The Sun.
London, England, 1806-12-10 00:00:00

lifff7 REPORT,

'COURT nE CAANCERY,

ruactu. v. MACNAMARA..

This was a motion by the SOLICITOR-GENt
Oat Me4,sts. Maedonnel, Orme, and others, Proprie-
tors dnd.Editors of the Morning Herald and Morn-
ing Post ; George Farquharson, Reporter 144 the
former, and John Macnaniara, the Defendant in the
above cause, should respedively stand imprisoned in.
his Majesty's prison of the Fleet, for,publishing, a
certain Report, purporting to be the proceedings in
this Court on the loth of August last.
Those for whom the Learned Counsel pleaded,
did not wish to appear on the present occasion for
any vindidive purposes. The Editor of the Morn-
ing Post, in particular, seemed to be free from all
culpability; and however unfortunately his. Paper
might have been made the medium of error, his
only error appeafed to be; reposing in his Agent
that confidence which the latter did not deserve:—
The intention of 'the SOLICITOR-GENERAL, in ap-
plying to his Lordship; was not to complain of
particular passages in 'the Report, although there
were certainly such as ,were incapable of any jus-
tification ; but the complaint .was direded against
the whole account,—that the publication was
made with the view to vindicate the conch&
of a party which deserved. the most severe ani-
madversion, and to • exhibit before the public
as nefarious, the deportment of thOse who had
been the. unhappy victims of artifice and op-
pression. This attempt' to mis-inform the public
mind was made in the Newspapers alluded to, on
the date noticed, in a series of paragraphs, called
". A Statement of Etas," in which the history of
the family of the Plaintiff was said to be detailed,
and which was mis-representation from the begin-
ning to the end. His Lordship would recolledthe
deed executed in November) 1786, at Calais. By •
that instrument all the remains of the property of
. the family of the Plaintiff were conveyed to Mr.
Macnarnara. The Lady had been prevailed upon
to execute it by fear—after the execution she was
in a state ofdistrad
was ion, and in that wretched con-
dition she carried away. His Lordship would
also recoiled Mr. Macnamara's own account, where
it was stated, that he used no harsh words ; that'he
only reproached her with her ungrateful ,folly—told
her that she should not have a shilling from him,
and that for her subsistence she was destitute of
every other resource.
In the Report alluded to, Messrs. FONBLANQUE,
THOMPSON, and AGAR, who are' all honourable
men, were Said to have given it as their opinion;
that the decision in this cause was manifestly un-
just, and that a re-hearing would obtain redress.
Then Mr. Farquharson. proceeded in his account,
and said, under the ostensible authority of Mr.
FONBLANQUE, that all the instruments which had
been rendered a nullity in the course of these pro-
ceedings were framed by the Defendant with a
view to the interests of the Pnrcells, and would
have operated to their advantage, if it had not been,
for an infamous conspiracy, formed by them, in con-
junction with others, against ;Mr. Macnarnara. Then
Messrs. TU. OMPSON and AG-AR were represented as
asserting with confidence, that the event of the trial
would establish the purity of the conduit of the De-
fendant, and would terminate with the exposure of
the wicked machinations of the Plaintiff
.and her •
advisers.

Sir SAMUEL ROMLLLY here proceeded to ex-
amine various other parts of this Report, and com-
pared it with the affidavits which had been filed,
and'particularly with one of Mr. A.darn, in \Villell
all the material fa&s were broadly contradifted.—
It was not denied, that the narrative adverted to
Was dictated by Mr. Macnamara ; that,the speech of
Mr.,Fonblanque was quoted under the same authori-
ty ; 'and that Mr. Farquharson received a sum of •
money for his compliance. The Learned Counsel
concluded to the following circa :—" It was objea-
ed by Mr. Agar, that I had Used the phrase of a de-
tail of , all the proceedings, instead of .saying a
full detail, which was the expression in the Atfi-
davit. The truth was, that in my brier the ad-
je6tive " full" was omitted'; but had I knownof
its introduction, I should not have thought it ne-
cessary to have so stated it, for a detail means a full
detail—it only seems that the person who prepared
the Affidavit is somewhat deficient in good taste,
and that the figure called a-pleonasm he has no
obje6tion to employ On an improper occasion. I
admit that it is a great advantage to the country,
that publicity should be given to the proceeding§ ;
I' allow also, that slight errors are no tit subjed of
complaint; and yet farther, that gross Mistakes, if
not committed with any dishonest intention, ought
nut to expose the party misled to punishment ;
but what I complain of is, the fabrication of such
narrative for the supposed benefit of parties, who,
regardful only of their own interest, care not what
sacrifices they make of the honour and charailer of
individuals, and who are indifferent to the honour
and dignity of those persons who preside in our
Courts of Justice, and who would make the unsul-
lied name of the venerable Judges of the land sub-
servient to their. base designs."
Mr. HART,- onAhe same side, now proposed that
certain.atfidavits should be read in support, of this

At the request of Mr. NfacnamAra, all the 'affida-
vits, as well a 3 the general statement referred to,
were read ;• after which,

l‘ir. HART said, t hat this was a proceeding ground-
ed upon a supposed contempt, and that two ques-
tions immediately presented themselves for his Lord-
ship's consideration st, lithe matter complained
of were a contempt of the Court ? and if it were so,
2dl y, Whether trie' persons charged with it were so
fixed with the offence as to render them amenable
by attachment ? They had' been unneeessarily.de-
tamed with all the affidavits ; but if these were read,
it was fit also to expose in the same way the libel-.
lous publication. In two respects this was con 7.
tempt ;—it was so to the parties, and to the 'Court
itself. •

(The Learned Counsel here entered into the va-
rious minute particulars of which this contempt ap-
peared to his mind to be constituted).
The Lo RpCHANCELLOR.--" Supposing this pub-
lication: to be a libel, how is that a contempt of the
Court :that would bring the parties in this form
within its jurisdi&ion
Mr. HART.^" I do not say that this Court takeS
coo;izatrce of matters of libel in general ; yet what
is published of a libellous
.nature agAinst a Court