WEATHER, PRODUCTIONS, &c. In June, as the month advances, the mercury gradually rises in the morning from 76° to 80o. In the afternoon it stands between 84° and 92°. Between Cana and Hatti, in the middle of the day, July 5, Dr. Clarke says, “The mercury, in a gloomy recess under ground, perfectly shaded, while the scale was placed so as not to touch the rock, remained at 100° of Fahrenheit. The same afternoon it was 102 în the shade." Thermometer same day in London, 70° two P. M. Not cold even at night. The inhabitants pass their nights on the roofs of their houses. Silkworms on trees at night. Rain is now very rare. July 7, Dr. Clarke saw the richest pasture on the plain of Esdraelon, (vol. ii. p. 497,) and on the 10th on the plain of Jericho, (583.) "We observed plantations of tobacco then in bloom; of Indian corn; of millet, which was still green; of melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers."-Ib. p. 464.- -Rice and early figs ripen. In July, the mercury usually stands in the beginning of the month at 80°; towards the end at 85o or 86°. It rises in the afternoon about 8° or 10.0. The heat is still more intense. Libanus is, for the most part, freed from snow, except in places not exposed to the sun. Anti-Libanus is always covered with snow. The cactus ficus-Indicus ripe.-Dr. Clarke, vol. ii. p. 401. Dates ripe at Jericho. In August, at Aleppo, according to Russel, the weather is the same during the first twenty days as in the preceding month; afterwards white clouds, commonly called niliacă, larger than those which are observed in the early part of the summer, rise, for the most part, till the end of the month. Dew falls now; but not in any great quantity. The mercury, until those days when the clouds rise, continues the same as in the last month; afterwards it falls 4° or 5°. The heat is extreme. Ripe figs at Jerusalem,-and ripe olives near Jericho. Grapes ripe, and the clusters very large. 322 REVIEW. An Authentic Copy of the Minutes of Evidence, on the Trial of John Smith, a Missionary, in Demerara; held at the Colony House, in George Town, Demerara, on Monday, the 13th day of October, 1823, and 27 following days; on a Charge of exciting the Negroes to Rebellion; copied verbatim, from a Report ordered to be printed by the House of Commons, 22d of March, 1824. With an Appendix, including the Affidavit of Mrs. Jane Smith; the Petition presented to the House of Commons, from the Directors of the London Missionary Society; Letters of Mr. John Smith; and other interesting Documents. London, 1824. Burton. 8vo. pp. 179 2. The London Missionary Society's Report of the Proceedings against the late Rev. J. Smith, of Demerara, Minister of the Gospel, who was tried under the Martial Law, and condemned to Death, on a Charge of aiding and assisting in a Rebellion of the Negro Slaves; from a full and correct Copy, transmitted to England, by Mr. Smith's Counsel, and including the Documentary Evidence omitted in the Parliamentary Copy: with an Appendix, containing the Letters and Statements of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Elliot, Mr. Arrindell, &c.; and, also, the Society's Petition to the House of Commons. The whole Published under the Anthority of the Directors of the said Society. London, 1824. Westley. 8vo. p. 211. THE interest excited by the trial and death of Mr. Smith, the late excellent and justly lamented missionary of the London Missionary Society, to the island of Demerara, has been so deep and universal, that we are assured of standing more than excused with our readers, for devoting a considerable portion of our journal to an examination of the proceedings against him. Those proceedings are so perfectly anomalous, and involve in them so many infractions of the very first principles of justice, that wishing, as we do, most fully to expose their illegality, we know not that we shall have space left for any remarks upon the atrocity of the conduct of those, whose narrow policy, short-sighted selfinterest, and bitter hostility to real religion, has converted them into some of the most lawless persecutors—and their injured, yet innocent victim, into one of the most lamented martyrs, of modern times. At all events, these remarks, if we can find opportunity to make them, must be reserved for the close of an article which we rather wish to distinguish by legal investigation, and accurate examination of facts, than by the strong expressions of indignant feeling, which we doubt not that the heart of every reader will spontaneously and abundantly supply. The following, then, is a copy of the charges upon which those proceedings are founded; extracted from the Minutes of Evidence, on the Trial, as laid before the House of Com mons. "First Charge.-For that he, the said John Smith, long previous to, and up to the time of a certain revolt and rebellion, which broke out in this colony, on or about the 18th of August now last past, did promote, as far as in him lay, discontent and dissatisfaction in the minds of the negro slaves towards their lawful masters, managers, and overseers, he, the said John Smith, thereby intending to excite the said negroes to break out in such open revolt and rebellion against the authority of their lawful masters, managers, and overseers, contrary to his allegiance, and against the peace of our sovereign lord the king, his crown and dignity. "Second Charge. For that he, the said John Smith, having, about the 17th day of August last, and on divers other days and times theretofore preceding, advised, consulted, and corresponded with a certain negro named Quamina, touching and concerning a certain intended revolt and rebellion of the negro slaves within these colonies of Demerara and Essequibo; and further, after such revolt and rebellion had actually commenced, and was in a course of prosecution, he, the said John Smith, did further aid and assist in such rebellion, by advising, consulting, and corresponding, touching the same, with the said negro Quamina; to wit, on the 19th and 20th August last past, he, the said John Smith, then well knowing such revolt and rebellion to be in progress, and the said negro Quamina to be an insurgent engaged therein. "Third Charge.-For that he, the said John Smith, on the 17th August last past, and for a certain period of time thereto preceding, having come to the knowledge of a certain revolt and rebellion, intended to take place within this colony, did not make known the same to the proper authorities, which revolt and rebellion did subsequently take place; to wit, on or about the 18th of August now last past. "Fourth Charge.-For that he, the said John Smith, after such revolt and rebellion had taken place, and during the existence thereof, to wit, on or about Tuesday and Wednesday, the 19th and 20th of August now last past, was at plantation Le Resouvenir in presence of and held communication with Quamina, a negro of plantation Success, he, the said John Smith, then well knowing the said Quamina to be an insurgent engaged therein, and that he, the said John Smith, did not use his utmost endeavours to sup press the same, by securing or detaining the said insurgent Quamina, as a prisoner, or by giving information to the proper authorities, but, on the contrary, permitted the said insurgent Quamina to go at large and depart, without attempting to seize and detain him, and without giving any information respecting him to the proper authorities, against the peace of our sovereign lord the king, his crown and dignity, and against the laws in force in this colony, and in defiance of the proclamation of martial-law issued by his excellency, the lieutenant-governor." [p. 6, 7.] To collect from a document so ill drawn, the precise legal description of the offences charged against the prisoner, is a task to which, we undertake to say, no lawyer in Westminster-hall is equal. The first-if it be any thing-is a misdemeanour only; for we have yet to learn that to excite negro slaves to open revolt and rebellion against the authority of their lawful masters, managers, and overseers, has any thing in it legally approximating to treason against the king, and against his government; an actual and overt attempt by force and violence to overturn which, alone constitutes this species of the highest offence known to the English law, which has provided, with most rigorous and unwonted caution, against the constructive extension of that offence, to crimes of another character, and a less enormous guilt. The second would certainly savour of a misprision of this great offence, were there any thing like a definite description of the revolt and rebellion of the negro slaves referred to, which if not expressly laid to be against the king, and to overthrow his government, is, as a charge of treason, to all intents and purposes, void. Those rules of construction which must be familiar to every one who has learnt his grammar, nay, common sense itself indeed, would rather lead to a contrary conclusion, that the revolt and rebellion charged in the second count, is the same strange nondescript offence stated in the first; and that, as we have already shewn, can be but a misdemeanour, though, to this, upon the principles of our common law, it would, we apprehend, amount, as we are far from contending for the propriety or legality of such instigations, where a state of slavery is by law permitted to exist. The third charge is, however, clearly a piece of waste paper, inasmuch as it merely imputes to the accused a knowledge of an intention in certain parties to commit a crime, without averring that he did any thing to promote that intention, or neglected to do every thing in his power to dissuade the conspirators from the execution of it. Not to make known the intention of another, where no overt act |