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or a rebellion should enfue, it might become impoffible to obtain payment for commodities fold into that country on credit.

7. The banks in Ireland are relieved from the neceffity of fupplying that country with bullion and coin. And when the channels are ftopped up, it is natural that the bafon which they fupplied fhould foon become dry.

8. For the linen manufactures in the north of Ireland there is a great and indifpenfable demand for guineas, which muft, at any lofs, be supplied The artifans and fmall manufacturers will take nothing but gold. And this demand, obliging the Irish to give in England a higher price for gold, because they cannot manage their internal trade without it, contributes effentially to keep the rate of the exchange fo much against them.

9 The gold thus imported is funk in hoards, for fear of want in invation; is exported in the rents of the landholders, who naturally endeavour rather to bring their rents away in money than to pay for English money fo dear in Irish bills of exchange; is fecretly bought up by the money-dealers, to be fola, either for exportation or as money newly imported. There has arifen a capricious averfion for paper money in that country, for no other reafon, but because it is fo exclufively plentiful, that contributes to render cafh continually

10.

dearer.

11. Cah is fearce even in England. And amidst fuch a fcarcity in two countries, conneed as Britain and Ireland, the cash mutt fly to the moft opulent of the two.

Such are evidently the caufes of the very great difadvantage which Ireland now labours under, in the exchange of money with England. Whatever tends to diminish its moveable wealth muft efpecially diminish its money as the most moveable of all. And the reftriction upon the banks adds to thofe general evils certain others, which affect money alone. The mifchief of all this is perhaps only to be exceeded by that which might be occafioned by taking away the reftriction. It tends indeed to encourage purchafers in Ireland, if there were a general belief of the fecurity of fuch purchates. It is of the greatest importance, that a remedy fhould be found. And the Irith members will furely not fufler Parliament too haftily to difmifs the fubject from its attention.'

The price of money, and bullion is high in London, becaufe thofe from whom the public had its former fupplies of thefe commodities now deal in paper alone. New dollars, not being without alloy, are at 5s. 78. an ounce. Silver, in bars, is at 5s. 8d. per ounce.Large quantities of bullion have been lately received in Spain from South America; and a confiderable part of it has been already remitted to France. Part will, no doubt, find its way into this country. A great deal comes from Portugal by every arrival of the packet at

Falmouth.

Nineteen boxes of fpecie were lately received at Glasgow from Charlestown in South Carolina, by the fhip Sarah. The exchange between Glafgow and America is now 5 per cent against the Americans.

It is expected, that, in consequence of the late revolution in St. Domingo, cotton goods, to the value of above a million fterling more than it has yet within the fame time received, will be wanted annually from this country for the supply of that island. The Anglo-Americans expect to be the carriers of this trade. Goods to the value of two millions fterling, partly, no doubt, for the Spanish market, will alfo, we are informed from America, be wanted for Louisiana, in confequence of its late change of masters.

The East India Company, finding it of immediate advantage to fuffer the natives of Ben- gal to difpofe of their cottons, mullins, and filks to ftrangers, whofe ready money may go to the Covernment for the taxes, has, of late, encouraged the merchants of the Ameri can States to carry on a brisk trade to Bengal. It is gainful both to the Company and to the Americans; but, it creates a rivalship to the American trade with Great Britain and Ireland. A merchant writes, that, were it not for this trade to India, all Scotland would be infufficient to furnish the manufactured cotton wanted in America.

At Truro, are well-known and regular copper markets. The quantity of copper there expofed to fale on the 9th of February, was 1271 tons.

It is estimated, that the carriage of water-creffes alone, from Stockbridge and other places in Hampshire to London, cofts above 2cool fterling a year.

Bank of England Notes have been long, upon occafion, forged in France, among the other refources of its Government. Of late, there has been alfo à fabrication of Guineas, purporting to be of the coinage of the years 1797 and 1798. They confift of gold to the value of about ten or eleven fhillings, with an alloy of bafe metal to make up the full weight. They are already known as counterfeit on the Continent; and the merchants of Hamburgh are fully on their guard against taking them in payment.

The French lately feized, on the frontiers of Holland, English goods to the value of So,ocol. which had been brought from Embden. Thus our manufactures ftill find their way into the countries with which we are at war; though at risk, and with frequent Joffes.

The produce of the permanent taxes of Great Britain from the 5th of January, 1803, to the 5th of January, 1804, has been

The war taxes of 1803

£26,321,874 17s. 11d.

1,874,672 2 I'

£28,195,547 CO 1

The following quantities of fish have been brought into the port of London, in the years

1802, and 1803.

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Number of fresh herrings in 1803 -4,677,500; or 623 tons.

Fresh Sprats, 10,309 bushels,—Fresh Mackarel 866,995 in number.

Fish fold in Edinburgb.

1803.

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Skaits, &c.

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Turbots and Soles

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Excess of 1803

164 12 I 9

The total bounty paid, last year, on fish, under the act 41st George III. Chap 99. is 11,260l. 95.

The formation of a company has been propofed, that, with a joint-stock of about one million fterling, fhall purchase the fhares of Canals, which the original undertakers may be willing to fell under prime-colt, and which shall be, otherwise in danger of being, by them left unfinished.

There are in London, three markets for hides; in Wood's Clofe, St. James's Clerkenwell; in the Borough; and at Whitechapel. By the difcovery of the fell-mongers, it has been lately made known, that a number of dealers in hides and leather, are united in a club to maintain in their own favour, an entire monopoly of the articles of hides, at all thofe three markets. Actions at law, have been brought by the other dealers, to defeat this monopoly.

Trade and induftry begin to revive, in the island of Tobago.

It is calculated that the trade in Newspapers alone, annually amounts to the value of one million fterling for the whole British Empire. The total yearly value of the trade in New papers, Reviews, Magazines, Pamphlets, Engravings, other books of all forts, paper, and all kinds of Stationer's goods, is, for the whole Empire, not lefs than four millions fterling.. The leaves and faw-duft of the trees of which the bark is employed in tanning, have been fately applied to the fame ufe, by M. Klein, with the greatest fuccefs.

The East India Company will, on Wednesday, the 4th of April, put up to fale, 1965 chefts of Indigo. On Wednesday the 25th of April, they will fell a quantity of damaged Bengal and Coaft piece goods, Calico- wrappers, Wax-cloth, and Packing-cotton.

Between the 20th of January, and the 21st of February, there has been a rife of between and in prices of thofe foreign afhes of all forts which we ufe in making glass and soap, A coniequent rife takes place in the price of these articles. As the feafon advances, the new burnings of the green vegetables, from which these ashes are fupplied, will, of course, increase the importation, and diminish the price.

The highest market price of English wheat, in London, is now 55s. per quarter. Cottons, with fome variations, as to particular forts and qualities, have, in general, remained for the last month, at nearly the prices of the 20th of January. The diminutions of price which have taken place, have been occafioned by the late arrivals from America and the West Indies. The cottons of Pernambucca and Maranham, are, now, fold indifferently, at 2s per lib.

The prices of flax, hemp, and other Ruffia goods rife, and muft continue to rife, till the progress of the feafon fhall enable us to receive new importations from the Baltic.

The prices of almost all fugars have rifen very confiderably in the course of last month.
The average price of brown Mufcovado fugar is now 47s 6d.

Bank stock is at 15 per cent -East India stock, at 167.-The 3 per cents confol. at 55.
The French 5 per cents, are at 57. The late large importations of bullions, through
Spain and Portugal, from South America, have enhanced their price.

MONTHLY

1

MONTHLY AGRICULTURAL REPORT.

THE frofts and thaws during the prefent month, though they have checked the too forward vegetation, in fome degree, have not been fufficiently fevere or continued for benefiting the more forward and luxuriant young wheats. They have in fome measure prevented the operation of the plough in the ftiff old lays, and in fome cafes in the ftubbles. The prices of most forts of grain are on the decline; the average price of Wheat throughout England and Wales is 50s. 2d.; Rye, 32s. 7d.; Barley, 225 11d.; Oats, 19s. Icd.; Beans, 33s. 10d.; Peafe, 36s. 1od.

The prices of fat and lean ftock do not yet, come down fo much as might be expected. In Smithfield market, Beef yields from 5s. 4d. to 5s. 8d. Mutton, 4s. 3d. to 5s. 6d. Veal, 5. to 6s. and Pork, from 3s. 48. to 4s In Newgate and Leadenhall markets, Beef yields from 38. 8d. to 4s. 8d. Mutton, 35. 8d. to 4s. 8d. Veal, 4s. 4d. to 6s. and Pork, 3s. 4d. to 4s.

The price of Hay is much the fame as in our laft. In St. James's market, Hay yields from 41. to 51 10s. Straw, 11. 8s. to 11. 175. At Whitechapel, Hay averages from 41. to 51. 10s. Clover, 51. 10s. to 61. ros. Straw, 11. 8s. to 11. 168.

The weather has favoured the carrying out of dung in moist fituations, and much hedging was done in the early part of the month, which the wetnefs of the laft month prevented.Potatoes are unusually high, so as to operate much against the planting for this year.

METEOROLOGICAL REPORT.

Obfervations on the State of the Weather, from the 24th of January to the 24th of Feb; uary, 1804, inclufive, two Miles N. W. of St. Paul's.

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The quantity of rain fallen fince the last Report, is equal to 1.816 inches in depth.

The average heat for this month is fomething less than that for the laft; excepting about fix days, the weather has, however, been very temperate for the feafon. The froft from the 5th to the 8th inftant, and again from the 13th to the 16th, did confiderable damage to the kitchen garden.

The rife and fall of the mercury in the barometer have been rapid feveral times during the month; the inftance to which we have referred above, is one of the most remarkable we ever witneffed, namely, a rife of very nearly an inch and a quarter in the space of 24 hours. The mean height of the barometer for the whole month is little fhort of 30 inches; for feveral fucceffive days, the mercury was nearly at the point marked on our instruments fettled fair.

Perfons who refide Abroad, and who wish to be fupplied with this Work every Month, as publifbed, may have it fent to them, FREE OF POSTAGE, to New York, Halifax, Quebec, and every Part of the Weft Indies, at Two Guineas per Annum, by Mr. THORNHILL, of the General Poft Office, at No. 21, Sherborne lane; to France, Hamburgh, Lifton, or any Part of the Mediterranean, at Two Guineas per Annum, by Mr. BISHOP, of the General Poft Office, at No. 22, Sherborne-lane; to the Cape of Good Hope, or any Part of the Eaft Indies, at Thirty Shillings per Annum, by Mr. Guy, at the East India Houfe; and to any Part of Ireland, at One Guinea and a Half per Annum, by Mr. SMITH, of the General Poft Office, No. 3, Sherbornelane. It may also be had of all Persons who deal in Books, at thofe Places, and also in every Part of the World.

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ΟΝ

N the eve of publishing, under very powerful aufpices, a Profpectus and Specimen for editing a Chinefe Dictionary, with a Latin and French Tranflation, to be delivered in Numbers, I pray you, Sir, to allow me to invite the Literati of Europe to come forward as fubfcribers, by communicating to them, through the means of your excellent Mifcellany, the contents of the fingular MS. Dictionary, of which I intend to propofe an edition, with leave likely to be obtained from the liberal proprietor, Mathew Raper, Efq. F.R.S. This MS. Dictionary has not its equal in perfpicuity of plan,

or in abundance of Chinese characters.

The Chinese Dictionaries, with the pronunciation alone, or with the tranflation and pronunciation, already feen by me, are the following:

That printed in China, and defcribed by

F. Mailla, as follows: " Dictionnaire Chinois, quì, à côté de chaque Caractère, a la Pronunciation Européenne, pour aider les nouvaux Miffionaires, qui arrivent à la Chine." I have poffeffed this invaluable and elegant folio volume ever fince 1791. Every character is accompanied with an Arabic figure, proceeding from I regularly to 9520; but

with the various forms of each character ar. ranged under the fame figure, the number of them might be between 10 and I thousand in all.

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The fecond, which I have often confulted in 1792, with the permiffion of the late proprietor, Thomas Fitzhugh, Efq. although in point of elegance fuperior perhaps to any MS. in Europe; yet the number of characters therein exhibited and explained does not exceed gooo.

The third, I faw the fame year, belonged to the Society De Propaganda, at Rome, a quarto volume of a moderate fize, which had the fingularity of being arranged by the order of keys, or elementary characters, and not alphabetically, as all others feen by me; but upon an attentive examination, I found that it was not more copious than that printed in my poffeffion.

The fourth is that formerly of Sir William Jones, now in the Royal Society, which for exactness and correctness has no equal; yet even reckoning all the various forms of each character, the number exhibited does not exceed 10,500, and correfponds in order and fubject to my printed one above defcribed, having, befides, the tranflation with phrafes

See Le Chou King" published by De Guignes, à Paris, 1770, 4to. pag. 393. MONTHLY Mag. No. 113.

[3, of VOL. 17.

added to it, and the definitions in Chinese and European characters, which indeed renders this volume precious beyond all eftimation.

In the fame library another is to be found, fent to the late Dr. Morton, much scantier than that of Sir William Jones, but more neatly written, and in a much better preservation. for fale, there is a very interefting one in Chinese and Portugueze, having regularly 20 characters on each page, which are exactly 530 in number; fo that the characters con tained amount to 10,600, and no more.The fingularity of this volume confifts in its being interleaved; and on thefe blanks are very fingular obfervations, in Latin or French, concerning the analyfis and true fignification is written on Chinese paper. of the most important characters. The whole

In the Chinese Collection entrusted to me

From the above enumeration it appears, that 11,000 is the greateft number of characters contained in any of the above volumes.

the eight Chinese Dictionaries in the NaIn this clafs we may fafely comprize all tional Library at Paris, if we attend to the defcription given of them in the Magazin Encyclopédique, tom. ii. 6.me ann. from p. 189 to 195; from which it is plain, that even the famous one marked No. I. formerly belonging to the Vatican, notwithstanding the great number of its pages, cannot poffibly contain beyond 11,000 characters at moft. For if it be true, that, as the account fays, p. 190"Il eft écrit avec le plus grand ordre, et toute la clarté que l'on peut défirer," we are enabled to afcertain the fcale of arrangement of the whole volume, from the extent of fome parts of which the number of characters is well known; and how very wide this fcale of arrangement is, it evidently appears-1. From the Table of the Keys, No. 3, occupying three pages. -2. From the Tables of the Cycles, No. 7, which fill four pages ;-and 3. From the Pe-kia-fim, or compofition on the Family Names, No. 9, which cannot have more than 476 characters, as we shall fee hereafter, and yet it extends to feven pages.

The Dictionary I am going to defcribe, contains, however, no less than 14,000 characters, twice over; once in the Index, arranged by keys, and again in the explanatory part difpofed alphabetically, ac cording to their founds.

Mr. Raper's Dictionary confifts of two immenfe royal folio volumes, 19 inches by 11, on English paper.

* See Monthly Mag. for Feb. 1804, p. 64. Ff The

The first volume, confifting of 240 pages, contains:

1. Two very copious and ufeful Chinese Vocabularies, with Dialogues. The Vocabulary at the beginning of the volume is tranflated in Latin; and the other, at the end of it, is tranflated in French. The former contains all words relative to all that concerns religion, fcience, or the feveral wants of human life: the whole preceded by fome concife, but exceeding ufeful grammatical rules, and a lift of 100 nouns of oppofite fignification. The latter contains many of the fubjects of the former; but what is peculiar to it, is the double pronunciation affixed to each word, according to the Mandarinic, Language and the Dialect of Canton. It contains, befides, all the various names of teas; and no less than 250 names of filks, gauzes, and other weavers' articles, which

form the commerce of Canton.

2. The fame firft volume contains above 300 names of drugs, and other articles of natural philofophy and pharmacy, alphabetically arranged according to the Latin tranflation, to which the French is alfo added.

3. It contains, befides, the method of counting days, hours, and years, according to the Chinefe cycles, &c. and the method of writing Chinese arithmetical figures in three different ways.

4. The above Treatifes occupy all the 240 pages, with the exception of fixty-two only, which are filled with Chinese characters, in eight vertical columns for each page; each column containing, when full, as moft of them are, thirty five characters: to each of them a figure is annexed, on the left, fhewing the number of its component ftrokes; and on the right, its pronunciation.

The first page of thefe fixty-two, with nearly two columns more of the next, contains a complete lift of all the elementary characters, or keys.

On the remainder of the fecond page, down to the end of the fixty-firft, we find a difplay of all the characters, arranged each in regular progreffion of its component ftrokes, and under its refpective key, with pronunciation, &c. as defcribed above. When a key has few characters, a little fpace is left, and another key follows in the fame column. The pages being all in eight columns each, and with thirty-five characters in each full column, it is plain, that, with faying that this Index contains no less than fourteen thoufand characters, we make the great allowance of 2800 characters for blanks, while these are quite trifling in the Index.

The fixty-fecond page exhibits a catalogue, arranged as the others, of characters difficult to be traced to their keys. They are only ninety in all.

The fmall number of thefe irregular characters, Mr. Editor, far from being a proof of imperfection, is the refult of the admirable plan of this fingular Dictionary. The author, in the arrangement of the characters by their keys, has forfaken the mott philofophical distribution of the for

mer (common to all dictionaries feen by me) under only 214 elements, which with their variations of form, fcarcely amount to 240, and has adopted a more extenfive one, which greatly contributes to the facility of fi ding any character whatever.

The index to the keys contains precisely 323 elements, as the space which they occupy of a page and nearly two columns fufficiently demonftrates; if we advert to the above defcription of the immense fize and copioufnefs of each page.

It is obfervable that the author has had his authority for encreasing the number of the keys; fince the great Imperial Dictionary by Kam-hi, a copy of which is in St. John's College at Oxford, exhibits in the first volume, a lift of elementary characters being 444 in number, which Kam-hi fays to have been adopted by the author of a dictionary entitled Pien-hai*.

The author of Mr. Raper's Dictionary, not contented with the amplification of elements in the difplay of the 14,000 characters, not only has arranged them in regular progreffion according to the number of their component ftrokes in 323 feries as the keys were, but he has given two, three, or four feries in the fame key, whenever, besides its usual pofition at the left of the characters, it was fometimes fituated vertically, or at the bafe, in the middle, or at the right of them. Thus the element gin, meaning man, has two feries, one exhibiting the characters that have the key gin on the left, and the other thofe that have it vertically: the element keu, the mouth, has four feries; the first containing those characters where this element is in its ufual place at the left; the fecond, where it is vertically placed; the third, where it is in the middle; and the laft, where the fame element is at the base; and fo on for many more keys.

This admirable arrangement gives the index a peculiar degree of perfpicuity, and an incomparable facility in confulting it.

The fecond volume of Mr. Raper's Dictionary confifts of 420 pages, exhibiting again the fame 14,000 characters regu larly difpofed according to their founds and tones, which are expreffed with French Orthography, and alphabetically arranged.

Each page is divided by vertical red lines into four columns, which are all again divided by horizontal lines into ten rectangles each; so that every page exhi

We must obferve, that, from a lift of dictionaries, &c. in that voluminous one called Chim-Cu-tum, this dictionary Pien-hai is a dif tinct one from the other Hai-pien fo often mentioned by all the Miffionaries. The account of this lift of 444 elementary characters in Kam-hi's dictionary is quite wrong in Fourmont's Medit. Sin. page 124.

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