1804.)  Lrronesus Financial Statement—Dates to Books. 
Ta the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
TN yvour Publication of the 1ft inftant, 
you favour your Readers. with the 
ticle of an important financial ftatement, 
viz. “ An Account of the Net Produce 
of all the permanent Taxes in the Years 
and Quarteis ending the 10th Day of Oc- 
tober, 1802 and 1803, refpectively ;*’ but 
it appears to me that by fome miftake, the 
account itlelf is defective. I cannot find 
that it exhibits a comparative view either 
of the years above mentioned, or of the 
quarters. There is a total of upwards of 
thirty mill’ons, which I /uppofe is the 
national revenue of the year 18035 and 
that that of the preceding year is entirely 
omitted, fo that we cannot judge of the 
comparative difference. As to the flate- 
ment of the produce’ of the quarters, I 
do not perceive any at all; and I confefs 
it was with a degree of intereft that I 
turned to the tztle; for the New!papers had 
previoufly given a ftatement of the com- 
parative revenue of thofe years and quar- 
ters, which appeared to me inconfiltent 
with itfelf. I think that of the years 
gave an excefs of about five million in fa- 
vour of 1803; whereas that of the guar- 
ters feleCted for comparifon (being, I. be- 
lieve, the laft in the two refpeetive years) 
gave a furpius of about 100,000 only, in 
favour of the quarters of the year 1803, 
or 400,000 for the whole year, initead of 
five millions. I conceive that the average 
quarter ought to have been ftated, other- 
wife all the quarters; at all events, the 
ftatements of the years and the quarters re- 
{peétively, ought to have corroborated each 
other: but that not being the cafe, I flat- 
tered myfelf you would have fet the matter 
clear, in which I am difappointed ; yet hope 
that it will be in your power to do it, for 
any apparent inconfiftencies in the. ftate- 
ments of the public finances lead the peo- 
ple to fufpeét the veraci/y of them altoge- 
ther: and at this crifis, if there be a favour- 
able ftatement to exhibit, (which I truft 
there is) I need fearcely reprefent to you the 
Importance of its being publifhed in a man- 
ner that fhall remove all doubts upon the 
fubject. Many of my friends whom I 
have confulted upon this occafion, have 
found themfelves quite as much at a lofs 
as myfelf to explain the ftatements on this 
head which have been already publifhed, 
- In the particulars, the item of land-tax 
-feems to have been entirely omitted, or 
not1o have been diitin@ly ftated; yet we 
know a confiderable portion of it fill re- 
"mains unredee ved, and mufl form a part 
of the public revenue. I truft you will 
excule the liberty I have taken ; and am, 
Your's, &e, 
Fan. 28, 1804. x. 
_ time in which they compofed. 
145 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, : 
AM engaged in reading books upon 
fome particular {ciences, and have oc-- 
cafion to take up authors of all periods.* 
When I begin a book, it becomes necef- 
{ary, for obvious reafons, to know with 
fome precifion the time in which it was 
written; although this might be fo eafily 
intimated by the author, yet it is but fei- 
dom that the reader is fo fortunate as to 
meet with direct information of it. 
It is evident that no conclufion can be 
drawn from obferving the date of the year 
in which a book was publifhed, as the in- 
terval between writing and publifhing may 
vary exceedingly; and if it be an editiom 
fubfequent to the firft, it is impoffible to 
form even a guefs, from this circumftance, 
of the year in which, it was written. It 
now arid then happens that a licenfe, or 
approbation of fome learned fociety, is 
prefixed toa book, which, being always 
dated, afford fome little light to the in- 
quiry. It alfo fometimes occurs to the 
author to infert a date to his dedication or 
preface; this is a happy hint to his reader. 
But moft commonly the reader is not ac- 
commodated in any one of thefe ways, and 
is left to judge very vaguely of the date of 
the work, if he have not a biographical 
account of the author at hand ; and even 
if he have, he is not always fatisfed in 
this particular, if the writer be not. of 
fome celebrity. 
I with, Sir, you could perfuade anthors 
to prefix to their dedications, prefaces, 
advertifements,’&c. the date in which theic 
works are delivered over to the printer; 
or if they cheofe to fend forth their off- 
fpring without thefe ufual attendants, to 
find fome corner in which the era,;of their 
compofitions may be made known; by 
which we fhould be enabled to know their 
relative pofitions to one another in refpect 
to time, and to appreciate their opportu- 
nities of information, from the ttate of 
fcience, and accumulation of facts, at the 
This com- 
munication would generally be rather ad- 
vantageous to their tame, than otherwife; 
and always fatisfactory, if not frequently 
neceflary, to the reader. es 
Tam, Sir, 
Your obedient Servant, 
Loudon, 5th Fan. 1804. fuk. 
a 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
Sie ial: 
Pansat me to return thanks to your 
three different correfpondents who 
have fo obliging!ly anfwered my queries 
refpeéting tea-keltles, and at the fame 
time to notice a remark in the Rev. Mr. 
Rebinfon’s anfwer, whi ; 
