The Sun.
London, England, 1837-10-19 00:00:00

anchored for the night close to the island oCs, wcr4
on shore to look for betal nut, and on his return is supposed
to have gone to sleep on the beech. In the middle of thc:
night his screams were heard by the people in
who immediately went on shore ; but alas, they came too
lute
; their comrade was crushed to death by an enormous
snake, an the satisfaction they could derive was :
torn-
the vess
veege his death killing his enemy, whose head they e:
off, and carried, together 7‘'ith the body of the man, on board
their boat. The marks of fanL.!-s were imprinted ol;
the man's right wrist, and the corp'•e, though di,
er
bore evident signs of having been crushed b the rneust
y
twisting himself round the bead, breast, neck, and thigh.
e highs
The snake measured about thirty feet, and when and
were extended they admitted a body the size of a n"'"
head."
The embellishments are numerous, and adrcitlY
Lira.
va-
ried in point of subject. Among them are portratsn
some of the most illustrious of modern Oriental vO"
vereigns ; sketches of the grandest ruins ; Of stately
mausoleums ; of splendid cities ; and of mountain and
river scenery, unsurpassed in picturesqueness and tog'
nificencc of aspect. We know not when we have seen,
a ,;'ore striking engraving than that entitled " Desertet
Mansioi3g at Old Delhi." The spirit of desolation_
hangs heavy uo,:m them ; their long colonades and
their
majestic porticos arc Li!! fast going to decay ;
towers are shattered ; their overrun with weeds.;
and silence and solitude (twin mou:?-ters) keep watch
within their halls. Daniel is the painter of this Pic;
ture, which conveys a vivid idea of what Delhi mus
have been in the days of the great Moguls, when itg
public and private edifices, constructed on the grandest
the
scale, ail(' with an utter disregard to cost, were
wonder and glory of the East. " Castle of Ponaka,
in Boutan," shows us nature in her sternest sublimity"
The Castle stands on the borders of a lake or river, at
the feet of a range of colossal mountains, here shoot"
ing up precipitously, and there rising with a more gra-
dual elevation, their loftiest summits white with the
accumulated snows of centuries. The lights and
shades arc admirably distributed throughout this on:,
graving, the stern monotony of which is relieved, and
an air of animation imparted to it, by the introduction
of two figures, who are represented in the foreground
toiling up r. -narrow path-way which winds round th,e,
brow of a cliff. " Fortress of Chunar on the Ganges
presents a startling contrast to the preceding engraving'
It is full of life, and bustle, and splendor. Numerous
vessels are floating tranquilly along the broad, sums y
stream of the sacred river ; gaily attired crowds, snm
in
on foot, some perched upon the backs of elephants
gilded houdahs, and some engaged in launching small
skiffs, people' the sloping banks ; while above them
towers the massive castle, with its towers, and ter-
races, and cupolas, and far-extending battlements, glit-
tering in the brightest colours beneath the fervid Oh
of the East. To those who are partial to Annuals'
and they constitute a large portion of the communitr---
we should say that the " Oriental" is one of the best,i
if not the best, for it may vie with the most showY of
its brethren in splendor, and is not surpassed by them •
in literary excellence.

LITERATURE.

THE LIFE OF SIR EDIVARD CO-ICE•
BY C. W. JOHNSON, ESQ. .r.v 2 VOLS.
Colburn, 1837.
(SECOND NOTICE.)
In a former notice of this valuable addition to our-
national biographical literature, we pointed out those
qualities for which Lord Chief Justice Coke was pre-
eminent among the great lawyers who flourished during
the reigns of Elizabeth and James the First. We re-
ferred to the early and long cherished feud lictwee"
Coke and his successful rival the great Bacon ; and we
glanced at Coke's second marriage with Lady _Hatton—
from which he dated all his domestic misery ; the COll-,
tempt of enemies who before feared him ; and most 0'
the annoyances to which, through the remainder of
his life, he was almost constantly exposed. Nothing,
therefore, remains for us but to make such extracts
from the work as may interest our readers, and convor
to them an idea of the fidelity and ability with which
the learned biographer has executed a task of no ordi-
nary difficulty. It has been urged that Mr. Johnso"
is partial, and draws the character of Lord Coke, Os a
lawyer, too favourably. This allegation is unfounded:,
and we quote his very interesting report of the trial of
Sir Walter Raleigh—which he concludes with a severe
censure of the legal conduct of Coke—as a most ;rite"
resting, yet decided proof, of the truth of our assertion
Coke had hardly received confirmation of his office [Ilt"
torney-General] when a series of treasons, either real or
imaginary, gave him abundance of employment. Thus, 00,
the following 17th of November, he conducted the trial otli f
Sir Walter Raleigh at Winchester, to which place is
Court was adjourned on account of the plague being
London. Raleigh was accused of high treason, and de-
fended himself with the highest talent and self-possession-
Coke appeared on this trial with little advantage
language was coarse ; his observations brutal ; his temPer
savage. He had to make up by the violence of
his
meanour for the poverty of his case, and no master coil!e!!
have been more zealously served than James I. was in this
instance by his Attorney-General.
Coke acted as the zealous Counsellor who looked only
to his client, and so far we may plead for his over-anxious
efforts. He procured the prisoner's condemnation. '3'l
his master, James, perpetrated a viler parr. He reprieve."
d:
his prisoner for seventeen years : lie enaploy.ed him in 11
service ; and then brought him to the scaffold Kir pretendr
crimes he had committed against Spain, but
wretched plea of his former conviction.
It is disgusting to dwell upon these melancholy instance
of brutality. The truth is but too apparent ; Raleigl;3.wa,s
charged by the Spanish Ambassador ; Raleigh, the Korea
under t )0
servant, needed assistance, and then the King abandone
him, for James was a Stuart, was of a family known to a
proverb for deserting their distressed friends and relittion
5
There is, perhaps, no reported case in which the pave!:
against the prisoner were weaker than in this trial of Si
Walter Raleigh. Never was an accused person condetnne"
on slighter grounds. Yet Coke, in his address to the
Court, with much gravity warned the jury : I peceive
these Hon. Lords and the rest of this great assembly or
come to hear what bath been scattered upon the wrack
t
of report. NVe carry a just mind to condemn no man but
upon plain evidence."
The manner in which the Judges then suffered the C°""-
sel for the Crown to harangue the prisoner, is most
_re:
volting to our modern sense of a fair trial. When Co.kic:
in the course of his speech, mentioned the King, he sa!'
" I shall not need, my Lords, to speak anything coneernifil
the King, nor the bounty and sweetness of his two
nt
full of
whose thoughts are inn-9cent, lsosc words arc •
wisdom and learning, and whose works are full of honornur.
But to wmho do you bear your malice," he continued, tu
inn to Raleigh, " to the children ?"
To whom speak you this ?" said Raleigh.
me words I never heard of."
Oh do I, Sir ?" exclaimed Coke. " I will proye
the nJoriousest traitor that ever came to the bar, at"
you have taken away the King, you would alter religioo,
as you, fir Walter Raleigh, have followed them of„th
bye, in imitation, for I will charge you with the words.
" Your words," retorted Raleigh, " cannot condemn%
my innocency is my defence ; prove one of these entire
wherewith you have charged me, and I will confess
.thr
whole indictment, and that I am the most horrible trait°
that ever lived, worthy to be crucified with a thousand tor-
ments."
"Nay," replied the Attorney-General, " I will fir°D'd
all : thou art a monster ; thou bast an English face
a Spanish heart. Now you must have money,
was no sooner in England, but- thou incitest Cob;
go unto him, and to deal with him f,-;e money to beg
on discontented persons."
Raleigh—Let me answer.
Coke—Thou shalt not.
Raleigh—lt concerneth my life. Arernb'ergo
Cole—Oh ! do I touch you ?
Chief Justice Popham here observed, " Sir Walter
r Rall;
leigh, Mr. Attorney-General is but yet in the ge.9%,,,
hut, when the King's Counsel have given all the evitie
you shall answer every particular."
of so Ped
Coke then proceeded. -" Will you dispose
daughter of Edward IV. Why then, m
a King, lineally descended? he came of Eulisztabyeotuh,
tt !I
his
nothing. But, of t
Queen, of whose title will I speak
another ; I think you meant to make Arabella a L"
a stale mate.
am sure, you intended to make her
mean her no good." seeldeuept
Raleigh—You tell me news, Mr. Attorney.
I know with
'Coke—Sir, I am the more large, because
man,
trial
wit'
whom I deal, for we have to deal to-day with a
trial
Such was the wretched altercation allowed at this
during Coke's address to ad jury, an address which he
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