036 
cation between distant parts of this king- 
doin, only one hundred years ago, any 
ordinary culprit could bave been sent two 
or three hundred miles to undergo a few 
months imprisonment; except it were to 
his own county, or -back again to the 
place where he had committed his crime. 
Besides, before the vehicle of the daily 
press gave notoriety to punishments, no 
check existed against the secret destruc- 
tion of a culprit, or his perpetual impri- 
sonment, if thus sent into a distant 
county, and thus banished, in eftect, 
froin the cognizance of his friends. 
Again—What says expediency? If 
such a capricious power existed in the 
King’s-Bench, might not all persons, con- 
victed of misdemeanors, be sent to some 
one prison; and thus a single county, by 
being so burdened, ke mulcted for the 
crimes of all the others ? 
One might indeed pursue_the subject 
through a volume, to prove the cruelty, 
bad policy, and unreasonableness, of such — 
a sysiem, 
It will not, however, be difficult to con- 
vict the lawyers of perversion, by means of 
the positive enactinents of the legislature. 
Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights © 
afford abundant security against these no- 
velties; but the special provisions of cer- 
tain revenue laws, by whichthe judges are 
permitted, in order to separate gangs of 
smugglers, to send them to distant pri- 
sons, proves, incontestably, that thelaw in 
allcases, not soexcepted, does not recog- 
nize such power; and that, without anew 
and forinal statute, such a practice of ba- 
nishing, for misdemeanors, is ILLEGAL, 
Need I say more?—IfI add another 
word to expose the injustice of this prac- 
tice, which ought never to have been 
called into discussion, I shall simply re- 
fer to another statute, which provides, that 
every man shall be tried for every offence 
in the county in which his offence was 
committed ;—thereby identifying, in lo- 
~cality, the crime and the responsibility. 
Such, Sir, are the doctrines of your 
“old correspondent, 
| Common SENsE. 
a 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
An elegant METHOD of OBTATNING very 
exact and pleasing REPRESENTATIONS 
of PLANTS. 
NAKE the plant of which you wish to 
4h obtain a representation, and lay it 
on some sheets of blossom or blotting 
paper, and having properly displayed the 
leaves and flowers, so as to lie in the 
most advantageous manner, lay some 
more of the same kind of paper upon it, 
Mode of obtaining exact representations of Plants. {July 1, 
and a large book, or some other con- 
venient weight upon it, in order to press 
it with a gentle degree of pressure. In 
this state let it remain two or three 
days, then remove the upper paper, and 
see whether the plant be suthciently firm 
or stiff to bear removing ; when this is the 
case, smear over every part of the plant 
with ink, made by dissolving a quantity 
of Indian ink in warm water ; then care- 
fully lay the smeared side on a piece of 
clean and strong white paper, and co- 
vering it with a piece of the blossom, or 
soft paper, press with the hand on every. 
part, and rub it uniformly over: after 
remaining sore time longer, remove it 
from. the paper, and a distinct and beau- 
tiful impression will remain, far exceed- 
ing, in softness of appearance, (if well 
conducted,) and justness of representa 
tion, even the most elaborate and highly- 
finished engraving. Itis only to be la- 
mented, that, in this method of figuring 
plants, some of the minuter characters 
of the flower must unavoidably, be ex- 
pressed indistinctly: these, however, as 
well as any other minute parts, which 
may not have been impressed with suffi- 
cient sharpness, may be added witha 
pencil and Indian ink; sometimes a 
small press is made use of in this pro- 
cess; and various compositions may also 
be used, as well as Indian ink, viz. a 
kind of. fine printer’s ink, composed of 
lamp-black, with linseed oil, &c. The 
figures may occasionally he coloured 
afterwards, in the manner of engravings. 
Their great merit consists in so happily 
expressing what botanists term the habit, 
or true general aspect of the natural 
plants; a particular in which even the 
best and most elaborate engravings are 
found defective. Your’s, &c. 
Witiiam Pybus. 
Hull, May 8, 1809. 
SEE 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, re | 
LYTHOUGIH the method of regu- 
lating the divisions of musical time 
_by the vibrations of a pendulum, is plau- 
sible in theory; yet the application of it 
to practice, is attended with so much 
difficulty and uncertainty, that it is not 
likely to become a popular.one. Re- 
gular bands, of music, or professed 
musters, may attend to such instruments ; 
but there 1s not one in an hundred of 
those amateurs, who play for their own 
amusement, or that of their friends, wha 
will be at the trouble.of doing so. And, 
even supposing the pendulum commonhy 
used, the inconvenience and = imper- 
5 fection 
~~ 
