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of its continuing ambulatory, or following the royal person, as before.

9. Annual circuits, and assizes, were also established, so that jail-deliveries took place more frequently than hitherto; and justice, by being administered in the several counties, might be said to be brought home to the door of every suitor in the kingdom, instead of their being harassed, as formerly, by attending the royal progresses.

10. Among other existing abuses, the forfeiture of lands for felony was restricted in the same manner as at present.

11. The illegal, or unnecessary erection of bridges; and

12. The creation of exclusive fisheries were at the same time expressly interdicted.

To conclude, the life and liberty of every man in the kingdom were thus secured; and as to his property, it was not only safe, unless when forfeited according to the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land; but even the foreign merchant was protected in entering and leaving the kingdom, while an uniformity of weights and measures gave security to both Englishmen and strangers, in their respective transactions with each other.

EDWARD I. (1272.) Notwithstanding the Great Charter was so solemnly and so frequently confirmed, yet it had not as yet been recognised as the common law. This, however, was at length achieved, during the twenty-fifth year of the reign of this powerful prince, by the statute called Confirmatio Cartarum. He also established, confirmed, and settled, the charter of the forests, and abolished all taxes levied without the consent of the national council.

CHARLES I. (1625.)

During the third year of the reign of this monarch (1628), a parliamentary declaration of the liberties of the people, under the name of the PETITION OF RIGHT, was assented to by him, and thus converted into a positive statute. It recites the Great Charter, the act of King Edward I. called Statutum de talliago non concedendo; those of the 25th and 28th of Edward III. respecting forced loans, outlawry, exile, and illegal dispossession, and is partly declaratory, partly enactive.

By it,

1. All charges, or impositions, called

• Statutes at Large, vol. 11. p. 1096.

benevolences, are put down, as well as ́ unwarrantable oaths, illegal imprisonment, and the appointment of commissioners for the assessment of forced loans against reason and the franchises of the subject.

2. Confinement without cause certified by due process of law is deemed illegal.

3. The quartering of soldiers or mariners on the inhabitants in different parts of the kingdom, against their consent, is forbidden.

4. The punishment of soldiers, and other offenders, by martial law, on account of civil offences.

This act was penned by Lord Chief Justice Coke.

CHARLES II. (1649.)

THE HABEAS CORPUS ACT, passed in the 31st of this reign (1680), is another great constitutional bulwark; but as to its principles, it is merely declaratory of the Great Charter, the 5th Ed. III., 25th Ed. III., 28th Ed. III. ; the Petition of Right, 3d Car. I. and the 16th Car. I. c. 10. On the other hand, it became strictly remedial, and therefore eminently beneficial, as the judges had unjustly annexed a condition of finding securities, and recurred to a variety of legal subtleties to prevent the enlargement of the prisoner.

By this famous statute, it is ordained, that the Lord Chancellor, or any of the twelve judges in vacation, or the judges in their respective courts in term time, shall, on motion made, issue a Habeas Corpus, in all cases, those of treason, petit treason, and felony excepted, on sight of the warrant of commitment, or oath that the same is refused; under penalty of forfeiting the sum of 5001. to the party aggrieved.

2. That the writ shall be returned, and the prisoner brought up within a limited time, according to distance, not exceeding in any case twenty days.

3. That officers or other persons neglecting to make due returns, or not delivering a copy of the warrant of commitment within six hours after demand; or shifting the custody of a prisoner from one to another, without sufficient reason or authority, shall, for the first offence forfeit 1001. and for the second be disabled to hold his office.

4. That no person once delivered by habeas corpus shall be recommitted for the same offence, on penalty of 5001.

5. That every one committed for treason or felony, shall, if he requires it the first week of the next term, or

the

the first day of the next session of oyer and terminer, be indicted in that term or session, or else admitted to bail, unless the King's witnesses cannot be produced at that time; and if acquitted, or if not indicted and tried in the second term, or session; he shall be discharged from his imprisonment for such imputed offence. And

6. That no inhabitant of England (unless a convict, or one having committed some capital offence in the place to which he is sent) shall be sent prisoner to Scotland, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, or any place beyond the seas, within or without the King's dominions, under the penalty to the party committing, his advisers, aiders, and assistants, of a sum not less than 5001. to be recovered with treble costs; the disabling from any office of trust, or profit; the incurring the penalty of praemunire, and the being rendered incapable of the King's pardon.

During the reign of Charles II. the abolition of slavish tenures, and the prerogatives of purveyance, and preemption also took place.

WILLIAM AND MARY. (1689.) The King and Queen (then Prince and Princess of Orange), previously to the offer made them of the crown (Feb. 13, 1689,) by the Convention Parliament, assented to the DECLARATION OF RIGHTS. In the preamble to this act, the misgovernment of James II. is recited and exemplified; the abdication of the government proclaimed, and the throne declared vacant, in consequence of his having" by the assistance of divers evil counsellors, judges, and ministers" endeavoured to subvert the Protestant religion, and the laws and liberties of this kingdom, by the exercise of a power of dispensing with and suspending the laws, &c.

It is accordingly declared,

1. That the pretended power of suspending laws or execution of laws, without consent of parliament is illegal ; 2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, as assumed, and exercised of late;

3. That the commission for erecting the late Court of Commissioners for ecclesiastical causes or any courts of the like nature;

4. That the levying of money, for, or to the use of the Crown by pretence of prerogative, are illegal.

5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the King; and all commit

ments, and prosecutions for the same, are illegal.

6. That the raising, and keeping a standing army within the kingdom, in time of peace, is against law.

7. That Protestant subjects may bear arms for their defence, suitable to their condition, and as allowed by law.

3. That freedom of speech, and debates or proceedings in parliament, ought not to be impeached or questioned, in any court or place out of parliament.

9. That excessive bail will not be required, or excessive fines imposed, or cruel and unusual punishment inflicted; all of which are declared unlawful.

10. It is enacted, that jurors should be duly impannelled; and jurors “which pass on men in trials of high treason" are to be freeholders.

12. All grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons, before conviction, are declared to be illegal and void. And

13. It is provided, that for redress of all grievances, and for the amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, parliaments ought to be held frequently.

The Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do claim, demand, and insist upon all and singular the premises, as the ancient and indubitable right of the people of this kingdom.”

As the Declaration of Rights took place in the first year of the reign of King William, so the ACT OF SETTLEMENT was passed in the 12th and 13th. By this,

1. Every Catholic prince is expressly excluded from the succession, which is fixed in the Protestant line, and in the person of the Princess Sophia, Duchess Dowager of Hanover, grand-daughter to James I. the next protestant heir, after the respective descendants of the King, and the Princess Anne, daughter of James II.

2. The heir is to be a member of the Church of England; and if a foreigner, shall not engage, without consent of Parliament, in any war, for the defence of the dominions he may possess out of the kingdom; or leave England, Scotland or Ireland, without the same.

3. That when this act of limitation shall take place, no foreigner, although a naturalized inhabitant, unless of English extraction, shall be admitted into the Council, or become a member of either House of Parliament. 4. That

4. That whoever should hold any pension or lucrative employment of the King, shall be incapable of sitting in the House of Commons. And

5. That a pardon, under the Great Seal, shall be of no effect, against an impeachment by the House.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

THE many opinions that have been advanced, and are now circulating prejudicial to vaccination, have induced me to trouble you with the following remarks deduced from a minute investigation into its nature, and the security afforded by it against the attack of that deplorable disease the small pox.

It has been asserted that many persons have been infected with small pox after having undergone vaccination. To such I would observe, that even small pox, notwithstanding inoculation, is frequently known to have been communicated to the same person twice, and sometimes oftener-therefore in their peculiar habits, where a pre-disposition to contagious disease is so decidedly manifested, it is not to be expected that vaccinations should completely annihilate it, although in all the cases that have occurred after supposed vaccination, the small pox has been proved to have assumed a much more mild and favourable aspect.

When the circumstance is considered of eleven thousand eight hundred patients having been vaccinated within a short period, in the Small Pox Hospital, in London, and afterwards out of this number that two thousand five hundred were not only inoculated for the small pox, but exposed to its infection under the most malignant appearances, and thereby proved to be secure against it; surely it ought to carry conviction into the minds of the community at large, and prove an invincible barrier to the propagation of ideas so inimical to the true interests of mankind. In the few instances that have been brought forward of the failure of vaccination, some attention ought to be paid as to the general appearance of the disease at the time, and to endeavour to retrace where the virus was obtained; as I have seen many instances where vaccination has been performed without any regard to the time of taking the matter, or regular process of the pustule, more particularly by those who have never been instructed, and to whom it is too often

intrusted. Again, it is urged by the anti-vaccinists, that the cow pox affords only a temporary security against the small pox; in reply to such chimerical objections, I would observe, that when the constitution has been fairly submitted to the influence of vaccine inoculation, there have been hardly two cases made out of thirty thousand which have been alleged in support of them; and when we view this circumstance alone, it ought to operate as a most decided proof of its efficacy, more especially when we find the same casual irregularity in variolous or small-pox inoculation; and viewing vaccination as only mitigating the severity of small pox infection (and which is allowed by its most decided opponents) we ought to adopt the plan with alacrity, and make it a duty we owe to future generations; then how much more incumbent upon us is it, if any probable measures could be effected to exterminate so fatal and loathsome a malady, to receive them as the greatest blessings conferred on mankind, and eagerly to pursue them?

If parents could be prevailed on to make vaccination the necessary concomitant of baptism, no doubt would be entertained of finally eradicating small pox. The recent reports of the success of vaccination, not only from all parts of Europe, but the world, as well as its general introduction into the public service, ought to confirm its efficacy, and prove to wavering minds its pre-eminent advantages over small pox inoculation.

Having thus far stated my humble ideas on this subject, it may perhaps be deemed necessary I should explain what is generally considered the most certain mode of vaccination.

First, The greatest precaution should be observed that no matter is taken after the ninth day from the vesicle.

Secondly, That the matter should be in a perfectly fluid transparent state.

fended as much as possible from external Thirdly, That the pustule should be deirritation or injury.

Lastly, That the skin should be in a complete healthy state.

Upon a review of these circumstances, founded on facts, and supported by the favourable opinions of the most eminent practitioners of the age, there can remain no doubt that the period will soon arrive when the importance of vaccination will be duly appreciated-and its first impression on

the

the public mind bear a similitude to Dr. Harvey's celebrated discovery of the circulation of the blood, which suffered under the same illiberal and dogmatical ideas, till at length the sublimity of the divine operations of nature dispelled the dark cloud of ignorance, and overwhelmed the torrent of calumnious and superstitious asseverations. That contrary opinions on popular questions will ever be maintained admits of little doubt, but all must concur in acknowledging the indefatigable zeal displayed by Dr. Jenner in the public cause― and that

Exegit monumentum ære perennius.

HORACE.

The subject would indeed afford a much greater latitude, but a fear of trespassing on the columns of your valuable Miscellany, prevents me.

Haverhill, Suffolk, G. R. ROWE.
Dec. 24, 1819.

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

SIR,

AM a merchant in a town in EngAnd where the profession as to respectability is too much degraded to gratify the vanity of any man, nevertheless as a merchant, I have no hesitation in saying, that the Bank restriction is a fraud upon the public, and an injury to every honest and industrious man in the community; but more especially to all those who possess real capital, and are in any way concerned in the foreign export trade.

It is amusing to hear some men who advocate the paper delusion, say, that they do not understand the principle of exchange. The fact is, it does not suit their argument to understand it. I will endeavour to explain it so as to remove even the pretence of difficulty, for the operation of exchange is as simple as it is useful. The par of exchange then, is, a given quantity of pure gold paid by one merchant to another for a piece of paper, called a bill of exchange, which it is understood between the parties will enable the holder to demand and receive the same quantity of pure gold at a time and place thereon specified. For instance, 44 golden eagles from the Mint of the United States of America (commonly expressed by 440 dollars, at 4s. 6d.) is the par of exchange for 991. British sterling. Then if the eagles were melted, and the alloy taken out, so also of 99 English sovereigns, and the pure gold of each were put into opposite scales, MONTHLY MAG. No. 341.

they would weigh exactly alike. This is called the par of exchange; if more is given for a bill than the gold it will procure at maturity, it is called buying by one party, and selling by the other at above par. If less is given it is called under par. The standard coin both of England and the United States contain the same proportion of alloy, namely, one twelfth part; consequently, if the above proportions were weighed fresh from the mint of each, they would be exactly equal.

All dealings between foreign nations where an exchange is established, is regulated by a reference to either gold or silver, as a standard measure of value. If two nations have the same metal for standard, then the reckoning is as before described, weight for weight being the par. When one nation pays in gold standard, and the other reckons in silver standard, there is even then a given quantity of each agreed upon by merchants as a par of exchange. More frequent deviations from the par of exchange will arise, but not to an extent materially to interrupt, or cause any violent shock to commercial dealings. But if one nation reckons in paper standard, and the other in gold, the paper being itself of no intrinsic or real value, it unavoidably follows that the value of the paper as to how much gold it will purchase, must be estimated before any transaction in purchase and sale of bills of exchange can take place. A piece of paper may one day be worth

that is, can purchase, an ounce of gold, and the week after only purchase half an ounce, or not a quarter of an ounce; and vice versa, according as more is forced into, or withdrawn from, circulation. Rapid or frequent variations of this kind are unfavourable to commercial dealings, and it is scarcely possible they should be other than frequent, if they are not rapid. A rise in exchange, for instance, prevents or disinclines a foreigner from purchasing a bill to remit, and he delays in hopes of the price falling. For this reason it is obvious that the STANDARD MEASURE OF VA

LUE should be that which admits of the least possible variation. Gold is, therefore, the best article for a standard, and paper the worst.

I will now endeavour to shew how exchange operates, or is capable of operating in real mercantile transactions. Gold is, in our currency (pounds, shillings, and pence) 31. 17s. 104d. per oz. for the sake of brevity and perspicuity, 3 X.

I will

I will call it 41. per ounce. Then, when gold is at 41. per ounce paper standard, that is, when 41. Bank paper will purchase an ounce of gold, it is evident that a bill of exchange for 1001. is equivalent to 25 ounces of gold; and I call this at par. But if gold is at 51. per ounce in England, while the par of exchange is only 41., the man who purchases a bill of exchange for 1001. on this reckoning or mutual understanding, with so much of his country's gold coin as contains as much pure gold as 20 ounces of our standard contains, does actually give the real par of exchange, weight for weight of gold, but it would be called buying at 20 per cent. below par. Then, if I sell goods to a resident in America for 1001. when Bank paper is equivalent to 41. per ounce, my customer, on receiving the invoice, may sell the package on arrival, say for 10 per cent. profit, that is, for his gold coin equal to 27 ounces of our standard. In six months after, my credit is expired, he has to remit, and he finds that the price of gold has considerably altered, and is then at 51. per ounce, and that instead of 25 ounces of his coin to purchase a bill for remittance, he can buy one for 20 ounces. In this case he pays readily, and under such circumstances, debts due from foreigners are easily collected. Paper has thus depreciated, that is to say, it is more abundant, it is cheaper. The bill is, as above expressed and explained, purchased in reality at the par of exchange, that is, as much gold is given for it as it will reproduce; but in common parlance in reference to the standard par of exchange being 41. per ounce, it would be called buying at 20 per cent. below par. The debt that would require 44 eagles and a fraction (equal to 444 dollars and upwards) to pay 1001. on arrival of the goods, requires, when the credit is expired, one fifth less, or 35 eagles (equal to 355 dollars, or thereabout); and the difference is an addition to the profit of my customer. Now let us reverse the

case.

If I charge 1001. for goods when gold is at 51. per ounce in Bank paper, and my customer sells the goods per invoice, on arrival, he reckons the exchange at 20 per cent. below par, as above explained. The buyer of the goods will oblige him so to reckon, of course, that a sum of money in his gold coin weigh ing 20 ounces, would purchase a bill; and he sells the goods for 10 per cent.

below par-equal to 224 ounces of standard gold: but in six months after, when he has to remit, behold, Bank paper is quoted by the last advices at 41. per ounce of gold. The merchant who has shipped flour to Liverpool will not sell his bill of 1001. for less than 25 ounces of American gold coin; so that instead of discharging his debt with 20 oz. of his gold coin, equivalent to our 801. sterling, he has to advance 25 ounces. Instead of gaining 10 per cent. he actually loses 10 per cent. He demurs, protracts, and, if his debts are heavy, his importations large, he is unable to bear the loss-he rails at the trade; he deprecates all dealings_that subject him to such unforeseen and disastrous effects, and perhaps he breaks. Suppose at this time, that the merchants of Boston or New York owed to the merchants of Birmingham 40,0001. for goods charged when gold was at 51. per ounce Bank paper, equal to 8000 ounces of gold coin; but owing to some arrangement or contrivance between the Bank and Government, when the credit for these goods had expired, gold was in England only 41. per ounce, the consequence would be, that the goods themselves would have fallen in value, fresh importations would be charged at lower prices, and instead of 8000 ounces, they would have to furnish 10,000 ounces, being an advance of 2000 ounces of gold coin, 80001. our money, besides their goods falling in value. Can any man in his senses suppose that bankruptcies, compositions, procrastinations, in short, losses one way or another, would not be the consequence, and fall upon the British creditor? I, for one, would not, and do not hesitate to say, Confound the system that subjects me to this uncertainty and vacillation: my industry is obstructed, and my security endangered, by the wretched system of a paper standard measure of value.

The Bank restriction has given rise to another fallacy, namely, that trade may be driven to any extent by means of a paper currency; of course, "that paper cannot be issued to excess ;" so it has been expressed, that "it stimulates industry;" and it has been asserted, that "no man can overtrade himself," that "plenty of capital will insure consumption," that "money is not riches, which consist only of goods or articles of use to mankind," and that "no man can have too many of such things, a complaint to this effect

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