The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-07-02 00:00:00

THE BEND OR LIBEL CASE.

In London, on Tuesday, in the Queen's Bench
Division, before Mr. Justice Field and a special jury,
the trial of the action of "Barrow v. Smith" was re-
sumed and concluded.

The court was again densely crowded with members
of the aristocracy and the sporting world. Lord
Arlington occupied a seat on the bench during the pro-
ceedings.

This was an action of libel brought by a veterinary
surgeon (Mr. Barrow), practising at Marlborough,
against the printer and publisher of the Morning Post
for an article written on May 31, 1880, some days
after the Derby, signed " Pavo." The writer im-
puted therein to the plaintiff, as he alleged, mis-
conduct and want of care and skill in the
management and treatment of the horse Bend Or,
which won the Derby that year, whereby the
plaintiff was discharged from attending the Rusiley
stables and lost other good customers. The defendant
says, if the words complained of were defamatory,
they were published without actual malice or gross
negligence ; that he had inserted in the journal in
which it appeared a full apology; and he paid 40s.
into court, which was enough to satisfy the plaintiff's
claim.

Mr. Charles Russell, Q.C., Mr. T. W. Wheeler, and
Mr. Horace Brown, were counsel for the plaintiff; Sir
Mr. Gainsford Bruce appeared for the defendant.

The trial, which had extended over five days, ter-
minated on Tuesday by his Lordship's summing up,
which lasted three hours and 15 minutes. The jury
hen retired to answer the following questions, to
which, after an absence of 45 minutes, they returned
into Court with the answers subjoined :

1. Do the words of the alleged libel impute fraudu-
lent and dishonest conduct ?—Yes.
2. Do the words of the alleged libel impute to the
plaintiff want of care and skill in his business or pro-
fession ?—Yes.
3. Were the words before the words "according
to" and after the words "is concerned" published of
or concerning the plaintiff ?—Yes.
4. Are the words specified in the third question true
in substance and in fact ?—NO.
5. Are the rest of the words true in substance and
fact ?—No.

6. Were the words specified in the third question
published by the defendant without actual malice or
gross negligence; and did the defendants before the
commencement of the action insert in the newspaper a
full apology for the libel ?—No.
7. If you think that the words specified in the third
question impute fraudulent and dishonest conduct to
the plaintiff, and the defendant has not satisfied you
that they are true in substance and in fact, is the sup.
of 40s. enough to satisfy the claim of the plaintiff in
respect of these words ?—No.
8. What sum do you find as damages for those words
irrespective of the 40s. ?-21,000
9. If you think that the words other than those
specified in the third question are not proved to be
true in substance and fact, what damages do you assess
to the plaintiff in respect of those words ?-750.
His Lordship then, Cri the application of the learned
counsel, entered a verdi3t for the plaintiff with damages
£1,750, and gave judgment accordingly, certifying for
a special jury.

This verdict was rec!ived with scale applause in court.

A petition, signed y over 20,000 persons, has been
forwarded from Bradfoil for presentation to the House of
Commons, against any 'reaty being male with France that
does not provide for a!eduction of tariffs and does not con-
tain a clause giving Egland the power to withdraw from
any Treaty after twelv months' notice. The petition was
signed in the streets, tb whole of the working classes being
most enthusiastic in thin:Latter.

A WILL CASE.

The cause of "Irving v. the Marquis of Harting-
ton" has been heard in the Probate Court.

Mr. Inderwick, Q.C., and Dr. Phillimore were
counsel for the plaintiff • and the Attorney-General,
the Solicitor-General, and Mr. Searle represented the
defendant.

The testatrix, whose testamentary dispositions
formed the subject of this case, Miss Mary Ann
Bruce, was the daughter of an indigo planter of
India. Having made a fortune he came to this
country with the deceased, and lived with her and
her sister Sarah at Upper Bedford-place London.
In 1827 he died, leaving Sarah £60,000 and the
deceased £40,000. For a number of years the two
sisters lived together, but in 1850 they separated, and
the testatrix went to reside at Brighton. They had
only one near relation, Colonel Bruce, the father of
the wife of the plaintiff in the suit, and of him they
were stated to be very proud. He was a Waterloo
veteran, and had fought with Wellington throughout
the Peninsula war. With his daughter the deceased
became upon very intimate terms and had much
affection for her two little girls. The testatrix's sister
Sarah was desirous of leaving the bulk of her property
r the purpose of founding an institu Lion at Calcutta
for the care and education of half-caste female orphan
children, and she had been in communication with the
India Office for that purpose. She persuaded her
sister to follow her exam ple, and accordingly, on March
8, 1873, they executed a joint will, by which, with the
exception of a few small legacies, they dedicated their
joint fortune for this object. Some time afterwards,
it was stated that the testatrix became dissatisfied
with what she had done, and on Oct. 3, 1874, she
executed the will which was now propounded by
the plaintiff, who is a gentleman of position in the
Foreign Office, it leaving to his wife the bulk of the
property. Miss Sarah Bruce having died, her pro-
perty has fallen in.
The Marquis of Hartington, in his official capacity
of Secretary of State for India, opposed probate of the
later will, alleging that it was not duly executed ;
that the deceased was not of sound mind ; and that
she did not know and approve of the contents. He
claimed to be entitled as legatee in trust to probate of
the will executed in March, 1873.
_ _ .

A number of witnesses were called in support of
the plaintiff's case, after which a consultation took
place between the parties, and a compromise was
effected, by which the will of October, 1874, was pro-
nounced for. It was further arranged that the plaintiff
should receive £20,000, and that a like sum should go
to the defendant in trust, for the purpose of founding
the charitable institution at Calcutta, as provided by
the earlier will.

DAIki__STANLEYAND
NTEERSTHE
_NAVAL
VOLU.
On Sunday morning the Very Rev. Dean Stanley
preached a special sermon to the Royal Naval Artil-
lery Volunteers, in Westminster Abbey. The members
of the corps were present in uniform in considerable
force, and there was besides a large attendance of the
general public. The sermon was preceeded by the
singing of Whiting's hymn:

"Oh hear us when we cry to Thee

For those whose life is on the sea."

Dean Stanley took his text from the First Epistle of
John, c. iv., v. 11, "Beloved, if God so loved us, we
ought also to love one another." These words, said the
preacher, were in themselves a short statement of the
whole Christian religion. God had loved us by giving
us all the good things we enjoy; by giving us the Bible
which taught us about Himself, and by sending us His
only Son. In all these ways, in spite of the hardships
and afflictions of this world, we might be humbly assured
that AlmightY God had loved us and loved us still.
And if this were so, we ought also to love one another
—we ought to make a return to God in this wise, that
we should do all in our power to make others happier,
wiser, and better; to be kind, generous, charitable,
faithful to each other; to think every day lost in
which we had not done some kindness to a fellow-
creature ; to love and admire all that was lovable and
admirable even in those we did not like; to love and
admire especially those who were holy and good—such
was the conclusion to be drawn from the great truth
that God loved us. Many of those he addressed were
about to live for a few weeks or months in, so to
speak, a new world, to free themselves for a time from
the cares and anxieties which beset life in a great
city, and, high or low, rich or poor, they must
show their gratitude for such good things. There
is a picture, continued the very rev, dean, which
some of you may have seen by a great modern painter,
of Sir W alter Raleigh as a little boy. He is sitting by
the sea shore at Plymouth. There is a sailor, with par-
rots and shells from the Far West, who has been telling
the boy the wonders of the Western world. The boy
sits in rapt attention, but his eyes wander away from
the sailor—they are fixed on distant prospects. He is
thinking, we may suppose of the greatness that may
be in store for him; he is thinking, perhaps, of
that "History of the World" he may one day write;
he is thinking, perhaps, of that great Queen Elizabeth
he may one day serve; he is thinking of the great
Western world of which, in her honour, he will be the
first founder. That may be a likeness of your future
destinies. You will not all be Sir Walter ltaleighs.
It is not given to all of us to found empires,
and we cannot all write histories; but you have
the expansion of your mind, the opening of oppor-
tunities, the occasion of serving others—of serving
your Queen and country, of serving your fellow-crea-
tures; you have, too, the thoughts of Divine love
cheering and sustaining you—the Divine Spirit to
impel you on your course. Deus portus et refugium
nostrum—God is our haven and our refuge—is the in-
scription which meets us at the entrance of this church,
over the grave of an admiral famous in his day. There
is a poem, too, which describes ships starting from
their harbour and parting asunder from various in-
fluences, which is a true likeness of all human efforts.
Different in kind, in quality, and in aim, they are yet
um same in the great object of doing good to others in
the name of God:

"In light, in darkness, too,
Thro' winds and tides one compass guides.'