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now holds that situation for the seventh time, and who is also senior alderman, on his first election declined complying with that custom, in which he was seconded by his brother-magistrates, and for some years it was discontinued, until the honourable member alluded to thought proper to renew it.

The "fulsome apology** in one of the papers, mentioned by B. S. in a note, appears to me only a disavowal, on the part of the author of the paragraph, of any intention to cast the least reflection on the magistrates, and a wish to call the public attention to the state of the law on the subject, an explanation called-for from the frequent observations of the ignorant or ill-disposed. The observation respecting the slander cast on the inhabitants of the town is excessively futile; no one is accountable for the action of another independent of him, and the transactions in question can only reflect on those who participated in them. "And, without meaning any thing personal towards the honourable member himself, who is, I trust, totally ignorant of the circumstances of extra cruelty, (for no pains will, I am sure, be spared to keep him so,)—is the conduct of a Member of Parliament to escape deserved censure any more than that of any other member of the community? Should he even be returned at the ensuing election without a pledge to discontinue his annual gift of a Bull for the purpose of being baited, it will reflect only on the majority of burgesses who return him."

While on the subject, you will not, I trust, deem a few further observations impertinent. With regard to Bull-baiting, there appears to exist amongst the best-informed circles greater apathy and ignorance than in this humane and enlightened age could have been imagined; numbers supposing it to be merely a trial of courage and dexterity between the respective animals, and others arguing that it tends to support and increase the courage and hardihood of our yeomanry, so conspicuously exhibited in our fleets and armies during the late wars. In answer to the first supposition I beg to refer to the occurrences before alluded to, and must add, it is a very moderate specimen of the brutalizing scenes frequently exhibited on such occasions. I have several times seen the poor animals dragged

* As it will afford no bad specimen of B. S.'s candour and veracity, I will transcribe what he terms a fulsome apology. "In reference to the contents of the above letter, (a letter in vindication of the Magistrates, stating the endeavours they had made to suppress the custom,) we are desired to say, that it was by no means the intention of the writer of the paragraph in question to cast the least reflection upon the respectable body alluded to, (the Magistrates,) with whose praise-worthy exertions in the cause of humanity he is perfectly acquainted, and has been sorry to find his observations so misinterpreted. His sole wish was, by detailing some of the enormities practised on such occasions, to call the attention of the public to the present state of the law on the subject, to induce all feeling and enlightened persons who may from inattention have countenanced or supported the practice, to render their assistance in redeeming the nation and age from so disgraceful a stigma." (Vide Hull Advertiser of Ist Nov. la t.) How does this apply particularly to the present Mayor?

+ I feel that no apology is here necessary to you, because of the observation subjoined to the "paragraph" in your publication; you will not esteem a charge of ignorance on the subject of Bull-baiting as criminal or derogatory.

past my door with the remnants of their tongues, lips, and cheeks hanging in fragments, and undergoing all the tortures which an unfeeling rabble, encouraged by impunity, could devise. That such exhibitions tend to support and increase cruelty no one can deny; but to suppose them favourable to courage is absurd. The greatest part of our soldiers and sailors rarely, perhaps never, saw a Búll baited in their lives; and the few amongst them who have attended and been partial to such scenes, will invariably be found the most brutal, and in every respect the vilest members of their respective communities. Such at least they are known to be in civil life.

Were but half the evils resulting from this "barbarous remnant of a barbarous age," sufficiently known, I feel strongly convinced that instead of being promoted, protected, and encouraged by the law and legislators of the land, it would speedily be suppressed in the few remaining places where the good sense of the inhabitants has not already annihilated such an inhuman practice. Its brutalizing effects upon its admirers, from the babits of torture in which they indulge themselves, are almost beyond comprehension. Even cock-fighting and boxing, barbarous as they are, are humanity and mercy in comparison. However unwilling the patriotism of some gentlemen may render them to interfere with the amusements of the populace, they cannot object to curb their cruelty so obviously exercised. Upon those who, knowing its baneful consequences, still encourage the custom, indelible disgrace must be reflected. fact encouraging the worst vices of the worst of our species, and it may fairly be inferred, for the worst of purposes. And those who, from fear of injuring their popularity, refrain using their utmost endeavours to procure its abolition, can at best only expect our pity, or rather contempt, for their pusillanimity. Every one who regards the national character, or the moral improvement of his fellow-men, is imperiously called upon to aid in extirpating so horrid a practice; for, until that is accomplished, neither the one nor the other will attain that degree of eminence which otherwise might be expected. AN INHABITANT OF BEVERLEY.

January 13, 1818.

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THINKING that accounts of foreign manufacturing towns or districts, which have any pretensions to rival ours in Yorkshire, would be interesting to your readers, I have selected the Sheffield of Russia" as the subject of my present communication. That most intelligent modern traveller, Dr. Clarke, says,— "For some time before we reached Tula, it exhibited a considerable appearance. A very handsome church, with white columns, appeared above the town, which occupies an extensive vale, and is filled with spires and domes, The entrance, both on its

northern and southern side, is through triumphal arches, made of wood, painted to imitate marble. In former times, Tula was a dangerous place to visit; the inhabitants frequently pillaging travellers in the public streets. Now, it is the great mart of hardware for the whole empire, containing a manufactory of arms, all sorts of cutlery, and other works in polished steel. As soon as you arrive at the inn, a number of persons crowd the room, each bearing a sack, filled with trinkets, inkstands, incense-pots, silk-reels, scissors, and corkscrews. Their work is showy, but very bad, and will not bear the smallest comparison with our English wares: it is a sufficient proof of the superiority of English workmanship, that they stamp all their goods with the names of English towns and English artificers, imitating even the marks of the Sheffield manufacturers, and adopting all their models. The wares hawked about are made during holidays and hours of leisure; these the workmen are permitted to sell to strangers, as their own perquisites. They are able to fabricate any thing, but they finish nothing. Some of the workmen were purposely sent to England by the late Empress, who neglected no measure conducive to the improvement of the manufactory. We asked those who had worked in our country, why their wares were so badly finished? They replied, they could finish them better, but were not able to bestow the necessary time; for as every article is the produce of the labour of a single person, the high price such additional labour must require would never be obtained. The best work we saw was in a manufactory of barometers, thermometers, and mathematical instruments; but here the artificer was a German, who had been instructed under English masters in Petersburg. The late Empress brought up almost all the work which her English workmen completed. To encourage them, she ordered spectacles by the gross, and afterwards distributed them in presents. In her palaces thermometers were placed in every window and as they were perpetually broken by the servants, her workmen, in providing a fresh supply, had sufficient demands to keep them constantly at work.

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"A letter to one of the principal persons in the Imperial Manufactory enabled us to see the whole of it. They exhibited to us a splendid collection of guns, swords, pistols, &c. designed as presents, from the inhabitants of Tula, to each member of the royal family, upon Paul's accession to the throne. These offerings were, however, refused by the Emperor, upon some pretext of dissatisfaction experienced by him from the people of the place.” Tula, in its present condition, is not likely to prove of any advantage to the empire; because the inhabitants are unable to raise a sufficient quantity of water for the works. The machinery is ill-constructed, and it is worse preserved. Every thing seemed to be out of order. Workmen, with long beards, stood staring at each other, not knowing what to do; while their intendants and directors were either intoxicated or asleep, Notwithstanding all this, they boasted of being able to send out of the manufactory, in the common course of business, without any particular order from government, thirteen hundred muskets in a week. But then the name musket is almost all that connects the sham appearance with the real wea

pon. It is wonderful how any troops can use them; besides being clumsy and heavy, they miss fire five times out of six, and are also liable to burst whenever they are discharged. The streets of Tula are paved; its shops and public places cause an appearance of activity and of industry, in despite of the neglect shown to the public works. The number of merchants, including shopkeepers, is estimated at four thousand and of this number some are very rich. Its commerce, independently of the hardware manufactory, consists in European merchandize, in Greek wines, and in other productions of Turkey. The Imperial manufactory of arms employed six thousand workmen and the number of inhabitants was stated at thirty thousand."

I would observe that this statement of the Doctor's requires explanation. If 6000 workmen be employed in the Imperial Manufactory of arms, and we suppose each workman to be the head of a family (computing five to the family, the average number), there would be 30,000 inhabitants without merchants or hardware manufacturers. If we suppose two from each family to be employed in the manufacture of arms, then such workmen with their families would amount to 15,000, to which add the merchants with their families, which (according to the same computation) cannot be less than 20,000, and we still have 35,000 men without hardware manufacturers. So that if the Doctor does not greatly err in the pulation, there can be very few hardware manufacturers in Tula, and it should be called the Birmingham, not the Sheffield of Russia. "The town stands in a pleasing valley, on the borders of the river Upa. There are few woods in the neighbourhood, yet they produce sufficient fuel for the consumption of the place. Many new buildings afforded proof of an inereasing population."

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The Doctor does not mention coal as being in use, but recent arrivals from Russia announce the intelligence that a party of Scotchmen have been employed by the Emperor's command in searching for that valuable material, and have found it in the environs of the place. We must not, then, conclude from the present comparative insignificance of Tula, that it is not to be feared as a rival. The division of labour will gradually be effected, and consequent improvement will be made. While therefore we duly estimate our present superiority, let us not rashly contemn the rising efforts of Tula. To the advantage of coal-mines, that of steam-engines may be added to supply the deficiency of water-machinery; and it must not be omitted that "the iron-mines in the neighbourhood are very considerable; they occupy an extent of more than ten miles, in a country somewhat hilly, covered by thick woods. The whole of the soil around them is impregnated with iron, but the richest ore is found towards the west. It lies scarcely concealed by a superincumbent surface, not more than fourteen inches thick, consisting of sand mixed with mould, and sometimes of sand alone. From these mines the celebrated forges of Demidof, distant thirty-eight miles from Tula, derive their ore." It may be added that considerably to the south of the Sheffield of Russia, near the spot where the Danaetz receives the Lugan, are

the Lugan iron-works, and cannon-foundry, belonging to the crown; they are under the direction of Sir Charles Gascoigne, who was formerly director of the cannon-works in Scotland. From Lugan the Emperor's artillery passes by water to the Black Sea. Sir Charles found very excellent coal at Lugan: in consequence of this discovery, and the convenience of situation for water-carriage, the foundry was there established.

ON NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL MAGNETS.

༠༠༠༠༠༠༠༦༥༠༠༠་༣༠༠༠)

To the Editors of the Northern Star.

GENTLEMEN :--I noticed in the Sixth number of your valuable Miscellany an account of a very powerful natural magnet or loadstone, and likewise of an equally surprising artificial magnet. From the assertion of your correspondent H., that Mr. Sanderson's magnet is armed with copper, and that from this armature it supports the amazing weight of 160lb., I was in hopes of seeing some further remarks upon this subject from some of your literary friends in your last number.

I believe the following account of Mr. Sanderson's magnet will be found to be more correct than that of your correspondent H. If you think it, and the remarks upon the method of mounting natural magnets, worthy of insertion in your next number, they are at your service.

Mr. Sanderson received his magnet from Siberia, armed with iron, and the armature bound to the loadstone with iron hoops; mounted in this manner, it would not support one ounce weight, After keeping it in this state for three years without increasing in power, he was induced to remove the iron hoops, and bind on the arms with a cord; in which state the magnet supported 281b. Wishing to give it a further trial, he removed the cord, and bound it round with copper to keep on the arms, (he did not arm it with copper as your correspondent H. states ;) thus mounted it supported 16016., and Mr. Sanderson asserts, that by perseverance he has no doubt but that he shall be able to make it support 200lb.

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A natural magnet, of irregular shape and unequal texture, has frequently two or more north poles, and generally as many south poles, on different parts of its surface; but when the texture and shape of the loadstone are uniform, it seldom has more than one north and one south pole, which are situated at opposite parts of its surface; the point equidistant from the two poles, in a direct line between them, is the equator of the magnet, where it has no power of attraction; but this power increases in a certain ratio, as the distance increases from that point towards the poles. Now, allowG

VOL. II.

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