The Sun.
London, England, 1829-08-12 00:00:00

It is true the Elders take it as well as the Candi-
dates, but as they are better fed, they support more
easily the operation and the violence of the remedy.
They use for its composition green tobacco leaves.
They bray a certain quantity, of which they press
out the juice, which they put in water, and leave
it to ferment for two or three days. 'I he best wine
of Europe does not ferment like this liquor. The
Elders of the Piayes and their Candidates meet
when it is in a state to be drunk, and drink it out of
conis, of which the least holds at least a French
pint. They are soon intoxicated and sick; they re-
commence after the paroxysms, which are more se-
vere to the Candidates than the Elders. The num-
ber of cups which must be drunk is fixed by the
Elders. The Candidates must drink them all,
though they should remain on the spot. This
liquor is very bitter, and they are allowed to eat
nothing between. It will easily be allowed that
twelve such doses a year are fully equal to twelve
of the most knotty Theses, and twelve examinations
even by our Apothecaries. During the three first
years they follow their profession of Botany, and
they learn to know plants and the simples necessary
for their medicines. They are taught also the mode
of using them; but it is during the fourth year that li
they show him the soul of their art. Now he must
redouble his attention ; for what he has hitherto
learnt is nothing, or very little in comparison of the
secrets now communicated to him, which must reader
him respectable, rich, and in great request.
" Some time before the revolution of the last
star, the Elders meet, the Candidate presents him-
self quite naked; and he who has instructed him, or
one of the most ancient, scarify his whole body front
the neck to the Feet, with the edge of a razor or any
other sharp instrument. This painful and cruel
operation is called Epene in their language. These
scarifications are so managed that they cut the whole
epidermis in the manner of lozenges, which draw
from him a good part of the remainder of his blood.
This is in the order, though reversed, of our medi-
cine, which begins with bleeding, and ends with
opening; while that of Guaiana begins with strong
and frequently repeated drastics, and ends with a
copious bleeding.
" At the end of the fourth year they conduct him
into the forest, seek a nest of wasps larger and more
venomous than ours of France ; they cover his eyes
to preserve his sight, which he would otherwise lose;
they exhort him to remain firm and to suffer this last
trial which will put the seal to his happiness, and
they then throw a stick into the nest. The wasps,
irritated, fall on him, and leave him in a dreadful
condition. These are his provisions, his robe and
' his cap. The Elders then give him the hand of
fellowship, acknowledge him as Playe, compliment
him, and lead him to an entertainment prepared by
r him to thank them for the honour done to him in
making him a member of their body."
By this trial the Indian Doctors succeed in
; preventing their profession from being over-
; loaded—the great end and object of all profes-
s sional trials.—/bid.

The admirers of romance, as well as those
who look to the " glorious uncertainty of the
law," must have had both their inclinations
gratified by a trial which took place a few days
since at Bury St. Edmund's, wherein a man was
arraigned for cutting the throat, and thereby at-
tempting to murder the object of his affections,
who, with all the native kind-heartedness, con-
stancy, and ardour of her sex, declared that she
believed the attack upon her life was " all for
love ;" and in the end, by the kind interference
of the Judge, And with the consent and to the
manifest satisfaction of all parties, the prosecu-
tion was abandoned, the prisoner acquitted, and
the silken bands of Hymen exchanged for those
of a more fearful quality and aspect. Nothing
can have been more truly amiable and delightful
than the conduct of the venerable Judge, Mr.
Baron Garrow, upon the occasion. He, it is
clear, has not outlived the best and kindliest
affections of our nature ; nor have age, or the
scenes it has been his lot to witness, produced
one atom of that obduracy, which, though it
may add to the sternness of the judgment-seat,
takes from it its brightest charms, tenderness
and mercy. It is true, that, technically speaking,
there may be an apparent awkwardness about
this transaction. By a fiction of law, crimes are
presumed to be committed, not against the
injured party, but against " the peace of
our Sovereign Lord the King, his Crown
and dignity ; ' and it is for acting upon a
principle somewhat resembling that which has
occurred upon this occasion that we hear so
much sometimes said about compounding penal
offences. But every one who reads what oc-
curred upon this trial must be delighted that
there is at least a discretion lodged somewhere
which can soften down its rigour, and rob the
law even of its bitterest terrors, where a ''air
opening for such a result presents itself. May
we hope that this precedent will not be lost
upon any of those who have the administration
of justice in all or any of its branches? How
many persons are destined to ruin, and some-
times to ignominious death, where, if a due dis-
crimination were used, they might be saved to
society and themselves. Are there none, for
instance, who now execute the Criminal Law
who would not have taken a different view of
this very matter to that which Mr. Baron Gar-
row took, and who, tied down to what is called
" the path of duty," would have left the law to
take its course ? If there are any such, we
trust they will not be above taking a lesson from
what occurred on this occasion. The law would
be a much greater terror than it is to evil-
doers were its sternness, as on this occasion,
allowed to bend to circumstances, and if mercy
were permitted to interpose promptly and effec-
tually when neither individuals nor society can
be injured by its exercise.—Morning Herald.
No one can have attended a Bankruptcy
Meeting, which too many have, unfortunately,
occasion to do, without being disgusted at the
scene which they almost invariably witness.
The mob at a police-office is nothing to it ; for
at the former, the Commissioners are mixed up
with the crowd, and are generally no otherwise
known or distinguished than by keeping on their
hats, to show their consequence, in a hot room,
and by generally neither knowing nor caring any
thing about what is going on. Indeed, how can
that be otherwise ? It is a very common maxim,
that no man can attend to two things at once.
Lord Eldon, however, hearing that these persons
were in the habit of appointing meetings to be
held under six or more Commissions at one and
the same hour, issued an order limiting them to
three, which, we humbly conceive, were two too
many. These gentlemen, however, who have no
objection to move for a poor devil's commitment
to the Fleet prison, for what they call a contempt
of Court, deem it no contempt in themselves to
disregard an order of the Lord Chancellor ; and
Lord Lyndhurst, it seems, has just discovered
that, instead of confining themselves to three,
they are actually in the habit of fixing seven,
eight, nine, and even ten meetings, under as
many Commissions, to take place at the same
hour, and has condescended to address a circular,
under his own hand, to the whole body, exact-
ing a better, or, rather, some attention to Lord
.Eldon's order for the future. Had his Lord-
ship cashiered a few of the offending parties,
pour encourager les autres, it would have been
better. At ieast7 if clients are to be sent to