The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-09 00:00:00

COURT 01, COMMON PLEAS, JULY 8.
Sittings at Guildhall before Lord Chief Justice TYNDAL
and a Special Jury. )
RILEY V. FORRESTER AND OTHERS..—" THE TOWN."
On this cause being called on,
Mr. JERVIS, on the part of the defendant, applied to have
t postponed on an affidavit stating that a witness, William
Russell, keeper of a club-house, was not able to attend by
reason of an accident whereby he had sustained grievous
wounds and contusions.
Mr. Sergeant WILDE—Oh ! my Lord, we have to
affidavit, showing that he is now " charming well."—
( Laughter. )
Mr. Sergeant TALFOURD proceeded to read the plaintiffs
affidavit, stating that William Russell's servant had said he
was well enough to be out yesterday.
Mr. Sergeant WILDS observed there was no affidavit of
any medical man.
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE thought there was no ground
far the postponement.
The jury were then sworn, and Mr. WHITE opened the
pleaiings, stating that this was an action brought by Mr.
Riley against four persons, named Forrester, Last, Nichol-
son, and Clark, for a series of libels, up to the 19th of
May, 1838. Nicholson had pleaded not guilty—the other
three had, along with this general denial, filed several
pleas of justification, justifying the whole matter of the
libel—the truth of which the replication denied, and on
this the issue was joined.
The parties remained for some time in consultation, but
apparently without effect, and
Mr. Sergeant WILDE proceeded to state the case for the
plaintiff, who, he said, carried on business for sonic years in
Oxford-street, as a silk mercer, shawl dealer, &e., and had
brought the present action against the four defendants as
persons connected with the publication of one of the cheap
publications of the day—one of those publications, which,
though seeking the object of newspapers, were not
subject to the regulations of newspapers, and being
published at the low price of two-pence, had a very
large circulation. The name of the publication was the
Town, and the plaintiff had to complain that he had been
one of a great number of persons whom the defendants
bad selected to make the object of a series of attacks in
that paper, with a view of annoying his feelings, and those
of his friends, and of thereby either extorting money, or
gratifying private spite.
The Colin CHIEF JUSTICE here interposed, inquired
whether there was no possibility of arranging the matter,
of which he had entertained hopes when he saw how long
the parties had been consulting.
Mr. Sergeant WILDE said he had offered all that he
dared, consistently with a sense of what was due to justice.
Mr. JERVIS said he had no objection to his Lordship's
knowing what had teen suggested.
Mr. Sergeant WILDE accordingly wrote on a piece of
pap( r the terms which had been proposed, and handed it
to his Lordship, who, having perused it, wrote something
tpsn it and returned it, whereupon,
Mr. Sergeant WILDE said, in consequence of the
opinion which his Lordship had pleased to express,
he would state • t once, that the object of Mr. Ryley
in coming into Court was only to furnish an opportunity
to the defendants to prove, if they could, any part of the
charges which had been brought against him in their
publication. He was informed that his Learned Friend on
the other side was authorised to retract every one of those
charges, acknowledging that he could not prove them,
and consenting to a verdict of forty shillings. With a re-
traction so ample, he felt satisfied.
Mr. JERVIS said, on the part of the defendants he had no
difficulty in acceding to the suggestion of Mr. Riley, who,
having complained that he was the object of a series of
attacks in the Town, had admitted trpon the record, (in
answer to the pleas,) that he had indicted eight gaining
houses, and that be had been outlawed.
Mr. Sergeant WILDE (starting up with vehemence)—l
will not accept the apology.
The LORD Cate: JUSTICE—Mr. Jervis, I do not think
you were acting up to the understanding.
1 Mr. Sergeant WILDE—I e ill not accept the
apology.
Mr. Jervis—Then it must go on.
Mr. Sergeant Wiens— Yea. Gentlemen of the Jury,
my Learned Friend has attempted, under pretence of
an apology, to follow up the course of the defendants, who,
upon a very small modicum of truth, have reared an im-
mense superstructure of falsehood ; and who, not satisfied
with that, have resorted to invention, and imputed to
Mr. Riley that for which there is not a pretence. Cer-
tainly he admits that he prosecuted some persons for
keeping gaming-houses ; but the defendants charge him
with having compromised the prosecutions for money.
Now that he utterly denies. And, my Learned Friend,
in making what he calls an " apology," tells you that
Mr. Riley admits these prosecutions, and tells you so in
a tone and manner, calculated to make you believe that
Mr. Riley admitted the libel. Gentlemen, he did indict
certain persons, and among others the defendant's attor-
ney ; and to this I alluded, when I said that the attacks of
the defendants were owing, if not to a desire to extort
money, to rivate animosity and spite ; it was against the
instructions a my client that I accepted the apology ; and
my Learned Friend began it by throwing imputations
upon instead of clearng my client. Gentlemen, Mr.
Riley was in business some years, and acquired
an independence honestly and honourably; he retired
and afesrwards became an officer in the militia, having ob-
itained his commission in the regular way, and properly
Gazetted. By some acquaintances he was unfortunately
ineluced to go to one of these gambling houses, where he
had reason to believe he was cheated, and therefore pro-
-1 secuted several of the keepers. It was subsequently to this
I that the Town opened its attacks upon him, which were
continued for some time, and which imputed to him every
thing discreditable and disgraceful. Their first article is
headed " Doubles about Town.—lt is well known that
Tom Duncombe, ' Hertford's pet,' and ' Finsbury's pride,'
1 is not a man of pious or regular habits—moreover, that he
is a dreadful Lothavio---6 Charles, my love,' has taken the
place of ' Tom, my dear,' with the fair widow of Wych-
street—the petites figurantes of the Opera lisp the praises
of Mithter Duncombe, from the first night to the last of
i their engagements—and the fair L—d T—r calls him
her ' dear seducer.' All these enviable attributes have
fbrought upon Mr. Duncombe a ' Double,' in the per.
son of a rascally linen-draper, from Oxford-street ;
who has made himself conspicuous as the shadow of our
friend ; and though he has hitherto escaped the flagellation
i which we think Mr. Duncombe ought to have inflicted
I upon him, he shall not escape the flabbergastering edge of
our editorial tomahawk."—( Laughter.) Gentlemen, they
rightly describe the weapons of their warfare—they are
the weapoiis of a savage. "It was in 1820, that
this redoubtable double of all-accomplished Tom
commenced business as a linen-draper, shawl dealer,
and general tally-man in Oxford-street." Utterly without
foundation, gentlemen. Mr. Riley's business was of the
first respectability, his customers of the highest rank, his
goods of the best description, and he never kept a " gene-
ral tally-shop." " The man made a vast deal of money
by what, in the flash trading phraseology, is called the
' India gag'—selling British manufactured articles for In-
dian; and, having carried on this system for eight years, he
succeded ia enabling himself to retire from business, but
he earned his fortune at the expense of his character, for
he was se :feral times taken before the Magistrates to an-
swer for hisimpositions." This, gentlemen, is quite false.
Mr. Riley was never taken before a Magistrate on any such
charge. " One anecdote of him is worth mentioning—
perhaps it is the 'nest harmless trick his ingenuity ever
suggested. While he practised the' puffing' system in
Oxford-street, he stuck up bills saying that he was selling
off in consequence of the death of his mother, which awful
domestic calamity would compel him to quit business.
Will it be credited that when the farce was over his
mother emerged from the kitchen, where she bad
been concealed, singing, ' I a'nt been dead at all,
says Jack Robinson.' "—(Roars of laughter.) Now,
undoubtedly, there is much in all this calculated to
excite laughter, but that is the kind of laughter most
painful to one's. feelings. " Ile assumed the high-sound-
ing name of ' Captain,' without troubling the Gazette
upon the subject, thinking adherence to prescribed forms
a useless piece of business. About this time he com-
menced doubling Tom Duncombe—dressed like him—
started a tilbury like him—dressed his boy like Dun-
conabe'e groom—and was as complete a caricature of
Duncombe as ever existed. The peeple called him
' calico.'—( A laugh.) His liaisons were as numerous
as Duncombe's, if not quite so respectable. The redoubt-
able ' calieoe' drove about town without being kicked for
his impertinence, Mr. Duncombe deeming him too con-
temptible for his notice. At last it oeourred to him to
visit the gaming-table, where first he won, and then lost.
then cried for his money back again ; but this was not
quite agreeable to the parties who had got the said money ;
whereupon he turned informer, and sued some of
the 4 hell ' keepers for qui tarn penalties—he now
professes to ben bill discounter, which as the Lord Mayor
observed is a title under which nobody knows what busi.
ness is or is not ' included.' " An attack mixed with such
ribaldry is not the less galling nor mischievous to the in-
dividual. And this was followed by a series still more
virulent, in which lie was accused of keeping an improper
house, of fraudulentiy dealing with certain bills, of having
absconded from his creditors, and other serious charpres—
the proof of which he comes here this day to meet. Gen-
tlemen, I know not the particular circumstances of these
defendants, but this I do know, that it too often happens
that those who make such attacks find their security in
their poverty—that parties come into Court, and incur
perhaps an enormous expense in the necessary prepara-
tion for the vindication of their character—and when they
get a verdict are not able to obtain one shilling from their
libellers. And the knowledge of the apprehension which
this naturally excites encourages such persons to gratify
the vitiated taste of the public for slander, and
libel others, in the hope that their victims may thus be de-
terred from the vindication of their character. The
t
indi-
vidual who is the subject of these attacks writhes under the
ridicule which is cast upon him, not for any mere persohal
peculiarity, or little foible, but for gross villany and
conduct ; and the human mind is unhappily so constit=ci
that this ridicule does only promote the diffusion of the
libel, and destroys any sympathy for those who are its vie.
times. Gentlemen, my client here presents himself ready
to disprove any charges which may be pressed against
him. This will not, however, be the first case in my
ex-
perience, when, after the person attacked has gone to a
great expense in preparing testimony to disprove the
charges on his character, the case is ended by a speech
from the Counsel for the defendants endeavouring to re-
move the impression excited by the reading of the libel.
Should that course be pursued upon the present occasion, I
trust you will not forget—if I have not an opportunity of ad.
dressing you again—to consider thheese circumstattacks, anand,ces in
by wtithe
ich
the plaintiff has been place by t
damages which you give, to mark your sense of the nature
of those attacks. I ask you to give the plaintiff such
damages as in justice you think he is entitled to. Whether
the defendants are able to pay or not is no question for you,
because, if poverty is to be a defence in such cases, men
will soon learn to make a profit of their poverty, and libel
the public with impunity. Having stated that, he should
wait to hear the defendant's evidence (if any).
The Learned SERGEANT proceeded to call witnesses to
prove
the publication by Clark and Forester (whose
1 names are on the papers), and the printing by Last. To
I connect Nicholson with the business, he entrained