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FRENCH INDEMNITY.

An Account of all Sums received by Great Britain, since the 20th November, 1815, as Portions of the Indemnity to be paid by France, by the Treaty of that date, specifying the mode in which such Sums have been applied, and what part of them has been paid into the Exchequer.

Under the Convention concluded in conformity to the 4th Article of the principal Treaty, France was to pay Great Britain 125,000,000 francs, at the periods hereafter specified; viz.

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In pursuance of this Convention, the following Sums have

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An Agreement was subsequently made with France, for postponing the payment of one half the quadremetre becoming due from April to 31 July 1817, to the 20 October 1817; and for postponing the whole of the quadremetre becoming due from the 1 August to the 30 November 1817, to the 10 and 30 November 1817; and Interest was charged to France for such postponement, amounting to fs. 133,106.52; and which was paid as follows; viz. francs cents 67,106. 52

1817.

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October 27
November 13

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December 28.

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Making the total received from France to the 1 May 1818.fs. 60,966,439 84

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This Sum has been applied as follows:

Retained by the British Commissioner, on account of the
Expenses of his Establishment

Paid into the Military Chest in France towards the Expenses of
the Army of Occupation, over and above the Sums received
from France on account of that Army

Paid to his Grace the Duke of Wellington, in Paris, towards the
Sum of 25,000,000 francs, granted by Parliament as Prize
Money to the Troops under his Grace's command.
Remitted to England, and which produced the Sum of
£.1,406,916 11 11 sterling

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31,886,833. 34

54,976,777 29

5,989,662 55

TOTAL Amount received from France fr. 60,966,439

The Sum of £.1,406,916 11 11 sterling, the Proceeds
of the f.31,886,833. 34 remitted from France, as
above stated, was applied as follows:

Towards completing the Grant of the Sum of 25,000,000
francs, as Prize Money to the Army under the command of
his Grace the Duke of Wellington

To the Paymaster General of the Forces, in re-payment of
Sums advanced and paid out of the Extraordinaries of the
Army in England, for the use of the Troops serving in
France in 1816 and 1817

To the Paymaster General of the Forces, in re-payment of
Sums advanced and paid in England, out of the Sums granted
for the Ordinary Service of the Army, on account of the
Troops serving in France in 1816 and 1817

Whitehall, Treasury Chambers, }

£.

34

707,263 10 5

104,579 0 0

595,074 16

£.1,406,916 11 11

C. ARBUTHNOT.

CHARACTERS.

CHARACTERS.

BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF THE LATE LORD STANHOPE.

C HARLES Stanhope, third Earl Stanhope, was born in the year 1753. His grandfather, and his father, were both of them warmly attached to the Whig party, and on all occasions constantly supported the liberal side of all public questions. The subject of this memoir was sent very young to Eton College, from which he was removed at the age of ten, for the purpose of accompanying his father's family to Geneva, in which place the elder son soon died. Charles was now left to assume the title of Viscount Mahon; and in this state he passed ten years in that city, where his education was chiefly conducted under the inspection of M. le Sage, well known as the author of a theory of gravity, and of various tracts connected with mineralogy, che mistry, and other departments of natural philosophy. During the young nobleman's residence in Switzerland, he made a considerable progress in scientific pursuits; and while still resident in Geneva, he obtained a prize from VOL. LX.

the society of Arts and Sciences at Stockholm, for the best essay on the structure of the pendulum.

On his return to England, he appeared to inherit from his parents a set of political opinions, which would doubtless be fos tered by his long abode at Geneva; and in after life, he was not unfrequently regarded as carrying his notions of liberty to an extravagant length. His honesty and integrity, however, were unquestionable; and it cannot be doubted, that although mistaken in his judgment, he acted from conviction. His first appearance in the political world was as a candidate for Westminster, in which, however, he did not succeed: he was afterwards returned for the borough of Wycombe, and continued a member of the lower House, till the death of his father in 1786, gave him a seat as a Peer of the realm.

Although Lord Stanhope was chiefly known by his contemporaries as a politician, it is rather as a philosopher, that he has made himself generally known to the world. Of his works which relate to a strictly scientific ob 2 F

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ject, his treatise on electricity seems to stand first, in which he endeavours to establish some new principles respecting the electric fluid. In this piece he attempts to prove the existence, and to explain the effect, of what he calls the returning stroke, namely an action induced at a considerable distance from the principal discharge, depending upon the tendency of the fluid to equalize itself in all bodies. Since the publication of this hypothesis, some accidents from lightning have occurred, which seem the best accounted for by it, and which indeed cannot be easily explained upon any other principle. In this treatise, the great object of practical utility is not neglected: the best method of preserving buildings from the effects of lightning is minutely considered, and exact directions are laid down for accomplishing this purpose.

Another object of great practical utility was, the means of preserving buildings from fire. This object he endeavoured to accomplish by practising the simple and well known expedient, that combustion can never take place where the air is excluded. To illustrate this principle, and at the same time to bring the fact to the test of very ample experiment, he caused to be erected a wooden bouse rendered fireproof, and after filling the lower chamber with a collection of very inflammable materials, he set fire to it. The result was, that during the burning, a number of persons of distinction who were present in the upper apartment, sat without any inconvenience in the

same.

An account of these experiments was published in the Phil. Trans. for 1778.

Another object which engrossed a considerable share of Lord Stanhope's attention, was, the employment of steam for the propulsion of vessels. For a period of 20 years he continued his experiments, and is said to have spent large sums of money in prosecuting them. In the meantime, Mr. Fulton had the same objects in view; and although it is known, that they both, at one period, frequently conversed on the topic of steam-vessels, it is probable that no documents exist which can decide on the share which each of them had in this curious invention.

His Lordship also published a pamphlet on the means of preventing frauds on the gold coin; and afterwards, on bank-notes; in both cases proceeding upon the obvious principle of employ. ing very skilful workmen, whose performances could not be imitated by those who engage in attempts at forgery. He is further well known for having suggested some important improvements in the construction of the printing press, by which a single stroke upon the center of the machine, is rendered equal to one of double the force at each end.

Lord Stanhope died in December 1816, in the 64th year of his age, exhibiting in the last scene of his life an uncommon degree of philosophical resignation.

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR OF PROF. SMITH AND MR. CRANCH. Chretien Smith was born in the year

year 1785 of respectable parents, near the town of Drammen in Norway. Early in life, being then destined for the profession of medicine, he acquired a decided taste for botany, especially that part of it which belongs to the investigation of the cryptogamic plants. For this purpose, when only in his 22nd year, he took a journey to the mountains of Tellemarck, where he made so many discoveries of new mosses and lichens as to acquire considerable celebrity for his botanical acumen. He paid a second visit to these mountains in 1812; and the reputation he now acquired was such as to point him out to the patriotic society of Norway, as a proper person to explore the valleys of Walders, Guldtransdal, and Romsdal, about the 62nd degree of latitude. This object he accomplished in a very satisfactory manner; and he devoted his attention especially to ameliorating the condition of the inhabitants of that sequestered district, by teaching them the best means of improving the few advantages afforded them by a barren soil and an inclement climate.

By the death of his father, Mr. Smith came into possession of small patrimonial estate; and he determined to devote this independence to foreign travel for the purpose of studying natural history. He had received the appointment of professor of Botany in the university of Christiania; and one object of his travels was, to form a collection of plants for a new botanical garden which had been established there. He first came to London, and visited the principal gardens near, it; then

went to Edinburgh, and after examining its mountains, with those of the north of England and Wales, made an excursion to Dub lin, and finally returned to London about the close of 1814. He met at Sir Joseph Banks's with the distinguished naturalist Von Buch, and they agreed upon an expedition to the Canaries, where they passed between six and seven months, and returned to England in December.

In London he remained a short time, chiefly for the purpose of arranging his botanical treasures; but while he was thinking of returning to his native country, an offer was unexpectedly made to him of the appointment to the botanical department in the expedition for exploring the African river of Zaire, which he embraced with his accustomed zeal and enthusiasm. The expedition left Falmouth on the 19th of March, and it was nearly two months before they arrived at the mouth of the Zaire. For the first time the professor made a short excursion on shore on July 7; and in his journal he describes the vegetation as magnificent and extremely beautiful. The subsequent history of the expedition is little else than a relation of disappointments and disasters. It was found that the information obtained in England was extremely defective and erroneous. The magnitude of the Zaire had been much exaggerated. It was found, almost at the commencement, to be dif ficult and nearly impracticable for the larger vessels; and at the distance of 130 or 140 miles from its mouth, a succession of rapids completely obstructed even the

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