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PRIZE PIGS.

Mr. John Road's 12 months old black and
white Berkshire Sow Pig, fed on skimmed
milk and four bushels of barley meal
Mr. John Hassard's 11 months old white half-
bred China and Suffoik Pig, fed on 3lb. of
barley-meal and 2lb. of potatoes daily, with
skimined milk, for the last three months

The Smithfield club have recently offered fifteen prizes, amounting to 210 guineas, to be adjudged at their next show, Dec. the 15th, viz, for large oxen which have worked two years at least, and eaten no corn, five prizes, for as many distinct breeds, each of twenty guineas; for oxen which need not have wored, but must be fed without corn or oil-cake, three prizes amounting to 40 guineas: for fat cows that have borne three calves at the least 10 guineas; for long woolled wether sheep, one and two years old, two prizes of 10 guineas each ; for short woolled wether sheep, one and two years old, two prizes of 10 guineas each; and for pigs, under two, and under one year old, two prizes of ten guineas each. The particulars of these prizes, with printed forms of the certificates, required, with each animal to entitle it to be shown, may be had of Mr. Mitchel, No. 7, Cloth Fair, near Smithfield-Market.

It may be acceptable to some of your readers to be informed, that the Smithfield club consists at present of 225 members, including most of the noble and distinguished patrons of agriculture, and the rural arts in the British dominions, the number of which is rapidly increasing: his grace the Duke of Bedford is the president; Sir John Seabright and Sir John Warmington are the stewards. The meetings are usually held at Freemason's Tavern for transacting busi ness; the subscription is one guinea per annum, and the number is unlimited. The great object this club has in view, is to excite emulation and competition among breeders and graziers, for ascertaining and adopting those breeds of animals, which will attain early and fect maturity, with the least quantities of food, to the exclusion of coarse and unprofitable animals, objects in which themselves and the public are alike in Yours, &c.

terested.

per

J. FARBY, Secretary.

Westminster, Jan. 16th, 1809.

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To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

USTLY indignant as your correspon

on the subject of his letter, which was published in your Magazine for July last, it appears to me that there is another subJect incidentally hinted at in that letter of lasting and infinite importance to mankind: and, I think, in its consequences, more to be deprecated than that of which Mr. C. complains. The subject to which I allude, is the design of many persons in this country of teaching the lower classes of the community to read, but not to write. The only plausible argument that I have heard in defence of such an illiberal mode of education is, that by teaching the lower classes of the community to write, you push up out of its sphere, a greater portion of the body politic than there is room for it, in a given situation, to contain; and, consequently ignorance is preferable to knowledge, in this instance at least. As, from my sphere of observation, there seems to be great reason to apprehend, that the opinion is gaining ground, and as it has been recommended from high authority to restrain the negroes from writing, in order to make a partition wall between them and the whites; who knows, but that this same partition wall, this insurmountable barrier, might not find advocates sufficient to set it up on this side the Atlan tic; and, that, at some future period, the night of ignorance might not once more lay its ebon wand on the human

mind.

of

The subject is, Sir, I am persuaded, great moment, and I trust that your ingenious correspondents will favor the public with a lance or two, in order to accomplish the destruction of the manyheaded hydra. Yours, &c. Huntshill, Dec. 4th,1803.

JAS. JENNINGS.

For

For the Monthly Magazine.

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General Remarks on the Weather, &c.

observed at Carlisle, during the Year

1808.

JANUARY. The weather for the first
nine days of this month, was, for the sea-
son, unusually mild and pleasant. The
remainder was very changeable, when
frost and snow, and storms of wind and
rain, occurred alternately. On the 10:h,
13th, 14th, 27th, 28th, and 29th, the
wind was extremely violent.

FEBRUARY was mild, wet, and stormy,
till the 7th, when we had a settled frost,
accompanied with light falls of snow till
the 15th, at which time snow lay very
deep in the surrounding country, and all
the mountains in this neigbourhood were
perfectly white. The remainder of the
month was fair, and uncommonly plea
sant. During this latter period, the baro-
meter was remarkably high. On the 24th
and 25th, it stood at 30,86. This is the
greatest height it has ever been at since
the commencement of this register.

MARCH continued very mild and plea-
sant till the 17th; the weather afterwards
was cold, with frosty nights, strong winds,
and light showers of snow. The barome,
ter, during the last thirteen days of the
preceding month, and twenty-eight of
this, was constantly above thirty inches.
No rain fell here this month; that which
appears in the table (two-tenths) is mel-
ted snow.

APRIL. The weather during the greater

MONTHLY MAG. No. 181.

part of this month was most unseason-

ably cold, with frequent heavy falls of

snow, which sometimes amounted to up-

wards of three inches in depth. In the lat-

ter part of this month all the surrounding

mountains were clothed in white. The

first appearance of swallows here this

year was on the 19th.

MAY. The mild and pleasant wea-

ther, accompanied with refreshing rains,
which prevailed during this month, made
an agreeable and rapid change in the as-
pect of the fields and woodlands, when,
at the end of the month, vegetation and
foliage was as forward as it has generally
been in the same season of preceding
years. In the former part of the month
thunder was frequently heard at a dis
tance; on the 5th it was accompanied
with a heavy shower of extremely large

hait.

JUNE was not marked by any particu
lar meteorological occurrence; the wea-
ther was, on the whole,very dry and bright,
and the temperature rather higher than
that of the same month of many prece
ding years.

JULY. The distinguishing feature of

this month is its high temperature, which

was generally experienced in every part of

the kingdom: the hottest days here were

the 12th and 14th, the thermomete, on

the former day was 89 degrees at four

o'clock P. M. on the latter 84 degrees

at two o'clock P. M, and 64 degrees, the

C

temperature for the whole month, is the highest ever observed here. The weather continued very fine aud brilliant till the 19th. During the remainder of this mouth we had much distant thunder accompanied with heavy rains. In the afternoon of the. 25th rain descended in such torren's that in the space of an hour and a half it amounted to about 2 inches in depth.

AUGUST Continued very sultry, wet, and gloomy, till the 11th. The remainder of the month was chiefly fair and brilliant and exceedingly favourable for the harvest. In the evening of the 21st at 15 minutes past 10 o'clock, observed a large and beautiful meteor in the S. E. fall perpendicular to the earth: its apparent diameter about 7 minutes, perfectly round; colour, a brilliant white, and without any train or coruscation: it was visible for about six seconds. In the afternoon of the 31st we were visited by a most dreadful flash of lightning, which appeared to be a complete sheet of fire; it was instantaneously succeeded by a loud and appalling crack of thunder, exactly similar, but in comparably more loud than the report of, a musket; the lightning struck some buil dings in the environs of this city, one of which was set on fire, but by a timely discovery was soon extinguished. Some windows were broken, and other trifling damage sustained, but fortunately nothing very serious happened.

SEPTEMBER. The weather during the greater part of this month was unusually fine. The harvest finished in this district about the middle of this month, and never perhaps was there known a more favourable season for securing the crops than that which is past. In the latter part of the month, the nights were frosty, when on the mornings of the 28th and 29th ice of considerable thickness was observed, at which time many of the surrounding mountains were capped with snow, and winter may be said to have already commenced its reign.

OCTOBER was on the whole remarkably cold for the season, the mean temperature (43,92) is lower than that of the same month of many preceding years yet the weather was frequently bright and pleasant, particularly in the former part of the month. On the 14th, 20th, 25th, and 26th, the wind was very violent; on the 25th it was accompanied with a heavy fall of rain, which made the rivers here overflow their banks and adjoining grounds to a very great extent.

During this month, the surrounding mountains were generally patched with snow. The hirundines continued in flocks in this district till the 4th of this month, and some stragglers were seen as late as the 13th. These sojourners appeared very inactive for about three weeks previous to their departure.

NOVEMBER Continued remarkably dry, mild, and pleasant till the 16th, during which period no rain fell, excepting a light shower on the 5th. The latter part of the month was chiefly wet. The 16th, 17th, 21st, 29th, and 30th, were rather stormy. On the 17th, thunder was heard at a distance. On the morning of the 29th the fields in the neighbourhood of this city were whitened with snow for the first time this season.

DECEMBER. The weather during the former half of this month was drizzling, moist, and gloomy. On the morning of the 17th some heavy showers of snow fell, accompanied with a very strong wind, which at mid-day shifted from the S. W. to the N. when the thermometer fell suddenly from 34 degrees to 26 degrees; we then had a remarkably intense frost, with a brisk parching wind till the 21st, when on that morning the thermometer rose from 21 degrees to 33 degrees, in the course of ten minutes, and a mild thaw commenced, but in the evening the frost set in again; on the following morning about three inches depth of snow fell, and the weather continued vacillating between frost and thaw, which rendered the surface of the earth a complete sheet of ice. During the latter part of the month a very great quantity of snow was observed on the surrounding moun tains.

The following TABLE exhibits the mean state of the thermometer and barometer, and the quantity of rain for the last eight years at Carlisle.

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1801
48.5
29,796 1,78 31,466
1802 47,54
29,817 1.89 | 28,504
1803 47,456 29,895 2,10 27,52
1804 48,656 29.862 2,02 | 35,845
1805 47,965 29.859 2,20 26,855
48.944 29,770 2,29 | 31,54
46,464 | 29,819 2,04 27.75
1808 47,4 29,875 2,12 27,86

1806 1807

Mean for

The whole 47,8406 29.8366 2,055 29,605

8 years

Greatest

Greatest height of the thermometer, during this period, 85 degrees May 25th, 1807. Least do. 5 degrees January 8,

1804.

Greatest height of the barometer 30,86 Feb. 25th, 1808. Least do. 28,20 January 10th, 1806.

Greatest range of the barometer 2,66 inches.

The thermometer is situated near, but not in contact with, a wall facing the N. E. where there is at all times a free circulation of air; the sun never shines on it, and it is perfectly free from the influence of reflected heat during the times of registering. This place is about seventeen yards above the level of the sea. The rain-gauge has an elevation of three yards from the ground. Yours, &c.

Carlisle, January 3, 1809.

WM. PITT.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

Iand allowed that the wealth, prospe T seems now so generally understood

rity, and independence of Britain must depend in no inconsiderable degree, upon the state of its nautical exertions and marine defence; that the lives of its naval officers and seamen, though always valuable, have in the present times become of the greatest importance to the public welfare. The number of these valuable men that are every year lost to their families and to the state by accidents NOW EASILY PREVENTED, is much larger than is apprehended by those who are not in the habit of particularly noticing the frequent losses sustained by the upsetung of ships' boats passing to and from the shore,

To ascertain the truth of this melancholy fact, as far as relates to the loss of lives, so afflictive to individuals and so injurious to the state, it is only necessary to refer to the public papers or to the knowledge of the inhabitants of the sea ports. And the fullest assurance that the greater part of these accidents might be PREVENTED, may now be obtained by a reference to the committee of the Humane Society, at Lowestoff, in Suffolk, and the pilots and boatmen of that part of our coast, who can now supply the most satisfactory evidence of the utility of an unimmergible boat, built and launched at that place in November, 1807, by order of the gentlemen of that county, who bad previously raised a subscription for at particular purpose, under the direc

tion of Mr. Lukin* of Londo, who was a casual resident at Lowestoff during the autumn of that year.

As upwards of twelve months experi ence has demonstrated to the gentlemen of Lowestoff (what Mr. Lukin's pample let on the subject states from his former experience) that boats constructed upon this principle cannot be overset or smuk by any power of wind and water, the fol lowing particulars and description of the construction are made public, with the hope of rendering more generally known the EASY MEANS OF SAVING MANY VALU ABLE LIVES: which might certainly be done, if one or two of these boats were built at each of our ports, and every ship furnished with one (at least) in proportion to her size.

Descriptions and Dimensions of the Lowestoff Life-Bout.

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The form the same as the yawns of that coast; the stern post nearly upright.

External gunwales hollow, forming an oblique section of a parabola with the side of the boat, and projecting nine inches from it on each side: these gunwales are reduced a little in their projection towards their ends, and are first formed by brackets and thin boards, covered at top and bottom with one thickness of good sound cork, and the extremity or apex of the projection having two thicknesses of cork, the better to defend it from any violent blows it may meet with a hard service. The depth of these gunwates from top to bottom was fifteen inches, and the whole covered with very strong canvas, laid on with strong, cement to resist the water, and that will not stick to any thing laid upon it.

A false keel of wrought iron three inches deep, made of three bars rivetted together, and bolted under the common keel, which it greatly strengthens, and makes a very essential part of her ballast; being fixed so much below the floor, it has nearly double the power the same weight would have if laid on the floor, and there

* Mr. Lukin was the inventor of the first life boat ever built in England, and obtained a patent for it in the year 1785. fore

fore much preferable to any other ballast that can be used for sailing boats.

Thwarts and gang board as usual; three masts and lugg sails, and twelve short

óars.

In this state, this boat is much safer than any common boat of the same dimensions, will carry more sail, and bear more weather; but to make it completely unimmergible, empty casks of about twenty-two inches diameter were ranged along withinside the gunwales, lashed firmly to the boat, lying even with the tops of the gunwales, and resting upon brackets fastened to the timbers for that purpose; also two such casks in the head, and two in the stern, and all removable in a short time, if desired; there were also some empty casks placed under the gang-board; these would be an addition. to the boat's buoyancy if empty, and an increase to her ballast if full.

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Thus equipped, this boat was launched on the 19th of November, in a very squally day. About twenty men were launched in her, most of them pilots or seamen. They ran her immediately from the beach across the Corton sand, in the midst of the breakers, which would have been almost certain destruction to any common sailing boat, as that would have been filled and sunk immediately. They then turned to the southward along the top of the sand to its end; when they tacked and stond to the northward, pulled up the plugs in her bottom, and let in as much water as would come in that way; the water rose very little above the thwarts With all this water in it, the boat sailed better than without it. The plugs were now put in again, and water poured in by buckets, until it ran over both gunwales; and in this state it was the opinion of those on board that she would have carried sixty men without sink. ing, and to upset it is not possible. But it is Mr. Lukin's opinion that more than fifty men should not be taken in when the boat is full of water, and all her casks empty.

It is particularly advisable that all life boats should be built of the form most approved by the pilots or seanten on the coast where they are to be used; as no one form will suit all shores, and these principles of safety are applicable to every

forma.

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The

bell, principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen, which I was surprised to find in Mr. Good's Life of Dr.. Geddes. In detailing the bigotted opposition, which a bill introduced by Sir George Saville into parliament in 1778, "intended to relieve his majesty's subjects professing the Po pish religion from certain penalties and disabilities imposed upon them by an act made in the 11th and 12th of king William" met with in Scotland, Dr. Good adds, "Pamphlets of the most vehement zeal, written in the north, were circulated with all possible industry throughout the south; and amongst these I am much astonished to find one by the late very a miable and learned Dr. Campbell, who was at that time principal of Marischal College, in Aberdeen. It is entitled ‘A: Vindication of the Opposition to the late intended Bill for the Relief of Roman Catholies in Scotland.' Now I have before me a pamphlet, published by Dr. Campbell at Aberdeen, in 1779, which breathes a spirit so totally the reverse of what is here attributed to him by Mr. Good, that I must think it impossible that one of an opposite tendency could have been published by him the year before. pamphlet I allude to, is entitled “An Address to the People of Scotland upon the Alarms that have been raised in regard to Popery." Its design is to recominend a spirit of toleration as the real spirit of Christianity; and the same candour and liberality are conspicuous in this performance, which, Mr. Good ailows, appear in his latter works. As it opposed the reigning prejudices, it procured him great obloquy from the common people, who on this account styled him Pope Campbell. The author of the pamphlet, which Dr. Good has seen, cannot therefore, I think, be Dr. Campbell, but he must have been deceived by a similarity of name or something of that kind. This will be more apparent by a few extracts from the pamphlet in my possession, which will evince the candid, enlightened, and Chris.ian principles which filled the mind. of its author. It is divided into three chapters-the first explains the doctrine of the gospel in regard to persecution and persecutors. From this chapter I extract the following passage: after hav ing exhibited from the New Testament the unresisting conduct pursued by the apostles in the propagation of Christianity. in obedience the commands, and in imitation of the example of their amiable master, he argues thus: "Is it not most natural to think that a cause will be best. supported by the same means, by which

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