The Sun.
London, England, 1834-08-28 00:00:00

No. 13,094.

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 28, 1834

PRICE 7D.

FAREBROTHER, MAYOR.
A. COURT of LORD MAYOR and ALDER-
MEN, holden in the Inner Chamber of the Guildhall of
the City of London, on WEDNESDAY, the 27th day of Aug., 1834,
Resolved unanimously, That an humble, loyal, and dutiful Ad-
dress be presented to their Majesties upon the safe and happy return
of her Majesty the Queen Consort to this country.

FRENCH PAPERS.

COMMITTEE ON LAW OF LIBEL.

with adultery or seduction—very grave offences, which in the
minds of many persons are so grave that he who is guilty
ought to be driven from society—the truth of the charge may
be known to himself and his paramour only ; and thus it is
just as likely, after the verdict for damages shall pass, that the
slander was true as before the action was brought. The event
will only have proved that no waiting-maid or valet-de-chambre
had been able to give evidence, or that no one but the parties
was cognizant of the fact. But those persons having to come
before the court with affidavits of denial, as well as exposing
themselves to affidavits of the opposite party, it does not follow
that the same persons who would proceed by action would
venture to swear, and both perjure themselves, and let it -.be
known each to the other for ever after that he had been guilty
of one of the foulest crimes that man can commit,—namely,
perjury. These are the reasons why I think the application
in court for a criminal information, under the statute of Wil-
liam, is a very important and beneficial proceeding for a per-
son defamed. But I hold that the practice is too lenient to
the defendant, and unjustly disfavours the prosecutor, if the
remedy, by criminal information, depends upon whether he can
clear himself, not only of ninety-nine parts out of a hundred
of the things laid to his charge, but of the whole hundred.
For example, a person may be charged with an assault with
intent to commit an unnatural crime, but he may have
committed an assault of a comparatively innocent nature ;
or he may be charged with an assault on a female
with intent to commit a rape, and yet he cannot giet
a criminal information, according to the practice some
years ago prevalent in the Court of King's Bench ( I
believe it is now a little relaxed), unless he can deny
the less as well as the more important part. Sec the situa-
tion of such a man. He dares not go into court, because he
knows he will be refused the rule, and will have his fame tar-
nished by that refusal. I think that, in so far, unjust disfavour
is shown to the applicant, and great hardship inflicted on him.
I remember a case where an Hon. Baronet, lately deceased,
was charged with having embezzled and almost stolen money
to a large amount; and in the same libel he was charged with
having been guilty of having taken more than the legal rate of
interest in India. The Court of King's Bench granted the
rule on his affidavit ; but they found, on spelling it afterwards,
when cause came to be shown, that he had not denied the
usury, though he had denied the peculation, amounting in-
deed to theft, and at aify rate an indictable felony ; and they
discharged the rule. It was here impossible to say that he did
not suffer rather than gain by the application ; he did not care
for the charge of usury, but for the other and heavier charge ;
and because he could not deny the comparatively trifling
charge, he went out of court as if the whole hail been true.
In the case of an Irish Baronet, for whom I was of counsel
also with Mr. Baron Parke, the charge was a breach of duty
as high sheriffV an election in Ireland, from corrupt motives.
He proved everything to be false and wilfully false, from the
begin:ling to the end of the libel ; but he could not disprove
the charge of error in judgment, as to the time when the
troops and the police were called out. The Court of
King's Bench, to the great regret of the counsel, dis-
charged the rule, but they discharged it at the cost of
the defendant. It was a libel of an aggravated nature,
in a speech made by a Member in the House of Com-
mons, and made, as was sworn and not denied, in the presence
of no person, who was enabled—by his knowledge of the facts
—to answer it ; and a copy of the speech was also sworn to
have been sent to a newspaper, and yet he got off by paying
the costs of the application.
Your Lordship is aware the Court of King's Bench has re-
laxed the rule of late ?—I believe they have of late since I left
that Court.
Is your Lordship aware that the Court of King's Bench in
Ireland never adopted the rule, to that extent ?—I believe they
never did.

(From the French Papers of Tuesday.)

The Journal de la Meurthe of the 23d instant state; that
a few days previously the Duke de Nemours gave a bril-
liant fete to the inhabitants of Luneville and the officers of
the camp, consisting of a ball, which his Royal Highness
opened, by taking the hand of the daughter of the Mayor
of Nancy, and which did not break up till five in the morn-
ing. The decorations were so splendid, that the rooms
were opened the next day for the inspection of the public.
There were about 1,000 persons present from Luneville,
Nancy, Metz, and "other surrounding places. In the course
of the day of the entertainment there was a grand review.
The Indicateur of Bordeaux of the 24th instant, received
by express, contains the following :—" The most recent
news from Spain continues to represent the civil war in that
country as virtually suspended. Don Carlos and his parti-
sans have returned to the frontier, and avoid all opportuni-
ties of coming to an action. The Pretender is fearful of
showing himself, even to his own troops. In order to de-
ceive the enemy, he constantly publishes that he. is in one
place, while he shows himself in another. The Queen's
troops assembled at Burgos, which town Don Carlos
pretended" to have captured, are arriving in Navarre.
It is owing to this movement into the rebel pro-
vinces that the insurgents have returned to the fron-
tier. Their chief, Zumalacarreguy, is ill, and quite dis-
couraged. To complete the despair of the faction, the
French steamer, the Metcore, has arrived at the Passage,
charged with the surveillance of the coast from Bayonne to
Santander. The Dutch ships, laden with • arms and gun-
powder for the Carlists, have not appeared. Signals, placed
at regular distances, are to give intelligence to the squadron
of observation, in case any should arrive." This journal
has also the following from St. Jean-dc-Luz, of the 22d
instant :—" The armed trincadora, No. 1, arrived yester-
day at the port of Socoa, from Santander. During its
station in the latter port, the Perk, French frigate, entered
into the same port, having on board the persons whose capture
has been already announced. As soon as they were disem-
barked, they were taken under escort of the troops of the line,
before the local authorities. On their passage through the
streets, the populace was so exasperated, that it loudly de-
manded vengeance against the traitors, and that they should
be put to death. Judicial proceedings were immediately
commenced, and no doubt existed that they would be-con-
demned to death. These persons are Colonel Arana, an
insurgent priest, a custom-house officer, Beneveta and Sa-
has, with two or three other rebel chiefs. The men form-
ing the crews of the five boats were condemned to be banished
to Havannah and Ceuta. The news from Spain states
that the members of the Junta assembled at Elisondo were
divided among themselves ; part of them had followed Don
Carlos, the others had withdrawn. There was also a
schism among the insurgents, and desertion had commenced.
One part, with their chief, Zamalacarreguy, was wandering
in the mountains ; the other was ready to submit to the
Queen ; their situation was deplorable, without clothes,
without food, and without money. Don Carlos, clothed
as an anchorite, was wandering from hermitage to hermi-
tage, and for three days it was not known where he was.
A steam-packet, armed with 14 guns, arrived yesterday at
the Passage. This vessel disembarked two Spanish fami-
lies, who were conveyed to the port of Socoa in boats. A
Spanish armed brig anchored yesterday at the Cape of Fi
gueras, having fired two guns for a pilot. One was sen
on board."

MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE SELECT COMMIT-
TEE APPOINTED TO CONSIDER THE PRESENT STATE OF THE
LAW AS REGARDS LIBEL AND SLANDER, AND TO REPORT
THEIR OBSERVATIONS THEREUPON TO THE HOURE.—WED-
NESDAT, JUNE 4.
(The SOLICITOR-GENERAL in the Chair.)

WO6DTHORPE.

FAREBROTHER, MAYOR.
ACOMMON COUNCIL, holden in the Chamber
of the Guildhall of the City of London, on WEDNESDAY,
the 27th day of August, 1834,
Resolved unanimously, That an humble, loyal, and dutiful Ad-
dress be presented to his Majesty upon the safe return of her
Majesty the Queen to these Realms, after a visit to the Continent.
WOODTHORPE.

The Right Hon. the LORD Hum CHANCELLOR, attending by
permission of the House of Lords, was examined.
How far, in your Lordship's opinion, is it possible to define
the law of libel, so as to bring it within more distinct rules
than at ',resent ?—I admit the great importance of the inquiry,
and it is one to which, in common with those who have attended
to the subject of the libel law, I have at different times paid
considerable attention, but, I must freely own, without any
success whatever. I hold it to be hardly possible to define
libels by which guilt may be incurred as tending to a breach
of the peace, to other proceedings of a violent nature, to
shaking the institutions of the country, from the Sovereign
downwards, and loosening the foundations of society, and to
a variety of other heads, under which may be classed, though
without any distinctness of definition or anything like ex-
haustion of the subject, the offences that are committed by
publishing or uttering libellous or seditious expressions. Any
definitions that I have ever seen given had one or other of
two faults, equally opposed to the requisites of a logical
definition ; they were either so vague and general as not to
specify or define anything, or if they did not sin in that
respect, they were only rendered particular and definite by
omitting some species of libel or of sedition, which on
the most cursory inspection ought manifestly to have been
comprehended. A, definition, in order to satisfy the requisites
of a good logical definition,_ ought not only to be sufficiently
precise, so that it shall take in nothing except what was in-
tended to be specified, but also sufficiently comprehensive to
omit nothing which ought to be included. I have never yet
seen, nor been able myself to hit upon, anything like a defini-
tion of libel or even of sedition, which possessed those requi-
sites of a definition; and I cannot help thinking that the dif-
ficulty is not accidental, but essentially inherent in the nature
of the subject matter. If any definition were mentioned to
me, I should state in what light it struck me, and wherein I
deemed it defective, I have frequently heard it said that "libel"
means nothing, for that the word signifies a " little book."
This was a very favourite mode of arguing of the late Mr.
Horne Tooke, and has been adopted by some of his followers,
Mr. Tooke being a great. master of etymology, and having
made what may be called important discoveries in that
science, and in the philosophy of grammar, was not unna-
turally in the habit of considering everything in an etymolo-
gical point of view. But when he and his followers said a
libel means a little book, they forgot that the origin of most
of the words which convey perfectly definite ideas was ety-
mologically as little calculated to convey an accurate descrip-
tion of the thing signified as the word libel describes what
we mean by that word. A person might as well say there is
no such thing as the crime of forgery, because to forge is to
beat iron into a form when it is red hot, as that the word libel
is not intelligible, and does not designate a composition of a
known description. Moreover, when men speak of libel as a
little book, they either do not deal fairly or they do not deal
learnedly with the subject, even as etymologists; for, indepen-
dently of the observation I have last made, no one, except
elliptically, ever made use of the word libel as a literal trans-
lation of the Latin. If a boy at school were to be called upon
by his master to translate libel, and should translate it, as this
argument assumes, upon the surface merely, "libellus," he
would probably be punished and certainly might justly be cor-
rected ; for the Latin of libel is not libellus, but libellus famo-
sus, and that is the civil law designation, and indeed there is a
title in the Pandects, "De Injuriis et Famosis Libellis."
Libel then means in its original, not little book, but a "defa-
matory little book." Now it may be true that " little book"
means nothing criminal ; but surely defamation, a taking away
men's characters, does convey the precise idea f some offence,
though it must be admitted that in this, as in almost every
other case, the sense of the primitive word has been so stretched
as to comprehend other things. For these reasons lam not of
opinion that any streets ought to be laid in the discussion of
this question on the etymology of the word libel. It is an
offence unfortunately of a somewhat vague description, but
sufficiently known in law, and perhaps as well defined, as as-
sault and some others ; and I do not believe, from all the ex-
perience I have had in courts or consultations, that in practice
any considerable difficulty is felt on account of its indistinct-
ness. I have never known a case in which a party was
oppressed or a jury misled by the vagueness of the term or the
want of a definition. Ido not remember a case in which the
jury did not form almost as accurate a notion of what was
meant by the offence of libel as of most other offences, espe-
cially in the class of misdemeanours. Certainly, if we are to
argue on the etymology of libel as telling nothing, the same
may be said of sedition, which is nevertheless supposed to be
most distinctly understood. That term, however, if we apply
the etymological test, means going apart, seorsam itio; and it
comes from the Roman people rising against their chiefs, and
going aside to a certain place. Yet everybody knows what
sedition is ; no one, I believe, says that it is an offence which
cannot be understood so as to be dealt with.
It has been suggested, that the description of libel should
be a counselling or incitement to that which would amount
to an indictable offence ? Then, I take leave to say that the
word " incitement" would just require definition and limita-
tion and bounding, as much as the word libel ; and that no
benefit whatever in practice could be obtained by the substi-
tution of one undefined word for another. The question
would always arise wherein consists an incitement. One per-
son might say that a gross attack upon the personal character
of the Sovereign, or upon the conduct of either branch of the
Legislature, constituted an incitement to commit treason or
sedition, which would be an indictable offence ; but can any-
thing be more manifest than that this is reasoning in a circle ;
for that brings you back to what every body admits to be one
species of libel—namely, a defamatory attack on a person in a
high public situation ? I conceive as much vagueness to lurk
under the word incitement, or that which incites, as under the
word libel. I must again repeat, that no practical inconve-
nience arose from want of definition in my experience at the
bar, which was very extensive for twenty years, having been on
one side or the other in almost every libel case on the Northern
Circuit, or at Westminster or Guildhall, tried during that pe-
riod, during part of which a very great number of prosecutions
took place, for it comprised the time of Sir Vicary Gibbs, who
filed more ex officio informations than any other Attorney-
General. lam clearly of opinion that the law of libel is ex-
ceedingly defective, and errs in both directions ; in some re-
spects it is too lenient, and gives too great an advantage to a
defendant ; in other respects it is too harsh, and gives too
great advantage to the prosecutor; and though there are
various improvements of which it 'is susceptible, and va-
rious complaints to which it is justly liable, I do not think
this of indefiniteness is one from which great practical evil has
arisen. But lam perfectly prepared to state my opinion as to
various other points in this law.
In what does your Lordship consider it too lenient a
person either says or publishes of an individual anything which
amounts in the one case to slander, or in the other case to
libel, it must be by imputing an indictable offence to constitute
the former ; whereas no such restriction exists as to the latter ;
but in both cases the law allows the defendant in an action to
justify, and by proving the truth of the words spoken or
written, he entitles himself to a verdict. This I consider too
favourable to the wrong doer. I will mention another to which
I have just alluded. Every person acquainted with the law
knows, that whereas spoken slander, especially if spoken before
a number of persons, may not only be as bad as written and
published slander, but may be worse, inasmuch as every person
can hear and understand, though many persons may not be able
or likely to read a line ; yet, in order to make that slander ac-
tionable, it must be of one particular description of slander,
—namely, imputing an indictable offence ; and this restriction
leaves out a great number of the most bitter slanders, as, for
instance, calling a man a rogue, a coward, a knave, an apos-
tate, a profligates a seducer, an adulterer, all of which is highly
defamatory, yet not actionable ; but if the twentieth part of
this,—such is the inconsistency of the law,—if the twentieth
part of these things be put in writing, though it is not read by
more than a single person, this is an act of publication, and an
action lies for the libel.
When your Lordship talks of the leniency of the law in
favour of defendants, you confine that to actions ?—Chiefly ;
I ought to have said that my remark applies chiefly to actions.
The law, as far as I recollect, does not in the criminal part
lean towards defendants. :It one respect, perhaps, it does,
and that I think a very great evil ; but I am not sure that it
is now the law, for the practice of the Court of King's Bench
has varied in the respect to which I refer. If a person moves
for a criminal information, either for words spoken tending to
a breach of the peace, or a published libel or letters sent to
him, he cannot succeed in obtaining a rule, if he does not on
oath deny every one particular charged against him down to
the most trifling ; he has no remedy, and is driven to an ac-
tion, which may either not lie in the case of words, or may
not be satisfactory; or to indictment, which is rather held to
be an admission of the truth of the charge. The advantage
of proceeding by criminal information is this : it erects the
Court of King's Bench (and this was always Lord Erskine's
opinion, entitled to great deference on all subjects, but on
none more than on this) into a court of honour, which may
well administer the law of honour between party and party,
with a due attention both to the wounded feelings of the
individual and to the preservation of the peace. But it has
this singular advantage besides—that it enables the party de-
famed, on his oath, to purge himself of the offence charged,
and gives him an opportunity of defying his adversary to
prove the truth of his accusation. It is in this particular
doubly advantageous beyond an action, which simply defies
the slanderer to prove his charge ; and from its nature this
may be impossible, though the thing may all the while be
true ; so that bringing an action really often leaves the truth
or falsehood very doubtful ; for how many charges are there
which may be quite true, the gravest charges of all, and in
which an action is brutum fulmen, because the defendant can-
not by possibility have evidence of it ; and so the bringing an
action may only show that the plaintiff is conscious of having
committed the offence charged, but certain also there can be
no evidence ggainst him. instance, if a man is charged

LONDON AND WESTMINSTER BANK,
38, Throgmorton-street, and 9, Waterloo-place, Pall Mall.
THIS BANK continues to receive Current Accounts,
on the same terms as they are now received by London
Bankers ' • or, instead of requiring a Customer to keep a balance,
manages his account for a certain sum annually. •
It likewise receives on deposit, at interest, sums to any amount,
from 101. upwards.
The opposition which, in the vain hope of arresting the progress
ithe Bank, has been shown to the Bill introduced by the Di-
setors to Parliament, will in no way accomplish its object, the
constitution of the Bank being perfectly efficient for carrying on its
ousiness, and for securing to the public in the metropolis the un-
doubted stability, and all the other advantages which Joint Stock
Banks have afforded throughout the country.
By order of the Board,
JAMES WILLIAM GILBART, Manager.
August 15th, 1834.

AT a numerous qnd highly respectable MEETING, of
SPANISH BONDHOLDERS, assembled at the City of
London Tavern, on Thursday, August 21.
THOMAS WEEDING, Esq , in the Chair;
Resolved unanimously,—That this Meeting has heard with disap-
pointment and alarm the project of law which has been submitted
by the Spanish Minister of Finances to the Spanish Chambers, in
which, after dividing the principal of the foreign debt of Spain into
two equal parts, one active, the other passive, it is proposed to in-
clude in the passive debt all the arrears of interest due to the foreign
creditors of Spain.
That this Meeting deem the arrears of interest to beas much the
right and property of the Spanish Bondholders as any part of the
principal sums advanced, and being now due, ought, in justice, to be
deemed and taken as part of the principal in any arrangement which
Spain may propose to its foreign creditors. That to treat it other-
wise would be inconsistent with the equal justice and the rights of
the claimants, and even with the plan itself as communicated by the
Spanish Minister.
That the plan proposed is, in this respect, fraught with peculiar
injustice to the British creditors of Spain, to whom no interest has
been paid for more than ten years, notwithstanding repeated appli-
cations for its payment, while to other foreign creditors of Spain
interest has been regularly paid to the present time.
This Meeting cannot doubt, therefore, that the present Constitu-
tional Government of Spain will, upon further consideration, be
disposed to place the British creditor s on a footing at least of equal
justice with the other foreign creditors of Spain. They request,
therefore, that the Committee will present memorials to the said
effect, in the name and with the sanction of this Meeting, to the
Queen Regent of Spain and the two Chambers of the Spanish Le-
gislature.
That the memorial now read be adopted, and that the Committee
apply to the Right Hon. Viscount Palmerston to request his Lord.
ship to have the same presented through the medium of his Majes-
ty's Minister at Madrid.
That this Meeting tender its most cordial thanks to the Com-
mittee of the London Stock Exchange for the constancy, probity,
and honour with which they have protected the interest of their fel-
low-subjects in refusing to admit any recent Spanish Securities to
circulate upon their Exchange 'ill the Spanish Government redeem
the faith of its previous engagement, which has already had the sa-
lutary effect of saving great numbers of families from certain ruin.
That the Chairman be requested to communicate these thanks
to the gentlemen of the Stock Exchange, and to express the confi-
dent hope of this Meeting that they will persevere in this just and
honourable course, which is of the deepest importance to all men
engaged in pecuniary transactions, and which has contributed to
maintain and raise the character of Englishmen for integrity and
good faith in the moral estimation of Europe.
That this Meeting returns its thanks to the public Press of Eng-
land for the firmness and talent with which it has maintained, and
continues to advocate, the principles of good faith, honour, and
justice, in the pecuniary relations of states and people.
That the thanks of this Meeting be given to the Committee for
the active and useful labours in the service of the bondholders.
That these resolutions be signed by the Chairman, and published
in the Daily Papers.

In a case in which a Member of Parliament was the appli-
cant, there were several material allegations in the libel which
were not negatived by him, but that which was negatived being
highly calumniatory, the Court granted the information ?
That was, I think, a very wise and just course..
Is not that giving the Court an extreme latitude, and
making the uncertainty of the law of libel still more uncer-
tain ?—I think it is giving the Court a great latitude, but that
is a latitude which—judging for myself as counsel for a party
—I should be willing to give to it. Nothing can be more sa-
tisfactory in some important respects than this proceeding.
Where a person sees a publication charging him with a hei-
nous offence which lie knows to be utterly false, it is a great
relief to him that he can instantly get a remedy, for it is fes-
tinum remediu;n, except in the course of the long vacation ;
he can immediately proceed ' • he discharges his mind by in-
stantly making an affidavit ; he then receives the consolation
of hearing the Court express a strong opinion, which in such
circumstances they never fail to do, in his favour. He then
defies his adversary to prove the falsehood—his adversary is
dared to do it,and unless he can do so, he must submit to the in-
formation. This I have generally found to be by far the most
satisfactory of all the remedies given by law to persons de-
famed. It is made to depend upon a court of honour, not pre-
cisely like a jury, which is not so well adapted to be a court of
honour as four men, generally of the superior classes of so-
ciety, by whom character is most valued. A jury is very apt
to afford an inadequate compensation in damages. They take
into consideration the circumstances of the defendant, and as
libelling has become very much of a traffic, driven by setting
up men of straw to publish the libel, the real culprit escapes,
and those tools proving their wretched circumstances, as for
instance that they are already in the King's Bench or Fleet
Prison, get off for 101. or 405., and then it is said that the
value of the person's character has been assessed by a jury of
the country at 10/. or 40s. I will not assert that it is a right
or a wrong feeling, but I speak from a pretty large experience,
for I do not believe I was ever at the bar one week that I did
not answer cases or attend consultations on libels which never
came into court, and I have uniformly found it to be the case
that nobody liked an action half so well as a proceeding by
information.
When your Lordship says that the prosecutor challenges
the defendant to prove, you confine that of course to the mere
answering by affidavit ?—Yes, of course, without cross-exami-
nation ; and that is rather an injury to the prosecutor, and in
which the law leans against him ; as it is only on the affidavits
without cross-examination that all turns ; and as the defendant
swears last, the rule is discharged on his affidavit. That is
another disadvantage of the law of libel, and one weighing
against the prosecutor and favouring the defendant. I knew
a case myself where on affidavits a new case was made; the
applicant was charged with cowardice ; he being a military
gentleman retired, and being most respected by all in the
county; he denied the charge explicitly ; but the defamers
changed the ground of attack, and in their affidavits against
the rule they swore that he had refused to fight a man, and
produced ten affidavits to this effect. It is needless to say
that this was utterly false, and was, as regarded its substance
and effect, in truth a great aggravatioo of the original libel ;
for the person whom he had refused to fight was a peasant, a
servant, or some one whom no one could seriously think of
fighting, and who had been induced to send a challenge for
the purpose of enabling others to defame the prosecutor. I
produced affidavits in abundance to prove this, but the Court
said they could not listen to them or suffer them to be filed,
and the rule was discharged of course!
In the Court of King's Bench in Dublin, if any fact is al-
leged in the affidavits not expressly charged in the libel which
may bear out the libel by construction, but which is not neces-
sary, they allow supplemental affidavits, with power to reply?
—Nothing can be more strict than our law is in this country
on this point. They never allow an affidavit in reply, unless,
perhaps, in the case of an officer of the Crown, who some-
times applies, but in another stage, namely, when parties are
brought up for judgment, to be allowed to swear in reply.
But the Court will never allow the prosecutor to reply to the
affidavits on behalf of the defendant on showing cause against
a rule. I have known hundreds of instances where the liberty
of putting in affidavits in reply was refused, and the rule is con-
sidered quite peremptory ; and if the party moves for a new
rule the Court will refuse it, as I saw very lately in the Court
of King's Bench. They said, " You must proceed by indict-
ment, one rule having been already discharged." Indeed, the
restriction as to the time within which you must move would
generally preclude any second application. It must always be
before a circuit has passed.
Is there not this inconvenience as to the practice of proceed-
ing by information, that the Court having once granted an in-
formation incurring the expense of a trial, the man against
whom the criminal information was upon debate granted was
afterwards acquitted ?—Yes ; I have seen that happen, and I
have known convictions on which no judgment could be had.
I recollect an instance of a prosecutor, a magistrate, who ob-
tained his criminal information on affidavit, but made such a
figure when under cross-examination on the trial, that he did
not venture to bring up the defendant for judgment, though
there was a conviction.
Was that a case of disputed facts on contradictory affidavits?
—Yes, it was very much contested by contradictory affidavits,
and had been thoroughly discussed.
There was a conviction in that case ?—Yes ; but I have
known instances of acquittal.

A telegraphic despatch received yesterday by the Go-
verment announces that Don Carlos left Donna Maria for
Elisondo on the 22d inst.

The Gazette de France has the following :—" An action
ook place on the 15th inst. at Gulina, between Zumalacar-
reguy and the division of the Christino General Figuera,
consisting of 4,000 men. After the first volley, the Navar-
rese rushed with the bayonet with incredible fury upon the
enemy, whom they completely routed. The latter retired
towards Pampeluna, and were pursued by the cavalry of
Navarre, who made great slaughter among them. At Or-
baiceta, a capture has been made of 500 muskets, belong-
ing to the Christinos."
We have received Madrid papers to the Ifith instant.
These papers discuss M. de Toreno's finance scheme, and
some of them disapprove the part relative to the loan of
400,000,000 of rials. The Abeja, of the 15th, publishes
on this subject an article of considerable length, but hesitates
to enter into an examination of the plan as to the reduction of
the debt, and the figures upon which it is grounded, seeing
that to have a correct opinion on this subject, the budget pre-
pared for 1835 must be known, as this will show what retrench-
ments are to be effected in the expenditure of the state,
and what resources may be reckoned upon to meet that
expenditure. But, even now, this journal. considers that
the loan of 400,000,000 of rials may be easily reduced to
one-fourth of that sum, and the followinc, are the grounds
upon which that opinion is founded the debt of the
state is to be liquidated, there will be no interest paid until
the old certificates are converted into these newly created,
at least in part. As the bill demands 18 months for this
operation it is clear that during the rest of the present
year, and the first half-year of 1835, there will not be a
single maravedi to pay for the foreign debts, except those
which concern England, France, and the United States,
regulated by treaties. Thus the 67,263,073 rials which
would be to pay on the Ist January, 1835, must be re-
duced to 9,500,000 rials for the English and French debts ;
and the 37,763,073 rials belonging to the debt in liquidation
must be deducted from the deficit of 1834. There may
also be deducted the half of the 30,000,000 due to the navy,
the payment of which may be deferred for a year, without
the fleet being in a worse state than •in time past. The
payment of the 51,798,755 rials of arrears of budgets, and
the debt resulting from operations of credit of the Treasury
from 1829 to 1833, may likewise be deferred. Again, from
the deficit may be deducted the 60,000,000 of rials that
Ardoin's house advanced to reimburse the advance made by
M. Rothschild for the payment of the July dividends, be-
cause this advance, even augmented by 40,000,000, is
covered by a special fund. When the Constitutional Go-
vernment was overthrown in 1823, there existed in the
lianas of Ardoin's house more than 200,000,000, in Cortes
bonds belonging to the Spanish Government. These cer-
tificates were claimed by the Ambassador of Ferdinand
VII., who was unable to obtain them, for the reason that
there was a previous account to settle between Ardoin's
house and the Spanish Government. "We believe we may
state," adds the Abeja, " that for a guarantee of the
100,000,000 that this house engaged to advance, it de-
manded nothing but to keep these bonds, whence we infer
that their real value is not below 100,000,000 of rials."
All these deductions being made upon the deficit of
323,000,000 of rials, as calculated by M. de Toren°, this
deficit may be reduced to 100,000,000, and consequently,
according to this Journal, there is no reason to carry the
loan to a higher amount, which would thus be reduced by
three quarters.

THOMAS WEEDING, Chairman.
City of London Tavern, August 21. 1834.
It was then Resolved—That the thanks of this Meeting be given
to Thomas Weeding, Esq., the Chairman, for his intelligent and
zealous exertions generally on behalf of the Bondholders, and for
his able conduct in the chair this day.
It was also Resolved—That the Chairman communicate to the
Right Hon. Viscount Palmerston the thanks of this Meeting for
the assistance which he has readily afforded, and the courteous re-
ception which he has always given to the Deputations of the Bond-
holders.

Just ready, in 2 vols. post Bvo.,
FR A N • C I
SOCIAL, LITERARY, and POLITICAL.
By HENRY L. BULWER, Esq., M.P.
Richard Bentley, 8, New Burlington-street.
Agents for Scotland, Messrs. Bell and Bradfute, Edinburgh
for Ireland, Mr. John Cumming, Dublin.

MR. BULWER'S NEW WORK.
Just ready, in 3 vols. post Bvo.,
THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEI]
By the Author of " Pelham,"
" Eugene Aram," " England and the English," &c.
Richard Bentley, 8, New Burlington-street.
Agents for Scotland, Messrs. Bell and Bradfute, Edinburgh
for Ireland, Mr. John Cumming, Dublin.
E

SECOND EDITION, revised and corrected, 3 vols. post Bvo.,
A RKOMANCE. 0
D 0 0

" This story never flags."—Quarte;lTßeview, June, 1834.
" Possesses great variety of talent."--Literary Gazette.
" Exhibits great power and strong interest."—Morning Post.
" Will be extensively read and admired."—Courier.
" Will interest and amuse readers of every class."—New Sport.
ing Magazine.
" A thorough romance. "—Athenaeum.
"-gal of life and fire."—New Monthly.
" Will have a run in the true Turpin style."—Frazer's Mag.
Richard Bentley, No. 8, New Burlington-street.

ROYAL AND NOBLE RESIDENCES.LSION HOUSE.
THE COURT JOURNAL of SATURDAY
NEXT, August 30, will contain a full, Historical, and De-
criptive Account of Sion House, Isleworth, the celebrated Mansion
of his Grace the Duke of Northumberland, with particulars
relating to the

NEW CONSERVATORY;
Scenes in India ; the King's Palace ; with all the Fashionable,
Literary, and Theatrical News of the Week—This fashionable
Journal may be ordered of all Booksellers in the country, and is
regularly supplied by the London News Agents, postage free.
Published for Henry Colburn, by W. Thomas, at the Office,
19, Catherine-street, Strand.
Mr. CONNEL'S SERIES of POPULAR ELEMENTARY
WORKS on the ENGLISH LANGUAGE.
L ASET of EIGHT ORTHOGRAPHICAL
and ORTHOEPICAL SHEETS, printed to hang up
in Schools and Nurseries—Price 4d. each ; and an ALPHABE-
TICAL CARD, or HORNBOOK, for Infants—Price 2d.
2. FIRST and SECOND LESSONS in READING.
Printed witka bold type on fine and stout paper, and neatly and
strongly- done up. 2d. and 3d. each respectively.
3. The YOUNG SCHOLAR'S ASSISTANT. Seventh
Edition. Stereotyped and firmly bound.—Price Is.
4. The YOUNG SCHOLAR'S COMPANION ; or, a Selec-
tion of Reading Lessons ; being a Sequel to " The Young Scholar's
Assistant." Fifth Edition, stereotyped and firmly bound. ls. 6d.
The Elementary Works of Mr. Connel have been reviewed with
extraordinary and unanimous approbation, by the chief Periodical
Works of the day. Extracts might be given from the Monthly
Review, the Christian Instructor, the Literary Gazette, &c. &c.,
but the following from the Theological Magazine may suffice as a
specimen :

We learn from Dresden, that on the morning of the 16th
inst., the Princess Amelia of Bavaria, consort of Prince
John of Saxony, nephew to the King, was safely delivered
of a Princess at the Castle of Pilnitz.

" In this new edition of the Young Scholar's Assistant, there are
many improvements deserving of particular notice, and which we
have no doubt, will readily recommend themselves to the approba-
tion of those interested in appreciating them. These, for the most
part, arise out of a salutary extension of the principle on which this
excellent manual was originally compiled ; in some cases they are
the result of a slight modification of this principle, the necessity of
which seems to have been obviously suggested by experience.
Simplicity and methodical arrangement,' indeed, as the author
himself states, are the chief characteristics of this little work."
5. IMPROVED SYSTEM of ENGLISH GRAMMAR ;
with Copious Exercises and Explanatory Observations, adapted
alike to the use of Schools and to the purpose of Private Tuition.
Second Edition. Price Is. 6d. firmly bound.
" A valuable addition to the literature of our elementary schools.
The simplicity of the rules, the number and variety of the exercises,
and the excellence of the general arrangement, entitle the work to
this praise.—Edinburgh Literary Journal.
" As good a little compendium as is to be met with, and having
copious exercises."— Spectator.
" For those who think Murray's Grammar too complex or too
dry, Mr. Conners is a very good substitute. The parts are sim-
plified with care, and the book is in a small cheap form."—Athenaeum.
Glasgow : Andrew Rutherglen and Co. (successors to Atkinson
and Co. ); Simpkin and Marshall, and Whittaker and Co., Lon-
don ; Oliver and Boyd, and Stirling and Kenney, Edinburgh.

A letter of the 21st inst., from Geneva says—" We were
alarmed yesterday by a report that the Asiatic cholera had
made its appearance within three leagues of the town, in
the communes of Clancy and Soral, contiguous to the
frontier of Savoy. An epidemic disease has been evidently
prevailing in these rural districts for some time, but the
faculty have been very cautious in giving it a name ; the
symptoms, however, which have now become generally
known, leave no longer any doubt as to its nature.'

FRENCH FUNDS.—Pears, Ava. 20.
nye per Cents., !WE 15c. 10c. c.
Four and a Half per ents., 99f. 60c. 1C0f:
Four per Cents., 93f. —c.
Three per Cents. 7 f. 2 c. se. 15c.
flank Actions, 1,770 f. 1,760 E
Rente de Naples, 92f. 70c. 73c.
Roman Five per Cents., 95.
Rente d'Espagne, Five per Cents , 33 31 3314.
Ilente d'Espagne, Three per Cents., 27 26 ON.
nova' svainsh Loan, 26 2614
Bente Perpet. d'Esi ape. Five per Cents , 36 35 3514.
Belgian Loan, Five per Cents, 99.
Haytian Loan, 267 f. 50c.
EXCIJANGE ON LONDON.
(;tie month, paper, 25f. 27 tc. ; money, 25! 27 ee..
j hrce months, paper, 25f. 45c. ; money, 25f. 15c.
• o..rs Authentique.

In the case where that arose the prosecutor was inculpated
upon his own showing ?—He was on examination, viva voce,
a good deal discredited ; on affidavit he had it all his own way,
but he had it not all his own way when he came to be examined
viva voce.
There was a difference in favour of the prosecutor as to
granting the rule ; as far as the affidavits went, the want of
cross-examination was favourable to the prosecutor 2—Cer-
tainly.

ABSENCE OF MIND.---I have rarely heard a more
curious instance of the absence of mind produced by poetic
enthusiasm than that which occurred when the author of
Leonidas made one of a party of literati assembled at the house
of Mr. Gilbert West, at Wickam. Lord Littleton, on open-
his window one morning, perceived Glover pacing to and fro
with a whip in his hand, by the side of a fine bed of tupils just
ready to blow, and which were the peculiar care of the lady of
the mansion, who worshipped Flora with as much ardour as
Glover did the muses. His mind was at that instant teeming
with the birth of some little ballad, when Lord Littleton, to
his astonishment and dismay, perceived him applying his whip
with great vehemence to the stalks' of the unfortunate tulips,
all of which, before there was time to awaken him from his
reverie, he had completely levelled to the ground; and when
the devastation he had committed was afterwards pointed out
to him, he was so perfectly unconscious of the proceeding that
he could with difficulty be made to believe it.-3femoirs of
Hanizah More.

TRADE OF TIIE WEST RIDING.—More business
was done in Halifax market last Saturday than on the two pre-
ceding market days; but still nothing to boast of, or to justify
an expectation that this manufacturing district is in a healthy
state. At Huddersfield, on Tuesday there was a considerable
quantity of business done in the cloth market; but not so
much in ancy goods. The business at the Leeds Cloth Halls
on Saturday and Tuesday, has been as good as we have had
for some time. The stock at the White Hall is getting very
low, and more business would have been done had the supply
of goods been more plentiful. The business in the mills is
also brisk at present, and there is rather an advance in the
prices. At Bradford so little business has been doing during
the week in the wool market, that prices are in a great mea-
sure nominal, as usual in a dull trade. Reductions are sub-
mitted to by some, but we believe that holders as yet evince a
general disposition to remain tolerably firm ; on the other
hand, consumers keep their stocks as light as possible, and
appear determined to buy lower or stand.— YorkiltireGazette.

Is not the great expense of a criminal information always
most harsh upon the defendant ?--I confess I do not feel that
much. If a person chooses to publish libels on another's
character, he is not deserving of very great favour.
Your Lordship would not allow the prosecutor to assess a
fine upon him by putting him to this great additional expense?
—lt is the law and the course of the Court that assesses the
fine upon him. The prosecutor does not award the amount
of the expense ; he chooses that course rather than the other,
but the expense is not a great deal larger than in the action,
considering- that in the action there are costs. Taking it a't),
gether, it is favourable to the defendant, for this reason, that
it produces a communication between the parties, and terms
are suggested or imposed by the Court. The defendant is
better off in point of expense, generally speaking. It fro-

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is not a libel ;
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the peace.
." • i.'.471,1) ' T:
Th

re information filed against him was an information also
for a libel ; the two things were lumped together ? Two of-
fences may be united in one letter. I should say I have not
seen this in practice weigh too bard upon the defendant.
Surely, a challenge to a person to fight is a very great offence.
The Court of King's Bench would never have granted that
rule, and he was ill-advised if he did not at once resist it ; if
there had been a provocation to send a challenge, for instance,
if any scurrilous expressions had been used, such as scoundrel,
liar, and so on, the Court would not have granted the informa-
tion, but have left him to his indictment, and ho would have
had his costs to pay ; but the case put is that of about the
greatest offence a man can commit,—the sending a challenge
without justification. The case I apprehend is, that the per-
son who sent the challenge was the beginner of the fray, or
the Court thought so. If the Court decided according _to
law, the man must have been the challenger who gave the
offence, and if so, I should ask, can a much graver offence
be committed than to seek a man's valuable life, by setting
your own worthless life against it,after having defamed him ?
Has your Lordship known a case in which the prosecutor
swore positively that he was not guilty of the chargc ed
in the libel, and where the publisher swore with -
tiveness that the prosecutor was guilty, and the Court in that
case sent the matter to trial ?—The principle of the Court has
sometimes been held to be, that it should make the rule absolute
on showing cause, if the prosecutor shall have completely
purged himself, by positively denying, without equivocation,
the charge made by the libel, and that nothing is sworn on the
other side which palliated or justified the charge ; but I think
the sounder doctrine is, that if the Court think it remains
doubtful, they will send the case to trial ; but if they think
that the prosecutor has sworn falsely, and believe the defendant,
they discharge the rule. They have adopted this course of
late years—sometimes they discharge it with costs against the
party prevailing ; they discharge the rule at the defendant's
costs, because they say there is not enough of merits in the
prosecutor to send the defendant to trial, and yet there is
quite enough of demerit in the defendant to make him pay
the costs. I never knew a party grumble at paying those
costs ; they always found it much better than an action. I
hold an action, as now framed, a very unsatisfactory mode of
reparation.
Dees not your Lordship conceive this additional inconve-
nience would follow in the case referred to, that the libel
being undoubtedly published, and the prosecutor not attending
himself, which he need not do at the trial, but only proving the
publication, and the advantage of cross-examination being lost
in the case, that the defendant, who has sworn to the truth of
the libel, may be convicted, because he cannot give the truth
in evidence ?—The only discussion of the truth or falsehood is
in the Court of King's Bench, before the rule is made abso-
lute, for the moment the information is granted, the truth of
the matter is no longer issuable ; and though there were at
one time conflicting decisions, it is now settled that the Court
will not, in the case of a criminal information, allow a subse-
quent affidavit to the truth or falsehood on Eringing up for
judgment. This was tried in the case of " Rex v. Finnerty,"
1811, and it was in that and in other cases so establsshed as to
be now a fixed rule ; but in case of indictment, contrary to the
opinion held by msnv, the Court have lately allowed affidavits
of the truth, on the defendant being brought up for judgment.
Your Lordship is aware that all the circumstances relative
to the publication of a libel can be given in evidence ?
All the collateral circumstances, everything relating to it
except the truth, and I hold that to be the greatest absurdity
in the whole libel law, or in almost any branch of the law.
For whereas the utmost which can be said against making the
truth evidence is, that it is not in all cases a decisive test,
yet if it is only an unilateral test--that is, if in all cases a
proof of falsehood must show the malus animus, and that
the party must consequently be convicted upon publication
being proved—surely it is no reason for excluding so material
a circumstance from the knowledge of the court and jury,
although it be true that in some cases a proof of the truth
would not be decisive of the innocence of the defendant. I
am quite char the truth ought not to be made decisive either
in civil or criminal proceedings; for cases may be put where
the truth, instead of being a justification, would not even be
any mitigation, nay, where it would be an aggravation.
I will suppose the case of a woman, who, in early life,
when a girl of 16 or 17, in Cornwall, had a bastard child : she
then is reclaimed, and becomes a respectable person, removes
to another part of the country, and when she is the mother of
a family, to make the case stronger, some man with whom sho
has refused to lie shall then say—" If you do not, I will pub-
lish your shame, by letting that be known which happened
in Cornwall ;" and he then publishes in Northumberland that
she once had a bastard child. Everybody who heazs this case
put, and it is not at all an impossible one, must be awe that
the truth, to every well-regulated mind, so far from being a'seiti-
gation, would be a very great aggravation ; yet, as the law stand's,
she could not obtain a criminal information, because she could
not negative the charge, and she could not proceed in an ac-
tion of damages, because the truth might be pleaded and
proved. My opinion has always been, that the truth ought to
be capable of being given in evidence under the general issue,
with a specific notice to confine the defendant to certain points,
and to give the plaintiff or prosecutor full notice of what he
must be prepared to meet. As the pleaders say of set off,
that it should be almost as certain as a declaration, so this
notice should be almost as certain as a plea of justification.
Were this change made, I should say that the law of libel
would be put on an infinitely better and more rational footing
than it now stands on. I would therefore in no case, and in
no form of proceeding, civil or criminal, have the proof of the
truth be conclusive, but only competent evidence, with notice;
then the Court would judge whether it amounted to a justifi-
cation, or a mitigation, or an aggravation, or was neutral.
Falsehood, in almost every case that can be conceived, would
be decisive of guilt ; the truth might be decisive of innocence,.
or it might not.
Does not your Lordship consider it an objection to a crimi-
nal information that the party is obliged to swear to the false-
hood of the charge ?—So far from it, in this consists the very
perfection I ascribe to criminal information. It is only be-
cause the truth is a necessary condition precedent to obtaining
the rule and to making it absolute, that this proceeding vin-
dicates character. It is from the circumstance of the person
defamed being obliged to purge himself on oath that a crimi-
nal information becomes a reparation to his injured character
and a solace to his wounded feelings. Were he able to obtain
the rule and make it absolute, without denying the truth, it
would cease to be any reparation at all ; it would be as bad
as the remedy by indictment.
Those who do not apply for a criminal information may be
supposed to refrain from doing so because they must admit the
truth of the charge ?—Undoubtedly ; and if those who do ap-
ply receive the slightest benefit from that vindication, those
who do not apply must be subject to that consequence. It
would be no test of a man's innocence if this were not so.
The inconveniencies of the present system would, in your
Lordship's opinion, be in a great degree obviated by allowing
the truth to be given in evidence under the general issue ?
Very much. My opinion is, that if they were allowed, one of
the distinguishing excellencies of criminal information would
no longer belong to it ; and the same benefit would be ob-
tained by an indictment which you now have by an action—it
would defy the slanderer to prove his charge ' • but then the
proceeding by criminal information would still have the other
great advantage which I before explained—it would still be
the only mode by which, where the offence is known to the
guilty parties alone, they could absolve themselves upon oath.
Indictment for libel is now subject to both objections ; the
change would remove one of them. At present a man who
indicts for libel is taken to admit the truth ; and I was once
counsel at Guildhall with Sir James Scarlett, shortly before I
quitted the bar, where a very respectable merchant, not being
able to bring an action or to clear himself on oath, indicted a
person for charging him wit's smptoxing ia trade the -fortunes--
of wards corrimitted to his care,:fs4guarflio. ,We echsikttia
the person; "because' he could glv,_the truth in evidence ;
but I do not think we ever4retight
ithien up,,for
cause the fact ,of the p'rosecuto'r' hiving for time nustpe-1ie4,1
the trust fund, though he had afterwards restored fidly an 4
with interest, could not,have been denied. •,

What is your Lordship's. opinion. upon stamps
papers, with reference to libel law ?,----/gyarinion is deOdedly
against stamps on newspapers; but.'that is a verk large, and
important subject ; I consider it intimateV'cane6ted
subject of libel. The worst libels are, geneigly'Speatitik:
not in books and pamphlets, but in newspapers, and I consider •
that the stamps on newspapers are one very gr,mt cause of the
worst of libellous publications, both public and private.