The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-06-21 00:00:00

THEATIW.

Mr. HEALD, at the rising of the Court, moved
for an injunction, ow the part of the Plaintiffs. to
'retrain the Defendorits from perfo►mtng the play
of the Yorwir (tanker, for the benefit of Mies
at the Lyceum Theatre, as it was one of
those plays which had been assigned by Mr.
O'Keefk to the Prop►ietors of the Haymarket
Theatre; and if the Defendants were allowed to
perform this play, it was alleged that the defendant
Arnold intended to get op and perform other
plays the production of Mr. O'Keeffe. Under
those circumstance*, he had no doubt but his Lord-
ship would grant the injunction.
The LORD CINIANCIII.LOII swished to be inform-
ed whether the amignment of the playa by Mr.
(Mee& to the Haymarket theatre, was made in
writing.? . _ .

Mr:l-IEALD answered in the affirmative.

The LORD CHANCELLOS asked if the assigns
meat was in Coon. and being informed it was net,
he observed, that it was necessary that it should
be certified to the Court by affidavit that the assign-
Meld was made ut writing. as it had been held. and
'properly held, that a mere verbal assignment was
not sufficient.

The Solicitor for the Plaintiffs stated, that an
affidavit to the purpose mentioned by his Lordship
should he made.

The LORO CHANCELLOR. Take the order for
all iojuncti ttttt on your producing to the liegnitrar
au affidavit that the essiginneut war in writing."
Injuiiction granted.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, WEITIIIIISTEMP,
Tuns LT, June V.

THE KING V. SIR F. BURDETT.

Mr. Scattersrr resumed his argument at the
point where he broke off on Saturday, when he was
eitileavouritig to skew the little authority which the
ewes cited by the Attorney-General ought now to
possess; and lie argued that Lord Holt, and the
whet. Judges of his time, had given opinions in
some cases unfavourable to his view of the subject.
from the remains of a prejudice which considered
the King as the licenser mid comptroller of the pretty.
The opinions of the Judges just after the Revolu-
tion, might not, for this reason, be regarded as of
that authority which they otherwise would command.
The Revolution did not at once endow men with
correct opinions on constitutional points, any more
than the Reformation did imtnediately give correct
notions on theological points; they were both to he
considered as only sanctioning the principle of free
discteoiou. The Learned .Counsel here reviewed
the cases of Lamb and Pickering, the latter de-
cided in the Stile Chamber, nu the authority of
which Lord Holt had decided in the King against
Beare, and contended there was nothing in either
of them to support his Lord hip's application of
them to that ca•e. He now proceeded to the
modern authorities on the point of publication, and
must conceive that the opinions of the Judges in the
year 1789 were quite as good as that of Chief
Justice Scruggs in Charles the Second's time.—
At the lime of Mr. Fox's celebrated esinctinent re-
specting the law of libel, the Judges gave it as their
deliberate opinion to the House of lords, that the
crime consisted in publishing the libel, and that
intention was no part of the definition of the crime
at mon law. This was the recorded opinion of
ten of the Judges, among whom was Lord Kenyon;
and were we then to go back from that period to
the era of Chief Justice Scruggs and Sir George
Jefferies, and on their authority will the Attorney-
Getter:if come and pray judgment on the writer of
a libel—on the writer, as writer only, presuming
his intention, and not proving the publication ?
His Learned Friend had admitted, that in a civil
case of libel, uo action could be maintained with.
out publication. inasmuch as no damage could have
been sustained, and yet it is affirmed that this
wrong. for which au individual cannot have an ac-
tion, the King may prosecute for what in fact wet:only
growing out oldie individual wrong. The caseofJohn
de Northampton. he thought. was too loosely report-
ed to be much relied on; but in the Star Chamber
case of Dr. Edwards, it was doubted whether send.
iug a letter to an individual was a publication, and
as such punishable there. Now, how absurd would
that be, if writing /dour was an offence, ar the At-
tortiey-General had affirmed, and heetted it to
forgery ? but it was sufficiently diptinguisitable from
it. In the latter there must be au Molt to de-
fraud capable of proof, and to be proved by the
Prosecutor. The act of forgery also was distinct
and specific. If writing alone was ■n offence,
where was there any work of literature which
lashed the vices of the age, and which now formed
part of our intellectual wealth, which :night not,
according to that rule, have been the subject of a
criminal prosecution? Every second line of Pope's
Duacidul might have been prosecuted; nay,
further. all history, if the h:stori■u possessed the
primary qualification which lie ought to have—a
Imre of truth—would be indictable. But what
then, was all future history to deal only in pat.e.
germ? IVas all future poetry to be written by the
Poet Laureat ? Ile trusted that their Lordships
would not be called upon thus to fetter Rettig's,
while engaged in the great work of human improve.
meut. The Learned Counsel weld minutely over
the cases cited by the Attorney-General. to shew
that where the wntiug and publication were in dif-
fervid places, the party might be prosecuted in
either. The King a. techin was, he cootroded,
against his Learned Friend; end for the kne,if the
King 9: Nell, decided in 1748, be ahoirMiOleno
taut to oppose the °pillion of the Jodie% wind►

he harl before mentioned, in 17149; to niiich he
would add the atttluirity of Chief 1i411)11 Cummin,
who had defined a libel to be " a contumely or re.
'roach pahlisheri." Alluding to ths case of the
King o. Reuse, he said, that it was important to
distinguish that where a misdemeanor consisted of
several misdemeanors, it might be laid where any
of them were committed. With respect to the ay.
gurnents from eases of conspiracy. be begged the
Coon to recollect that conspiracy Arms as anossisloul
Cringe. governed by peculiar principles, and so ad.
witted by all lawyers in all lionea--.
'rise ann.'s from the wiirltntelo in the Hell here
became quite uverpuwerfsig, sad Mr. &mien
pawing.—
Titer-Oar Jurrice infatilediiim-they bed sent
to 'see if the Court of Exchequer had risen, in
order to retleie him from the exertion he was
obliged to use to he heard.
Mr. ScanLETT said be had hoped it would have
been effected lov a shorter process.
The CHIEF Jurrtce—" There are great ditScul.
ties in the case. Mr. Scsrlett."

Mr. Sckat.trr resumed.--In Ai/ 'aim of chal.
lenges, it had been held that the challenge being
put in the pest, war a sufficient proof of publics-
tom, but there writing the challenge was the cri-
minal act, mid that was full sod complete, and
publication added not a jot to the offence ; bat is
libel, publication was of the essence of the offences
that is, if writing was not a crime per se, which
he contended it was toot. Putting a letter in the
Post-office was not, he coutended, a publication,
and it was not only • warped and violent ititespre.
wino. but a perversion of language so to call it.
It might be evidence of a de:•igti to publish, but
was no more evidence of puhlishiug thou getting
into your carriage to go to dinner was evidence
that you had dined.
Mr. Jastice BAYLIT stiggiated a me which
had occurred at the Uld Bailey in 1811, the King
e. CsMu:hat', which hid not been printed, hut
which micht he considered in deciding on the pre-
*rot application ; in that case. which was referred to
the twelve Jn ht es, there had been a difference of
opinion on part or the cave.
Mr. SCAZIATT said, possibly that apse sight be
governed by the particular words of the Stamp Act,
or some other Act of Parliament. In conclusion.
he submitted that the case of the King v. Payne
did not rest on such cases as were now considered
of authority, but that it was overruled by the opi-
nion of the Judges in 1759. He submitted also,
'that the crime of libel consi.ted in publication, and
that the word publication was to be understood ou
its popular and vecuvtotited .rose; that there could
be no coistinuation of the crime, because publica-
tion was. • stint& act ; and that in all cases of mis-
demeanor, except in conspiracy, the indictment
must be in the place where the act was committed.
He aubmitted also, that the place of publication
was essential in cases of libel, and that iu this case
there was no evidence to sheer that the publication
took place in the.coanty of Leicester. The Learn-
ed Counsel, advertialy to the language of the infor-
mation, contended Mire was nothitig in the paper
published by Sir Frant'is Burdett to chew that the
acts on which he costhented had any relation to.
or, in the words of the information. wera of and
concerning the King's Government. On all there
grounds. he contended that there ought to be a new
trial.

The Loan CHIEF JUSTICE iutimatrd, the from
the pressure of other Inosiusis, this matter most
stand over till next Term.

The ATZOILN EY -G EN A L pressed on the Court
the nece►sity of dibili sing of this one in the pre-
sent Term, on the ground of its great public tin.
portance, stick the expediency of avo►ding keeping
up that irritation of the public amid which gene-
rally arose to such caber.
The Loins Culler JUSTICE said, that their Lord-
ships would broil together to- 11111 l TOW, when it might
he mentioned again. lie abio wore notice, that the
Court would sit on the 223,1 October next, ■t SeT.
P.11111.'1/410, and iu the interim his Lordship would
himself Kit at nisi

After some unimportant motions the Coon ad.
journed.

The following Gentlemen were yeuterday ratted
to the degree of 13,irrister at Law. by the honour-
able Society of Lincoln's-Inn :

George. W Ohms SalOderg, Eli. William Diekinr. Esq.
Thomas Stead Carla, E.q. Joh.' James Pemberton, Leg.

We are requested by Mr. RAYSIOND to state,
that he sent Mr. SANS (the defendant in a ease of
assault upon Mr. RAYMOND'S sister, as stated in
our Paper of Thursday last) a mild and gentle-
manly tortrimsittott to settle the affair privately and
amicably, and act an abject apology. to be tab.
scribed by Me defendant (us asserted in our Paper
of Saturday).

A very melancholy accident happened in the
Little Cumbray on Monday se'maight. Some boys
went out with a gun to shoot at birds ; in the
co►►rae of their amusement they sat down on the
side of a hill, laying the gust alongside. Frog this
posture, however, it ►lipped, and one of the Goys
caught it by the u►uss-1 to pull it tip, whets tinfor-
innately the shut went off, grazed and est the sleeve
of his coat, and, passing over his shoulder, entered
near the eye of another boy sitting behind hint, and
lodging in his bruin, killed him instantly. %%gist
renders this occurrence more melancholy is, that the
boy was the only dot. of Mr. ADAM, Calton, Glas-
gow, and had gone there to iiints.e himself for a
few necks, during the vacation time of the Grammar
School.

COURSE OP EXCHANGE. TelliaMlß 11.
Anuiti Mum, C.F. 12 4 Geom. .
Ditto at Sight... 12 1 Venice Ital. V6O
Rotterdam...". 12 S Halts .... . . 45
Antwerp .... 12 7 Naples.. :••• 301/
Hamburg\ ...... 37 1 Palrmo, per 114
Altona ..... 37 2 Lisbon ..... SO
Paris 3 day's dote 25 70 Oporto .. 861
Ditto
Ruardeaux ditto.. 28 r Rabic BO

Frankfort ou the Dublin... •
111alue 155 Cork .. 9
Vienua Ea.tot.flo. 10 11 nut.uon.
Trieete ......... l• II Pectoral Gold I • E a. It.
Alladaid
Codes ..... ,. ,- 41•14 in 8an.....• 3 IT 13f
Ifilboa 34 New Doubloons... 3 14 0
Daroeloss •mlifi. N,few DoDers.••... I II 1
Orville ..•••••••• .4: liar is 11,4!••••• •I'
Gibraltar.. •I. • a N. Loth. 6.14.... • . • 0
Leghorn •. • e«.•• 47

FROM LAsr IVICHrS GAZETIT.

(Won Otter, .hit, 111, IMO.
■RIIRZR/ itirruans. TIP •tars 1W Ton r REI IC NT

1P5111.181111114
Ildwimigh of dialte4-4elta Fleevaiech fileecester.plare,
Is the cosset, ef Req. le the room of Michael
Getter Feeedergeet, Seq. Who bele, edema • Ilergrea fee
the seed borough, sad else a Bergen for the testa sod
essay of the tame of Gahm, hall" used" his clectiea to
sem foie the 1544 teen mod comely of *Sloss of Golsay.
if Oishissaptou-Alie Hoe. Jolts Comort.ii,
soitvai:h ryealled Lord Glesoraiy, of Tapsostli •
She sagely of Perth, Is h«th Britain, is she
Albeay week, Neg. *be Mae accepted the Chalices How-
deeds.

BANK RU !WI MI ENLARGED.
Wi11,.. Trodgett, of Berry IS. Edatmads,/iiiffuilt, m
from July 11, to Jot; 20, at tem, at (he Angel Iwo, is 4ry
IS. Eilmaads.
Lake &male, of Weybride, Seam, baker, (nom hilt .4,
to Anted 12, at tea, at Gaildhall, lasidoo.
BANERtYrrs.

James Martin, of Umrpoot, onerektmet, is aorre,
July 2,3, sod Angast I, at mie, at the Georg.- ;;,
Street, Liverpool. Attorneys, Mr. Radcliff, ~„1
Meson. Adliagtoe and Gregory, imidard-row Leadeq.
JOINI Illiddleburst, of Bleckbure, Lootesier, grocer, t..
.reader, July 11, at Ave, lit, at einem sod Anga.t I,
at twelve, at the Legs of Mao Iwo, likeekbens,
Attorney., Mr. Henry Blakelork, Serastasses.l.4,
Street, Loudon • and Mr. Robert Dewburst, Blank, aru.
James Heosll, of NevressOmopos•Tyise, Itoro-draper,
le senates, Jose 24, July IS, sad August 1, at times,
the George lon NeweaollempamTpme. Attorneys,
Bed and Brodriek, Boor Ctiorelt.yaril, London ; anti mr.
Abraham Dawson, Resesaary-lace, Newcastle.opou-Tyoe.
John Jackson, of Liverpool, sailmsaker, to eurreuder,
July V 7, IS, used Arrest 1, at osse, at she George lou,
street, Liverpool. Attorneys, Messrs. tiered sod
Exchasige-alley, Liverpool ; sad Messes. Low. and Bowes,
Southamptoo-buildings, Chaneery..lasor, Loudest.
Thomas Giles., of Nottingham, 15M..., to survvinler,
July 4,5, and August I, at skyey, al the Pandit Oust,
Peek•latie Nottioglnas. Attorneys, Messrs. Lo ig Ind
Amtesi, Lostikea; and Mr. Percy, Nuitiuehun.
Thomas Batt, of Soothamplea, shoemaker, Is saree...lrt.
Joly 4, at three, 5, at elvers, and August I, at tine, at the
Coach sod Horses lua, Southemptoo. dttorans, M. or..
Stale awl Jones, Joke-street, Bedford-ruw, Landon ;
Mr. Bryant, Southampton.
Jobs Casten, of Water-street, Middles..s, etrprorr,
sorrendor, July I, 4, aod August I, at ten, at Go•lins/I,
Loudon. Attorney, Mr. Plait, New Subirell.rourt,
cola's litmlieles.

Thossaa Davis. juin. formerly of With...magi., hest late of
Little Baddow, Ems:, pig-dealer, to surrrsaeltr, June 24,
July 1, and Auguyt 1, at tea, at Gaildhsil, Land,,,,„
tornsys, Messrs. Riehardsoo mid Miller, New luo, Id,sodon.
Jobs Mickinsou, of Chareh•passage, near G 1111,111114
Loodon, warelsumensao, In surrcuder, June 24, Jo 4 I. stid
August 1, at ten, at GlHdball. Attorney, Mr. LA..,
Calm' eiswtreet.

Milian, Anat.!, of C,anthridge, upholsterer, to terrendrr,
Jesse 24, July 4, mad Aleppo I, at ooP, at Gaildb•ll. I.uu.
dun. Attorowey. Mr. Smith, Alderananbury-pusteru, I. ruduu,
Ralph John Aosta*, late of Thrugntartun-pireet, Lon,ht,
and tale of Rotheshithe, Serrey, tnerchaat, tu surrroadro,
Jesse 27, July 11, aad Audeat I, at tees, at Gash At-
te:Nays, Messrs. Ceppage and Cousins, Old Bruad..4ert.