This column is probably written by the editor of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, George Cavenagh. It is a justification for the writer's previous remarks on James Martin's 'Botany Bay' essay published in the Sydney Gazette issue of 4 October 1838 (2). 'The author of The Australian Sketch Book', states the writer, 'complains that we do him injustice in attributing to him the possession of opinions favourable to the doctrine of the efficacy of prayers for the dead ...'
See also correspondence published in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 20 October 1838 (2-3), entitled 'Mr. Martin's Book : Prayers for the Dead'. This correspondence, by 'A Traveller on a Well-Descried [Described] Road', continues the theological discussion on prayers for the dead and is followed by an extensive note (3) by the editor, probably George Cavenagh. This correspondence is not separately indexed in AustLit.
Subsequent issues of the Sydney Gazette, including 25 October 1838 (3) and 24 November 1838 (3), and 1 December 1838 (3) contain columns and correspondence continuing the theological discussion. These works are not indexed in AustLit.