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quired beyond a moderate courage and a reasonable patience, and their course might be rendered perfectly smooth, if professional men, throwing away the fear of criticism, would make only half the exertions for society at large which they often do gratuitously for individuals. In the meantime, it is not immaterial that the public should have something to work upon. Every thing has a beginning; and if what has been done in these Essays shall operate as an example, and stimulate others to take the field, the author will not feel disappointed if they shall ultimately occupy it.

The first Essay is, on "Requisites in a Judge, and Importance of his Judicial Functions;" the second is, on the "Right of Publishing Proceedings in our Courts of Law;" the third is, on the "Powers and Duties of the Lord Advocate of Scotland ;" and the fourth, “On Sedition." The last two contain matter of great importance, which is brought out in an excellent spirit. The powers of the Lord Advocate appear to be almost boundless.

Our stamp laws reach so many transactions, and our laws which relate to excise and customs reach so many individuals, that there is hardly a person in business of any kind, who, from one or other innocent mistake or inadvertency, is net obnoxious to a prosecution! Under the excise laws, in particular, which affect such a large portion of our population, it is, we might say, impossible to be otherwise than at the mercy of the Crown officers; such are the multiplicity of statutes, all referring to each other, and the complexity of statutory regulations. Yet, in all cases, it rests with the Lord Advocate to prosecute, compromise, or acquit, at his discretion! He may relinquish a case which, for the sake of trade and morals, ought to be prosecuted; or he may prosecute cases, one after another, to the ruin of a party,-cases which, to stir in, is derogatory to the Crown, and disgraceful to its officers. However unfounded, ruinous, or oppressive, these prosecutions may be, the unfortunate party must bear the expense of procuring his own acquittal, for the Crown is never subjected to costs."

can benefit the public only when it is seen operating, and which can operate to ad vantage only through the press. Freedom implies every right, and every comfort, even, which the weak pride themselves on enjoying, independently of all political consideration: but freedom cannot exist long in a country where the people are indifferent about their rights; and hence the value of free, and fair, and constant discussion. In proportion to the value of the right, no doubt, ought it to be exercised with temperance and discre tion. But still the want of these virtues is not Sedition. A writer may be indiscreet, while he, in good faith, means nothing more than to rouse the public indignation against something done, or which he apprehends is about to be done, hostile to the Constitution. He may be intemperate, while he intends to excite hatred, not against the Constitu tion, but against its enemies.

The next Essay is on the "Liberty of the Press."

The Liberty of the Press embraces all other liberty, civil and religious. Without it, no people or government can be free. But liberty, we are well aware, is not licentiousness; nor will a liberty of doing all which is lawful justify any one in doing any thing that is criminal. There can be no such rights as those our ancestors fought for, bled for, and died for, if the people cannot talk about the subject of them, write about them, and, in short, exercise the Liberty of the Press respecting them. When the law gives rights, it gives also the means of exercising them; nay, it gives more; it gives, moreover, the presumption of innocence in the exercise. It is not to be presumed that any man has a criminal intent in availing himself of a Constitutional privilege. When another motive is asserted, it is incumbent on him who makes the averment to prove it by unequivocal evidence. If room be left for a rational doubt, the accused is entitled to a verdict in his favour.

So much for the right. Let us come now to the measure of it; and that, we conceive, is just as clear as the right itself. Whatever can be made the subject of petition or complaint to the King or the Legislature, or of debate within the walls of Parliament, may be made the

From the Essay on Sedition, we subject of consideration and discussion select the following passages:

The British Constitution not only recognises, but cherishes a spirit of watchfulness and jealousy of the executive departments of Government; a spirit which

out of Parliament. To that extent, we think, the liberty of the press is established; and we cannot conceive of its existing to any less extent, if it exist at all. Every subject in the empire is bound to know the laws; he is amenable to

them in property, person, and character. Commensurate with this duty and responsibility, is the right of every subject to consider and discuss every law, or abuse of a law, by which he may consider himself aggrieved, as well as every project of a new law, which promises to benefit, or threatens to injure him and his country. He is bound, also, to know the decisions of the Supreme Judges of the

land for a series of decisions become law; and this obligation is likewise accompanied with a commensurate right of knowing, de facto, what is done in our Courts, and of considering and discussing what takes place there. But all these rights imply an obligation to acquiescence and obedience; and, therefore, they must never be exercised with a design to excite resistance; the presumption, as we said before, being always in favour of innocence. Yet, with the limitation just mentioned, we know of no bounds in public matters to the Liberty of the Press, -and that liberty is one which has not been confined to theory. No man is at liberty to excite men to dethrone the King, to abolish either House of Parlia ment, or to liberate Ministers from their

vernment; but no policy can be more false or more dangerous;—while it leaves us our rights in name, it does them all away in substance, and renders them, for the time during which such a policy prevails, as truly arbitrary and despotic as King James VII.

The remaining Essays are on the following subjects:-Sketch of the Principles of Government; Law Taxes, and their Injustice and Baneful Operation; Riot Act; Prejudging of Public Questions; New Doctrines respecting Interferences with Judicial Proceedings; Powers and Proceedings of Inferior Judges, considered Historically, as well as on Principle, embracing, illustratively, a view of the Powers and Practice of the Court of Session; The same Subject continued; Sketch of the History and Privileges of the Law Corporations connected with the Court of Session; Suggestions for improving the Forms of Process in Civil Causes.

Our limits prevent us from enter. responsibility to the extent of life and ing into a detailed consideration of

fortune for that were to assail the Constitution itself the foundations of our "legal limited monarchy;" but every man, from the very nature of the other rights secured to him under that free Government, which he must neither undermine nor assail, is at full liberty to discuss the POLICY of an Administration. It may, and we believe it very often is, a part of that policy, to identify themselves, or their measures, with the Go

these Essays. They are characterised, throughout, by liberal sentiment, and a practical understanding, while there is an absence of all unnecessary technicalities and legal jargon, so that we can safely recommend the volume to the notice of all readers who wish for information on the interesting subjects of which it treats.

Sonnet.

PLUCK me a quill from yonder bird of light,
The sunbeam follower,-the belov'd of Jove,-
For I must write a letter to my love,

Who went to Glasgow, by the mail, last night.

Give me the rays that stream through yonder sky,
That all my page may with bright hues be painted,
For, by the gods! I'll tell my love that I,
When she departed, very nearly fainted.

Pull me up Etna from its lowest roots,
With all its caverns of fire and smoke e;

It is an emblem that most aptly suits

To represent (by Heaven! it is no joke,)
The passion which her thousand charms engender,
Burning my wretched bosom to a very cinder.

MR EDITOR,

REMARKS ON MR MACLAREN'S REPLY.

In the Edinburgh Magazine, October Number, Mr Maclaren has thought fit to publish a reply to the strictures on his work, entitled, "A Dissertation on the Topography of the Plain of Troy," which lately appeared in the New Edinburgh Review. So far, all is well. If he could not bear to see any of his opinions called in question, he was quite right to arm himself in their defence. Every one is entitled to demonstrate that his own notions are correct, to point out the mistakes into which his reviewer has fallen, and to shew that he himself has come forth from the fire of criticism with greater lustre, and in renovated beauty. Had Mr Maclaren done nothing more than this, there would have been no cause of complaint. As the writer of that article, I should probably have been for ever silent; and considerably indifferent as to the result, might have allowed him to enjoy the undisputed glory of that triumph which he seems quite certain of having achieved. But he has gone much further. Indignant at the presumption which would not repose implicit faith in his authority, he has had recourse to anger, as often as to argument; and, in the heat of his resentment, ascribes to me motives by which I was not actuated, and throws out imputations which I think it my duty to repel.

The last sentence forms a curious contrast to the rest of Mr Maclaren's reply. "As discussion and inquiry," says he, "are always favourable to truth, nothing will gratify me more than to see it (his system) subjected to the most rigorous examination, and to the most unsparing criticism." It is quite impossible not to admire the liberal and philosophic spirit which this passage breathes. The sentiment might do honour to Aristotle, and even Plato's self need not have been ashamed to utter it. One might almost imagine that the venerable sages of the Academy and the Porch had risen from their graves, and come to establish their schools in the "Modern Athens." To be gratified by the discovery of truth,

even when it goes to contradict favourite notions and long-cherished opinions, is the perfection of reason, and the loftiest triumph of wisdom. Yet it must be admitted, that Mr Maclaren has a singularly odd way of displaying his gratification,-by giving vent to his passion, and abusing the author of his happiness. One might suppose, that, instead of being delighted, he was smarting under the pain of some mortal injury. But then all have not the same way of expressing their feelings; and Mr Maclaren may himself be in the enjoyment of every satisfaction, when, to others, he seems writhing in pain, and tortured by disappointment.

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Nay," our author will reply, "I was a little out of humour; it was not, however, because the examination was rigorous, and the criticism unsparing, but because they were not the work of an unprejudiced person."" But what proofs of prejudice are to be found in the article in question? Let Mr M. produce them if he can. Is he himself ever spoken of but with respect? Is there a single personal allusion which even the most sensitive writer could take amiss? Nay, is not his work spoken of in terms of considerable approbation? The very first sentence praises the ingenuity with which it is written, and the last recommends it to the attention of all who take pleasure in such researches ; while much is said of the pains that have been taken to acquire information, and of the candour with which it is generally stated. That I should now be inclined to retract somewhat from these panegyrics, will scarcely surprise any one; but they shew, at least, that my former remarks were written in perfect good faith, and afford an instance of prejudice, on my part, nearly as cu rious as the mode in which Mr M. is wont to shew his satisfaction. is true that I have taken the liberty to differ, occasionally, from him; and this, in his eyes, may be a proof of the most wilful and inveterate prejudice. If such be the grounds of the charge, I fear there are few whose minds are unbiassed, or, as a

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late eminent statesman happily expressed it, a "sheet of white paper;" and I, for one, must plead guilty. But is Mr M. infallible? Are his statements so clear, and his arguments so satisfactory, that they cannot but command universal assent? Is it impossible to come to different conclusions from what he has endeavoured to establish? I may be mistaken; but I entered on the inquiry without the slightest prejudice against Mr M., or in favour of any other system. Treating his views without bitterness, I proposed my own without dogmatism. The grounds on which they rested were fairly stated, and I even brought forward circumstances which a less candid adversary might perhaps have chosen to conceal.

Another charge against me is that of "incompetency to decide upon the subject." This is an accusation to which I shall not offer a single word of reply; yet Mr M. is not, perhaps, the most impartial judge; and those who take an interest in the controversy may probably look to the article in question, and not choose to abide by his award. There is one qualification, too, which I may assume to myself-as even my opponent allows me to possess it-a knowledge of Greek: of some consequence this, when the chief object is to examine the statements of authors who wrote in that language.

Having said this much, I have but little desire to go on. But as Mr M. has frequently misrepresented my statements, as well as my motives, I cannot be altogether silent. However, I shall be very short, and, to save myself trouble, follow the arrangement which he has adopted.

In the " Topography," Mr M., arguing against Messrs Bryant and Hobhouse, adduced a passage from Strabo, to shew that that geographer did not include the Northern part of the Ægean Sea under the name of Hellespont. He now, in consequence of my remarks, admits that it proves exactly the reverse. That point, of course, is settled; and if we are to judge of his general accuracy by this specimen, woe be to the man that follows his guidance! Yet, strange as it may appear, he, in another place, asserts, that the proper un

derstanding of this passage neither weakens his theory nor strengthens mine. Why, it incontestably proved the point for which I was arguing, and as effectually disproved that for which he had contended.

γος.

Η δ' εςπερια θαλαττα ὁ τε Ελληςποντος εστι εν ᾧ και το Αιγαιου πελα The sense of these words Mr M. accuses me of garbling, to suit my purpose; and yet, in the very next sentence, acknowledges that I have given their true meaning, the absurdity of which was perceived by the Latin translators. Really his inconsistency is as strange as his accuracy and inferences. My explanation is the only one that the present text will bear, and has been adopted by several scholars; among the rest, by Mr Hobhouse; while the turn given to the expression, by the Latin and French translations, is quite inadmissible. Perhaps the text may be corrupted, although no emendation has been proposed; and, at all events, we can dispense with the passage, as our point is sufficiently established without it.

Mr M. next comes to consider, whether the Plain of the Mendere is the Trojan Plain of Homer. This, he says, "is admitted by Strabo, nay, what is more extraordinary, admitted by the reviewer himself, without question." Now here there is room to complain of something very like disingenuousness and misrepresentation. If, by the Trojan Plain of Homer is meant the ground lying betwixt New Ilium and the rivers Mendere and Dombric, Mr M. must be told, that nothing was further from my thoughts than to make the admission which he ascribes to me. On the contrary, the whole of my argument went to show, that this could not be the Plain of Homer,that it was much too confined for the movements and events which are represented to have occurred in it,that, besides, it is intersected by the Califat Osmack; and that, in general, it was little better than a marsh. According to my views, the Plain in question lies between the Dombric and the Califat Osmack, extending from New Ilium towards Chiblack-the Plain called by Strabo the outward and Scamandrian, and the only one, of any magnitude, laid down

in the maps that I have been enabled to consult, or described by the authors whom I have had an opportunity of reading on the subject.

The great point, in the whole controversy, is the identity of the rivers. Our author loses all patience with me, for supposing that the Dombric can possibly be the Scamander, and the Califat Osmack the Simois of Homer, being quite certain that he has proved the Mendere and Dombric to be respectively entitled to that honour. Now, in addition to the evidence formerly adduced, to show that his success is not quite so indisputable, let me produce a fact, for which he is, perhaps, little prepared, and which must be quite fatal to his argument. It is asserted by Homer; and much even of our author's reasoning proceeds on the supposition that these far-famed streams unite their waters, before they empty themselves into the Hellespont. Now it has lately been discovered, that the Mendere is not joined by any river of the plain, and that the Califat Osmack and Dombric are the only two which flow to the sea in the same channel.

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"We visited both Clarke's and Chevalier's seat of Troy, and, with regard to the former, we made a curious discovery, which completely overturns his theory, viz., that what he calls the Simois, and was formerly called the Califat Osmack, does not join the Scamander at all. rode from the mouth of the Scamander up to the mountains, and did not find that any river joined it, not even the Thymbreck, as laid down in Kauffer's map. On the contrary, the Califat Osmack and the Thymbreck join together, and run in a course of their own to the sea, near the tomb of Ajax.”

This letter is quoted merely as an authority with respect to the rivers; and nothing could be more hostile to our author's opinion, or more friendly to mine. Nor will Mr M. doubt the evidence of eye-witnesses. But if any scruples do exist, as to the authenticity of the testimony, he shall have every satisfaction.

But it seems the Dombric is destitute of sufficient grandeur to be

the principal river of Homer. The fact is, that none of the Trojan streams can be called a river. At best, they are merely channels by which the wintry torrents make their way to the ocean; while in summer, they are almost all equally destitute of water. Yet the Dombric is far from being of an inconsiderable size. But our best plan is to describe it in words borrowed from Mr Maclaren. "It is a clear and rapid stream; its bed is sixty feet wide; it often presents a powerful torrent, bearing all before it. By Homer, it is called on to drain all its springs, to summon all his brooks, to swell his waters, and to bear along trunks and stones.' "And this," adds he, " is no greater power than a mountain torrent, like the Dombric, in its enlarged state, usually possesses." What are our author's ideas of grandeur? Surely a river that bears all before it, carrying along trunks and stones, might have sufficient dignity to suit even his exalted notions. Strabo's opinion, as to the source of the rivers, is, moreover, but of small consequence. He whose statements respecting the Ægean Sea and the Hellespont have, according to Mr Maclaren, sistency, may be allowed to have errneither accuracy, clearness, nor coned in a point where the truth was much more difficult to be got at, and which even yet has not been fully ascertained. Besides, it is unfair to represent me as following implicitly the authority of Strabo. My object

was to reconcile the statements of Homer, Strabo, and Pliny, the three oldest writers on the subject. And in this my success was greater than our author will readily allow.

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Mr M. imagines that I will grant

Ana" may be translated, "approach to." Be it so. And what good will the admission do him? If he will tell me how a river can approach to a given point without flowing towards it, he shall have the full benefit of such a notable discovery. Strabo says, that "the two rivers, the Scamander, (Anoiaσas,) approaching. to,'-be it-Sigeum, and the Simois to Rhoeteum, unite a little before New Ilium." Now, the fact is, as we have seen, that they do not unite at all. Besides, would Strabo speak of the Simois approaching to"

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