the term of that legal privilege which at first gave the proprietors the exclusive right of supplying them, and which had been confirmed in 1792 by a decision of the Court of King s Bench against some encroachment on the right of the patentee. It was principally for the purpose of carrying on this manufactory with greater convenience, that the proprietors established an iron-foundry of their
own at Smcthwick, in the neighbourhood of Soho.In 1785 Boulton was made a fellow of the Royal Society, about the same time with Withering, and several others of his scientific neighbours. In 1788 he turned his attention to the subject of coining, and erected machinery for the purpose, so extensive and complete, that the operation was performed with equal economy and precision, and the coins could not be imitated by any single artist for their nominal value, each of the stamps coining, with the attendance of a little boy only, about eighty pieces in a minute. The preparatory operation of laminating and cutting out the metal was performed in an adjoining room ; and all personal communication betwesn the work men was rendered unnecessary by the mechanical conveyance of the work from one part of the machinery to another. A coinage of silver was executed at this mint for the Sierra Leone Company, and another of copper for the East Indies, besides the pence and half-pence at one time in circulation throughout England, and a large quantity of money of all kinds for Russia. In acknowledgment of Boulton s services, and in return for some specimens of his different manufactures, the Emperor Paul made him a present of a valuable collection of medals and minerals.
In 1797 he obtained a patent for a mode of raising water by impulse, the specification of which is published in the ninth volume of the Repertory of Arts, p. 145. It had been demonstrated by Daniel Bcrnouilli, in the be ginning of the century, that water flowing through a pipe, and arriving at a part in which the pipe is suddenly contracted, would have its velocity at first very greatly increased ; but no practical application of the principle appears to have been attempted, until an apparatus was set up in 1792 by Mr Whitehurst for Mr Egerton of Oulton, in Cheshire, consisting of an air-vessel communicating with a water-pipe by a valve, which was forced open by the pressure or rather impulse of the water, when its passage through the pipe was suddenly stopped by turning the cock in the ordinary course of domestic economy ; and although the pipe through which the water was forced up was of moderate height, the air-vessel, which was at first made of lead, was soon burst by the " momentous force," as White- hurst termed it. The apparatus had excited much atten tion in France, under the name of Montgolfier s hydraulic ram ; and Boulton added to it a number of ingenious modi fications, some of which, however, are more calculated to display the vivid imagination of a projector than the sound judgment of a practical engineer, which had in general so strongly characterized all his productions.
He died, August 17, 1809, after a long illness, in posses sion of considerable affluence and of universal esteem. (See Smiles s Lives of Eoulton and Watt, 1865.)
so many European kings have sprung, took its name from the rich district in the centre of France, called the Bourbonnais, which in the 10th century was one of the three great baronies of the kingdom. The first of the long line of Bourbons known in history was Adhdmar or Aimar, who was invested with the barony towards the close of the 9th century. In 1272 Beatrix, daughter of Agnes of Bourbon and her husband John of Burgundy, married Robert, count of Clermont, sixth son of Louis IX. (St Louis) of France. The elder branches of the family had become extinct, and their son Louis became due do Bourbon in 1327. In 1488 the line of his descendants ended with Jean II., who died in that year. The whole estates passed to Jean s brother Pierre, lord of Beaujeu, who was married to Anne, sister of Louis XI. Pierre died in 1503, leaving only a daughter, Suzanne, who, in 1505, married Charles de Montpensier, heir of the Montpensier branch of the Bourbon family. Charles, who took the title of due de Bourbon on his marriage, was born in 1489, and at an early age was looked upon as one of the finest soldiers and gentlemen in France. His union with Suzanne made him the wealthiest and most powerful French noble ; and after his brilliant successes in Italy and France, he became an object of dread to Louis XII., who would not give him the command of the army of Italy. In 1515 Francis I., on his accession, made Bourbon constable of France, and in that capacity he gained new honours, and was for a time in the highest favour with the king. But serious differences soon arose between them, originating, according to common report, in the violent but slighted passion of Louise, duchesse d Angouleme, the king s mother, for the constable. The grossest insults were heaped upon Bourbon ; his official salary and the sums he had borrowed for his war expenses remained unpaid ; in the campaign against Charles V. the command of the vanguard was given to the due d Alencon ; and after the death of Suz anne de Bourbon, an action was raised by the queen dowager, who claimed to be nearest heir. In defiance of Bourbon s marriage-settlement, judgment was given against him, and he was reduced to absolute beggary. Smarting under these wrongs he entered into negotiations with Charles V., and on these coming to the knowledge of Francis at once fled from his native country and joined the emperor. He did good service in the war against his countrymen, and especially distinguished himself at tlie battle of Pavia, where his ungenerous sovereign Francis was taken prisoner. Bourbon, however, did not find Charles very ready to fulfil his various promises, and determined to seize a kingdom for himself. With the division under his command ho penetrated into Italy, and on the 5th May 1527 appeared before the walls of Rome. In the assault on the following morning he was the first to mount the walls, and fell mortally wounded by a pistol- shot, fired, it is said, by Benvenuto Cellini. His army succeeded in taking and sacking the town. With the con stable ended the direct line from Pierre, due de Bourbon. But the fourth in descent from Pierre s brother, Jacques, Louis, count of Vendome and Chartres, became the ancestor of the royal house of Bourbon and of the noble families Conde", Conti, and Montpensier. The fourth in direct descent from Louis of Vendome was Antoine de Bourbon, who in 1548 married Jeanne d Albret, heiress of Navarre, and who became king of Navarre in 1554. Their son became king of France, with the title Henri IV. Henri was succeeded by his son Louis XIII., who left two sons, Louis XIV., and Philippe, due d Orleans, head of the Orleans branch. Louis XIV. s son, the Dauphin, died before his father, and left three sons, one of whom died without issue. Of the others the elder, Louis of Burgundy, died in 1712, and his only surviving son became Louis XV. The younger, Philippe, duke of Anjou, became king of Spain, and founded the Spanish branch of the Bourbon family. Louis XV. was succeeded by his grandson, Louis XVI., who perished on the scaffold. At the restoration the tlirono of France was occupied by Louis XVIII., brother of Louis XVI., who in turn was succeeded by his brother Charles X. The second son of Charles X., the due do Berri, left a son, Henri Charles Ferdinand Marie Dieudonnc" d Artois, due de Bordeaux, and count de Chambord, who is a claimant of the French throne, and is designated by
his adherents, Henri V, From Louis XIV. s brother,
