nexions with A. B. Lambert, esq. is strengthened. We wish we could add that the style of drawing was improved, but the artist continues apparently to make Chinese paper-hanging's his great model. If he would endeavour to copy accurately the plant before him, he would not so constantly outstep the modesty of nature. If his pictures were less striking to the vulgar eye, that always delights in gaudy tints, they would be infinitely more prized by those who know how to appreciate the excellencies' of the art. METEOROLOGICAL REPORT. Observations an the State of the Weather, from the 24th of July 1810, to the 24th of August 1810, inclusive, Four Miles N.N.W. of St. Paul's. Thermometer. Higheft, 76°. Aug. 24. Wind variable. The quantity of rain fallen since the last report, is equal to 6·57 inches in depth. At one time it was feared the constant rains, which had lasted for several weeks, would have materially interfered with the business of harvest. But the brilliant and very seasonable weather which has occurred from the 16th to the present day (27th), has revived the hopes of the people, and we have now reason to expect an abundant and well-collected har• yest to crown the expectation of the farmer, and to defeat the predictions of those who have repeatedly foretold a scarcity that was to have been attended with the most dire effects. So late as the end of June, indeed, the prospects were truly gloomy, on account of a long and very unusual series of dry weather; the rain however came, the corn increased beyond the most sanguine hopes of the husbandman, and fair weather is now apparently set in to com plete the blessings of Providence. The second hay-harvest proves to be the most productive of any remembered for many years, and the deficiency of the first is said to be amply made up by the latter. The wind has been chiefly in the westerly points: the weather has been remarkably cold as well as wet, and during the whole month the thermometer was but once as high as 760 or summer heat. There have been 10 brilliant days, and on 19 there has been rain in greater or less quantities. On one of these we had a violent thunder storm, and a consider. able quantity of hail. The average height of the thermometer is but 60°‡; of the barome, ter it is equal 29.515. Highgate, June 27, 1810. TO OUR READERS. AFTER the observations of our Correspondent, who signs COMMON SENSE, had been printed off at page 109, we received his request that we would add a note, stating, that " He has since found that some respectable bankers, friends of his, know nothing of the existence of the New Directory.' They do not know that there may not be such a list circulated among certain houses, but it is not known among the bankers at large." Further informa tion on a subject so interesting, and at the same time so dangerous to commercial credit and independence, will, no doubt, be desirable to our readers at large, as well as to CoMMON SENSE. The same Correspondent requests us to add "as a further proof of the inadequate powers of man, to conduct a paper currency with due relation to the welfare of the public, that the Bank Directors have lately been narrowing their discounts, at a moment when several milIons of their notes on the country bankers, to meet the general run, have been diverted out of old into new channels. These latter," he says, “have been obliged to drain the metropolis of Bank notes, with which to retire their own notes on their being presented for payment; yet the Bullion Report has so baffled, or puzzled, the Bank Directors, that they have fixed on such a moment to narrow their usual discounts, and thereby create a degree of pecuniary distress never before known to the coun ry !" ERRATUM. In the Varieties, page 152, in the sccond line, for " facturer's," read "manufactures," manu PRICES or STOCKS, from the 26th of Jury to the 25th of AUGUST, both inclusive. N. B. Lu the 3 per Cent, Cousols 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. 69 7 P. 68 Ο 182 21 P. 69 4 P.2 Dis. 68 23 P. 69 181 22 P. 21 P. 22 15 어 As long as those who write are ambitious of making Converts, and of giving their Opinions a Maximum of InAuence and Celebrity, the most extenfively circulated Mifcellany will repay with the greatest Effect the Curiofity of those who read either for Amufement or Inftruction.JOHNSON. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, Ta moment when inland bills of A exchange and promissory notes have unfortunately lost the confidence of men of property, and of the country at large, it may not be useless to invite attention to the origin, extent, and nature, of this novel but universal species of factitious currency. Foreign bills of exchange had their origin in commercial convenience, and are an adinirable contrivance by which A. in one country, pays B. in any country, a debt due to him from C. in some other Country; but a local bill, or note, created by parties residing in the same place, is on the face of it a confession of inability to pay, indicating that the debtor would pay if he could; but to get excused by his creditor, or to accommodate him, gives him a negociable engagement, which, till it is due, is also made to serve the purpose of currency. Considered however as currency, both descriptions of bills are alike unnatural. The foreign bill originating in convenience, having effected the professed object of the drawer, has no other legitimate purpose; and to allow current validity to local bills and notes, is to give public sanction to insolvency. Yet such is the deplorable condition and present shifting character of the English, Scotch, and Irish people, that of three millions of houses contained in the empire, the inhabitants of at least one million of them are pledged by the acceptance of local bills, or by promissory notes. Estimating them at the moderate average of 100l. to each of this million of houses, it will appear that there are ONE HUNDRED MILLIONS of this factitious currency in existence. Hence the facility possessed by forestallers and monopolists to raise and keep up the price of every commodity; hence the depreciation of the legitimate currency ;-hence the doubling, trebling, and quadrupling of the nominal value of every thing;-and bence the consequent misery of every MONTHLY MAG, No. 204. class of the people, arising from fluctua tions in the value of labour and income. It seems extraordinary that. any member of a well-organized society, should be allowed the power of creating artificial thousands and tens of thousands by a stroke of the pen, and yet be in danger of suffering death for coining a shilling of full weight and purity. He is sanctioned in preparing his copperplate, and in giving every specious appearance to his issues of bills and notes, which in due time are let loose, to de stroy the happiness, or involve in ruin, all who chance to be ensnared by them; but if he coin a shilling, pick a pocket, or rob on the highway for so paltry an amount, he must suffer the penalty of death. It would be less hurtful to allow a man the privilege of firing a blunderbuss along a crowded street, than in this way to give him the power of robbing his neighbour. For his own sake, and that of his family also, it is a power with which no man ought to be entrusted; it is, in fact, a pow er as pernicious to himself to be allowed to wield, as it is dangerous to the, public. Such unlimited and uncontrouled privilege of creating currency, or the representa tive of currency, is a social novelty, monstrous in its nature, and proved by experience to be pernicious to those who possess it, and fatal to the nation in which it is exercised and tolerated. No subject is so deserving of the consideration of economists in the legisla ture. I advise that a committee of parliament should consider of the most eff cacious means of regulating or restricting it. In the absence of a better plan, I shall for the present suggest the fol lowing. 1. That every inland and local bill or note, express on the face of it the particular consideration for which it is drawn, and that every omission or misrepre sentation, be punished with the forfei ture of double the amount. 2. That there be witnesses to the draw. ing and the acceptance, who shall be liable 2 D 4. That every bill or note be recoverable by a summary process; and that execution be levied within a week on the acceptor, in a fortnight on the drawer, and in a month on the indorsers. 5. That all inland and local bills and notes, be considered as of two classes, transferable, and untransferable, that is, payable to order, or not payable to or der; and that the preceding restrictions and regulations apply to those only which are transferable or payable to order, the public interest being unconcerned in unnegociable time-engagements, which, for various private purposes, may be created between two parties. 6. That as bills and notes which are payable to order, become thereby a sort of public currency, no person should be at liberty to draw such hills or notes, without taking out an annual licence at the stamp-office. Such licences to vary in cost according to the amount of the bills required to be drawn; say one guinea for the service of drawing transferable bills or notes under 1001.; two guineas from 100l. to 1000l.; and five guineas for 1000l. and upwards. The licences to be classed and numbered, and the drawer to annex his class and numher after his name, subject to forfeiture of 1001. for every offence. No licences to be granted to minors, to femmescoverts, to persons confined for debt, to the clergy, nor to uncertificated bankrupts. The names of persons taking out licences, to be published in the manner of those who take out game-licences. Such provisions would give solemnity to the creation of bills and notes; would render them representations of few besides real transactions; and would oc casion the creation of mere accominodation or fictitious paper, to be a matter of difficulty and serious responsibility. We should then have in circulation fewer bills of private persons, clerks, servants, and bankers. Instead of nine bills in ten being drawn for the mere accommodation of the parties, we should not have one in ten, besides those arising out of real business. Bills of bankers in particular, which are commonly drawn for purposes of accommodation, would be reduced to their proper average; many banker's bills being in some of the parties, nothing but money-raising fabri cations, or a kind of kite-flying, as it is. jocosely called in Lombard-street. Let the Bank of England set its facer against all paper which is not checked as above, and thereby proved to be connected with real business. Let it prefer, as it ought, the honest bills of small amounts, drawn in any correct form by shopkeepers, manufacturers, and retailers, to the sham, though fairly-drawn bills of jobbers, bankers, speculators, and pretended merchants, whose whole capital is their credit, and whole stock in trade nothing besides their desks and counters. In short, let the direc tors of the Bank of England revise and correct their limited and mistaken reasonings on these subjects; let them encourage the middling, industrious, and useful class of traders, and then one half the mischiefs of a paper circulation, would be avoided previously to the passing of an act of parliament. At present, the card-house of papercredit in Great Britain, is tumbling to pieces before the breath of public opinion; and in rebuilding and regenerating it, care ought to be taken that a new fabric does not inherit the imperfections of the old one. COMMON SENSE. S marble is in abundance and va→ Ariety in Spain, the use of it is very general; the entire front of some houses is of white marble elegantly adorned. The house occupied by the Gremios (a set of merchants who are granted peculiar privileges in commerce) is handsomely built; the front is ornamented with beautiful sculptures, representing on the first story, in alto-relievo, the figures of Neptune and Mercury, with their appropriate emblems, and over them a beautiful figure of Fame. The stair-cases are commonly of mar ble; the drawing-rooms and other apartments are laid with it (wood never be ing used for flooring); this causes a coolness in the house in summer, and in the winter is not unpleasant. The cold in this month is agreeable, the thermome→ ter generally being above 60°. A chimney is scarcely to be seen; at a few Engglish houses only is the "happy fireside;" and if heat be wanted in a roomy .the the practice is to introduce a large pan of charcoal, placed under, and sometimes on, a table. The pit-coal which is burnt is brought from England; but it seldom pays for importing: there has lately been some discovered in the neighbourhood of Seville, but not yet in any considerable quantity. Sometimes an English or a Turkey carpet covers the marble floor, or a mat made of cane, woven on cord in various patterns, some of which are manufactured here; but the best are brought from Africa. The rooms are lofty and large; in the front of almost every window is a balcony, or railing; but the furniture of a house, although elegant, and often splendid, is not so -neat and tasteful as it is seen in England. he opens its mouth, and injects from his lips the grain, which is previously soaked in water. The market does not supply butter; this article is furnished from Ire land; and its substitute in all cases, and in the summer, is oil. The cheese made here is from goat milk, but so bad that it scarcely forms a substance; and the milk we use is the goat's: they are led through the streets, and generally milked at the door of the purchaser. Bread is very good and cheap; particular care is taken in making it white; for this purpose children are employed to pick from the grain every particle of dirt that might give it a dark hue. A stranger is generally greatly disap-pointed in the appearance of the city on passing the Barria, which leads directly into the market-place, presenting a scene similar to Billingsgate and Claremarket. Hundreds of ragged dirty fel. lows are selling their fish, which are but little enticing; (the dory, is perhaps the best sort of fish that is caught here; they are often two feet in length:) countrymen have their eggs and poultry in abundance. Fruit-sellers, with grapes, oranges, melons, raisins, almonds, pomegranates, garlick, &c. spread in large heaps on mats on the stones, are for ever bawling out the name of the article they sell with such confused noise, that makes one glad to hasten from the scene. Others are frying of fish in oil, over charcoal; and the roasting of acorns and chesnuts, add not a little to the offensive air: this is the scene every day in the week, not excepting Sundays, or the night-time: the sup ply of the above articles, with a variety of culinary vegetables, appearing never to be diminished. The fruit of the arbu`tus, or winter strawberry, is now in perfection, and is freely eaten; of apples we have but few, and they are not of good flavor. Here are shops well supplied with partridges, snipes, hares, rabbits, turkeys, &c. in great plenty, as well as with wild ducks and geese. Turkeys are just in perfection; they are coming in from the country in flocks, and the season will continue about a month; it is calculated that 7,000 of these birds are brought here every winter from the province of Valencia: they fatten on the journey, and are about seven weeks coming down. Pigeons are also in plenty; they are fed in a singular manner; a man holds the bird in his left hand, while Here are several coffee-houses, which are frequented indiscriminately by per sons of all ranks; the beggars are even permitted to intrude; and as segars are smoked by every Spaniard, these poor creatures seek on the tables, and on the floors, for the refuse tobacco. The Spanish newspapers are, of course, to be seen at these places; and on the arrival of the courier, it is usual for one person to read aloud their contents for the information of the company. They sell all sorts of liquors, as well as coffee; a cup of which, with the saucer filled to the brim, costs about 24d. and is taken with or without milk, the waiter bringing both liquids to you in kettles, and pouring it boiling hot. The tables are necessarily of marble, on account of their placing on them a pan of charcoal-fire, for the purpose of lighting a segar; and the servants attend you, when wanted, by calling them with a hiss, and not by their name, as in England. The coffee-houses are also furnished. with billiard-tables, several being in one house, as the Spaniards are remarkably fond of this game. Smoking of segars is so very common, that in the houses, and in the streets, from before breakfast until after supper, one is exposed to the fumes of them. Those of the finer quality, from the Havannah, have been so scarce as to be worth sixpence each; and the sale of them, as well as of all manufactured tobacco, is the exclusive privilege of the king. The common people contrive a cheap sort, by cutting the leaf very fine, and nicely rolling it in paper, which answers the purpose of a pipe; and they are not very delicate in smoking them, as several men will take a whiff from the same segar, one after the other. Most persons are provided with a flint, a steel, and tinder, which is a white fibrous vegetable, procured |