The Sun. — London, England, 1827-11-02 00:00:00

I I i LAW INTELLIGENCE. 'COURT OF KING'S BENC-F., Nov. 1. BIALTIIONT. AOAIATST TIiWAITES. This was an action to recover ( 6 thages for a libel. Mr. HterciiiesoN opened the pleadings. The de-1 claration steted, that before and at the pnhliration of the libels, the plaintiff (J. T. Barber Beaumont)i was the treasurer and director of the _Count y Fire.! office, an d t h at t h e d e f en d an t pu bli s h e d in the; Morning Herald newspaper the libel complained of.' The defendant pleaded the general issue. Mr. Bleouoneet.—l cannothelp rejoicing on be half of the plaintiff, that he has, through me, the gratiea'.ion of addressing himself to a Jury of such peculiar respectability, because it is a great and much-to-be-envied satisfaction, that the case of this' plaintiff, who is a gentlemen, a man of honour, and magistrate of 15 years' standing in the county, that the case in which he has put in issue, the amount of pecuniary coulpensation to be made to him for an outrageous attack upon his character, is to be tried before gentlemen whose feelings are alive to the value of a good character, and which feelings ' will not pervert but guide their judgment. You will observe that this libel appeared its a newspaper of great respectability, got up with great care and much learning—a newspaper that is not confined to one age, as is proved by a letter which > see in serted in one of its columns, the purport of which I' wish the editors, ansl also the Commissioners of In quiry, had practised—a letter from the younger Pliny to his friend Maxitnus, on his appointment to be Governor of Greece ; and not content with the vernacular tongue, there is in th 6 same journal a let ter from a correspondent who signs in a Hebrew character, in which language is written one half of ; what he' communicateis I mention these matters to show the respectability of the journal, and that it is not confined to the reading of the ignorant and illi terate, but . finds its way, into the studies of the...most - learned men; ao that it has carried the calumuies, far and wide, and made them of much greater weight. The libel pre tends to be extracts from the Revenue Com missioners, the .14th report. It does not pre tend to be the. whole of the report, nor to give what it does give in regular order: all the extracts are on one side; and I apprehend the defendant will be obliged to call Mr. Hansard to prove that there is such a report, and that where the defendant has taken upon himself to slander Mr. Beaumont be hind his back, he has done so by publishing extracts from that report. It is no justification to a libel that it is the print of a speech in the House of Corn reons,but none can deny that it is a mitigation. The defentlent, however, has not pleaded that he has co pied the report. I do not mean to have recourse tol the vulgar - subtlety and special pleading of urging that because it has not been pleaded there is no such report. I will at once admit there is such a commission, that they did inquire, and that they re ported their 14th report. , But there are two ways of copying a document : one is a fair method, that is, to copy the whole of it, the good and the bad, both sides together, the antidote with the bane, the evidence of all the witnesses, the calumny with the contradiction, for truth and common fairness require the whtile of what the witnesses say, one after an other, in regular order, to'he and riot 'to pub lish all that is saidagithist a man, Without a sin gl e tittle of whateisafor him. If the defendant had given the whole of-the report-e.if he had'published what was toldon both sides in the same paper (for a man is not to be calumniated on Saturday and ex cused on Monday),eif all had been done fairly, he would have pleaded a justification, and he has not done so, upon the store only of his own well grounded coneeiousheis that he could not have proved such plea, on account of the garbled man ner in which the extracts are published. I wish to speak with the greatest respect of the liber ties of the press, and should be sorry to bear any thing advanced against its operative use, as long as those who wield its great power conduct it fairly • and honestly, and do not deal i n insi nuatiOns, in sin-Mises, in groundless and abomi nable falsehoods: I alloti generidly that newspapers have the right to insert in 'their columns public re , " ports, but I'do not admit that if even the whole of the report had - been . givenit Would have been a jus tifiable publication.• It may be fit that Government should make inquiries; —it may be fit that Mr. Wal lace (whom I have the hOnour of knowing) and his brother commissioters should be vested with author rity to inquire into the collection of our immense re , venues. They are excellent inquiries,—they. form a new era in our history,—they date their conitnence ment from one of the greatest men the country ever produced—the late Ea . ri St. Vincent—fo: I hold that that illustrious captain did not perform a greater service to his country by conquering her enemies on the seas than by instituting these inquiries and inves tigations into the peculations of those who batten upon their country; but it by no means follows that all the stories told to - these commissioners should in their details he made rublie, and f6i this reason-, they make their inquiriei behind people's beaks, they receive ex-parte statements ;"they call witnesses before them whom they do not examine by the rules of legal evidence, and whose testimony is not sanc tioned by any cross-examination ; they trench on that most sacred principle of justice which commands us to hear both sides, and on that other almost equally sacred principle, which teaches us to do all matters of inquiry in public, and 'to do nothing in common with the barbarous and secret inquisitions of other nations. The inquiries they institute are necessarily in the dark ; and if their results are an attack upon cha racter, especially if they go" beyond the four corners of their instructions, and inquire ihto a private in dividual's conduct, not - towards the public, but to wards his own employers, and if they publish such ex-parte inquiries to the world, either from a desire of showing their own industry, or of injuring a rival establishinent, or from any private malice,—if ac tuated by any of the s e motives, the Commissioners themselves; even if their characters stood as high as that of the great man who originated them, should b't brought before a jury, who would decide upon their conduct, and tell them that even they must not expect -to slander others with impunity. In these extracts there are the examinations of Wm. Kappen, Godfrey Sykes, and William Campbell, Esqrs., one of whom, Mr. Sykes, I have long known. All that lie bas said he wasbound to say; it was his duty to ant ;evidence which might lead to the diicovery of slitisiss4 but it was no part of the duty of those to WhoMhe'gavei his report to publish it, and still less wis if any piirtorthe 'dnty ' of this newspaper, which was the• only newspap er .that did publish it, to publish Mr. Sykes's bare sus picions and surmises. Mr. Brougham here read Mr. Sykes's evidence-- " Will you detail the inquiries you have made with re spect to the return of duties to the County Fire-office ?—I think it happened about the middle of May that a ccoun t s had arrived at our Board that improper practices were prevailing at the County Fire Office with regard to the re turn of duty : it was communicated to Mr. Mawe,bieoy.prin cipal clerk. He immediately gut the particular k now before the Board to see what the amount of duty was, and the first thing that struck us was, that there appeared a very great difference of duty between the return to that office and that to others. This gave a prima facie appearance that they could not be right. Upon this I consi,lered in The own mind what was best to be ascertained ; the person making the communication sent certain papers cwitaining • the numbers which he had got from a book called the Pre -miuth Return Book. These papers (producing them), whi c h are copies, containing : the numbers of the policies, the Amount of the duty, end. the period for which. the du ties were withdraWn ; at the same time he gave certain ex tracts ,whi c li 'Were'tak e n ' from this beak , explaining the circumstances iespe e 'tided * slumbers,' appear. ing from these papers thaiduties had been withdrawn,- the firstthing that appeared, iie rank i ry to be done was to inquire whether'' the the policies Were actulasiibduring the liCies period* for 'Whi c h .the - had been withdrawn; of these papers relates . paiiiipelty Ito " Edinburgh , sad ne ighbourhood ,of Edinburgh,. andranothen to S usse x ; thought: first of sending &clerk : d cn%l4 some , to see whether the, policies, were. stibeisa44 but, upo n sag ges tion of the personi wlio gave this informatio n , linit I had butter inquire at Edinburgh (the policies ilifielia4ingiicen effected .by persons in trade, I might get the information more easily) ; I s,:nt a copy of several of those timicibetS to Edinburgh, with a letter to Mr.• Brnnte . !:, .flesifing him to make the necesmy ilitiftirE4.. What Vviis the result of those inquiries ?—The result of those inquiries was, that some of the - persons had become bankrupts, and no information could he obtained feelingres them ; but, with respect to No. 30,134, I got et account of payments of premium and auties for the years 1814, - 1815, 1816, tc.td 181'7 ; and for the year 1815, which is one of those years, Mr. Bremner sent me a copy of the re ceipt, signed by the agent of the Society. According to the informer's account, the duties were r , iftiYiieti from the years 1816 and 1817. 1 la t 1 thought that when .11r. Dean first went 'flown to the County Fire Office, we had riven hiM.a list of only one-half of the numbers, with di rections to ascertain when each policy commenced, and when it terminated. The answer he made to me was, that he found those numbers were correct; hut, on further in quiry, I heard, that the first time he went he saw this hook, which I wanted to get hold of; and in that very book he found the same account of the premium withdrawn for the years 1816 and 1817, as had been communicated to me; and we also found those same numbers among the qusrterly returns ending the 22d of March, 1823, an interval of six or seven yeat - s after the policies had been effected ; so that, connecting these circumstances, I have a case as to that par ticular number. That number hpll hten claimed upon for a return of duty as having ceastd in 1815 and 1816 ; you sent to Scotland and found them so claimed ; it had been an existing, policy in those years, and the premium paid ?--Yes ; and I found the receipt for the years 1815-16 ; and when Mr. Dean went to examine the book, he found that number (30,134) as subsisting, and he found this on the very page to which the informer refers me in that very book. Can Mr. Dean swear to the book out of which he copied it ?--I have no i:oUbt he can. I also found this true as to one Other number. Were they both found true in Scotland ?--.Both of them. Have you applied that inquiry to any numbers in Eng land ?---I then got Mr. France to write down to Horsham, and the account there is, that the books are not to be found at present ; but the Scotch cases appeared to me so clear, I did not go further. Mr. Dean went again to inquire about this particular hook, and to pursue his inquiries fur ther ; upon that occa,sion he was told that Mr. Barber Beaumont was gone to Paris, and that he had left directions that no book should be examined. Being thus denied ac cess to the books, I saw that I could not prove my case; it coming to Mr. Beaumont's knowledge that I was inves tigating this business, he sent me a letter, stating that he understood that inquiries bad been made at Edinburgh and elsewhere on this subject; that he conceived it improper to have made the inquiry, as it bad been made without first inquiring at the County Fire-office ; that he conceived I ought to inform him of the names of the informers, and the particulars of their information ; and refers to two per sons whom he supposes had given me the information. The way in which the matter arose was this :—A person who had been a clerk in the County Fire-office told Mr. Spike, the solicitor for the Beacon-office, that whenever country collectors failed, Mr. Barber Beaumont ordered lists to be made out, and claims to he made for returns of duty, to the amount to which the agent hid failed ; that this was with the knowledge of Johnson and Shepherd ; that Johnson had refuses], but that Shepherd had done it. This was communicated by Spike to a member of our board, who is one of the Directors of the Beacon Coin patty. Having considered the subject for some days, I went into the Board-room, there being present Mr. Hallam, Capt. Montagu, and Mr. Addington. I stated that I had received Lis paper, with which I believed they were ac quainted, and that I thought of is riting to Mr. Bremner to get information. I wrote on the 22d of May; a week after that it was mentioned by Capt. Montagu and Mr. Ad dington to the Chairman, who thought that though he was connected with this office, he ought not to be kept in the dark abou,-, it ; the Chairman then came out to me with a great deal of good temper, and asked me what was going on. I said there was a very awkward charge against Mr. Bar. ber Beaumont, for having w:thdraWn large sums from this office, when policies were subsisting. I said, " You may think it strange I have not mentioned this to you; but understanding that you was intimate with Mr. Barber Beaumont, and a Director of that office, I did not feel myself at liberty to mention it." He said Mr. Barber Beaumont was not a particular friend of his, and that he would follow up the inquiry ; and that the best way would he to wait till the time for a fresh return of duties, and then to examine into it. I do not think I mentioned at that time that I had written to Mr. Bremner, which I had done three or four days before ; that was on the Friday evening ; it was too late then to get at the hook in the Comptroller's office, and he said the next morning he would look over that book, and examine into the alleged disparity between that office and others. I did not see him the next day ; we'did not happen to be in the office the same time ; I had no further conversation with hint till the Tuesday fol lowing. On the Tuesday I received a letter from Mr. Bremner, disclosing the information he had obtained; I took the letter into the Board ; the Chairman was ex tremely angry to think that I should send to Scotland to make inquiries on this subject ; he said the proper way would have been to have gone to the office, and asked for the books ; I said, " We may differ, perhaps, a little upon that. If it had been found nut, on the books coming before you, probably that is the way which would be adopted ; but if a person comes and gives information, putting it in a strong way that fraud has been committed, the first thing is, to ascertain whether fraud has been committed or not ;" that was 'all which passed. He was touched personally, thinking that an imputation would be thrown upon his conduct; and that it would lie thought he had sanctioned the frauds ; whereas I am perfectly satisfied he knew nothing at all about them. We then began to make in quiry, through Mr. Dean, of the Comptroller's office. Ott Tuesday the 22d of June, It having come to his knowledge that I had mentioned the matter to the Parliamentary CoMmissioners of Inquiry, he sent immediately for me to ask me what inquiry was going on. I was going on to say, that in consequence of Mr. Barber Beaumont having refused the inspection of his books, and finding there was no authority to inspect them, and knowing the powers of the Commissioners of Inquiry, (I had men tioned the matter to the Commissioners,) this caused a great deal of altercation about the improper mode of doing this, and we got both a little warm. I said, "Pray, Mr. Chairman, did not you see Mr. Barber Beau mont the Friday after I saw you?" He said, " Yes, I did," "Did you give him any papers?"—" No, he said he had not seen him since the Friday, nor given him any papers ; he had no communication with him." I do not think anv thing particular passed, but when I went out I said to Al;•. Mawe, "Did you not tell me you garo two particula r numbers to the chairman?" for I directed Mr. Masse to give him only two numbers, not to give him the whole.— He said, " Yes." He said, " I gave him two particular numbers, and that paper Mr. Dean saw in the hands of Mr. Barber Beaumont at the County Fire-office." I then went into the hoard-room, and desired Mr. Mawe and Dean to be called in ; I asked Mr. Mawe first whether lie had not delivered to the Chairman a paper, containing two particular numbers. He said he had ; that is a copy de livered to him (producing it) ; that contains the particu lars on the subject of those numbers. Mr. Mawe having stated that he had given the Chairman this paper contain ing the numbers, and that he had not had it back from the Chairman, I asked Mr. Dean whether he had seen the paper with two numbers in Mr. Beaumont's hands ; he said, "Yes, he had ;" but after a great deal of cross-exa mination, all he could say was, " That he had seen a paper with numbers in my clerk's handwriting,. that being the only paper Mr. Sedgwick had had." It was strong presumption that this was the paper which reached Mr. Barber Beaumont's hands; the clerk in copying made a mistake. I believe that Mr Sedgwick sent this paper to Mr. Barber Beaumont in a letter ; for about an hour terwards Mr. Sedgwick sends for my clerk, and says there is a mistake as to one of those numbers that is not the number ; and in looking at it, it appearad that the number really ought to be 30;134 ; the clerlaad copied it 30,314. That, I think, shows clearly that this paper must have gone from Mr. Sedgwick to Mr. Barber Beaumont, and that paper put him in possession, in a great measure, of the evidence that I had. What observation did Mr. Sedgwick make?—He eras rather overcome with that. I left him soon after. Did he attempt to reconcile that with the statement he had before made, that he had not given him any paper ? No, he did not; all inquiry that I could prosecute with Mr. Beaumont was at an end after this. Has Mr. Sedgwick any Servant; does he use a mes senger generally? (Mr. Happen.)—He ha a servant. Mr. Sykes.—My informer tells me that this has been regularly done in the County Fire-office, and has been well known to the amount of 2,0001. a-year constantly; and he tells me further, that since This begun they are now making out new hooks in the cffice—complete new sets of books; and it is an exceedingly singular thing, one clerk-, the senior clerk, Mr. Shepherd, has disappeared ; it ap pears as if he is gone off on a charge of bigamy. that is the statement now made but I suspect Shepherd having the charge of those books, is making fresh books. Mr. Schab mr came to our office about a fortnight ago for au affi davit; fir an extent to issue against some of their debtors, and he inquired of one of my clerks whether he had seen any thing of Shepherd, or had paid him any money lately ; he said he had been off for a week. I rather sti,p,:t is some fraud Aoiii it: My informer tells me he bas seen one or two clerks, who stated that his wife has been there with a certificate of a former marriage, and that he is off in consequence ; but the clerks said we have had an in spector from Somerset-house, he was very near getting at it, hut he did not do it ; I suppose. that refetA to their get ting the !!tiA Of his way. I have had another letter from Mr. Ilremner, dated the 22d of June, from which it appears to Inc there has been some tampering with the people who knew the facts; he states, that,with regard to the insurance, of (=rant, nothing is td be hOPed ; that lie cannot find any receipts; that he appears to have some idea of having suspended his insurance; that Mr. Gordon had promised to look for receipts, &c., but when called upon for them, he evidently evaded the inquiry. It rather strikes me, that knowing the particular numbers, Mr. Beaumont tnny have thrown impediments into the way of our inquiries with respect to them. Those policies were effected in 1815-16 , and it was not till 1822 that he ap plies for a return of the duty: Mr. BkiatiGitam proceeded--There is a duty of three shillings upon every policy : it is not paid di rectly by insurance-offices in general, but it, is paid directly by the County Fire Insurance Office, of which, for a very small salary, Mr. Beaumont is the managing director. The offices are called upon un der penalties to make the return of these duties every two months, upon all the insurances they make from the Land's End to John O'Groat's House. The of fice sends a certain number of policies, say 100, into the country : it does not therefore follow that they are all used, but they have always made it a rule to pay in the whole duty, as if the whole was due ; but when, at the end of the year, they find from the return of their agents how many are used, say SO, they claim the return upon the remaining 20. I pass over a great deal more of the extracts, throwing out the vague suspicions of Mr. Sykes, things very proper for . him to report, but becoming groundless, and foul calumnies, in the face they as sume when the Commissioners of Public Inquiry venture to give them publicity; and becoming far worse when they have still further publicity from a newspaper. I have gone over a part, and only a very small part, of the evidence of Mr. Sykes, enough to stamp a proper character on the proceed ings. Mr. J. Hubbard is examined. " What situ ation are you in now ? lam net in any situation particularly : I hold a commission in the militia."— " What situation were you in as connected with the County Fire Office ? I was chief clerk of the town department." He does not say he was a dis carded servant of the office. I never yet saw a man who was turned away. But I ask, what business had the commissioners to inquire into the private conduct of Mr. Barber Beaumont ? They might as well have inquired into the business of any private banking-house. The book-keeper might have been a witness : if the commissioners did not call him, their conduct was blameable; if they did call him, his evidence ought to be in the report ; and if there had been a shadow of foundation for the malignant suspicion of that discarded servant, Hub bard, the defendant would have called him before you. Mr. Brougham made several other observa tions about the evidence of Stevens'and of the other clerks of the Fire-office, especially Lye's evidence, who might have been called before the commis .ior.ers, whose evidence might have broken down, for which reason perhaps it was, that he would not be called that day, although his evidence was in the columns of the Morning Herald. Suppose, gentle men, you were editors of a newspaper, and suppose, from private malice, any one brought a report and asked you to insert it, to give it a greater circula tion, what would be your first consideration ? Would it not be whether it would be right to give circulation to such vague unfounded suspicion as the words I have read convey ? Ought not such a thought to have occurred to the editors of a news paper, who were called upon to give circulation to the collected venom and elaborate slander of these commissioners, sufficient to reach the character of even a better known man than the plaintiff ? If an honest man were asked to spread this. slander, he would have answered, "God forbid!" If told it had been collected, he would have said, " So much the worse." Other newspapers felt in this manner. You will look in vain among their files for that which bore upon its front a caveat against its insertion ; but the defendant published it, and he is this day brought before you to answer farthe, .publication. I - need hardly take up your. time by mentioning .another libel in another newspaper, in a letter from the dis carded clerk, Lye. The plaintiff was examined be fore the Commissioners, but he was not examined in a way to do him any good. He was informed that there was soMething about him ; and he desired to be heard, but the Commissioners did not tell him of what he was accused. But Mr. Beaumont's evi dence was omitted; so was the evidence of Mr. Sedgwick, Johnson, Schabner, and Stevens. Mr. Lye's letter begins with large characters, not his own name, but " Mr. B. Beaumont, of whom you have heard so much, and of whom you - shall now learn something more." Mr. Brougham read some extracts from this letter, and said, the letter is not confined to Mr. Beaumont's public conductl--to his duties in the fire-office, or to - his transactions with the Stamp-offiee. But you may judge of the feeling which animated this wretched man, when I tell you that he had the baseness, in this letter, to go back to the parentage of Mr. Beaumont, and to twit him with having been born of an artist. My friend, the Attorney-General, naturally shrinks back from this as incredible; and as you may have the same doubts, 1 shall read the passage ; Mr. Beaumont's father was a painter. It is no shameful accusation to be called the son of a painter, and I have heard the highest legal officer in the king dom, in the presence of the highest birth in the land, boast that he was descended from one. Mr. Brougham read some further extracts—" Were you not artist expert enough to invent a suitable colour ing to destroy me without resorting to materials like these; wretched dauber, foul-mouthed bespatterer of the character you envy." The law gives Mr. Beau mont only one method of recompense ; but recollect, gentlemen, according to the amount of that compen sation will the public estimate your opinion of the puin overrt i h t y eti : o va f th ho great ao m tf motives loi l‘ yh . i em t a h re sn\in e t, th h cl h %h, e has h he ceh has upwardsa sacted.lf in presided off a million of money has passed through, his hands, and more than 90,000 policies have been granted,— if there had been respecting any one of those trans actions on any one of the days of those 20 years, one sore place or suspicious feature, one solitary circum stance that would not bear the most severe search and scrutinizing examination, he would have been indeed not a bold man, but a mad man, to have de fied to the investigation of his conduct such a host of adversaries with such a magazine of a e rm n s e , l an is l u e e o , little scruple to use them; but he has defied all his —he has accusers—he has faced all these witnesses dared their investigation, and it is they who have shrunk, and not he; for in pleading the general they have admitted the falsehood of the slanders they have dared to publish. I have spoken meekly as become me, of the tribunal in whose name these slanders have been sent forth. I regret, that by a course of erroneous inquiry, and extra-judicial inves tigation, that by overstepping the hound of their commission—by reporting hearsay surmises about what they had no right to examine, and . by printing what they had no right to report, they have brought discredit upon that magnificent system on which I have taken leave to speak—on which public economy and retrenchment so mainly depend ; and I am sorry I have ever seen the day when the wise institutions of that great captain and greater statesman have been obscured by the conduct of his unworthy co adjutors. The two publications in the /I/ord./1g Herald Of the 11th of October and 31st of October, 1826, the latter being the letter of Francis I,ye, were put in and read. The reading occupied upwards of an hour. Thomas Schabuer, the cashier and chief clerk of the County Fire-office, proved that the plaintiff was the managing director; the office was of large emo lument. Francis Lye was book-keeper, and et as dismissed. Cross-examined—There are GO directors altoge ther. Several of them often attend. Mr. Beau mont is the managing director. The clerks axe en tirely under his control. Witness did not know from Mr.. Beaumont whether he had or had not deter mined to bring his action before the appearance of Mr. Lye's letter. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL was under great diffi culty, as, indeed, tirety defendant was, who had to contend with his ,Learned Friend ; beeitise his inge nuity, talents, and eloquence, always enabled him to dress his case so As to captivate his auditors ; but in this case ; he had been so energetic that he (the Attorney-General) hardly knew whether his calmer manner would make any impression ; for after a long - experience he could never so completely identify himself with his client as his friend had done; but he envied those who could feel a real passion, and from the instructions of their clients possess that degree of pathos which enabled them to run away with the feelings of all who heard them. lie had been considering what could have been Mr. Beau mont's object in bringing the action, for very little had been said about damages. His friend had con fessed that the Morning Herald was a most respecta ble paper, and admirably conducted. He himself was not in the habit of bestowing upon newspapers any extraordinary praise, eren when he was concerned for them, and he left his client's in this respect to the testimony of his friend, for which he was grate ful, of which he had a right to avail himself, and which he hoped the Jury would remember. He could, however, now account for Mr. Beaumont's ob ject in bringing the action ; he wished Mr. Brougham to make a speech for him in vindication of his con duct, and that might sooth his feelings. His object had been satisfied, he must consider it accomplished, and he - would now, doubtless, be satisfied with a verdict against him. It was not the conduct of the commission ers, nor the conduct of Mr. Beaumont, that the j ury were to try ; they were not now called upon to do repara tion to Mr. Beaumont for any imputation that might have been made upon him in the course of that inquiry, but their business was to see if there were any thing in the present publication of which be had a right to complain. All I will say at present (said the Attorney-General) is, that it is sufficiently certain that he diet make complaints against the Commissioners of Inquiry, which I have not the least doubt he will show in the proper time, and at the proper place, to be well founded and effectual. I say the proper time and place—for will any one tell me, that the publiCations which he himself has issued through the medium of the newspaper vehi ' de, will have the effect, of answering'the charges, if charges are made against hiin—of explaining- 7 -of re butting—of, in short, completely defending him from the allegations of the Commissioners ? I say they will not. I say that in spite of what he has written prematurely, these allegations will remain as they were. Mr. Beaumont will still not be the less obliged to enter upon his justification. The Com missioners will still carry on their investigations, and the Government will proceed as if nothing of all this exculpation had appeared. Then - Why is this action brought ? Why, gentlemen, but for the sake, pending this inquiry, of showing that what has been alleged against him is founded in malice, is unjust and untenable ? This is Mr. Beau mont'; real object in this action against the proprietor of the Morning Herald. Why, gen tlemen, is it that i• -Mr. Beaumont will not wait until the proper time and place shall be afforded to him when he shall be fairly called on for his de fence ? If to entertain any wish to anticipate the public judgment by prematurely entering upon his defence, let him do so if he can—hut, Gentlemen, I only hope that yours are not the hands through which that unseasonable justification will be accom plished. Gentlemen, we have heard Mr. Brougham expatiate on a vast variety of subjects, some of which were already sufficiently well known to you. I will not attempt to follow him, but simply now put a question to him, to which I would, if it were proper for me in this place to do so, demand an answer. Mr. BROUGHAM—Put your question, I shall be happy to answer it. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL—Then, Gentlemen, I would ask my Learned Friend this question—Will he state that he is of opinion that if he presents a peti tion to the House of Commons, which contains im putations affecting the characters of - other persons, is my Friend of opinion that the newspaper which publishes my Friend's speech, and the substance of the petition, ought to be - liable to an action for libel ? Will he say that that is his opinion ?. Mr. BROUGHAM—It certainly is &very odd mode of proceeding to call on an individual to answer ques tions in this manner. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL.—You have challenged me to put the question: Mr. BROUGHAM.—I should certainly say that the publication of ex-parte charges, pending ulterior proceedings, is highly improper, and such publication would be treated by either house as a gross breech of their privileges. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL.—Bot my Friend has not yet answered my question. I ask, therefore, again, if he presents a petition containing injurious allegations against a particular party, • and that he condescended to print' his own speech made on the occasion in the House of 'Commons, does my Friend mean to say that an action ought to lie for such publication ?_ Mr. BROUGHAM.—It is very well known that speeches made in Parliament, and afterwards pub lished, have been made, subjects of proceedings in Courts of Justice. Lord Abingdon for a speech made in the House of Peers, and Mr. Creevy for a speech in the House of Commons, were afterwards published by the authors, were prosecuted, convic ted, and sentenced in Courts of Justice. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL.--Rut my Friend has as yet abstained from stating his own opinion, which was the drift of my question.—(A laugh.) Mr. BROUGHAM—I-have no hesitation in saying that the publications described by my Learned Friend ought to be made the subject of an action, and if I were on the Jury at the trial, I would not only give a verdict, but-large damages to the plain tiff.—(A laugh.) Lord TENTERDEN—And I should have no hesi tation in giving my opinion that an action in such a case would lie. - - The ATToRNF.v-GENERAL—Gentlemen, I shall not, for my part, give any opinion upon that point. Lord TENTERDEN—No, that is not expected of you. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL—And when ultimately an opinion is to be delivered by you, I am sure it will be with due deliberation. I,ord TENTERDEN—Yes. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL—Let me, Gentle men, if you please, recur to my question. If a Noble Peer, or a Member of the House of Commons, after delivering a speech in Parliament, reflecting on an individual, were afterwards to take the pains to pub lish it himself, no doubt an action would lie. But when my Lord says, that if a Member of Parliament makes a speech on a petition, and if the Morning Herald should, in the ordinary course of proceeding, publish that speech and petition, the Paper is liable to an action— Lord TENTlittnEN—I have not stated any thin, 50 comprehensive, my expression was more qualified. ' The ATToRNEY-GENERAL—I am glad, Gentle men, that I have reverted to the subject as it has produced a correction of a misconceptiOn under which I certainly laboured. You will, however, Gentlemen, remember that I (lid not put my ques tion to my Learned Friend, until I found that he wished me to put it. Now, Gentlemen, I do beg you to consider that the matter of this alleged libel is matter that had been put together and framed exclusively by the Commissioners, who were autho rised to institute an inquiry of great public importance. The publication before the Court was not intended by the defendant to ea,t the slightest reflection on Mr. Beaumont ; it was part of the fruit of that great tree which Lord St. Vincent had planted; the public, who had a feeling in the success of all econo mical reforms, had a right to be acquainted with it, and the editor, who had simply communicated it to them in a more convenient form, was not therefore subject to an action cf . slander. It might be Mr. Beaumont's object to strike the first blow, but he was mistaken in supposing that the report necessarily east any imputation upon him. The County Fire office received the-amount of duty on their policies, and were'accountable for it to Government. Their country agents received these duties along with the premiums, and the office was then reimbursed for its advances to Government. The imputation might be upon these agents, if they stated that subsisting policies had been abandoned, or that the insured had not paid the ditty: The improper accounting or the fraud of the agents might create mistakes if there were any, but Mr. Beaumont chose to make it his -own case. Still he (the Attorney-General) might Say, without accusing Mr. Beaumont of designing anything mono that his mode of doing the business - opened a wide door to fraud. With respect to Mr. -Lye's letter, that certainly would have been libellous if it had not been in answer to Mr. B.'s own letters. His three letters to the Commissioners and to the Lords of the Treasury appeared in the first paper—they re flected in the strongest manner upon Mr. Lye, who was justified in answering them; and the editor, .who had inserted those letters, was bound to insert the answer. But that answer clearly showed that there was a controversy depending between the writer and Mr. Beaumont ; it therefore could not do Mr. Beaumont's character any injury, as every man who read the letter would plainly see there was a dispute between the parties; and therefore would not credit any thing that might appear to Mr. Beau mont's disadvantage. The ATTORNEY-GENEIAL, in conclusion, said, I submit confidently to you, Gentlemen, that Mr. Beaumont is not entitled to •your verdict on this occasion—l submit that what has been charged as a libel is nothing more than a portion of a controversy between two individuals, who have adopted the same organ for giving publicity to their sentiments—l submit that the Editor of this paper did no more than give fair opportunity to the accused party of being heard against hisaccuser. If it should be stated to you by my Lord, that, in point of law, you ought to return a verdict for the plaintiff, the law gives you a discretion over the amount of damages ; and I trust that you will not punish the Editor of the Morning Herald, at the instigation of Mr. Beaumont, of all r'cn, for promoting the public circulation of that which was not only already in print, but which might be had almost at every coffee house in London. Gentlemen, the Editor of the Morning Herald undertook to give no decision be tween the contending parties. Who spoke truth, or who stated falsehoOd, he did not declare. Having published the accusations of the one, he publishes the defence of the other, and I trust that your verdict will not announce your opinion that he was wrong. Lord TENTERDEN said, that when a person pub lished any thing for his own profit, he ought first to ascertain its truth. A part of the first publication was certainly highly injurious to the plaintiff's cha racter. His Lordship was sorry that the Commis sioners had let -it pass from them, for it was beside the subject of their inquiries. The letters that had been supposed to have been written by the plaintiff had been published by the defendant without his consent—an answer from Lye might have been ex pected. In that letter the words " foul falsehoods" occur again and again, and he advises Mr. Beaumont to behave with Christian charity, and to lay aside all malice. The question was, whether there was any justification for publishing that letter. The de fendant had, without the plaintiff's authority, pub lished something which he took to be letters written by the plaintiff; and because he thdught fit to pub lish those letters, .he therefore published the answer. Had the plaintiff authorized the publication of the first letters, it would have been a very different thing. If the jury could say they were such publi cations as they would be willing to have published of themselves, they would find for the defendant ; but if they did net think so, then they were bound to find for the plaintiff, with such such damages as they would deem to be a proper compensation._ The Jury retired for about - three-quarters of at: hour, and then returned with a verdict for the plain. tiff—Damages Is. THE HIGH TIDE. ST. KATHARINE'S DOCK. The works at St. Katharine's Dock, which lately have been carried on with so much expedition, were suddenly sus pended yesterday morning. The tide, which at this time of the year is generally very high, was on Wednesday night considerably increased by a strong northerly wind, which caused the river to swell to an unusual degree, so as to overflow the banks of the Thames. Between ten and eleven o'clock, the river forced its way into the bed dug for the formation of St. Katharine's Docks, inundating the buildings and warehouses erecting there, with such fury, that before any efforts could be made to check its progress, the whole of the new docks was completely filled with water, exceeding in some places 27 feet in depth. This accident, we are informed, would not have 'occarred, had it not been for an old building left standing close to the darn in a very ruinous state, under which the river first forced its way. ANOTHER. ACCOUNT.) St. Kattuiririe's Dock was on Wednesday night visited by an irruption of the Thames, of so extensive a descrip tion, that, in a few minutes, all those portions of the dock which have been excavated were filled to the level of the water in the river. It took place, fortunately, at an ad vanced hour of the night (five minutes before eleven), o ot f h n e_r a lv te i r se ‘ l c i , • e o t tn i it t s he w r a a y i:i d d o it t y ib l t v ies ith s t i h v e h i s c a h c i t i h fi e ce i m o m i. l e i n fe s body when all the workm e n had l ong d e p ar t e d f or th e i r h omes, d have been commensurably great. The persons who heard the irruption describe it as similar in sound to a violent storm, accompanied with that kind of noise which is pro duced by a lofty cataract. So rapid was the pouring in, that •though the portion of ground excavated exceeds eight acres, and the depth thirty feet, the entire, in less than a quarter of an hour, was filled to tide level, when the anise ceased. The wooden bridge is completely swept away; the engine-house and engine, which were nearly adjoining, are completely under water, with the exception of the roof of the former, a portion of which is still visible, and the monkeys, as they are termed, and their scaffolding, which were used in driving the piles, are scarce one foot above the surface. The docks are as full'as if they had been finished, and the water admitted for the commencement of liwmess. They bear, however, an appearance of devasta- TM, similar to that which the Cornish coast might exhibit when a shipwreck has taken place; spars, beams of timber, tackle, and ropes and pullies, are scattered and floating in all directions. When the aperture is closed, the seat of which is where the old St. Katharine's Dock was formerly situated, the expence attending the ,pumping out of the great body of fluid which has rushed in will be immense. Above 400 persons will for the present be thrown out of employment. SOUTHWOLD, Nov. In consequence of the continued wind from the N. W. during the last week, the feiv remaining visitors of this de lightful spot were this morning on foot at an early hour, to witness the effects of one of the heaviest swells within the recollection-of - the - oklest inhabitants. A considerable portion of the Gun Hill has been levelled with the beach, and of the substantial boat-house belonging to the Preven tive station, not even a vestige of the foundation remains, and the boats completely stove. Along the whole beach the cottages and boat-houses of the poor fishers have been precipitately deserted, and, during the whole night, their tenants were actively engaged in removing their little pro perty, and securing their boats, bathing-machines, &c., by dragging them up the face of the low cliff, which runs in front of the town. The injury to these poor men will, we fear, be conside rable ; but it is between the Gun Hill and the entrance to the harbour, that the most serious effects of the en croachment of the sea are observable, it having, in that. direction, made a clear breach over the beach, and laid a large part of the marshes entirely under water, leaving the baths and other buildings in that direction, accessible only to the hardy youth who will venture to plunge into the newly formed lake, in pursuit of his nets or the broken re mains of his boat , o n whic h rested his dependence fur a precarious s ubsistence during the approaching winter. This visitation is the niers awful in appearance from the wind blowing, as has been the case, for some days steadily off shore, and consequently the numerous traders are seen passing and repassm g in perfect security, at less than half a mile distance. Should the evening tide be attended with as heavy a swell, which there seems even- reason to apprehend, as the wind does not moderate, the injury to the property about the Gun Hill, and the cottages under the Cliff, will be still more serious, and the Preventive Watch-house will most probably follow the fate of its Boat-house. PRICES OF STOCKS PBIS Sank Stock 21 5 1,i 14% I 3 per Cent. Red. 86% ti ; 3 per Cent. Cons. 8 7%1"2 , , s 73!i per Cent. 93 1 ,4 , Ditto lied 9* :.) i 1 per Cent. New l O2 ,iNd,4 1 'Ditto, 1826 - 10•2%N Bank Bank L. Ann.'... , 19,14,,,s 1 indin Steck - ...—... ' Ditto Bondi 100 i.st) pia. VAT At ONE O'CLOCK•mili South Sen Stock ........ Old A nnuities , ............. ••', New Ditto .................. Ex. Bills, £l,OOO 2it. 6 0 g 1 pm' Ditto ...... 500 al. 60 p 0 Ditto Small Ditto Commercial ......••• Pank for Account ......... India for Account ......... Cons. for Acct ............. rxterts OF FOREIGN FUNDS Au s trian Bondi, 5 per rent Brazilian Bonds 6114 I Buenos Ayres Bonds Bonds, 6 per ct. - - Colombian Bonds bitt., it 24 9 .7N ;Danish, 3 per rent. 6 , 1% 'Greek Bonds Ditto, 1925 Cluatimala Alexican Bonds . 42 1 4 Do. 1925 51% THIS DAY AT ON 0 1 Neapolitan, 1824 ........... Peruvian Bonds ............ 1 Portuguese Bonds ............ "; 1 Prussian, 5 per cent. ..• 1 Ditto, Nov .................. I Russian, New ............... Spanish, 1321............ " 180.3 ........ .. ga . ,A French Rent9s, 5 p.c. 1 Z 7 `,, 1 1 - Exchange...... ' per cent ......• - F:xchange ..... DAT AT ONE O'CLODldhol Paid. Per 0 70 /Ts , ..... X2O 47 48S IS , psor 5 iia .- 10 XI 6s. to. SP 420 fii„ 7o 25 tli Ince Co. 10 _./.. PRICES OF SHARES THIS Brazilian Mining Co. Potosi La Paz and Peruvian A. Ditto Consolidated Real del Monte Mining Co Welch Iron and Coal Mining ( Alliance Fire and Life Insural PRICES OF IRISH STOCKS, OCT. 30. Bank Stock ' 249% St. Patna insur. (per - / , C'onsols, 3 per cent. BCAS Royal Irish Ditto . ......... . I , 001% Stock, 3% par rent. 93% 3 t per Cent. National 101% I Hibernian Bank .......... ... Ditto Ditto ............................... : /t : V Ditto,New 93 Patriotic (ion. Deb. :l% per cent Royal Canal Stock ... - Royal Irish - Mine ........... ~/ Orand Canal St oc k - Impe r ial Mine ................. / City Deb. I par ee n t.., - Mining Co. of Ireland •• • 7" i/ Ballast (Miro Deb. 41. , . Ct - - Commercial Buildin ----- IN BRIDGE. TO-MORRO- et 1, Evening ....57 'minutes HIGH WATV% AT LONIM Vterning...3t minutes after 1. LEE o. JACOB AND ANOTHER. A I% ivii T" FRIENDS of the DEFENP"'" ; :j 4gl in this Case, are request e d to w i t hh o ld merit upon the ex-parte statement, W hi c h ap pears -- Morning Papers of this day, until the matter cO es o oo again for hearing, which will immediately take place t o lf the Defendants' Notice of Motion, for which leave ige lf i e obtained ; affidavits, contradictory of the statementib ei preparation. JONES SPYER, , Defendants' Solicitor, 19, Austin-fr z„, , ,i lj r )r , A A4O LONDON. FRIDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER:2, 101. A Messenger left the Foreign Office Y e ; day evening with despatches for Sir WELLESLEY, at Vienna, The Paris Parrs of Tuesday had not rO c/' . L: town when our paper went to press, tnis ce noon, nor has there been any foreign arrio , our last ; and as the wind still blows strong fr the Northward, it may be scone hours b e fore ti ; 3 ; communication from the French coast 1 114 0 received. It is considered probable, tb st cm next arrit'al from France will convey intellige from the East. • - H• - rester a ' l The following communication was y made by the Board of Trade to the Russi3'ard pany, for the information of the merchi o " _ c d others trading to Russia. It will be ° bser ssis p that persons wishing to. travel in the P I Empire must furnish themselves with a Ps s r litt , or visa of a Russian Minister at a, Foreign C ° or if a inerchant,that of , a.Russian Consub /113., those who neglect to do so will be sent hack:. -f v - 19 13 ; the frontier.. The question naturally arises these regulations are to be enforced with 1° 0 0 14 strictness at this time ? We leave others to 6 this problem. , "Office of Committee of Privy Council for, " Whitehall, 29th October, 1827.. of • " It having been represented to the Committee 4 4 4 or Council for Trade, that British subjects who Illarb1„0_, casino to visit the Russian dominions are- frequentif ed to great inconvenience from not paying proper atvd° to the regulations established there with: respect production of passports in due form " lam directed to transmit to you the enclosed,; from a dispatch on that subject, from the British ri at St. Petersburgh, for the information of the , 4 ,0 Company; and in order tha t t he y ma y take such evV I may appear to them to be . proper for making the oe public, for the e , information of the Merchants an d . trading Russia. (Signed) "THOMAS LACE (corr.) Dit..bid " By law all Foreigners, desirous of en t e ring - t ,02 must, if travellers, furni s h th emse l ves w i t h a Pa66_eA, f a .tleast, a visa of th e R uss i an Mi n i ster or Cho , r. or aires at a Foreign C our t ; an d f or a merchant, the Russian Consul. " The parties neglecting to furnish themselves v/ 1 , 0 7 1 tb 6 1 0 ! documents will be sent back from the frontier; O r La intervention of the Minister at this Cotirt be att eou ' - tht In the Court of King's Bench ye sterday public were favoured with another sp -1 for those c ationquestionableof character, ha rae t e actionsr, " ell° 4 e conceive s th u a c t h B an action, at think, fall) m uch better b t been left alone. al With cedhve benefit of all concerned, the ee respectcircumstanc es ' stati for ces i , he b e rdi h ct ati BARBER BEAUMONT not acted wisely, : under :ill affs i such completelybringing ;,, thewhen public e f p oL u • wibt a ii. r oc, d f most forgotten the r e a and the st s tit our view of the case. Only one shilling ( 1311 ' ,! "k; 4 to a gentleman of his character and respel ls:lll —what does it p rove ?—one of two things , -- fb t ought not to have brought the action at all) I. fi e of ° his character has only suffered the damag e o c , shilling. But that is not all—such a ve raict %s' cording to the present Law of Libel, is e 3 n oel it lent to no verdict at all—or what is 0- c o( r> tends to lower, instead of raising the el lsrs le of the plaintiff in public estimation ; f or r eagerly ask " What are the damages s ,fi bol ° tremendous case which occupies the Court it day ?" and when they are told one ,0 5 bit t4 ' n merely provokes a laugh of derisio as Nos if the amount were only a farthing . •' 3 , 0 tiO A put it to any man of common sense, vv.- - o. himself aggrieved in character, would he b e fore . d its vindication in a Court of Justice C° . twelve honest men, if he knew that , t s; die ootniley shilling, obtai: such an equivocal l er a,° a- e e thousand pounds to sooth . his wounds jet . : . to bility ? . Reputation .is always orate 7 in proportion ,to ,the expected amount where lie fondly expee te and nothing is more ludicrous than the os etl ev. ' men t.of any simple lady or virtnone g ; 0 0 who modestly lays the .damage a t ten t ok pounds, when either surveyS the 9 10 1 . Pt! ee t he the Foreman, and reads in his soleinri appalling vi shilling, ac , parties. TI to such a upon th e he is abboa to. may b e ) 1 a dilenamo embitters t %V e do nol allud e to own intrins Nv e h ne se Judge , th at i t Was "IY made the plaintiff n ominal ye But the ut a lleged Li' OW cure. and Juries" racter calm a mall of reputation W e hal, posed to ei ili 016 clues, Mr. 'R —t Au an d a Mr. v estigation, Patties inter letter s , and the publics brought, consists it the alleged tnittee of tl as accemiii Large ! if Report, th hY orde r i ni ,. ° l'ee prim e Public pro th e Newsp Raper s , adv isedly, Pub lish a p all i rriposs such a vol d k.red folio 'la n who eat th e wh( the another ch of Publi c of e one of 0 Intno tm, did 'Pecia tle,, rnaws eloquence. trot t h ave teas°, t hem the Th e ( b • Peen a I °"v as 81 N for I n the c Indi a Thad, to.„ tnains Go t hat th e h ream tlOn for sl , C ollso Tan is no st ock lia bo The r. ' 11 10 , ° Mee, Tha e • ~kugh 1 4ee L t he li 1 44 t t '''et1 th th,,.. ar tihk 5, fr o '" l e !al , rf He l , 'LeA,$. (rare, Ti 4 thZ' l NY dea a r P f e a le teas(