The Sun. — London, England, 1814-09-03 00:00:00

THE SUN REVIEW. XXXIII.) T ETTER to Ids Royal 1170iness the PRINCE Of WALES, ,rieAr,:,t of the Udiiretl king-4)4;4' „Great Beitain and I:T -it:mt.—IA:n(1cm, printed by RICHARD and Aathua far LOT<, Sh,ie-latie- 44 not ptil,figed." pp. 26. STANDARD FOR WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. A must able Report has, been,drawn up by the Committee appointed by the House of Commons during-the last Session, to consider the most ef fectual means for regulating the Measures and Weights tbroughont the kingdom by some inva riable standard. T-h s subject is of so much importance in a na tional point of view, that we would - say a few . wry*,on the nature of this Report, noticing at the same time the ingenious suggestions contain ed in a small work which has been put into our bonds; entitled " A Letter to his Royal High nrss the Prince of Wales."—The result of the re searches of-the CoMmittee has been so highly sa _tistactory, that when we read this perspicuous Report, we rather wondered that the Legislature had not sooner applied some remedy to the end less inconveniences of the present medley of W'eiellts and Measures, than that some effectual one has been — found when men of capacity were employed to search - for it. 'so monstrous,. in deed, are' the evils caused by the want of a proper system, that it would have been strange if the Legislature had never turned its attention to the formation of one till the last Session.—ln 1752 a Committee was appointed by the House of Com Mons to examine the subject, and establish 'a system, but without any - good of-. feet. They drew up a Report, which was incon clusive upon the whole, but which would have . produced some grand effects if it had been acted upon. Sonic how or other, those on whom the labour devolved did not apply to the task with seirit. Several years elapsed before a Bill was bronght into the House embodying the resoln= lions of this Committee ; but afterlanguiShing through the first stages, it was entirely lost -by the - dissolution of the Parliament, in which it had found birth; and was not renewed in, the suc ceeding- one. From that time till 1792 and 1795 we do not find any act in the Statute Book on the subject. In these two years Bills were passed enacting punishments on those Using false Weights and Measures, but containing no provision cal culated in any- degree to remove the existing de fects,'-Irt short, until the last SessiOn nothing Was done in this matrer—nothing judicious Was attempted. To appreciate the value 'of what has been.accomplished by this Committee, and the of-' ficacy of the system which they propose, let us first look at the proposals of the Author of the Letter to the PRINCE REGENT, which we have mentioned._ After some observations on the evils produced by the preseni state of 'Weights 'and Measures throughout the liingdont, and then noticing the labours of the French Academy of Sciences, in 'establishing the system' now adopted'in'Frithce, the Author proceeds, on the authority of Sir G. iJ!:UCKBURGH, and several other men of science, assume 'the pendulum as the best standard of measure. It had long- been ascertained, that the length of a pendulum vibrating seconds is always the same in the, same latitude. This then un questionably gives us the means of establishing an imperishable standard of measure. The Au thor;thoWever, -enumerates several difficulties in establishing this for a standard. TheSe he calls the expansion or contraction,Of the . pendulum,by change of teinperature,—the resistance Of the air,—the centre of oscillation and the force of gravitation. With due deference to the ingenious Author, we would observe, that he evinces a want of scientific acquaintance with the subject, by starting such dif ficulties. As to the first, all that is required is to ascertain the length of the pendulum vibrating se conds. in a certain latitude. This once ascer tained, it is unalterable, perfectly independent of the degree of temperature. It'seems to us, that the' Author's idea_was, that a pendulum of steel should be made of the exact length vibrating se conds, and that this should be kept as a kind of national standard to which access should be had for the purpose of reference.—This is a strange blunder. When the length of the .pendulum vi brating seconds in the latitude of-London, for in stance, is once, ascertained by a determinate Com putation, the standard is unalterable, because it is only a - pendulum of a certain length, that can vibrate seconds, no matter what the temperature is ; the .length of a rod of iron is indeed 'affected by the change of it, but the Jength of the pen dulum vibrating seconds cannot, because so soon as it is, it ceases to vibrate seconds. 'lt is very true, that a rod of steel which makes a vibration in a second at the temperature of 32 degrees, will not make one • vibration in a second at the tem perature of 80 degrees ; but still the length of a rod of steel which will make a vibration in a se -cond, if ascertained - *by a determinate computa tion, must be, the same in every temperature, — Of course, when this is once ascertained, it is perfectly invariable, being in itself the standard. To remove this fancied. obstacle, the Author proposes - , that the pendulum should be immersed it, distilled water at the boiling temperature. If such an obstacle as that stated by the Author did.. actually exist, the method by which .he proposes to overcome it is so eminently awkward, 'that, it would be enough to render it necessary to seek for some more convenient standard. . The other three objections were to be obviated in. the same waY with the first ; but t h ere i s so little information displayed in the assumption of • such absurdities as objections, that, we are coo yinced the Author does' not understand the me chanical principles with which he so strangely meddles.. What. ate we to think of ,a man who talks of the centre of oscillation, and the force of gravitation, as objections to. taking the pendu lum for the ground-work of a system to regulate weights. and measures ? Our Author then pro " poses, that the seconds pendulum should be gra duale'd into decimal parts; dud that z fundamental weight (as he plirasys it); should be obtained by ascertaining the nilinber Of cubical inches in a vessel, containing as much water " in a boiling state" as will correspond with the English pound weight of sixteen Ounces: However inaccurately this thought may be 'expressed by the Author, the value of the principle which dictates it is seen at once. On these foundations, he rests the sys-, tem which he would , recommend. The rest of the letter is occupied in suggesting, that standards shoUld be deposited with the Postmaster-General —that they shotild be made .of glass—that the regulation and eXaMination of weights and mea sures should be made a branch of the Post-Office business—and that the postage of letters should be charged according to Weight. Of these sugges tions we shall Cake little notice, because we do not think they at present deserve much. We pass with pleasure to the. Report of the Committee of the House of Commons. After a detail of what had been done by Parliament in the subject on former occasions, the Report notices, that what was wanted was some standard from which weights and measures might be reduced, and ,that-this standard should be of such a kind as to be in variable in its nature, and easily referred to. It then assumes the pendulum vibrating seconds, as ti standard for this purpose, preferable to that of graduating an arc of the meridian, _as hail.-been - .done by the French Academy. f c rorn.the experi ments of those two acute Philosophei . s, Professor PLAYFAIR of Edinburgh, and Dr. WOOLASTON, the length of the pendt,hn vibrating seconds in this latitude, is found to be 39.13047 inches, of Which 56 make the yard now in use. It was tlegirable in . dedu'eting from this foundation measures t;t: capacity and weight, to vary as little as possible from those now in general use, an ;, above all, to avoid minute fractions in the proportions which the new weights and measures might bear to those recognized by usage. It therefore was a most remarkable coincidence, that it was ascer tained thata cubic foot of distilled - water, at the temperature of 561 degrees of Farenheit, weighs exactly 1000 ounces avoirdupois. On this happy coincidence- are founded - all the admirable deduc tions of the Conimittee. Though, in theory, 'weight is taken from the measure of capacity, yet, in practice, it is more convenient to ascer tain the measure of capacity frion. weight. The capacity of a vessel can be much more easily as certained by - the weight of pure water, at a fixed temperature, witch it contains, than by the com plicated operation of gauging. This, then, is the ground-work of the improvement proposed by the Committee. A cubic toot of distilled water (o r 1.728 cubical inches), at the temperature of 5& degrees, weighs 1000 ounces avoirdupois-27.6 , 18 cubical inches of the same water, at the same temperature, will weigh exactly a pound avoir dupois. The Committee recommend- that the standard gallon should be niade such as to contain a given number of pounds avoirdupois of distilled water, at the temperature of 562 degrees of Farenheit, that 'May be expressed, by, an integral number.- • Thus, if the gallon be made to contain- 10 pounds of water, the quart will.contain 40 ounces, and the pint 20.--This gallon the Committee re commend. It. would contain 276.48 cubical inches, which is only about 3 per cent. lal-ger than the present standard gallon, by 13 and 14 Of William and Mary. _ _ . . What is called the Winchester Bushel contains 8 gallons, each of which contains 268.803 cubical inches. By the adoption of the gallon" recommended by the Committee, the standard bushel would con 'win 80 pounds avoirdupOis of pure water, at 561 degrees of Farenheit, or 2211.84 cubical inches —the quart, G 9.12 cubical inches,. or 40 ounces of water—the pint, 34.56, or 20 ounces of water, and so on. The excellence of this system consists in its simplicity, and is seen at once. If the Author of the Letter to the Prince Re gent wrote it without knowing any thing of the proceedings of the Cominittke, he deserves much credit—not so much for originality,' as for the correctness - of the principles on which his deduc tions are founded, although he does -not -seem to have been aware of their full value, because he evidently did not see the whole length to which they 'Went. From, the danger to be apprehended, owing to the probability of accidents, the Report wisely recommends that no change should be made in the Apothecaries' weight. On the whole system thus proposed, we would observe, that it has exceedingly great advantages. It is intelligible to every capacity—the standard from which all the arrangeMents originate i s un alterable as the laws of Nature , the difference between the new measures. and those now in ge neral use is trifling—but most especially there is this grand recommendation, that the value of the . old weights and measures can at once be com pared With the new, as there is no fractional part to impede the . calculation. This latter, we con ceive, is by far the greatest advantage Of th 6 sys tem proposed, because it takes away every Objec - - tion to the general adoption of it. The superiority of this system over-that adopt- - ed in France is very great. The French system introduced denominations entirely new, and mea sures which could not, without the utmost diffi culty, be compared with those which they were made to supersede, because they were totally dif ferent. But, in the system proposed by the Com mittee, nb change is made in the denominations DOW in use, and a very trifling difference in the quantities as compared with each other. The French system carries through the whole of it the 'pedantry of the stystem-mongers of that Nation, without , any of that plainness and intelligibility which Ought to the essential part of such a regu lation. The system of the Cdminittee is founded on a principle equally.scientific with the French ; in its detail it possesses that plainness which (nakes it conic home at once to the straight forward un derstanding .which characterises our Nation 'j it, conciliates every prejudice, by changing nothing in the names, while it changes little in the quan tities. We have no doubt that the Reso4utions will he embodied'in a:Bill early in the next Session of Parliament, in which case it is impossible to an ticipate any opposition to so salutary,sonecessary an enactment. LAW INTELLIGENCE COURT- - C4' INSOLVENT DEBTOI, CHATI.C;E OF'• FRAUD AND SWINDLEIC- An interesting case, already before the public, came On this morning before the Court—that of Mr. O'Hanlan, charged with having obtained, under false pretences, Miss. Hawk ins, tiic (laugh ter'of a banker, at El73oni, in the county of.Sar, rey„ for his wife, having represented himself as an agent or contractor forGovernment,a,feW months ago. This was his second examination, when he was opposed by .two Counsel, principally on the ground of a marriage settlement, or bond, passed by him to the father of the lady condiiioned for the payment, by instalments, of a sum of 20,0001, out of funds by him expected, to the father of the lady, in consideration of the marriage, the daughter being entitled to a fortune in her own right. • The prisoner was charged with having omitted to specify the person with whom he had pawned a certain ring, for a Sum of 201. since his confine ment, and two or three fresh creditors now ap peared to oppose his liberation, under. the Act of Cessio Bonorum, that most salutary statute, but be now named the pawnbroker.. Various charges of fraud were preferred against him, but the above were the principal. !Jr. SMITH and Mr. POLLOCK, as Counsel; op posed the liberation, on the gromind.of the settle ment or bond, and took- a great variety of objec tions to the fonfommity of time prisoner with - the" reouisirions of the statute ; but Mr. Serjeant•PALmr.a, the Commissioner, over ruled the objections,, and patiently heard the pri soner, who pleaded hiS own cause. He contend ed, that time ohtaining a wife under false 'pretences, even it true, hut which he denied, in his case, would not come within the terms of time Act of Nrliament, which co - nstitutell :he act of obtain ing goods, money, or merekandise, minder false pretences, to be a fraud or - swindling, on which point also the Learned Serjeant was of opinion, that by the marriage contract, &c. the prisoner had obtained as good a marital title as any com mission or contract could give to him. To the charge of havillg been instrumental in the contract of intended marriage between' his sister-in-law, another Miss Hawk.ns, to a Mr. Walters, he replied, by offering in evidence a let ter of her own brother to that gentleman on that subject ; but which letter was not allowed to be read, as not relevant to the qu - eStion of "detainer or fraud,. which alone constitutes the exception in the Act "of Parliament. The proofs and qualifications of the prisoner were ordered to be regularly entered on the Jour, nal,- and ruled to be valid in all respects by the, Commissioner ; Who added, that if no further ob jections than those already made could be offered, he was clearly of 'opinion that the prisoner was fully entitled on the facts and merits of the case. It being, howeYer, strongly presSed by the Learn ed Counsel against the, prisoner, that.by leg al in terpretatio,n of the settlement he should be de tained till February ne x t, When the .first instal ment, being a sum of 80001. would become due and payable, and; which, if not then paid, would fully establish the act of svvindlin'g. The Learned Commissioner observed, that merely in respect for, and in deference to-the opi nion of Counsel, added to sonic Slight doubt which he had himself entertained on the law of the case as to the: marriage settlement only, and which doubt he wished to be removed, he would remand the prisoner for one . fortnight only ; and regret ted, that at first he did not see the merits of the case, as he should not, inAhis instance, have al lowed so much opposition or argument on the subject. The prisoner,. a Gentleman of no common ta,- lents, was ordered to be remanded for a iortnight. Judgment postponed. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MURDER AND SUICIDE. • UNION-HALL.—Qn . Thursday, a man named Joseph Hack was brought before Mr. IitRNIE, by May and Golf, on suspicion of, having miu'de,red a woman named. Jane Ware, on Wednesday even ing, in the Kent-road. This unfortunate wretch, when be was brought up, presented a most shocking and disgusting spectacle, having, ktiter the commission of the horrid crime, attempted to put- a period ,to his own existence, by cutting his throat. The circumstances attending this dreadful oc currence, as detailed in evidence, were as fol lows :-- Mr. Richard Mister, of Bermondsey-street, stated, that he was walking in the Kent-road on Wednesday evening, about eight o'clock, when his attention was attracted by a noise he heard in n field adjoining the road : he immediately jumped across the ditch into the field, and, ; lying near the spot, he discovered an infant covered; with blood ; ,at a little distance from the spot-7- be saw a man lying on his back on the ground ; he took up the infant, and ran to the man : on his approach, the man lifted up his head, and the witness perceived his throat was cut. At this time other persons came up ; the witness gave the child to one of them, and knelt doWn and raised up the head of the wounded man, at the . same time attempting to Stop the wound in his th roa t with his hand : he succeeded so far, that the man recovered considerably, and a paper and pencil being given to him; lie wrote as follows I give you my direction,---my dear Jane Ware is my true friend,—l have a key in my pocket which I will give you." Several persons had c ome up by this time, a hackney-coach was pro cured, into which the wounded man was put, and conveyed to Guy's Hospital. Josiah Shergold, the offic'er, stated, that hav ing heard a woman had been murdered in the Kent-road, be went to the Place, and arrived at the spot . whilst the last witness was supporting the wounded man, who was the Prisoner, Joseph Hack. About fifty yards from the spot where Hack was lying, the witness disenvered Jane Ware lying quite dead ; her throat being cut so deeply that the head was nearly severed from the body. The witness afterwards returned to the spot where Hack was, ,and assisted in conveying Lim to a_hackneY-coach, and also accompanied e wt o , hire tO the - hospital. In his way thither' !read;') with a pencil on a piece of paper, "J;`un'eif•ti' bad oS yon ,think for, -L--you hurt ine , .3 .t t eet :' -lodges at No. 17; Norfolk-street, lini9-2" Wortley, the officer, and Treby , th e 1) . 1 ;' c oose" st-able, went to the spot in q uestion',, n „ii 0 01 ; quence of having heard a murder had deo' Mitted: here they'found Jane Ware ( I":„` ce d and yij 1 having procured a shutter, t he y )ody . upon it, and conveyed it to th e 1t , i 1 , 5 ( 1. Pnblie-bouse, in Harpur-street, g.en tr- ' of tP; _ Mr. John Roberts, the. Of the dressersbrogl'` Hospital, Stated, that prisoner w 139 _to the Hospital with wound in his thrn 3 ;„ t ou the witueSs Se Wed up in the usua l atan' ie d , i 'd as he s ''l b w : l l l- t f e lat t i • e " f b.c r eo o ' r a : ilp(iipt apprehended t o t' ea li rs t e i opinion Ph:cetni el:11 t t b i c e icilli ; '' ()rated by that of other protessional the prisoner was brought' before Mr. ps, r ,lice 17 , underwent an examination : from the el, A i O r was taken to llorsemonger-lane; butwict, been long there, when he suddenly OPP. This unfortunate wretch was, it 'al'P e t ,‘:tie klii ,' married min, and .leaves behind lino ' 1 ' 1 ;4 0 j fi .o ; n i e n y f n a i n a t n c c l a ti r l p d e r i e i r t t er tm pro vid ed for. with the unfortunate -b a bi yetim to his passions. She, h a d hat/ u. From letters found in his and her " 11( f es re"; o ll° it appears he was fond of her to an s conduct can only be su osed the rr a momentary madness. P NEW HACKNEY COACH. FATILS. woman,rat e‘,viiiitoi i c ir ° o Bow-STREET.—Yesterday mor n i h ig a case b t e' tier the New Hackney-coach Act w as , b rP SI) , S fore Mr. HARES, VV • and Mr..-SKETCHLEY. Mr. Hartnett , t'll`l- jj t ie ti st f it l aa o ct i ke •s id e 7. 0 Cellar,aci) hackney-coach, B st 7 t B M , il i r o o r ne a t b l that on Wednesday la s t he lirre' l at Conduit -street, and went to Char:es-stri-d i etV i i l vendish-square, for which the driver denigrivbe s ; Mr. H. asked him for a tici'ec'tar.l he had none.; Mr. said he .rool d without ova a ticket, and gave him his nan te dress. The coachman abused him, b il , c k et,. °l3 ; ositively refused to pay him without a ti C A t ill : after some further abuse, the, coachint'iltche.tc.' away. - The .Magistrates informed gr., i l l .eo zic .c that by the 3d clause of the - new Act , l ed, that no person or persons? who sl'let±'L, tired any hackney-coach, shall geentiticot•itltt,o redress, or to be heard .on an'y c ompO ur f o r l vir:e or co at nition which sLi h er e ht tl nc i i( a sj y bme e pi x ilaa h vi i ni tii t t iorr t , inder i o " r f l . ° lll:l;rl it l re ° whether an y laWs r elating to licensed IniekneY:, ex l •a e c t t h it er , a , l :) Y r offence whatsoever,• unless such irrs" i) Vol i Vio l to_ entering upon the bearing thereo',- bet,:r dice to the Justice or Commissinttelsolll,;:ii whom b such complaint or information ', I , tic" c or een eXhibited, some one or more of t t l ijoht il i which he shall have received, 01. 11 ;1;; '0 ought to have - received 'by virt ue Act ; and that "as Mr. Hatchett had i! n he ,l l . ',li' produce,, the driver could . not be pon'''',,•.W're' misbehaviour. The Magistrates alsP 'i t 'ais t te tf, to uiderstand, that he was perfectly r'?-.,(160:54e fusing to pay the man without a ticket , al ; s tor o r -that in every case where the driverreftr-411eitre. the ticket or tickets rec+ircel by the 4 -' f ile 31 4 ties are fully justified in refusiin; to Palol,c.,i In cases of refusal, the old law ( I s t ' ( 1 '(, 57) which imposes a penalty of frow still holds good, as. the tickets 3[44 the coach is hired and carries the laN:4l',)t, b eing defective in not imosing anYPelli tic'oe the coachmen for neglecting to give `li.`",). GUILDHALL.--James Shepherd , .1 1 # 3, f 1 0 employ of Mr. Barber, salesman, ° l ‘ . ; ;O w / was charged with robbing him of " r ',7 l' o l°l'l l' il of property. The officer who receive'i that Lion opinst the 'prisoner, stated , (1 11 . ,cd c :cl , f lodgings he took possession of- the l' i rt i . )' th' t' ito e vas . bags, containing muslas, lace , " 1 -11 0 re I ° ' lugs, the greater p a rt - o f whic.' ; l a c( ' sworn to by the prosecutor.-•--11C "as mit i te e tl r . y 40 0 / Henn Brooks-, the young in-an t; charge, of violating ,the person tif I , tln' eu ,c,i A _years of age, was brought up, wi t jt 4( 4 ' prisoners, -for further examination. be fe / ' t t il tho at •ft from the evidence Of a Surgeon, - i d 1.1-,,,,b , .. every reason to believe Brooks c o ' ti, alP ir er i t b c: e d n is t c i li e a i i :g e e rs l o i bins. The who assaulted the eh u i‘ j,ii st d g i with other circumstances, induced th e ji illo.!iti: ( Dillashon, who commission of the crime, in th e P ti c j e e nf ,c 3 :l 4 . ;::: , daughter, proved, by the evidence ' a t t 1 1" 0: i1. 6 that her child was not in the houseonoit 5 00 j the c a r l i s ir a l w l ' e a g s - ed st t a h t a et t l s t i o i e have ilad 1 e b i e t el) c boo s 1 .0 11 time before the complainant Old 51 ' i AS t ' ll‘ , ; ( lsiC : there,. The Worthy .Aldernian, w : I de t . „r possible pains to investigate this Oro ". g o oroo' • • be' co ttiti7i'tyreonf''cuLdaellyMpris.;)Dviinil:ant'i t ali a b li i• °“r-11 .1 1 , ) , e (!. °61 ' 4 toner, ,an aged wotnan,WaS iii s C il ' lL ' ifel ir _ e l/ BIRTH. sta ff On Wednesday last, at Blithlield -00 ' 15c ' f iiil h ; the Right Hon. Lady Bagot, of a daughte. " eq. MARRIED. ~ cpurQ• p p , •On Tuesday, the 23d ult. at St. Marl ', s hill "if 4 ., Or e cl', Mr. Joseph Renton, Purser of his Majes t Y 5 1 : 3 ,- , i o' I F Miss Boultkiee, of Edhill. i v I,S I I I to lo j el) On Monday last, ~at Thorpe,, Norf°,'7,: r vice'„ill''' ~ l( ' Esq. of the Hon. East India CoMpan)s -.- t:,sq. " „ ( ,',o' V. Evans, outy daughter of T. B. Pa ns ' c i l es , p Ll !' same County. , h . ° 3'1 11' 49 i? 'The sante - day, at the Collegiate CklOrC ),_ 0 0 r 1 ,0„; 1 „ Estlni -, ' itb° e ltl'" Joseph Wood, of Lawrence-lane , On the 31st ult. at Clapham Churel l, t i, Ji• iip,11,,,, ter of Mr. James Bibby, of Levenshuinaei jo joil l :00 , „i -Phillips, Esq. of Northampton-squareP, linia!,i4l:3l:oll' daughter of Mr.. John Dickins, of 3,lniailvireiro - Lately, at St. George's, Hanover. squ h a ' t t, of ° ' ' (re ~ ,ii Marsh,to .H i ss; Hannah Sophia SiPsi ` l° Pimlico. , . )1 0. ~,il ' '—'-'---- ~.,1010e"' ;51n:,!1°. On the Ist inst. after a short, but paiw- 5.,5 ps i c i i,,lL D ,,, , ii: wife of Mr. R. Green, of-Long-4eri-'• ~'„,,,t a4 , l,,, ' ; .oc3 itO ts, : i '' ', l; On Sunday-afternoon, suddeuly, • at - P er' - s t , .'" f i li ' i i , liner, of - Thomas, Exeter. She was ailie„i,:i;, e l c d house of a ! ieigithotir, and, with a fov, ‘ „,„,n , '' L ira' ) to proceed to chu reit to attend tbecr.':id, ihe fee but while in - the act of kissing the c l “ • . cr o , o rif and expired immediately. '', ~ , i o ‘ - re. l' , -c-• I`. ,f • , ii - ~,,a,,v11 % 5 , ',1, 5 , 1 I'., l iic LONDON: Printed by J. B. GA,''''', ..(.;I'.'' slit a ;itl l „,• ", buildings; and published by W•.. 1 .„ i d: he' .: . 1. at the StIN-OPFICE, NO. 119, Str' 6 ,' J c . AIL' talents, Orders, Letters (post7l)*W i ' , It h ,l tet ) 4 4 4d \ I MI \\ R~~, ;( 1:,1 N Arty