Year: 1868

~" '1' ' LONDON. June 20, 1863


The Jamaica Committee have resolved to proceed
no further against Mr.. Eyre There remain a num-
Der of steps which might be taken against him. but
they think their duty is DONE and satihed that
nothing would come Of further prosecutions. Pnbhc
opinion could not be much affected by new enOrT'
and the possibility of getting jury to indct him OF
convict him is very small indeed. The Committee
have their own story to tell and may then dissolve
They propose to publish ahistory of the Jamaica
business and of their own work. Mr.. Goldwin Smith
was first asked to write the book. He declined be-
cause his near voyage TO America would leave MIN
no time. Mr.. Thomas Hughes was next applied 10
has promised to do it, and is to give us such
anarrativc as the subject demands Much that could
not be told while the work of the Committee was
going OH may and ought to be known now that 1t is
over. 1t is the fashion to say that puDhc
opinjon is overwhelmingly on EYres side
Bnt the Jamaica Committee itself numbers
more than 200 members. most of them
men of eminence or of property, who took part
i'm the effort to bring Mr. Eyre to justice with full
knowledge OF the unpopularty ana the pecunlay
risk they were incurrng. Money has always been
given freely--sOmetimes from most unexpected
sources One large check came from officer owning
large estates in jamaica Another from the sister OF
a well-knOwn Admiral, who begged that her name
might not be printed because her family wouldn never
forgive her Her brother figures among Mr.. Eyres
supporters Not few subscriptions were sent III by
West End trades people, accompanied always by an
cntIeaty that they should not DO known, since IN





the other side More than half the baTrsters IN the
Inns thought Eyre legally guilty, and most OF those
who so thought reinforced their opinions by sub
scriptiOns. -,


The fury of the Eyre party was so great that they
meditated violence against the leading members
of the Committee Two or three OF them, from time
20 time, received letters threatening assassnatiOn
In respect to one member at least, his friends
thought there was reason to apprehend that
The attempt would be made AS to Mr. Justice
Blackburn, whose dishonest charge to the Grand
Jury secured Mr.. Eyres final release from proseeg-
ton 1t turns out that he Is Jamaica planter, lie
and his brother both own great estates III that island
and is needless to say that the planter interest as
rule. was found the side of Eyre and in favor of
unlimited oppression OF the negro SlT Coin slack
burn moreover, is a Tory, and not only Tory but
Scotch Tory, and not only Scotch Tory but Ster-
lngshiTe Tory; and you cannot get to deeper Dot
tom than that.


An action for libel against The Daily Telegraph,
which has caused little interest among Journalists
and the public was tried this week in the Queens
Bench, before the Lord Chief-Justice and special
jury, and decided yesterday. II grew out Oh me me
who was accused of numbering his ward, and IN Con-
tnental fashion, OF great variety of lesser crimes
included in the same indictment. On all the charges
he acquitted, and not merely acquitted but LETT
the court in a kind of triumph, so complete was his
defense against most curious % rs cop1catloh @ Oh a cir
respondent TO report the trial 1t pleased this cor
respondent to conceive a violent prejudice against
the prisoner He thought 1T his duty to argue the
case against him from day to day series of letters
IN order that his mind might not be swayed
by evidence in favor of the accused, he kept away
from the Court, and selected from the report in
local paper such facts suited his purpose suppress
sing those which made for Rish Allah and dstortlng
such as he did not suppress. lie did hls work SO
carelessly and clumsily, as the Chiet-Justce re-
marked that the slightest comparison of the letters
with true report of the evidence proved them to
have been written by one who was not present at
the trial TO persuade his readers that he was, and
TO give local color to his fictitious narrative this
lively correspondent INDUCED his genius with fancy
sketches of the personal appearance OF the accused
picturing him as cross between serpent md
but but mean, and his beard as whitening
daily from the agony of impending conviction.
Experts were represented as testnying that suicide
the theory of the defense impossible, when they
testified in fact and exactly the reverse Even after
the acquttal leading article. written very likely
by the same hand followed up the line taken in the
correspondence, and sought to convince the public
that the verdict mistake If internal evidence
goes for anything the letters from the pen of Mr.
Sala who is retained by The Telegraph to do the extra
sensation work of the paper, and whose taste for
invention has led him into an habitua dislike for the
comparative dullness of mere facts. The jury last
night returned a verdict for the plaintiff, damages
f96O-a very heavy sum to be given in such trial,
but less than the injury might have warranted them
In granting 1t is unpleasant to find any newspaper
capable of doing and then defending such acts but
YOU will agree with me that, If there be One II is for
the interest of all of us that 1t should be exposed and
punished. ,


and fourth volumes of the InUaSiOR of the Crimea is
very great An unusually large edition issued
last week on Wednesday, the 10th inst but the de-
mand hot that late yesterday not ali the
subscribers had been supplied. The book trade has
been very dull all through the season. and this is al





review, being determined this time TO make no mis-
take. When the first volumes appeared they were
read 80 hastily that their tremendous attack on The
Times was not discovered, and they were praised
with great enthusiasm. Then the enthusiasm had
to be taken back but The Times people used to
that sort of thing, and made difficulty in abusing
the book as cordially as they had at first
extolled it. 1t is pity that no American publisher
has enterprise enough to reproduce MIR. Kingakes
work in readable form and with due acknowledge
ment to the author. The first two octave volumes
were crowded into one dinRy 12mO by an American
firm that is pTe-eminent In appropratinR English
books. They may probably treat the third and fourth
in like fashion, having already refused to recognize
any claim or make any arrangement with the Eng
1ish publishers. Yet here it is found profitable 10
issue these two volumes with every elegance Of type
and paper, and with abundant illustrations. They
are sold at 3is. about $l2 i'll American currency and
the first two volumes published at nearly the same
price, have gone through four large editions.


Two dramatic versions of Foul Pay are performing
at different fheaters the Joint authorship of Charles
Reade and Bouccault having ended in quarrel.
The partnership between the two was originally
formed for what may be called commercial purposes
Mr; Reade could command nigh Prlce 1ST novel novel
cault could command high price for aplay and
was to dTamatise the novel when written The novel
appeared by instaments IN Once Heek, hoatlng the
new series of that periodical into prosperous seas and
creating an undoubted sensation. Presently Mr..
Bouccault sent word TO Mr.. Reade that he wanted
to furnish part of the text. Mr.. Reade assented.
Mr. Boucicault wrote two numbers. When the hrst
had been printed and the second was partly IN type,
the publishers of Once Veek notified Mr. Reade
that thei1 contract for novel with him and not
with Mr.. Boucicault that they expected hiin' ana
not Mr.. Boucicault to write it; that they
should decline to print any more copy
supplied by the latter, or to pay Mr.
Reade, unless Mr.. Reade wrote his own novel. mus
entreated he resumed his pen, and the whole book
IN fact his few chapters excepted. Naturally MT.
BOucicault was offended, but chose to be offended
with the wrong person; with Mr. Reade instead OF with
Messrs. Bradbury d Evans, the publishers OF once a
Heel He broke off all relations with Mt. Reade set