Alley, Cornhill, 22d February, 1811.-Grand Junction Canal, 2721. per share. -Grand Surry ditto, 961. ditto.-Leeds and Liverpool ditto, 1831. ditto.-Lancaster ditto, 271. ditto.-ad Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union ditto, 1121. ditto.-Wilts and Berks ditto, 451. ditto.-Kennet and Avon ditto, 421. 10s. ditto.-Thames and Medway ditto, 471. per share premium.-Huddersfield ditto, 311. per share.-Rochdale ditto, 531. ditto.-Croydon ditto, 391. ditto.-London Dock Stock, 1281. per cent.--Ditto Scrip, 25 per cent. premium → West India Dock Stock, 1671. ditto.-East India ditto, 1291. ditto.-Commercial Dock, with the new share attached, 1651. per share.-East Country Dock, 831. ditto.-Commercial Road, 1361. per cent.-East London Water Share, 1891. per share.-West Middlesex ditto, 1131. dieto.-Kent ditto, 301 per share premium.-Grand Junction ditto, 131. ditto.-Globe Jasurance Office, 1201. per share.-Imperial ditto, 761.-Albion ditto, 571. ditto. The average prices of Navigable Canal Property, Dock Stock, Fire-office Shares, &c. in February, 1811, (to the 21st) at the Office of Mr. Scott, 28, New Bridge-street, London, Trent and Mersey, or Grand Trunk Canal, 11701. without half-yearly dividend, at the rate of 451. per share clear, per annum.-Birmingham, 10401. dividing 421. clear.-Coventry, 8501. dividing at the rate of 321. per share.-Swansea, 1671.; the last dividend 81. per share. -Monmouthshire, 1291.-Grand Junction, 2701. to 2721.-Kennet and Avon, 421. 10s.Wilts and Berks, 451. to 461. 10s.-Rochdale, 521. 10s. to 551.-Western Junction Subscrip tion, 51. premium.-Ellesmere, 801.-Union, 1101.-Grand Union, 71. discount.-Lancaster, 26.-Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 241.-Worcester and Birmingham old Shares, 401.-Croydon, 301 to 311.-West India Dock Stock, 1671. ex half-yearly dividend of 51.-London Dock, 1291. ex half yearly dividend of 31. clear.-Ditto Scrip, 261. per cent. premium.-Albion Assurance, 571-Globe, 1201. ex half yearly dividend of 31.-Atlas, par.-East London Water Works, 1871-West Middlesex ditto, 1141.-New ditto, 201. premium-Kent ditto, 281. premium. -Grand Junction ditto, 121. 123. premium-London Institution, 681. 5s.-Surrey Institu tion, 231. 2s.-Covent Garden New Theatre Shares, 4701. without admission.-Strand Bridge, 121. discount.-Dover-street-road, 10s. to 11. premium.-Commercial Road, 1351. per cent. ex half-yearly dividend 31, MONTHLY AGRICULTURAL REPORT. IN the sound and dry grounds, bean-planting is nearly finished, and some oats and pease got into the earth; in less favoured situations, and where tillage has been backward, this The branch of husbandry will not be complete until nearly the middle of next month. wheats in general have improved in their appearance, excepting upon wet and poachy soils, where they still look yellow and unhealthy. Mr. Kemp's practice of putting in spring corn, without the aid of the plough, has been tried by several experimental farmers with beans and oats, and report speaks well of the state of those lands. From the late rains, tillage has been difficult, and is backward in low and undrained soils, a difficulty which will be felt on such throughout the spring. The common turnips have suffered from wet upon unfavourable soils, but the ruta baga is a certain dependence, wherever cultivated, and its culture, as it ought, increases every year. throughout the island. From the nature of last year's crops, straw must become very scarce towards the latter end of the season; and from the dearness of hay, those stock farmers who have not provided themselves amply with green crops, will be reduced to great difficulty. Some losses of sheep by the rot, in the midland counties, were spoken of in the past months, but nothing on that head is repeated, nor much yet respecting the lambs. Little alteration in the country since last month in the cattle-markets, or the farm-yards. The corn-markets have had an ample supply, yet the general opinion is, that wheat must be dearer; it must however be noted, that never before was so great a breadth of wheat sown in England and Scotland, as during the last seed season, and much land is yet reserved for spring wheat, the culture of which has been abundantly successful for many years, and increases in consequence. In Smithfield market, Beef fetches from 5s. to 69. per stone of 81b.;-Mutton, from 5. 4. to 6s. 44. ;-Veal, 6s. to 8s. 4d. ;-Pork, 5s. 4d. to 8s. Middlesex, Feb. 25. NATURALIST's MONTHLY REPORT. JANUARY. The horizontal sun Broad o'er the south, hangs at his utmost noon, And, ineffectual, strikes the gelid cliff. THE wind was easterly from the 1st to the 10th of the present month. In the afternoon of the 10th it was south, and on the 11th westerly. On the 12th it was first south, and afterwards south-west; and from the 13th to the 23d, for the most part westerly, or northwest. Towards the latter part of the 23d it changed to the north; and on the 24th and 25th was north-east. It was north-west on the 26th and 27th, and easterly during the last four days of the month. We We had strong gales on the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 12th, 17th, and 30th; and fresh gales on the 1st, 8th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 23d, 24th, 25th, 27th, and 31st. There was rain on the 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th, and S1st; and snow on the ist, 2d, 3d, 28th, and 30th. The weather was frosty on the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 224, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and S0th; and hazy or foggy on the 10th, 12th, 14th, 17th, and 21st. In the early part of the month I observed several bullfinches about the hedges, an occur rence which I have seldom remarked, except in the extreme cold weather of winter. January 3. The starlings, which in the beginning of November were much more numerous than they usually are in this neighbourhood, continue apparently undiminished in numbers. January 8. Fieldfares are very numerous. January 10. Notwithstanding the long continuance of easterly gales and frost, the wildfowl which have come in are hitherto very few. Wild-geese have been exceedingly scarce. One wild-swan, (Anas Cygnus ferus, of Linnæus,) has been shot. The frost has been so hard, that the rivers are frozen. The frost broke up on the 10th. January 15. A great quantity of what is denominated in this neighbourhood ground-ice, is now Aoating down both the Avon and Stour. This ice is formed at the bottom of the water, and is known by the roots and leaves of water-plants, which it carries along with it. Many persons have been much perplexed to account for the formation of this ice. January 17. The weather is now so warm that spiders come out of their hiding-places, and stand upon their webs; and the house-flies have in some degree recovered from their torpidity. January 19. I this day saw advertised in one of the London papers, that a single dealer in wild-fowl had just received for sale, 10,000 Bernacle geese. The 4,000 mallards, 204 cranes, 204 bitterns, 400 herons, 200 pheasants, 500 partridges, 400 woodcocks, and 100 curlews, which are stated to have been served up at Archbishop Nevill's famous inthronization feast, in the year 1466, were, I think, scarcely more remarkable. January 25. Snow-drops and primroses are in flower, under the sunny walls of warm and sheltered gardens; and the flower-buds of the mezereon are nearly ready to burst. January 27. The only salmon which has been caught during the present month, was taken on this day. It weighed twenty-four pounds. Hampshire. METEOROLOGICAL REPORT. Observations on the State of the Weather, from the 24th of January, 1311, to the 24th of February, 1811, inclusive, Four Miles N.N.W. St. Paul's. THE quantity of rain fallen since the last Report of it is equal to 57 inches in depth. - This has been a mild month for the season of the year; the thermometer has been but five times below the freezing point, of these indeed it was on the 29th and 30th of January as low as 20°. The average height of the mercury for the whole month is 38°. which is two degrees higher than it was for the same month last year, and 5o higher than it was in the month of February 1809, Vegetation in the fields and gardens has made some progress, and many of the fruit-trees are in full bud, a circumstance not very favourable to our future expectations, as much severe weather may be expected to cut off these early products. The average height of the barometer is 29.27, which will readily account for the number of wet days in the month. On the 31st of January we had a very deep fall of snow, which was succeeded by a rapid thaw, so that in the course of twenty four or thirty hours scarcely a vestige was left, except where it was drifted. On the 13th of February there was another fall of snow, but of no great consequence. The wind has been chiefly in the west. There have been but seven brilliant days, eleven on which there have been rain; the remainder have been cloudy. Highgate. MONTHLY MAGAZINE. No. 211.] APRIL 1, 1811. [3 of VOL. 31. As long as those who write are ambitious of making Converts, and of giving their Opinions a Maximum of Influence and Celebrity, the most extensively circulated Mifcellany will repay with the greatek Effect the Curiofity of those who read either for Amusement or Intruction.-JOHNSON. ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. SIR, WITHE ITHOUT referring to the pretensions which have appeared in your periodical publication of Dr. Carey and others, to the merit of saving shipwrecked seamen on a lee-shore, I shall beg, through the same channel, to state, that those who consider how much power and glory this kingdom owes to its ma. ritime commerce, will readily acknowledge, that the person who facilitates the means, by lessening apprehension, in providing against the dangers attending it, is not only deserving the thanks, but remuneration, of the country. The proportion of vessels lost on the coast is, to those that founder at sea, or perish on reefs, at a distance from the land, as nineteen to twenty; and of these, from the disposition of a large extent of the coast of these islands, many are lost so near the shore, that a boat cannot be used for their assistance, for want of a sufficient depth of water to float it, the beach being covered only as the waves roll in; and the sailors, if they commit themselves from their vessel, either are drowned in struggling against the regur gitation, or killed by the violence with which they are dashed against the beach, Under these circumstances, which have hitherto precluded the possibility of rendering them any assistance from the shore, how many ships have perished, year after year, with their whole crews! I congratulate the country, therefore, that the means have at length been pro duced that completely meet and overcome the complicated difficulties and distresses of such situations. I was present lately, when a large foreign galiot was driven by a violent storm on the beach at Yarmouth; the weather was severely cold, and the sailors on board so totally benumbed, as to be incapable of using the smallest exertion for their deliverance; repeated endeavours to launch a boat from the shore to their assistance were tried, but in vain; when, on every effort proving fruitless, Captain Manby projected a shot (with barted MONTHLY MAG, No, 211. hooks to it, attached to a rope) from a mortar, directly over the vessel; on the line being drawn in, by the persons on the shore, the shot had taken secure hold, and fixed on some part of the hull, the whole of the rigging having been carried away the day previous to the vessel being stranded. By this means a boat was soon hauled to the vessel from the shore, and the helpless sailors brought in safety to the land, when every other effort to save them proved ineffec tual. Every various form in which an accident could be supposed likely to present itself, seemed to be provided against; and I was strongly impressed with the unequivocal sufficiency of this admirable invention. Few of the objects which we desire are attained at once, and by a single cause, the same wants offer themselves under various features of difficulty, and require to be met with different means. The life-boat invented by Mr. Greathead is of effect in those shipwrecks that happen at a distance from the land; Captain Manby's invention is adapted to those that happen under cliffs, or so near the shore that no boat can be brought into use; where the beach gra dually declines (as I have already observed), it is covered with water only as the waves roll in; and in the resorbency, supposing that there is a sufficient depth of water to float the boat, and force it out towards the sea for a moment, it is again driven back by the next wave, to the fury of which the action of the oars does not offer a sufficient resistance; and these obstacles, in a violent storin, are of themselves enough to render all efforts to get the life-boat off to the distressed vessel ineffectual, even if it be not upset in the attempt; an accident, which is almost certain to happen, from the extreme difficulty of keeping the boat with the head to the waves, through want of sufficient power on the action of the oars, or depth of water to use them. Under these arduous circumstances it appears to me, that the person who should invent a means of launching the 2 C life. life-boat, and getting her off in safety, deserves no less praise than the inventor of the life.boat himself. This has been done by Captain Manby, by laying out two anchors, with a stout rope between them, at a distance from the shore beyond the surf; when, by a barbed shot, (as before described,) being projected over the stout rope, a power is acquired to haul the boat over the shallows, with the head to the wind and waves; and the danger of upsetting, by turning its side to them, entirely guarded against till it reaches water deep enough to admit the action of the oars; and then, and not till then, the life-boat begins to act with effect. I remember, that when Mr. Greathead's invention of the life-boat was given to the public, and a motion made in the House of Commons, that a sum should be granted him in remuneration, it was opposed by some of the house, on the ground that there had yet been no actual rescue of the crew of a ship by it, which could not have been saved but by such a means. But the motion was carried against this objection; indeed there was no occasion for any such proof. Its use in event of the accident was as plainly to be apprehended, as we know that the most fa miliar effect must succeed the cause: but, even if this opinion had been al lowed to stand good in Mr. Greathead's case, it is obviated in the instance of Captain Manhy's invention; he having already, with his apparatus, effected communications with vessels, when it could not be gained by any other means, and had actually saved by it ninety of his fellow-creatures. The simplicity of the invention, (whatever may be the light in which it may cause it to be regarded by some,) is indeed its highest merit, and greatest recommendation. Those inventions in mechanics, which have been of greatest service to mankind, have been, like most important moral truths, simple and demonstrable to the plainest understanding, It is the distinguishing feature of such things, Th' invention all admir'd, and each, how he To be the inventor miss'd; so easy it seem'd, Once found, which yet unfound, most would have thought impossible. Milton's Paradise Lost. Inventions, for the most part, have been the effect of chance, rather than of depth of research; the result of a happy impulse, or met with in the pursuit of some other object. Many of the most important discoveries in chemistry were made in the vain attempt to gain the secret of transmutation of metals; and yet society has, by almost universal consent, honoured and recompensed the authors, as if the inventions had been effected through a catenation of circumstances, regularly following deep and deliberate research. It is perhaps a secret motive of piety that induces us to caress the chosen and favoured instrument of so much benefit to mankind. But the rewards and honours, which are the inventor's due, are often intercepted by envy, always eager to depreciate the usefulness, or deny the merit of ori ginality, to his production; or his claim is not allowed by the majority of the judges, in these cases, whose perceptions, for want of the medium of a pure taste, find usefulness and elegance in nothing but what is complicated or gaudy; and despise those qualities which are in reality the essence of things. All these remarks either are immediately illus trated or connected by the following anecdote: Columbus, after his discovery of America, was persecuted by the envy of the Spanish courtiers, for the honours which were heaped on him by the sove reign: and once, at table, when all decorum was banished in the heat and ingenuousness of wine, they murmured loudly at the caresses he received, for having, (as they said) with mere animal resolution, pushed his voyage a few leagues beyond what any one had yet chanced to have done. Columbus heard them with great patience; and, taking an egg from the dish, proposed that they should exercise their ingenuity by making it stand on end. went all round, but no one succeeded. Give it me, gentlemen (said Columbus); who then took it, and breaking it in at one of the ends, it stood at once. They all cried out involuntarily, Why I could have done that! Yes, if the thought had struck you, (replied Columbus); and if the thought had struck you, you might have discovered America. Superior qualifi cations and desert in society, have always been attended by envy and malignity; and they have been often compared to the sun, that, by its attractive quality, draws up vapours, which, though they It obscure it for a while, are, to those who can discourse of causes and effects, at Once a conviction of its splendor and utility. And Captain Manby, too, if he wanted any additional evidence of the merit of his invention, might bring for ward the indifference with which it was treated by a distinguished body, and the clamours that have been raised against it by the invidious. Some have opposed his right to the merit of originality, in favour of a man who made an experiment many years since at Woolwich, which bore some resemblance to his, and which the man relinquished, without any intention of renewing his endeavours. The interest with which the conviction of the importance of this apparatus impressed ine, induced me to enquire minutely into the truth of this counter-claim; and, as I suspected, I found it impossible to be applied in a storm, and without the slightest shadow of usefulness. Others have said, (deceived, I imagine, by the simplicity of the design, which leads them to think, that it must have occurred hefore, and which makes the quotation from the poet so applicable,) that they remember to have read or heard of it years ago, I doubt this assertion altogether; but, for mere argument's sake, let us suppose it were invented a hundred years back. Who has ever heard of its application? It will not at all detract from Captain Manby's merit or claim on the public. The reviver of a good custom that has fallen into disuse, has always been allowed the next honors to the institutor. I have neither leisure nor room for such references, but those who have, and may choose to make them, will find, that the custoin has taken its name from the reviver, rather than the inventor, and, as far as the tacit consent of society extends, without injustice. When this is the case, surely when one man has relinquished a plan in embryo, or laid it aside, because in his hands it proved abortive, if another take it up after him, and, from the imperfect hints and irregular outlines afforded by the suggestor, by a happier impulse and livelier conception, produces a perfect piece, he deserves the second place at least; and, as it was said by a great man of Virgil as a poet in comparison of Homer, certainly the second, and rather the first, than the third: and,, though a division of the honor should be contended for, it seems to me, that he has an exclusive title to that honor and, the rewards that are due. I am led to a greater length than I at first intended, and must beg the patience of the reader: the matter is not susceptible of much ornament, nor is this paper written under relations very favorable to composition; but I trust to the importance of the subject to gain me attention. An official employment for some time past has fixed Captain Manhy's residence at Yarmouth in Norfolk, where, from witnessing nomerous scenes of distress by shipwreck every winter, he determined, if possi ble, to lessen those melancholy events; and, by perseverance and repeated expe riments, he produced a system which has had the decided approbation of every one whose opinion and judgment can be sup posed of weight. In the violent storm that happened in February 1807, I saw two vessels (having about thirty men on board them,) driven on shore at Winterton. The fishermen of this village are celebrated for their daring and indefatigable exertions to rescue lives from shipwreck; but, in this instance, the vessels were driven so near the shore, that it was covered with water sufficiently deep to float a boat only as the waves rolled in, and the moment they were resorbed, the boat was left dry, and dashed to pieces by the violence with which it was precipitated against the beach. After many bold and ineffectual attempts, even at the hazard of their own lives, they were forced to endure the affliction of being idle spectators of the catastrophe: and, with the horror of their situation aggravated by the sight of the shore and safety so near them, the sailors dropped benumbed from the rigging, one after the other, till they had all perished. I shall never forget that night. The despair of the crews! the corresponding agony of the beholders! but no language can do justice to such a scene; and, like the historical painter, I must drop the veil, and leave to the imagination the distress that it is impossible to describe. These fishermen have since been present at repeated trials of the apparatus, and have proved its effectiveness, by having saved a crew with it. "Cuilibet in arte sua credendum est." They have declared that if they had possessed it when these vessels (with many others,) were wrecked, they might have saved, without difficulty, their crews; which, as it was, all perished close to the shore. Let any one now take into consideration the disposition of a large extent of coast of these islands, and the immense amount of ship. ping employed in our trade, to which the number of accidents must necessarily be |