The Sun.
London, England, 1815-10-09 00:00:00

COURT OF JUDICATLTRE, sT. GEORGE'S:

GeENADA, -Atm. Tuesday, the Supreme
Court of Judicature met, when, a few Only of the
4tetions were tried, the greatet part of them being
continued to the next Court. Among those tried
there was one of considerable intems,jtorn the
singularity of imgronnds and of its:l:kenostances.
This was an action of libel; bronarlt itry. Mr. Ito-
herr Kennedy against John Spalin,- 'printer of St.
George's Chronicle. It appeared that Mr.. Ke-
nnedy, the plaintiff, had given an 'entertainment rit
his house in the parish of St. Andrew, in the
usual rrtimer of convivial hospitall4; abintt the
end of March last. It was: conceived that an al-'
fusion to this entertainment by the plaiutiff" waS
described in the most offensive and the 'posit Indi-
Clams eXpressions in the Gueetteof the sth April last,
sr.t" lig that the landlord of this eat-ertliinnieut was
a Jew ; that-the name of his liduLiVlis Jerusa-
lem-Half ; that this entertainment Wa§,the celeu
bratiou of the Feast of the Passover -;-that the
Music, upon this occasion surpassed all midtr-.
standing ; arid that among a great nindber of
other incomprehensible imisical instruments there
was the Swinetto, Which was described in Court
to be a pig under a man's arm, and made to squeak
by zwitching its_ear or its tail.
The Learned Counsel for the plaintiff stated the
enormity of this offence. That nothing cubit) he
more degrading to an individual, thatsi to he held
out in a public Gazette as an object of ridicule ;
that aothiug could inure wound the ficclitsgs of a
respectable member-of a community, than to be
pointed L'it in so public a manner, when, described.
in such slanderous arid ludi.:roits expressions
that the printer and editor had been in the habit
for Some months past, Of traducing and slander-
ing the inhabitants of the colony with impunity ;
but that he -now hoped the Jury, by bringing this
case home to their own feelings,,would give such
damages asaiould bring back the conductors of
the Grenada press to• a tine sense of the respect
they owe to the ebrumunity. Thu Leiiriied Conn-
' sel that it was Fine regretted-Id-iiit,it sume-
times happened, that when the 0441i:tiffs bring
forward such cases before a Cotirt4i/c3iistice, they
leave the Court with additional, reproach upon
their eliatacteri ; but he trusted that the issue of
this trial Would be very different. Evidence was
then brought of the publication of the Gazette by
• the defendant, cootaining the obnoxious para--,
graph. - It was proved by many witnesses that
the. was not a Jew, as there described,
but a Scotchman ; that instead of the Jewish, he
professed the Presbyterian-religion ; and that he
was a true believer in the. Christiao redemption.
• Upon one of the evidences being asked, if he ever
• saw the plaintiff in church,
.it was answered that
he sacs' nitn once in church ; but ailthOugli the
pl:iintiff has been a great inany.years.,in the e()-
ton:'. it waa not proved whether this once was
before or after this scandalous publication against
him.. It was, however, admitted by the plaintiff's
counsel, Aen prirved by a witness, that the plain-
tiff was sometimes nick--named a Jew, and hiS
place of residence Jerusalem Hall, by his intimate
acquaintances. The Learned Counsel Comment-
ed upon the circumstances and facts of the evi-
dences,. and concluded his case, by stron',;:".• im-
pressing upon the jury, that it w AS acpiestion of
the feelings of an highly injured indivithial, and
claiming the protection of a British Jury. •
• The Counsel for the defendant. made an elo-
Tient and ingenious defence of 'his client :—lns
/cid the paragraph in the Gazette to the Jury,
alai pointed out to them, that all the eiretnn-
`stances and expressions. were merely imaginary
t".inciful ; that they no more alluded to the-
plaintiff than to any other inhabitant of the parish
of 5.t. Andrew--; that the co-incidence of the
plaintiff's entertainment, with the date of that Ga-
zette, made the plaintiff-conceive
Jaded to that it was the 'Wit be was al -
plahitifi 'hlitiSelf who
tirade -the allusionz in,. any maUiteil-Happlicable
to hiMself individually, by bringing the ease
before a Court of Justice; that if, the plain-
tiff had treated the .anger with the same indiffer:
ence: that every other iahahitant pf 'the-miner
of .clone,: this paragraph and the Gizettel itself
would have sunk into oblivion with-the contempt
it 'rleserved thlt pone tit preparations and ce-
- reinonies of 1.111: celebration of the Feast of the
Passover had been proved to' hc.pertormed at this
-imaglaary Jerusalem Hail ; that special da-
la-ages had been stated ia the declaration ; that
YtO malice intended had been proved, before the
Jury is_ that the,plaintiff was as respectable a Scotch
Presbyterian, after the printing of this offensive
paragraph, as he was before it. The Learned
Counsel then read many eases to the Jury, where

twits Ilatl ironglit 'Cetore Lstices, of ti fi,l4
inure aggravated nature, and even special datnages.
proved, yet those Justices taunts the defendant,
or brought in a verdict ,itf danidges.—
After to. great many ntint—ftightsr-relevant bhser-
vations, he contloated With tlie expressions of his
Cooviettoo" this! the'clieneS case wag-in Olt h'indri•
of an intelligent and conscious Coup-.
sel fur defendant tilled Ho wimesses•
The Counsel fur the plaintiff. matte .an atilt and
pointed Repjy...-11i5. Ijoupnr _the Chief Justice
!hen sun rated, up Ike eysidence;w_itli,great.precision
and soletinsitY, ;Ind commented
.111).0044e. leading
facts of it ; be directed the Jury to:lay wside all
.attuntiott to the offensive pithlications.in the other
(intettes, which were :staied by' the plaintiff's
c'onnsel, and to confine:filen'. consideration only
to the paragraph of tlie.Gazettethat gave rise to
, •
the suit.

The Jury fetired for a quarter of :+n hour,' :intl.
thou brought a Verdict for digit:6%lof, ulik.
datuages. .
The novt;lty of this suit had attracted, in a pe-
culiar manner, the attention of the audience in the
:Court-llouSe.- The' Learned Counsel on both
sides displayed a profound 'knowledge of the Mo-
saic Law and Ceremonies, while they evinced the
decided orthodoy of their religious tenets. After
the Jury were retired, some of the audience ob--
served-, that it the fact of circumcision had been
argued before the Jury, this national distinction
would have greatly facilitated ,the decision ol.the
verdict ; others of the audience were of opinion,
that the 0111159.1011 of the statement of this fact by
the Connsel, resulted from that extreme delidacy •
t'elative.to the feelings and sentiments of their re-
tiprocal clients, lot which the Gentle Men of the
Grenada Bar are so peculiarly reniaritable. Al-
though public acknowledgment may be due to the,
plaintiff for bringing forward this suit, yet opi-
nions may vary upon its merits.