120 Memoir of Alderman Penington. of the Tower, which was taken from Sir Edward Coniers*. In this situation he was active and diligent, advancing and promoting the fortifications thrown up around London, and procuring supplies of money on the public faith, which were never repaid. In 1645, he was obliged to resign his post, in consequence of the self-denying ordinance; after which, possessing no military qualification, he sunk into discredit, and in 1647 was turned out of the city militia. This cloud was soon dissipated; for, the Army having acquired the ascendency, he was called upon to act a part which has preserved his name in infamy, being appointed one of the commissioners of the pretended high court of justice; where he sat in judgment the 20th, 22d, 23d, 24th, and 27th days, on the last of which sentence was passed on the King, but he did not sign the warrant. Nor did his activity cease here; he assisted in proclaiming the abolition of kingly power; and received the honour of knighthood from the Speaker of the House of Commons, with Andrewes and Atkins, two of the Court of Alderment. In 1649 and 1650, he occurs as a member of the Council of State, from which time he became an insignificant cipher in the kingdom t.' The Restoration brought him to justice; he was absolutely excluded from the bill of indemnity, but surrendered himself, and was tried at the Old Bailey, October 16, 1660. His defence was as false as it was pusillanimous: My sitting amongst them, said he, was out of ignorance; I knew not what I did; therefore I hope you will believe there was nothing of malice in anything I did; I was misled in it.' This he spoke in a tremulous voice, and alleged that he' never plotted or contrived malicious practices against his Majesty, upon the ground that he had not signed the warrant. The judge mentioned his penitence to the jury, who brought him in guilty, but the King spared his forfeited life, condemning him to imprisonment. He died Dec. 17, 1661, in the Tower: his own estates, it should seem, not being confiscated, as his son Isaac possessed the family property Chalfont. *Lives of the Regicides. Clarendon. + Noble's Life of Cromwell. Lives of the Regicides. of [Aug. He purchased some episcopal possessions, and embezzled, through permission of the Parliament, the sum of three thousand pounds, belonging to the brave and loyal admiral, Sir John Penington, who had deposited it in his hands. At other times he obtained grants of various sums, amounting to 4,000l. and by these means was enabled to purchase lands; but extravagance and dishonesty brought him to ruin, and he twice became a bankrupt, without any visible misfortune*. It is not generally known that he was the keeper of Archbishop Laud in 1644; he desired him, while a prisoner, to go to Church and hear an honest, godly, able man,' as he termed him, which his Grace declined t. Heylin mentions that he was the officer appointed to superintend the execution of that prelate f. In the life of Penington, there is scarcely a circumstance to which the reader can turn with pleasure: it presents nothing but sedition, dishonesty, and perverted energies; and the share he had in the miseries of his country, must sink him in the esteem of all. This is the more to be regretted, as he was so nearly related to loyalty and piety. His cousin, Sir John, was esteemed by all parties; and his son, Isaac, possessed the admiration of at least one-yet we cannot say "The virtuous son preserves the guilty father §." Pennington, knt. M.D. late Master of Mr. Noble presumes that Sir Isaac St. John's College, Cambridge, was descended from this family. Yours, &c. W. A. S. Mr. URBAN, Summerlands, Exeter, Aug. 1. THO HOUGH your interesting and long-established Magazine is esscientific and other subjects of general sentially antiquarian, it also includes utility. I am not aware that such an experiment as the following has been made, under all the specified condirefer to it in such public institutions as tions; and it may be serviceable to that of the excellent General Hospital here, for whose use it was by me repeatedly made. The Committee of Go * Ibid. Occurrences, &c. Friday, Feb.2, 1643-4. § Hoole's Metastasio, Artaxerxes. vernors 1825.] Experiments on Bread. 121 our many public charities, may extend their farther aid, to enable the managers to receive twenty-four additional poor sufferers into as many beds, which could be immediately added, under the usual expenditure of eighteen pounds sterling, per bed, annually. vernors who indefatigably conduct this fine charity, deeply lament a deficiency of funds preventing them from admitting unfortunate applicants unavoidably excluded, where near two hundred are in-patients. I trust, that the wealthy and beneficent, who liberally support An Experiment made to ascertain the quantity of Bread produced by a Sack, or 280 pounds of good Flour; -deducting 4 pounds used in dusting, and included in the process. Large Loaves, 254, weighed when hot, 242 8; and when nearly cold, 234 0 Small Loaves, 171, do. do. do. 123 0 do. do. do. do. The evaporation in cooling appears to be nearly uniform in both descriptions of loaves; but in the oven, the evaporation is about 64 per cent less on the small loaves. As the large loaves are supposed to weigh 15 ounces, the 234 pounds of cold weight ought to give 249.6 loaves of 15 ounces each, but in point of fact, each large loaf weighed only 14.74 ounces and hundred parts. As the small loaves are supposed to weigh 11 ounces, the 119 pounds of cold weight ought to give 173 loaves of 11 ounces each; but there proves to be here a small excess of 13 hundred parts of an ounce on each loaf; but in general there is rather a want of due weight. In a former experiment, the large loaves, from manifest careless weighing in the scales, exceeded the dae weight; so that on an average, the allowed relative weights may, with a small modification as below, be made sufficiently accurate; and the produce must be estimated by the number of pounds of hot bread, and not by the number of loaves. It is preferable in making a comparative experiment, to weigh hot, because the weight de Remarks on lb. oz. lb. oz. lb. oz. 119 0 353 O 365 8 Loss in cold weight 12 8 365 8 365 8 creases in cooling, during more than 24 hours; and the bread is served out in 16 hours after it is baked. No two experiments are found to agree, as a difference [amounting to nearly three pounds in two experiments made] will arise from a different degree of heat of the oven; from the quantity of bread baked; from a difference of time in the oven; and from the state of the weather, in reference to summer or winter. According to the above experiment, the quantity of cold bread furnished by a certain quantity of flour, is found by multiplying the number of pounds by 353, and dividing by 276, the flour actually baked; or in the case of hot bread, by multiplying by 365.5. This rule will apply only where the quantities of flour are nearly similar; as a considerably smaller quantity will yield more weight of bread; because, from obvious reasons, the heat and steam generated in the oven, act less, in the same oven, on a smaller than on a larger quantity of bread. For instance, 240 pounds of flour will give 34 per cent. more of weight, than 276, or 280, including the dusting flour. Evaporation. Flour made into dough Water and Yeast (5 pints) 276 0 132 12 Salt 3.8 412 4 Weight of dough Lost by evaporation previously to Scaling lb. 02. 407 8 4 12 412 4 lb. oz. Lost by evaporation in Scaling, 3 pounds; leaving dough made into loaves 404 8' Weight of bread in the hot state Lost by evaporation in the Oven 365 8 Loss of weight of dough by evaporation 7 12 Water, Yeast, and Salt, Do. Do. do. in cooling 16 hours do. in the Oven Remaining in 353 lbs. of cold bread 73 8 GENT. MAG. August, 1825. 132 12 12 8 or 16 gallons, 4 pints 132 12 39 0 198 Col. Macdonald on Telegraphic Communication. A pint being equal to a pound, the 73 pounds 8 ounces will make 9 gal. Jons, 1 pint and a half of water remaining in 353 pounds of bread; being nearly one fifth of a pint to each pound of bread. On reference to Bakers of repute, they said, that a sack of the best flour, without such mixtures as they use, ought to yield 360 pounds of bread, when hot, and one experiment gave a few ounces more. They said the best flour might sometimes give above 360 pounds. It was intended to form a gage of measure, in order to shorten the operation of weighing, or scaling the dough into loaves; and though this would have such effect, the flour used in dusting the frame, would be more in value, than the time to be saved in scaling. To furnish loaves of 15 ounces, the weight in dough of half the number of loaves of the large sort, should be 17 ounces and three quarters of serimp weight for each loaf; and for each of the small loaves, 12 and three quarters of scrimp weight, to yield loaves of 11 ounces. The other half of the number of loaves respectively, being scaled, or weighed to 17 fully, and 124 ounces fully. The heavier half will be first ovened, and will lose the small excess of weight, by evaporation, before the other half is put it, and during the time of its being taken out of the oven. Bakers' bread is rendered of standard weight by giving sufficient weight in dough, to compensate for evaporation. By the above expedient of equalizing, the interior half will contain a trifle more of flour, er crust, and less of water, than the external half of the whole of the bread baked. The apparent advantage pro bably vanishes, on account of beating the oven more frequently, and of additional labour in baking less quantities of flour. The bread in the Hospital is produced from flour unmixed with other substances; and if it were required to ascertain the price, or expense of a loaf of each description, such a calculation could be effected by having as data, the cost of the flour, salt, yeast and furz; the supposed rent of the bakehouse; the baker's wages proportioned to time; the expense of an assistant for a known time; and a fraction for tear and wear of materials. N. B. During the above experiment, terminated the third day, the baker [Aug had not possession of the key of the Mr. URBAN, Summerlands, Exeter, project, now likely to be carried into At the present moment, an explanatory Letter in your extensive work will be conducive to purposes of public utility, in directing the attention of the Gentlemen constituting the Chartered Telegraphic Company, to quarters where information and assistance may be acquired. On this account, it would be a dereliction of a subject, now of vast interest, not to speak out clearly, though it may unavoidably be with some imputation of vanity. This, however, I must encounter, rather than be silent where utility is the object in view. The Dictionary was transmitted to -India, along with models of full-pow~ ered Telegraphs of various descriptions, and was submitted by the Marquess of Hastings to the consideration of a Committee of scientific men from the Staff of the Army. The following is one extract from their proceedings: of signals, the more arduous task of forming "Having thus secured so great a number a Telegraphic Dictionary remained. For this purpose the author [Colonel Macdcnald] appears to have availed himself of every form of speech that industry could collect, or ingenuity devise, as useful in rendering this mode of correspondence at once clear and comprehensive. The labour, perseverance, and ability required to select and arrange this vast mass of materials, cannot be too highly appreciated. On inspection, the Dictionary will be found to contain 150,000 words, phrases, and sentences.” This report farther says, that the science" is brought to a maximum, by telegraphing in two movements, one for 1825.] Col. Macdonald on Telegraphic Communication. for the class, and another for the mar- The French originated the Semaphore, and modern telegraphing; but they have no Dictionary. Monsieur Chappe l'aine published, last year, "Histoire de la Telegraphie," in two volumes, with numerous plates. Finding, from my Treatise, that near one hundred plans had been given in, in this country, he reckons it surprising that none of them had been found superior to the present, which he has no hesitation in condemning. This is not surprising, seeing that it is necessarily placed on very short lines; that it expresses but one figure at a time; and that from the weakness of the system used, almost every thing is done by the tedious process of spelling. In polite intercourse with Lord Mel ville, to whom I had been introduced by Lord Liverpool, I ascertained, that the whole of the hundred plans had been duly examined; and of course, without discovering any one more eligible than the present, so loudly condemned by Monsieur Chappe. When, during Lord Mulgrave's administration, I, after a similar introduction, offered my three-figured Telegraph, and made experiments evincing Its power, bis Lordship remarked, that it only remained to calculate the expense of constructing it along the stations. This expense only prevented the adoption of what was otherwise highly desirable. 183 If the Chartered Company resolve to erect a Telegraph that can convey but one figure at a time, their communications in such a cliniate as ours will be interrupted, even with a comprehensive dictionary, three days out of five but the case will be far different, if they provide a Telegraph capable of expressing any three figures simul taneously. The system will be complete, if two pairs of semaphoric arins or wings are placed over the lower Telegraph, by which means, the utmost celerity of effect will be produced, by expressing the class and marginal number of the word, phrase, or sentence, contemporaneously. To express any three figures at once, six semaphoric wings, or six shutters out of twelve, must be in action; and if the shutters were somewhat insulated, they might be probably better seen, on account of their greater area. But as shutters are expensive, I prefer a telegraph consisting of six balls moving up and down, on iron rods, as they are better seen, are more durable, appear of the same size in every direction, and are much cheaper than shutters; because six do the service of twelve of the latter. In the above-mentioned Appendix, there is a plate and description of this BallTelegraph, which I deem the best of the six kinds of my invention. When I invented my Semaphore, with three pairs of arms, expressive of units, tens, and hundreds, an officer of rank, in no measured terms, claimed it as his own; and persevered in his error subsequently, in a Pamphlet recommending a single-figured Telegraph. I had no difficulty in replying to this gentleman, with more urbanity than he merited. The letters appear in the Appendix alluded to. I also wrote to himself; sending a copy to the India House and Admiralty, whither the Pamphlet had been forwarded. I proved that my Semaphore was distinctly different from the other, in principle, machinery, power, mode of working, and application to practice. I would recommend to the Chartered Company the union of the Semaphore and Ball-Telegraph, as the cheapest and most durable, and efficient plan. That is, over the two balls expressing tens, let there be two Semaphoric wings on my simple construction, to express the place of units and over the two balls expressing hundreds, let there be two pairs of my wings, to express 124 Remarks on an early Edition of Terence. express the class containing the word or phrase indicated. It may not, Mr. Urban, be saying too much, that the insertion of this Letter in your valuable publication, cannot but be subservient to promote the interests of a science of great prominence and importance, at the present moment. Monsieur Chappe's volumes treat the Telegraphic plan of this country with a criticism bordering on contempt. I sent Lord Melville a sketch of the contents, in case the Admiralty might deem it expedient to reply through some eligible medium and a retort on the imperfection of the French system, would, to any one understanding the subject, be a facile task. JOHN MACDONALD. Mr. URBAN, Aug. 4. [Aug. have somewhat the appearance of copper-plate impressions; and the latter one may be considered as highly valuable, on account of the scanty information we have hitherto received respecting the interior architecture and arrangement of a Roman Theatre; and still more so, as there is reason to believe that some antiquarian remains of this nature did actually exist in Italy up to the period in question, which have since been destroyed, or suffered to fall into total decay. But the most prominent feature in this curious volume still remains to be noticed. I allude to a vast number of small engravings, probably from wooden blocks, one or more of which accompanies almost every scene of every play. Although in point of elaborate finishing and detail, as well as in actual As the early annals of Typography size, they are not to be equally esteem have of late years so much engrossed the attention of the curious, and as every information connected with that subject seems to have become daily more interesting, you may perhaps render an agreeable amusement to many of your readers, by inserting a brief notice of a recently discovered volume, not only in itself unknown, but by a printer of whom no notice appears in any bibliographical work I have been able to consult. This volume contains the seven Comedies of Terence, with the four commentaries of Donatus, Guido, Calphurnius, and Ascensius, and was printed, according to the Colophon, in the year 1499, at Venice, by Lazarus de Soardis, who subjoins an exclusive privilege granted him by the Senate for issuing the works of that writer, and which is dated November the 7th, of the above year. Prefixed to the Comedies, is a life of Terence, accompanied by two engravings in outline; the former of which represents the Poet himself mounted on a rostrum or pulpit, reading his Comedies aloud, whilst his commentators are seated below, in the act, as it appears, of noting down the text itself for the purpose of adding their own observations. The second engraving presents us with the interior of a Roman Theatre; the audience are seated, and one of the performers is addressing them, whilst a second appears on the point of entering from behind a curtain or tent-door on one side of the stage. These engravings ed those in the celebrated Strasburg Terence and Horace, put forth by Grüninger some years earlier, yet in spirit and expression I doubt if they rank in any degree below those extraordinary productions. The names of the characters are engraved over the figures themselves; and we have frequently the curtain introduced in the back ground, through which faces are seen to peep, with an effect remarkably striking and expressive; as is the case in" Le Grant Therece en Francoys," printed at Paris, in 1539. It only remains to add, that the volume is on a folio size, containing 236 leaves, and that the printer's device is subjoined. The whole is arranged in the square Roman type, and with an accuracy and distinctness very unusual at this early period of the art. After all the pains I have in vain taken to discover another copy of this edition, or some other work from the same press, still I can hardly persuade myself either that the present copy is unique (since it is scarcely of antiquity enough to become so from that cause, and I know not what other reason could be assigned), nor can I readily imagine that any printer who had the means of publishing so expensive a work would be content with having only once distinguished himself. However this may be, I can gain no information on the subject, either from the books I have referred to, or from my own immediate acquaintance. If any of your Correspondents can throw light upon the subject, the investigation, I trust, |