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Amount of Notes of the Bank of England, în circulation on the 7th and 12th days of

January, 1809 and 1810:

1809. Jan. 7 12

Bank Notes of 51.

and upwards.

£11,718,010

14,077,780

1810.

Jan. 7

12

13,013,790

14,668,640

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884,120

5,854,170

An account of all the Dollars issued by the Bank of England, to the 8th day of

February, 1810, inclusive:

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"Henry Hinde Pelly, Esq. of Upton, Essex, A gentleman advanced in years, and who used to be laid up annually for three or four months with a violent fit of the gout, having read in some old book that a loadstone worn next the skin was a sure preservative against that excruciating disease, and knowing that some of the finest and most powerful magnets are found in Golconda, employed an gent in India to procure him one from that province, This stone, chipped into a convenient shape, he constantly wears sewed in a little flannel case, suspended from a black ribbon round his neck next his skin. It is about two inches long, an inch and a half broad, and two-tenths of an inch thick, and its magnetic virtue is very great, It much resembles a piece of slate, such as schoolboys learn to cypher on. Mr, Pelly says that he now and then has some slight twitches, which only serve to remind him of the terrible paroxysms to which he once wes subject. He happened one day to emit hanging this amulet about his neck; another and another day passed, and as several years had elapsed without a fit, he began to think that the magnet had altered his ystein, and rendered him intangible by got. One night however he awoke in torment; he called for his safeguard and threw it about his neck; he escaped with a alight attack, and has never since been without his piece of loadstone, which he wears tight and day, and enjoys perfect freedom from all the pains inflicted by his old enemy." -The above relation has appeared in almost every periodical work in the kingdom. We cunelves are nevertheless altogether incredalous respecting it; for we should as soon expect the cure of the gout from the tractors of Mr. Perkins, as from a magnet secured in a flannel case, and suspended by a black ribbon round the neck. The account has gbably been thus industriously circulated

Dollars

as a preparatory step to practising some fresh imposition on the public equally gross with that which has been alluded to. Doubtless we shall shortly have Golconda magnets for sale in abundance. But while we thus think, we have wished at the same time to afford to others an opportunity, by this insertion, of forming their own judgment, on what to many must be an inquiry of considerable interest.

CHIMNEY SWEEPERS.

Compassion for the miserable is one of the leading features of the British character, and the benevolent effects of it are now be come so general, that calamity can scarcely appear, without being met by a remedy, There is one class of sufferers, however, who seem to be overlooked by the great mass of the community. We allude to the case of infant chimney sweepers. It is true, a society exists for the purpose of ameliorating the condition of these unfortunate beings, and, if possible, by a mechanical mode of cleansing chimneys, to do away the neces sity of employing climbing boys; and from the Reports of that society, it appears that it has done good in both these respects. By watching the conduct of the masters, and noticing any acts of tyranny and oppression that have come to its knowledge, it has undoubtedly somewhat lessened the sufferings of the climbing boys; and by the invention of a machine, by which in the metropolis alone inore than ten thousand flues have been cleaned, if it has not lessened the number of these wretched infants, it has at least proved to the public, that the operation may be performed without their intervention. The committee, in one of its Reports, states, that in examining the condition of these unfortunate infants, it has explored scenes of distress which none can hear of without pain, and which few would conceive could exist in

this country: and this, independently of the violence and oppression to which they are subject from their masters, and the bodily sufferings they necessarily endure from the nature of the trade. They are liable, among other evils, to diseases peculiar to themselves; and if, from strength of constitution, they survive these accumulated hardships, they seldom become useful members of society, but pass through the world under all the disadvantages arising from habits, contracted in early life, that are equally hostile. to corporeal and to mental improvement. It has lately been ascertained, that, to the disgrace of those who are concerned, female infants, in some parts of the country, have been employed in this painful and destructive occupation. Many a melancholy tale is to be found in the Reports of the committee; but the following is a more recent instance than any which has yet been pubFished, and being accompanied by the legal attestation of the coroner's inquest, deserves to be made known. On Friday morning, the 24th of November last, Lewis Realy, a chimney sweeper's boy, about eight years of age, was sent up a chimney in the house of his mistress, Susanna Whitfield, in Little Shire Lane, near Temple Bar. After ascending the first part of the flue, he came ́down, and objected to attempt climbing it a second time. His mistress and the journeyman, John Best, then ordered him to make a fresh attempt, which he accordingly did : this happened about ten o'clock. IIe remained in the chimney a considerable time, and then a boy (William Best) went up, and tried to pull him down by the legs; this not succeeding, Duncan ascended another fluc, which communicated, but could not extricate Realy, though he received from him his eap and scraper. At a quarter past one, William Herring, a bricklayer, was sent for, who broke an opening into the flue, through which the body of Realy, then dead, was taken. The body, when extricated, was naked, and completely jammed in the chim ney. It appears the only notice taken of this cruel transaction was, that John Best, the journeyman, was discharged from Mrs. Whitfield's service, at the instance of the coroner. When we assure our readers this is only one of many authenticated accounts equally dreadful, we leave it to them to reflect how much they are called upon to ritigate, by every means in their power, the sufferings of these wretched children, by encouraging the use of mechanical means of weeping chimneys, and by contributing to

the support of a society which is labouring to effect that object. Nor is it perhaps too much to hope, that the attention of the legisla ture may be at length awakened to the state of these unfortunate sufferers, and put an end to the horrors of this inor mslave trade.

FRANCE.

The use of copper vessels in cookery is justly dreaded, and various articles are nevertheless, dressed in such vessels, without acquiring any injurious qualities. M. Proust determined to discover, if possible, the cause of these contradictory effects. He boiled for above an hour, in a copper vessel, quantity of strong vinegar, which completely filled the vessel. The most active re-agents such as sulphurated hydrogen, did not dis cover the smallest effect produced on the liquor by the copper. He found, however that the copper becomes oxided, er rusted only when the vessel is not full; in which case, a portion of its surface is exposed to the action of the atmosphere, the oxygen o which combines with it. This theory he verified by many experiments. The heat produced during the time of boiling, by greatly dilating the air which comes into contact with the copper, prevents this com bination. The accidents then which some times follow the use of copper vessels, an occasioned by suffering liquids to cool in them, during which time the air has access to the surface of the copper. This theory certainly explains by what means it may happen, that one person shall use with safety, and consider as not unwholesome the same vessel which another finds delete rious. Hence also our housewives will per ceive the reason why cleanliness is their security, when their culinary vessels become partly untinned by continued use.

A chemist at Paris has lately made severa curious experiments on tobacco, which, found to be correct, will occasion a great in novation in the trade and manufacture of that vegetable. His results were, that the acrid principle of tobacco differs from that of all other vegetables whose properties are known; that it can by an easy process be separated from the plant, either green or dried, and in a liquid state; and that the juice thus extracted, may be combined with the dried leaves of any tree, and thus form tobacco. The remains of the plant, after the acrid principle is thus separated, have neither smell nor taste.

M. Vauquelin has analysed a meteoric stone, which fell on the 22d of May, 1899

at Stannern, in Moravia, and found in one handred parts of it the following sub

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Spanish measure, also marés pregnant for more than three months, and horses and mares that are not thirty months old, and less than the height mentioned, are ro HAVE THE LEFT EYE PUT OUT, and are to be rendered, by other proper means, unfit for military service by the proprietors them selves. Those who presume to disobey this cominand are to be mulcted in four times the value of the animals.

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A new method of preparing extract of spium has been published in France, by which, it is said, that its offensive smell and malignant qualities are in a great measure destroyed. The method is this: Macerate twenty-four ounces of opium in rain water for five days; then boil, for a quarter of an heur, with two pounds of pulverized charcaal; strain, and clarify with white of egg; and by evaporation, twelve ounces of extract

will be obtained.

Upwards of sixty chests, containing pro dactions of art, collected during the late war, have arrived at Paris. Among the most valuable, are many original pictures of the Flemish school, and a great number of ne printed books from Vienna. From that dity have also arrived a number of animals, mong which are two lions, kangaroos, a cassowary, parroquets, &c. Some of these animals are destined for the menagerie of Malzaison; others for the Museum of Natutd History. They were accompanied by may boxes, containing rare and curious erotic plants

The following order of General Kellarman furnishes a very extraordinary example of atrocity.

"Considering the necessity of multiplying the resources of the army of his Imperial Majesty, and of depriving the rebels and Araitors of the means of procuring animals to accomplish their atrocious designs, it is hereby declared, that all the horses and mares belonging to the provinces in Upper Spain, viz in the districts of Salamanca, Zamora, Toro, Leon, Placentia, Burgos, Guipuscoa, and Alava, of the height of four feet four inches, or five feet and half an inch of the essure of Spain, and from thence upward, rein requisition for the service of the armies of France, and are to be conducted to the capital of the respective governments, where they are to be received and mainused by the Governors, until the returns made to me shall enable me to give directions for the disposal of them.

All the horses of less than four feet thehes, or five feet and half an inch

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The subterraneous passage by which the Roman Emperors went privately from the palace of the Caesars, on Mount Cælius, Rome, to the Flavian Amphitheatre, kas been lately discovered. From it have been taken a number of architectural fragments, capitals, cornices, and vases, proofs of the splendour of its decorations. Some fine torsos have also been found, and a head of Mercury, which appears to have belonged to the statue formerly in the garden of the Pope, and now in the Shiaramonti Museum. Several pipes and gutters for carrying of water were also discovered, and twenty rooms of very small dimensions, and lighted only from the top. These are presumed to be the fornices, so frequently mentioned by Martial, Seneca, and Juvenal,

GERMANY,

M. Van Braam has published the second volume of the Voyage of the Dutch Embasy to China, in 1794, &c. It contains a description of several parts of that empire, hitherto unknown to Europeans.

At Nuremberg lately, the special commission appointed to try those who were concerned in the insurrection which took place when the Austrians occupied that city, among others accused, had before them a shoemaker named Wolf, a mem ber of the Association of Improvisatori, which has existed in Nuremberg from the 13th or 14th century. The German name imports repeaters of sentences, or, as we might say in English, those who cap verses. Wolf was not wholly acquitted; but the commaission thinking the imprisonment he had already suffered sufficient, dismissed him.→→ Wolf returned his thanks to the tribunal in a long speech, consisting of verses entirely.

unpremeditated, to the surprise and amusequent of his judges.

RUSSIA.

The skeleton of the mammoth, found in the ice, at the mouth of the river Lena, in Siberia (see Christ. Observ. for 1808, p. 198), which has been for some time publicly exhibited at Moscow, is said to be intended for the Museum of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at Petersburg. Professor Tilesius has made forty drawings of the skeleton, and its various parts, which he means to publish in folio, with observations. On some points he differs from Cavier.

The greatest cold of last winter observed at Moscow, was in the night of the 11th of January. Mercury exposed to the open air, in a cup, by Dr. Rehmann, was frozen so hard, that it might be cut with sheers, and even filed. Count Boutourlin found the mercury in three thermometers withdrawn entirely into the ball and frozen; but in another it was seen by himself and four other persons, from six o'clock till half after, at 35° R. (46 F.). Mr. Rogers, of Troitsk, is said to have seen it at 34° (44 F.) before it froze and withdrew into the ball.

M. Klaproth, member of the Academy of Sciences at Petersburg, has set out for Georgia, with a view to proceed to Persia, where he intends to spend several years.

The Account of Captain Krusenstiern's voyage round the world is publishing at Petersburg in the Russian, and also in the German language.

AMERICA.

A cluster of islands has been recently discovered in the South Seas, by Captain

Bristow. They are situated in 50. 40. south latitude, and 166. 35. east longitude; are seven in number; and the largest contains a fine harbour, in which abundance of fish, fowl, wood, and water, can easily be procured. Captain Bristow named them "Lord Auckland's Group."

Dr. Ewell, of Washington, has given an account of the successful internal exhibition of the acetate or sugar of lead, in several diseases, particularly in profuse hæmorrhage, and in cases of salivation. He is also of opinion, that it is worthy of a trial in dy sentery, at least after evacuants have been used.

A large body of warriors, hunters, and trappers, all well armed and equipped, took their departure a few months ago from Louisville, in America, on a three-year expedition, to join the Missouri Company, who design to establish themselves not only on the river Columbia, but to enlarge the sphere of their commerce to the East Indies.

M. Humboldt, in his recent travels, affirms that the marshy streams of Bera and Rastro, in South America, are full of electrical eels, whose slimy bodies, dashed with yellow spots, communicate in every direction, and spontaneously, a vio lent shock. These gymnoti are five or six feet long, and when they suitably direct the action of their organs, armed with an apparatus of multiplied nerves, they are able to kill the most robust animals. All fishes shun the approach of this formidable eel. It even surprises men, who, standing on the steep bank, are fishing with a hook, the wetted line conveying the fatal commotion. In this instance, the electrical fire is disen gaged from the very bottom of the waters.

LIST OF NEW PUBLICATIONS.

THEOLOGY.

The History of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; arranged according to the Order of Time, and in the exact Words of the four Gospels: to which are added the Lives of the four Evangelists; an Account of the principal Jewish Sects, and Parties; and the Prophetic History of Christ. By Dr. Watkins.

The Substance of a Sermon preached at the Blessing of the Catholic Chapel of St. Chad, in Birmingham, Dec. 17, 1809. By the Rt. Rev. Dr. Milner. 1s. 6d.

Christ's Demand of Attention and Understanding, illustrated by a Sermon preached Nov. 26, 1809, to a Congregation of Pro

testant Dissenters at York. By William Turner. 1s.

Fresh Cautions to the Public, or a Letter to the Rev. Edward Pearson, D.D. in reply to his Cautions to the Readers of Mr. Simeon's Sermon, entitled, Evangelical and Pharisaic Righteousness compared. From the Rev. C. Simeon, M. A. 1s.

Thoughts on the Sufferings of Christ. By the Author of the Refuge. 25.

MISCELLANEOUS,

A Review of the Reports to the Board of Agriculture from the Western Department of England; comprising Cheshire, Shrop shire, Herefordshire Worcestershire, Glou

cestershire, North Wiltshire, North Somersetshire, &c. By Mr. Marshall. 8vo. 12s. Shakspeare illustrated by thirty-seven Engravings on Wood, from New Designs. By J. Thurston, Esq. 8vo. on India paper, 7%. 6d.

An Historical Portrait of Walter Scott,

Esq. engraved by Turner, from a Painting by Raeburn. 1. 1s.; proofs 1l. 11s. 6d.

A Picturesque Voyage to India by the Way of China. By Thomas Daniell, R.A. and William Daniell, A.R.A. Part I. large 4to. 11. 1s.

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

LEICESTER BIBLE SOCIETY.

Ax auxiliary Bible Society has been formed Leicester, on the same plan with that at Bristol, of which we gave an account in our last number. Thomas Babington, Esq. ste of the members for the borough, has been chosen its President; and a Committee has been appointed, whose labours have been successful in obtaining a very general support from the town and neighbourhood, An Address has been circulated by the Committee, which is drawn up with so much ability that we are induced to lay a part of it before our readers.

"Notwithstanding the diversity of sentiment which unhappily prevails among Christians, we may fairly presume on the concurtence of all parties and denominations in promoting a design so disinterested as that of diffusing the light of Revelation. In the prosecation of this design, our party is the world; the only distinction we contemplate is between the disciples of revelation, and the unhappy victims of superstition and idolatry; and as we propose to circulate the Bible alone, without notes or comments, truth only can be a gainer by the measure. To those who confine their views to this country, the want of Bibles may not appear very urgent; but without insisting on the many thousands, even hare, who are destipite of them, it is certain that in Pagan, Mahometan, and Popish countries, they are extremely rare, and their number totally adequate, not merely to supply the ime population in those parts, but even the increasing demand which a variety of Scumstances have combined to produce. To supply this demand to whatever extent may be carried, is the aim of the Society London, with which this is designed to pente. Their ambition, as far as it By please Providence to smile upon their Marts, is by imparting the Holy Scriptures, open the fountain of revelation to all es, It was natural and necessary for Christ. Opern, No. 99.

the first movement in so great an enterprise to commence at the heart of the empire; nor is it less so that, having commenced there, it should propagate itself through the larger vessels and arteries to the remotest extremities of the body. We have the pleasure of perceiving that the example of the metropolis has been followed in several of our principal towns and cities, and there is room to hope that similar Institutions will, ere long, be formed in every part of the kingdom. Nor has the emulation excited been confined to this nation and its dependencies: societies of the same description have been formed at Philadelphia, at Berlin, and at Basle; each of which derives support and assistance from the original one established in the metropolis of Great Britain."

"In whatever light we consider the British and Foreign Bible Society, it appears to us replete with utility. Its formation will, we trust, constitute a new æra in the his tory of Religion, which may be styled the Era of Unanimity. It affords a rallying point for the piety of the age, an unsuspi cious medium of communication between the good of all parties and nations, a centre of union and co-operation in the advancement of a common cause, which cannot fail to allay the beats and smooth the asperities of discordant sentiment. By giving the most effectual aid to means already set on foot for the conversion of Pagan nations; it also promises to accelerate the period when truth shall become victorious in the earth." "What incalculable benefits may be expected to result from the completion of such a plan. Wherever the Scriptures are generally read, the standard of morals is raised, the public mind is expanded, a spirit of inquiry excited, and the sphere of intellectual vision inconceivably enlarged. While they contribute most essentially to the improvement of reason, by presenting to its contemplation the noblest objects,

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