The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-26 00:00:00

The libels of which the plaintiff complained were contained
in certain paragraphs, which, about the end of last year, ap-
peared in the' Worcester Herald, a journal enjoying an exten-
sive circulation not only in the county of Worcester, but in
the adjoining counties of Hereford and. Gloucester; and the
charge which they conveyed was so startling in itself, and of
so unusual a kind, that the paragiaphs immediately found
their way into the London journal., and thence were copied
by nearly all the provincial papers in the kingdom. On the ,
2d of December, 1843, the following appeared in the Wor-
cester Herald, headed " Extraordinary Conduct to Horses"
" We have much hesitated before making public the fol-
lowing statement, really doubting whether our readers; from'
the almost incredible and revolting facts it discloses, would
not conclude we were romancing, and saying the thing that
is not. However, we can only preface such statement by
observing, that in giving it we put forth the truth as related
to us, and from the quarter from which we have derived it,
as we have reason to believe, ' the whole truth and nothing
but the truth.' For reasons unnecessary to enter upon, we
do not at present disclose the name of the party implicated '
in our recital, but we shall wait to see whether, when he
shall thus discover that his cruel and insensate conduct is
known, it has the effect of rousing in him a sense of its in-
famy and shame, and thereby induce him at once to alter it ;
and if this should prove to be otherwise, we warn him that '
his name shall be made public, and in a way, Wei that,
without the possibility of mistake, shall bring down upon
him that full measure of reprobation and scorn he so justly
merits. And now to our narrative without further remark.
It was some five and a quarter years since that the indivi-
dual to whom we allude was riding a spirited young mare
by whom he was thrown; he escaped unhurt by the fall,
but, incensed by the circumstance, he immediately ex-
claimed to the poor animal, D—n you, madam, I'll make
you suffer for this; I'll put you in solitary confinement for
seven years.' These were the words actually used by him,
as reported by a party who was in his company at the• time,
and his threat he has literally carried into execution to the
extent of five years and a quarter, and for the greater per-
tion of that period in a manner, toe, distinguished by the
most refined brutality. A three-stalled stable was_ selected
for the solitary cell of the hapless creature, the
two other stalls were occupied by horses, ' but the
back of that allotted to her was enclosed by board- ;
ing so placed that she could not turn round at.
all, nor lie down but by the most painful effort and
the excoriation of her sides in the most, horrid manner. This
,treatment ;lie suffered for more than three years, until at
fagth she effected some initigatien of her misery by kicking
down the boarding at the back of her stall. It would seem
that after this the abuser of the poor creature did so far
relent in his feelings of vengeance towards her as not to re-
commit her to her Procrustean bed, but no further; finding
she had liberated herself from this, he perseveres in his sen-
tence of " solitary confinement," and removes the other two
horses from the stable, thus giving her the entire range of
the building, in which to complete the remaining portion of
her doom. But we have not yet related, the full iniquity of
this most wicked proceeding. The sole food of the wretched
animal through winter and summer, from the commencement
of her incarceration to the present time, has been a scanty
portion of grass cut by her persecutor himself from a neigh-
bouring pasture, added to about. half a bolting of straw for her
bed ; thadatter, however, we are told the poor animal first
eagerly devours in preference to the cold and raw grass, so
that not a shred of it is visible in the morning; and we are
further told also that about a twelvemonth since a lad,' in the
employ of this inhuman man, commiserating the situation
of the mare, contrived one evening to make a trifling addition
to her miserable modicum of food, and for which he was
visited with instant dismissal. 'We have this relation from
ethose who have by stealth recently seen the doomed crea-
ture in her captivity, and they describe her appearance as
most deplorable, and al; in to that of the caged beasts in a
menagerie, keeping constantly pacing round her narrow
prison-house like a demented creature, and bearing a numb
expression of suffering capable of melting every heart but
that of her cruel tormentor. 'We are further informed that a
pony has been punished by this person, for some unknown
reason, by the same species of infernal cruelty for the last
tWo years."
Upon the appearance of this paragraph, although public
Curiosity was much excited on the subject, no one but those
who were in the secret could know that the plaintiff was the
psrson who was aimed at., no name or locality, which would
afford a clue to the individual, having been mentioned ; but
the National Animals' Friend Society having sent down one
of their officers, Mr. Yewens, to investigate the matter, Mr_
Yewens called, on the 13th of December, upon Mr. Chalk,
one of the defendants, and requested him to say where the
party in question lived, in order that he might sift the cir-
cumstances of the case. By Mr. Chalk the officer was re-
ferred to Colonel Blind, a magistrate of the county ; but as
Mr. Yewens did not find that gentleman at home, he pro-
ceeded to the residence of the plaintiff, where he asked to see
and was shown the mare alleged to have been treated with
eo much barbarity. The plaintiff, who is of retired habits,
and 65 years of age, called to his servants to fetch the mare out,
put a bridle on her, and ride her ; and upon his return to Worces-
ter, Mr. Yewens stated to Mr. Chalk that the mare had not
been ill-treated, as reported; that she was in good working
condition ; that the account of the place in which she was
confined was not correct, as it was six feet wide, and 14 feet

long; and that when he saw her, there was straw under her,
and a whole heap Of stable litter in the yard. Trusting,
however, it would seem, More to the accuracy of their
original informant than to the testimony of an eye-witness
like Mr. Yewens, the defendants on the 16th of December
published the following article in their journal:—
" THE CRUELTY TO HORSES CASE.—The public will be
pleased to learn that the poor animals, viz., the mare and
pony, the subjects of the shocking cruelty denounced in
former Heralds, have been restored to freedom, or rather to
the usual condition of their species. Mr. Yewens, the officer
of the National Animals' Friend Society, has been engaged in
investigating the matter, and we believe that it has been
found that no prosecution can now take place, from the cir-
cumstance of the Act of Parliament requiring all informations
to be laid within 14 days from the date of alleged offences.
We hare been informed that an individual who assumes that
he himself is the party against whose cruelty our remarks on
this subject were written, threatens to bring an action against
us for injury alleged to have been done to his character—we
suppose the exposure in our columns. We pretend not to
say how the chances might go as to a verdict in such an
action, but it is due to ourselves to state, that we publish the
case on the authority of no mere vague rumour, but from un-
questionable information; and that our only object was the
rescue of two poor animals from a state of misery most har-
rowing to every one possessing the feelings of humanity.
Certainly he who could be guilty of the inhuman conduct that
we exposed did not deserve to have his feelings in any way
consulted ; but even in our exposure of his cruelty we had no
vindictive intention towards him, and we expressly stated
that we withheld his name in the hope that a tardy sense of
shame would lead him to abate his infamous treatment of the
suffering animals. That object has been attained, and now
our task is done; but it would be a most foul disgrace to the
law of England, or of any civilised nation, were it possible for
law, in the circumstances that we have described, to be made
the instrument of silencing an honest journal—is such a case
the liberty of the press would be but an empty name. At all
events, we have no fear of not standing justified by the world
at large as having done our duty, and done no more than was
most clearly justifiable on the grounds of common humanity
and public policy."
Notwithstanding the appearance of this paragraph, the
plaintiff took no steps against the Worcester Herald, as his
name was not mentioned, and in the following week, Dec. 23,
a report was published in that journal of a meeting at Glou-
cester of " The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals," presided over `by the Lord Bishop of the dio-
cese, and furnished by their own reporter. The report gave
an outline of the speech of a Mr. Thomas, the Secretary of
the Society, in which, after some introductory observations,
he alluded to the case of cruelty to a mare which had been
reported in the Worcester Herald. He then went on to say—
" Last week I went to Barnard's-green, near Great Malvern,
and there I ascertained that the person's name was Bellers,
and that he lived on some property of his own. I had an
interview with him, and induced Lim to show me where the
animal was confined. Certainly, my impression is, that
Bellers is not an accountable agent, and that is the most
charitable construction I can put on his conduct. He ad-
mitted the facts—nay, pointed out to me the very place
where he had confined the poor mare, and told me that he
removed her from one part to another, because she had
nearly hung herself. I ascertained also the name of an in-
dividual who was in the service of this man during part of
the time the cruelty was practised. I found him out, and I
have in my possession a statement in writing, signed by the
lad who was in his service up to a recent period (Michael-
mas, 1842, as we understood). He there states that the ani-
mal was fed on grass and hay, and in such proportions as
were not sufficient to keep life within the poor creature. A
small quantity of straw was laid down as a bed, but it was
uniformly all eaten up. The lad states that he left the ser-
vice because he was ashamed at being connected with such
cruelty. Unfortunately, through a defect in the Act of Par-
liament, we are not aide to bring the perpetrator of this act
of cruelty to justice; but I have prepared a report of the
case, and given his name and address, and forwarded it to
the Morning Herald, and, by means of its publication, the
man will deservedly meet with punishment in the public re-
probation which his conduct merits."
Upon receiving information of the appearance of this re-
port, the plaintiff, thus specially pointed out by his name
and residence, determined upon bringing an action against
the defendants, and a writ was issued on the 27th January.
Some negotiations then took place, and an apology was pro-
posed by the defendants; but the terms in which it was
couched not being considered satisfactory by the plaintiff's
advisers, the proceedings went on, and upon the sth March
two pleas were delivered, one of which justified the publica-
tion of the libels in question, upon the ground that the ma-
terial parts of the statements contained therein were true in
fact. That plea, however, only remained on the record six
days, as upon the 11th of March it was withdrawn, and no-
tice thereof sent to the plaintiff.
Mr. Sergeant TALFOURD addressed the jury for the defend..
ants, observing that his instructions did not require him to
say or insinuate one word against the character of the plain-
tiff, and if it was not his object to make money at the de-
fendants' expense, but really and truly to challenge them to
the proof of the imputations which had been cast upon his
conduct, he would have ample reason to be satisfied with the
result of that day's trial if the jury should only award him
moderate damages. He (Mr. Sergeant Talfourd) wag free
to admit, on the behalf of the defendants, that believing
the facts to be such as had been represented to them at the
time of the insertion of the articles, they were satisfied, now
that the case had been thoroughly sifted, that they had been
misinformed. The first paragraph had been inserted with
the bona fide object of releasing the animal, whose fate had
excited the sympathy of the defendants, from the durance in
which she had been kept; and he submitted that when they
found Mr. Thomas saying that he himself had called upon
the plaintiff, and that the account which had originally ap-
peared in their paper was true, they were morally, though
perhaps not legally, justified in inserting the report of the
meeting at Gloucester. The Learned Sergeant concluded a
long speech by calling upon the jury not to make the de-
fendants pay what it would neither be honourable nor credit-
able for Mr. Bellers to receive.

Mr. Baron PARKE having summed up, the jury retired, and
after an hour's absence returned into Court, giving their var.
diet for the plaintiff, with 1501. damages.
This was the last cause that remained to be tried, and upon
its termination Mr. Baron Parke proceeded to try prisoners.
Both of the Learned Judges will be occupied till a late hour,
_
and Mr. Sergeant Talfourd is gone forward to Monmouth
with the intention of opening the Commission there, if one o f
the Judges should not arrive to do so in person by ten o'clock.

•
We have it from undoubted authority that an ex-
tensive retirement amongst the Commandants, Field Officers,
and Captains of the Royal Marines has been determined upon;
which will give about thirty steps to the junior branches of
hat distinguished service.—Naval and Military Gazette.