The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-21 00:00:00

gneonttlemen of education—capable of everything, yet
cable to do anything—men who could either
sketch nolitioal portraits, or associate with the printer's
devil_ (Laughter)—yet who for 34 weeks have not been
SO fortunate as to procure any employment, though con-
stantly up' on the tramp—like some of the characters des
hscersihe'd in the writings of the son of that excellent man who
arPsared before you to. day as a witness.—(Mr. Har-
hee,enalluded to " Boz," whose father, Mr. Dickens, had
snore examined.) Gentlemen, is it possible for me to do
than I have done? I bowed to the judgment of a
jury,_sees even to the prejudice of my case ; for though, in the
. of the two young men, one of whom is admitted to be
minor, and the other, it is admitted, may be one, I might
easessupposed to have a better defence than in the other
0'; et, by paying the money into Court on the verdict
Gentlemen, Mr. Knox told that his great object was to
reporters on my Paper wl o had acquired experience
On Morning Papers. But was it so ? Did he so arrange the
engagements? Why, Gentlemen, there were three who had
never.7.et been cn a Morning Paper—two of these being children.
, Gentlemen, by paying into Court the 521., at which the
former Jury assessed the compensation, I am interdicted by
esent pleadings from doing that justice to myself
,iduah I could otherwise have obtained. Was ever an indi-
I in such a helpless situation as I am, unless the Jury
einf_erfFre to deliver me. Gentlemen, I ask you, is it rot
n
e of the boasted characteristics of our law, that no man
alike he a witness in his own case? Is it not the boast
„se of Bench and Bar, and of Englishmen gene-
b'e"y, that this is the case ? But will any man who has
s,i,lrd or these witnesses say, that they are not substantially
vs'ng evidence in their own cause ? Mark the game that
"a been played. First, Knox and Geary find me by my-
tshelef,aind confiding to them the duty of forming a corps of
characte=r described. Let them say what they may—
true or false—or exaggerated—or altered. so as to
meether their case—l have no means of contradiction.
their e is nothing which they might not say to adapt it to
be Purpose, and I cannot gainsay it, however far it may
0", from the truth. Now Mr. Knox told you that no man
2enatny standing in the profession, would accept an engage-
for a less period than a Session. Yet, he also tells you
that be engaged a gentleman whom he let go in a fortnight,
and_i that I knew nothing about it. So that any other of them
might have gone at the end of a month ; and when I came
In settle with them and I asked—" Where is Byrne ?
Where is Knox ? where is Ross?" who was described as A.
1• on the Press.—" Oh, Sir, I have let him go." And so
it,r&ght have been with any other—with Geary himself—
who might have been allowed by Knox to go on the same
friendly concession. Gentlemen, is it to be maintained that
an agreement shall be binding—so destructive to one party,
so beneficial to the other, upon one party only? You are
wished to believe that these persons have not been able
to get any employment since they were dismissed. But I
hope my Lord will allow me, if it is consistent with his own
sense of propriety, to refer to the opinion of the Lord Chief
Justice, in his charge to the Jury, at Kingston ; that it is not
to be supposed that these individuals, accomplished in
their profession, and doubtless with good connections, ca-
pable of writing seductive sketches of persons most difficult
to delineate, firsto•ate political characters, even if not
employed as reporters, were in no condition to apply their
literary accomplishments to some other pursuit." Gentle-
men, I shall not trouble you with any further remarks. 1
leave my case entirely in your hands, calling upon you to
deliver me from a flood of litigation, and entreating you not
to permit the sanctuary of British justice to be perverted
into a scene of legal exaction.
At the conclusion of Mr. Harvey's address symptoms of
au,ta inclination to applaud were manifested by the audience,
,13 were immediately repressed by the officer of the
Court ; and
_ Lord DENMAN proceeded to deliver his charge. He
said, " Gentlemen of the Jury, this is an action brought
°Y. William Geary against Me. Harvey for wrongfully dis-
missing him from the situation of reporter to the True Sun,
°n which he had been engaged by the defendant, that en-
gagement being from the 25th of November, 1837, to the
end of December—that is the way in which the plaintiff
states lie had been wrongfully dismissed. Now, the de-
fendant does not deny the contract, nor does he deny that
wrongfully dismissed plaintiff. But he says that the
damagew sustained by plaintiff has been under the 52/. 10s.
h
leb he has paid into Court. The plaintiff says that he
has sustained damage to a much greater extent. It is for
YOU to decide whether or not plaintiff is entitled to a greater
amount. If you think he is not, the defendant is entitled to
Your verdict. If you think he is, you must consider to how
meel' he is entitled. Now, Gentlemen, the evidence is
estates
short, and goes quite to the point. Mr. Francis
Paper,
the fact of the defendant being the proprietor of the
and his object in establishing a corps of reporters of
it Superior description to attend the early sittings of Parlia-
Tent, and before the Morning Papers came out to send
9wn the reports into the country by post the same
-ightt Mr. Knox was appointed to engage six
gentlemen besides himself in order to conduct that enter-
prise ; and it seems that he engaged the plaintiff among
Others,
at three guineas per week ; and it does not admit,
think, of any reasonable doubt that these engagements
are usually either sessional or annual ; therefore Mr. Har-
vey could hate no right to turn off any of these persona be-
fore the end of the session, except for improper conduct on
their part. Now there is no complaint as to the conduct
or the plaintiff ; on the contrary, the defendant, it isproved,
expressedl_ great satisfaction at the exertions of the corps on
:1"e opening of the session ; and I think the defendant has
lone himself no wrong in admitting the contract, and the
fact of the wrongful dismissal, leaving nothing for you to
ciaasider but the amount of damages to which plaintiff is en-
titled. It appears there have been two former actions
brought on a contract of a similar nature, with regard to
Which it would be difficult not to pay some attention,
,91_,ough of course you would not be justified in bringing your
Illugment on the opinion of any set of men ; and it is for you
Say, when this individual Geary was engaged on the
24)
,?th November, what damages he has sustained by reason
of his being wrongfully dismissed from the service of defen-
dant at a much earlier period than the close of the Session.
with respect to other actions which have been or may
e brought against the defendant, I must say the plaintiff
15 not to be deprived of any right he may possess against
the defendant, by reason of defendant having made himsel
liable to other parties, for however large a sum, unfortu-
nately for himself. What then is the damage sustained by
the plaintiff from the loss of his situation ? I cannot think
it is Just to suppose that a person becomes utterly useless
When dismissed from his employment as a reporter ; that his
time is quite worthless ; that a gentleman of some literary
Power, with some connection, should not be able to find any
other pursuit ; and it strikes me that some allowance ought
to be made for his being master of his own time, during the
Period when, having been discharged by defendant, be was
of course at liberty. Gentlemen, there is one point to
Which the defendant has not adverted, but to which I feel
bound to draw your attention. It is this—that the
action was brought on the 10th of January, 1838,
and the damages which the plaintiff is now entitled to re-
cover are what he might have claimed on the 10th Ja-
nuary ; so you can only make the computation that the
Jury
would have made, who would have considered the
case had it been tried on the very day when the action was
brought. You will have now to make a conjectural cal-
culation of what was the damage which the plaintiff had
Sustained on the 10th January, when the duration of the
Session was uncertain, and you will judge to what extent
it was reasonable then to suppose the Session would have
extended, for it seems to me that from that period must
Your verdict be calculated. And there might then have
been a possibility of the Session lasting longer than it ac-
tually did ; and as the plaintiff took his chance for the
larger compensation, he must also take his chance for the
lesser estimate ; and you must consider which would then
have been the most probable duration of the Session—the
longer or the shorter period ; and whether there is any
deduction or any addition to be made ; for if you think that
the Session might then have been reasonably imagined to
be likely to last from Nov., 1837, to N0v.,1838, you will
be bound to give the plaintiff for the whole year ; but I
cannot suppose you will do so. On the whole, you will say
What remuneration the plaintiff is fairly entitled to. If
You think 501. sufficient, the defendant having paid that
2,1111 into Court, there is an end of the case. If, on the
other hand, you think that the plaintiff may reasonably
expect something more than the 501., you will say to what
extent your verdict ought to he increased beyond it. _
The Jury consulted for a few minutes, and returned a
verdict for the defendant.
The Court was densely crowded during the trial, and on
48 conclusion a great number of persons followed Mr.
Harvey out, and cheered him loudly till he entered his
carriage.

MILAN, DEC. S.-Our arrivals have been very
limited for the last fortnight, most of the English nobility
4.11€1 gentry have taken up their residence for the ensuing
atx weeks in the south of Italy. Lord Monson left several
days ago for Geneva, and Sir Charles Wolseley has left for
~
same city. Lord Lowther was at Genoa a few days
,b;(ek• Lady Wood has arrived from Florence. The
12rand Duke of Russia has forwarded to Signor Bartolomeo
the director of La Scala, a valuable brilliant ring,
as 4 mark of respect for the attention shown him during his
°Yal Highness's sojourn in this city.
Our much-esteemed and benevolent Member, Mr.
Bailey, in addition to the fifty pounds which he annually
presents to the Clergymen of our respective parishes for
their distribution, hat"; this year placed in the hands of a
c •
°l"ornittee of his friends a noble gift which will be sufficient
to regale on Christmas-day upwards of a thousand poor
sarmhes with an excellent dinner ; besides affording a hand-
Tne sum to be distributed among the different charities.—
"orcester Paper, •