"A master (or master extraordinary) in Chancery." The specification being completed, it only remains to enrol it before 12 o'clock on the day of the expiration of the time allowed in the letters patent. All specifications are open to public inspection upon payment of a small fee, and books are kept at the Patent Office, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, which contain a list of all patents in force. These books may be inspected, by permission of the clerk, without any charge. Wm. IV. c. 83; but this condition is somewhat modified by 2 & 3 Vict. c. 67. By the 7 & 8 Vict. c. 69, § 2, a patentee may obtain an extension of the term for any time not exceeding fourteen years, "subject to the same rules as the extension for a term not exceeding seven years is now granted under the powers of the said act of the sixth year of the reign of his late majesty" (5 & 6 Wm. IV. c. 83). This act contains also other enactments applicable to the extension of time where patentees have wholly or in part assigned their right. Scotch and Irish patents are obtained by process similar to that described for England; the applications however are made to the respective law officers of each country. clusive of the drawings and descriptions, which of course vary according to the difficulties of the subject; a small sum comparatively, when the loss of time and risk of a faulty title or specification are taken into consideration. The complicated nature of the proceedings in obtaining a patent has led to the establishment of a class of persons who make it their business to obtain patents for inventors; and in case of an intricate invention, it is far better for an inventor to employ one of these "patent agents" than to run the risk of the errors and loss of time which may be occasioned by his inexperience. The fee charged by the clerks of the Patent Office, who Extension of Term of Letters Patent.act also as agents, is ten guineas, exIf a patentee finds that the time allowed him by the patent is not sufficient to remunerate him for the trouble and expense of his invention and patent, he may apply for an extension of the term. This used to require a petition to parliament, but by the 5 & 6 Wm. IV. c. 83, the patentee, after advertising his intention to apply for an extension of his patent in the manner required by the act, may petition the king in council. Any person wishing to oppose the extension must enter a caveat at the Privy Council Office, and the petitioner and enterer of the caveat or caveats are heard by their counsel before the Judicial Committee, which reports to the king; and the king is authorised, if he shall think fit, to grant new letters patent for the same invention for a term not exceeding seven years after the expiration of the first term. The application must be made so as to allow time for the grant before the conclusion of the original term, according to 5 & 6 The time necessary for obtaining a patent is seldom less than two months, and frequently much longer. This is justly considered a great grievance, as the inventor is not secure until the great seal is attached, and no reason can be assigned for this delay, except that the patent passes unnecessarily through a great number of offices. The expense also is very heavy, and may be stated on an average at 1207. for England, with 52. additional for the colonies, 1001. for Scotland, and 1251. for Ireland. It is evident that there are many inventions which will not bear this outlay of capital, and the consequence is that the number of patents is much smaller than it would be if the charges were less; and the public lose by this. The inventor, if he procure a patent, will take care that although he may be the party inconvenienced at first by the outlay, the public shall pay for it eventually; but if he do not take out a patent, he will do all in his power to keep his invention secret for a longer time than the patent would have allowed. This circumstance has given rise to much of that jealousy which is so apparent among manufacturers; it has materially retarded the study of the arts, which are now fenced round with secrets and difficulties, and has been mainly instrumental in causing the great want which confessedly exists, of men conversant at once with the theory and the practice of mechanical operations. PAWN. [PLEDGE.] PAWNBROKERS. All persons who receive goods by way of pawn or pledge for the repayment of money lent thereon at a higher rate of interest than five per cent. per annum, are pawnbrokers. In pawning, the goods of the borrower are delivered to the lender as a security. [PLEDGE.] The business of lending money on pledges is in many countries carried on under the immediate control of the government as a branch of the public administration; and where only private individuals engage in it, as in this country, it is placed under regulations. Thus in China, where pawnbrokers are very numerous, Mr. Davis says (Chinese,' vol. ii. p. 438) they are under strict regulations. Geo. III. c. 99, passed 28th of July, 1800. This act fixes the rates of interest allowed on goods or chattels placed in the hands of pawnbrokers according to the following scale: The truth of these observations will be admitted by all who have been in any way connected with manufactures; but The 12 Anne, stat. 2, c. 16, fixed the if any evidence be wanting to convince legal rate of interest at 5 per cent. per those who are not, the small number of annum; but the interest which pawnpatents taken out in England is quite brokers are allowed to charge is reguconclusive. In 1837 the number of En-lated by a special statute, the 39 & 40 glish patents was 254, and that of Scotch 132; the numbers in France and Prussia were much larger. Much has been said against the present law of patent, which in our opinion is unfounded in truth. There are difficulties connected with the title and specification which cannot perhaps be smoothed by any legislative enactments; but the obstacles which the law has placed in the way of inventors can be easily removed. There is nothing to prevent patents being granted in a quarter of the present time, and at a tenth part of the present expense. When this is done, the number of patents will rapidly increase; talent, which is inert for want of motive, will be called into action, and the workshop will no longer be closed against the philosophic inquirer. PATENT LETTERS. [LETTERS PATENT.] PATERNITY. [BASTARD.] PATRIARCH. [BISHOP, p. 377.] PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS. [NOBILITY; AGRARIAN LAWS.] PATTERNS. [COPYRIGHT, p. 645.] PATRON. [ADVOWSON; BENEFICE; PARISH; CLIENT.] PAUPERISM. [POOR LAWS AND PAUPERISM; SETTLEMENT.] For every pledge upon which there shall have been lent any sum not exceeding 2s. 6d., the sum of d., for any time during which the said pledge shall remain in pawn not exceeding one calendar month, and the same for every calendar month afterwards, including the current month in which such pledge shall be redeemed, although such month shall not be expired. If there shall have been lent the sum of 5s., one penny; 7s. d., one penny halfpenny; 10s., two-pence; 12s. 6d., two-pence halfpenny; 15s., three-pence; 17s. 5d., three-pence halfpenny: 20s., fourpence; and so on progressively and in proportion for any sum not exceeding 40s.; but if exceeding 40s. and not excceding 42s., eight-pence; if exceeding 428. and not exceeding 10l., after the rate of three-pence for every 20s., by the calendar month, including the current month, and so on in proportion for any fractional sum. Persons may redeem goods within seven days after the expiration of the first calendar month with out paying interest for the extra seven | payment, the offending party may be com days; or within fourteen days on paying mitted for three months' imprisonment for one month and a half; after which and hard labour. Persons forging or time interest is charged for two calendar counterfeiting duplicates, or not being months. able to give a good account of themselves on offering to pawn goods, are liable to imprisonment for any period not exceeding three months. Pawnbrokers or other persons buying or taking in pledge unfinished goods, linen, or apparel intrusted to others to wash or mend, are to forfeit double the sum advanced and to restore the goods. The act empowers police officers to search pawnbrokers' houses or warehouses when suspected to contain unfinished goods unlawfully pledged, and goods unlawfully pawned must be restored to the owner by the pawnbroker. Pawnbrokers are required by the act to keep books in which all goods taken in pledge must be entered and described, the sum advanced upon them, and the name and abode of the pledger, and whether he is a housekeeper or a lodger. They make out at the time two memoranda of these particulars, one of which is given to the pledger. This duplicate is given gratis in all cases where the sum advanced is under 5s; when it is 5s. and under 10s., one halfpenny is charged; 10s. and under 20s., one penny; 17. and under 5., two-pence; 51. and upwards, All pawned goods are deemed forfeited four-pence. Articles pledged for sums at the end of one year. If redeemed, the above 5s. must be entered in the pawn- pawnbroker must endorse on his duplibroker's books within four hours; and cate the charge for interest, and keep it those on which 10s. or upwards have been in his possession for one year. Articles advanced must be entered in a separate on which sums have been advanced of book and numbered, the first entry in 108. and not exceeding 10%, if not reeach month commencing No. 1. The deemed, must be sold by auction, after number and description of the pledge in being exposed to public view and at least the books and on the duplicate correspond two days' notice having been given of the with each other. Articles cannot be taken sale. The catalogue of sale must contain out of pawn without the production of the the name and abode of the pawnbroker, duplicate, the holder of which is assumed the month in which the goods were reto be the owner; and accordingly dupli-ceived, and their number as entered in cates are often sold by the pledger when the books and on the duplicate. Pictures, he wants money, and they are transferred prints, books, bronzes, statues, busts, carv from one to another like any other sale-ings in ivory and marble, cameos, intaglios, able article. If a duplicate should be lost or stolen, the pawnbroker is required to give a copy of it to the person who represents himself as the owner of the articles pledged, with a blank form of affidavit, which must be filled up with a statement of the circumstances under which the original duplicate was lost, to the truth of which deposition an oath must be made before a magistrate. For this second duplicate the pawnbroker is entitled to demand one halfpenny, if the sum advanced does not exceed 5s.; from 5s. to 10s., one penny; and afterwards in the same proportion as for the original duplicate. The penalty against unlawfully pawning goods the property of others is between 208. and 51., besides the full value of the goods pledged; and in default of musical, mathematical, and philosophical instruments, and china, must be sold se parate from other goods, on the first Monday in January, April, July, and October in every year. On notice not to sell given in writing, or in the presence of one witness, from persons having goods in pledge, three months further are allowed beyond the year for redemption. An account of sales of pledges above 10s. must be entered in a book kept by the pawnbroker, and if articles are sold for more than the sum for which they were pledged, with interest thereon, the owner is entitled to the overplus, if demanded within three years after the sale. Pawnbrokers' salebooks are open to inspection on payment of a fee of one penny. The penalty on pawnbrokers selling goods before the proper time, or injuring or losing them, and not making compensation to the owner, according to the award of a magistrate, is 10. They are required to produce their books on the order of a magistrate in any dispute concerning pledges, and are not to purchase goods which are in their custody. The act extends to the executors of pawnbrokers. The Pawnbrokers' Act prohibits pledges being taken from persons intoxicated or under twelve years of age; and by the Metropolitan Police Act (2 & 3 Vict. c. 47), a fine of 51. is inflicted upon pawnbrokers taking pledges from persons under the age of sixteen. Pawnbrokers are prohibited from buying goods between the hours of 8 A.M. and 7 P.M.; or receiving pledges from Michaelmas-day to Lady-day before 8 A.M. or after 8 P.M.; or for the other part of the year, before 7 A.M. or after 9 P.M., excepting on Saturdays and the evenings preceding Good Friday and Christmas-day, when the hour for closing is extended to 11 P.M. They are required to place a table of profits and charges in a conspicuous part of their places of business. Pawnbrokers are required to take out an annual licence from the Stamp Office; and, to enable them to take in pledge articles of gold and silver, a second licence is necessary, which costs 5l. 158. Those who carry on business within the limits of the old twopenny-post pay 157. a year for their licence, and in other parts of Great Britain 77. 108. The licence expires on the 31st of July, and a penalty of 501. is incurred if it is not renewed ten days before. No licence is required in Ireland, but those who carry on the business of a pawnbroker must be registered. In 1833 the number of pawnbrokers in the metropolitan district was 368; 386 in 1838; and 383 in 1842; in the rest of England and Wales the number was 1083 in 1833; 1194 in 1838; and 1304 in 1842; in Scotland the number was 52 in 1833; 88 in 1838; and 133 in 1842 making a total of 1820 establishments in 1842, which paid 16,5221. for their licences, besides the licence which many of them take out as dealers in gold and silver. The increase in England is to a considerable extent chiefly in places where the business of a pawnbroker has not hitherto been carried on; and in Scotland, according to the New Statistical Account,' the extent of this change is remarkable. The business of a pawnbroker was not known in Glasgow until August, 1806, when an itinerant English pawnbroker commenced business in a single room, but decamped at the end of six months; and his place was not supplied until June, 1813, when the first regular office was established in the west of Scotland for receiving goods in pawn. Other individuals soon entered into the business; and the practice of pawning became so common that, in 1820, in a season of distress, 2043 heads of families pawned 7380 articles, on which they raised 7391. 5s. 6d. The capital invested in this business in 1840 was about 26,000l. Nine-tenths of the articles pledged are redeemed within the legal period. (Dr. Cleland's Former and Present State of Glasgow,' 1840.) There are no means of ascertaining the exact number of pawnbrokers' establishments in the large towns of England. A return of the amount and nature of the dealings of pawnbrokers would supply much valuable evidence of the condition and habits of the people. The only return of the kind which we have seen was supplied by a large pawnbroking establishment at Glasgow to Dr. Cleland, who read it at the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1836. The list comprised the following articles :-539 men's coats, 355 vests, 288 pairs of trowsers, 84 pairs of stockings, 1980 women's gowns, 540 petticoats, 132 wrappers, 123 duffles, 90 pelisses, 240 silk handkerchiefs, 294 shirts and shifts, 60 hats, 84 bed-ticks, 108 pillows, 262 pairs of blankets, 300 pairs of sheets, 162 bed-covers, 36 table-cloths, 48 umbrellas, 102 Bibles, 204 watches, 216 rings, and 48 Waterloo medals. It was not stated during what period these articles were received. There were at that time in Glasgow above thirty pawnbrokers. In the manufacturing districts during the prevalence of "strikes,” or in seasons of commercial embarrassment, many hundreds of families pawn the greater part of their wearing-apparel and household furniture. (Paper read in 1837 by Mr. Ashworth, of Bolton, 'On the Preston Strike in 1836.') The borough-reeve of Manchester stated on a late occasion (April, 1840) that a clergyman had shown him sixty-seven pawn-tickets from one family, and he said there were thousands in similar circumstances "going inch by inch," in consequence of the stagnation of industry. The practice of having recourse to the pawnbrokers on such occasions is quite a different thing from the habits of those who," on being paid their wages on the Saturday, are in the habit of taking their holiday clothes out of the hands of the pawnbroker to enable them to appear respectably on the Sabbath, and on the Monday following they are again pawned, and a fresh loan obtained to meet the exigencies of their families for the remainder of the week." It is on these transactions and on such as arise out of the desire of obtaining some momentary gratification that the pawnbrokers make their large profits. It is stated in one of the Reports on the Poor-Laws, that a loan of 3d., if redeemed the same day, pays annual interest at the rate of 5200 per cent.; weekly, 866 per cent. " 433 288 216 4d. 3900 per cent.; weekly, 650 per cent. 6d. 2600 9d. 1733 12d. 1300 In a petition presented to parliament in 1839, it is stated, that on a capital of 6d. thus employed (in weekly loans) pawnbrokers make in twelve months 2s. 2d.; on 5s. they gain 10s. 4d.: on 10s. they clear 22s. 34d.; and on 20s. lent in weekly loans of sixpence, they more than double their capital in twentyseven weeks; and should the goods pawned remain in their hands for the term of twelve months (which seldom occurs), they then derive from 20 to 100 per cent. The Loan Fund Societies,' which are protected by an Act of the Legislature, and advance small sums under 151. at 5 per cent., are of no advantage to the habitual dependants upon the pawnbroker. The 'Pawnbrokers' Gazette' is a stamped weekly publication, which contains advertisements of sales, and other information of use to the trade, amongst whom it exclusively circulates. The act for the regulation of pawnbrokers in Ireland is the 28 George III. c. 43 (Irish statute). It requires pawnbrokers to take out licences and to give securities; appoints the marshal of the city of Dublin corporation registrar of licences; directs returns to be made to him monthly, upon oath, of sums lent; and allows the registrar a fee of one shilling on each return. The stamp duty on licences amounted to 27751. in 1842. In 1837 Mr. Barrington founded the Limerick Mont de Piété, as a means of providing funds for the public charities of that city. He erected buildings at his own expense, and sent competent persons to Paris to make themselves acquainted with the mode of conducting the Mont de Piété in that capital. A capital of 4000l. was raised on debentures, bearing interest at 6 per cent.; and the establishment was opened on the 13th of March, 1837, under the control of a committee. In the course of eight months 13,000l. had been lent on 70,000 pledges at a rate of interest amounting to one farthing per month for a shilling, no charge being made for duplicates. Six-sevenths of the amount advanced was in sums under 5s. Four months after the establishment was opened, the value of articles redeemed on Saturdays averaged about 1407., the interest on which amounted to 31. 3s. 6d., while the pawnbroker's charge would have been 91. Towards the close of the year 1839 Mr. Barrington published a short pamphlet showing the further progress of the institution. The capital had been increased to 15,3501., and a clear profit of 17361. had been realised since March, 1837. Small sums are lent to poor persons of known respectability of character on their personal security. This plan is attended with valuable effects upon the conduct and character of the poorer classes. In Appendix E, Poor Inquiry (Ireland),' there is an account of the Ahascragh Loan Society, which shows that where individuals can be found to superintend the details, the ruinous plan of applying to pawnbrokers may be partially |