The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-09-23 00:00:00

LITERARY NOTICES.

The Harmony of Phrenoldify with Scripture : shown in a Refu‘a-
tion of the Philosophical Errors contained. in Mr. Consbe's
"Constitution of Man." By William Scott, Esq., Edinburgh.
Fraser and Co., 1836.

. _
Among the various works which have recently emanated from
the press, we know of none more calculated to corrupt the prin-
ciples of the superficial and unreasoning reader than the popu-
lar, and, in many respects, fascinating work of Mr. Conabe on
" The'Constitution of Man." It contains numberless theories
and positions which are diametrically opposed to the divine re-
cords, and, in their tendency, subversive of huthan happiness.
In the masterly work before, us these infidel notions are com-
bated with the greatest success. The author has entered most
fully, into the subject, and abundantly proved the danger of for-
saking the light of revelation for the .ilelusive glimmerings of
" philosophy falsely so called." The plausible analogies con-
tained in Mr. Combe's work are exhibited in striking contrast
with those which are fairly, deducible froM facts and corro-
borated by hiStory. We very much .regret that our space to-
day will not admit of our giving any extracts from this triumphant
vindication of the sacred volume.. We shall, howevei, recur to
the subject; and, in the meantime, we earnestly recommend to
our readers the perusal .of Mr. Scott's refutation, especially to
such 'as may have' been imposed 'upon by the premature sys-
tematising of a.science which is still in its nonage, and which
numbers among its votaries .so many avowed unbelievers.

The British Colonial Library, by R. Montgomery Martin, Esq,,
F.S.S., in twelve volumes. Vol. HI. History of Southern
Africa. London: Mortimer, 186.

This is a republication, in a more portable shape, of the ela-
borate work of Mr. Martin on the British Colonial PoisCssions—
a work which is destined to occupy a prominent position in our
standard
.lith'ratUre. The present volume contains a luCid
description -cif the history, physical characters, climates, pro-
ductions, population, government, &c.,.0f the important and
flourishing colonies of the Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Sey-
chelles,. &c. It is replete with information on the capabilities
and resources of these distant possesSions. One of the most
valuable features in the work is the copiodsness of its statistical
returns. These are evidently drawn up with the greatest dili-
,gence and accuracy. The 'author has had peculiar adviintagei
in the execution of this department-7having had free access to
all the government offices, for the purpose of consulting the ne-
cessary documents. In other respects the present work is ex-
tremely interesting, and ought to supersede many of the trashy
'produCtions which are admitted into the libraries of the young.
Each volume-is aCcompanied by a map, neatly executed, and
with the boundaries coloured, of the respective colonies.

German Classics.—TheMaud- of Orleans, a Romantic Tragedy,
in. five acts, with a Prologue • translated from the German of
Schiller. By Egestorff. London : Black, Young, and Young.
This is the first of a series of translations from the inexhausti.
ble stores of German classic literature • and, from the specimen
now before us, we are led to believe that the author is
.qualified
fur the task which he has undertaken. The language is correct
and idiomatic throughout, and, in many parts, characterised by
considerable force and elegance. The work merits a more im-
posing exterior than the copy before us possesses, and the piece
certainly requires it. We understand that the translator in-
tends delivering a course of lectures in Liverpool on the litera-
ture of Germany.
A Vindication of the Right of the Bishops to sit and vote in the
House of Peers. By the Rev. Peter Bevlyn, D.D., with In-
troductory Remarks by the Editor. London : Pickering.
1835.

This pamphlet contains a vigorous, pertinent, and seasonable
reply to the malicious attacks upon the spiritual barons, with
which,the radical, press has been teeming for some years. The
preparatory remarks very strongly e4chibit the features of the
Present time in their correspondence with those of the period
which immediately preceded the civil wars in England.

The Thistle
,; or, Anglo-Caledonian Magazine.. July, August,
and September.
This unpretending periodical is carried on with much ability,
and must prove a valuable acquisition to Scotehmen who have
crossed the Tweed to settle in England, It. will serve to perpe-
tuate their national predilections, and to keep alive their inte-
rest in the religious institutions of their native ceuntry. Its .po-
lities are conservative, and in ecclesiastical government it is
opposed to the voluntary system.

Fisher's Plan of Liverpool and its Environs, including the Che-

shire Coast.

This is quite a gem in its way. The :map has been drawn
from the surveys of our, townsman, Mr. Austen. The engrav-
ing is,beautifully executed. The municipal wards are carefully
delineated and neatly coloured.. The stranger in Liverpool p4r-
:ticularly will find this kvaluable companion in his perambula-
tions, both on account of its accuracy and its copious informa-
tion.

CORRESPONDENCE OF MR. BUCKINGHAM WITH
LORD JOHN RUSSELL.

-We publish the following letter, not because we feel any inte-
rest in the matter in dispute, but because.it affords a striking
`exposition of the, political morality of our Home Secretary:—
Mr. Buckingham to Lord John Russell. • .
- SALISBURY, Sept. 13, 1836.
My Lotto,,—l have just received your letter of the 10thinst.,
addressed to me at Guildford, and forwarded to me here.
I have been accustomed for so many years past to think and
speak of your Lordship in terms of eulogy and approbation,—
because I believed you were really at heart the sincere .friend of
that Liberty and Justice which you advocated with your lips,—
that it was with the greatest possible reluctance I was compelled,
by the force of conviction, to change the tone of eulogy for one
of, reproach—and I can assure 'au,: with the utmost sincerityl{
that even now, after all the bitterness of disappointment in which
you have caused my hopes to terminate, it would give me far
more pleasure to be able to speak of you with praise than cells
sure. It was, therefore, "more in sorrow than in anger" that
my appeal to my constituents was made ; and it was in the same
feeling that I entered upon this correspondence.
As your Lordship intimates to me, in a postscript, your inten-
tion to publish the letters that have passed between us, I may
state that I have not the slightest objection to this course, and
am quite willing to leave the verdict on it in the hands f the
British public. In closing our correspondence, therefore, for
the present at least, with this brief reply, I may add, that when
your Lordship intimates the existence of some facts, which
would have materially altered the view of the case, and asserts
that I have kept these back from public view, you seem to wish
it to be understood that 1 am cognizant of such facts, and that'
I studiously conceal or suppress them. If this be the impression,
which you desire the public to receive from your. expressions, I
must declare, in the most solemn manner, that I know of no
single fact that can in the slightest degree either justify or ex-
tenuate your public conduct in the-matter between us. If I did,
.I would willingly make it known.; but my own retrospective'
view of the case revives in my recollection many facts, that, if•
'made generally known, would aggravate rather than soften the
cruelty of the treatment I have received.
There were two public opportunities presented to your Lord-
ship in the House of Commons, on the two separate debates on
niy claims, in which you might have publicly stated these facts,
in justification of your desertion of a cause you had once so
warmly espoused; but you did not embrace either of these
occasions for so doing. A third oppoitunity has been presented
to you by this correspondence, when, instead. of hinting at the
facts, and intimating their suppression, it was open to you to
have made them public yourself. And a fourth opportunity was
,offered to you in the public meeting proposed by me for that
purpose, and this has been rejected.
Upon all this the public will form, their own judgement,. for'',
;whatever may be said then, can be as effectually said now : and
}probably more so, as I donot, know any shape in .which the
'house could be made to entertain a.question of personal differ-
'ence between two of its members, unless it were to be brought
forward as a breach of privilege,, charging the noble leader of
'the House of Commons with sending aletter to a member whom
he had injured, with a view to provoke him to fight a duel:-for
in this, of course,, it must ,have been intended by you that- the
affair should terminate, if your personal integrity had not, by a
'nice distinctiouy been separated from your public and. parlia-
mentary abandontnent of, principle.
I am Olaci t4t the explanation, which I could conscientiously
give, 'of the meaning
and intent of my expressions, was such as
,to satisfy your lordshio.that there was no necessity .to follow up
'your letter with a challenge—because I should have unhesita-
tingly declined to accept it : and I may now say so perhaps with
;greater propriety thin i could have done at an earlier stage of
this Correspondence, ..
I have hail to peril my life too often, and in too many shapes
(duel, I sin ashamed to say, among the number, though, in de-'I
'fence of that liberty of the press in India, fur my attachment to
which I am still a sufferer,) to permit any one to doubt my want
of courage on all fit and proper occasions. But this was not
one in which it was either worth your lordship's while to ask
me to attempt the destruction of your life, or worth my while
'to put it in your lordship's power to take away my own. I- am
sure it would embitter my future days if I could be tempted to
imbrue my hands in your blood; and still 1 think much better
.oc-you than to suppose for a, momeut that it would be otherwise
.than deeply painful to you to be the hostile shedder of mine :
`and yet, if this were not to be risked on both sides, our going
out to fight a duel, in order to determine whether.your lordship
had or not acted inconsistently--in .advocating at one time what*
You had deserted lit another—would be an idle ceremony, only
fit for ridicule. •
I wish your lordship 'to live for many years, that you may
'have an opportunity of retracting your steps. and retrie.ying..
Your errors, in much more important questions than my indi-
vidual wrongs, great as I feel them to, be : and I desire myself
to live, in order that, if I cannot make my Oppressors give back
the property of which they have plundered my children as well
as myself, f may devote the remainder of my days to useful and
honourable labour, for the purpose of leaving therwsome other
,legacy besides an injured, yet unstained name. For these rea-
sons I shall not lightly trifle with that precious gift which Gun
alone can give, and which it is impious in man to attempt to
destroy; and while I shall endeavour to keep -my hands pure
from the, blood of others, I will not willinglv.temptnny mem—
. and raore especially those who have already injured me—to add
the guilt of murder to the other wrongs for.which they will yet,
in- another and a juster world, have one day to answer and- to
atone.

As I am anxious that this should reach your lordship without
delay, that it may be added to the correspondence you are about
to publish, I clyse it thus abruptly; and am
Your lordship's humble servant,
J. S BUCKINGHAM.
Thaw Rl.9ltt Hon. Lord John Russell, M.P.