THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. London Gaz.-Times-Ledger Norwich, Oxf.,Portsm..Preston. Sherb., Shrewsb, Scuthampton,Truro, Worcester 2Aylesbury, Bangor, Barnst. Berwick, Blackb., Bridgew.. Carmar., Colch., Chesterf, Devizes, Dorch., Doncaster, Falmouth. Glouc., Halifax, Henley, Hereford, Lancaster, Leaming Lewes, Line. Lichf. Macclesf. Newark, Newc. on-Tyne, Northamp.. Reading, Rochest.. Salish Staff., Stockport, Taunton, Swansea, Wakef., Warwick. Whiteh., Winches.. Windsor, Wolverhampton, 1 each. Ireland 61-Scotland 37 Jersey 4-Guernsey 3 397 Russell's Palestine, and View of Egypt......435 On the Manufacture of Glass...... .......... ...........401 ib. .......405 Narrative of the Siege of Londonderry. 401-404 Easter Eggs.-Accuracy of Leland..........408 On the Berceans and Thessalonicans..........415 ......417 ..........419 The Blunders of Translators...................418 THE ANNUALS.-The Keepsake........ Mrs. Watts's New Year's Gift...............442 Embellished with a View of NOTTINGHAM CASTLE; And Representations of an Ivory Carving, with the PORTRAITS of four NECROMANCERS; and of an Ancient EARTHEN CISTERN. By SYLVANUS URBAN, GENT. Printed by J. B. NICHOLS and SON, CICERO'S HEAD, 25, Parliament Street, Westminster; where all Letters to the Editor are requested to be sent, POST-PAID. MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. Mr. BRITTON says "The beautiful lines by C. H. On the Statue of Cyril Jackson, at Christ Church, Oxford,' (p. 392) induced me to re-examine a print, which has recently been published by a respectable tradesman in Oxford, representing that admirable statue. It is almost unnecessary at the present time to praise the busts and monumental statues by Chantrey: they are generally known, and as generally admired, by almost every class of persons-whether professional or amateur critics, or the illiterate spectator. Possessing, as they all do, great simplicity, apparent reality and truth of portraiture, with beautiful execution, they not only please the vulgar, but delight the learned. This is exemplified in the simply-dignified statue of the late Dean Jacksun. I am gratified to see a very skilfully engraved print, after an accurate drawing by Corbould, representing this monumental statue. It is a good portrait of the man, and it is an interesting representation of the design of the artist. The print is of large size, and does great credit to the engraver, Mr. Freebairn. This gentleman has just completed a plate representing part of the frieze of the Athenian Parthenon, of unusual style and merit. With a single line, disposed in an upright position, and most skilfully gradulated or modulated, a sweet tone and effect are produced. I wish Mr. Chantrey would furnish the public with a work, carefully executed, but at moderate price, illustrating all his works." A YOUNG DEVONIAN, in answer to an "OLD SUBSCRIBER" (p. 2), states, that "A younger son of the house of Pomeroy of Berry Castle, a family of most noble origin and of vast possessions in Devonshire, married in Henry the Eighth's time the heiress of Beaumont, and thereby became possessed of Engesdon, now written Ingsdon, and more anciently Aukesdon. The Pomeroys possessed it in Charles the First's reign, but at the Restoration it belonged to descendants of a different name. Ingsdon, which is about five miles from the ruins of Berry Pomeroy castle, now belongs to Mr. Hale Monro, who inherited it a short time since from the Hales." An OLD SUBSCRIBER remarks, by way of correction to p. 2-2, that the Marquess Wellesley has but one christian name, viz. Richard. He is Richard Wellesley only: Colley, or Cowley, is the real surname of his family; but his grandfather, Richard first Baron Mornington, was enjoined to use the name of Wesley (an abbreviation of Wellesley) only, by the will of Garret Wesley, esq. of Dangan, the representative of the Wesleys or Wellesleys, settled in Ireland from 1172, and before resident in Somersetshire. JOHN DAYE observes-" Having been in the habit of referring to Dr. Dibdin's edi tion of' Herbert's Typographical Antiquities,' with much satisfaction, I beg to enquire whether there is any hope of its being completed? One thick quarto volume would probably bring the work to a termination; and it is hoped that, considering its great utility, the learned editor will put the finishing stone to what he once (at least) considered his " magnum opus." An OLD CORRESPO2DENT states-"In Moore's Life of Lord E. Fitzgerald, Lady Louisa Conolly is made to sign herself in two letters L. O'Conolly. The family of Conolly of Castletown, into which her Ladyship married, never used the prefix " O."The mistake probably arose from her signing occasionally L. A. Conolly, her second name being Augusta." We have not seen an announcement of the death of Rear-Adm. Bligh, whose name is omitted in the Court Calendar for the en suing year, and request any of our Hampshire correspondents will communicate the time and place of its occurrence. A. will be obliged to the gentleman who wrote the letter from Cork, signed A. S., (March, p. 207), on the family of Lord Bantry, if he will point out any way by which a private communication can be made to him.- -A. also requests the same favour from L.L.B., whose letter of May 20th on the families of Annesley and White is inserted in the Gent. Mag. of June. A gentleman who has been several years engaged in preparing for the press "Memoirs and Remains of Robert Louth, Bishop of London," would feel much obliged by the communication of any materials or references, which may prove of service to the completion of his labours. C. S. inquires respecting "the issue of Charles Cotton, esq. Colonel of the Coldstream Guards in the reign of Kings James II. and William III. He married a daughter of Ady, esq. Colonel Charles Cotton was brother to Sir Robert Cotton, Bart. of Combermere in Cheshire, who died Dec. 18, 1712." Mr. R F. HOPWOOD suggests that the word Seneschal is a corruption of the German possessive Seine (his), and Shalter (to rule or command). He says, that the common people in Germany are exceedingly prone to curtailing the last syllable of long words, and thus of Der Seinshalter, originally formed from the above, they produced Scinshal or Seneschal.-In p. 317, for "Scale is Saxon for a Minister or Servant," read Scealc. Iu Part i. p. 394, the width of Longnor Chapel should be 214 feet, not 214. The verses on a sun-dial are at Longner the seat of Robert Burton, esq. (see vol. xcvi. ii. 577), and not at Longnor, the domain of Archdeacon Corbett. Nov. 25. Mr. URBAN, AS the Act of Parliament, passed the 5th of October last, "For regulating the Sale of Coals in London, Westminster, and within twenty-five miles thereof," will come into operation on the 1st of January 1832, perhaps you will allow me to offer your readers a few strictures on some of the provisions of that Act; for it cannot but be considered a matter of great interest to the inhabitants of London and its environs, to ascertain how far the new Act will prove a remedy, as proposed, for the fraudulent transactions which have become so notorious in the coal trade of the port of London and the adjacent districts. It is not my intention to discuss the injustice to the public, as well as the impolicy, of continuing to sanction at the present day those privileges of the Corporation of London which were granted to it by charter, when such grants were not equal to one fourth of their present amount. Provided such enormous revenues* as are now derived by the City of London from the importation of coal, had accumulated from original estates in land, or other property, similar to trust property of charitable endowments, it would be comparatively of little importance to the public at large. But when we consider that coal forms one of the first necessaries of life, and enters so *If the importation of coal into the river Thames and by the Paddington Canal, be only taken at the low estimate of two million chaldrons per annum, with a duty amounting to Is. 3d. per chaldron, we shall have the enormous sum of one hundred and twenty-five thousand pounds per annum taken out of the pockets of the consumers. largely into the cost of numerous departments of manufacture, and, what is still more important, that the amount of such duties is continually and rapidly increasing, by the increased demands of population, it requires little argument to show the impolicy of Parliament any longer sanctioning such a state of things as that of the Act lately passed for regulating the sale of coals. The numerous Acts of Parliament which have been passed since that of the 9th Anne," to dissolve the combination of coal-owners and others to advance the price of coals," and for "preventing frauds in the measurement and delivery of coals," affords the strongest proof of the difficulty of preventing such frauds; for it is only when an evil has arrived to a very serious extent that a case is made out for parliamentary interference. Thus, in the present instance, after Government had set the example of liberality, by repealing the duty of three shillings per chaldron, in order to lessen the burthens of the inhabitants of the Metropolis and its environs, it was soon found that a portion of such reduction was divided among the coal trade, and that not a farthing reduction of duty was consented to by the Corporation of London: but, on the contrary, they have lately obtained a new Act of Parliament, by which they will levy duties amounting to thirteen pence per ton; or at the rate of lieu of the former duties of one shilsixteen pence halfpenny per chaldron, in ling and three pence. The new Act appears evidently to have been framed with the view principally of protecting the privileges and promoting the interests of the Corpo 388 The New Metropolitan Coal Act. ration of London, instead of preventing the frauds that have hitherto prevailed in the coal-trade. Of this fact we have abundant evidence in the wording of the several clauses. For example; after the usual clause for repealing all former Acts of Parliament relative to the Coal-trade in the Port of London, it is enacted, "that there shall be upon the Coal Exchange A FREE AND OPEN COAL-MARKET for the sale of coals, and shall be called the Coal Market." Now, every one knows that it is a far easier matter to alter the name of a building, than to correct the abuses that may be carried on in that building. It is therefore possible, even under the jurisdiction of the clerks and officers who are appointed by the Corporation to manage the affairs of the said market, that combinations may still be carried on between the coal-shippers and consignees or importers, with the view of keeping up the price of coals in the new coal market. The City of London already contains within its jurisdiction what are called 'open markets" for the sale of cattle, of fish, and of corn, from the two former of which the City-chamber derives no small emoluments. Yet no man will have the confidence to deny that the salesmen of such markets have both an interest in, as well as the power of, combining together with the view of keeping up the market-price, or that such combinations do actually take place, by which the inhabitants of London are made to pay ten or fifteen per cent. more for their food than they ought to pay. Again, it is enacted by clause 6th, "that the Mayor, Aldermen, &c. shall have power to enlarge the said market, or remove it to any other place that may be more convenient." Now, this permissive power is a mere nullity. To be of any value to the public, it ought to have been obligatory on the Corporation. As the City find their account in resisting the removal of Smithfield Market, in open defiance of all the evils and the petitions which have been presented to Parliament; as they also firmly resist the removal, or even the extension, of the Billingsgate Fish Market, on simifar grounds; what reasons have we to suppose they will exercise the power of removing the Coal-market [Nov. from its present site, unless for their own advantages. Nothing can be more evident than that it would greatly add to the convenience of the public, and also tend to do away with the monopoly and combination which prevails in the coal-trade, if there were at least three separate markets established in the Metropolis-one for the City, one in Westminster, and a third for Southwark, with the markets all held on the same day and the same hours. Such a plan would, however, perhaps too much interfere with the chartered privileges of the City, by which they are enabled to levy contributions on the industry and the necessities of a population of nearly two millions and a half, within a circle of fifty miles diameter! Accordingly, the new Act stipulates in detail all the necessary provisions for enabling the Corporation of London to purchase lands, tenements, &c. for enlarging the present Coal Exchange, or establishing a new market instead: but that the absolute control of such market shall be exclusively vested in the Mayor, Aldermen, &c.; that they shall have the appointment of all officers, clerks, &c. of such market; and, according to clause 23, "that, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of such market, and of the purchase of tenements, &c. and of erecting convenient buildings on their site, and for defraying the salaries of the clerks and other persons employed, and for paying the compensations directed to be made, and the monies to be raised, with the interest thereof, and for creating a fund for the purposes aftermentioned, the said Mayor, Aldermen, &c. may demand of every master of a ship laden with coals, culm, or cinders, entering the port of London, the sum of one penny for every ton of coals, &c. contained in such ship."* Now, most persons will probably think the before-mentioned clause a pretty modest specimen of legislation, * One penny per ton appears individually but a light impost. But upon 2,500,000 tons per annum (the lowest estimate that can be made of the consumption of coals within the precincts of the new Act) the City will derive a revenue of more than ten thousand per annum, for the payment of the clerks of the coal-market, the erection of buildings, and other objects, from whence the public derive no advantage whatever. 1831.] The New Metropolitan Coal Act. for the protection of local interests at the expense of the body politic; but the following clause out-Herods Herod; for it enacts," that the expenses incurred in obtaining this Act shall be paid out of the money to be received by virtue thereof!" We have often heard of ex post facto law; but we have seldom seen (even in Select Vestry management) any thing more repugnant to the first principles of political or civil economy, than for a corporate or other body of individuals to apply for an Act of Parliament for the extension of their own privileges, and, at the same time, call upon the public to pay the expenses attendant on such Act of Parliament! This affords too much corroboration of the common remark-"That corporate bodies have no bowels of compassion." After abundant formulæ about the appropriation of the said one penny per ton for various purposes, we have next the bye-laws for regulating the new coal-market, and then the compensation to be given to land coalmeters out of the fund of one penny per ton; although we find, in a subsequent section of the Act [clause 40] that the city still retains the power of levying fourpence per ton for metage. It surely will not be contended, that the superannuated coalmeters on land, as well as those on the river, might not have been provided for out of the old fund of fourpence per chaldron (which is still retained in force), in lieu of the city taxing the poor inhabitants of London and its vicinity with an additional impost for that purpose? As to the stipulations, in clause 24, that the aforesaid one penny per ton shall cease when all the objects for which it is levied (which are there enumerated) shall be provided for out of the fund so created-it will be regarded by the public as a piece of grave mockery. Who ever heard of a corporate body voluntarily relinquishing any fund or impost which they have been in the practice of exacting? Have the Corporation of London given any proofs of their being less inclined to maintain their market-tolls and post-duties, than the trustees of Ramsgate or Margate harbours their harbour-dues? After a careful examination of the provisions of the new Act of Parliament (which will take effect from the 1st of January next) the only portion 389 that I can discover as offering any advantage to the public, is the clause 43, directing" that coal shall in future be sold by weight, instead of measure, as heretofore." It is not necessary here to allude to the nefarious frauds which have been connived at by men called "sworn meters," both on the river and on land; those frauds having become " as notorious as the sun at noon day." That a system of bribery, on the part of dealers, and participation in frauds upon consumers, on the part of sworn meters, has for a long period been almost universally prevalent in the London coaltrade, it is impossible to deny. therefore remains to be seen how far this new Act will correct the frauds that have so long prevailed; for when Parliament undertakes to legislate on a question of such vast importance as that of the Coal-trade of the Metropolis (the aggregate amount of which exceeds four millions sterling per annum), it ought to take into view all the points of the case; those which affect the interest of the public generally, as well as those relating to the interest of a corporate body. It The venders of coal have hitherto defrauded the ordinary consumer in various ways; some of which will scarcely admit of detection under any system that should be recommended, The substitution of weight for measure in unloading a coal-ship in the Thames, will undoubtedly prevent those wholesale frauds which have so long prevailed in purchasing from the ship's side by measure; but these advantages will only accrue to the coaldealers and persons engaged in large manufactures, where fuel forms a considerable item of expenditure. It being the interest of the coaldealer, for reasons we shall presently explain, to purchase coals as large as possible, it has always been a matter of competition, supposing three or more dealers to combine in purchasing a ship-load, to procure the middle portion of the cargo, which contains in all cases the largest blocks of coal. It is desirable to purchase coals as large as possible, for two reasons: first, the less conscientious class of coal - merchants well know that a double room, or about ten chaldrons of round coals, when broken down, will measure out an additional chaldron to their customers. As this prac |