fifteen years before, had, with his followers, captured the ship Boyd, and murdered and devoured eighty-eight of her crew! Now it pleased him to act the Deliverer, and he remained on board, in order to protect the ship during her continuance on the station.

They next sailed to New Holland, and we are here introduced again to a totally new state of society. The aborigines are a peculiarly degraded race, much inferior to their neighbours of New Zealand-having no settled abodes, no herds or flocks, no gardens or fields, but living on the spontaneous productions of the ground, and on such animals, birds, and insects as they can catch.

The visits of our voyagers to Java, Singapore, Canton, and Malacca, are replete with interesting matter; but we cannot afford space to enlarge upon them. We shall close this article with some notice of their account of Madagascar; part of which is extracted from a MS. journal of Mr Hastie, at one time British Resident at the Court of Radama, the sovereign. Mr Hastie was sent to Madagascar, to negotiate the abolition of the slave trade; he afterwards remained with Radama as British Resident, gradually acquired his confidence, accompanied him in his journeys, and became one of his principal advisers. With such opportunities, it is much to be regretted that Mr Hastie has not given us a complete and detailed history of this remarkable person, and of the changes he effected in his kingdom. Radama faithfully executed the treaties into which he had entered with the British government, for the suppression of slave trading. He everywhere,' says Mr Hastie, denounced the slave trade most firmly, both in exports and imports, and punished either with death.' His power was absolute, and we have several instances of its cruel exercise, though at times his better feelings prevailed, and he could show a politic clemency. He was fully convinced of the benefits of British 'intercourse;'-' attributed all he knew to the lessons he had ' received from the British nation and government;' and was the constant patron of the Missionaries. He made strict laws against theft and robbery; and on one occasion signally upheld them, by forcing a chief, his ally, to return to a hostile chieftain every article of plunder his people had taken. He abolished the trial by ordeal, and many other cruel and useless observances of superstition ;-especially that of murdering all children born on certain unlucky days; and was rapidly proceeding in the career of improvement, when his death suddenly took place in July, 1828.

6

The deputation had been met on landing by a letter of wel

come from Radama, who provided them also with the means of travelling into the interior; and caused them to be attended by a guard of native soldiers, and to be received everywhere as his own guests. Their journey through the country was arduous; it being part of Radama's policy to make no roads. During this fatiguing journey, from which Mr Tyerman, in particular, suffered severely, they were farther dispirited by the intelligence of the alarming illness of Radama, and the probability of a bloody revolution in case of his decease. On the 21st of July, they arrived at the capital, where they were courteously received by command of Radama, who was, however, too ill to see them. A few days after he expired. And, on the 30th of July, Mr Tyerman was seized with apoplexy, and in spite of all the remedies that could be used, died almost immediately. After this afflicting loss, Mr Bennet was only anxious to leave Madagascar. He was not, however, allowed. During the period (from Sunday to Thursday) in which Radama's death was concealed, a violent political revolution was effected within the Palace: the heir presumptive, and many other persons of distinction, were killed; and finally, Ranavalano, one of the late King's wives, seated herself on the throne. Mr Bennet made several applications to this Princess for permission to depart; but her only answer was, I am mistress of the day when you may leave Tananarivo, and when it is come, I will 'tell you.' We think Mr B. is under some obligations to the arbitrary lady for giving him the opportunity of witnessing Radama's funeral, which proved to be an extraordinary display of barbaric pomp. It took place fifteen days after his death; during which interval, thousands of his subjects were employed in erecting a huge mound of earth, granite and wood, with a hollow crater at the top, in which the coffin was placed. The body meanwhile lay in state, in a palace called the Silver Palace, in which he died.

This palace is named the Silver Palace, on account of its being ornamented, from the ground to the roof, by a profusion of large flatheaded silver nails, and plates of the same metal. The roof of this palace is so high that from the top of the wall to the ridge is as great à distance as from the foundation to the top of the wall supporting the roof.

We found it covered from the roof to the ground with hangings of rich satins, velvets, silks, their native costly silk lambas, &c.; and all the vast roof was covered with the finest English scarlet broad cloth.

In front of this palace had been erected a most splendid pavilion, surrounded by highly-decorated pillars, which were wrapped round with various coloured silks, satins, &c. The pavilion was ten feet

square, raised on pillars, also richly ornamented. A platform of wood was thrown over upon the pillars; and above this platform hung, supported by one transverse pole, an immense canopy, or pall, of the richest gold brocade, with stripes of blue satin and scarlet cloth; the whole bordered by a broad gold lace, and finished by a deep gold fringe. All the arrangements were in good taste, and formed together a most brilliant spectacle.'-II. 555.

The next day was the interment.

At the foot of the mound had been standing most of the day the large and massy silver coffin, destined to receive the royal corpse; this coffin was about eight feet long, three feet and a half deep, and the same in width; it was formed of silver plates, strongly riveted together with nails of the same metal, all made from Spanish dollars; twelve thousand dollars were employed in its construction. About six in the evening this coffin was, by the multitude, heaved up one of the steep sides of the mound to the top, and placed in the tomb or chamber. Immense quantities of treasure of various kinds were deposited in or about the coffin, belonging to his late Majesty, consisting especially of such things as during his life he most prized. Ten thousand hard dollars were laid in the silver coffin, for him to lie upon; and either inside, or chiefly outside, of the coffin, were placed or cast all his rich habiliments, especially military; there were eighty suits of very costly British uniforms, hats, and feathers; a golden helmet, gorgets, epaulettes, sashes, gold spurs, very valuable swords, daggers, spears (two of gold), beautiful pistols, muskets, fowlingpieces, watches, rings, brooches, and trinkets; his whole superb sideboard of silver plate, and large and splendid solid gold cup, with many others presented to him by the King of England:-great quantities of costly silks, satins, fine cloths, very valuable silk lambas of Madagascar, &c.

'We were fatigued and pained by the sight of such quantities of precious things consigned to a tomb. As ten of his fine favourite bulls had been slaughtered yesterday, so six of his finest horses were speared to-day, and lay in the court-yard near the tomb; and to-morrow six more are to be killed. When to all these extravagant expenses are added the 20,000 oxen, worth here five Spanish dollars each (which have been given to the people, and used by them for food during the preparation for, and at the fuueral), the Missionaries conjecture that the expense of the funeral cannot be less than sixty thousand pounds sterling.

Soon after this ceremony was concluded, Mr Bennet was ordered to accompany a body of 700 soldiers to the coast, from whence he sailed to the Mauritius, and thereafter for the Cape. In that colony he remained four months. In March 1829, he embarked for England, and, as before observed, reached his native land in June; after having accomplished one of the most varied, interesting, and instructive expeditions, of which we have any record.

ART. V.-Jury Trial in Scotland, Improved, by being Extended: A Letter to the Lord Chancellor. By a Member of the Scottish Bar, 8vo. Edinburgh: 1832.

THERE is no department of law in which the people have a more immediate interest than in that of Evidence; simply because no man can tell whether any thing that occurs, or may be supposed to occur, to him, may not come to form the subject of what might be to him a most important discussion. We can never, or at least very rarely, select the evidence of the scenes in which we are engaged, but must constantly be doing, or suffering, in circumstances, where we are dependent for truth entirely upon the accidental presence, observation, and recollection, of persons we know nothing about. Nothing can be more distressing than to find the security on which we must rely from the presence of others, and which every man in private life thinks complete, unexpectedly converted into no security at all, by some antiquated or capricious judicial rule, excluding from courts aid, viewed as conclusive, or at least extremely useful, by all practical men. We are therefore anxious to direct the attention of our readers to certain defects in this department of our law, and which are important, because they every day obstruct justice, and are inconsistent with the safety of individuals, in as far as safety depends upon judicial truth.

There are many of the rules which must prevail in any system of legal evidence, the propriety of which is to be judged of according to some technical regulation or object, and not purely from their intrinsic accordance with the general principles of human belief. Of this description is a great number of the laws which prescribe the mode in which evidence is to be authenticated, and secured, and produced, and its different species applied to different subjects. The machinery, and the adjustment of the various sorts of proof, must always, to a great extent, be arbitrary and relative. But there are other rules which depend upon more fixed and universal dictates of reason; and which are good or bad, precisely as they coincide with, or are repugnant to, the opinions of ordinary men, in ordinary affairs. The most striking example of this is to be found in the laws which determine the admissibility and inadmissibility of witnesses, or of the questions which may be put to them. Wherever we find persons or questions held incompetent by law, which are confidently resorted to by all men in their enquiries in prac

tical life, we may be perfectly certain that the law is wrong. It may appear to be recommended by remote considerations, beyond the reach of the vulgar; but the mere fact that the mind may possibly credit the rejected testimony,-that, in disputed cases, it always wishes to consult it, and that it is conscious of uncertainty, and of the uneasy feeling created by the suspicion, that light, which might have been valuable, is excluded, is of itself a demonstration that that testimony ought to be admitted freely into courts of justice. Any legal system of evidence is sound or defective, exactly according to the degree in which it gives effect to these common feelings, and to this common understanding, of the world.

The ancient law of Scotland was jealous of competency. It admitted almost nobody. Exclusion was the rule; admissibility the exception. Every human creature who could be supposed to have the slightest bias in favour of the party who called him, or against the party in opposition to whom he was called, was considered as contaminated; and instead of letting the contamination be detected and cleared off under the process of examination, he was altogether rejected. Servants, tenants, and all sorts of dependents, even where the dependence was reciprocal, were rigidly debarred from giving evidence, where the person who stood in need of their testimony was connected with them in any of these relations. Women and paupers also were excluded. These exclusions are not enforced now; because the reasons which made them plausible or necessary have ceased. They were the growth of a peculiar state of society. When servants were slaves,-tenants feudal retainers,-women doubly helpless from civil degradation, and from sex ;-when fidelity to clanship was stronger than devotion to truth, and the law was too weak to repress private violence,-it may have been right, because it may have been agreeable to the fact, to presume that nothing but falsehood could be expected from such persons; and, therefore, it may not have been unwise to act on the general rule, that it was needless to examine those who could never be believed. The improvement of the country has made the admissibility of such witnesses safe, because it has made them credible.

But there is another class who are still kept under the ancient ban. It consists of certain relatives. By the existing law, all persons are presumed to be incapable of speaking truth, who stand to the party who asks them to do so, in a civil cause, in the relation of father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, either by consanguinity or affinity; or of uncle, nephew, aunt, or niece, by consanguinity. The general rule is, that all these persons

VOL. LVII. NO. CXV.