Oddities of History. By John Timbs. (Griffin.)—Mr. Timbs has an
inexhaustible supply of quaint stories. His critical judgment is not quite as good as his industry is indefatigable. What can he mean, for instance, by this,—" Almost all the brilliant exceptions to the average trash of the Anti-Jacobin appear to belong to Mr. Canning." The "average trash of the Anti-Jacobin"!!! Good heavens ! what shall we have next in the way of criticism? Has Mr. Timbs ever heard of John Hookham Frere ? Would he object to taking down the volume of the Anti-Jacobin and picking out " these brilliant exceptions"? If he can distinguish between Canning and Frere, he is a much cleverer man than even his most ardent admirers have over counted him. In another paper we do not know whether Mr. Timbs or the Times, from which he seems to quote, is at fault. But surely when Lord Cardigan was tried for the murder of Captain Tuckett and acquitted by tho House of Lords, it was not the judges who were in fault. Hero we read that it was "a proceeding so disgraceful to all the Peers of England, that one records the fact with sorrow and indignation and shame." We have an impres- sion that Lord Cardigan escaped by a technical objection to the form of the indictment. Captain Tuckett's name was wrongly given.
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