The Sun.
London, England, 1865-12-08 00:00:00

K.--'

much leniency when dealing with• the peccant and
the faulty. The daily paper may chastise with
whips, but the weekly periodical, with more leisure
in most cases, lays on the punishment with scor-
pions. It did this in reviewing the story of the Hon.
Mrs. Yelverton ; and we can quite believe that
when that lady read the article headed "The Yel-
verton Case" in the Saturday Review of July 30,
1864, it gave her, as she says, " more pain than any-
thing that had occurred to her since she was deserted
by Major Yelverton." The tone of this undoubtedly
painful article was not so much of stern censure as
of playful savagery. The lightness of the treatment
contrasted strongly with the grave deductions sought
to be established, and the writer suggested a great
deal more than he thought fit plainly to advance.
He did not say that Miss Longworth was a Phryne
or a Helen, but the association was neatly hinted
at, and the sting must have been deeply felt by
the woman for whom it was barbed, supposing
her to have the merest leanings towards virtue's
side. Now, against Miss Longworth there was
no charge that could give a colour to such keenly
conceived sarcasms. Her one error was, that " she
loved not wisely, but too well," and if, from certain
doubtful circumstances in the history of her con-
nection with Major Yelverton, we could not award
her our unqualified respect, we could at least sym-
pathise with her as . one infinitely more sinned
against than sinning. As the Lord Advocate said
the other day, the Saturday Review might have let
this stricken deer go weep, or, in any case, have
been merciful to an unhappy woman paying the
penalty of one early error by a life of litigation
and remorse. " Use every man according to his
deserts, and who shall 'scape whipping !" But to
go deeper than this,' and use a woman worse than
she deserves, is Draconic severity pushed to the
bounds of cruelty and harshness. Still, we cannot
help thinking that Miss Longworth was ill-advised
in resorting to law for the vindication of her cha-
racter. The criticism of the Saturday Review was
painful, no doubt, to her, as it was, indeed, to
many charitably-inclined persons who read it. But
the public is just enough in cases like this, and is apt
to take strong and sarcastic language of the kind
with a grain of salt. " Clever, but cruel"—that was
the verdict of those who read the article and had
mastered the facts of Miss Longworth's history.
It was evident to all right-thinking persons that
the lady who wished be acknowledged as the Hon.
Mrs. Yelverton was in no sense a Helen or a
Phryne, and that the classical proclivities of the
Saturday Review had led the writer of the article
into a vein of sarcasm palpably unjust. 'The sug-
gested picture of Miss Longworth appearing before
the woolsack " like Helen among the Trojan grey-
beards" was a play of fancy rather too wild for the
public taste to appreciate. Indeed, the whole com-
ment was calculated (not by the writer) to enlist the
sympathy of the public on the side of the lady thus
freely treated. It was not as though the case of
Miss Longworth were patent only to the critic, for
never was the inner life of a sentimental woman laid
I more bare to the world than hers had been. The
confessions of Rousseau were scarcely more ex-
haustive of his peculiar idiosyncrasy than the
letters of Theresa Longworth. Though the laW
went against her, she was pitied by many, and even
championed. as a " martyr to circumstances" by many
more. The world knew her miserable story by
heart, and was competent to judge fairly between
her and a writer who has indulged in odious com-
parisons to her discredit. She might have known
and trusted to this fact, and let the free comments
of the Saturday Review pass and be forgotten. And
then comes the question of prudence—the cui bone
of the matter. That might have weighed with her
before she commenced her action for libel against
an English paper. Rightly enough, the freedom of
comment, so often exercised for good, of the press,
is prized by the country ; and, except upon very
strong grounds indeed, a jury will not hamper this
freedom by a verdict for the plaintiff. The Edin-
burgh jury have proved this, although by their divi-
sion of opinion, they have proved also that the pur-
suer was not without some cause of grievance.
Their first statement, after a deliberation of three
hours, was that they could " not agree." There
were six for the pursuer, and six for the defender.
Upon this they were ordered to retire again, and
in the meantime three of the hostile jurors were
reasoned or won over to the side of the defender.
According to the Scotch law the majority of nine
thus made up can give a sufficient verdict ; and so
I again Miss Longworth finds herself vanquished in
her protracted endeavour to establish her fair fame
and to fortify her position as a deeply injured
woman. A Scotch jury has pronounced the com-
ments of the Saturday Review on " The Yelver-
ton Case" to be within the bounds of fair cri-
ticism, though the verdict is undoubtedly qualified
by the circumstances under which it was given.
We repeat that we consider Miss Longworth to
have been ill-advised in her action against the
Saturday Review. A position such as hers, with
all its sad pnblioity, ix, Heaven knows, hard to
bear. But it will not be rendered less hard by
appeals to the law, they tire out the patience of the
public, and only end in the retirement from court
of an unhappy lady with a newer sorrow. 'There is a
season at which the most persistent plaintiffs with a
grievance should wash their hands of litigation, and
settle down to accept facts, however sad they maY
be, and despite the individual suffering they cause.
That season arrived when Miss Longworth's appeal
to the English and Scotch courts resulted in a final
decision against her and her claims. She cannot by
law be Mrs. YelTerton ; and it is very like a descent
from lofty matters to little ones when she seeks
another quarry and makes the polished sarcasm of
a trenchant review the grcund for an action which
unearthens again the whole dreary history of her
wrongs for more discussion and "more last words.''
It would be better for her not to wear her heart
upon her sleeve in this way, but to leave her case to
the quiet judgment of a generous people. If it is
any satisfaction to her to know that the general
verdict of those who are acquainted with her story
is not the verdict of the Saturday Review, we are
glad to assure her of the fact. But at the same time,
it is impossible to avoid accepting the grave deci-
sions against her as a fatal settlement of her case,
and one that cannot be modified by attempted vin-
dications such as that which has just failed in the
Scotch Court of Session. It would have been much
better had the article in the Saturday Review been
unwritten—it would have been judicious to have
spared the " iron rod," even at the expense of miss-
ing the chance for delighting the cynical with a
smart exercise. It would have been decent and
charitable. But the chance was eagerly taken ad-
vantage of ; and as the article does not appear to
be a libel in the legal sense of the word it has had
the effect of raking up the old and well-worn sub-
ject, at the cost of another defeat of Miss Long-
worth and another infliction of a painful story
upon the public.

Foreign Mail Packet List.

MAILS DUE.

Australia and New Zealand, via Southampton.. —Deo. 19.
Ditto, via Marseilles Dec. 13.
Brazil and Cape Verde. by British pao.et Jan. 4.

Ditto, by French packet Dec. 2l'.
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Dee. 22.
China, Penang. and Singapore, via Sowhampton Dec. 19.

Ditto, via Marseilles Deo. 13.
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar, via Southampton Deo. 12.
- -

. _
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.— Dec. 19
Ditto, via Marbeilles
India (Bombay), via Southampton. Dec. 12.
Ditto, via ilarsebles Dec. 21.
Mauritius, via Southampton Deo. 12
Ditto, via Mandl es Deo. 12.
Newfoundland ... , Dec 20
Portugal

Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon.
United btates and British North America, by Bri-
tish packet
Ditto, by United States packet, via Southamp-
ton

Ditto, ♦ia Cork . •• •__

Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry.. Dec. 8.
West Coast of Africa. Madeira, and Teneriffe ..Dec. 11.

Births.

Bum.En.—On the 6th inst., at Eltham, the wife of Major
Hornby Buller, M.T., of a son.
CHETWYND.-7011 the 6th inst., at 78, Chester-square, the

Hon. Mrs. Chetwynd, of a daughter.
SKRINE.— On the 6th inst., at Sunbury, the wife of the
Rey. Harcourt Skrine, of a daughter.

Marriages,

LUSCOMBE—TURNLEY.—On the 6th inst., at All Sainte',
Norwood, John Teed Luscombe, Esq., of The Albany
to Laura, daughter of Joseph Turnley, Esq., Selhur&t"
park, Surrey.
SWENY—LAMB.—On the 6th inst., at St. Martin's-in-the,
Fields, Eugine Sweny, Esq., Admiralty, eldest son of
the late Major Sweny, King's Dragoon Guards, to Fanny,
the youngest daughter of Henry Lamb, Esq,, Ballad:up
square.

Deaths.
DAWSON.—On the sth inst., at Tyddyr-roe, St. Asaph, T.

Dawson, Esq., aged 32.
FORI3ES.—On tho 7th inst., Mrs, Jane Forbes, laio of 0°

Victoria-park Hospital, aged 62.
GmsoN.—On the sth inst., at Askern, near Doncaster, the
Rev. John Gibson, M.A., senior chaplain of the parish

church, Sheffield, aged 70.
WARNER.—On the 4th inst., at Coventry,
Henry Warner/
Esq., aged 66.
WIIEREAT.—On tho 6th inst., at Weston-super-Mare, JO'
Whereat, Esq., aged 53.
WOODCOCK.-- On the 3d inst., at Southport, john WO*
cock, Esq., of The Elms, Wigan.

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London : Printed and Published by WILLIAM AN DREWD,
of No. 112, Strand, ninter, at Tun SUN Office, No. 112 i
Strand, in the. Precinct of the Savoy. in the Count) 0
IlitiltBe24l—Friday, December 8, 185.