the weight of the form was at a diftance, 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 ky-lights, green-houfes, confervatories, &c. &c. The hailstones 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; but on the day previoufly 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 beat of the month is about 56°, which is 14° higher than it was for April, but 7o 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, Idle 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 obfervations in feveral places, that the average heat of the day may be taken without error at nine, or from that to half-paft nine in the morning. The quantity of rain fallen at Shide, meafured, by a rain-gauge, fimilarly contructedto 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 first fortnight, mercury may be feen in the evenings, if the weather be favorable. On the 1st, he fets at two minates paft ten (night), on the 4th at eight minutes past ten; on the 7th, at ten minutes past ten; on the 10th, at eight minutes past ten; ou the 13th at three minutes paft ten; and on the 16th, at fifty-five minutes paft nine. On the 5th, this planet will come into conjunction with the, 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 d, in the fame conftellation; and another ftar of the third magnitude, when the planet will be 1° 23′ to the north. The beautiful planet, Venus, it now a morning-flar, and will continue fuch till the 15th of March, 1810. For the first week fhe will hardly be vifible to the naked eye, on account of her proximity to the sun; but in the after-part of the month, fhe will make a fplendid appearance every fine morning, towards the north-caft. Throughout the month the will increafe in luftre; and her telescopic appearance will be very interefting. 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 ftill 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 ift, 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. past two, the third fatellite of Jupiter may be feen 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 immersion 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 feen for a great part of the night. From the noon of the 1ft inftant, to the noon of July 1, this planet's place in the zodiac, will have moved from 6° 19′, to 5° 38', of the fign fcorpio, the apparent motion being retrograde. On the evening of the 21st, at 56 minutes paft our nine, the fan will touch the tropic of Cancer, which is his utmoft limit north-ward. The folar declination, north of the equator, will then be 23° 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 rifing and fetting, at London, for a few days before and after the fummer folftice; carefully calculated to feconds, the latitude being stated at 51° 30'. PRICES or STOCKS, from the 25th of Apart, to the 25th of May, both inclusive. Terins of the fan of 14,600,000l. as contracted for by Goldsund and C. on Friday, May 12, 1809. (For England 11,000,000, for Frelau 3,000,000, 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; dis Count 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.. MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 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 "Curiosity of those who read either for Amufement or Instruction.”—JOHNSON, ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, I 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 confine ment. 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. Hence it is, that the errors, or crimes of power, are constantly kept in countenance; that 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 Jibel, 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 number 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 misdemeanors, 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. nishments inflicted at a distance from the seat of crime, were never in the con templation 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 has 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 exceptions, which afford no general rule. But the domestic historian will tell us, that such cases of remote imprisonment, informer 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 conveying 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 4A 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 prac tice, 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. For the Monthly Magazine. An elegant METHOD of OBTAINING very eract and pleasing REPRESENTATIONS of PLANTS. TAKE the plant of which you wish to obtain a representation, and lay it on some sheets of blossom or blotting paper, and having properly displayed the leaves and flowers, so as to lie in the most advantageous manner, lay some more of the same kind of paper upon it, 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, aud 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. SIR, ALTHOUGH, vist method of regu lating 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. Regular 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 fection of it are so great, as to render it very objectionable. For, as every different movement of time requires an appropriate length of pendulum, and impulse of projection, a tedious and in cessant labour is required, to attend to these things; since it is hardly possible that the most retentive ear could suggest the numberless different velocities, adapted to every kind of music. This inconvenience is so great, that, even in military bands, only three rates of time are attempted to be ascertained by pendulums. But the chief objection is, that, unless a pendulum be connected with some powers, that will keep up a regular motion, it will soon cease to vibrate in equal divisions of time; the difference will be perceived, by a nice ear, in a few seconds; and it will appear the sooner, if the instrument be exposed to a current of air, or any thing that may retard its motion. Pendulums, connected with machinery, are used for this purpose at Milan, where music is studied in the most scientific manner; but they are too complex, expensive, and troublesome, to be generally adopted. As it is extremely desirable, however, that some correct and easy method, for regulating the time of music, should be devised, I suggest the following remarks, which may prepare the way for something more perfect. dividing those in a minute by 60. If the crotchets in a minute were noted, it should be done in a whole number; if the crotchets, or quavers, in a second, in a fraction, whose denominator would specify the kind of notes, as is commonly done, and its numerator the number contained in one second. Thus, 90 is equivalent to .-To illustrate this system: A slow inarch requires seventy-five steps, in one minute, each step, half a bar, or two crotchets; so that the whole number of crotchets, played in one minute, must be 150; of quavers, 300; which number, divided by 60, will give 5. Hence, the mark for such tunes should be, denoting, that five quavers should be played in one second. A quick march admits one hundred and eight stops in a minute. Some of the tunes for this movement are set in 2, or, as it is called, French time; others in, or compound common time. Of the former, one crotchet is played to each step; hence, the number of quavers in one minute, will be 216; of semiquavers, 432. As this number cannot be divided exactly by 60, it might answer common amusement to mark such tunes implying, that seven semiquavers should be played in one second. But it would be inore exact to mark 108, in a whole number, denoting, that so many quavers should be played in one minute. The quick matches in, admit one hundred and eight steps also in a minute; but allow three quavers to each step. Hence, the number of crotchets in a minute will be, 162; of quavers, 324; which, being divided by 60, will give nearly 5; and such tunes may be marked inore exactly, 162, in a whole number. The common division of time, into minutes and seconds, appears the most convenient for this purpose. By means of it, physicians ascertain the pulsations of the human system, with so great facility, that an experienced practitioner can pronounce, pretty correctly, the number of pulsations in one minute, with out looking upon a stop-watch, or a, for common amusement; though, moment-hand. In the same manner, I . conceive that the number of crotchets to be played, or sung, in one minute, might be easily determined, and marked accordingly, at the beginning of every tune, or piece of music. The practice of playing, or singing, at the rate specified by this mark, would be easily acquired, by using, for some time, a common clock, or watch; and it would be liable to no variety, imperfection, or uncertainty. But if it should be thought that the number of crotchets, in a minute, would be too great to be marked at the beginning of a quick tune, the same end might be accomplished, by ascertaining the number of crotchets, or quavers, in a second; which could be easily done, by The application of this practice to other kinds of musical composition, where so much precision is not indispensable, will he very evident and easy. Thus a psalm, or hymn tune, containing 30 minis in one minute, may be marked 4. A minuet, containing 90 crotchets in a minute, marked. But it is, particularly in performing mixed pieces of music, that the different movements of allegro, largo, presto, &c. being marked 1,1 %, or the like, would give steadiness to practitioners; and produce a uniformity in the manners of leaders, which is greatly wanted at present. I have thrown out these hints, for the consideration of those who are abler judges |