The Sun.
London, England, 1810-11-07 00:00:00

S;CILY.

Mont-0 follOwing,Extraa of a Letter from Sicily,
get, oos some curious particulars respecting the pre--
t State of that , country. It was written at Au-
' by an English officer now •that place.
A.O
gusto is hUilt on the site of the ancient citadel •
ron legara ; the ancient city is supposes to tiaVe stood .!
01c the' Pay, where are still ti be seen remnants
antiquity. If is now a mis,:qablei. ill buiit, ill-.
E"nv,e'd dirty town. It is hol.vet.er toleribly extensive,
z
is built upon a good plan, all.the streets running
toeach of her. Tire retrial katly strong Work
1:1e4 the CaStle, dtf,;ndS the entrance, into the Is-
laud of Sicily, ..n which the town is situated, from
e land. Towar.is the ezylilie ple..ce is -also well
t eured both
.hy nature. "and art. The harbour is
v'
aZrY excellent, kfrid tie.lerled: The country
this_Bay is very pretty,' but the roads.are •so
leciahly bad,. that ills scarcely possiole to go out-
hideof Lite ..v. Immediately north of the town,
e have Mou'tt ALtria‘ in lull view, covered for a
°n'iderahle distance 'trout its dater. with an unin-
terrupted street of snow, which gives it a 'rnos sin 7
tirar
.ap;.eaiance- The ,season here has been the
urst that leasleas'tver bten remembered. T;,e thun-
der sortns have bern drcadful, and th4.rnoun-
Is cOustacily_ smoking ; so that she, enple ale
"rY apprdmnstve t:t* an eruption or ;11).5.101(1u:die
LLitlitr -of which they
.in the highest
„rte.

Saott fter my arrival bete, I got' leave to go, to
Yracuse, wlocti distant..about 18 miles from us
I.
()f coesse saw all the liens, wish which. I
atTlUse(lo God knows what form Dionysius'
hail originally, but at present the extetior
of tne cav,..rn rtsetnbles more the tar
s 44' ass than that of a man, and I do not-think, it
,
ever have. nad any other appearance, as the
Verier is as- per feet 16 if it was formed yesterday.
title present
.entrance mast once have been eloped,
lleter could nave been the dungeon it is re-
trireseoted to have been, for it is now nothing mole
a very extensive cavern cut into the solid rock.
'-I.'l that remains of the Ch;itnber of Dionysius, is a
• 411 square hole in the rock, about So feet from
the), -ground, C...1t, into a sock at present perfe'ctly
va'rPendicular. I had the curiosity to go into it,
1,(1 was hauled up by a rope which was lasteutd,at
te top ut the rock. - I . did:. not much like
.my airy-
• but accomplished soy object. While I was
my pdrty made trial of the etfect of the
`▪ avtritt could he-at the lowest whisper in every
tart-.oi the' caveln generally very distinctly, and I
tifiv. no doubt, w hen the present entrance was en)—
C, that every word that was uttered Inns' nave
eta heard in the recess above.. That part of the
ruck in which the chamber was situated,.or at least
t entrance to il, must h 'ye bten hrown do w n by an
and indeed at a distance from the
itte
:iverit' kb to be seen part of a flight of steps cut Into
s 'lid rock, which have ea silently been over-
tlijned by an earthquake. It is rtain'iy .toost
10';plar circumstance alit
_lllo.gki the ancient city
tvhi Syracuse .was bath op.:it the solid rock, . that
is not the least vestige of the foundatiOn of
'louse to be tractd. 1-1.. d the city been built
Pna earth this ought ;,a‘e happened, but one
Would have imaginea that rite ;loughs . cut for. ttle
t
2thidatiOnh of the iio ses in the solid rock would
• The
have been effaced ; such however is the Id'.
'ile remains of th Amphitheatre and. Theatre
are nothing more ;han scats cut iato the solid rock,
In first ail round, and in the second half round
large pit. There is not the smallest vestige of any
iii?nPerstruc, ure. The catacombs are, most estr,aor-
b'ary Lxi:avati,,ns; thry.are salt.. to have been the
urial places of the city, but I cannot think it.
I -
think they' have teen places of residence., most
ItkelY (3f the original iiihanitants. I was a good deal
1,;a(18.1kd at for this opinion at Syracuse, but I after-
ard3 changed their opinions. I discovered another
:Col catacombs Linde- the present city of Syracuse,
least none of the. Engttsh seemed to know of
their existence. Here I found a well with a fine
aPrlng,.and a regular flight of steps leading down it.
lq other
respets these catacombs were in their plan
a 8
to tine large catacombs,- except that there
ta no - appearance of Sarcophagi; which is the'
Se in the larger excavations. Now pray', what use
Could- (lead' bodies have for a well wttli steps down
My opinion is,' theiefore, that these excava-
;lit"s were originally dwelling places, but were aftee-
t ards used as 'depositaries for the dead,- for in all
.11)Pt'arattee they have certainly-at some period been
tut 03 that use. If they were intended for burials,
nieces, the ancient Sicilians must' lava been
,ex
s'enaely fund of that kind of work, tor..the whole
Of the rt:ky ridge whiCh composes the Hybla Hills,
s't
'd A bleb run•hetween Syracuse and Augusta, are,
ull of she e excavations. It wduld be en(!h-ss to
I:ldescribe all tht antiquities of Syracuse, and,,except
rYclone, u ho is not a very cot reel author, I do not
k
• t.llll°lx who to leCominend you 'to fora description'of
e place. One thing, bow( ver, I must mention,
11. Ille centre of the present 'town; (the ancient Or-
-ligia), is site ancient temple oh Minerva, quite per-
. the
The fine massiveluscan pthars still remain,
and
intervals• between which have been filled up,:
With
.a new front 'stuck full of the 'statues of
• clints, it has been transformed into the Episcopal
Church of the diocese, the Blessed Virgin now oc-
.4llPYing the altar originally dedicated -to the God-
ves' of Wisdom. What do you think of this by
laY of a,change But I believe this is not the only
ae where nearly the same superstitious ceremonies
same
be.en praettsetl at' different periods under the
erne roof ; in other words- w here ancient temples
eve. been metamorphosed into Christian churches.
'laid at- Syracuse only three days, and was so un-
fortunate as to be obliged to leave it a day betete
i
the
celebration of the grand festival of Saint Lucia,
• PatroneSs of the Town ; a young lady who was
-ikovered to be a Saint, as she was fighting Most
kiu4ibt for her siirginity,cwit h one Pascazzio, a Saracen
wino put her-to death for not gratifying his
wishes,

Cep. TARLETON'S regiment, the 4 st Dragoons,
ss t° proceed trout -the Cape to India, and is to be
pl'eceeded by the gth Light Dragoons, Gen. Lord
`u4storN's regiment.

t2tr PL'POltr.

XASTMINSTER MALL.

Yesterday being the first day of Mieliztelmas
Term, the LORD CHANCEL.WR, attended by the
Judges, King's'Serjeants, and King's Counsel, went
id state to Westminster Hall, end opened their re-
spective Courts.

•
COURT OF KING'S BENCH.
The diferent 'keepers of convicts; at. Woolwich,
Fort Cumberland, -and L'angstane Hat bout, gave in
their respe6tive accounts oft heir seveKal pt isonrs.
The Court tlien proceeded to hear Motions in
justification of bail', with which they were occup'i'ed
tiff nearly tour o'clock.
At that hour the ATTO lINEy -Gal era I rose, and
moved for a Criminal information against a • Mr.

Jenkins, who•is hinter of a Journal published -in
Wales, called " The Cambrian 'Gazette:" The
Learnrd Genleman stated, that Ih;s application was
made to his Lordship on behalf of a most reSpeaed
and valued Prelate, the 'meant the Lord Bisluip of
Derry, for One of the mostlmpUdetit, as well as one
of the Most-scandakus and false slanders that at any

itne disgraced the presS. Their Lordships, said the
Attorney General, would recollect that some short

. .
time ago t here
,appeared in several newspapers
_Para-
graphs, copied (and in the copying varied) from the
Paper called ' The Cambrian Gazeite," to which
he had just-altided, and which announced thq: t 1 4,
diAtinpishedTrclate hal been Gazeted as a bank-

rapt.
(Here the Learned Gentleman read the paragraph
verbatim). It conveyediu direst and unequivocal
terms; that the Bisliop of Derry had 'actually ken
not only bankrupt in cuctunstatves, but that a cow.
mission of bankrupt had actually been issued aga:,nst
him, w hick was inserted in the Gazette. Fur my
part " said the Attorney-General," when I reid it
so strongly and so, roundly asserted, I really did be-
lieve that the circumstance so stated was an actual
tact, till time and other eventi soon developed the
contrary.. From whatever motive so foul .a aunt,
ny, or so grotondless a libet;,C;old-be. ushered into
public consideration, the Learned Prelate and all
Ins friends are to-tally at a loss to account; but it
was Trite, necessary that the Court should be put
in. Possession of some fasts, which,. when re-
la4ed; 'would place that' Learned 'and Reverend
Lord Most distinguished as a Man and 'as a Chris-'
Oat), and convince the world' how gross and,ill
plied was tre scandalous and libellous slander that
attacked him. The LOrd Bishop of Derry, conti.
nued the Attorney General, is no leSs celebtated,
for the spiendf)6, of Ins appointinents; and the ex-
tent of, his v. ealth , than-he is hononrably distinguish.'
eel for,his.bount, mmificer,ce, and ; and.
io these endowthents of wind ;he adds another, that
has m,,de i.im not only revered, but adored by all
.4+o know bitu ; tf.r, unlike numbers who abound
in wealth and acquigitions; the Bishop of Derry,with
a ,praise-worthy desire to. encourage pnceful and
industrious pursuits,to assist the artisan and manufac-
turer„ excite by such encouragement laud,
able and i'.i:tustrious habits among the Mechanic
and manufacturing inhabitants of his diocese, most.
beneficenily has advanced out of his princely .re-
venues several sums of . money to • the descrying
,and mg.-Mous, to enable them. to carry on their
respective pursuits with advantage, to themselves
and to their country. In. doing . this, he n''-
ver exacted as much as, :interest • from one of
them, the interest only, which, he sought, being
the gratification of seeing them rendered happy and.
useful by his efforts. This was his sole object ;
,for,
so far fiom even haying interest .or advantage*
view, he really advanced these monies under an 'al-
MoSt certain risk of loss, When this was considered,.
it would be found that the libel was greatly aggra."
%rated by the falsity and wickedness of it ; and he
entertained no doubt but that the Court
grant the rule. He observed that this slander was
nut confined to the Xournal where it first appearq,
but was copied, with, some additions and,alteratnanS,
into several,otoers, which he enumerated, respeSting'
Which his friend Mr. Gairow had- instructions to
make similar applications.
. Lord EI4ENDP ROUGH observed, that the libel con-,'
tained matter sufficiently degrading to make it an ob-
Jett of public prosecution, and in the absence of Mr.
Garrow (who is indisposed), his- Lordship said that
fe would take his mctions from, any other Gentle-
Ilan. • •

Mr. IiAMPIEIi then moved fora similar rule upon
he sane aferclaritts. against the Proprietor of an Even-
ng Pver.—,The other motions were deterred-
Rules, Nisi,7granted.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
The Judge; of this Court took trwir seats with the
usual formality.

IlitpDON V. PARRY.
Mr. Serjean( SHEPHERD 'IDOVrd for a' rule • to
shew cause why the nonsuit in this case should not
be set aside, and a new trial granted4---It was an
atilion on a polioy of insurance on dollars, shipped
on board the Reck 'sloop of war.' The sloop:, was
captured after a gallant defence, hi which t.er Cap-
..tain, Lieutenant Lawrence, was killed. The tlion
was brought' to recover the dollars. of . the Under-
writers, and the bi.l of lading was produced, to pit.i'*e"
that they were in the possession• Of. Capt:tin Law-
rence ; but it was not .allowed by the
.Learned
Judge to be evidence of the dollars. being on boar&
The plaintiff was of course nonsuited. ,
It was contended in supprt of the present 'Liao.
tion, that the bill of lading was admissible evidence. •
The Learned Serjeant said, in a cage where, the
owner of land had • produced his steward's book-tn
. describe the rents, the book had been received as.
evidence, though the steward was dead, because it
•was not supposed he would have made etlihrSi
charging himself With money, utile4s he had receiv-
ed it. The case was the same with Lieut. Law-
rence : that gallant officer being dead, his bill of lad-
ing ought to be admitted in the same manner as the
book of the steward of a manor.
- Sir J'AS. MANSFIELD.--1 think these is some clif-.
ference between these cases. - Supposing'the bill of.
lading proved that theSe,.goods were put on hoard,
still they might have been t-ii;:en out again. There
is, however, another case long establiiiied in the

. .
Cnnrt of Excheqr.er, that the eti!tsil a mails by 6
clergyman in favour of himself, is evidence. I should
like to have the point considered-. It is known
t fie Cour(of
...V.xch-egae.r; • that the . parson entering
tithes which lipd been in' fat;otir of his ptelecessors,'
is evidence.—Take a rule toaliexir cause:

SCOTT V. GILMAN.

Ttuis was an application to set aside the non-suit,
and enter a verdict for the plaintit, It was an tie-,
ti a on a bill of exchange fur ten It air=
},cared that the bill had been given in satisirction of
spirituous liquors delivered, and money lent. Mr.
Serjeaut Best' contended. at the trial that the action
could not be 'sustained. The act of the 24th of
George the Second had precluded any penon from
supporting an action tOr spirituous liquors delivered
in small .quantitks, and the 'bill being tur spirits it
was an:illegal transaction.
The objection was fatal, and llte plaintiff was non-
suited.'

It was now contended that part of the plaintiff 's
demand being for money lent when he received tbe
bill, a legal conqideration was given in part, and
therefore it was admissible.

Sir JAMES MANSFIELD--Any illegal consideration
attached tp .the• bill must atfed thy; wholeinstrp-
ment, and i do not think, you can recover in the
action.—Rule refused.