"have searched me," says he, 66 you know "that I do not carry poison; if any should "be found to-morrow, it must have come "from you, since every thing I want must pass through your hands." The monsters were appalled by that dignified firmness, and the last boon was granted. 66 After receiving the sacrament, the soul of the religious King seemed to soar above human miseries, as if already admitted into the abode of the blessed. "O my God!" he exclaimed, "how happy I am, to have preserved my religious principles! By them, death itself shall be rendered sweet: yes, there exists, above, an incorruptible Judge, who will do me that justice, which men deny me here be low." For one instant, only, did this religious fortitude fail the unfortunate monarch. He had taken the last farewell of his family: their anguish had wrung his soul, and once more revived the most excruciating feelings; his heart sunk within him: the Abbé Edgeworth received him in his arms; the example of our Divine Redeemer was the only consolation he could administer; it was successful; the King recovered himself; he had paid the last tribute to human nature. 66 I shall," said he, drink the cup to the dregs. O! my God, let thy will be done." He then threw a last mournful glance on the dungeon which contained his family, and following the ministers of death, he ascended the cart with the Abbé. After the last indignity which was offered to the King on the scaffold, that of tying his hands, just as the fatal instrument was falling, the Abbé Edgeworth was heard to exclaim, with prophetic inspiration, "Son of St. Louis, ascend to Heaven !" That instant he was covered with the blood of the martyred monarch. The Abbé Edgeworth was unable to give any account of the manner in which he left the scaffold; the armed battalions, and the ferocious multitude, spontaneously made way for him, and he reached the house of M. Malesherbes, one of the king's defenders, in a state of stupefaction which almost deprived him of the use of his senses. At the sad recital of the king's last moments, M. Malesherbe, exclaim ed: "It is true, then, that religion alone can give sufficient fortitude to bear with dignity such terrible trials!*" An affecting avowal, We believe, that in this circumstance, M. Malesherbes only repeated the words addressed to him by his royal master, on their first interview in the Temple. We know from the last surviving defender of Louis XVI., that the religious monarch, adverting to his own forlorn situation, and to the philosophical opinions of his old minister, told him, Believe me, my dear Malesherbes, Religion alone can give sufficient strength to bear such trials! [Edit. Panorama.] this, in the mouth of a worthy man, who had been himself seduced by philosophical sophistry, and had been in the course of his otherwise virtuous life, a latitudinarian in religion. Thedanger which threatened both the Abb Edgeworth and M. de Malesherbes, soon forc ed the former to seek another asylum. For three years he wandered in that desolated country, sheltered under the hospitable roofs of the faithful, and at the imminent peril of his life administering the comforts of religion to wretches groaning under the fury of anarchy, and bereft of every other consolation. "A moment of calm gives him an opportunity of leaving that polluted land, he ventures on the ocean in an open boat; but he soon meets with an English man of war, the commander takes him on board, and proud of restoring so much worth to his country, alters his course, and brings him to England, that last asylum of religion, honour, loyalty, and true fiber ty." "The Abbé Edgeworth remained, however, but a short time with his friends here; his task is not complete so long as one of the illustrious house of Bourbon wants either assistance, or consolation. He first repaired to Edinburgh, where MONSIEUR, the king's brother, then resided; soon after, on the pressing invitation of Louis XVIII., then at Blankenburgh, he again crosses the seas, to impart to that monarch the last intentions, and the last sentiments, of his loyal brother." Near that Prince the Abbé Edgeworth finished his earthly career; he was the confident of his most secret thoughts, and by his Christian exhortations often smoothed the brow of decayed majesty. He there beheld the union of Louis XVI's only daughter with her cousin, the Duke of Angoulême, eldest son of Monsieur, and thus saw fulfilled the last intentions of the monarch which he had followed to the scaffold. His death was occasioned by the incessant exertions of his boundless charíty. To satisfy his infuriate ambition, Bonaparte had carried war to the extremities of Europe; a number of French prisoners, compelled to follow his standard, were brought into Mittau where Louis XVIII resided: most of them were sick or wounded; they received from their legitimate sovereign and his faithful servants, those attentions to which they would have been entitled had they suffered in his cause; the Queen, the Duchess of Angoulême, and the ladies about them, were constantly employed in preparing lint, and medicaments for their use. The priests, and the bishops, attended them in prison, administering corporal relief, with the comforts of a religion which promises forgiveness to repentance. The Abbé Edgeworth as might be naturally expected was foremost in those deeds of Christian charity. But soon an epidemi cal disorder broke out among those victims of ambition; many of his fellow-labourers had already caught the infection, but neither the imminent danger, nor the solicitations of the king, and of his family, could induce the Abbé Edgeworth to abandon what he considered as his duty; he was at last seized with the distemper, and a sickness of three days terminated his virtuous career, May 22, 1807, aged 62. The consternation of the Royal Family of France can more easily be felt than described. The Duke of Angoulême followed his remains on foot; his Duchess assisted at the mournful ceremony; and the following epitaph was engraved on his tomb, composed by Louis XVIII-with whose literary abili ties we have been personally acquainted, both in the French and learned languages. It is a tribute equally honourable to living gratitude and departed worth. THEORY OF CURRENTS. as recollect To such of our readers with any degree of interest, Bernardin Henri de St. Pierre's Theory of the Tides, published some years ago, in his Etudes de la Nature, it may afford some gratification to peruse the following article, which we have taken from the Madras Gazette. When Lord William Bentinck sailed in April, 1803, for Madras, he was requested by Rear-Admiral Bentinck to inclose such a paper as the one underwritten, in a bottle well corked and sealed, and occasionally to commit longitude, and date, specified at the time of one of them to the sea (with the latitude, doing so); so that being thus left to the guidance of the currents, their ultimate determination might be more particularly ascertained, and St. Pierre's theory (that the fusion of the ice at the Poles is the primary cause of all currents), might be subjected to positive experiments. The length of time which has elaped since the paper was committed to the ocean, makes it impossible to draw any conclusion as to the rate at which the current or currents it was moved by were impelled, for it is possible the bottle might have visited the South Pole, and been returned from thence again to the Northward, after a season or two passed in the Southern Hemisphere, and that in its passage North, it fell into that part of the current which runs towards the WestIndies. For it has decidedly passed through the Straits of Bahama, along the shores of Newfoundland, and so, in February, 1806, been landed on the western coast of Ireland. I shall only further mention, that during the last voyage I made to the West-Indies, in 1798, I threw, in the month of January of that year, at various times, while crossing the Bay of Biscay, as many as half a dozen bottles into the sea, but as yet I have not heard of any of the notes they contained. I could wish the captains of all vessels going from or coming to Europe, would take the trifling trouble of putting such a note as the underwritten into a bottle with the date, latitude, and longitude, at the time specified, and sealing it well, throw it into the sea. If they will desire the person picking them up to forward the contents of the bottle to RearAdmiral Bentinck, Terrington, near Lynn, Norfolk, he will with pleasure pay any charges such a measure may occasion. The following letter and paper were rereceived by Rear-Admiral Bentinck, on the 28th March, 1806; "Broad Haven, Ballina, Ireland, March 1, is also given to every work resembling lace, made from black silk, or thread. Lace pro 1806. "Sir, I have this day received the in-perly so called, is essentially distinguished from elosed, which I forward to your address, in compliance with the request of the writer (Lord William Bentinck), having, as you will perceive, made a memorandum at the bottom, where, and when it was found. I am Sir, "Your most obedient humble Servant, W.Bentinck, Esq. "JOHN DAWSON." THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE MANUFACTURE OF FRENCH AND FLEMISH LACES. Lace, which is better calculated for ornament than use, forms one of the most profitable and considerable branches of French industry and commerce. The finest, the dearest, the most beautiful, and most fashionable laces are made from flaxeu thread; laces are made of gold and silver for decorations, and household furniture, &c., those made for the latter purpose are coarse, and made with little care, having no other merit than that of the matter of which they are composed. The blond lace, as to its fabric, resembles the thread laces, but it differs as to its materials, which are white silk; but this silk being of a very inferior kind, and not equal to the beautiful thread used in manufacturing the other laces, will not permit the blond to be bleached, a process on which depends its chief beauty. Hence the blond lace is not only infinitely less durable, but is also of less value than the ordinary laces. The name of lace point, (to which it bears a resemblance), by being worked upon a cushion, with bobbins, whereas, the point is invariably made with the needle, such as the French or Alençon point, the Venetian, and the Brussels point. Nevertheless, similarity of appearance has caused the denominations to be confounded; thus, many people speak, and, some authors write, concerning Alençon lace, and English trivial but pleasing ornament is doubtless of point; but, this is an error. This light and high antiquity. It is not improbable that could also make laces; for the origin of those who practised the art of embroidery, the latter seems to be blended with that of the former; and the lace made with needles, i. e. point, must surely have preceded that made with bobbins. The use of needles originated with the formation of garments, for ornamenting which they were afterwards used, and hence embroidery took its rise. In the infancy of the fabric, divers figures were made by crossing, recrossing, and knotting the thread. Thus, those works in point which were originally only imitations of white embroidery, have since become imitations of bone lace; with this difference, that the open worked point excels bone lace in delicacy of appearance. To convey some idea of the economical part of the produce of this branch of industry, we shall make a few observations on the laces of Brussels, Mechlin, Valenciennes, Dieppe, and Puy. The prices of the laces, and the degrees of fineness in their thread are not the only differences among them; the nature of the ground, the manner in which they are worked, the stitches, and the patterns, establish other distinctions, which are expressed by fixed denominations. Independent of the middling, the common, the loose and the the close which are found among all kinds, some are distinguished by the appellations of net, loop, grande fleur and petite fleur; and some derive their titles from the places in which they are made, as, Brussels, Mechlin, and Valenciennes. The best, and most esteemed, laces made from thread, which are super-eminent in regard to fineness, neatness, variety, and beauty of design, are the Brussels laces. No piece of these laces is made wholly by one person, as bobbin laces are; but one workwoinan forms the ground, a second the flowers, and, so on, with every part of the piece. In each manufactory, a superintendant assorts the various threads to be used, and allots the work according to the peculiar talents of each person employed. The design is the first object of his attention; this he continually varies, and does not permit two pieces of lace to be made of a similar pattern, the least part of the value of the article, for the thread used in making the finest pair of ruffles, seldom amounts to more than 5s. or 6s. Every lace merchant of Valenciennes has his own patterns, which he does not communicate to any person. The patterns are done upon green parchment which is prepared at Lisle, and are frequently varied, but, should any pattern become popular it is continued till the demand ceases. The Valenciennes manufactures employ about 3,600 persons, their annual produce amounts to about £16,600 or £16,700. The value of the raw materials amounts to about one thirtieth part of the sun. The lace improperly called English point, is made with bobbins, and (as far as regards the patterns) is an imitation of Brussels lace, but the edging of the flowers IS not lasting, and the flowers themselves quickly separate from the ground. The cause of this lace being named English is, that the English nation when it first turned its attention to the fabric of lace, purchased large lots of Brussels lace, which were sold throughout Europe as its own manufacture. Several other kinds of bobbin laces are made in France and Flanders, besides those mentioned. The name of bone lace is derived from the lace so called being made with bone bobbins. The Dieppe manufactures daily advance in merit. The grounds of the Dieppe lace, instead of being close are more like a net, and consequently lighter than the others. Many are prejudiced against these laces, asserting that they spread in washing, but this is only when they are badly made. The designs are usual for any consideration whatever he marks the flowers which he desires to be executed upon the ground of the lace by means of pins; he chooses and adapts the grounds, so as to raise the flowers to the best advantage. The net ground is simple in its texture, and presents a clear, smooth and firm surface; it is more frequently used than the loop, which consists of four threads joined together by small round eyes. The Mechlin scaly ground, with or without eyes, and all other stitches varied in infinitum, are employed in the Brussels manufacture, with exquisite taste, and art; more or less perfectly, according to the genius and experience of the superintendant, on whom the sole direction of the work rests. An apparent excellence in lace is not to be depended on; for example, a clear ground has a pleasing appearance, but it is not durable, and its flowers will separate in washing. The flowers of Brussels laces are all twisted with a sort of edging, or fine cord. The Mechlin laces are the most beautiful, after those of Brussels, and are rather more durable than the latter: they are made with bobbins; but here, as at Brussels, various grounds are used according to the taste of the designer. The particular character of these laces arises from the flowers being twisted with a sort of flat thread, whence they have obtained the appellation of Mechlin brodée (i. e. streaked).'' The Valenciennes laces are made with bobbins. They are less rich and shewy but more solid than the Mechlin laces; and this advantage alone renders them dearer than the latter. Their extreme fineness, joined to that equality of texture which distin-ly well executed, and with some taste. Their guishes them, forms an appropriate species of beauty; to which we may add their white ness, in which they excel all others. Fausse Valenciennes or mock Valenciennes lacé, is a species of the real, but inferior in quality, being less close, the design less carefully chosen, and the flowers not strongly marked The thread used in these is brought from Flanders, Hainault, and Cambresis; and is for the most part prepared in the towns where the laces are made, The thread is doubled, sometimes in a dry, and sometimes in a damp state; this is done previous to its being bleached, after which it is picked, and prepared for sale. The skeins are of no fixed length or thickness, but are sold by weight. The prices vary from £1. 1s. to £28 per lb. The thread used in the manufacture of laces is not strong enough for the fabric of cambric, or lawn. An ordinary workwoman usually takes ten months to make a pair of real Valenciennes ruffles; the prices of these ruffles are, generally, from £5. to £14. sterling, per pair, according to the merit of the work and therefore the ability of the workwoman can alone be a fit criterion whereby to judge of the probable profit. But the materials form prices vary from 7 d. or 8d. to 8s. Cd. per yard, some is as high as 16s. per yard.— Head dresses for ladies cost from £1. i1s. 6d. to £0. 6s. The Dieppe merchants buy their thread at St. Amand. Coarse laces consume thread to a proportionably larger amount than fine; a yard of lace at 1s. 3d, employs thread to the value of 3d.; whereas one at 7s. does not require more than 9d. or 10d. worth of thread. An ordinary work woman earns about 4d. or 5d. per diem; the best gd. 10d. and even Is. There are many laces made from the same thread, and of the same pattern, yet their prices vary, on account of a difference in the neatness of the stitches, or in the bleaching. The lace merchants are not manufacturers at Dieppe; they sell the raw materials to the work women, and purchase of them the laces. These manufacturers employ nearly 4,000 women and girls; in fact, lace-making at Dieppe, is the sole occupation of the wives and daughters of the fishermen. A village called St. Nicolas d'Alierment, distant 2 leagues from Dieppe, possesses a small branch of the lace manufacture, which was established there at the time of the bombardment of Dieppe by the English (1694) when THE ADRIATIC: NOW WHOLLY UNDER Cattaro is an invaluable position in a political view, for strength of situation, natural productions, convenience and secrecy, together with the disposition of the inhabitants and their abilities; yet has this important post been ceded silently by Russia to France, which has thereby gained an effectual and solid establishment on the eastern coast of the Adriatic. The history of Cattaro and of what that fortress is capable, has been narrated with attention, and illustrated by plates from the highest authority, in the first volume of the Panorama, p. 97. As the French have now the whole of this coast in their power, which certainly they will endeavour to use to their advantage, and therefore it may become the scene of interesting events, we hope the following notices of those other ports and islands which they have seized will be acceptable to our readers. We shall first introduce value of the laces annually sold to the Dieppe DESCRIPTION OF THE EASTERN COAST OF merchants is about £16,500, many of these laces are sold to the pedlars of Auvergne and Lorraine, who vend them in the different departments. Puy is famous for lace manufactures of a coarser kind, quantities of which were formerly sold in France, Italy, and divers parts of Europe; but the greatest sale was to the merchants of Cadiz, who sent these laces to Mexico and Peru, where the women ornamented their stays and other parts of their apparel so profusely therewith, that the consumption became prodigious. The English used also to give large orders for laces which they smuggled to the isthmus of Panama. The Dutch too carried off a vast deal; via Cadiz, where they bartered for them their linen cloth. Several Dutch, Lyonese, and Cadiz houses made ample fortunes in this line. At present, the trade of Puy in respect to laces daily decreases. Some of the finer sorts of lace have found their way into Mexico and Peru, where they are preferred to the former. The lace, however, now made in Puy, is finer than heretofore, and better wrought. The thread is brought from Haarlem, via Lyons. Blond lace is the most considerable of the Puy manufactures; it was introduced into this town about 40 or 50 years ago. The silks of China were brought hither through L'Orient, and, in time of peace, from London via Lyons. The silk used in the making of black laces is dyed and prepared at Lyons, where it is called Grenadine; that for the fabric of the coarser kinds of lace is dyed at Nismes. The makers of black lace earn from 6 to 10 pence per diem, the thread lace makers about 4 or 5 pence. The prices are for thread lace from about 2d. to 2s. 6d. per yard: for blond lace from 3d. to 4s. 2d. per yard. The pieces run about 12 yards in length. The manufactures of Puy and its environs, employ about 20,000 persons, this number is not so great in summer as in winter. The produce of the manufactures is annually about 2,000,000 francs or £75,000 sterling, An Account of Ragusa, abstracted from Ragusan Writers. Ragusa rose in the year 630, from the ruins of Epidaurus, á Spartan, and afterwards a Roman, colony. At that epoch, the from the dominion of the Abari, destroyed Slavo-Croats succeeded in wresting Dalmatia Epidaurus and a number of Roman colonies in the neighbourhood of Cattaro. The unforamidst rocks covered with forests on the sea tunate remnants of the inhabitants took shelter shore: They there enlarged and fortified a village called Dubrownik in the Sclavonian language, Ransium by the Byzantine historians, and Ragusa by the moderns. This new town contained all the remains of Roman civilisation in that province. The infant settlement had long and fierce N. B. The number of persons employed contests to maintain against the neighbouring in this manufacture has varied considerably tribes of Croats, and Servians, their most since the Revolution, in which all the martu-bitter enemies; among them were the Sachufactures of France have suffered greatly. The lace manufactory in England occupies a considerable number of persons, mostly women and girls: the principal seat of it is in Buckinghamshire. Of late years lace has been manufactured in the loom under a patent, and brought to great excellence if not perfection. The quantity worn by our ladies is very great. Patent lace is improved by a mixture of real lace, for borders, &c. nii and the Trebunii, the ancestors of the The strength of its position enabled Ragusa to withstand their irregular attacks, and by her superiority in the arts of civilisation, she even inade these barbarians subservient to bours were not the only enemies she had to her aggrandisement. But her savage neighencounter. Venice soon became jealous of her commerce, and in the thirteenth century compelled her to acknowledge Venetian su |