European war seemed to be the natural consequence. In these circumstances, the Marquis de Pombal affected the most earnest and most sincere wishes for an amicable settlement: he called upon the courts of London and of Versailles for their mediation; he even insisted that the matters in dispute should be entirely referred to those two powers; and that Spain and Portugal should abide by their decision. People talk so much about your Family Compact, he used to say to the French ambassador, it is represented as a most formidable league against all other nations; you see I do not consider it as such, I trust en

assuming a new face under his administration. He used to say, that he could not do every thing at once; and that time only could shew the advantages to be derived from his operations." For instance, he was the protector of the useful, and even of the fine, arts, so far as his judgment, none of the surest in that respect, could direct him. He had established woollen manufactures, he had attempted to form architects, and sculptors, in Portugal. After the expulsion of the Jesuits, which was in a great measure his work; he went to visit the University of Coimbra, over which they had exerted a great influence; here he made many re-tirely to you, I put myself into your hands. forms; among others, he established several Italian professors, who had the reputation of being learned men. The Jesuits were not the only religious order that he persecuted; he never disguised his aversion for monks, in general; and he gradually undermined the power of the inquisition. It was, perhaps, with a view to further these designs, that he allowed the dangerous works of Voltaire, and those of Rousseau, to be translated into the Portuguese language; but, on the other hand, he exerted all his power to prevent the introduction of maxims, or of ideas, which might have stood in contradiction to his despotic principles. Never, for instance, would he allow the post to arrive in Lisbon more than once a week; although the Spanish mail was received twice at Badajoz, the frontier town; for the same reason, he never permitted the establishment of a Portuguese Gazette; he feared, above all things, that the people should conceive a liking for arguing on politics; he wished them to be ignorant of whatever was passing in the rest of Europe; and that no news from Portugal should transpire but through him, as its channel. Among his commercial regulations some were of real advantage to the country; thus he succeeded in drawing a considerable benefit from the smuggling trade, which has always subsisted between Spain and Portugal, because he had the good sense to lessen the duties while the Spanish government was following principles directly opposite.

This leads us to examine the conduct of the Marquis de Pombal in his relations with foreign courts; in this branch of administration, this man, in other respects so haughty, and so overbearing, assumed a new character, and conscious perhaps of the weakness of his country, had recourse to duplicity, and to deceit. Indeed, he considered the most sacred engagements as a mere matter of form; fit only to gain time, as the Spanish minister, Grimaldi, experienced to his great vexation, in 1776. A dispute had taken piace between the two courts, respecting the limits of their respective colonies in South America; things had been carried to such a length, that an

In short, he had succeeded, in making the courts of Madrid, London and Versailles, adopt his plan for negotiation; a congress had been actually appointed, to meet at Paris, when news arrived that the Portuguese troops had advanced on Rio Grande, and taken forcible possession of the territory in dispute. Pombal, availing himself of the contempt in which his nation was held by the Spaniards, had prepared much better means of defence than he was supposed to possess: he had, without being noticed, raised the army to 40,000 men; the fortresses were amply provided with every necessary, and experienced officers had been received into the Portuguese service. The Marquis de Pombal was, however, well aware of the inferiority of his country compared to Spain; but he relied on the assistance of England, on the difficulty of maintaining an enemy's army in Portugal, on the nature of the country, intersected by large rivers, and by ridges of mountains, &c. However, the death of the king, and the dismissal of the minister, soon put an end to all warlike preparations.

The Marquis de Pombal had for a long time apprehended that event; the king's health was precarious; and he knew the general hatred he had incurred; to guard against. impending danger, he had sought all the means of embroiling the affairs of the kingdom in such a manner, as to make his assistance. necessary to the new sovereign, to guide her steps in a maze whose intricacies were known to him alone; and his plan was near succeeding. Hardly had king Joseph paid the last tribute, when the young queen (her prescut majesty) went to cousult her mother, as to what line of conduct she should follow. I suppose, said the queen dowager, that you are going to dismiss Pombal: the young queen, who was of a mild disposition, and felt the danger of her new situation, answered in a faultering one, I suppose I must, since every body wishes it. In that case, answered the queen-mother, cease from this moment to transact business with him. She foresaw that in seven or eight audiences, the crafty minister would have obtained a com

| been disappointed; whether through the interference of the Portuguese government, is not known. He died on May 8, 1782.

Were we to give our opinion on the character of this famous statesman, we should not hesitate in saying that the Marquis de Pombal was a man much above the ordinary level of mankind. Circumstances indeed eminently favoured the display of his great abilities, in a contracted sphere. An earthquake brought his country to a chaos-like confusion; thousands of concomitant disorders were to be remedied, or prevented; a capital was to be rebuilt; soon after, a conspiracy was formed against the life of his sovereign; great and powerful criminals were to be punished; a powerful society (the Jesuits) had become dangerous to the state, and was to be suppressed; Pombal had, be

plete ascendency over the mind of the young queen; and would have persuaded her that the country could not be saved, but by him. The Marquis de Pombal, after his disgrace, retired to his estate of Oeyras: where he sought, and found, the means of ending his days in peace a circumstance not very usual for disgraced ministers, in that country. A single trait, will shew the line of conduct to which he was indebted for that signal favour: His estate lay at no great distance from Coimbra, the bishop of which city had been for several years shut up in a dungeon, by order of the Marquis of Pombal. On the disgrace of that minister he was reinstated in his see, amidst the acclamations of his flock; and to enjoy his triumph more fully, he immediately set about visiting his diocese, before the enthusiasm of the people had time to cool. In the course of his apostolical journey, he stop-sides, two wars to maintain, with inadequate ped perhaps, on purpose, at the village belonging to Pombal, and close to his residence. This circumstance excited universal expectation as soon as the ex-minister knew of the arrival of the bishop, he sent to enquire, at what hour he would be pleased to receive him? he was punctual to the time appointed, and began by throwing himself at his feet; nor did he rise till he had received his blessing. They afterwards remained in conversation for a quarter of an hour. The bishop returned the visit, punctually. As soon as Pombal saw the coach entering the gate, he ran to meet it; flew to the carriage door, and threw himself again on his knees, to receive the good prelate's blessing. At the foot of the stairs, the bishop met Pombal's daughter, who went through the same ceremonies, &c. The exiled minister followed the same line of conduct towards the monks, whom he detested and despised so much; and to many this may seem to imply no ordinary degree of meanness; but the clergy were all-powerful under the new reign; and the slightest want of respect to one member of this body, might have provoked the resentment of the whole. Pombal had besides, in the person of the queen's husband, a personal enemy eager to seize every opportunity of avenging his private injuries, on the discarded minister; who now wished only to end his days in peace.

In his retreat Pombal continued to indulge his fondness for study; well-informed people affirm, that he kept a constant correspondence with the queen, on the various objects connected with government. Several political publications were expected as the produce of his leisure hours; but those expectations have

Don Pedro, who was at the same time her uncle. He never forgave Pombal, because that ininister advised king Joseph, his brother, to have him arrested, as being implicated in the conspiracy of 1756.

ineans; his country wanted establishments of commerce, and manufactures; he had ancient prejudices to silence and powerful enemies to humble, &c. &c. Surely an ordinary man would have been crushed under the accumulated weight of so many enterprizes. M. de Pombal boldly undertook them, and succeeded. He had vices no doubt, but inen must be strangely blinded by partiality, to deny his eminent qualities. Above all, he possessed that firmness of mind, that undaunted resolution, which indeed lead sometimes to the commission of crimes, but without which, no man ever atchieved great things.

ACCOUNT OF THE INDIGO PLANT, AND
THE PREPARATION OF INDIGO, BY CITI-

ZEN BULLEY. [From the French, and
read at a public meeting of the Lyceum of
Arts.]

:

The information contained in the following paper, may prove of great importance to our planters in the West India islands as well as in the East Indies. It tends to reduce the process of making indigo, to a greater certainty than it possesses at present,

Query, has any one ever tried the effect of the Egyptian bean (faba Egyptiaca) by which the muddy water of the Nile is rendered clear and potable in a very short time, in precipitating the fecula of indigo?

Indigo is known to be a precipitated fecula, dried, and reduced into a solid mass, light, brittle and of a very deep azure colour. This substance is of great utility in the arts-A great consumption is made of it in dyeing, painting, bleaching, and other processes of different manufactures.

The vegetable which produces this colour

ing fecula, is termed the indigo plant, indigofera. It is of the genus of the polypetal plants, of the family of the leguminous, and has much resemblance to the galegas.

even thirty six hours, more or less, according to the temperature of the atmosphere at the time of the operation. It is also necessary to take into consideration the quality of the indigo plant; the nature of the soil that has produced it; and that of the water in which it is immersed.

The first indication from which it is judged that the maceration approaches its ultimate point, is, the sinking of the scum, which has elevated itself into the space of about half a foot, which was left unfilled in the tub,' containing the plants. When this scum has become a kind of crust, of a copper-blue colour, the moment is thought to be near at

There are twenty seven species of indigo plants; to enumerate their differences, and describe their botanical characters would be tedious. It will be sufficient to direct our attention to the most interesting species, namely, that which yields the best indigo. It is termed, "indigo franc,”- indigo fera anil." It is indigenous in America; and is cultivated with success in the southern parts of France, and in the West Indies, where fine indigo is prepared; the seed of the indigo franc is purposely mixed with that of the in-hand, at which the plants will be sufficiently digo maron, in order to obtain a more considerable, and advantageous produce. The purpose for which this mixture is made, as well as all the operations belonging to the cultivation of the indigo plant, are fully related in a detailed memoir, that has been laid before the Lyceum of Arts. For the present, we shall confine ourselves to giving an account of an essential improvement in the preparation of indigo.

It will undoubtedly be heard with astonish ment, that although indigo has been inanufactured during the space of nearly a century, its preparation still consists in such imperfect approximations, that even amongst the best manufacturers, generally ten, fifteen, and even to the number of twenty-five, tubs fail, out of a hundred. Sometimes, even, either owing to want of experience or the contrarieties of temperature, a much larger number of tubs fail, and ruin the proprietor, who has depended on large profits; hence, in part, arises the high price of indigo. Whereas, should the proprietor of indigo-plants be secured, by means of a certain process, against the danger of losing the fruits of his expence and labour, he would then be able to sell his indigo at a cheaper rate: to the great advantage of the arts and manufactures, and consequently of

commerce.

This great advantage France will at some future period be able to enjoy, and she will owe it to the labours and intelligence of one of the colonial proprietors of St. Domingo, who is at present in France, and a free associate of the Lyceum of Arts, I mean citizen Nazon. Judicious observations, and a long course of experience, have convinced him, that it is possible to ensure the success of all the tubs of indigo.

In order to obtain this colouring substance, the indigo plant is cut when it is arrived at its maturity. The whole is put to macerate in a bason of brick-work, which is termed the tub (cuve). Its dimensions are generally twelve feet.

To bring the maceration to its ultimate point, requires from fifteen to thirty, and

macerated. However, this indication is insufficient, and often fallacious. There is another on which greater reliance is placed : it consists in drawing off a small quantity of the water, by means of a cock, placed at the lower part of the tub. This water is received into a silver cup; and notice is taken whether the fecula tends to precipitate itself to the bottom of the cup: when this is the case, it is concluded that the plants have undergone that degree of maceration, which is requisite for obtaining the indigo from them.

Such was the process most generally practised; but it too often occasioned mistake and error. To avoid this, we have sure means; which consist in accurately observing the water contained in the cup; five or six minutes after it has been poured into it, it forins, round the sides of the cup, a ring, or edge, of fecula, which is at first of a green colour; but afterwards it becomes blue. So long as the maceration has not produced its proper effect, this ring detaches itself with difficulty from the sides of the cup; but, at last, it is seen to precipitate and concentrate itself at the bottom of the vessel, always towards the centre; under the water, which is become limpid, though with a yellowish tinge

When these appearances are observed, they infallibly indicate the success of this first operation. The water is then drawn off into a second bason, or tub, placed beneath the first. This second tub is termed the batterie, as its use is for beating the water, still charged with the fecula. In order that it may separate quickly, it is agitated. This operation is either performed by the labour of the hands or by means of a mill. It is of essential consequence not to agitate it for too great a length of time; excessive agitation mixes again the fecula with the water; from which it does not separate any more, and the tub fails. In this case, instead of indigo, we only obtain muddy water.

This latter inconvenience may easily be obviated, by a little attention: when we have discovered that the fecula is sufficiently united, draw off the water from the batterie into

and her daughter, led by sir Charles d'Albret and the lord de Coucy. There was no particular mention made of the other ladies and dainsels who followed in covered chariots, or on palfreys, led by their knights. Serjeants, and others of the king's officers, had full em ployment, in making way for the procession, and keeping off the crowd; for there were such numbers assembled, it seemed as if all the world had come thither.

At the gate of Saint Denis, that opens into Paris, was the representation of a starry firmament, and within it were children dressed as angels, whose singing and chaunting was melodiously sweet.-There was also an image of the Virgin holding in her arms a child, who at times amused himself with a wind

Experience has shewn that this process has never failed of complete success; of this, more than fifteen hundred tubs of indigo, manufactured in different parts of St. Domin-mill, made of a large walnut. The upper go, have furnished the proofs.

sentation of a richly starred firmament, with seen this pageant with pleasure, passed on, the holy Trinity seated in great majesty, and to the bridge of Nôtre Dame, which was dewithin the heaven little children as angels corated so handsomely, it could not be amendsinging very melodiously: As the queen pas-ed: it was covered with a starry canopy, of sed under the gate, two angels descended from above, holding an extraordinary rich golden crown, ornamented with precious stones, which they gently placed on the head of the queen, sweetly singing the following verses: