The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-27 00:00:00

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Jan. 25.

LIBEL.—THE QUEEN*IN THE PROSECUTION OF SIRS. JANE
1 BARKER V. THE REV. MR ROBINSON.
This case was tried at Gloucester some time ago, and ex-
cited much attention at the time. It was an indictment at
the instance of Mrs. Barker for a libel, the libel complained
of consisting of letters which were addressed to her by the
defendant, expressing-his surprise that she should revisit
Cheltenham after the reports which bad been spread as to her
preiious conduct in the same place, and plainly charging her
with having committed adultery. The letters bore the initials
of '4W. P.
T)ie case now came before the Court in the usual form, and
r. Sergeant TALFOURD (who, with Mr. Alexander, ap-
pelt4ed for the prosecution) prayed judgment upon the
defendant, who appeared upon the floor of the Court.
A great number of affidavits were banded in by both sides,
-the treading of which occupied it more than two hours. Those
of the prosecutiix went to show that there was no truth in
the; allegations of the defendant, whilst those ,of
'the! defendant expressed his 'sincere regret that he
had penned such letters, and attributed his conduct to
the'excited state of his feelings at the time, in consequence
of the reports which he heard. They further stated that he
hatt made ai ample apology before these proceedings, and
that he had offered to pay 501. towards the expenses in-
curted, which terms he understood were accepted. After
dwflling upon the fact that he bad founded a Magdalen
klotpital in Cheltenham, and that he had taken active steps
to prevent prostitution, and to reclaim those who had fol-
low,ed, such a course of life, he threw himself upon the
merciful consideration of the Court.

be arli
1 NoViiitteTELEdefve,nQda.Cnt..,
and proceededin mitigationt e a dd address sso f theC
punishment.o Court o n
H dwelt, at some length, do the various offices which the
de ndant had filled for the last few years. In 1844
he removed to Cheltenham, and, took a house on
Pi eld-parade, within two or three doors of which
Id . Barker occupied a house. She was frequently visited
by nobleman whose name had beconfiltoo familiar in the
re rds of public intelligence (Earl Fitzhardinge), and car-
ri es and other vehicles were constantly at the doors of her
h se. To a gentleman of an eitcitable temperament, who
ha pupils in his house, and who was living there with his
i
e, and being responsible for the morals of those pupils, and
be g, moreover, a minister of the Gospel, this was an in-
tob rable grievance. There was everything to induce him to
be ieve that the reports which had been spread as to her
C
co i
duct in Cheltenham were true: Mrs. Barker was the wife
of poor player, and came to Cheltenham, in the first in-
s ce, from a small town within two miles of Berkeley
tle, with the hounds of the noble owner of which she was
fr nently in the habit of bunting. Some stress had been
I on the fact that the letters were signed with initials,
namely, W. P., and that he thereby intended to fix their
atthorship on someone else.- He had no such intention ; but
as he wrote anonymously, he affixed these initials, a plan
very frequently adopted by persons advertising for servants.
H had addressed Mrs. Barker on the occasion of her pre-
virt us visit, but no notice way taken of his communications;
a when he aderessed the letters, out of which these pro •
ce dings arose, he believed that she was about to take up her
r idence at Cheltenham. He, however, sincerely regretted
w t the had penned them. It as, ender-Stood that the de-
fe4
dant would not be brought up for judgment at all, and
nelgotiations and correspondence had taken place between
thh parties to that end. but as the name of Mrs. Barker had
been frequently mentioned in the painful correspondence
w,sich had taken place between Earl Fitzhardinge and Mr.
G•antley Berkeley, Mr. Robinson had been proceeded
against, in order that the reflections which attached to Earl
Fitzhardinge, in consequence of his connexion with Mrs.
B rker, might be removed by obtaining a conviction, and M
c zequently the assumption that rs. Barker was free from
al.l
picion. He held, however, that the apology which he
bid offered was sufficient.
;Lord DENMAN inquired what the counsel for the prosecu-
film would deem a sufficient apology?:
(Mr. Sergeant TALF.URD said the addition to the apology
which, the defendant tendered was this, but he refused
t accede to it :—" I greatly regret the annoyance which
these letters have occasioned. and I hereby declare that the
charges which they convey are wholly unwarranted." He
refused to accede to this, or to consent that his refutation
should be published in the newspapers, lie simply expressed
hiss regret at having written the letters. -
Lord DmistAx—Do you think there is anything in that
which a_person sending such letters ought not to make?
Mr. WHATELEY—NO, my Lord.
:Loid DENMAN thought that the publication of such an
apology could not be objected to, and that upon calm re-
flection the Learned Counsel would consider it his duty to
advise his client to accede to it.' It was not one which he
ought to refuse to make.
Mr. WHATELEY did not hesitate, on the part of his client,
to make the required apology. •
Lord DEN3IAN—Then we may say that this pats an end to
the proceedings.
Mr. Sergeant TALFOURD accepted the apology, on the
pert of his client, and applied to the Court to make an order
on the defendant to pay something more towards the ex-
penses of the proceedings than the 504 which sirs. Barker
proposed ,o devote to charitable purposes.
Mr. WITATELEY said there were very grave reasons why
the Court should rn t make such an order.

.Lord DEN lAN said the 50/. must be taken as part of the
conditions. He thought, however, that they ought not to
add anything to it.
Mr. Sergeant TALFOURD intimated that Mrs. Barker never
intended to impute that the annoyances which she received
came directly from the defendant.
The proceedings then terminated, and the defendant, who
had covered his face with his hand, and bowed down his
head during the whole period, then retired, and received the
congratulations of his friends.