the Vosges, Moselle, and Argonne ranges, the plateau | d'Orléans, and Morvan mountains, which stretch to the extremities of Normandy and Brittany, &c. These ranges separate the principal river basins, those of the Rhine, Moselle, Meuse, Seine, and Loire, from each other; the basin of the Rhone is on the S.E. side of the Cevennes, enclosed between them and the Alps. Connected by ramifications with the Cevennes, there is a group of mountains of volcanic origin scattered over Puy de Dôme, Cantal, and some adjacent deps. in the centre and S. of France. This group, which Balbi and other geographers regard as a separate system, under the title of Gallo-Francique, separates the basin of the Loire from that of the Garonne. The highest points of this group have a somewhat greater elevation than those of the Faucilles and Cevennes chain. The Pic-de-Sancy (M. Doré) is estimated to be 6,223 ft. in height, and the Plomb-de-Cantal, 6,095 ft.*; while Mezenc, the loftiest of the Cevennes, is only 5,918 ft. high; Le Reculet (Jura), 5,633 ft., and the Ballon de Sulz (Vosges), 4,688 ft. The Pyrenees send off numerous lateral branches through the S. E. deps. ; their loftiest summit within the French territory is M. Perdu, 10,894 ft. in height. But the culminating point in France belongs to the Alps, and is probably M. Olan, 4,214 mètres (Hugo), or 13,825 ft. high; next to which is the Pic-des-Ecrins, 13,468 ft. in elevation. Rivers. Leaving ont of view the Rhine, which can scarcely be called a French river, since it merely runs for about 100 m. along a portion of its E. frontier, France possesses no river to rank with the Wolga or the Danube, The principal are the Loire, Rhone, Garonne, Seine, Meuse, and Moselle. Except the Rhone, which has for the most part a southerly course, all the above-named run in a N. or W. direction. The Loire, which is the largest, and traverses the centre of the kingdom, rises in the mountains of the Vivarais (Ardèche), near Mezenc. It runs generally N.W. as far as Orleans, and thence mostly W.S.W., with a somewhat tortuous course to its mouth in the Atlantic. The length of its entire course is about 620 m., of which about 510 m. are navigable. It receives from the N. the Arroux, the Maine (formed by the Mayenne and Sarthe), and the Eudre; and from the S. the Allier, Cher, Indre, Vienne, Sevre-Nantaise, &c. Nevers, Orleans, Blois, Tours, Saumur, and Nantes are situated upon its banks. The Rhone rises in Switzerland, beyond the Simplon, and after traversing the Lake of Geneva, and forcing for itself a passage through the Alps, not far from Chambery, enters France S. of the Jura range, forming the entire S. and almost all the W. boundary of the dep. of Ain. From Lyons, where it receives the Saône, the direction of the Rhone is nearly due S. to Arles, where its delta commences; and it falls into the Mediterranean by a double set of mouths, after a course of 530 m. within the French dom., more than 310 of which are navigable. Its principal affluent is the Saône, which runs through Franche-Comté and Burgundy, with an entire course of about 213 m., of which about 165 are navigable. Besides the Saône, the Rhone receives from the N. the Ain; it is joined from the E. by the Isère, Drôme, and Durance, famous for its rapidity; and from the W. it receives the Érieux, Ardéche, Gardon, &c. Lyons, Valence, Montelimart, Avignon, Tarascon, and Arles are the chief cities and towns on the Rhone: upon the Saône (which river is augmented by the Doubs), Gray, Chalons-sur-Saône, and Macon are situated. The Garonne rises in the Spanish Pyrenees, near M. Maladetta, and runs at first N.E. as far as Thoulouse, but thence onward its course is generally N.W. to its mouth, (or rather the mouth of its æstuary, which bears the name of the Gironde,) in the Bay of Biscay, about 55 m. N.N.W. Bordeaux, and 120 m. S.S.E. the mouth of the Loire. The entire length of its course, including the Gironde, is estimated at about 350 m., nearly 294 of which are navigable. It receives some considerable tributaries; as the Tarn, which is navigable for a distance of 90 m.; the Lot, navigable for 190 m.; and the Dordogne, navigable for 120 m. from the E., and from the S. in the earlier part of its course; the Save, Gimone, Gers, Baise, &c. Thoulouse, Agen, and Bordeaux are situated on the Garonne. The Seine rises in Burgundy, about 18 m. N.W. Dijon: its general course is N.W., but it is exceedingly tortuous, and though in a direct line its course is no more than about 250 m., from its mouth in the British Channel, the windings of the river make its total length as much as 500 m. It enters the channel by a wide and capacious mouth, on the N. side of which is the town of Havre; its estuary, and the lower part of its course, is subject to the phenomenon of the bore, which sometimes occasions considerable damage. (See AMAZON, SOLWAY FRITH, &c.) The principal affluent of the Seine is the Marne; besides which, it receives from the E. the Aube and Oise; and from the S. According to Bruguière (Orographie de l'Europe). The Encyc der Gens du Monde gives to the Plomb-de-Cantaf an elevation of 6,338 ft., and makes the Pic-de-Sancy 6,187 ft., and Mezenc 5,820 ft. high. and W. the Yonne, Juine, Eure, Rille, &c. Paris, Chatillon, Troyes, Melun, St. Denis, St. Germains, Andely Elbeuf, Rouen, Honfleur, and Havre are situated upon its banks. The Marne, which runs chiefly through Champagne, has a navigable course of 215 m.: it receives the Blais, Ornain, Ourcq, &c.; Chalons sur-Marne Epernay, Chateau. Thierry, and Meaux are seated on it. Both the Meuse and the Moselle run N. to join the Rhine beyond the French dom.: the former has a navigable course of 162 m., and the latter one of about 72 m. within France. These rivers, however, as well as those of the Escant (Scheldt), Lys, Sambre, and others, belong more properly to Belgium than to France. The Charente, the basin of which lies between those of the Loire and the Dordogne, has a navigable length of about 120 m.; and the Adour, which traverses the deps. of the Pyrenees and Landes, has a great number of tributaries, including the Midouze, Pau, Oleron, &c., and a course generally W., which is navigable for 77 m. The other rivers worthy of any notice, as the Somme, Orne, Aisne, Meurthe, Rance, Vilaine, Ariege, Herault, Var, &c., are referred to under the deps. to which they give their name, or in which their course is chiefly situated. (Hugo; Aperçu Statist.; Dict. Géog.; Official Tables.) Lakes, Marshes, &c. Of the former there are remarkably few, and those quite insignificant in point of size. The largest is that of Grand Lieu, in the dép. Loire Inférieure; but it is only 6 m. across. There are a few small lakes amongst the Jura ranges, and others occupy extinct craters in the volcanic district. In Ain and Loireet-Cher marshes are numerous. The extensive lagunes on the S. and S.W. coasts and elsewhere have been already alluded to; they are too shallow to be used otherwise than for fishing and salt-works. Geology, Soil, and Minerals.—Geologically, the whole of France may be considered as one extensive basin, the circumference and centre of which consist of primitive formations, the intermediate space being filled with those of a secondary and tertiary kind. Primitive rocks abound most in the Alps, the Pyrenees, the peninsula of Brittany, and the mountains of the so-called GalloFrancique system in the centre of France. They are, however, met with in a part of Maine and Normandy, in Vendée, in Ardennes, where they are conterminous with a chain of primitive rocks which extend into N.W. Germany, in the Vosges, in Dauphiny (Isère), and on the S. coast E. of Marseilles. The most widely diffused primary rocks are granite, gneiss, micaceous aud argillaceous schists, and primitive limestone. In Vendée, to the foregoing may be added a great number of others, including porphyry, diorite, eclogite, and serpentines; and in the Dauphiny Alps and the Pyrenees the rocks are said to present a still greater diversity. In the latter mountains calcareous rocks are very abundant; and some of a transition kind contain a great number of organic remains, even at an elevation of 1,600 toises, or 10,230 ft.! (Dict. Géogr.) Argillaceous schist, also containing numerous organic remains, is prevalent throughout a part of Brittany; granitic rocks predominate at the extremity of that peninsula. Porphyry of various kinds, some of which exhibit great beauty, is the prevailing rock in the Vosges mountains. In the central group of Limousin, Auvergne, &c., gneiss, granites, and micaceous schists are abundant, but differ greatly in their characters from those of the surrounding mountain chains. The Puy de Dôme and some other adjacent mountains have a base of trachite, and in the Vivarais (Ardèche), especially, groups of gigantic basaltic columns are frequently met with in some places alternating with calcareous strata containing fresh water shells. These rocks, together with the traces of extinct craters, the existence of lava streams, and other volcanic products, clearly point to a time of volcanic activity in this region, which has probably had place at no very remote period in the history of our planet. It may here be mentioned that traces of volcanic action have also been met with on the banks of the Rhine, in the Vosges, and in the dép. Var. The interval between the primitive formations of the centre and circumference of France is almost entirely occupied by secondary formations. These are nearly every where calcareous or marly, generally compact, and often contain a vast number of shells, madrepores, and other organic remains. They compose many long hillranges, of no great height, but frequently steep and bare, or covered only by a thin vegetable soil. All Lorraine, and a great part of Franche-Comté and Burgundy, consist of these formations. It is on this kind of land that the growths yielding the finest Burgundy wines are raised in the Côte d'Or. The secondary formations extend through Dauphiny, and on the left bank of the Rhone as far as the Mediterranean, through Languedoc with the Cevennes quite to the Pyrenees; and surrounding the Paris basin, they reach the sea both on the N. and W. coast. The tertiary deposits of France are highly interesting: they are mostly calcareous, enclosing great quantities of shells and the remains of fossil mammalia of large size. | by Humboldt; at Toulon 620 (Fahr.); at Marseilles The most remarkable of the tertiary formations is what is called the " Paris Basin," which occupies a somewhat circular area nearly bounded by a line passing through Blois, Orleans, Montargis, Provins, Epernay, Laon, Beauvais, Pontoise, and Chartres. A still larger tertiary district is found at the foot of the Pyrenees, including almost all the valleys of the Adour and Garonne, the déps. Landes, Gironde, &c. There are others in the valleys of the Loire, Rhine, Allier, &c. The most extensive alluvial district is that around the mouth of the Rhone. The soil of France is, speaking generally, very superior. No doubt she has large tracts of mountainous, heathy, and unproductive land; but her productive soil bears, notwithstanding, a larger proportion to the entire extent of the country than in most other European states. According to the official returns, the total surface of France, including Corsica, was, in 1837, distributed as follows: Surface. Mountainous Heath land Rich soil Calcareous Gravelly Total 52,765,600 hectares, or 203,736 sq. m. The greatest extent of mountainous surface is found in the deps. of the Alps and Pyrenees, and those of Ariège, Côte d'Or, Drome, Doubs, Haute Loire, and Haute Marne; heath land prevails most in Basses Alpes, Landes, Gironde, Finisterre, and Herault; calcareous chiefly in Oise, Basses Alpes, Dordogne, Marne, and Vienne; sandy soils in Cher, Haute Loire, Loiret, and Puy de Dôme; and rich lands in Gers, Aisne, Eureet-Loire, Eure, Marne, Nord, Tarn, and Yonne. France has considerable mineral wealth. The metal most abundant is iron; in 1837 it was obtained in 64 of the 86 deps. Those in which it is most plentifully produced, are Haute-Marne, Haute Saone, Nièvre, Côte d'Or, Dordogne, Orne, Meuse, Moselle, Ardennes, Isère, Cher, Aude, Pyrénées Orientales, Ariège, and Haute Vienne. Two gold mines were formerly wrought, one in the dép. Bas Rhin, and the other in Isère, but both have long been abandoned. There are also two silver mines, one in each of the above deps., but only that of Allemonte (Isère) is at present wrought. Silver is, however, frequently found in the lead mines, which are chiefly abundant in Finisterre, and the Rhenish, Alpine, and some of the S. deps. Copper, mercury, zinc, tin, antimony, and manganese, both in large quantities, arsenic, bismuth, cobalt, chrome, &c., are met with; and amongst the rarer metals molybdenum and tung. sten, titanium in Haute Vienne, and uranium near Autun. Coal is very widely diffused. The principal coal-field is in the dép. du Nord, where it forms part of a coal-district 50 leagues in length by 2 broad, extending into Rhenish Prussia. Others exist in the deps. on the Upper Loire, in Aveyron, &c.; coal mines are particularly numerous around St. Etienne. The salt beds discovered about 20 years since in Lorraine, are supposed to extend beneath a surface of 30 square leagues, and will fully supply France for ages. Turf in the N., asphaltun in the E. and elsewhere, naphtha and sulphur in the S., vitriol, alum, nitre, plaster of Paris, porcelain and other clays, graphite, asbestos, jet, and some gems, lithographic, mill, and building stone, excellent marble, slate, granite, &c., are amongst the valuable mineral products. Mining industry will be treated of hereafter. There are no fewer than 700 (or, according to Hugo, upwards of 1,000) mineral springs, of a medicinal character, though only about 90 of these are frequented by visiters, of whom there are perhaps in all about 40,000 yearly. The principal are the warm sulphureous springs of Barèges, Cauterets, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, and de Luchon, in the Pyrenees; the saline springs of Aix, the chalybeates of Bourbon l'Archambault (Vosges), and Plombières; the cold springs of Enghien, &c. 59-5°, at Bordeaux 56°, at Nantes 55-25, at Paris 51·29, and at Dunkirk 50:50. More rain appears to fall during the year on the S. E. than on the N.W. side of the great watershed, the average being, in Isère 32 inches, in Haut Rhin from 28 to 32 in., at Lyons 29 in., and at Montpelier 28 in.; while at Paris the fall is only 19 in., in Orne 20 in., and in Ille-et-Vilaine 21 in. But notwithstanding this result, the sky is generally bright, and the atmosphere clear in the S.E., and there are at least one-third fewer rainy days than in the N. W., where the atmosphere is almost constantly charged with moisture brought by the W. winds which commonly prevail, and the weather is more or less cold for half the year. The centre of the country enjoys a happy medium of temperature and climate; in the S. the summers are long, dry, and hot. The departments around the Gulph of Lyons are subject to a violent N. wind called, in Provencal, the bise, the circius of ancient writers. According to Mr. Inglis, "this wind is the curse of all these provs., and it is scarcely possible, in travelling through this country, to meet with a greater misfortune than a bise wind, especially if the word meet' be interpreted literally.... Its effect upon the frame is singularly disagreeable; it parches the mouth and throat, creates a feeling of suffocation, and seems to dry up the whole juices of the body." (Inglis's Switzerland, &c. p. 108.; Aperçu Statistique, &c.) The vegetable products of France are said by Hugo to comprise upwards of 830 genera, and 6,000 species. All these, however, are not indigenous, and many new plants have been introduced within the last two centuries. The most richly wooded parts are the mountainous districts, particularly the Vosges, the plateaux of Langres and Orleans, the Cevennes, and the mountains of Auvergne and Limousin. The Alps and Pyrenees, Provence, the S. part of Languedoc, and the W. of France, are but indifferently wooded. The principal forest trees are the oak, elm, beech, maple, ash, walnut, chestnut, birch, poplar, larch, pine, fir, box, cornel, &c. In the Vosges and Jura mountains, Brittany, and the Landes, there are extensive forests of fir; the chestnut woods are very fine in Haute Loire. The olive, orange, lemon, pistachio, and carob grow wild in the S., but there only; and the fruits of all are inferior to those of warmer climates. The caper (Capparis spinosa), diffused over Provence, furnishes a well-known article of export. Cherries, apples, and several other fruits grow wild: apples and pears are largely cultivated in the N. departments, and prunes in the centre of France. The culture of these and other fruits will be adverted to in a subsequent section. Mr. Inglis, who travelled through many countries of Europe on foot, has the following remarks on the scenery of France:-" All panegyric upon the loveliness and laughing fertility of France is rhodomontade. There is more of the beautiful and the picturesque in many a single county of England, or even of Scotland, than in all the scattered beauties of France, were they concentrated within a ring-fence; excepting always the Pyrenees, which I cannot help looking upon as a kind of separate territory-the mere boundary between France and Spain; but at all events the Pyrenees must be excepted. I have travelled through almost every part of France; and truly, I have found its beauties thinly sown. If the banks of some of its rivers be excepted the Seine, the Loire, the Rhone, and the Garonne,. some parts of Normandy, and the departments of the Pyrenees, France is an unromantic, uninteresting, unlovely land. And even in these favoured parts, such as the vaunted Orléannois, where shall we find the green meadows that lie along the banks of our Thames, or Avon, or Severn; or upon which of them shall we pause to admire those romantic views-that charming variety of rock, wood, and mountain-that characterise the banks of the Tamar, the Wye, the Derwent, the Swale, the Wharff, or the Dove? These are nowhere to be found. . . . . I pity the man who crosses France in any direction. Thousands know how ennuyant is the journey from Calais to Paris; but they who never travel farther, suppose that lovely France, panegyrised by so many, lies beyond. No such thing. Let them continue their journey by whichever road they please, and they will find but little improvement. *** Châteaux also we have in these provinces (those of the S.), but oh! how different from the châteaux of which we read in the romance writers, and which never existed but in their imaginations! The châteaux are for the most part boxes upon a large scale; The climate of France is not excelled by that of any other part of Europe. The air is generally pure, and the winters mild; though the differences of latitude, elevation, soil, exposure, &c. occasion, in this respect, very material differences. Generally, France may be divided into 4 regions. The 1st, or most S.-the region of the olive-is bounded N. and W. by a line passing diagonally from Bagnères-de-Luchon in the Pyrenees, to Die in Drôme. The 2d, or region through which the culti-staring houses with wings, and a parapet wall in vation of maize extends, stretches as far N. as a line drawn from the mouth of the Gironde to the N. extremity of Alsace. The 3d region, which terminates to gether with the culture of the vine, has, for its N. limit, a line extending from the mouth of the Loire to Mezières in Ardennes. The 4th, or N. zone, comprises the rest of the country. The mean annual temperature of different parts of France has been estimated as follows, front, covered with vases of flowers. In short, we find the whole a delusion; and our minds revert to the green acclivities of our own hills, our oak forests, our lakes and rivers, and the beauty and fertility that, along with the picturesque, mingle in an English landscape." But if the indiscriminating panegyrists of France have gone too far on the one hand, we suspect that Mr. Inglis has as much overshot the mark on the other. Mr. Maclaren, than whom there can be no better authority, says that from Châlons-sur-Marne to Avignon the Rhone flows through one of the most beautiful, picturesque, and delightful regions in the world. And there are many other districts in France the scenery of which will bear a comparison with that of any other country. Animals.-The bear, wolf, and wild boar are the only formidable wild animals now inhabiting France, and the numbers of these have been greatly thinned by the increase of pop. and of civilisation. The black bear (Ursus pyrenaicus) is confined to the higher ranges of the Alps and Pyrenees, where the isard, chamois, and wild goat are also found. Notwithstanding an active war of extermination carried on against the wolves, those animals are still very numerous in some departments, as in Morbihan, Sarthe, Vendée, Landes, and the central mountainous departments. In the Cevennes, the lynx is sometimes found, though rarely. The wild boar, roebuck, and fox, abound in all well-wooded parts. The red and fallow deer, formerly so plentiful in the royal parks, have become rare; hares and rabbits are extremely abundant. Several kinds of squirrels, the polecat, weasel, otter, marten, hedgehog, and the other small wild animals, common throughout Europe, are as numerous in France as elsewhere; in addition to which, the desman (mus moschiferus), an aquatic quadruped, inhabits the neighbourhood of Tarbes, as some beavers do the islands at the mouth of the Rhone. Seals, dolphins, and sometimes whales, are met with around the coasts. Birds are very numerous. They include two kinds of eagles and a species of vulture. Several birds not elsewhere met with are found on the shores of the Mediterranean, as the flamingo, roller, wasp-eater, beccafica, ortolan, &c. Bustards, large and small, inhabit the Table showing the Departments into which France is divided, their Population in 1842, with their Sub-divisions and Deputies; their Electors in 1843; and the Number of Properties in each in 1835, &c. 60. Orne 61. Pas-de-Calais 62. Puy-de-Dôme 65. Pyrénées (Basses), 64. Pyrénées (Hautes) 65. Pyrénées (Orientales) 66. Rhin (Bas) 67. Rhin (Haut) 68. Rhône 69. Saône (Haut) 70. Saône et-Loire 71. Sarthe 72. Seine- 76. Sèvres (Deux) 77. Somme 78. Tarn 79. Tarn et-Garonne 80. Var 81. Vaucluse 82. Vendée 83. Vienne 84. Vienne (Haute) 85. Vosges 86. Yonne Total 909,289 288,077 639,666 249,462 462,236 434,085 495,784 298,137 609,708 486,806) 705,138 318,152 521,114 287,739 479,657 347,073 509,478 140,788 723,008 488,472 602,981 597,334 806,789 356,632 622,899 257,567 518,127 361,352 557,274 444,603 604,631 326,372 712,587 446,331 672,143 440,312 662,106 305,346 561,206 1,085,298 589,821 398,868 561,053 442,072 669,924 685,021 809,933 587,566 763,990 463,000 244,196 405,052 173,592 417,500 560,113 384,973 464,466 279,922 519,233 347,627 857,098 551,543 639,553 470,535 47,298 1,194,603 595,439 737,501 729,627 328,010 330,984 251,080 675,458 356,453 691,012 294,250 572,852 292,848 498,917 419,992 720,372 362,961 52,780,71334,213,929 363 623,899 367,343 635,599 549,417 701,661 253,076 643,219 306,366 831,661 588,660 4 503,304 316,734 4 451,683 500,831 595,980 333,260 549,936 470,918 585,273 310,203 604,456 559,680 573,386 351,656 358,765 239,297 1,086 64,886 Moulins 13,854 2.816 852 FRANCE. deps. of the N.W. and centre. The cock-of-the-wood, and red and grey partridges, are the principal winged gaine. Water-fowl are particularly numerous in the déps. Vendée and Charente-Inférieure: in cold winters the wild swan visits the country. Reptiles are few; there are but two venomous serpents. A kind of gecko inhabits the S. shores; the salamander, large green lizard, mud-tortoise and bufo obste tricans, are the other most remarkable animals of this class. In some deps. frogs are reared in large numbers as articles of food. The fisheries of turbot, sole, ray, mackarel, herring, pilchard, mullet, &c. in the N. and W. seas, and of the tunny and anchovy in the Mediterranean, furnish employment to numerous families. Oysters are very abundant on the N. and W. coasts, as well as muscles and lobsters. from France in large quantities. There are two species Leeches are exported of scorpion. Cantharides and the cochineal insect are met with in the S. (Hugo, France Pittoresque; Aperçu Statistique; Dict. Géog.) of property were established in all parts of the kingdom; and the power of disposing of property by will was confined That the property of persons dying intestate shall be within the arrowest limits. Thus it was enacted, 1. equally divided among their children, without respect to of property wishes to make a will, he shall be permitted, sex or seniority; and, 2. That, when a person possessed provided he have only one child, to dispose of a moiety of his property, the child inheriting the other moiety as matter of right; if the testator have two children, he is allowed to dispose of a third part of his property; and if four children, of a fourth and so on, the rest being equally divided among the children. This law was intended to subvert the foundations of that old feudal aristocracy, whose usurpations and opcountry; and there can be no doubt that it was well pressive privileges had entailed much misery on the this might have been attained otherwise, and without fitted to accomplish this object. No doubt, however, Population. The information with respect to the law. By interfering to so extreme an extent in the disoccasioning the pernicious results inseparable from this pop. of France previously to 1784 is exceedingly imper-posal of a man's property, it must plainly lessen the mofect. But according to the best attainable information tives to accumulation; while, by rendering the children it amounted, in 1700, to 19,669,000, and in 1762 to in a great measure independent, it weakens the parental 21,769,000, including Corsica. In 1784 it was estimated authority, and has the same injurious operation in referby Necker at 24,800,000. has in reference to a single child. But its worst effect ence to an entire family, that the Scotch law of entail consists in its inevitable tendency to reduce landed property into minute portions, incapable of being cultivated in the best manner, and in the consequent stimulus tion. it gives to the increase of a pauper agricultural popula The official returns give the following numbers for the undermentioned years: 1801 1806 1821 27,349,003 1831 32,569,223 33,540,910 It appears, therefore, supposing the statement for 1801 to be correct, that the increase of the pop. in the 35 years ending with 1836 had been 6,191,910, or between a fourth and a fifth part of its amount in 1801. Between those two epochs there were born 33,226,492 children. 17,135,444 males, and 16,090,978 females: the deaths during the same period were 27,901,362; 14,228,339 being males, and 13,673,023 females. Of the births, 2,122,940 were illegitimate, the average of these to legitimate births for the same period being nearly 1 to 15 annually. But it must be remarked that the number of illegitimate births, which in 1800 was only 41.635, had in 1831 increased to 74.727; so that while the total pop. had increased only about 1-4th part, the number of illegitimate births had nearly doubled. The proportion of the latter varies greatly in different déps.: it is largest in those which contain the largest cities, The Seine stands at the head of these: in it the illegitimate are to the legitimate births as 1 to 2-66; in that of the Rhône as 1 to 5 91; in Seine-Inférieure as 1 to 7.5. Illegitimate births are fewest in Vendée, where the proportion is only 1 to 62-48. In 1842, the subdivisions of the pop. were as follow: Children and unmarried persons Widowed Total 18,915,065 - 12,940,961 The number of marriages for the 35 years above mentioned, was 8,290,064; and the average proportion of children to each marriage 3-95, or very near 4. If we draw an imaginary line E. and W. through France, about the parallel of 47° lat. we shall find that the 40 deps. N. of that line, with an area of 92,230 sq. m., had, in 1836, a pop. of about 18,340,000, while the 46 deps. chiefly S. of the same line, with an area of 111,505 sq. m., had a pop. of somewhat more than 15,300,000. The N. of France, therefore, with a surface 19,275 sq. m. less than the S., has 3,000,000 more inhabitants. The average pop. to the sq. m. throughout the country is estimated at 164, which is precisely the density of the dép. Jura. 37 deps. are more thickly peopled than the average, but in general only slightly so. The most densely inhabited, the small dep. of the Seine, in which Paris is situated, has 6,048 inhabitants to the sq. m., the dép. du Nord has 468, that of the Rhone 447, and that of Seine-Inférieure 309. The Basses-Alpes, the least populous, has only 60 individuals to the sq. m. There are about 1,800 suicides annually committed in France, which gives 1 for every 18,333 inhab. They are more frequent in the N. than in the S. In the dep. of the Seine the proportion is 1 to 3,632, in the Haute Loire only as 1 to 163,242 deaths. France has but few very large towns, but it has a great number with a pop. varying from 5,000 to 20,000. Of the total pop. 4-5ths are estimated to reside in the rural districts, and but 1-5th part in towns of more than 1,500 inhabit. (Encyc. des Gens du Monde; Official Tables.) Distribution of Landed Property Agriculture. In France, previously to the revolution, the property of persons dying intestate was subject, in different parts of the kingdom, to different regulations; but every where estates could be disposed of by will, and settled by entail. At the revolution a nearly total change was made in these respects; the same regulations for the distribution That the condition of the agriculturists of France has But it is not true that this improvement has been in any been materially improved since the revolution, is true. respect owing to the law of equal inheritance. It has law. taken place, not in consequence, but in despite, of that vileges of the nobility and clergy, and of the gabelle The abolition of the game laws and feudal pricorvées, and other oppressive and partial burdens and farmers; and, in addition to these advantages, a large imposts, was of the greatest service to proprietors and extent of common lands was divided, and a great part of the vast possessions belonging to the church and to the emigrants came into their hands at extremely low prices, farmers were, at the same time, in very many instances, so that while small properties were generally augmented, changed into landlords. fresh energy was given to agricultural pursuits, and that No wonder, therefore, that a great improvement has been effected. Still, however, it is certain that the rapid division of the agricultural population, caused by the existing law of landed property, and the continually increasing excess of succession, have gone far to neutralise the effects of these advantageous circumstances, and form at this moment the prominent evils in the social condition of the people of France. "The population of that country," says Mr. Birkbeck," seems to be arranged thus: a town depends for subsistence on the lands immediately around it. The cultivators individually have not much to spare; because, as their husbandry is a sort of gardening, it requires a large country population, and has, in proportion, less superfluity of produce. Thus is formed a numerous but poor country population. The cultivator receives payonly sous. ment for his surplus produce in sous, and he expends The tradesman is on a par with the farmer; as they receive so they expend; and thus 50,000 persons may inhabit a district, with a town of 10,000 inhabitants in the centre of it, bartering the superfluity of the country for the arts and manufactures of the town. generation to generation, and growing continually poorer as they increase in numbers; in the country by the division and subdivision of property, in the town by the division and subdivision of trades and professions; such the comforts of life, and then to the luxuries, as is the a people, instead of proceeding from the necessaries to order of things in England, are rather retrograde than progressive. There is no advancement in French society, no improvement, nor hope of it." (Tour in France, 4th ed. p. 34.) Poor from In his Tour in France, Mr. J. P. Cobbett makes the following observations with respect to the influence of the law of equal succession in Normandy : — " I hear, account of the effects of this revolutionary law. They on all sides, here in Normandy, great lamentations on tell me, that it has dispersed thousands upon thousands of families who had been on the same spot for centuries; that it is daily operating in the same way; that it has, ings; that it has caused the land to be worse cultivated: in a great degree, changed the state of the farm buildthat it has caused great havoc amongst timber trees; and there are persons who do not scruple to assert, that society in France will become degraded in the extreme, unless the law be changed in this respect." (P. 169.) of the operation of this law, and its operation in occasion. The best French writers concur in the view now given ing the endless division and subdivision of the land, "dont l'action funeste dévore le sol de nos campagnes avec une affligeante rapidité." But the official returns published by the French government supply the best illustration of the extreme subdivision of landed property iu France. In 1815, for example, there were 10,083,751 properties, great and small, charged separately to the land tax, or contribution foncière. In 1835 this number had increased to 10,893,528†, being an increase of no fewer than 809,777 properties in the interval! This statement does not, however, show the number of proprietors, as many of the latter hold properties in different communes, and pay taxes in each. In 1816 the number of proprietors was estimated by the Duc de Gaëte at 4,833,000; and as this estimate is believed to have been then rather under than above the mark, the number of proprietors may now be safely estimated at about 5,500,000. The greater number of these being heads of families, consisting of about 5 persons each, it follows that the proprietary class in France must comprise from 17,000,000 to 18,000,000 individuals! But exclusive of this class, the persons ocupying lands as tenants, and the class of agricultural abourers, are supposed to amount together to about a sixth part of the population of the country, or to between 5,000,000 and 6,000,000 individuals. Hence, of the entire population of France, amounting to 33,500,000, about a half belongs to the class of proprietors, and about two hirds are either engaged in the business of agriculture, or depend directly on it for support. In no other European country is there such a vast body of proprietors; and, except where agriculture is the only employment, there is none where so large a portion of the population is immediately dependent on the soil. People in England being accustomed to associate ideas of great wealth and respectability with the possession of landed property, are apt to conclude that a country where almost every second person you meet is a proprietor, must be in a peculiarly prosperous condition. But the reverse is the fact. Many of the so-called proprietors do not possess above one or two acres, and some not so much; and in most departments the majority of properties vary from 5 to 10, 30 and 40 acres. The single department of the Bouches du Rhone contains three times as many proprietors as are to be found in Scotland. The contribution foncière, though there are great inequalities in its pressure, amounts, at an average, to about a fifth or a sixth part of the rent of the land; and it is seen from the official returns that it is assessed as follows: Properties assessed at less than 5 fr. a year 5,205,411 assessed at from 5 to 10 fr. are not nearly so well off as common labourers in England. In a tract by M. Lafitte, on a proposal for reducing the interest on the public debt published a few years since, he observes: "Si en effet le manufacturier des nos grandes villes est aussi avisé, aussi adroit que l'homme doit être aujourd'hui, notre agriculteur est aussi ignorant, aussi pauvre que dans les siècles de la féodalité; et nous avons l'indigente France du quatorzième siècle, pour consommer les produits de l'ingénieuse et riche France du dixneuvième siècle. Une partie considérable de la population ne mange ni pain ni viande, ne se nourit que de quelques grossiers lé gumes, et se couvre à peine de quelques misérables haillons!" And such is necessarily the condition of the agricultural population of every country in which the land is parcelled out into minute portions, which neither furnish sufficient employment nor subsistence to their occupiers. The latter, cut off from every hope of rising in the world, sink into a state of stupid apathy, and are destitute alike of capital, intelligence, and enterprise. In some departments the process of division and subdivision has not been carried so far as in others; but generally if a property exceed 100 or 200 acres, and in many instances if it exceed 80, it is divided and a portion let to a tenant. Unhappily, too, the mode of letting land in France prevalent in most departments is exceedingly objectionable. Leases when granted are in general much too short; and in more than half the kingdom land is let on the métayer principle, the landlord usually furnishing besides the land the stock or cattle, and the seed for the first crop, and receiving as rent a certain proportion, as a third or a half (generally the latter,) of the gross produce of the farm. This system is subversive alike of industry and enterprise; and wherever it prevails agriculture is not stationary merely, but is in the most wretched state. The following extract from an able article on the Agriculture of France, in the Révue Trimestrielle (No. 2. art. 1.), shows the extent and influence of this system. "Quand les propriétaires ne cultivent pas eux-mêmes leurs terres, la mode de leur loyer est la circonstance la plus influente sur l'état de leur culture. Ce mode en France est généralement détestable. A l'exception de la Flandre, et de ce très-petit nombre de provinces où le système de la culture alterne est suivi depuis trèslong-temps, la durée des baux est beaucoup trop courte, pour que le fermier ait le temps de recouvrer 1,751,994 les dépenses que nécessite l'établissement d'une nou 1,514,251 velle méthode de culture, et pour retirer quelques 739,206 avantages de ce changement. Enfin, dans une très684,165 grande partie du royaume, dans toutes les provinces du 553,230 centre, les fermiers sont à peine connus. Les terres 341,159 sont cultivés par de malheureux métayers, travailleurs à moitié fruit, qui se chargent pour trois ans de tous les 57,555 33,196 travaux de la culture, et qui doivent rendre au pro13,361 priétaire la moitié de ses produits bruts. Le métayer apporte ses bras, son ignorance et son bon appétit le propriétaire lui confie un sol épuisé, tout le mobilier indispensable à sa chétive exploitation, le grain néces doit le faire subsister lui et sa famille, jusqu'à la presaire au premier ensemencement, et même celui qui et vit là-dessus. Lui et les siens repus, le propriétaire mière récolte. Le métayer laboure, sème, moissonne, a la reste. Quelquefois, entre le propriétaire et le métayer, qui est un pauvre paysan, il s'interpose sous le nom de fermier un troisième individu, le plus souvent un petit bourgeois de village, très-rusé, qui assure au premier sur le produit du travail du second un petit des récoltes. Cet homme ne prend aucune part active revenu fixe et indépendant de l'abondance et du prix aux travaux de la culture, mais il assiste à tous les dé 10,893,528 Hence it appears that of the whole number of landed properties in France, nearly a half are assessed at less than 5 fr. a year; so that taking the assessment at only 1-10th part of the rent, it follows that about half the properties in France are not worth more than 50 fr., or 40s. a year! And it farther appears that of the whole properties in France amounting to 10,893,528, no fewer than 9,825,027, being about 9-10ths of the entire number, are assessed below and not above 50 fr. a year; which, on the above supposition, shows that 9 in every 10 of the existing properties in France are worth under 500 fr., or 207. a year! It is also seen that in the entire kingdom there are only 13,361 properties assessed at above 1,000 fr. a year, or which may be supposed to be worth more than 10,000 fr., or 400l. a year! Such being the case, we need not be surprised to learn that though, speaking generally, the small proprietors are industrious and economical, they are, at the same time, miserably poor, and strongly attached to routine practices: and that even if they had a knowledge of improved processes, the want of capital would be an insuperable obstacle to their carrying them into practice. It is customary at this moment, in several of the southern departments, as it was 3,000 years ago, to thrash corn by treading it with horses! And in some districts the ploughs now in use are said to be the same as those described by Virgil! (Hugo, France Pittoresque, &c., art. Corrèze, &c.) Many of the small pro. prietors rarely taste butchers' meat; and are too happy when they find an opportunity of eking out their narrow means by working at day wages on the larger properties, if there be any such, in their vicinity. Such proprietors *For proofs of this, see M'Culloch's ed. of the Wealth of Nations, p. 559. 1 vol. 8vo. Official Accounts by the Minister of Commerce, 1837. pouillemens de récolte que fait le métayer, il le suit à vail." Wherever agriculture is good or improving in France, estates and farms are comparatively large, and the latter |