THE

HE first four days were mild, with the wind at.S. W.; on the 5th it shifted to the N.E. and blew fresh from this quarter, attended with a gradual diminution of temperature till the 8th; throughout this day it blew a gale from the east, and ex. tremely cold, accompanied with a very sharp frost; and so great was the evaporation caused by the wind, that the ground, by the evening, had become quite bleach ed. In the evening of the 9th, much fine snow fell. The frost lasted till the 16th; but, after the 11th, the wind being chiefly westerly, a slight thaw generally occurred during the day. On the 17th the temperature increased rapidly, the thermometer, which at eight A.M.stood at 39°,by 11P.M. had risen to 5010; and, except, on the 21st, did not descend below this point till the 23d. During this interval of six days, the weather was cloudy, and much rain fell: and, owing to the very moist state of the atmosphere, the temperature felt rather oppressive. On the 23d, between noon, and 5 P.M. the thermometer fell from 51° to 384; and, in the course of the night, to

6

Cumulo-stratus. Nimbus.

0

A very large faint halo appeared sound the moon in the evening of the 27th; and on the following day it snowed from 2 to 43 P.M. A few thick fogs occurred now and then; but, generally speaking, they have been but trifling this month. The following were fine bright days, namely, the 1st, 3d, 8th, 13th, 14th, 16th, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 29th, 31st.

The barometer for the most part was very steady, but the maximum is rather low, and the range very small, to what they usually are at this season of the year; the latter has been decreasing ever since August.

The subjoined Table contains the mean temperatures of the last six months, from July to December, together with the mean of the whole six months, and the annual mean for the last five years respectively.

St. John's square, Jan. 20th, 1820.

THE of s as we in HE long continuance of frost, which so many seasons past, las equally impeded the business of the field and the markets. The chief operations in the country have been confined to the barn, to carting, and to attendance upon live stock. The general demand of fodder for cattle, and the necessity of finding em ployment for the labourers, rather than any encouragement from the markets, have kept the flails and threshing-machines going. It is a subject of universal observation, how different the appearance of the wheat crop at present, and at the same period of last season. In the backward districts, the wheat has scarcely made its appearance above-ground, and all the latesown is extremely backward. The late warm seasons wonderfully increased the breed of all the feathered tribe, and of vermin of all descriptions; and the wheats, whilst uncovered by snow, were greatly infested by vast flocks of crows: whilst the stack-yards have been equally annoyed by uncommon multitudes of starving small birds. One of the great advantages of frost, a coat of snow, both as a defence and manure to the young wheats, has been most ample; and, if any distant conclusions are allowable, they must be in favour of a crop, more especially upon Land in a clean and husbandlike state. The turnip crop, however, will receive injury in the same proportion. more especially

from, the from the alternations between frost and

experienced throughout the spring for the ample stocks of fodder and hay. Cattle and sheep abroad are kept at considerable expense, and under no expectation of thrift. Prices stationary, including wool. Poor's-rates on the advance in the northern counties. A sentiment of dissatisfaction universal in the country, at a late ministerial assertion of the flourishing state of our agriculture. The agricultural associations are still pursuing their object, of inducing the Legislature to raise the price of corn to the level of taxation; an object unattain able, for the simple reason, that taxation has long exceeded the national ability. The organization of these societies may nevertheless prove ultimately beneficial to the country, since, with the gradual in crease of light and intelligence, their views may receive a more patriotic di rection.

Smithfield: Beef 4s. to 5s. 6d.-Mutton 4s. 6d. to 5s. 6d.-Veal 4s. 6d. to 6s. 9d.-Pork 58. to 7s.-Fat 3s. id.

Corn Exchange: Wheat 50s. to 75s.Barley 26s. to 40s.-Oats 18s. to 30s.t The Quartern-loaf in London, 11d. and 9d. -Hay (new) 21. 10s. to 31. 3s.-Old 18s. to 36s.-Clover do. (new) 41. to 51. 5s.Old 51. to 71.-Straw 11. 7s. to 11. 16s. Coals in the Pool, 41s. to 45s. per chaldron.

Middlesex; Jan. 21.

RUSSIA.

F the growing greatness of this Power, and of the danger to be apprehended from it, most people are aware; but few are really well inform ed of the magnitude of the impending danger: but of this we can speak on the most authentic information. It is generally conceived that Alexander has a force of 500,000 men in pay; the real truth is, that his forces of all arms are full 800,000 men, and these not the passive sober men they were formerly, when they stood like stocks, to be thrown down by the enemy's cannon, but active soldiers, trained and disciplined by French, Swiss, or German officers, the most celebrated in their different lines, whom Alexander has obliged, by giving them an asylum, or tempted by pecuniary advantages, to assist him. The enormous expense of maintaining this army has induced the ministers to pro

pose a reduction, but this advice the Emperor has always rejected, saying, that in case any thing serious should happen from France, he conceives himself to be the only Power who can resist. If these are really his sentiments, they afford some excuse for keeping so enor mous an army on foot in time of peace; but most people will rather conclude that he means to take advantage, and make farther inroads on his neighbours. The steady encroaching system of the Russian cabinet has been apparent, and has been acted on, for more than a cen tury; and, during the reigns of Cathe rine and Alexander, Russia has acquired Courland, and almost the whole of Poland, to the west; Moldavia, to the south; the whole of Finland, to the north; and, by the late peace with Persia, the whole navigation of the Caspian Sea, and, a large tract of land adjoining. In short, with such a force, and the resources

which

which the various parts of his dominions must afford, what is it he cannot effect? And to all this, he has Prussia under his control, and is allied by marriage with the Netherlands and Wurtemberg. It is the general opinion that he means to attack Turkey; but this is not necessary. The passage of the Dardanelles by his fleet, and the possession of any one part in the Levant, will make him complete master of the Mediterranean. From the Treaty of Westphalia to the present time, it has been the great aim of statesmen to keep up a balance of power; but the aggrandisement of Russia and the acquisitions she has been permitted to make unmolested, have destroyed that system. Letter from the Baltic.

GREAT BRITAIN.

An irreparable national loss has been sustained in the sudden decease of the DUKE of KENT, a prince, of whose virtues, public and private, it is scarcely possible to speak in terms of adequate praise. The period of the month at which this lamented event took place, deprives us of the opportunity of exhibiting the features of his character, and the actions of his life, with the display they call for; but, in our next Number, we purpose to devote a considerable space to the subject.

UNITED STATES.

The following was the Speech of the President, on opening the Congress. Fellow-Citizens of the Senate, and of

the House of Representatives, The public buildings being advanced to a stage to afford accommodation for Congress, I offer you my sincere congratulations on the re commencement of your duties in the Capitol.

Having informed Congress, on the 27th of February last, that a Treaty of Amity, Settlement, and Limits, had been concluded in this city, between the United States and Spain, and ratified by the competent authorities of the former, full confidence

was entertained that it would have been ratified by his Catholic Majesty with equal promptitude, and a like earnest desire to terminate, on the conditions of that treaty, the differences which had so long existed between the two countries. Every view which the subject admitted of, was thought to have satisfied this conclusion. Great losses had been sustained by citizens of the United States from Spanish cruisers, more than twenty years before, which had not been redressed. These losses had been acknowledged and provided for by a treaty, as far back as the year 1802, which, although concluded at Madrid, was then ratified by the government of Spain, MONTHLY MAG. No. 336.

not

nor since, until the last year, when it was suspended by the late treaty ; a more satisfactory provision to both parties, as was presumed, having been made for them. Other differences had arisen in this long interval, affecting their highest interests, which were likewise provided for by this last treaty. The treaty itself was formed on great consideration, and a thorough knowledge of all circumstances, the subject-matter of every article having been for years under discussion, and repeated references having been made by the minister of Spain to his government, on the points respecting which the greatest difference of opinion prevailed. It was formed by a minister duly authorised for the purpose, who had represented his government in this long protracted negociation several in the United States, and been employed years, and who, it is not denied, kept strictly within the letter of his instructions. The faith of Spain was therefore pledg ed, under circumstances of peculiar force and solemnity, for its ratification. On the part of the United States, this treaty was tion and concession. The indemnity for evidently acceded to in a spirit of conciliainjuries and losses so long before sustained, and now again acknowledged and provided for, was to be paid by them, without becoming a charge on the treasury of Spain. For territory ceded by Spain, other territory of great value, to which our claim was believed to be well founded, was ceded by the United States, and in a quarter more interesting to her. This cession was nevertheless received as the means of indemnifying our citizens in a considerable sum, the presumed amount of their

losses.

Other considerations, of great weight, urged the cession of this territory by Spain. It was surrounded by the ter ritories of the United States on every side, except on that of the ocean. Spain had lost her authority over it, and, falling into the hands of adventurers connected with ceasing annoyance and injury to our union, the savages, it was made the means of unin many of its most essential interests. By this cession, then, Spain ceded a territory, in reality of no value to her, and obtained concessions of the highest importance, by the settlement of long-standing differences with the United States, affecting their respective claims and limits, and likewise relieved herself from the obligahad failed to fulfil, and also from the retion of a treaty relating to it, which she Sponsibility incident to the most flagrant and pernicious abuses of her rights, where she could not support her authority.

It being known that the treaty was form. ed under these circumstances, not a doubt was entertained that his Catholic

Majesty would have ratified it without delay. I regret to have to state, that this reasonable expectation has been disappointed;

M

that