The southern press., 1851-07-03
Eso,. the Richmand Examiner.

WdHhfud, ,--neuhef 10 g"e " 20 f""' 4"'ftF'.
If he tells The pices Of the rieh then they laH
upon him aoilh Lbe iron hands Of The taio +; u he
tells the crimes of The poor, then dse mob attacks
him soith ISLANDER But u he regards truth, lei
him erpect naariyrdom on both sides, and then
he nsay 20 on fearleSs,--and hts Is tte course
take myset"--DE For.
Some seventy years ago bookseller in Lon
don, named Boydell, published certain copper
plate illustrations OF Shakspeare's plays. lie
! used the engraved plates for many thousand
impressions. md those who bought them after
he died used them for many thousand more
They passed into other hands even after that
They were worked until they were completely
worn down, and then the plates were sold In
the market as old copper.
Such ia the notorious history in England OF
the Boyde plates. But then an enterprising
| Yankee pedlar, named SheaJashub Spooilsr, east
his eyes upon them. He purchased the plates
for song, and for little more than song ne
prevailed upon some unemployed engravers IN
New York to scrape up the coppers suilcientiy
to make them give something like an engraving.
Having gone thus far in private, he resorted to
the press generally for pulfs of his undertaking.
He got n false statement inserted in ten thou
sand newspapers, that DR.. Spooner, wealthy
citizen of New York, and an enthusiast in the
fine arts, had gone to the expense of one hun
| dred thousand dollars for the revival of the
famous Boydell plates: that he had completely
succeeded; that the revived plates were better
than the originals: that it was the greatest un-
dertaking which this country has witnessed for
the encouragement of the fine arts; &c, &c
He then sent forth his agents to hawk the story
through the Southern States, and to obtain sub
scrbers among the creduous, each ofwhom was
to pay the said Spooner one hundred d liars for
one hundred old and very bad engravings
Among other places these agents came to
Richmond, established themselves at a respect
able bookstore, and told their tale in the news
papers of Richmond. They succeeded in OBJ
tanning some subscribers. But shortly after
wards an article appearedin the Richmond Er-
anliner, which gave the true history OF the
Boydell plates, and confirmed it in such man
ner as to leave no doubt upon the mind OF any
who read it as to the character Of Spooner's
Boydell The writer of the article confirmed
! all his statements by the most respectable au-
thorites in Great Britain; he pointed out the
! incongruities, the irreconceable contradictions,
the palpable falsehoods which abounded in the
statements of Shearashub Spooner; and
having calmly and completely exposed the i'm
position, he took occasion to denounce the hum
bugs of this character which were continually
emanatng from the Northern cities, and to
warn the Southern people and the Southern
press against the travelling vendors of Yankee
engravings, maps and books, who have noto-
riously taken the places of the pedlars who
once sold them wooden clocks and manufac-
tured nutmegs.
After the appearance of this article, the agents
of Sheariashub Spooner disappeared from the
stage, and the Yankee Boyde was heard of no
more in the Southern States. Six months
elapsed without any attempt to dsprove the as
sertions of the Examiner, or to interfere with
their author. But a few days ago, one of the
editors of this newspaper being compelled to
visit the city of New York, he was Immediately
arrested on the affidavit of Shear rashub Spooner.
This affidavit stated that his agents were get
ting subscribers and money in the South very
rapidly, until the appearance of the aforesaid ar
ticle; but afterwards they could do nothing
/, either in Virginia or in any other Southern
State; that he was deprived of booty to vast
: amount--certainly not less than ten thousand
Q dollars, clear of all expenses-and he therefore
claimed that amount of the defendant. He did
not aIIege the reason why he brought the suit
in the North instead of on the spot where the
alleged offence was committed; but it was pal
pable: it was to get court, and jury, and a
public opinion, all interested TO punish an at
tempt at protecting the credulous South from
the imposition of Yankee swindlers. He did
not allege the reason why he added the useless
ANNOYANCE of an arrest to the suit, but that was
plain, too--it was spite. He supposed that a
young man and a stranger would not easily find
bail in New York. In this he was mistaken.
subsequently he engaged the services of that
city's venal press for the same purpose, as well
as to stir up public sentiment against the defend
ant and the Daily Courier and Enquirer, the
Daily Tribune, and the Morning Express, and
the Evening Post and the Day Book, were reg
uarly sent to his meals with editorials, probably
mostly written by DIR. Spooner's respectable
friend, &C Glenn PEBBLES" and paid for on in
serton at so much sper line, setting forth the
sectional politics" of the defendant in the suit,
his appeals to " Southern prejudices," seasoned
properly with snoers at {" Virginia chivalry," &c.
So far as the annoyance was concerned, this
movement failed more completely than the ar
rest, for the subject of these polite remarks ra-
ther enjoyed the sauce piquante which was thus
gratuitously added to his breakfasts. IL is men
toned here simply as one of the facts in the
case, and it MAJ be proper to state, that the two
most ardent Of his new atte ldauts-the two who
appeared to be writing for love as well as for
money, were connected with the Express and
the Day Book newspapers. One we found TO be
we'll known in New York under the cognomen
of Boobv Brooks, and the other is an individual
who went through the South some time since,
collecting money from the weak-minded, under
the pretext that he wos going TO establish n
newspaper in New York to publish the names Of
all the Abolitionist merchants there. As the
reader will recollect, this humbug was properly
exposed in the Examiner newspaper, and hence
his savagery.
So much for the lawsuit in New York, which
now goes on to its trial at proper time. On
returning to Virginia, the defendant was not sur
prised to find that his adventure in the land of
+ the Phillstines has given rise to strong sense
! of exutstion among his numerous and afec-
tionate admirers in Richmond nor much aston.
ished that the Wing press has had the good taste
! to express its delight in the most unmeasured
, terms. For their further satisfaction, we will
Q frankly admit, that an expensive lawsuit to be
Q decided by our natural enemies--to be tried be-
: fore Judge and jury of those whom we have
/ lnGod opd dnnoupcod IA aufficiapflr-