the renewed solicitations of Queen Anne, the remaining Protestant sufferers received their liberty. After staying some time in London, Marteilhe returned to Holland, and proceeded to the Hague, where he and his brethren were very cordially received, and had pensions settled upon them by the Dutch Government. This event concludes the very interesting memoir; but M. Coquerel has been able to ascertain a few facts which carry down Marteilhe's history somewhat later, and afford information which we are glad to obtain as to his family and descendants. His death took place at Cuylenberg in 1777, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. Mention is made of his aged widow; and it is known that he had a daughter, who was married at Amsterdam to an English naval officer of distinction, Vice-Admiral Douglas. In 1785 their son, Mr. Douglas, and his wife came to Bergerac to visit their French relatives in Perigord. It is pleasing to find,' says M. Coquerel, 'that the memory of Marteilhe, though lost sight of in France, was respected in England, and that the honour of an alliance with the martyr of the galleys was estimated as it deserved.' The narrative, of which a brief sketch has now been given, is so full of striking adventures and curious details, that we believe few of those who may peruse this scanty outline of Marteilhe's history will not be desirous to make themselves acquainted with it in its entirety. And we may venture to express the satisfaction which we have derived from hearing that a record, from the nature of its subject so interesting, and of which the contents are in many respects so honourable to the English name, is likely to be made more accessible to our countrymen by being translated into their own language. One word in accordance with the spirit of the editor's preface should be added in conclusion. There is no polemical design, nor any element of theological bitterness in this volume. To record the virtues of noble-hearted men, not to re-open wounds, nor to cast odium on creeds or churches, has been the motive of its publication. In attempting,' says M. Paumier, 'to bring to light some glorious passages in the past history of our Church, it has been far from our intention to excite anew those religious conflicts with which our forefathers were inflamed. We know, and we thank God for it, how greatly the times are changed. . . . But that which it is profitable at all times to recall to mind, are those examples of inflexible obedience to conscience, of faithfulness to duty, and of the spirit of self-sacrifice, which in the day of their trial our ancestors exhibited to their descendants as they did also to their persecutors.' In the spirit of these remarks remarks we fully concur. It is, indeed, a good lesson for us who live in an easy and tolerant age, in which the exercise of the sterner virtues is more rarely called for, to be reminded of the fortitude of such men as these admirable, though little known, martyrs of the Reformation, who, in the fine language of Sir Thomas Browne, maintained their faith in the noble way of persecution, and served God in the fire, whereas we honour him in the sunshine.' ART. III.-Metallurgy: the Art of Extracting Metals from their Ores, and Adapting them to various Purposes of Manufacture. Vol. I.: Fuel, Fireclays, Copper, Zinc, Brass, &c. Vol. II.: Iron and Steel. By John Percy, M.D., F.R.S. London, 1861-4. A S History must be made before it can be written, so, in the mechanical arts, practice must necessarily precede theory, and experience, scientific exposition. This is pre-eminently the case as regards Metallurgy, or the art of extracting metals from their ores and adapting them to the various purposes of manufacture. The ordinary metals were doubtless applied to the wants of man long before physical science could be said to exist. Their use preceded literature, history, and perhaps even tradition itself. No one knows when any of the common metals were discovered. Antiquarians may form theories as to the supposed Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages; but such theories are, at best, only conjectures more or less ingenious. It While the practice of Metallurgy is of the highest antiquity, the science of Metallurgy is of comparatively modern date. is still, indeed, only in course of development. Although the mining operations of England are conducted on a greater scale than those of any other country in the world, the contributions hitherto made by English metallurgists to the literature of the subject have been few and scanty in the extreme. This is probably to be accounted for by the circumstance that miners, as a class, are industrial and practical rather than scientific or literary, and that they have been too much engrossed by the business of their respective callings to admit of their undertaking the exposition of the principles on which Metallurgy is founded. In this, as in the other arts, we must necessarily wait the advent of the educated man of science, who has the knowledge, the patience and perseverance, requisite to gather together the store of facts which the men of practice have in the course of ages accumulated, reduce them to a science, and expound the principles on which that science is founded. This Dr. Percy has most satisfactorily accomplished in the admirable work on Metallurgy now before us, which is at once an elaborate exposition of one of the most important practical sciences and a monument of his own eminent scientific ability and industry. The introductory part of the first volume is in a great measure elementary, being descriptive of terms and processes, initiating the reader into the nature of Fluxes and Slags, and the fusibility of mixtures consisting of Silica and various bases. The next division contains a very complete and exhaustive account of the nature and qualities of Fuel-wood, peat, coal, and coke-with an elaborate exposition of their economical applications. This is followed by a practical disquisition on Fireclays and their composition, in the course of which the various kinds of Crucibles used in Metallurgy are described; and the remainder of the volume is devoted to a full and minute account of Copper and Zinc, their salts and oxides and the methods of assaying them, their ores and the processes of smelting and extracting them; with various details of their manufacture, the results of extensive inquiry and of close and accurate observation. In the course of this, as well as of the second volume, which is exclusively devoted to the important subjects of Iron and Steel, the text is illustrated by a multiplicity of woodcuts, not the least important feature of which is that, while helping the reader to a clear understanding of the processes described, they are mechanically accurate, being carefully drawn to scale, and are therefore calculated to be of much practical value. In following Dr. Percy through the various branches of his subject, we cannot help being impressed by the genius for detail which evidently possesses him. He piles fact upon fact, analysis upon analysis, illustration upon illustration. Conscientious and laborious inquiry into facts is the great characteristic of the work. In the Preface he says, 'Though educated for the profession of medicine, and for some years engaged in the actual practice of it, I long ago acquired a strong predilection for the study of Metallurgy, to which I have almost exclusively devoted my attention during the last twenty years.' Dr. Percy's early scientfic education has doubtless proved of essential service to him in the prosecution of his undertaking. He has also had the advantage of sitting at the feet of great masters, amongst whom he names the illustrious Baron Thenard and Gay-Lussac, whose lectures he attended at the Jardin des Plantes some thirty years ago. above all, he has evidently been inspired by a genuine love for his subject, which has enabled him to go through the vast amount of labour-which to so many would have been a drudgery, Vol. 120.-No. 239. F But, but but to him has been a pleasure-in collecting the great store of facts contained in these volumes, the results of so much reading, inquiry, observation, and experiment,-facts which, however dry and unattractive they may seem, constitute the only sure foundation of the science of Metallurgy. This great work will, when completed, be the first really satisfactory treatise on Metallurgy contributed to British literature. Germany, however, possesses many valuable treatises on the subject. Dr. Percy more particularly cites those of Agricola and Karsten, the former published more than three centuries since, the latter within the last thirty years. The work of Agricola, De Re Metallica, is a remarkable book, considering the time at which it was written. It is very full in its descriptions of the various methods of mining, raising and dressing the ores, and extracting the metals by smelting; and is illustrated by a great variety of curious engravings, showing the mining tools formerly in use, the modes of sinking and working the shafts, with the odd dresses of the labourers and miners at work above and below ground,-the latter being shown accoutred in leathern coats with long peaked tails to carry off the drip of the mine. The publication of so complete and elaborate a work as early as 1555-the year in which it first appeared-indicates the importance then attached to mining operations in Germany, and the interest with which they were studied. Indeed, as Dr. Percy observes, we are probably indebted to the Germans to a greater extent than is commonly supposed, for the development of our mineral resources, since the introduction of German miners and metallurgists into England, about three centuries ago, through the wisdom of Elizabeth.' † But, long before the reign of Elizabeth, measures had been adopted by the English monarchs to induce skilled German miners to settle in England. Thus, about the middle of the fourteenth century, Edward III. granted powers to several gangs of Germans to work the mines of Sheildam in Northumberland, Alston Moor in Cumberland, and Richmond in Yorkshire, on condition that the adventurers would instruct his subjects in the art of copper mining. Henry VI. pursued the same policy, and in 1430 we find him inviting three famous German miners, Michael Gosselyn, George Harbryke, and Matthew Laweston, with thirty skilled workmen from Bohemia and Hungary, to superintend and work the Royal tin mines in Cornwall. Again, it * A final volume on Lead, Silver, Gold, &c., will complete the work. Most of the mining terms still in use indicate their German origin. Hence welt is from schmeltzen, to melt; slag is from schlagen, or cinder; sump, the cavity v the shaft, is from sumpf, a bog or pit; spern, a point or buttress, and so on. appears * appears from the State Papers that a party of German miners, labourers, smiths, carpenters, assayers, drainers, and colliers, were invited over to England in the reign of Edward VI. Setting out from Frankfort, they reached Antwerp, where we find them kicking their heels along the quays, waiting the arrival of a consignment of kerseys, the proceeds of which were to defray the cost of their voyage; but it is not clear from the State records that the mining party ever reached their destination. The greatest efforts to develop the mining resources of England by the aid of German skill were, however, made in the reign of Elizabeth, when numerous bodies of foreign miners were invited to settle in different parts of the country, for the purpose, at the same time, of working the mines and instructing our people in the best methods of mining. To two of the leading adventurers, Hochstetter and Thurland, both from Augsburg, the queen granted a patent to search for gold, silver, quicksilver, and copper, in eight counties, with power to convert the proceeds to their own use. Hochstetter first established copper works in the neighbourhood of Keswick, in Cumberland, and worked them with such success, that it was said of Queen Elizabeth, that she left more brass than she had found iron ordnance in England. The Rev. Thomas Robinson, in his History of Westmoreland and Cumberland,' written more than a century and a half ago, says: The operators, managers, and miners were most of them Germans. The chief steward of the work was one Hecksteter, who, by his book of accounts, which are most regular and exact, and all on imperial paper, as well as by other writings I found under his hand, appears to have been a man of great learning, as well as judgment in minerals and metals. The copper ore which kept these large furnaces at constant work was, for the most part, got in the veins upon Newland Mountains. Some small quantities of ore were got upon Caldbeck and Cunningston Mountains, and brought to the great work at Keswick, being a place most convenient both for water and coal, which they had from Bolton Colliery. In our survey of the mountains of Newland we found eleven veins opened and wrought by the Germans, all distinguished by such names given them as Gold-Scalp, Long Work, St. Thomas Work, &c., of all which veins the richest was that called Gold-Scalp. We found the vein wrought three yards wide, and twenty fathoms deep above the grand level, which is driven in a hard rock 100 fathoms, and only with pick-axe, hammers, and wedges, the use of blasting with gunpowder being not then discovered. For securing of this rich vein no cost of the best oak wood was spared; and for the recovering of the soles under level was placed a watergin, and water was brought to it in troughs of wood upon the tops and * 'Calendar of State Papers.' Foreign Series. 1547-1553. F 2 sides |