480 PERPETUAL riPvE. — SINGULAR RECOVERY. 
gold Sovereigns of 20s., or on^ pound ; but in 1553, the same was 
ordered to pass for 30s. 
In 1682, Guineas first coined, value 20 shillings; and in 1717, when 
Sir Isaac Newton w'as master of the mint, they were made to pass 
for 21 shillings, to prevent them being milled down. 
In 1778, the light gold called in, amounted to 15,563,3931., which 
was recoined at the expense of 700,0001. At that period the Bank 
of England notes amounted to 10,500,0001, in all 26,000,0001. 
Gold Seven-shilling pieces were issued the 2d of December, 1797; 
and silver tokens the 1st of January, 1798. 
The amount of sovereigns issued since the above period is about 
eight millions; and bank-paper about twenty-two millions; which is 
only four millions more than in 1778, when the guineas and bank- 
notes amounted to twenty-six millions. As our exports and imports 
are trebled, and our taxes quadrupled, and the value of most articles 
increased, we cannot be said to have, proportionally, more than half 
the circulating money that we had in 1778. 
At no time during the late w ar had we much more than w’e have now, 
butlhe fcountry bank-notes were what made the difference ; then tliey 
w'ere in great quantities, but now the issue is much diminished. The 
universal use of bankers paying in checks, and the daily practice 
amongst the bankers themselves, of settling accounts by means of 
mutual demands, so far as they go, and only requiring money for the 
balances, all make a less quantity necessary. 
Perpetual Fire. 
In the Peninsula of Abeheron, in the province of Schirwan, formerly 
belonging to Persia, but now to Russia, there is found a perpetual, 
or, as it is there called, an eternal fire. It rises, ^ or has risen from 
time immemorial, from an irregular orifice of about twelve feet in 
depth, with a constant flame. The flame rises From the height of 
six to eight feet, but unattended with smoke, and yields no smell. The 
aperture, which is about 120 feet in width, consists of a mass of rock, 
ever retaining the same solidity and the same depth. The finest turf 
grows about the borders, and at the distance of two toises are two 
springs of water. The neighbouring inhabitants have a sort of vene- 
ration for this fire, and celebrate it with religious ceremonies. 
Singular Recovery of a Female unjustly executed. 
The following account of the case of a poor girl who was unjustly 
executed in 1766, is given by a celebrated French author, as an instance 
of the injustice which was often committed by the equivocal mode of 
trial used in France:-— 
“About seventeen years since, a young peasant girl, poss^^ssed of 
a very agreeable figure, was placed at Paris, in the service of a man 
depraved by all the vices consequent on the corruption of great cities. 
Smitten with her charms, he tried every method to seduce her ; but 
she was virtuous, and resisted. The prudence of his girl only irritated 
the passion of her master, who, not being able to make her submit to 
