by a formal resolution, declared itself satisfied with the choice which it had made. Horsley and a few others seceded, and for the rest of his life Banks continued the undisputed and popular President; a period of forty-one years from the epoch of his election.

We have said that at an early age Mr. Banks was fortunate in gaining the royal favour, marks of which were not wanting. In 1781 he was created a baronet; in 1795 he received the Order of the Bath, then very rarely bestowed upon civilians and commoners; and in 1797 he was made a Privy Councillor. The friendship between the King and the subject was cemented by similarity of pursuits; for the latter was a practical farmer as well as a philosopher, and under his care the value of his estates in Lincolnshire was considerably increased by improvements in the drainage of that singular county, in the direction of which Sir Joseph took an active part. He is said to have possessed such influence over the King's mind, that ministers sometimes availed themselves of it to recommend a measure unpalatable to their honest but somewhat obstinate master. We know not whether this be better founded than most other stories of back-stairs influence, easily thrown out and difficult to be refuted: it is at least certain that if Banks possessed such power, he deserves great credit for the singular moderation with which he used it. For himself he asked and received nothing fortunately his station in society was one which renders disinterestedness an easy, if not a common virtue. His influence was directed to facilitate scientific undertakings, to soften to men of science the inconveniences of the long war of the Revolution, to procure the restoration of their papers and collections when taken by an enemy, or the alleviation of their sufferings in captivity. The French were especially indebted to him for such services. It is said by an eminent member of the Institute, in his Eloge upon

Banks, that no less than ten times collections addressed to the Jardin du Roi at Paris, and captured by the English, were restored by his intercession to their original destination. He thought that national hostility should find no entrance among followers of science; and the delicacy of his views on this subject is well displayed in a letter written on one of these occasions to Jussieu, where he says that he would on no account rob of a single botanical idea a man who had gone to seek them at the peril of his life. In 1802 the National Institute of France, being then remodelled, elected him at the head of their Foreign Associates, whose number was limited to eight. Cavendish, Maskelyne, and Herschel were also members of this distinguished list. In replying to the letter which announced this honour, Sir Joseph Banks expressed his gratitude in terms which gave offence to some members of that distinguished Society over which he himself presided. This exposed him to a virulent attack from an anonymous enemy, who published the letter in question in the English papers, accompanied by a most acrimonious address to the author of it; prompted, it is evident, not so much by a reasonable and patriotic jealousy, as by ancient pique, and a bitter detestation even of the science of revolutionary France.

Towards the close of life Sir Joseph Banks, who in youth had possessed a robust constitution, and a dignified and prepossessing figure, was grievously afflicted by gout. He endured the sufferings of disease with patience and cheerfulness, and died May 19, 1820, leaving no children. Lady Banks, whom he had married in 1779, survived him several years. His magnificent library he devised to the British Museum; and among other bequests for scientific purposes, he left an annuity to Mr. Frederic Bauer, an artist whom he had long employed in making botanical drawings from the garden at Kew, upon condition that he should continue the series.

BORN at Ajaccio, in Corsica, August 15, 1769. He was the eldest but one of a family of thirteen children; and his father, who was poor, though well descended, gladly embraced an opportunity of sending him to the Military College at Brienne, in France. Here he was noted for his aversion to the society of his fellows, and to the amusements of boyhood. He was fond of imitating the operations of war, and displayed an unusual taste for the study of history and civil government; but he made no extraordinary progress in any branch of his education, except mathematics, in which he succeeded so well, that in his fifteenth year he was selected for removal to the Royal Military School at Paris. There he so zealously devoted himself to military studies, that on completing his sixteenth

year he received his commission as Lieutenant of Artillery.

He remained unknown, and with little chance of promotion, until after the overthrow of the French monarchy in 1793. In the excesses of the Revolution he did not share; but his Jacobinical principles, which he advocated in a pamphlet entitled the "Supper of Beaucaire,' recommended him to Robespierre and his colleagues, and, in conjunction with his repu tation as an engineer, procured him the command of the artillery at the siege of Toulon, the capture of which was wholly owing to his skill. He mainly contributed to the success of the French arms on the Italian frontier; but the honour and the rewards were gathered by his superiors; and, in 1794, on the downfall of Robespierre's government, he was deprived of his command as chief of battalion. For a time he remained in a state of neglect and poverty; and, without prospect of immediate advancement, indulged alternately in visionary schemes of greatness, and sober plans for obtaining a moderate competency. In 1795 his fortunes were suddenly advanced by the danger of the French Government, which, at the suggestion of Barras, entrusted to him the defence of the Tuileries against the National Guard and mob of Paris, on the 13th Vendémiare (October 4th). The authority of the Government was restored by the successful exertions of Buonaparte; and, in the requital for this service, he was made General of the army of the Inte rior. This office soon ceased to afford scope for his abilities; and the Directory, aware of the necessity of employing his ardent talents, appointed him General of the Army of Italy, then opposed to the Austrians. A few days before his departure from Paris he married Josephine, the widow of Viscount Beauharnois, an amiable woman, who by her talents and graces as

sisted in advancing his fortunes, and during some years exercised great influence over him.

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Buonaparte entered Italy early in 1796, passing between the Alps and the Apennines. In the course of eighteen months he made six successful campaigns, destroyed five Austrian armies, and conquered nearly the whole of Italy. He obliged the Pope and other Italian sovereigns to send their choicest treasures of art to Paris, a measure imitated from ancient Rome, and savouring more of the spirit of ancient conquest, than of the mitigated warfare of modern times. Among the more memorable battles fought during this war, were those of Lodi, Roveredo, Arcole, Rivoli, and Tagliamento. Buonaparte's activity and skill counterbalanced the numerical inferiority of his troops; and his personal courage, and readiness of resources under difficulties, procured him a great ascendancy over the soldiery, by whom he was familiarly called the "Little Corporal.' At the conclusion of this war, in 1797, the territories of Venice were divided between France and Austria, the Pope was deprived of part of his temporal dominions, and a number of the conquered states were united to form the Cisalpine Republic. His military talents being now no longer needed, Buonaparte was obliged to resign his command. Hitherto he had professed a warm attachment to the democracy, and even sided with that party in the revolution of the 18th Fructidor (September 4, 1797), when the democratic members of the Directory deposed their colleagues. His conduct in remodelling some of the Italian governments threw a doubt on the sincerity of his democratic principles, which was latterly increased by the assertion of the dignity of his rank amongst his officers, and by his tenacious resistance to every attempt made by the Directory to divide or control his power in the command of the army.