Your and her most obedient servant,

Rock Perch, April 6.

THUNDERBOLT.

The Drama.

"A hundred thousand welcomes:

-welcome!

A curse begin at the very root on's heart
That is not glad to see thee."

The violence

world a portion of the sublime essence of a mind stored by to Mr. Vandenhoff's return to us, were seized with avidity, and contempt as dignified as ineffable. the wisdom and experience of threescore years! With all and elicited a repetition of that rapturous warmth of feeling of Coriolanus is imperious, his anger scornful. His hate meekness and contrition do I, therefore, entreat pardon of manifested at his first coming on the stage. The speech is cold and unbending; and with a mind susceptible, her for any uncavalier expression in which I may have of Menenius, in the second act, was most especially prompt, inflexible, his whole bearing participates of the indulged; and I do hope that a consideration of the fail-marked in this respect. most inordinate self-esteem, the sovereignest contempt, a ings and errors to which youth is prone, will induce the heroism at once ennobling and debasing. He is conold lady to forgive me, and to accept the homage of my temptuous, not splenetic; impetuous, but proud; venting unbounded respect.-I have the honour to be his passion not more in boisterous speech than in contumely. Rome must be synonymous with Coriolanus; existing agreeably to his wish, or no longer Rome. He is, indeed, himself alone:" and all this Mr. Vandenhoff now represents him to be.-The Gazette very pertinently remarks, that on Tuesday Othello was performed in Mr. Vandenhoff's best style;" and adds, emphatically, that " on Thursday he performed the part of Virginius in a manner well calculated to sustain his reputation." Mr. Salter, who is also, as you know, a very good actor, combining much tact with a predominance of great talent and stage experience, has appeared this week conjointly with Mr. Vandenhoff-playing Iago, Falconbridge, and Jaffier, with much ability, to Othello, King John, and Pierre. The theatre, as might be expected from such an union of " rare excellence," has been consequently well attended: much better, in fact, than during any previous period of the season. Salter is, deservedly, a favourite with us, and, having both him and Vandenhoff, we do not envy even the metropolis. Their equals are not to be found out of London, nor their superiors in it. Manchester, 8th April.

THEATRE ROYAL, MANCHESTER.

TO THE EDITOR.

SIR, Mr. Vandenhoff, who is so highly esteemed at Edinburgh as well as with you in Liverpool, appeared at our theatre on Monday last, after an interval of six years. The house, compared with what had preceded it, was crowded; the best, save one, of the season, and never, perhaps, was any actor more enthusiastically received than was Mr. Vandenhoff on this occasion. On his entrance, the audience rose en masse in a very tumult of applause, nor did the stunning cheers of cordial greeting which wel. comed him from every quarter of the house, very readily subside. Particular portions of the text, too, appropriate

The tragedy of Coriolanus was chosen for the occasion of Mr. Vandenhoff's re-appearance here, and I think it was a judicious selection; for if there be any performance of this gentleman decidedly pre-eminent, it is, perhaps, his personation of Caius Marcius. It is a performance of acknowledged and confirmed excellence, affording ample scope for Mr. Vandenhoff's powerful and finished declamation, and distinguished, withal, by that free and magic action, purity of elocution, and chaste accuracy of conception, that have challenged public admiration, and procured for this actor much greater celebrity than is possessed by any other provincial tragedian. I noticed, however, on Monday, what I conceive to be an improvement in his enactment of Marcius; for, when last in Manches ter, Mr. Vandenhoff used not, as I thought, to portray with the rage of Coriolanus sufficient of lofty pride and haughty scorn; more especially in the celebrated scenes with the tribunes, and with Aufidius, when his in dignation should be subservient to the most elevated pride,

PARTANT POUR LA SYRIE.

ARRANGED BY A PROFESSIONAL GENTLEMAN

OF MANCHESTER.

M.

The Envestigator.

[Comprehending Political Economy, Statistics, Jurisprudence, occasional passages from Parliamentary Speeches of a general nature, occasional Parliamentary Documents, and other speculative subjects, excluding Party Politics.]

FREE TRADE.

SPEECH OF THE RIGHT HON. W. HUSKISSON,

In the House of Commons, Thursday, the 23d of February, 1826, on Mr. Ellice's Motion for a Select Committee, to Inquire into and Examine the Statements contained in the various Petitions

from Persons engaged in the Silk Manufacture.

important and more extensive change in the colonial as well as in the commercial policy of the country. The colonial part of the subject had not, I admit, been much pressed upon his Majesty's Government, either by repre sentation in this House, or in discussion out of doors. there are occasions on which it is the duty of a vigilant Government, instead of waiting for such pressure, to watch the signs of the times, and to accommodate their policy to those changes in the world, under the continued operátion of which a blind adherence to our former system. would no longer be either safe or expedient. Upon this principle I shall be ready to vindicate the alterations, great as as they are, in the policy of our colonial com. merce, whenever those alterations may be called in tion; but as hitherto they have not been attacked in this House, and as they received the special approbation of the honourable member for Taunton, I shall now say no more upon that part of the subject.

ques.

occurred there, and I feel the deepest and most undissembled sorrow for the sufferings of that population. I am aware of their distressed state at this moment. But, I cannot help thinking, that the honourable and learned member, in stating their situation, should also have stated some of the circumstances which have aggravated, if not created, their present difficulties; for, certain it is, that the spirit of speculation has, in that town, been carried to the greatest extravagance. According to the last census in 1821, the whole population of Macclesfield amounted to 17,746 souls. Now, I will suppose that, between that year and the year 1825, it increased to 20,000. What then, in that year, was the demand for additional labour, in the silk manufacture alone, of that town? I have seen, and many other gentlemen have, no doubt, seen in a Macclesfield newspaper, of the 19th of Feb. 1825, the following advertisement:" To overseers, guardians of the poor, and families desirous of settling in Macclesfield. This delay I now consider to have been the greatest Wanted immediately, from four to five thousand persons,' With respect to the alterations in our general commercial error that was then committed, and the origin of our pre-Loud cries of Hear, hear!) The House may well system, however extensive in their application, what were sent difficulty; as far as this trade is concerned. Those express their surprise; but, I beseech their attention to the objects which they embraced? They went to the re(said the honourable member for Taunton) who propose the description of persons required by this advertisement-moval of useless and inconvenient restrictions, to the doing this new plan, are completely ruining the Silk manufacture "from seven to twenty years of age"-so that the silk away of prohibitions, and to the lowering of duties so of England. The moment this plan is promulgated, the manufacturers were content to receive children of the ten- excessive, as to be in fact prohibitory on the productions great object of all who have capitals embarked in the ma- der age of only seven years to be employed in the of other countries-restrictions, prohibitions, and duties, nufacture will be, to disentangle those capitals; and those throwing and manufacturing of silk. The great increase which, without benefit, nay, highly mischievous to cur who have no capital, except their labour, will be left to of the trade having caused a great scarcity of workmen, it selves, have produced all the evil effects, and given rise, in struggle for themselves, and probably to perish for want is suggested, that this is a most favourable opportunity other parts of the world, to the retaliatory efforts of foreign of employment."* for persons with large families, and overseers who wish to Governments, to put down the commerce of this country. put out children"-children of seven years of age!] as These were some of the bad consequences justly attributed apprentices, to ensure them a comfortable livelihood. to our exclusive system, by the honourable member for Application to be made, if by letter, post paid, to the Taunton and the merchants of London, in the speech and printer of this paper." petition to which I have so often referred.

(Continued from our last.)

Such, in 1824, were the gloomy forebodings of the honourable member for Taunton. Experience has made me rather obdurate to all such prophecies; for so many are daily made by individuals whose fears are excited, or who, when they suppose their particular interests to be at stake, attempt to excite fear in others, that I must have abandoned every measure which I have brought forward for improving our commercial policy, had I allowed myself to be acted upon by such forebodings.

And here I cannot but express my astonishment, that gentlemen (I am now speaking of persons out of doors) who must be better informed-whose sincerity I cannot doubt-but whose judgment, in this respect, seems to be most unaccountably perverted, impute all the prevailing distress, as well as the derangement in the foreign ex changes, which preceded, and, in a great degree, produced that distress, to this lowering of excessive duties, and removal of unnecessary prohibitions.

Humanity not the least remarkable part of this precious document; and the House will not fail to observe how admirably the cruelty of confining children of seven years of age, to labour in a silk mill, for twelve or fifteen hours out of the four-and-twenty, is tempered by the Last year, for instance, I received representations from inducement to parents to provide for their families for the iron trade-day after day, and month after month: life. What sort of provision that has been, the present but I could not share in their alarms. I must state this, wretched state of those helpless infants will best evince. however, with one exception. There exists in this country And here I cannot help observing, that, at the very time one considerable establishment, in which iron is smelted such an invitation was sent forth to overseers and parents, I have called for the production of a paper which has by charcoal in great perfection, but at a heavy expense. by the owners of silk mills, this House was very properly not yet been printed, but which will, I hope, in the course This iron is held in equal estimation with the best from occupied in passing a bill, to prevent the employment of of twenty-four hours, be in the hands of every honourable Sweden; but, there was reason to apprehend, that it could children under nine years of age in cotton factories. member-for the purpose of showing what have been, not, under the reduced duty, maintain itself in competition Very soon after this advertisement, and before the mills during the last year, the actual imports of most of the with the latter. The establishment in question belongs to were finished in which these children were to be im- principal articles, the duty on which has been materially a most respectable and scientific gentleman, well known to mured, there appeared, I have been assured, another reduced. From this document it will be manifest, that many members of this House-Dr. Ainslie. Having heard advertisement, nearly in the same extravagant style: although there has been some increase of import in most his statement, I told him that, although I could not alter "Wanted to be built immediately, one thousand houses!" of those articles, in none has it been carried to any a general measure to meet one particular case, I would-doubtless, to contain the five thousand new inhabitants. great extent. In manufactured goods,-cottons, woollens, endeavour to devise some other mode of relief, if he should Yet, all this took place in the year 1825; just one year, linens, &c. the increased import of the whole does not be overwhelmed by the competition. according to the honourable member for Taunton, before exceed a few thousand pounds. And yet, in oppositan the silk trade was to expire for ever. I ask, then, what to this decisive evidence, there are those, I understand, weight can be given to the predictions of those, who, in who have had dealings for millions in foreign loans, she, the face of these striking facts, continue to assert that the to facilitate the payments of those loans, and other fina silk trade of this country will be annihilated before the cial operations of foreign governments, have sent mil end of the next twelve months? Can any man wonder, after million of our gold coin, drawn from the Bank after such an enormous extent of speculation-after such England to the Bank of Paris, and who, in the face a inhuman efforts to induce so many destitute children to such gigantic operations, the benefit of which to th flock into the manufactories after such an influx of country (whatever it may be to themselves) it is difficult t population-can any man, I say, wonder-all branches of conceive-have been pleased to attribute the unfavourable this trade being now in a stagnant state-at most of these state of the foreign exchanges, during the last summ newcomers being out of work at Macclesfield-or, at the and autumn, to the commercial measures adopted by P fact stated by the honourable and learned member for liament in the preceding session. Lincoln-his hair almost standing on end with horrorhad been made out in one week ?" "that eleven orders for the removal of as many paupers

And what does the House think has been the result? Sir, within the last fortnight that respectable individual has sent me werd, through an honourable member of this House, not only that his fears have not been realized, but that my most sanguine hopes had been confirmed that his trade, in fact, had in no degree suffered by those very measures which he apprehended would have been fatal to it; and that it was, upon the whole, in a very flourishing

state.

Let us now see how far the predictions of the honourable member for Taunton, and the honourable member for Coventry, have been realized. These predictions were, that the silk trade would be annihilated, in the course of the two years allowed to the manufacturers to prepare for

the change.

The bill passed this House in the spring of 1824; and, during the rest of the year, the silk trade went on flourish. ing and increasing, in the face of this threatened annihilation. In the spring of 1825, there prevailed a degree of excitement a spirit of speculation-an extension of demand in this manufacture-to a greater degree than had ever been witnessed before, in almost any branch of trade. It was in 1825 that so many new factories were erected; so many new mills set at work; so many new looms occupied. The old mills were not sufficient: many new ones were raised; the erection of each of which, I am assured, did not cost less than from £10,000 to £15,000: and several of these new mills have not even yet been roofed in. Thus, at the very time when, to satisfy the prediction of the honourable member for Taunton, this trade should have been in a state of rapid decline, the manufacturers were building to an excess that had never been equalled in the periods of their greatest prosperity.

The honourable and learned member for Lincoln has alluded to the present condition of the town of Maccles field. I know what misfortunes and bankruptcies have

Parliamentary Debates, vol. x. p. 817.

Under ordinary circumstances, it could scarcely have been expected that the silk manufacturer alone could have formed an excepton to the general re-action, which has followed over-trading and speculation, in every other branch of commerce; but under the circumstances of peculiar excitement which I have now stated, it would, indeed, have been matter of surprise, had it escaped its full share of the common pressure.

Sir, I feel that, upon this occasion, a heavy burden is imposed upon me. I feel that I have not only to defend myself from the attack of the honourable member for Lincoln, but to say something in behalf of my right hon. colleagues; something in vindication of the House itself, for the course which they have pursued, in the adoption of the system of commercial policy which we recommended.

I am happy to say that, where the duties have been lowered upon articles of consumption, the result has therto fully borne me out in all my anticipations. Int six months which immediately followed the reduction the duty on coffee, the consumption of that article nearly doubled, without occasioning any decrease in consumption of tea. In wine, the duty upon which, were told, ought not to have been reduced, without reciprocity to the productions of this country, the sumption has also increased in an equal degree. thus it will appear that the same amount of revenue been attained by the Government from diminished thens; thereby leaving greater means of comfort and joyment to the people.

I come now to the real jet of the silk question: which-I say it with all due deference to the ho mover and seconder of the present motion-has not in the slightest degree, touched upon by either of the It is admitted, on all hands, that silk is an article As the whole of that system has been so vigorously can be easily smuggled; and, that it is now smuggled, attacked, I shall, I trust, be excused, if I touch very a very considerable extent, in spite of all the prese briefly upon the proceedings of the last session of Par-measures that have, from time to time, been adepta liament:when, in furtherence of that system, and with Now, the object of the British manufacturer is, the cordial concurrence of this House, I brought forward as possible, to shut out the competition of his foreign measures of a more general nature, than the silk bill of If smuggling could be prevented, I would concede the preceding session, inasmuch as they went to effect an that prohibition would be most effectual to this

But, if it cannot, what is the advantage of prohibition, for Hamburgh, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Ostend, or Guern-
over a protecting duty of 30 per cent.? I say, of 30 per sey, and thence they nearly all, illicitly, find their way
cent. because, I never yet conversed with a single mer- back to this country.
chant or manufacturer, who did not admit, that if a higher Mark, then, the effect of this beautiful system,-this
protecting duty were imposed, the supply of foreign silk system so lauded by the learned member for Lincoln.
goods would be thrown into the hands of the smuggler. These Bandanas, which had previously been sold, for ex-
The question, then, looking at it practically, is this:-portation, at four shillings, are finally distributed, in re-
In what degree is prohibition better, as against smuggling, tail, to the people of England, at the rate of about eight
than a well regulated duty?-by which I mean a duty shillings each; and the result of their prohibition is, to
sufficient to protect the British manufacturer, without levy upon the consumer a tax, and to give to those who
being so high as to afford a premium to the smuggler live by the evasion of your law a bounty of four shillings,
upon each handkerchief sold in this country.

In the first place, it cannot be denied, that the feelings
of mankind are more likely to restrain them from com-
mitting a fraud, than from violating a Custom-house pro-
hibition. I am sure it will be conceded to me, that many
honourable persons, who would not, for any temptation,
be parties to a contrivance to evade a tax, and thereby to
rob the public revenue, would feel very little scruple in
wearing an article that is absolutely prohibited, and the
introduction of which is not in opposition to any moral duty.
So far then, the argument, in support of the assertion,
that a prohibitory law is the best check upon smuggling,
makes directly the other way, and is in favour of protect
ing duties.
But the great, indeed the only, argument in favour of
prohibition, in preference to a protecting duty, is this-that
after the forbidden goods have been landed in this country,
and when they are in the possession of individuals, even
for their own use or consumption, you may follow them
into private dwellings, nay, into the very pockets of the
wearers, and seize them upon their persons, in the King's
name, at the bare suggestion of any common informer.
To what does this power of seizing and examining all
who may be suspected of possessing prohibited articles
amount? Sir, it amounts to this-that if any man, no
matter what may be his rank, be he the humblest peasant,
or the highest peer in the realm, be suspected of wearing,
or possessing, a silk handkerchief of foreign manufac-
ture, he is liable to have it taken from his neck or his
pocket, and to have his house ransacked, from the garret
to the cellar, in quest of contraband articles. If, without
such a subsidiary regulation as this, a regulation which
encourages the worst passions, engenders the most appal-
hing perjury and crime, and which opens so wide a door
either to fraud and collusion, or to intimidation and per-
sonal violence, prohibition cannot be sustained, then, Sir,
I say, in preference to such a system, let us, in God's
name, have a well regulated duty.

That nearly all the Bandanas sold for exportation are
re-imported and used in this country, is a fact not de-
nied, even by those who are now most clamorous for pro-
hibition. In a printed letter from a manufacturer of
Macclesfield to the Marquis of Lansdown, I find the fol-
lowing anecdote:-" It is the custom, in the parterres of
the theatres in France, to secure the place by tying a
pocket-handkerchief on the seat. I had the curiosity, at
the Théâtre François, to notice the appearance of them;
and, out of twenty-five, immediately around me, there was
not one silk handkerchief." I should have little doubt,
if a similar custom prevailed in the pits of our theatres,
that this accurate observer would find most of the seats
decorated with handkerchiefs of prohibited silk. Nay, Sir,
if strangers were, at this moment, ordered to withdraw
from the gallery, and every member were called upon (of
course in secret committee) to produce his handkerchief,
with the understanding, that those who had not prohibited
handkerchiefs in their pockets were obliged to inform
against those who had-I am inclined to believe, that the
informers would be in a small majority. Upon every in-
formation laid under this prohibitory law, the chances are,
that the informer and the constable have Bandanas round
their necks, and that the magistrate who hears the charge
has one in his pocket!
Upon the motion of this evening, then, we have to make
our choice between a moderate protecting duty, which can
be collected, and is likely to be available, and the going
back to the system of prohibition, which I have shown to
be productive of such mischievous consequences.

But it may be asked, if excellence of fabric was, at that time, the proof that the article was not British, why is it, not so still? I shall give the best answer to this question, by stating what has recently occurred.

But since the repeal of the old law, a further difficulty has occurred in respect to prohibition. Two years ago, when a piece of silk was seized as foreign, the British manufacturer could, upon inspecting it, at once say, "I know, and can prove, that this is not of the manufacture of this kingdom." If asked, "What is your proof?" And here I hope I may be permitted to digress for one he would reply, "The superior quality and workmanship moment, to ask, how a great constitutional lawyer, a of the article: it is quite impossible that any thing equal staunch advocate for the popular character of our consti- to it should have been manufactured in England. It ution-a zealous stickler for the inalienable rights of the wants that stamp of slovenliness and indifference to imeople-a watchful guardian of the sanctity of an English-provement, which is the sure characteristic of all silk 1-man's private abode; how he could so entirely discipline goods made at home." This is a very natural answer for And subdue his warm and boasted feelings for the liberty monopoly to make; but it comes with a bad grace from a the subject, as to pour forth the declamatory harangue, British manufacturer. thich we have heard this night from the learned member or Lincoln, in favour of this system of prohibition? But, even with the aid of this power of search and seiure, is prohibition, an effectual remedy against smug. ling? I have lately taken some pains to ascertain the uantity of smuggled silks that has been seized, inland, roughout the kingdom, during the last ten years; and find that the whole does not exceed £5,000 a year. I ave endeavoured, on the other hand, to get an account the quantity of silk goods actually smuggled into this untry. Any estimate of this quantity must be very gue; but, I have been given to understand, that the lue of such goods as are regularly entered at the Customuses of France, for exportation to this country, is from 100,000 to £150,000 a year; and this, of course, is exusive of the far greater supply which is poured in, Tough all the channels of smuggling, without being bjected to any entry. In fact, to such an extent is this icit trade carried on, that there is scarcely a haberdasher's op. in the smallest village of the kingdom, in which ohibited silks are not sold; and that in the face of day, ad to a very considerable extent.

The honourable member for Coventry has mentioned e silk goods from India, as those against which any thing it prohibition would prove an unavailing protection. ow, in my opinion, it is scarcely possible to conceive a ronger case than those very silks furnish against the nourable members's own argument. I believe it is iversally known that a large quantity of Bandana handerchiefs are sold, every year, for exportation, by the ast India Company. But, does any gentleman suppose, at these Bandanas are sent to the Continent for the rpose of remaining there? No such thing! They are ld at the Company's sales, to the number of 800,000 or million of handkerchiefs each year, at the rate of about ur shillings each. They are immediately shipped off

Soon after the alteration of our law, an extensive French manufacturer removed from Lyons to this country. He brought with him his looms and his patterns. Under his management and superintendence, two establishments were formed, one in Spitalfields, the other at Manchester. At both of these places he set weavers to work; fully satis fied, that a duty of 30 per cent. would afford him sufficient protection. His improved methods (with sorrow I state it) excited the jealousy, and drew down upon him the persecution of the English manufacturers. They charged this industrious foreigner, boldly and rashly, and (as in the end it was proved) most unjustly, with carrying on his trade here, merely as a cloak to cover the smuggling of foreign manufactured goods. In their mortification at his success, they even went the length of charging my honourable friend, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the whole Board of Customs, with being cognizant of the fact, and parties to this nefarious scheme for ruining the silk trade of England. This accusation was not merely insinuated in whispers; it was contained in a published report, inserted in the newspapers, and thus conveyed from one end of the kingdom to the other.

This was not to be endured. The Treasury determined to sift the matter to the bottom. They knew that neither at the Board of Treasury, nor at the Board of Customs, could any countenance or facility have been given to smuggling; but they thought it not impossible that this French house might have been guilty of the irregularities imputed to them, and that these irregularities might have. been conn ved at by some of the inferior officers. The accusers, therefore, were called upon to substantiate their charge, and were distinctly told, that the inquiry should

be directed in whatever mode they might point out as most effectual. They said, the clearest proof would probably be found in the books of the party accused, if they could be got at. The books could not, certainly, be inspected without his consent. Did he hesitate on this point? So far from it, that his immediate reply was,-" You are welcome to inspect all the books of our house; and, that there may be no suspicion of garbling or concealment, let an officer go with me instanter, and they shall all be brought here (to the Treasury) in a hackney coach."

This was accordingly done. His books were subjected to a rigid examination. Every transaction connected with his business was found regular-the names of the weavers employed by him, the work which they had in hand, and their places of residence, were all duly entered. Taking with them a plan of Spitalfields, and without the possibility of previous notice or concert, proper persons went round to the particular houses, which these books had pointed out; and, in every instance, they found the names of the men at work, and the goods upon which they were working, to correspond with the entries in the books. All this was most satisfactory to the Treasury and the Customs. But the accusers persevered in their charge. They insisted that the whole was a concerted plot; and that many pieces of silk in the warehouse of this foreigner, which he asserted that he had manufactured here, were, in truth, the productions of France.

The Treasury, in consequence, resolved to sift the mat. ter still farther; and again, it was left to the accusers to point out the mode. In order to prosecute the inquiry. they selected from their own body the person whom they considered the most skilled in the knowledge requisite for the detection of such articles as might be contraband. And what, towards him, was the conduct of the party accused?"Go to my warehouse (said the Frenchman) turn over all my goods; select from among them whatever pieces you please; and, on the proof of their being of English or of French manufacture, let my guilt or innecence be finally established."

The offer was accepted. The person employed by the British manufacturers turned, over and over, several hundred pieces of silk; and at length, after the whole ordeal was passed, the Board of Customs made known the result in an official report which they transmitted to the Trea. sury. That report I hold in my hand. What is the substance of it? Why, that thirty-seven pieces had been selected by this agent of the accusers as being beyond all doubt of French manufacture. What followed ? These thirty-seven pieces were seized, and the Frenchman was put upon his proof that they were made in this country. How did he prove it? By producing, one after another, the very men by whom every one of these thirty-seven pieces had been made, who proved, upon their oaths, in the most irrefragable manner, that every inch of these goods had been woven by themselves. Where? Not at Lyons-not in France-but in Spitalfields and Manchester! (To be concluded in our next.)

LIST OF NEW PATENTS.

To James Fraser, of Houndsditch, London, for his improved method of constructing capstans and windlasses.-. Dated 25th of February, 1826.-2 months allowed to enrol specification.

To Benjamin Newmarch, of Cheltenham, for certain inventions to preserve vessels and other bodies from the dangerous effects of external or internal violence on land or water.-25th of February.-6 months..

To Benjamin Newmarch, of Cheltenham, for a preparation, to be used either in solution or otherwise, for preventing decay in timber, &c. arising from dry rot, &c.—25th of February.-6 months.

To James Fraser, of Houndsditch, London, for his improved method of distilling and rectifying spirits, &c. 4th of March.-2 months.

To Robert Midgley, of Horsforth, near Leeds, for his apparatus for conveying persons and goods across rivers or other waters, and over valleys.-4th of March.-6 months.

To George Anderton, of Chickheaton, Yorkshire, worsted spinner, for improvements in the combing or dressing of wool and waste silk.-4th of March.-2 months..

To James Neville, of New Walk, Shad Thames, Surry, engineer, for his improved boiler for generating steam with less expenditure of fuel.-14th of March.months.

To Nicholas Hegesippe Manicler, of Great Guildfordstreet, Southwark, chymist, for his new preparation of fatty substances, and the application thereof to the purposes of affording light.-20th of March.-6 months...

acquaintance where women have refused eligible offers from
men amiable and respectable, in circumstances, &c. to marry
a man in every respect inferior! the only reason assigned-
he pleased their fancy, a thing quite undefinable; and yet a
woman, so acting, when she begins to feel the consequences
of her folly, appeals to the multitude for sympathy, and calls
upon the law-makers for protection. Some, so foolish they
are, will please the eye if they make the heart ache. What
can they expect? Not happiness, certainly. Of young females
marrying old men for the sake of handsome establishments,
there are abundance of examples; dash and show, not domes

tic and connubial happiness, their object. They have made
their choice, and must not complain if the gilded toy some-
times burns the fingers. Thousands rush on to misery by
what are termed imprudent marriages. They have taken
the leap, and their cup of bliss is broken in their fall. Com-
plaint comes from them with a bad grace, and as it dies
away, perhaps unheeded, they mix with the common mass

fair writer is to obtain a remedy for the evil of which she of suffering.-I find the subject growing so fast under my visible as an evening star. complains, and that a summary one, no less than legislative interference, for the establishment of an inquisition, in every town, that should have the power of citing married men before them, authorizing the officers to examine all his domestic affairs, and to have the power of punishing every grievance that can be established to their satisfaction. Your correspondent appears to be ignorant of the laws that do

hands that I shall expose the letter to a rejection from its
length, and must, therefore, hasten to close it with a little
advice to those women who have not yet plighted their faith
at the altar.
I would recommend that they make inquiry
respecting the habits, temper, and disposition of the men who
solicit their hands; be guided by the result rather than the
cut of a coat, or the grace with which they enter a drawing-
room to say a few smart things; to avoid men of morose and
sulky tempers, fools, drunkards, and spendthrifts; a union
with characters of this description cannot be productive of
happiness. To those with whom retreat is impossible, I
would recommend patience, and a careful attention to the
rules laid down by Lyttleton in his Advice to Belinda, which
every woman, married or single, ought to have framed and
hung over her toilet, as the commandments are affixed to the
walls of the chancel, and they will produce as much benefit
in domestic arrangements.-That an attention to the fore-
going hints would avert much of the unhappiness existing
in families, and strengthen the felicity of those who have
yet to take their chance, but are in expectation of entering
upon the married state, is the opinion of, Gentlemen, yours,
Imost respectfully,
HOMO.