The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-28 00:00:00

*Mu RIO Volta.

LIBEL.—This case, " Yebcombe and Another v.
Landor," was tried at Bristol on Monday, before
Mr. Baron Channell. We merely give the opening
statement of Mr. Slade, as the details are unfit for
publication.
In conjunction with Mr. Slade as counsel for the
plaintiffs were Mr. M. Smith and Mr. H. Buller ; and
Mr. Phinn and Mr. Collier were for the defendant.
The declaration contained four counts, the list of
which was for breach of a contract not to repeat any
libels against the plaintiffs. The defendant denied
publication and the undertaking.

Mr. SLADE, in opening the case, said he had the
honour to appear for the plaintiffs in this case. Mr.
Yescombo was a clergyman who had resided for
some time in Bath, and had mixed with the first
society in that city. The defendant was the celu.
brate.l poet and author whose works had procured
fur kiln a world-wide reputation, and anything thst
dropped from his pen approaching to a serious

imputation against any one could not be
purpose
ofaken
eriopuosrpnotice t
silently
It' efover tehe
Tpahseseadot?ovner,wbesutbmrounsgth of it
Mrs. Yescombe from a false, foul, and
malicioresenin„!
libel, which had come from the pen of Mr.
Lott;
and which was contained in a book c
alle(l "Dry
Sticks Faggotted," by Walter Savage
and
which hail been circulated with great Lauder,
raoiday
throughout Bath. The plaintiff asked the
jury to
step in between his wife and Mr. Lander to
protect
her, and to deter Mr. Lander from the terse
eutinn
he had adopted against her. It was impossible
discover what motive had induced Mr. Lanier
pursue Mrs. Yescombe in the manner he bed d0n,.,t0
mn
for up to May in last year they had been on the
intimate terms, and almost daily visited. The only
possible motive that could be suggested was certain that Mrs. Yescombe had pursued towaril:in
young lady who was at one time in her house. Mr!
Yeseombe had considered it right to recommend
that that young lady should be removed from Bath
to Cheltenham, and immediately after that removal
Mr. Lander had begun to publish some of the most
libellous statements it was possible to conceive. lie
published a pamphlet headed " Mr. Lander and the
Hon. Mrs. Yescombe," and in that he charged her
with six offences :-1. He charged that Mrs. Yes.
combo bad in a trial been guilty of perjury. 2. That
he had given her 181. to pay for him, and that she
had purloined half the money. 3. That Mrs. Yes.
combo had stolen 51. out of a letter which Mr.
Landor had trusted to her to put into the post.offiite.
4. That a tradesmen named Jolly had sent Mrs.
Yescombe a receipt for the money for some goods;
that the money was not returned, but she hat
availed herself of the receipt. 5. That being in the
shoe.shop of a man named Banks, there were 14s. on
the counter, and 7s. of it had found their way into
Mrs. Yescornbe's pocket. 0. That Mrs. Yescombe
had obtained 100/. from Mr. Lander upon false pre-
tences. These charges were circulated tbrouAhout
the whole of Bath, and it was impossible to suppose
accusations of more serious import. Mr. Yescomho
consulted Mr. Slack, an attorney of Bath, who wrote
a long letter to Mr. Lander, in which he asked for an
apology which would be satisfactory to Mr. Yes-
combe's friends and the public. To that letter no
answer was sent, but another pamphlet was pub-
lished, and that attacked Mr. Slack for simply :laving
done his duty. It was headed " Mr. Lsndor Threat-
ened;' and it concluded with these words:—" Would
it be unlawful to order a chairman to cadge! the
fellow for his insolence ?" After this there was no
other course to be adopted save that of bringing an
action. The object of an action, as they were aware,
was to challenge the traducer t 3 prove the truth of
his accusation. If it was shown to a jury to be tile,
then it was an answer to the action. Mr. Lander
pleaded the truth of the libel. Mr. Yescombe was
prepared to go to trial at Wells, when shortly before
the assizes a gentleman named Forster, the lriend of
Mr. Lander, and who had been the editor of the
Examiner newspaper, came down from Loudon and
called on Mr. Slack, and after some conversation the
following apology was agreed anon Two pub.
lished statements concerning Mrs. Yescombe, entitled
Mr. Landor and Mr. Yescombe' and Mr. Lander
Threatened,' having come from me, and having
been required by my friends to suffer Mr. Forster to
institute an inquiry, and ho having stated to me that
I had not sufficient authority for the publication, I
hereby fully and unreservedly withdraw all such
charges contained in the statements above referred
to.—W. S. L." To this, by the desire of Mr. Slack,
was added the promise that the libels should not be
repeated. This was done upon an interview with
Messrs. 'l'aylor and Williams, solicitors of Bath. Mr.
Slack then wrote to Mr. Forster, stating that, con-
sidering the advanced age of the defendant, his
clients had consented to accept the apology. The
result of all this was that Mrs. Yescombe became a
bone of contention in the city. Bath was divided.
Her health was broken through the unjustifiable
conduct of Mr. Landor. The ink was hardly dry
with which the apology was written, and in which,
upon the honour of a gentleman, be had pronesel
rat to repeat the charge, and Mr. Yescombe had
most generously consented to withdraw the actit!n,
when the most beastly, most disgusting, and dis-
graceful anonymous letter was written to Mr. Yes-
combe and sent by the post. There was an9lher,
which was so offensive in every sense that lie should
not ask Mr. Yescombe to pollute his lips with U.
Bad as these anonymous letters were, they t
could no
Ise taken notice of, because there was no publication.
In September, however, Mr. Lander was in weir-
nisation with Mr. Nichol, the publisher, of Mal"burgh,
burgh, relative to publishing a book called " Dif
Sticks," and in which was included a poem called
" The Unnatural Mother." How much it was to b
d with
regretted that a man so highly gifted by Gob
such great and mighty talent should have so de
and degraded himself There WPM a cede all'enird
c.
to this poem to this effect: " This was writle.."
1
the false and malicious representation of a 0710;
lady, afterwards accused of theft, and susPeele!...
Perjury," and it repeated every accusation the deLeu

dot made against Mrs. Yescombe in the pamphlet.
This poem, however, was not included in the book,
because some friends bad told Mr. Landor that the
pem was libellous. The book published by Mr.
Lander bad recourse to the most transparent artifice.
Instead of calling this lady as he had libelled her, he
now called her Mrs. Pescombe.
The learned Baron here interposed, saying that
Fomenting ought to be done to prevent the case
going on.
11f. PHINN said his lordship was aware that counsel
were now bound and could not act.
Baron CHANNELL : If your client resists he must
take the consequences.
Mr. PHINN said he had sought for the authority
and sought in vain.
Baron CHANNELL : Then the defendant must take
the consequences. You, of course, can't avoid it.
Mr. SLaDE then resumed, and, after reading parts
of some other poems, called upon the jury to attend
to the case, and givo it their best consideration.
The publication of the libel was proved ; 250 copies
were disposed of.
After a reply from Mr. Puma, who endeavoured to
prove that Mr. Landor ought to be leniently treated
because he was the contemporary of Byron and
Moore, and consequently accustcmed to the use of
immoral language,
The learned BARON summed up. The action was
brought for three separate libels, and for the breach
of an agreement. It was an action of a very painful
nature. He adopted the view taken by the learned
counsel as to his position, and he had addressed to
them arguments deserving of great consideration.
Mr. Lander had obtained a deservedly large reputa-
tion, and be believed if he had retained those feel-
togs whim he possessed in fin mer years they would
not have heard of this cause, but if lie still possessed
that amount of intelligence and talent which enabled
bins to issue such literary productions he (the judge)
did not know how his old age should induce them to
diminish the damages they would give. His lordship
then went through all the facts of the case, and
stated that the object of the action was not punishing
the defendant, except as damages had that effect.
But if it was evident there was malice, they must
award compensation, although it did in fact act as a
punishment.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff, with
damages 7501. for the three libels, and 2501. for the
breach of agreement.

NIX Or ONE AND HALF A DOZEN OF THE OTHER.
—On Monday, at the Thames Police-court, John
Planter, a tall, gentlemanly looking man, about
fifty years of ace, was charged with assaulting and
heating Mary Planter, his wife, a woman who is well
known in this court, and whose repeated Quarrels
with one of her husbands, and the repeated
auramonses against them by sailor boarders, have
ace,' often the subject of discussion.
Mrs. PLANTER, who is about the same age as the
prisoner, was fashionably attired. She stated that
her husband was formerly a mariner, and that she
was now the landlady of the Blacksmiths' Arms,
Brook.street, Ratcliff. She married the defendant
three years ago, and she was then a widow, and
possessed of 4501. The prisoner soon expended the
greater part of it in dissipation. He at last persuaded
her to take a public-house, and promised to 'oe care •
ful and not spend her money. When they took the
Blacksmiths' Arms he began to ill use her and beat
her. He pawned her plate, raised 151. upon it, and
remained away for a fortnight. He beat her and
kicked her in a most brutal manner on Friday week
last, and would have murdered her but for the
interference of her servant. She found him a few
days ago, in company with a young prostitute, near
the Surrey Theatre. She asked him for her watch,
which he refused to give her, and kicked her on the
back, for which she took out a warrant. His inhu•
Inanity had been very great, and lie was once com-
mitted for one month by Mr. Yardley for a savage
assault upon her.
In cross examination by the defendant, Mrs.
Planter said she bad been married to four husbands,
and did not know what had become of two of them.
,One of them, named Jack Harris, was in Australia.
s,'e had indicted him for bigamy at the Central
riminni Court, and he was acquitted. She might
have lived with one only a fortnight. Would not
,';rear she had not lived with other men. She gave
the prisoner into custody at Bow street.
Mr. SEISE : What for?
babas T complainant fenced with the question a long
d then admitted that it was for stealing her
watch,
Mr. Sup
, z. • Don't you know your husband can't
be envied with robbing you ?
lire. 11' Well, I don't know.
Mr. PLANTER said he hail been inveigled into an
onnacelortnsate marriage with au infamous woman, and
.vconvicted, on perjured evidence, of an assault.
Lri was an attempt on the part of the woman and
servant to get him back to the house.