628 Literature and Science.-Weights and Measures.

ter, under similar circumstances, will weigh 62.386 pounds avoirdupois.

In proceeding to Measures of Capacity, which, for convenience, your Committee have postponed to those of Weight, they find themselves embarrassed, as the Commissioners have been, not only by various Measures designated by the same name, but by a discrepance in the multiples and sub-multiples of the same Measure. They are on the whole, however, induced to believe, that the gallon of England was originally identical for all uses; and that the variations have arisen in some cases from accident, and in others from fraud.

The definition of a Winchester bushel, in the Act of King William for laying a duty on malt, seems to have been made for the purpose of facilitating the construction of cylindrical measures by a near coincidence, without minute fractions. From this definition, the dry gallon would consist of 268.835 cubic inches.

The gallon Measure in the Exchequer contains 270.4 cubic inches; and derived from the pint, quart, &c. the gallon will stand as follows:

From the quart...................

.270.4 .......276.9

.279.3

By an Act of Parliament made for revenue purposes the beer gall..282

By an Act, 42 Geo. III. the Win

chester gallon is estimated at....2724 The Wine Gallon is supposed to have continued gradually shrinking in dimensions, till its progress was arrested by a fiscal definition at 231 cubic inches.

This last Measure differs so materially from all the rest, that it must either be retained as oue quite distinct, and applicable to its peculiar uses, or, as seems most expedient, it must be abolished. But, amidst the variations and uncertainty of the remainder, your Committee agree with the Commissioners, in recommending that they may be all brought back to an equality, and at the same time made to bear a simple relation to the standard of weight by taking the pint for a basis, which contain 20 ounces of distilled water averdupois, at the temperature of 62°, as nearly as it is possible to ascer tain by experiment, on a vessel of that construction and workmanship.

If then the pint be considered as equal in bulk to 20 ounces of distilled water, at the temperature of 62°, the cubic inch weighing 252.546 grains in air, at the mean height of the barometer, the imperial gallon will contain 277.276 cubic inches weighing exactly ten pounds.

If the proposition now submitted should be sanctioned by the House, your Com

[XCI.

mittee recommend that leave be given to bring in a Bill for declaring these standards of Length, of Capacity, and of Weight, to be the imperial standards for Great Britain and Ireland, and for its colonies and dependencies; and they recommend that several copies of the standards be made with the utmost possible accuracy for the use of the Exchequer, for the three capitals, for the principal foreign possessions, for the Government of France, in return for the communication of their standards; and especially for the United States of America, where your Committee have reason to believe that they will be adopted, and thus tend, in no small degree, to facilitate the commercial intercourse, and by so doing, to consolidate a lasting friendship between the two great Nations of the world most assimilated by their language, their laws, religion, customs, and manners.

Your Committee cannot close their Report, without adverting to the extraordinary knowledge and ingenuity, and to the indefatigable industry displayed by Captain Kater, by whom all the experiments have been gratuitously conducted, for ascertaining the various standards, and for determining the length of the Pendulum by a method peculiarly his own, and by which he has arrived at a degree of accuracy and precision, that, but a few years since, was declared to be utterly unattainable.

This gentleman, in compliance with his Majesty's directions, given in pursuance of an Address of this House, has also observed the variations of the Pendulum on the principal stations of the Trigonometrical Survey; and from these observations deductions have been made of great importance with respect to the general figure of the earth, its density and internal construction. So that your Committee are decidedly of opinion, that it will be highly proper to extend similar observations over a still larger surface, so as to connect the measurements and astronomical observations made by the different nations of Europe, as much as possible, into one whole.

Your Committee having directed their attention to the best and most practicable method of bringing the imperial Measures into general use, beg leave further to recommend a Legislative enactment, by which it shall be declared, that all bargains and sales, where nothing appears to the contrary, shall be deemed and taken to be made in conformity with these Measures of Length, Superficies, Capacity, and Weight; but that for a time to be limited, it shall be competent for all persons to deal by any other measures, established either by local custom, or founded on special agreement, that they may select; provided always, that the ratio or propor

FRENCH ASIATIC SOCIETY.

A number of learned men have united to form at Paris an Asiatic Society, the object of which is to encourage in France the study of the principal languages of Asia. It is their intention to procure oriental MSS. to circulate them either by means of printing or lithography, to have extracts or translations made of them, and to join in the publication of grammars aud dictionaries. This new Institution will correspond with other societies, which devote themselves to the same ob

40°.1.00113 ject, and with learned men who apply to the study of the oriental languages.-25 francs per annum is to be the subscription many learned men are enrolled.

630

Literary Intelligence.-Select Poetry.

tlemen of Ealing School. The following Prologue (written by a former member of the School) was recited by Mr. Newman, and met with that general applause, to which the efforts of the speaker and composer were so justly entitled:

PROLOGUS AD ANDRIAM.

His ego qui toties scenis tremebundus, amici,
Vestris elatus laudibus usque fui,
Accedo Prologus rursus, rursusque licebit
Talibus inceptis quærere tale decus.
"Sunt quos curriculo," splendentis imagine Galli
Ornato, nomen mittere ad astra juvat;
Hic Hellespontum gaudet tranare, Leandri
Emulus, et proprio carmine vivit honos.
Alter, et ille choris princeps, "homo factus ad
unguem,"

Almaicis, præstat mobilitate pedum;
Falso prætextu modò surripit alter honores,
Sic plures sperans vendere posse bolos.
"Haud equidem," credo," tali me dignor honore,"
Nec socios forsàn præmia tanta manent;
Sed nos instigant hodié, laus chara parentum,
Plausus amicorum voce manuque frequens ;
Nec minùs accendit juvenilia pectora, risus
Famineus, ludens pulchra per ora levis,
Personas, lepidi, si jam cognoscere vultis,
Andria quas profert, Fabula plena salis,
Ecce senex vigilans, nummi frugalis, et ecce
Insidiis servus callidus auctor, adest;

Incautus magno juvenis perussus amore

r

Sub dubioque vigens auspice, fidus amor;
Ancilla at Spectans, nimium ne crede colori,"
Namque hic ingreditur fæmina veste modò.
Denique, cur alias referam quas Fabula promit!»
Sermone aut longo tempora vestra moror?
Nunc Proceres docti, solitum præbete favorem,
Ridete, O Veneres! ridet ut ipsa Venus;
Et si quid meritum plausu fuerit, "feriemus
Vertice sublimi sidera;"...Scena patet.

The Epilogue, the subject of which was the elopement of the fair Mysis, was an ingenious production.

Cambridge, June 22. The Annual Prizes of fifteen guineas each, given by the Representatives in Parliament of this University, for the best dissertations in Latin prose, were yesterday adjudged as follows: Senior Bachelors: "De Origine et Progressu Idolatriæ" (Dialogus), Thomas Thorp, Fellow of Trinity College, and Edward Boteler, of Sidney College.→→ Middle Bachelors: "Oratio in Laudem Musicæ," Edward Harvey Maltby, of Pembroke Hall, and Arthur Barron, of Trinity College.

SELECT POETRY.

LINES

Suggested by the Sailing of Capt. PARRY on his second Expedition to the Arctic Regions.

GENIUS of the Frozen Zone,

Seated on thy crystal throne,
Lay aside thy frown severe ;-
In thy mildest form appear!
Scatter wide the gloomy cloud,
Wont the Sun-beams to enshroud,
As o'er the Iceberg's lofty head
It hangs with omen dark and dread.
Let thy gentlest breezes blow,
To dissolve the drifted snow,
And from its icy fetters free
The surface of the Northern Sea.
Then bid it swell the flowing tide,
To waft you bark o'er waves untried,
Save by that bold adventurous crew,
Who still exploring regions new,
Urg'd on by scientific zeal,
From every danger a fresh impulse feel.
So might Pagan Poets sing.
Christian Bards to Heaven's high King,
Thus attune their suppliant lay.

Oh! Thou whom winds and waves obey,
Lord of all things, hear our prayer!
Thou delightest most to spare.
To thy promise ever true,
Guide the vessel safely through
The perils of the Arctic deep,
And under thy protection keep
The brave and well-selected band,
Who distant from their native land,
With courage arm'd against all fear,
And manly patience persevere.

[ 632 ]

HISTORICAL CHRONICLE.

PROCEEDINGS IN PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, June 14. Lord King presented a petition from a Reverend Divine, complaining, that he being a Rector in the diocese of Peterborough, found it necessary to present a Curate to his Diocesan who had fulfilled all the requisite ordinations. That the Bishop of Peterborough tendered him a list of 87 questions, to which he required answers. That upon these being furnished, the Bishop did not think them satisfactory, and refused his licence. The Curate then applied to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who after some consideration declined to interfere. After a few observations his Lordship moved that the petition be read. The Bishop of Peterborough said, the mode of examination was not uncommon. What he had done on this occasion had been misrepresented; so far from fixing any new, or private, or arbitrary standard, the questions were full of refer ences to the Liturgy and the 39 articles. If great care were not taken, the Church of England would fall into that anomalous state which was exhibited by another church in a part of Switzerland, the clergy of which subscribed to a Calvinistic test, and preached Socinian doctrines. He would then leave it to their Lordships to determine in what way they ought to dispose of this petition. The Archbishop of Canterbury accounted for his delay in not answering earlier the letter of the petitioner, which propounded certain questions to him as to whether the Bishop was justified in the conduct which he had pursued. The right reverend prelate referred the petitioner to the 48th canon of the church.

Earl Grey and the Marquis of Lansdown spoke in support of the petition, which, after some further observations from Lord Calthorp, was rejected.

In the House of Commons the same day, Mr. Curwen moved for leave to bring in a Bill to repeal the Tax upon Horses employed in Husbandry, and after a long discussion, the Hon. Member carried his motion by a majority of 28. The numbers were, for the repeal, 141-against it, 113. The Bill was read a first time, and had a second reading the following night.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, June 18. On the order of the day being moved by Mr. Curwen, for committing the Bill for the repeal of the Agricultural Horse-tax, the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated to the House, that having ascertained the sense of the country to be against the Tax,

his Majesty's Government, however inconvenient it might be in the present state of our Finances to relinquish a Tax producing near half a million annually, had determined not to resist what they had ascertained to be the public opinion. Mr. Birch, Mr. Baring, and Mr. Peel, strongly condemned the conduct of Ministers, in abandoning, at this critical moment, a tax so productive, and thereby endangering public credit, without giving any effectual relief to the class by whom the tax was paid, although the repeal might be viewed as a partial relief extended to one class of the community at the expence of another. The Marquis of Londonderry, in answer to a question put to him by Mr. Birch, said, his Majesty's Government had no intention of proposing any tax in lieu of that repealed; and the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, the deficiency occasioned by the repeal of this tax must be made good for the present year out of the Consolidated Fund.

The Report on the Grant to the Duke of Clarence having been brought up and read, Mr. Curwen moved, that it be read a third time that day three months. Upon a division the Amendment was negatived by a majority of 144 to 18. Mr. Hume then stated, he should take the sense of the House on making the Grant 3,500l. instead of 6,000l. This was, however, negatived; there being on a division for the original Motion, 167-Against it 30. A third division took place, for the original Grant, 131-Against it, 81.

BURNING WOMEN IN INDIA.

June 20. Mr. F. Buxton called the attention of the House to the horrid practice which existed in India of burning females. Not only had the disciples of Mahomet abolished this practice, but the French, Dutch, and Danes had accomplished the same object in their East Indian settlements. Many of the native Princes, amongst whom were the Rajah of Travancore, and the Peishwa, the latter of whom was a Hindoo and a Brahmin, had also put an end to this revolting custom. But in the limits of our jurisdiction it continued to increase. In the Presidency of Fort William alone, within the last four years, 2366 females had perished upon the funeral piles of their deceased husbands. was fully aware of the delicacy and difficulty of interfering with the superstitious notions of the Hindoos; but surely some steps should be taken to mark our detestation of the abominable practice, and to enforce

He