"He then addressed himself to me, and asked respecting the route I had taken, and when I had left England ?—I replied that I had left England nearly twelve months before; that I had passed by Paris and Bourdeaux, to Thoulouse, in order to visit a brother, a general officer, who had been severely wounded there. He made no remark upon this, but observed:

"Then you passed by the Garonne and Montauban; a very pretty little town, with excellent wine.-You drink a good deal in England.' (Vous buvez beaucoup en Angleterre.)

He had before, I understood, made the same observation to some other English travellers, who had been introduced to him.-I told him, that formerly much more had been drank in England, than was drank at present: and that the custom of sitting very long after dinner had, in a great measure, been done away; but that as we still sat after the ladies had left the table, we had more time and greater inducement to drink, than other nations.

"Where did you cross the Rhone, at Lyons ? No, at Avignon.' "Ah! you passed then the Pont de Gard. Is the bridge at Avignon finished? No, over one branch of the river only.'

Ah! but you passed over the Durance, where I had made a long wooden bridge. You visited Nice ?'-'Yes.'

"Those over the Sesia, at Vercelli, and over the Dora, are they finished 'Yes.'

"From the subject of roads he touched on that of canals-and asked if the canal from Pavia to Milan was finished.-I replied that I believed not; and I asked him if he had not a project of uniting the Rhine and the Danube.-He replied that it was very easy to do so; that it was an affair only of twenty millions of francs; that he had united the Rhine and the Rhone; the German ocean and the Mediterranean. On his asking from whence I last came, and my answering from Vienna, he exclaimed

A poor little city (une pauvre petite ville) with large suburbs, unpaved; and the ramparts ?-(et les ramparts?)

"I told him they were precisely in the situation in which he had left them. He said

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Yes, Bertrand performed that kind office for them very effectually.'

"I observed, that at Frankfort and at Manheim, where he had demolished the fortifications, they were laid out with taste.-' Yes,' said he, in fine promenades,' (Oui des belles promenades.)

"His next subject was politics;-he asked me how Congress went on.-I told him that there were plenty of fêtes, but that little progress was said to be made in business; and I mentioned to him the bon mot of the Prince de Ligne, who said- Le Congrès dance mais ne marche pas'-at which he smiled. I added, that Poland was understood to be a stumbling-block; that it was said the Emperor of Russia wanted to form a kingdom of it, but that the other powers, it was supposed, feared Russia's becoming too formidable. He remarked that it was a power that went on increasing; a very rising power. He then said that the treaty of peace between himself and the allies should have been signed at Frankfort; separating Germany entirely from France, and taking Holland, Italy, and Spain from him; but that he never could have consented to leave France less in territory, than it was when he ascended the throne.-I asked him why he did not make peace at Dresden, when those terms were offered to him; he said that the allies were not sincere, and that besides les choses at that time were different; that had peace been then made, England would have saved some thousands of men and much money; that he considered it very bad policy of England to appropriate Belgium to herself; that it would be a constant source of expense, and would probably draw her into a war; for that any other continental power would be sure of France as an ally, by offering Belgium as a bribe. Supposing,' said he, for instance, Russia were to say to France," do you take Belgium, and let me have Poland"-In short,' added he, England cannot maintain herself as a power of the first rank on the Continent;-Belgium must be lost on the first coup de canon. The English government should have covered and fortified Holland, but Antwerp is the object; for a battle fought and lost before Brussels, which is close to the gates of Paris, would open the road to Holland. England, with her immense colonies, instead of being obliged to keep up a large army to cover Belgium, should withdraw within her island, and act, when and where she chose.' He spoke of the Dutch troops, and appeared to have but a poor opinion of them; their marine, he said, was much reduced. He expressed

himself with much contempt of the Austrian soldiers, who would not fight without a bellyful.'-Referring to the campaign in France, he said that he should have beaten the allies, had he not been betrayed; for that the peasants were taking arms in their rear. I asked him by whom he had been betrayed; whether by Talleyrand, whom I had heard accused. He answered so as to give me to understand he had been a party; but he principally blamed Marmont and Augereau. The latter, he told me, had a fine army, superior to the Austrians, and was to have joined him (Bonaparte) in his last movement; but that he had made his terms with the allies a fortnight before, and that he had narrowly escaped being massacred by his soldiers for his conduct. I observed to him, that when I had passed through Paris, I had heard there was an opinion amongst the lower orders, that he and Paris had been sold- Que l'Empereur et Paris étoient vendus.'

"Blucher, he said, was a brave man, but not a great general; and added, that he had lost two armies. The Prussians had fought well. Of Schwartzenberg, as an officer, he expressed himself favourablyUpon my asking him if he did not consider the Duke of Wellington a good general, he replied, Oui.'-I was not satisfied with this, but repeated the question in stronger terms; asking if he was not a very good, an excellent general. He answered, Oui, oui !' with emphasis, but not another word.-Touching on the Corunna campaign, he said, Moore was a good general, and had saved that army. The Spaniards, as soldiers, he held very cheap. In the mountains they had done something; their character was obstinacy (opiniâtreté)—they wanted valour. I mentioned the gallant defence they had made at Saragossa. This, he said, was opiniâtreté ;-they were 50,000 men within the walls, attacked by 15,000. I observed that, at least, the Portuguese had proved themselves very good troops. This he admitted. But then,' added he, they were officered by British, and of this the national pride (Fierte) of the Spaniards would not admit;-besides, the Spaniards are bigots in religion, and you know that you are heretics' (vous savez que vous étes des hérétiques), said he, laughing. The French soldiers, he asserted, were peu constans; that they wanted tenacité; that if they had a little more tenacité, any thing might be done with them;-that Cæsar had well defined their character in that respect, and that it had not changed; that he, (Bonaparte) knew it well, and had acted upon it in the campaign in France; that the soldiers could not bear such a check (secousse.)-He inquired if the English soldiers, when drunk, were not ungovernable; observing that the French, at such times, were loving (doux et tendres).

"Speaking of Switzerland, he said there appeared much to be settled in that country; that he had given them a constitution which it should seem they wished to change. I remarked, that the Canton of Berne wanted to recover what had been separated from it. Yes,' replied he, the large to domineer over the small; there is no yoke (joug) so severe as that of a people.'-The fate of Italy he lamented much, divided as it was into small states.-Italy, he said, should have been preserved as a kingdom. I agreed with him entirely in regretting the fate of Italy, but asked, who was to be king, and who was to nominate. 'Oh! it matters little,' said he, who it is-some Italian -or by whom appointed; and he instanced Murat. A sovereign," added he, is made for his people, and not a people for their sove

reign. The Italians, he observed, were a people of strong passions, (passionés ;) and had a great deal of excellent stuff (étoffe) in them as soldiers, much of the old Roman left. He spoke of the bad policy of the Austrian cabinet towards Italy, and that of the Austrian officers towards the inhabitants, in not associating with them, as the French had done.-He added, that he had done much to reform the Italian people; that he had found them effeminate, and living for the women, and with them all day long;-that it was a fine country. Upon this I remarked, that by transporting to Paris the best of the paintings, &c. he had taken considerably from the interest of Italy. To this he made no reply, but spoke of Bologna as a bonne et jolie ville.-In speaking, I think, of Turin, he mentioned a fine street called via Napoleon; he knew not what they called it now.

"To the Pope, as the head of the church and as a sovereign, he seemed to have a great aversion; he said that he was always sacrificing his conscience to some miserable little piece of policy; that the existence of a pope was a great misfortune for Europe (un grand malheur pour l'Europe); that we were very much indebted to our King Henry VIII. for getting rid of him; that he had attempted to do the same, but could not succeed; that the government of priests was detestable, and that every sovereign should be at the head of his own church, as in England, Prussia, &c.; that, as a man, the Pope was a very good sort of person (un bien bon homme); that he had entertained him very well at Fontainbleau, and made him very comfortable there; that he (the Pope) was ignorant in the extreme; and that amongst all his cardinals (for he had seen them all at Paris,) there was not one he would allow to fill a fourth rank in his (Bonaparte's) council. Ecclesiastical states, he added, should on no account be allowed; the empire of the church was not of this world.

"Speaking of the Americans, he said they wanted a ten years' war to make them a nation; that at present they had no noblesse, which they would acquire by a war; that they were now a nation of merchants (une nation de marchands,) as was shown in the case of the sale of Jefferson's library to the highest bidder; that had we (the English) made peace with them before, we should have gone to Congress with more weight; that America had carried on the war with spirit after France had fallen (après que la France eut succombée,) and that the war, after all, was about nothing-a few feet more or less of lake. He then said something of a great project he had with respect to Mexico, of which I could not catch the meaning; and observed, that we should one day or other lose Canada; adding Of what great consequence is it to England, with her numerous colonies.' He said, that when America became more powerful, she would probably rival us in our marine; that he had made the attempt to do this, but had failed.With respect to the right of search, which I called a droit, he said it was no droit, but a mere théorie; that when we were very strong we should exercise it, but if, on the contrary, we had Russia, Sweden, and Denmark against us, we probably should not insist on it.-He gave it as his opinion, that England and France should be allied. On my signifying, by a shake of my head, the improbability of such an event, he said,Why not?-the world is large enough-France does not want to meddle too much with commerce. There was a man, Fox, who could have effected it, but unfortunately he is dead.'-He

then asked where we were going from Elba, and on my answering, • To Rome and Naples,' he replied, “Ah! then you will see there a magnificent Lazarone;' adding, From Naples, I suppose, you return to England by sea.? Upon my saying that it was my intention to return by Italy and the Mont Cenis, as I had seen all the other passes of the Alps, having come from Vienna by the Tyrol, he observed, * No, there is still that over the Julian Alps.'--On saying this, he made us a low bow, wished us a très bon voyage, and retired."

This is the whole of the conversation. The interview lasted about an hour and a half, and the author adds

“We stood during the whole time, I may say almost nose to nose; for I had my back against the table, and he had advanced close to me, looking full in my face.--After the first few minutes, I felt most perfectly at my ease, and the conversation never flagged ; his strain and manner were as familiar and good-natured as possible; so very much so, that I felt no hesitation whatever in putting any question to him. He had on a green coat, cut off in front, faced with the same colour, and trimmed with red at the skirts; and wore the stars of two orders. Under his left arm he held his hat, and in his hand a plain snuff-box, from which he every now and then took a pinch; but as he occasionally sneezed, it appeared to me that he was not addicted to snufftaking. His hair was without powder, and quite straight;-his shape inclined to corpulence."

FROM THE EDINBURGH PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL.

Geological Remarks on the Rock of Gibraltar and the adjacent Coun

try. By Mr. John BAIRD.* The Rock of Gibraltar is a huge insulated mass of limestone, surrounded on three sides by the sea, and on the fourth by a low sandy tract of land called the Neutral Ground, by which it is connected with the continent of Spain. It is probable, I'think, that this low neck of land, which in general rises but a few feet above the level of the bay, has at one time been covered by the sea, leaving the Rock of Gibral. tar an abrupt rocky island mass a few miles from the main land of Spain.

The north and east sides of this rock present an almost perpendicular steepness from top to bottom. The west side slopes at about an average angle of 45°. "The south end or side of the rock is at first quite perpendicular, and then falls gradually down towards Europa Point. The town is built near the foot of the west side of the rock. The length of the rock from north to south may be about two and a half miles; its breadth from west to east from half a mile to above a mile; and its height about 1000 feet above the level of the sea. The top of the rock is a long narrow ridge, running north and south, the west side sloping down to the town and bay; the east side, from its rugged, perpendicular front, almost inducing the opinion, that Gibraltar Rock, as it now exists, is only the half of a large hill, the east side

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* Read before the Wernerian Natural History Society. VOL. I. No. 1.-Museum.

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