guished himself. In 1664, at the age of twentytwo, he produced his new method of infinite. Series and Fluxions, and soon after, his Theory of Light and Colours. In 1669, he was appointed Mathematical Professor of the University. In February, 1672, he published his Theory of Light and Colours, and in 1687 his PRINCIPIA, and his mathematical principles of "Natural History." He was elected of the Convention Parliament in 1688, and in 1696, appointed Warden, and in 1699, Master of the Mint. In 1703, he was chosen President of the Royal Society; which situation, as well as the office of Master of the Mint, he held till his death. In 1704, he published his method of Fluxions. In 1725, he was engaged in a scientific contest with Leibnitz, which in spite of his desire to avoid disputes, terminated only with his valuable life, in March 1727, in his eighty-fifth year.

CLEMENT XII.—VILLARS.

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Page 45, line 14.

CLEMENT THE TWELFTH, of the Corsini family at Florence, was born 7th of April 1652, and made Cardinal in May 1706. In August 1730, then in his seventy-ninth year, he was elected Pope. On his election, and before his Coronation, several of the cardinals offered him advice on the state of public affairs, to which he answered shortly, "It is for the Cardinals to "elect the Pope, and for the Pope to choose "his Ministers."

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MARSHAL VILLARS was born in May 1651. He served under Marshals Turenne, Condé, Schomberg and Crequy; and distinguished himself so much, as to obtain a regiment at the age of twenty-three. During the wars of Lewis the XIV. he continued in very active service; and in the short intervals of peace in 1679 and 1696, went as Ambassador to Vienna. On the death of his Father in 1698, he suc

ceeded to the Dukedom of Villars: he had been appointed Field Marshal in 1689, and Marshal of France in 1702. In 1709, and the two succeeding years, he was opposed to the Duke of Marlborough by his sovereign, who counted on the circumstance of Villars never having been beaten; and though he was defeated by the Duke at Malplaquet, yet he supported the contest so ably, as to induce the English Court to treat for peace; which was signed at Utrecht, in April 1713. In October 1733, when the Marshal was in his eightythird year, he was solicited to take the command of the French army in Italy, in defence of the Sardinian territory; and was appointed Marshal General of France. In ten days after he reached Turin on the Sixth of November; where he joined the King of Sardinia, and proceeded with such vigour and expedition against the enemy, as to drive the Imperial army out of the Milanese, the Lodisan, and part of the Dutchy of Mantua, in the course of the next month, December. The Marshal then proposed to pursue their success, as the means of keeping the enemy in check, and preventing

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his recovering himself. The King of Sardinia, however, satisfied with his success, withheld his concurrence. As they were examining the position of the Imperial army, being at a distance from their own and with a small escort, they found themselves exposed to the attack of a much larger part of the enemy. The King expressed his fear of an ambuscade: when Villars cried out, "Il ne faut songer qu'à sortir "de ces pas. La vraie valeur ne trouve rien "d'impossible. Il faut par notre exemple, "donner du courage à ceux qui pourroient manquer." Saying this the Marshal charged the enemy at the head of his little troop: they fled astonished, leaving fifty men dead on the field, and thirty prisoners. The King said, he had not been surprised at his courage, but at his vigour and activity. He replied, “ Sire, ce "sont les dernières étincelles de ma vie, car je "crois, que c'est ici la dernière opération de "guerre, où je me trouverai."-Disgusted with the inactivity and ingratitude of the Sardinian Monarch, he solicited his recal: and quitting the camp on the 27th of May 1734, went to Turin; where, a few days after, he died, on

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the 17th of June 1734, in his eighty-fourth

year.

Page 51, line 8.

CARDINAL FLEURY was the son of a receiver of tithes in Languedoc, and born in 1653. He was educated under the Jesuits, in the school of Harcourt, where he soon distintinguished himself by his talent and address. In 1668, at the age of fifteen, he was appointed a Canon of Montpellier; and five years after, Chaplain to the Queen, and on her death, Chaplain to Lewis the XIV. In 1689, he was selected to be Subpreceptor to the Duke of Burgundy and his two brothers, Fenelon being the Preceptor. He was promoted to the See of Frejus in 1698, and on the death of Lewis the XIV. in 1715, became Preceptor to his Sovereign Lewis XV. over whose mind he ever preserved a great degree of personal influence. In June 1726, he succeeded the Duke of Bourbon, as Prime Minister; and was soon after nominated a Cardinal, being then in his 74th year. With the most conciliating manners, he was