The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-30 00:00:00

SHERIFFS' COURT.-(THIS DAY.)

This was originally an action brought by Mr. Mears, the
eminent bell-founder, of -Whitechapel, against Mr. Edmund
Birkett Denison, Q.C., to recover damages for a libel. The
plaintiff was the founder of the present bell which hangs
in the tower in Palace-yard, but which has, for some time
past, ceased to be of use in consequence of its being cracked,
and Mr. Denison was one of the gentlemen appointed to
judge of and decide upon the merits of the bell before it was
hung.

In order to make the matter clear, it may be stated that,
on Saturday, the Ist of October last, the bolt sounded for
the last time, and that while in the act of striking, Big Ben
became dumb for ever. It was soon afterwards discovered
that it was undeniably cracked. On the sth of October
Mr. Denison wrote a letter to the Times, which appeared
in that journal on the 7th of ()deer last, and this letter
constitutes the alleged libel. In the course of the letter
Mr. Denison said that a week previously he should have
joined with the editor in praising Mr. Mears' bell, and then
went on to say—" It certainly suited to my pattern, and
the weight, size, and tone were exactly what had been re-
quired, and everybody believed it to be a magnificent cast-
ing, everybody, that is, except certain persons at White-
chapel, who knew a very different secret. Last week, how-
ever, Mr. Dent's men found out, and I was immediately in-
formed, and sent the representation to the Board of Works,
that this magnificent casting was, like many other things, a
magnificent imposture, for that there is a place in the bell, on
the soundbow, but far from where either clapper or
hammer ever struck (and this is probably not by accident)
full of holes, some a quarter of an inch wide and more,
and others smaller, of depths not certain yet, but some
probed down nearly half an inch ; and, in short, every ex-
ternal indication of a perfectly unsound casting, and that
from two or three holes cracks were visible nearly a foot
long, and of depth unknown yet, but with some in-
dications of still wider holes within them. But how
did Mr. Taylor and I come to certify such a
bell as sound ? And how did such unsoundness
as this elude the observation of the indefatigable clerk of
works (Mr. Quarm), who examines all the castings that
come to the Palace, and of Sir C. Barry's engineer(Mr. jabez
James), and of the hundreds of people of all classes who
came to see and hear the bell ? For a very good reason,
because the holes were all as carefully stuffed as a bad tooth
by a dentist with some mineral succedaneum,' of which a
piece has been sent to me, and which can be shown to you
at Mr. Dent's, or on the bell itself ; and to make all still
safer, the bell was washed over with some colouring stuff
which the atmosphere has now removed. Some persons
noticed this colouring as suspicious at the time, but
still, with the suspicion to help them, nobody could
find anything wrong. It is certainly strange that
the unsoundness should not have betrayed itself in
the tone of the bell to many better ears than mine, which
carefully listened to it, and that the bell should have been
considered by so many good judges as you say, ',the finest
ever cast in England.' But so it is, and the disease was
not less mortal, and not less congenital because nobody
at Westminster found it out until it was at the point of
death. . . The contract was given to one of our eminent
bell founders, who has passed his life and made a fortune
in the manufacture of bells, and he was told what was
wanted, and was made responsible for its being:forthcoming.
We see what has come forth for all that ; how far his re-
aponsibility may extend is a matter for other people to
settle with him and not for me to discuss here."

I (In consequence of the publication of this letter, of which
the above are the more salient portions, Mr. Mears com-
menced an action for libel against Mr. Denison. The cause
was entered for trial for the sittings after Michaelmas Term
in London, and would have been tried by Lord Chief Justice
Cockburn and a special jury. Mr. Denison had pleaded a
justification to the libel with which he was charged. Be-
fore the time for hearing, however, the cause was with-
drawn, Mr. Denison having abandoned his defence. The
plaintiff took, therefore, a judgment by default, and the only
matter remaining to be determined was the amount of da-
mages which had, according to the usual course, to be as-
sessed In the Sheriffs' Court.

The proceedings commenced this morning, and for the
convenience of all parties, were held in the Court of Com-
mon Pleas, before Mr. Secondary Potter: and a jury of
merchants and gentlemen specially empanelled.

Mr. Bevil', Q.C., and Mr. Coleridge appeared for the
plaintiff; and Mr. Knowles, Q.C., Mr. Grove, Q.C., and
Mr. Garth appeared for the defendant, Mr. Denison, Q.C.,
who occupied a seat with his legal representatives.
Mr. Bovill, in opening the proceedings, said the jury was
summoned to inquire into damages sustained by Mr.
Mears by a libel upon him which Mr. Denison, the defen-
dant, had published against him. The learned gentleman
having explained to the jury the agreement of both parties,
that an assessor, not a Queen's counsel, should be selected
to act as judge, /at great length detailed the whole of the
facts relating to the contract for, the quality of metal, the
casting, &c., of the bell. Ho then proceeded to notice the
libel as published by Mr. Denison on the plaintiff, which
had done him immense mischief, as he had denounced him
as unskilful in his trade, and of having sent down the great
bell unsound, well knowing it to be so. The correspondence,
with which the public is very familiar, having been noticed,
the learned gentleman said that the last letter of Mr. Deni-
son, which he (Mr. Bevil') called a half-and-half apology,
had been published by the defendant wholly and solely for
the purpose of reducing the amount of damages, and not
for removing the stigma he had cast upon the character of
Mr. Mears. The learned gentleman havinc read and com-
mented on the letter written by Mr. Denison and published
in the Tio.es on the 7th of October, which contained the
alleged libel, said under all the circumstances Mr. Mears
had no alternative but to come to a jury for damages.
Mr. Knowles, Q.C., suggested that no special damage
had been sustained. Mr. Denison admitted his mistake,
and as Mr. Mears did not require money, he thought the
case might be stopped by mutual consent.
This suggestion was after a consultation agreed to, Mr.
Denison retracting all he had said in disparagement of Mr.
Mears and paying the costs.