Liquidated Damages. — Mr. Bellamy. — Dr. Pliiwpfre. 101 



sertcd it in my " Letters to Dr. Aikin on 

 Vocal Poetry," publislied in the year 

 1811, amongst the " Moral and Miscel- 

 laneous Songs," page 148, where ti;ere is 

 no name or signature annexed to it. 

 Those songs which I have given as ray 

 own have J. P. at the end, and a refer- 

 ence is given to tliem, under my name, 

 in the index of authors; and all the songs 

 which were original, whether written by 

 myself or others, have an O annexed 

 to them in the table of contents, and 

 there is no O after T/ie Beacon, in p. 5. \ 

 Your number containing Mr. Wm. 

 Hornby's letter I liave not seen ; but 

 tiiis statement will, I trast, be satisfac- 

 tory, as far as I am concerned, to Mr. 

 J:uives, and to your readers; and I re- 

 quest tiie favour of you to insert this 

 in your Magazine for next month, that 

 the denial may be as pubtic as the im- 

 putation of tlie supposed literary tlieft. 

 •Tames Plumptue. 

 Great Gransden Vicarasre, 

 near Caxton ; July 9. 



To the Editor oftlte MmUldy Magaziru. 



SIR, 



AT the close of an arduous and in- 

 glorious conflict, which itas ro- 

 duccd many once-respectable families 

 to the greatest imaginable distress, and 

 made every class of society experience 

 " the hard unfeeling grasp of iron Po- 

 verty," it becomes every real friend t» 

 his country to endeavour, by every pos- 

 sible means, to alleviate tlie gci>?ral dis- 

 tress, and stem (he violence of that rapid 

 current which is fast hurrying the natiou 

 into misery and wretchedness, indi- 

 vidual exertions, it is true, must ever be 

 inadeqiiatc to remove the cause of so ge- 

 nerally prevailing a calamity ; but much, 

 it appears to me, may be done, to di- 

 minish tlie baneful eflccts which that 

 cause produces. 



In the present siination of thing.s, the 

 lower classes of the community feel dou- 

 bly the eifcots of the national distress. 

 Few among them are able to procure 

 food for themselves and families, and by 

 far the greatest number arc reduced to 

 the wretched necessity of throv ing them- 

 selves on that bounty which the imnia- 

 nily of our anccslors has provided as the 

 last resource of poverty and impoteiice. 

 It appears to me, therefore, that in no 

 channel con Id the disinterested cxer- 

 tionsof the philanthopjst be better spent, 

 nor in any would tli< y be more produc- 

 tive of inmip«liatc relief to the lower or- 

 ders of society, than in a proper atten- 

 tion to the duticK HMjnired tiom those 

 |M)rHouti wliu, froai tJteir situation and of* 



lice. 



1S16.] 



portance to the public ; it was brought 

 against the defendant, an architect of 

 vei7 extensive practice and patronage, 

 who had contracted to make a certain 

 excavation on tlie Highgate-archway 

 road, and to build a bridge across the 

 same, agreeably to his own plans, and 

 upon terms even exceeding his own esti- 

 niate. The action was brought to re- 

 cover the sum of 20,0001., stipulated by 

 the contractor as, and for, assessed or 

 liquidated damages, in case of non-pcr- 

 formance of contract, and for which sum 

 distinct bonds had been given. 



Mr. Topjiing, council for the plain- 

 tiffs, in opening the case, stated, that va- 

 rious breaches had been made in the 

 contract, one of w hich alone would take 

 upwards of 60001. to complete ; and that 

 various other deialcalions would, in the 

 present .state of the works, require an 

 additional expenditure nearly eqnal to 

 the su.m of 23,000!. stipulated to be paid 

 under the contract. 



The Attorni-y-General, as council for 

 tbc defendant, admitted a defalcation in 

 the contract, and that a verdict for 

 20,0001. should be recorded against his 

 client ; but. contended that the plaintifls 

 ought not to recover more than the da- 

 mage they had actuaily sustained, 

 wtiich was acceded to on belialf of the 

 iJaifltiffs ; and the matter was of course 

 referred to a barrister to ascertain 

 the amount of damage. 

 Kentisli Tou'n ; Jii/i/ 13. R. Varie. 



To the Editor of the Mordldy Magazine. 

 .sin, 



AS the readers of your miscellany 

 will naturally expect me to an- 

 swer the Bishop of St. David's reasons, 

 &c. published in your number for July ; 

 in justice to them, as well as to myself, 

 I beg to inform theui that my answer is 

 inserted in the 26th number of the Clas- 

 .lical Journal, published on the first of 

 July. T. Bellamy. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



BliA UTIFUL as Mr. James's poem 

 of The Bcacmi is, I never had any 

 intention of appropriating it as my 

 own ; and, as I am not acquahited with 

 all the circumstances of the contro- 

 versy, if such it may be called, I will 

 t»ke the liberty of stating a i*:w facts, 

 which, ;is far as I am concerned, will, 1 

 tru.st, excuse nic of any intcndcil " plagi- 

 arism." I met with (he poem iATlut llm- 

 con in a newspaper (1 think (he C'(Hn icr), 

 without any name annexed to it ; unci, 

 Rnppotfjng it to be public property, 1 iii- 



