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ther, particularly the night-frofts and eafterly winds, have not only checked the progress of their Bowering, but, it is to be feared, have done great injury to the fetting of the fruit. The elm and mountain ath, are both in flower.

April 16. Sone Hirundines were this day seen for the first time; they were obferved in rapid fight, is a direct line, and not playing about in the air, as they ufually do, when the principal part of them are arrived.

April 21. I this day obferved feveral Houfe-martins, playing about the furface of the river; and occafionally dipping in and wathing themselves.-I likewife faw fome wheat

ears.

In the night of April 21ft, we had, without any apparently sufficient caufe, in the preeeding fall of rain, the highest flood of fresh water that has been known in this neighbourhood fince the time that the Halfe well Eaft Indiaman was lost. It was extremely fudden, and its course so rapid, as in fome places to have done great injury. About a mile from the place from which I write, it has fwept away a houfe, that was fuppofed to be out of the reach of the water; and fome of the bridges have received confiderable damage.

The hawthorn hedges are beginning to appear green, and the leaves of the elm are shooting out.

April 24. A caterpillar of the goat-moth, Bombyx coffus of Haworth,) which had been taken out of the wood of a decayed willow-tree, in the month of October laft, and which almoftTM immediately after I received it, began to spin its web, crawled out this day to my great furprize, ftill in its caterpillar ftate. Under the impreffion that it would foon undergo the change into a chryfalis, I had neglected to fupply it with any food: it has thus fubfifted for upwards of fix months, without any nutriment whatever, and is not, as far as I can judge from recollection, at all diminished in fize.

April 26. I this day caught a fpeckled wood-butterfly, (Papilio egeria of Linnæus and Haworth,) fo fresh and weak, that it had evidently only juft conie to life.

Mullet, are now caught in the harbours, and at sea, near the shores.

April 28. A fine and mild fpring day. The hawthorn-flower buds begin to fhew themselves; there are immenfe quantities of a fpecies of phryganea, flying about the roads and fields, the fame, apparently, as I remarked towards the latter end of April, laft year.

The young of Cancer Bagnalis, are very abundant, in nearly all the splashes on the roads. It is evident that the old animals of this fpecies, previously to the drying of the places which they inhabit, depofit their eggs; and that thefe eggs continue through the fummer and winter uninjured, either by drought or froft, till the commencement of the enfuing fpring, when they are brought to life.

April 30. It has been afferted, that red-breafts are always filent during their breeding feafon; and that they do not refume their fong till the young ones are able to procure their own food. This, however, is not the cafe, for I have heard them almost every day. Corn, fallad, (Valeriana locufta,) Harebell, (Scilla nutaus of Smith,) and Subterraneous Trefoil, (Trefolium subterraneum,) are in flower.

Hampshire.

METEOROLOGICAL REPORT.

Observations on the State of the Weather, from the 24th of April, to the 24th of May, 1809, inclusive, Four Miles N.N.W. of St. Paul's.

Barometer.

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The quantity of rain fallen this month is equal to 2.6 in the depth nearly. In the courfe of the prefent month we have had fome very heavy rains; but the form on the 19th, was the most remarkable event that we have to record in this period. In this neighbourhood, it may be regarded as two ftorms, with a short interval between them. The thunder and lightning did not come as ufual, at the distance of feveral minutes between each flash, but the lightning was almost inceffant, the flashes remarkably vivid, and in fome intances, they put on appearances that are by no means common; from this place (Highgate)

the

the weight of the form was at a distance, the thunder not very loud, but like a continual rumbling, and unaccompanied with hail. At a fimilar diftance, on the fouth fide of London, the hail did much damage to tky-lights, green-houses, confervatories, &c. &c. The hailHones were not only very large, but they appeared in fome places rather like pieces of ice, broken from a large fheet, in its fall from the clouds, than as regularly-formed hail-ftones. Since the 19th, the atmosphere has been cool, approaching rather to cold; bat on the day previously to that, the thermometer food at 77°, since which it has not been higher than 68°, and once or twice, the greatest heat in the day was 62. Still the average heat of the month is about 56°, which is 14° higher than it was for April, but 70 or 8° lefs than it was for the month of May, 1808. The wind had been variable, but in the easterly points full half the month. The average height of the barometer is reckoned at 29.56.

The average temperature taken at Shide, Ifle of Wight, for the month of April, is 45,.366: it must be remarked, that the obfervations were made every day at half-paft eight, A.M. which perhaps gives fcarcely the average heat of the 24 hours. In the neighbourhood of London, we know, from accurate observations in several places, that the average heat of the day may be taken without error at nine, or from that to haif past nine in the morning. The quantity of rain fallen at Shide, measured, by a rain-gauge, fimilarly constructedto that which we ufe, is, from November 5, 1808, to March 31, 1809, twenty-two inches; and for the month of April, it is five inches.

ASTRONOMICAL ANTICIPATIONS.

The new moon will fall this month on the morning of the 13th, at 42 minutes past three; and the full moon, at 7 minutes past three in the afternoon of the 27th. For the art fortnight, mercury may be feen in the evenings, if the weather he favorable. On the 1st, he fets at two minutes past ten (night), on the 4th at eight minutes past ten; on the 7th, at ten minutes past ten; on the 10th, at eight minutes paft ten; on the 13th at three minutes paft ten; and on the 16th, at fifty-five minutes past nine'. On the 5th, this planet will come into conjunction with the a, in the conftellation of the twins, a ftar of the third magnitude; on which day the ftar will be only 5 minutes of a degree to the north; and on the 12th, he will be in conjunction with the &, in the fame conftellation; and another star of the third magnitude, when the planet will be 1° 23′ to the north. The beautiful planet, Venus, is now a morning-far, and will continue fuch till the 15th of March, 1810. For the first week The will hardly be visible to the naked eye, on account of her proximity to the fun; but in the after-part of the month, fhe will make a fplendid appearance every fine morning, towards the north-eaft. Throughout the month the will increase in luftre; and her telescopic appearance will be very interesting. On the 29th and 30th, her brightuefs will be equal to what it was in the evenings about the middle of April laft. Mars will be still an eveningftar. He will not fet till after midnight. Jupiter will be up in the mornings, from two to three hours before fun-rife. On the it, he comes into conjunction with the , a ftar of the fourth magnitude, in the conftellation of the fishes, when the difference of latitude will be 58 minutes, the planet being to the fouth. On the morning of the 15th, at 26m. 4s. pait two, the third fatellite of Jupiter may be seen to emerge out of its primary's fhadow; and on the morning of the 24th, at 30m. 18s. paft two, will take place a visible immerfion of Jupiter's fecond fatellite. Saturn will be put up in the evenings, and part of the mornings, of the prefent month, throughout which, his apparent motion will be retrograde, from 29° 48', to 27° 58′, of the anaftrous fign fcorpio. The Georgium Sidus, as well as Saturn, may be féen for a great part of the night. From the neon of the 1ft inftafit, to the noon of July 1, this planet's place in the zodiac, will have moved from 6° 19′, to 5o 38', of the fign fcorpio, the apparent motion being retrograde. On the evening of the 21st, at 56 minutes paft our nine, the fun will touch the tropic of Cancer, which is his utmost limit north-ward. The folar declination, north of the equator, will then be 28° 27', 43;7", which quantity is equal to the obliquity of the ecliptic at that time. For the entertainment of our readers, we fubjoin the following table of the fun's riling and fetting, at London, for a few days before and after the suiniër folstice; cáfefully calculated to feconds, the latitude being stated at 51° 30'.

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PRICES OF STOCKS, from the 25th of APRIL, to the 25th of MAY, both inclusive.

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Terms of the Das of 11,600.0001. as contracted for by Goldsmid and Co. on Friday, May 12, 1309. (For England 11,000,000, for Ireland-5,000,000, for Portugal 600,000.); 601. reduced 3 per cents. ; 601. 4 per cent, consols; 81. 10s. long annuities; for every 1001. subscribed. The dividead on each stock to commence from April last, and the first dividend becoming due on October the 10th to be exempt from property -tax; disdount at the rate of 3 per cent. per ann. for payments made in full. N. B. In the 3 per Cent. Consols the highest and lowest Prices are given; in the other Stocks, the highest only. WM. TURQUAND, Stock and Exchange Broker, No. 9, St: Michael's Alley, Cornhill.

TIE

No, 186.]

JULY 1, 1809.

[6 of VOL. 27.

* As long as thofe who write are ambitious of making Converts, and of giving to their Opinions a Maximum of Influence and Celebrity, the most extenfively circulated Mifcellany will repay with the greatest Effect the Curiofity of those who read either for Amusement or Inftruction.”—JOHNSON.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

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AM not surprised at the countenance given, by various high legal authorities, to the novel practice of the Court of King's-Bench, of banishing persons, convicted of misdemeanors, to strange and remote places of confinement. Public men, and particularly colleagues in power, cannot well avoid sacrificing truth at the shrine of politeness, and compromising their principles, from the regard which they feel for their personal comfort and convenience.

tenance;

Hence it is, that the errors, or crimes 'of power, are constantly kept in counthat truth seldom obtains effective votaries; and that the follies of every age remain to be exposed by the dispassionate voice of history.

On this universally prevailing rule of conduct, we may account, without a libel, for the perversion of human reason, which takes place in the discussion of almost every political topic. The errors and passions of men in power are flattered by the slaves of interest, of prejudice, or politeness; and thus, a num ber of enormities are practised in an enlightened age, in the most enlightened country in the world; and even law itself, which professes to be the perfection of human reason, is often perverted to the worst purposes, and made subservient to the basest passions.

Else how can it be gravely maintained, in this free country, that the Court of King's-Bench possesses, by the custom or common law of England, a right to send persons, convicted of inisdemeanors, to any remote prison in England, subject to 'an arbitrary or capricious election of its Own?

The common law of England is founded on sound reason and common sense.

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nishments inflicted at a distance from the seat of crime, were never in the contemplation of the law.

4. Hence, every punishment should have relation, in regard to its locality, to the place where the crime was committed.

What could be so preposterous, as to order a man to be whipped at Durham, for a crime committed at Falmouth?

Reason, and therefore common law, are obviously at variance with the novel practices of the Court of King's-Bench, and I have heard of no statute to justify these novelties; and I defy the lawyers to produce one.

What says history? Our legislative authorities quote the precedents of past ages. I believe no such precedents exist in their modern interpretation. If a man had committed a crime at Lancaster, or at Exeter, it is reasonable, that the Court of King's-Bench should have referred him back to Lancaster, or Exeter, respectively, for punishment; and in this sense, and this sense only, the Court of King's-Bench bas jurisdiction over every prison in the kingdom.

The principle of punishing in the place where the crime was committed is anterior and universal, and cannot be counteracted by the ulterior and partial rights of any Court, which acts only under the authority of common law. Precedents afforded by times of rebellion, or insurrection, or by the tyrannical usurpation of power, are excep tions, which afford no general rule.

But the domestic historian will tell us, that such cases of remote imprisonment, in former ages, except of Kings, and other such personages, were rendered impossible, ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE and IMPRACTICABLE, by defect of ready intercourse between one part of the kingdom and the other, by the difficulty of convey ing a petty offender to distant places, and even by the wretched condition of the prisons themselves.

No man can gravely contend, that in the state of the roads, and of communi. 4 A

cation

cation between distant parts of this king dom, only one hundred years ago, any ordinary culprit could have been sent two or three hundred miles to undergo a few months imprisonment; except it were to his own county, or back again to the place where he had committed his crime. Besides, before the vehicle of the daily press gave notoriety to punishments, no check existed against the secret destruction of a culprit, or his perpetual imprisonment, if thus sent into a distant county, and thus banished, in effect, from the cognizance of his friends.

Again What says expediency? If such a capricious power existed in the King's-Bench, might not all persons, convicted of misdemeanors, be sent to some one prison; and thus a single county, by being so burdened, be mulcted for the crimes of all the others?

One might indeed pursue the subject through a volume, to prove the cruelty, bad policy, and unreasonableness, of such

a system.

It will not, however, be difficult to convict the lawyers of perversion, by means of the positive enactments of the legislature.

Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights afford abundant security against these novelties; but the special provisions of certain revenue laws, by which the judges are permitted, in order to separate gangs of smugglers, to send them to distant prisons, proves, incontestably, that the law in all cases, not so excepted, does not recognize such power; and that, without anew and formal statute, such a practice of banishing, for misdemeanors, is ILLEGAL.

Need I say more?-If I add another word to expose the injustice of this practice, which ought never to have been called into discussion, I shall simply refer to another statute, which provides, that every man shall be tried for every offence in the county in which his offence was committed; thereby identifying, in locality, the crime and the responsibility. Such, Sir, are the doctrines of your old correspondent,

COMMON SENSE.

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and a large book, or some other con venient weight upon it, in order to press it with a gentle degree of pressure. In this state let it remain two or three days, then remove the upper paper, and see whether the plant be sufficiently firm or stiff to bear removing; when this is the case, smear over every part of the plant with ink, made by dissolving a quantity of Indian ink in warm water; then carefully lay the smeared side on a piece of clean and strong white paper, and covering it with a piece of the blossom, or soft paper, press with the hand on every part, and rub it uniformly over: after remaining some time longer, remove it from the paper, and a distinct and beautiful impression will remain, far exceeding, in softness of appearance, (if well conducted,) and justness of representation, even the most elaborate and highlyfinished engraving. It is only to be lamented, that, in this method of figuring plants, some of the minuter characters of the flower must unavoidably be expressed indistinctly: these, however, as well as any other minute parts, which may not have been impressed with sufficient sharpness, may be added with a pencil and Indian ink; sometimes a small press is made use of in this process; and various compositions may also be used, as well as Indian ink, viz. a kind of fine printer's ink, composed of lamp-black, with linseed oil, &c. The figures may occasionally be coloured afterwards, in the manner of engravings. Their great merit consists in so happily expressing what botanists term the habit, or true general aspect of the natural plants; a particular in which even the best and most elaborate engravings are found defective. Your's, &c.

Hull, May 8, 1809.

WILLIAM PYBUS.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

A

SIR,

Re

LTHOUGH the method of regulating the divisions of musical time by the vibrations of a pendulum, is plau sible in theory; yet the application of it to practice, is attended with so much difficulty and uncertainty, that it is not likely to become a popular one, gular bands of music, or professed masters, may attend to such instruments; but there is not one in an hundred of those amateurs, who play for their own amusement, or that of their friends, who will be at the trouble of doing so. And, even supposing the pendulum commonly used, the inconvenience and imper

fection

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