The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-07 00:00:00

CHARGE OF LIBEL AGAINST A CLERGYMAN.

BOW-STREET—THIS DAY.—The Rev. Wade Mar-
tin, Meara, who was described in the charge-sheet as a
clergyman of the' Church of England, was brought up
on a warrant, before Mr. Jardine, "for having circu-
lated and published a wilful, malicious, and scandalous
libel upon the character of the lady of the Hon. Craven
Fitzhardinge Berkeley, M.P."
Mr. Bodkin conducted the prosecution.

The defendant was unrepresented by counsel.
The Hun. C. F. Berkeley stated that he resided in
St. James's-place. In March last he received, by post,
an envelope containing a printed circular. It was ad-
dressed to witness at Berkeley-house, Spring-gardens,
the residence of his brother, and was forwarded to wit-
ness at Brook's Club. The printed circular was ad-
dressed, appaiently, to the eldest brother of Mr. Craven
Berkeley, and contained the foulest aspersions upon his
character. Mrs. Berkeley was a daughter of the late
General Onslow ; and at the time of her marriage with
witness, she was the widow of the late Mr. Newton.
The envelope containing the libellous circular was sent
from abroad, and had the Boulogne post-stamp upon it.
Mr. Jardine— Do you know the defendant's hand-
writing ?
Witness—Yes, I have seen it ; and lam satisfied that
the address upon the envelope is written by him, although
he has evidently attempted to disguise the writing.
The Defendant—Have you ever seen me write, sir ?
Witness—No, but on a late occasion, when you were
before the magistrates at Winchester, and were required
to give sureties of peace in consequence of what took
place in Ottobourn church, near Cranbury-park, I saw
two letters, which you admitted to be in your hand-
writing, and from my recollection of them I am enabled
to speak confidently on the subject.
. The defendant—l can satisfy your worship that the
writing is not mine, by sending for Mr. Clark Smith, of
36, Southampton-street, who knows my writing well.
I did not say that the letters produced at Winchester
were mine. I neither acknowledged nor denied them.
Mr. Jardine said it was a charge which he could not
deal with summarily, and therefore the question of the
handwriting must be determined by a jury.
Mr. Bodkin handed up the envelope and letter for
the private inspection of the magistrate, stating that it
was of such a nature that he felt justified in with-
holding it from the public eye. The Hon. Mr.
Berkeley had been for a long time subject to these
annoyances from the defendant, who married into the
family against their wishes, and, consequently,, had not
been received by them. Mr. Berkeley had no desire to
press with undue severity against the defendant, but as
he had already evaded a former warrant by absenting
himself from the country, he trusted that good and sub-
stantial bail would be required.
The defendant said he had given high sureties in the
former case, and it was a breach of the arrangement to
proceed with the present charge. He could not get high
sureties.
Mr. Jardine committed him to Newgate, fixing the
bail at 2001. (his own recognizance) and two sureties at
1001. each.

THE EARL OF DERBY.—The Mayor of Liverpool,
Mr. Samuel Holme,entertained the Earl of Derby and a
distinguished party at a private banquet in the Liver-
pool Town-hall, on last Wednesday evening. The fol-
lowing are the names of some of the guests :—The Earl
of Derby, Sir John Heron Maxwell, Bart., the Hon.
Henry Thomas Liddell, M.P., Mr. William Brown,
M.P., Mr. Lawrence Heyworth, M.P., Sir Edward
Cust, Sir John Bent, Admiral Grenfell, and Archdeacon
Brooks.