to record intelligence as it comes to hand, true or false, of which we cannot always judge on its arrival. It is equally necessary that we maintain our families, and obtain good interest for our capital, by means of the public patronage. If our ducement to deal in truth only; but, if patrons prefer truth, we have every infalsehood and exaggeration are the only species of news which will pass generally current, is it to be expected that a News paper proprietor should make a useless sacrifice of himself, his family, and property, from a squeamish regard to abstract truth? We have been told from the highest law authority, that to pass pleasantly through life, something more is requisite than "the innocence of the dove;" and in humouring, rather than kicking against, the public prejudices, the Newspaper proprietors do but add "the wisdom of the serpent." In plain language, the Newspapers are made to sell; and the sole rivalry among the proprietors is naturally directed to the sale. Among us, the greatest man is he who possesses the paper of the greatest sale, and this can only be effected by humouring the public, not in gratifying the wise few who form, as the quack doctors well know, but one in ten of the community! I will illustrate these positions by one fact, and I request the sticklers for mere truth, to place themselves, commercially speaking, in our situation. A few days ago, some Russian and French Bulletins arrived, detailing additional particulars of some battles, the results of which had been before the public for several weeks; but containing also a notice of one new skirmish, in which each of the opposing Generals alleged that the other had lost two thousand men. As John Bull must be bumoured, the Russian account was, as a thing of course, preferred; and the paper in which I am a thousand-pound proprietor, announced in its window, "Glorious defeat of the French by the We printed some extra papers, and were surprised at having no extra demand; till we found that a neigh bouring rival had added together all the alledged losses in all the engagements, old and new, and even the figures in the Of Death, Punish- Russians." ment. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, OME of your correspondents, without Sque consideration, adduce charges of venality and corrupt misrepresentation against the Newspapers. It seems, they do not approve of the ongin and continuance of the War; but that question can have no permanent influence on the conductors of the ephemeral press. It is our business 3 duplicate accounts, and had posted a bill "Total Defeat of the French Army, with the loss of forty thousand killed, including Murat, sir thousand prisoners, and eighty pieces of cannon.” We heard also, that his presses could not supply the demand, and that the crowd of pur chasers - chasers nearly choaked up the street! Of course, it was as easy by his mode of calculation to make the number fifty as forty thousand. We resolved, therefore, bike most other traders, to set off our paper also to the best advantage, and instantly changed our first Bill into "Of ficial accounts of the totul destruction of the French Army in Russia, with the loss of fifty thousand men, all their cannon, buggage, Bonaparte surrounded, Murat killed, &c." The bait took, and we turned the tables on our illiberal rival. His office was deserted, our's was crowded for the remainder of the evening; and, on a subsequent comparison, we find we sold above twelve hundred extra papers, while our rival did not sell an extra five hundred; and, as we both distanced every other paper in the quality and quantity of our news, none of them sold an extra score, though every paper contained the same official documents, and precisely the same intelligence! Let your fool-hardy sticklers for truth, unless indeed they are of that perverse race who prefer martyrdom to happiness, tell me what they would have done under similar circumstances? The anecdote, at least, proves, that there is nothing peculiar in the alleged venality of Newspapers, and that their policy is akin to that of other traders, who set off their goods to the best advantage, endeavour to gratify the public, and make the most of their time, talents, and capital. A NEWSPAPER PROPRIETOR. Dec. 8, 1812. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. B SIR, Y the hypothetical case inserted in your last, it seems to be proved, that taxes are the sole cause of the diminution of the value of the circulating medium in any country. Among the taxes which levy money directly from the pockets of individuals, what is called the Property tax is the principal. But in this tax, it certainly is not the aggregate of any person's property, but the actual income, which forms the rule for payment. The terms property and income are confound ed; for, if it were aggregate property which was intended to be taxed, no man in his senses could say that an annuity, We insert the above as a curiosity in ratiocination, and assure our readers that we feel, in regard to it, exactly as we suppose they cannot fail to do.-EDIT. MONTHLY MAG. No, 235, which terminated with the life of a. person of seventy years of age, was of equal value with a farm, which produced the same annual income. But all annuities are inferior in value to land, as the number of years' purchase clearly demonstrate; and life annuities bear no proportion to any species of property in the soil. It is sufficient to say, that the general price of land in England is about thirty years' purchase, whereas an annuity for life only, even for a young person, cannot be sold for above sixteen times its annual income. These are both property, aggregately considered: supposing then the land to be worth one hundred pounds a year, the real value would be three thousand pounds. Again, suppose the annuity to be one hundred pounds, at sixteen times the annual income, that is, sixteen years purchase, the real value would be sixteen hundred pounds. These two unequal properties pay the same sum to the public, under the terin Property-tax. But this is not all; for, by the facts stated in the hypothetical case, it ap pears, that the farm increases in value in proportion to the diminution in the va lue of money, as every article produced upon it advances in money price: whereas the income of the annuitant is of less and less value to him, as he must pay more money for every article he consumes. This is a direct depression of his condition in the world; and the consequences show that this has been the case, by the necessity under which the government has been to raise the salaries of the judges, and of all other annuitants, who had power or influence sufficient to com mand attention. It appears strange that the discerning minds of Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, and their successors, should not perceive the effects of this mode of taxation, especially as these two enlightened ministers derived almost their whole support from life annuities. Either they did not perceive the impropriety, or disregarded its consequences upon themselves. The misapprehension seems to lie in the vulgar error, that the proprietors of the soil are a distinct body, not concerned in any trade. From what is stated in the hypothetical case, this appears to be a gross mistake; for, so far from being unconcerned in trade, they are the greatest of all merchants, and, like other traders, always exact from purchasers the value of the duties which affect them. They 3 T have There is, however, a strong presumpfion, that legislators have not always perceived that taxation is the real cause of the diminution in the value of the circu To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, BSERVING, many years ago, the doubts suggested by Dr. Watson, in his excellent Chymical Essays, as to the origin of Ambergris, I was induced to ask the opinion of a geutlenian who had been long and very extensively con cerned in the whale fishery. His answer was prompt, and implied not the least doubt that this valuable substance is no other than the extremely indurated fæces of the spermaceti whale, extruded in an extraordinarily costive, or perhaps dis eased, state of the animal; afterward ac quiring, from the action of the sun and salt-water, the consistence in which it is occasionally found among the rocks on the coast in southern latitudes. Doctor Watson admits the probability of a different origin-a more systematic formation in the body of the same fish: but, with this idea, how can we reconcile the great scarcity, and consequent high price, of this rare drug; of which, if it is correct, the supply would necessarily be far more regular and abundant. lating medium. For, if they had so viewed the subject, they never could have proposed or consented to the measure of laying on what are called the war-taxes, that is, to raise a great part of the supplies by taxes within the year. By this mode of raising the money, the whole fifteen millions of war-taxes were laid on within a very few years; whereas, had the same su been borrowed, the taxes necessary would only have amounted to about seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds every year. It follows clearly, that, by this mode of raising the supplies for the war, within the few years the most ruinous diminution in the value of money has taken place; and government itself has been obliged to pay double for provisions, and every article required for the support of the land and sea force, as To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. well as the necessity it has been under to raise the salaries and pay of many of its ser vants: and, to balance all this, the only argument for the measure is the support of the public funds, which might have suffered some depression by the loans, but which the credit of the nation alone can support in any case; and which in ths could only have obliged government to borrow at an encreased interest. Then, supposing that the war-taxes amount, to fifteen millions, and that money, in consequence of these taxes, should diminish in value twenty-five or thirty per cent. it follows, that, if this sum had been borrowed, and five per cent. paid for the money, there would only have been seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds to be raised the first year, and the saine sum additional to be annually added to the public debt. But, admit that one million would have been added, and the circulating medium diminished in the same ratio as above supposed ; in the first years, the diminution in the vaJue of money would only have been two or three per cent, instead of about twentyfive or thirty per cent. which probably actually took place soon after the war taxes were exacted. PHILOCLES. I SIR, W. N. WAS amused with the account of wax-candles made in Nova Scotia, of the Myrica Cerifera; and I wish to ascertain whether any person has ever attempted, in this country, to make waxcandles in imitation of those said to be so common in Nova Scotia. There seems no reason why such an experiment should not succeed in the hands of an active and ingenious manufacturer. X. Y. Z. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, HE remarks of your correspondent TZ. in your Number for September, on "the effect of Iron Pipes on Water," proved extremely interesting to me, and I doubt not to many others, inasmuch as the health of the community is so niaterially concerned in the general use of that metal, as a substitute for wood. The West Middlesex Company having recently extended their works to the se veral streets in Somers'-Town, I was induced, at the request of a friend (inter ested in that concern), to change my supply from the New River, to encourage the New Company, as did also several of my neighbours. But I soon found reason heartily heartily to repent the change, for the water came in so discoloured, and full of iron calx, as to be almost unfit for any domestic purpose whatever; and, as I had enjoyed very good health for a series of years, I thought it hazardous, if not dangerous, to continue the use of it, for chaIybeate it certainly was; and, although medicinally, it might probably be of service to a diseased stomach, it would not to mine; I accordingly gave orders for my ferril to be again laid into the woodpipes as soon as possible, and have since learnt that most of my neighbours have been compelled to follow my measures, several of whom had made much longer trial than I did, in the vain expectation of the water being delivered more pure; but we may certainly congratulate our selves, that we have it in our power to chuse the aliment most congenial to our constitutional habits. Allow me to solicit information from your scientific correspondents, whether the stone water-pipes, of which so much has been said, and more seriously felt by the inhabitants of Mary-le-bone, for nearly two years past, answer the pur pose intended; and, if the report is correct, that they have generally failed, and now only form the basis of iron pipes. Oct. 16, 1812. E. A. W. instance I should calculate thus: if 6 oz. 3 dr. that is 99 dr. lose 3 dr., the loss is just of the original weight: consequently 70 lbs. the weight assumed for å bushel, divided by 33, would give 2 lbs. 1 oz. 15 dr. less. Here it may be supposed, that there is an error of the press in the fourth line of figures, 11 being put instead of 1, in the place of ounces; but, how the fifth line of figures is brought out, I am altogether at a loss to find. Again, with respect to the last line of figures, if 2 oz. 2 dr., or 34dr., lost 6 dr., surely 60lbs. would have lost 10lbs., 9 oz. 7dr. nearly: a result very different from that given, to say nothing of the palpable error of 22 in the place of drachms. AMBLUS, ERMIT me, through the medium of your Magazine, to call the attention of the public to the prevailing custom of building cellar kitchens, underneath almost all our modern city dwelling houses. The confined situation, and general dampness of such rooms, render them, in my opinion, extremely unfit for habitations; and I have no doubt but, in many cases, they prove very prejudicial to the health To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. and comfort of those whose station in Harticle Grain, in the Cyclopædia now publishing by Dr. Rees, I found a calculation of the loss of wheat and bar. ley by drying; the results of which I examined for myself, as I am much in the habit of verifying the calculations I meet with, when they do not require a process too laborious. It is there said, A quantity of wheat, weighed on the 22d of Oct, produced Weighed again twenty-four days afterward, afforded lb. oz. drs. 0 6 3 0 6 0 Loss in that time per bushel, at the rate of 2 11 15 A farther quantity, weighed on Barley, weighed on the 2d of Sep- Weighed again on October the 18th, afforded 2015 022 0 1 12 8 4 22 Loss of weight per businel of I observe that this objectionable mode of building has extended itself even to the small cottage residences about the outskirts of the town; and really, in passing them, it is quite painful to see human beings incarcerated in this manner, with scarcely room to turn themselves round, or air to breathe in. If health could, with propriety, be said to be more valuable to one class of society than to another, we might say it is most valuable to that class whose daily bread is dependent upon its daily labour: surely then this invaluable blessing ought not to be sacrificed to the pleasure, convenience, or caprice of those whom fortune may have enabled to command the services of their fellow creatures; who are so much the more entitled to protection, as they cannot be supposed very capable of advocating their own cause. It is, I think, desirable that the public should be put in possession of the most correct information on this subject; and, for that purpose, I would be glad if Now the loss of the wheat in the first any of your medical readers would fa3 T 2 sixty pounds Your vour us with their opinion upon it. I the law is mentioned upon general prin ciples, to be solemnly decided. Where so much uncertainty prevails in our law, it is impossible to say before hand what the law is upon any point. I shall purs sue this subject in my next letter. Edinburgh, PATRIOT. Sept. 18, 1812. have no doubt but you will think a few pages of your very valuable publication advantageously occupied in a discussion so interesting to the cause of humanity. Finsbury Square, M. F. July 11, 1812. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, PR REVIOUS to the period at which the Court of Session was divided into two chambers, the public attention was invited, in numerous tracts, to the consideration of several amendments in our Scotch law, Trial by jury formed the most permanent topic of consider ation; and, by the majority of classes in Scotland, it seemed to be generally wished for. To that subject I shall draw your particular attention at some future period. At present I request the public 1 attention to the great uncertainty, and frequently manifest contradiction, which prevails in the Scotch law. So long as that evil continues, litigation is promoted, for no advantage arises from precedent; the liberty of the subject becomes gradually subverted, and the expence to a poor man, when compelled to vindicate his right before a court of justice, is so great, that he is obliged to abandon his right to escape a remedy for which he is not able to pay. Out of many instances, I shall select a special case from Mr. Maxwell Morison's Dic tionary of Decisions. It applies to the effect of cautionary obligations, or to those writs where one person becomes surety for another. By the decision of the court of Session, in the case of WalJace versus Wallace, November 25, 1782, Morison's Dictionary, page 17,056, it was found that a cautionary engage ment in the form of a letter is not binding. By another decision, in 1786, J. Edmonstone against Lang, Morison's Decisions, page 17,057, the spirit of the before-mentioned judgment is adhered to, and cautionary obligations, which wanted the statutable solemnities, are in general found not to be valid. The court, it is stated in the last-mentioned report, considered the foregoing point of law solemnly fixed. In another case, however, which was decided upon November 28, 1794, Brown against Campbell, a letter, importing a cautionary obligation, and not written according to the statutable so Jemnities, was found effectual; and the case against Lang is stated to be erroneously decided; though in Lang's case, To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, Na periodical work for the month of July 1800, I read, to my great asto. nishment, the following obituary notice, "In St. Andrew's work house died Mr. Edmund Hodgson, eleven years shorthand writer at the Old Bailey." By what singular and (to me who knew Mr. Hodgs son only by his printed criminal trials) unmerited chain of events, such a man came to die in a workhouse is an object not of idle curiosity, but of reasonable surprise. I will therefore esteem it a very particular favour, if any of your correspondents will favour the public, through the medium of your Magazine, with any biographical anecdotes of him. Judging of him by his works, I would pronounce him to have been a man of uncommon merit and industry. He succeeded Mr. Joseph Gurney as shorthand writer at the Old Bailey; and his details of the trials are apparently faithful, accurate, and circumstantial; and his reports of the arguments of counsel, when any question in law arose, are fully and correctly stated. He made a great improvement on his predecessor's plan, by giving the name of the counsel who interrogated or cross-examined the witnesses. And to this practice of his, eminent counsel, who now stand high in public estimation, most certainly owe much of their fame and celebrity; their talents, by his publications, became known and consequently rewarded. This is a circumstance which also greatly augments my surprise, that the members of so learned and liberal a profession should suffer their benefactor to languish in poverty, and finally die in a workhouse. It is very true, that possibly he might have possessed, along with his talents and industry, vices or failings which rendered all such assistance of no permanent avail; for an union of great talents and great defects, both in temper and morals, is unhappily not unfrequent. Savage and J. R. Forster are examples, within the knowledge and reading of most men, of such an unfortunate combination. But all this is conjecture, and |