navigable, as far as under Pech-Darid, near the Faubourg Saint Michel de Toulouse; to dig a navigable canal afterwards, from the last-mentioned place as far as Naurose, passing by Castanet, Donneville, and Gemét; and to continue this canal to Trebes, where it should join the Aude, which was to be rendered navigable as far as the sea of Nouvelle.

The nature of the soil, the apparent scarcity of water, and, above all, the difficulty of conducting it to the Pierres de Naurouse, elevated more than a hundred fathoms above the level of both seas, had caused these different projects to be considered impossible.

This gigantic project was received with admiration by Colbert, (whose vast intellect was always directed towards the improvement of the country,) and submitted to Louis XIV. by the Intendant General of the finances. This king, who took pleasure in imparting his puissant protection to all boldly conceived ideas, published an edict in 1663, on the 8th of January, commanding that the plan should be examined by the Commissaries, and by others chosen by the state. Nevertheless, a year elapsed before any thing was done; but at last, the meeting was fixed for the 6th of October, 1664.

From 1664 to 1666, the society were occupied in considering all the chances of success, and in the course of the last-mentioned year, the canal was begun. Riquet was now called upon to put into execution a project which preceding ages had looked upon as an imaginary one; but this laborious, indefatigable man, gave himself up to the glorious task which he had imposed upon himself. The eyes of all France were upon him, for many doubted the feasibility of the plan. Surrounded by jealous enemies, he marched proudly on, forgetting, as soon as he heard them, the many calumnies uttered against him. As the canal progressed, Riquet redoubled his efforts; but unfortunately, a few months before navigation was practicable in it, he fell sick and died, without enjoying the satisfaction of seeing his work completed.

His son, Mathias Riquet de Monrepos, finished it, and six months afterwards the canal was in a state of navigation.

The publisher of the Mercury of 1681, gave the following details concerning Riquet:

The canal uniting the two seas is completed. This is the more extraordinary, as it has always been looked upon as an impossibility; and although in preceding ages the want of it was recognised, no man ventured to undertake it. The late M. Riquet of Beziers, a man of fine intellect and great powers of penetration, resolved to spare no pains nor expense, in the accomplishment of this great work. Taught by his extensive knowledge in this branch of science, a knowledge acquired in the exercise of various important functions, that the project was a feasible one, he proposed the plan to Colbert; and the canal was begun in 1666, upon his answering for its success. To him alone, therefore, is all the honour due. When very near its completion, and confident in the anticipated triumph of the first trial of the canal, death snatched him from the delight of listening to his own praises. M. de Cassan says in his epitaph:

Here lies the man who overcame the difficulties of this bold design,
Who united the waters of the two seas,

Opened the bosom of the earth,
Levelled mountains,

Caused the waves to obey the commands of the king,

And who moreover

Never failed in truth,

As did Moses.

Nevertheless, their fates were somewhat similar:

One died in sight of the promised land;

The other, just before the completion
Of his canal.

Riquet made his own name celebrated by this undertaking. France has inscribed it on one of the brightest pages of her history. An idea of the importance of this canal may be gained from the following opinion expressed by Dupont de Nemours, a member of the council, in the year 5.

The southern canal carries on a commerce of 50,000,000 a year: the merchants have an annual benefit of 5,000,000.

Land proprietors who make use of this canal for trading purposes, and who formerly had no means of transportation, or, at best, an inconvenient one, receive an augmentation of 20,000,000 in revenue, agricultural expenses included. By means of taxes, twentieths, &c. &c., the government gains possession of at least 5,000,000 of this annually, and of 500,000,000 in a century.

The year 1783 was a memorable epoch. The treaty which, by establishing peace between the two worlds, allowed a free navigation of the ocean in all directions, bears that date.

early as 1758, the New World was in possession of a useful invention of Dr. Franklin's; this was the lightningrod.

The lightning-rod consisted of a rod of iron terminating in a platina point, and placed on the highest part of a building. Iron or brass wire, attached to the foot of it, descends the wall and buries itself in the earth. These rods are sometimes seen bent with the effects of the lightning, without the adjacent building being in any degree injured.

The first lightning-rod used in France, gave rise to a curious law-suit, in which a young lawyer appeared, who afterwards rose to great eminence.

M. de Vissery de Boisvalé, a great admirer of Franklin's discovery, placed one on his own roof at Saint Omer. The inhabitants of the village, beholding in this a machine for attracting lightning and causing their houses to be consumed by fire, applied to the magistrates to have it removed; and they, sharing

in the panic, ordered M. Vissery to take down the offensive

lightning-rod.

At first this gentleman refused to obey until the court should. have pronounced such a decree; but he was soon obliged to comply, for the neighbours, fully persuaded that their lives were in danger as long as it stood there, threatened to demolish it. Still, M. de Vissery did not consider himself vanquished: he intrusted his cause to M. d'Arras, a young lawyer, engaging him to plead in his defence and that of the lightning-rod. The defence was made with so much talent, and with a skill so remarkable, that the fame of the young lawyer soon spread far and wide, and M. de Vissery's triumph was complete.

The court reversed the decree of the magistrates, and the lightning-rod maintained its place.