‘¢ (Euvres completes de Mefdames de 
la Fayette et de Tencin, nouvelle Fdi- 
tion, revue, corrigée, précedée de No- 
tices hiftoriques et littéraires, et aug- 
mentée de la Comteffe de Tende, par 
Madame dela FavetTre; dela Corre 
pondance de Madamede Tencin, avec 
M. de Richelieu ; de la Comtefle de 
Savoie et d’Aménophis, par Madame 
de FonTAINES, etc.”—Ihe Works of 
Madame de la Fayette and de Tencin; 
a new edition, 8vo. ~ 
This publication has now enjoyed 
near a century of reputation, and there- 
fore notwithitanding its antiquity, a 
brief analyfis on the appearance of a 
new and enlarged edition, may not be 
difplaced here. ; 
' The little romance of the Princefs 
of Cleves, from the pen of Madame de 
la Fayette, has always been admired on 
account of its grace and fenfibility ; 
and that of Zayde is fcarcely infe~ 
rior to if. 
After thefe, we are prefented with 
two novels, the one entitled the 
Countefs de Tende, and the other 
the Princefs de Montpenfier. 
The Memoirs of the Court of France 
for the years 1688 and 1689, have but 
little remarkable to recommend them, 
except what relates to James II. who 
on being driven from the throne of 
Great Britain, tock refuge at St. Ger- 
main, and was received in a manner » 
truly princely by Louis XIV. Madame 
la Fayette has alfo written the Hiftory of 
Henrietta of England, duchefs of Or- 
leans, to whom fhe was lady in waiting, 
celebrated not a little on. account o 
the fine funeral oration pronounced by 
Bofluet. 
The Countefs of Savoy, by Ma- 
dame de Fontaines, is an interefting 
performante, and the characters are 
faftained with due decorum; it has 
fupplicd Voltaire with the plot for Tan- 
: trod, 
