The Sun.
London, England, 1825-07-14 00:00:00

LITER,ARY NOTICE.

LEIGH'S NEW POCKET ROAD-BOOK of ENGLAND,
WALES, and part of SCOTLAND, on the Plan of
" Reichards's Itineraries ;" containing an Account of all the-
Direct.and Cross-Roads ; together with a Description• of every
Remarkable Place, and its Curiosities, Manufactures, Com-
merce, Population, and Principal Inns : the whole forming
a complete Guide to every Object worthy the attention of
Travellers.

Our Readers will observe, by the title-page of
this.voluu►e; that it is not a mere dry List of
Roads, but professes to contain much more com-
prehensive and amusing information than may be..
expected in works of this kind, and .we may af-
firm, that the title-page does not promise more
than the Work really performs. We have, there-
fore, classed it under this department of our
Journal, because travelling' is now so generally
pursued in this country,, that auy thing which
may contribute to soften the fatigues of a journey,
and amuse the mind in its progress, cannot but
be as -highly acceptable, as it is generally useful.
The Editor, in a brief and modest Preface, tells
us that the descriptibus of many of the places
were written from his own observations, and that
for others he is indebted to some of his friends.
These descriptions are clear and pertinent, with--
out being redundant, and yet they comprise
many curious particulars, anecdotes, and accounts
of the pictUres, embellishments, antiquities, &c.
&C. in many of the:castles, .mansions,
churches, meeting-houses, and the interesting
events that have occurred through the several roads
which travellers are likely to pass iu their pro-
gress. All this information, though sufficiently
full -and. accurate, is •contained in the forru of a.
neat Pocket Volume, and is calculated to afford
instruction and entertainment to those who sit
by the fire-side, and only travel in imagination
and desire. la fact, among the innumerable pro-
ductions of this writing and travelling age, we
have not, for a long-time, met witl► any-other of
the same nature so well calculated to amuse the
Reader, and to deserve the attention of the
Public.

THE WEATHER IN CANADA.—The Quebec
Gazette of 23d May says, the weather for a few
days past has been beautiful ; vegetation is mak-
ing the most extraordinary progress, and much
of the farmers' labour is done. Some kinds of
trees are nearly in leaf, and several in full bloom.
The meadows are luxuriant, and the wheats have
shot up so fast, that they wave in the wind. The
thermometer rose to-day to 80 degrees of Fah•
renheit's scale in the shade.

A letter dated Hirschberg, in Silesia, June 20,
says—a new scheme has just been submitted
for the formation of a trading Company to South
America, the chief object of which will be the
supplying of the inhabitants upon that Continent
with wheat meal, a branch of trade highly lucra-
tive, and which has hitherto been exclusively in
the hands of the merchants of the United States.
According to the plan proposed, the Capital of
the Company in question is to be half a million
of dollars, to .be held in shares of from 2 to 500
dollars, and to bear an interest of 4 per cent. per
ann. Mr. G. Hoffmann is charged with the Sub-
scription List, and other preliminary matters, till
the Company is fully established, and a body of
Directors chosen. Thus, in all parts of Ger..
many, the Commercial Community are anxiously
forming establishments to profit by the markets
of the new world.

On the 17th ult. (says a Paris Paper) a
frightful storm ravaged a-fresh the Department
of the Tarn and Garonne, which had already
suffered ‘o severely on the 27th of April, and in
the month of May. The creps in several of the
districts have been totally destroyed by the hail,
Which was of prodigious size, followed by a
deluge of rain that completely inundated the
fields, and causing various disasters. Amongst
the Communes that have suffered most, ,are Ne-
grepalisse, Albias, Bioull, and LamothCapde-
ville. The wail post going frOm Tonlouse to
Paris was overturned in the Commune of Albias,
into a deep ditch, during this terrific storm ;' and
it was not till after three hours very hard labour,
with powerful levers and several pairs of oxen',
that the vehicle could he extricated. The
Courier and all the passengers were bruised a
good deal, though none of them were seriously
injured.
Hamburg Curropondenten of
In the early part of last !nontit, according to
erable Inn near l3ronn, in
at
itilea2r tle
ti
the Milanese, I,va.: destroyed by fire, by which
IJitynnet ,hea consid
melancholy accident two servants and twelve
horses fell a sacrifice to .the flames. T„.„ Wag-
gons, laden with valuable merchandi7e from the
fair'at Leipzig, were also consumed.

In this case two Special Jurors only having answered to their
names, Mr. SCARLETT, for the plaintiff, prayed a tales, and
ten talesmen were then added to complete the Jury.
Mr. HILL, In opening, stated that this was an action brought
by John Silk Buckingham against the defendant, who is the
publisher of the Quarterly Review, for having published in
that work a libel purporting to be a review of a work written by
the plaintiff, and entitled " Travels in Palestine, through the
Countries of Basilan and Gilead, east of the River Jordan, in-
cluding as Visit to the Cities of Geraza and Gamala, in the
Decapolis."
The defendant, pleaded the general issue, and also put upon
the record pleas of justification, alleging the truth of the state-
ments contained in the alleged libel.
Mr. SCARLETT stated the case for the plaintiff The pre-
sent action was, in consequence of the justificivions put upon
the record, outs of rareoccurrence before p tribunal of this cputi-
try. There was scaicely any thing which concerned the inte-
rests of mankind that did not at one time or another fall under
the consideration of a Judge and a Jury; and when that hap-
,pened, it was the duty of the Jury, whatever might be the dif-
ficulties with which the question was surrounded, to deal with
it, with the assistance of the Bench, to the best of their judg.
ment between both. He might say that in his long experience
he had never met a casein which a greater variety of issues were
put upon the record, or which afforded a greater latitude for ob-
servation, than existed in the present case, from the difficulty
which he (Mr. Scarlett) had of knowing where tq begin, or
what points the defendant wished to submit to the considera.
tion .a the Court and Jury. Upon those accounts he should
deal candidly and confess his embarrassment from not knowing
which side or at what end of this complicated case to be-.
gin ; inasmuch as his desire was to deal with it as he
did, more or less, with all other cases, with brevity,' and
not to waste the time of the Court in general or fruitless
discussion, but to come at once to the precise point for
the consideration of the Jury: In a case of this kind jus-
tice would not be done to either party by merely reciting
the matters on the record, and then stating the nature of the
evidence which he intended to offer. In this case it was neces-
L sary to state circumstances more at length. The plaintiff was
a gentleman who had passed a great part of his life in India,
and during his residence there, he, being a man of talent and,
information, published a work, entitled ." Buckingham's Tra-
vels in India." The publication of those Travels acquired for
the plaintiff the good opinion and well wishes of many people
in India, together with a considerable portion of literary fame.
With the result of that publication in India the plaintiff was
quite satisfied ; but the complaint which he made in this Court
was, that the defendant, being the publisher of a very popular
and widely circulated work, called the " Quarterly Review,"
had, instead of confining himself to a fair criticism of the plain-
tiff's work, published a foul libel upon his private character,
and held him up as an object of contempt and detestation.—
'this was the general nature of the charge; and the plaintiff in-
structed him (Mr. Scarlett) to state, that if the reviewer had
confined himself to that province f literature, which affords
great room for difference of opinion and for severity of remark
—if the defendant had stated that the plaintiff was an un-
learned man, ignorant of ancient languages—a man not having
any such knowledge of science as would enable him to write a
work of this description, and had pointed out in the work the
materials to justify such remarks, he would be the last man to
complain in a Court of Justice, because such remarks would be
nothing more than fair and just criticism, and the plaintiff
would, on such an occasion, rest satisfied with the commenda-
tions bestowed on his book by the other reviewers who, in the
discharge of their duty, had criticised it ; but when the author
of a review stepped beyond the line of ethicist, and made
his review the vehicle of private malice and personal slan-
der, then, indeed, had the person thus assailed a 'rright to
appeal for redress to a Jury of his country. It rarely hap-
pened that a man of the plaintiff's age and experience
went through the world without meeting with some person
from whom he differed with some person, who, whether
well or ill founded, entertained feelings of enmity to-
ward him. This very man must expect, and the wider the
circle of his acquaintance, the more likely he was to encoun-,'
ter such men • and in such cases a man was entitled to expect
that such differences of opinion should not, through the means
of a party not connected with the transaction out of which those
differences had.arisen, be made the vehicle of public attack.—
There was an old observation which was quite true, that the
task of criticism was easier than the task of execution ; every
person thought himself capable of judging, but few were ca-
pable of acting.. It was notan uncommon thing for a reviewer
to sit down to his task without . having any materials of knows
ledge except such as the work furnished, but by fact and dex-
terity such a person often made a review a very saleable ar-
ticle, and convinced the ordinary reader that the reviewer had
more knowledge upon the subject than the author of the work ;
but the reader who looked deeper would discover the ignorance
of the reviewer, and that all he knew was gleaned from the
work which he professed to criticise. The occupations of the
mass of mankind were such as prevented them from looking
through the work, and those persons were satisfied with the
opinion of the reviewer, who might safely make whatever as-
sertions lie pleased, and which, it' false, would not, in all pro-
bability; be detected, except by the author or his friends. He
should shew the Jury, in order to enable them to judge of the
motives which influenced the reviewer, several glaring instances
of misquotation from the work which he professed to review.—
lt was fair that he (Mr. Scarlett) should state to the Jury the
particular grounds selected by the defendant for the purpose
of attacking the plaintiff, and for that purpose it would be ne-
cessary for him to lay before the Jury an outline of the travels
of the plaintiff. He begged the Jury not to be alarmed at
what he had stated, for he could assure them that he would oc-
cupy as little of their time as he possibly could. He was not
going to criticise the work ;* but when the Jury were called
upon topronounce their judgment it was but fair that they should
'be made acquainted with the circumstances which gave rise to
this book. It appeared that the plaintiff, after having passed
several years, in India, visited Alexandria, and whilst he was
there it was agreed to establish a commercial connection be-
tween Egypt and Bombay ; in order to carry this into effect it
was necessary to acquaint the merchants of Bombay with the
commodities of Egypt, and of the treaty entered into by the
Pacha of Egypt for their safe conveyance across the Desert;
and it was agreed that the plaintiff should proceed overland to
India to effect that object. It was also agreed that Mr. Buc-
kingham being a nautical man, and well acquainted with
the Red Sea, should navigate vessels through it, should
be established as a factor at Suez, and should receive a
commission on 'all the metchandize received by him. Mr.
Buckingham being a traveller, and so perfect a master
of the Arabic as to be able to pass through Egypt without a
guide, it was proposed that-he should be the bearer of a letter
from the merchants in Egypt to' the merchants of Bombay, and
also of the treaty entered into between them and the Pacha of
Egypt. In January, 1816, the plaintiff set out from Alexandria,
and took with hint two copies of the treaty, in order to avail
himself of any chance conveyance to Bombay which might pre-
sent itself. Ile knew that the proper-rout, if practicable, would
be from Alexandria to Aleppo, and thence to Bombay, but
those shores were very dangerous, and a passage to the most
convenient port very precarious. However, the plaintiff took
his passage on hoard a vessel bound for a yortan Syria, but,
by stress of weather, they put into Soor, where they stopped
to put the vessel into repair. ' In consequence of the time which
must necessarily be occupied in repairing the vessel, the plain-,
.tiff began to, consider whether he might not be able to effect
his, journey by another rout, but the Pacha of Damascuit
having lately died, a dispute arose between the Pacha of
Tripoli and the Pacha of Acre as to which of them`was to be
his successor. Such an event in those countries caused great
agitation, indeed so much so that it would not be safe firs the
plaintiff to travel without having a passport from each Pacha
through whose dominions he wished to pass. In this state of
things the plaintiff thought that a native could travel with less
difficulty than a European, anti being very' anxious for the de-
livery of the letters and treaty at Bombay, he procured a native,
who was well recommended to him, and to this native he en-
trusted those documents, which arrived in Bombay in the
spring of 1816, long before the plain tifrcould ltave arrived there.
The plaintiff' having been obliged to travel through the domi-
nions of the Pacha of Acre, was obliged to go to Acre to ob-
tain a passport, but on his arrival at Acre he was told that the
Paella was at Jerusalem, and thither the plaintiff was obliged
to go. On his arrival at Jerusalem it was his fortune to meet
with a gentleman of high honour, of large fortune, and of con-
siderable learning=with Mr. Bankes, the Member of Par-
liament fov the University of ,Cambridge, in whose co'ai.

pany the plaintiff spent a week, and viaited with film two
-orethree• places in. the neighbourhood. of Jerusalem ; and as
their rout lay in the. same direction,.they travelled together
as far as Damascus, -where the plaintiff , left Mr. BernlEntis,
and pursued his own rout;- but. in conacquence of the siiaa
turbed state of the country, end his ill health, he was obliged;-
. to return to the place from' which .be,set .out' ;stud having
again visited the places in . the neighbourhoodof Jerusalem,
and taken his bearings, &c. of the different objects, 4.44*
for Aleppo, and in The followipg September.arrived at. Beni,
bay, when be learned that such was the activity and diligem,
of the native messenger to whom. he entrusted his letters and
treaty, that the bills would arrive in London in the foilewing ,
November. It was true that upon the plaintiff's arrival;, et
Bombay, a gentleman who was a partner in the house at Alexsl
andria, finding that the object of the mission had not beet;
' accomplished, required that the plaintiff -should repay him the
money advanced to defray the expences of the journey frem
Alexandria to Bombay, and after some discussion the plaintiff
agreed to half the sum advanced. The plaintiff having, frofn
constant habit;become a most minute and laborious note taker,
shewed, upon his arrival at Culcutta, the notes and observe,
tions which be had. made during his journey to several friends,
among whom 'was the late Dr. Middleton, the Bishop of Cal-
cutta, and was recommended to publish them. The -plaintiff
afterwards sent the manuscript to a friend of his in England,
whia handed it 'over to the defendant, who agreed to publish it,
upon terms highly advantaehous to the plaintiff, but in cons's-
quence of circumstances which afterwards occurred, Mr.• Mar-
ray declined having any thing to do with the work. What
Anise motives were it was dot necessary for the purposes ef-the
present action to inquire ; -but if lie (Mr. S.) were acquainied
with those motives and their origin, he should feel himself
justified, by personal motives, to abstain from mixing them
up with the present discussion. The plaintiff's friend having
met with a refusal-from Mr. Murray, applied to another hooka
seller, who, probably influenced by the same causes which ope-
rated in a contrary direction upon Mr. Murray, published the
book, and upon that publication almost every periodical literary
work in the country had bestowed almost unqualified praise.
It was reserved for thesQnarterly to make the attack, which he
would again repeat, if it were a fair review, pointing out the
literary defects of the work, would never have been the se hjest
of the present action. Be did not mean to prove the fact, but
he thought it would be a fair subject for the consideration of the
Jury, looking at. all the circumstances of this case, whether the
reviewer did not-sometimes make this review the vehicle of puff-
ing and advertising his own. publications, and throwing disre-
pute upon the publicatiOns of other rival tradesmen. , Literary
men know best whether such things take place. He (Mr.
Scarlett) belonged tota profession which it was the fashion of
late years to say, was excluded from the liberal arts ; but, not-
' withstanding this, he had heard (he did not now speak of the
,Quarterly) although the fact was not within his knowledge,
that a wretched novel might he puffed for ten guineas ; and. he
had also heard that, for a trifling consideration, a man would be.
allowed to attack his enemy in a review. All those arts did not
tend to promote the credit which ought to be paid to works of
this nature. But, although such practices did not redound to
the credit of the work; it worked, much to the disadvantage of
' those against whose character such articles were directed ; and
the compact between the people and the reviewer was violated ;
because the public had a right to get from the person who set
himself up as a reviewer of the literary works of the country,
sound and rational, instead of false, information. He should
now shew how the privilege of a reviewer was abused in this
instance, and how he began his attack by stating a falsehood.—
He did not make this falsehood the foundation of cotnpiaint
against the defendant, but he mentioned it merely to shew ate!'
animus of the libeller, and that his object was not candour and
truth, but calumny and detractions -[The Learned' Couneel
here read a passage from Mr. Buckingham's book.) Even in
the description of the vessel in which the plaintiff took his pa.
'sage from Egypt to Syria, the defendant charged him with
falsehood. But it would be seen, upon a reference to the vig-
nette in the beginning of the plaintiff's work; that the descrip- .
tion was correct. Here was a direet charge of fraud against Mr.
Buckingham. The reviewer charged him with having taken the
drawing of the vignette from another, and attempted to pass it
off as his own, but if the reviewer had read the preface of the
plaintiff's work—and without reading the preface of a work it
was impossible to review it—it would be seen that the plaintiff.
had stated the name of the author- from whom he had taken the
vignette. With respect to that part of the work in which the:.
plaintiff describes the ruins of Geraza„ the defendant, in his,
review, comes to the conclusion, that probably Mr. Bucking..
ham was right in saying they were the ruins of Geraza, but in.
his index he said they were the ruins of Pella. The plaintiff
in his work quoted the authority of Gibbon for the ruins of
Geraza and Pella; but, would it be believed, the reviewer,
charged him with having omitted the authority of' Gibbon, anti
giving it upon his own authority. With respect to the ruins of
Gamala, the plaintiff gave authorities otih both sides,. and drew
his own conclusions, and that authority was confirmed by the
authority of Mr. Burkhardt, a celebrated traveller, whose works
were published by the defendant. if any man were to read
this review he would think that the plaintiff was a man ignorant,
of the place about -which he was writing, and that, instead -qf
giving information to his readers, he deserved their pity. [The .
Learned Counsel here read the libels, commented upon them
as he went along, and compared the various passages in *the.
libel with the passages in the work, to shew that the passages in
the libel were not justified.] With respect to the charge of it,-
' fidelity and profaneness made against the plaintiff, he would.-
say, that a single passage in the whole work could not be
duced to shew that the plaintiff did not feel the greatest re,::
verence and respect for the • Sacred Writings,
_What ! was
not a man who had travelled through the places described in
the Holy Scriptures, to be allowed to explain such passages
by the observations which he had made on the spot, without
being open to the charge of a reviewer, that lie wished -to
bring those writings into .contempt ? With respect to Oh.
charge in the libel that the plaintiff had been employed ea'
travel to India from Alexandria, he would say, that the plaintiff.
had no employers, -that he had an interest in the concerrisfqi
which he travelled, that with that he was to rise and withahat
he was to fall, but he was not, as the writer of this libel insh.
nuated, a hireling. kl'ith respect to the charge of the plaintiffoaL
ingratitude towards his benefactor, the reviewer did not 404
least explain who he meant by that benefactor, hut that omisslim'
was supplied in the note, and-the name of Mr. Bankes wilt*
mentioned. Now he was instructed by the plaintiff to say that
he did not know in what way Mr. Bankes was his benefactoPe
that he certainly derived -great pleasure ,from that gentleman's"
conversation and society ; but that as far as the plaintiff tOnld
recollect about the journey from'Jerusalem, it was thus :—.Mr:
Bankes's suite consisted of his servant anti two Arabs; and Mt:
Buckingham rode a horse, but was unaccompanied by a servant:
As there was no public inns in that country, travelling expenceti
consisted in little presents made to the persons with whoni treVels, •
lets stopped ; and when Mr. Buckingham arrived at Dain'asets's',
he put down die.. expences of the journey, which emoutited lo
216 piastres, half of which he, al; hough he travelled withOht
guide; paid. -That Mr. Bankes knew this, Mr. Buckinghata'
believed, from the fact of Mr. Bankes having had in his- poisess•
sion at Damascus the book in which this entry was made, but
even admitting the fact to be otherwise, what would be there-4'
suit ? That Mr. Bankes, a gentleman of fortune,travelling fron'
Jerusalem to Damascus; with three servants, and another Ents
glish gentleman, incurred expences to the amount of St. losse
and that he would not suffer the other gentleman to pay his,patt,
amounting to 1/. 7s. 6d. lie did not believe that Mr. Bankes
could have had any thing to do with such a statement. He wbod
not believe, nay, he would hardly believe it if,Mr. Bankes were
to slate it upon his oath, that he had spoken of such a trans.
action.. The thing was ridiculous • it was too preposterous to
reason upon for a moment; and he should dismiss it with this
observation, that he believed Mr. Bankes under an irritatioatif
feelings, excited by an apprehension that the plaintiff was going
to publish information given to him by Mr. Bankes. Mien.
might have said something which was tortured by- some
cious acquaintance into the statement contained in,the
With respect to the sketch alleged to have been copied by-the
plaintiff, upon a promise not to publish it, he, would stiv
that sketch that Mr. Bankes was assisted by the plaintiffs who
measured the distances, he (Mr. B.) being obliged, in- sonse*-
quence of the opinion of the Mahometans, that taking sketches
was a violation of the Second Commandment, to take his
sketches privately, and in obscure ,situations; but, notiiitht.
standing this, he would say, and he should prove,' that the
drawing published in Mr. Buckingham's book was a drawing
made by a gentleman at Culcutta, pursuant tothe obsetvatiblis
made vby Mr. Buckingham when he paid , the ,second visit m
Jerusalem. The plaintiff did. not for a moment =mean to in-
sinate that Mr. Bankes was 'the author of the On the
contrary, he had too high an opinion of the honour, -the learn-
ing, and integrity, of that gentleman, to imagine that he could
have written such an article ; and he regretted much that the
mistake which had taken possession of that gentleman's mind
should have prevented him from having done that-Which he Kad
once. intended to have done, namely, to have elided his notes,

ZSs observations, and his drawings to the Plaintiff's work ; and
Sa now, in the name of the plaintiff; expressed a hope that
Mr. Bankes would, in order to dispel from his mind the mis-
take whiCh had taken possession of it, respecti•g the publica-
ion of the drawing, carefully compare the drawing published
by the plaintiff with the drawing taken by Mr. Bankes at Je-
rasalern. He had to apologize to the Jury for the length of
time which he had occupied, and he had only to remind them
that in case his Learned Friend should, instead of relying on
his justification, abandon them, and not give him (Mr. S.)
o.nother opportunity of addressing them. Their duty was to
consider whether they were not bound to give a verdict which
would operate as a warning to the anonymous slanderer, who
stemd out of his way to destroy private character.
Jetin-Peterson, -the clerk of the plaintiff's attorney, swore
that oft the 2411 of Dec. 1823, he purchased the 52d Number
of the " Quarterly Review" at the defendant's shop.
Mr. PAitxc ohjec.r:sl to the declaration. He contended that
as the index was a reference to parts of the alleged libel, those
parts ought, in setting forth the index, to be set forth in the de.
elsrstion. The index was an unqualified statement, but if the
passages to which it referred were set forth, those passages would
qualify the index.
Mr. BROUGHAM having been heard on the other side,
The LORD CHIEF J trsTicE over-ruled the objection. If
the index were a libel it was a separate libel, and it was not
therefore necessary, in setting it forth, to set forth any passage
to which it referred.