The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-30 00:00:00

ment, as the horrors, related in the richest nigger style,
are as good as a pantomime, and to be chary in giving
credence to the astounding and horrified details with
which Box Brown overwhelms his wide-mouthed end
weeder-gaping audiences. A gentleman present asked
Mr. Box Brown what part of Virginia' Tho Dismal
Sisamp' was Well, he daint sactly know—taint
somewhere in de middle of do State.' But,' continued
the interrogator, is it not on the borders of North and
South Carolina?' Well, he daint know; you might put
it in Carolina, but ho taut it was in Virginny.' Much
laughter followed this confab, but, after that section of
the exhibition was over, the proprietor said, There was
a swamp in Virginia, but not the Dismal Swamp,' a
fact, we presume, which may be predicated of every
State in the Union. Such is the character of the pano-
rama, and we deeply regret that the public should be
gulled by that which can only give them a very partial,
unfair, and decidedly false view of American slavery.
The bondage of slavery is very bad, and the prin,cie,Ao
wicked enough, without evoking from the bottoexile'se
pit shades dark and gloomy, and auxiliary hoe rocs to
dress up and horrify with this foul blot orr, the star-
spangled banner."
On the 24th of the same month the following ap-
peared, and this was the second libel complained of:—
" THE NIGGER PANORAMA..—It is gratifying to hear
that the good sense and discrimination of the inhabitants
of Wolverhampton have led them to bestow such an
amount of patronage on this vile caricature of American
scenery as its inherent worthlessness and disgusting
exaggeration so absolutely deserved. We learn from
our reporters, for we have not returned a second time to
witness so foul a calumny in colours on the slareholders
of the Southern States, that the nightly attendance has
been meagre in the extreme, and that a beggarly ac-
count of empty boxes,' has contrasted strangely with
that in which the celebrated Box Brown played, with
ludicrous and semi-baboonish agility, his nocturnal an-
tics, to the delight and merriment of the juvenile raga-
muffins, who for the most part make up the darkey's'
audiences. As we may he thought to strain a point
against the bejewelled and oily negro, whose obese and
comfortable figure and easy nonchalance remind one of
various good things and sumptuous living at the ex-
pense of those whose marvel-loving developments have
been called into lively exercise' by the terrible won-
ders of this sea-serpent-surpassing and fire-and-brim-
stone-smacking exhibition, we will give an extract or
two from Mr. Brown's lecture, and leave our readers to
judge of its eloquence, poetry, and truth.' Speaking of
alaveholders, Mr. Brown says that a part of them give
their slaves money to bay rum to get drunk on the
Sunday, in order to prevent them from attend-
ing a place of worship; that others preach to them on a
Sunday, like his own master did every Sunday mornieggsg
as follows:—' My dear brederen, the white man was made
by GorAraity with sisla white,delekit hands that be saw at
once he was not fit nor able to work, and he therefore made
the blackman to work for dem, but the bleckmau wore
so idle he no work, and Gor Amity give him a whip to
make him work, cos he was such a nasty idle nigger he
no work. But he could no work with his hands, and in
answer to the prayer of the white man, Gor Amity sent
a shovel and a hoe, and I shall sing a song about it
gemmen and ladies, dat is ladies and gammen, at do close
—a shovel and a hoe in a bag, so dat de damn'd idle
nigger should hab no scuze for not working.' Now,
den, dere's a pretty master for you. Dere be odera at
die moment who put de slaves on do treadwheel, and keep
dem at work 14 hours a day, only allowing of them one
minute in every hour to rest, and if dey grow faint or
tired, and leab off or fall off de wheel, den dey break
deir ankles. Den dare is de burning of slaves to deadh
for stealing, and den beating dem with hard wood bored
troo wid holes, which dey put into bilin hot water, and
slap de buttocks of do female slaves till dey are one mass
of bery great big blisters us big as fingers and turns. Den
dere is de wippin with do lath till the blood bathes the
ground, and dey swim in it, and den the brine in which
they cure do bacon of dere hack. Like en old-fashioned
beefateala is do parson's face when he preaches to do
slaves, and like it will dey be roasted in the fire, and be
done infernally brown.' Such is a verbatim specimen of
the lecture, whose unadorned eloquence and poetry melt
all eyes to rivulets, add whose truth and pathos make a
Niobo of every sehooless daughter of the slums and
alleys. The fact is that, bad as slavery is, the condition
of the American slave generally is infinitely superior to
many of our agricultural and even our bettomied slaves,
and all reliable testimony corroborates it; but that the
principle of slavery is bad, vile, and abominable enough
in itself, there can be no question. Supernumerary hor-
rors are not wanted to add to its inhumanity and un-
christian character; and, as a reverend friend of ours
says in speaking of this subject all exaggeration in de-
picting the evils of slavery should be avoided; they are
had enough in themselves, without attempting to make
them worse than they really are. To caricature the
devil is the surest way to destroy all faith in his exist-
ence.' It would be difficult to make any sensible man
believe that slaveholders would destroy their valuable
property in the barbarous and devolish way depicted by
the self-styled American Kossuth,' Box Brown, simply
for the indulgence of a vicious propension or a contemp-
tible and inhuman tyre/rag."
The effect of these publications Wa3 to drive the plaintiff
from Wolverhampton, where his receipts began to fall
away immediately after tho publication of the first libel;
ho had previously been in the haait of receiving from 501.
to 701. a week.
The plaintiff himself was examined as a witness; and,
though his dress was rather fine, and he displayed acme
jewellery about his person, his manner of giving his evi-
dence was quiet and creditable, and his pronunciation
altogether very corr3ct. A schoolmaster at Wolver-
hampton, who had visited and *admired the plaintiff's
panorama, was also examined, aed stated that the plain-
tiff, in delivering his lecture, did not speak in the ridis
culous manner imputed to him by the libels.
Mr. Sergeant MILLER addressed the jury for the de-
fendant, and urged upon thorn that the alleged libels did
not exceed the reasonable and fair limits of criticism
upon a very trashy and mischievous exhibition. It was
part of the duty tis:' the press to guard the public, and
especially the young and ignorant, from such exagge-
rated, preposterous, and, to a certain extent, indecent ex-
hibitions, as this panorama evidently was.
The Learned JUDGE, in summing up, observed to the
jury that the question was whether these two publica-
tions came within the limits of reasonable and fair cri-
ticism; and he advised them, in considering that ques-
tion, not to scan too nicely the language used with re-
gard to the panorama itself, because it was important
that the right of public criticism upon books or other
works should not be fettered or restricted; but when
they found observations made upon personal character
they must weigh them with more rigour, because no
man ought to attack the character of another without
taking the utmost care to ascertain that he was right.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—damages,
1001.
Two causes only remain to be tried, and the criminal
business has been completely disposed of.
July '29.
Mr. Baron Alderson had disposed of the two remain-
ing causes by the middle of the day; and thus termi-
nated the business of these assizes, and of the Midland
Circuit.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—Exeter, July 28.
(Sittings at the Guildhall, before Mr. Baron MARTIN.)
Andrew Heath was indicted for the wilful murder o;
Elizabeth Heath, his wife, en the 11th of June last, ai
the parish of St. Mary's Mjor, Exeter.
Mr. Lives and Mr. Kiugdon were counsel for the pro,
seeution; Mr. Ring and Mr. Sparkes defended the pri.
soner.

this case
wwaesr were fewsbo
shoemaker,
earl m, p
livingl e . lt
with
his posted The e factstbat theo prisoner
chil-
dren, and it appearoi had not livid they had three his wife in Preston-street, Exeter;
;oral happily together for
hveerade.nteiOamrae;hrheaf prisonerrEcln, hearda Ilth.oinall named
Goss,i whoil
taliom
7th of quarrelsjimo taking p!aco between
and heard the prisoner say to
murder her, and should bo hung for it. The witness
hmisqwnairforetluliantguveowleoullyd
spoke to him, and said he ought to be ashamed to use
sis wife so, when he abused her. Shortly aerwards
he saw the deceased at the window with her infant in
her arms and another child by her side, crying for
mercy, and the prisoner near her, with a poker in his
hand raised as if to strike. She afterwards saw the
into the pri-
poor woman in the stree heih her children, begging her
qwueennt tul yp
husband to let her in; was abusing her and using
say to his
bad language. On the next day she again heard guar-
re
wifell i ntgu,atanhde heardwould ti
murder
soner's room, and remonstrated with him for ill-using his
wife, when he abused her, and ran after
uerdperrishonere.r Shfree
her with ,
knife, and said he would rip her guts out if she • --
inter-
i!ered. Another woman, named Dark, de
posed to seeing
the deceased at the window of her room on the 7th of
June. She had a pair of bellows in her hand, and her
poker husband was standing by her with a in his hand.
The wife put her head out of the window
and pointed to
her left temple, which was out
andhis is what he has done with thebleeding, saying,
.' T
ther said that he had done it b poker," and fur-
her own. He said, ~
you
wh
ecause she had asked for
and tried to strike her actin,
in but she defended herself
ore, 1,11 be your butcher,"
with the bellows. Between that
quent noises were heard in day and the 10th fre-
a neighbour going in heard the prisoner's room, and
mercy. On the prisoner the woman crying for
he said she was being remonstrated with
wished she was kickingdead,
up such a hubbub he
the gallows and he did not mind going to
for her.
went to the house, A woman named Sprague also
's loft and seeing a wound on the poor
woman
let ml put a temple, said, "Do all of you be quiet, and
said, " Serve her poultice on." The prisoner was there, and
right; she shall have worse if she does
not hold her tongue." On being asked how he could
strike his wife
.., with the poker? he said he did not do it
with thepoker, but with the bellows. The witness said
" 1 think roe have killed the woman--I think she is
dying."
. lie replied, " Dying; yes she has been dying
r2nee three o'clock this morning, and is not (lend yet."
at another time be said that his wire had struck him
with the hollows, and that he struck her with the poker
in a passion, not knowing what he did. A surgeon was
calLd in en the 10th to attend the poor woman. She
liits,,ered until the next day, awl thou died On a 7Jost
modem examination being made, a f -acture was found in
the skull on the left side of the temple, and a small mind
hole made; and on the poker found in the prisoner's
room being compared with it, is fitted exactly. The
t urgeons expressed their opinion that the fritc..uro
BS
c 3 tae by a blow with the poker, and was ste w
Cause of
death. Oa crosA-examinc.rion it was endeate,nr( d
shown that the deceased ws woman,
S a violent woao ' to
be
on this entirety
come occasions struck the prisoner, but ' nnrihad
failed.
Mr. RING addressed the jury for
the prisoner, con-
tending that the crime committed by the prisoner did
not amount to murder, but only mansinughter. It was
evident that quarrels bad eontint
jelly taken place be-
tween them, and in one of these
the deceased the blow wh ea eatsthe prisoner had given
nil contemplating doing her ni, d her death, not at
y serious injury, and that
• he had no preconceived int
3ntion of owing her death;