The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-12 00:00:00

THE M'KENNA LIBEL CASE.

For several days the jury at the Cork Assizes have been
engaged in trying the case of Sir Joseph iNPlCenna, BLP.,
v. Thomas Masters Usborne. Damages were laid at
£20,000. The alleged libel occurs in a letter written
by Mr. Usborne, a holder of six hundred shares in the
National Bank, of which Sir Joseph BPKenna is
manager. Mr. Usborne wrote to the board of directors of
the bank in these terms of the plaintiff, in July 1867:—
"The name of Mr. APRlenna, our managing director, still
appears as director in many schemes far more disreputable
(Mr. Usborne had been before making a reference to the
Dublin Trunk Railway)—viz., Peruvian Railway, Mar-
seilles Land Company, Lundy Granite, and other com-
panies, the shares of which are at a heavy discount, this
fact tending to depress our shares almost to a famine
price. The shareholders and depositors have recently
spoken out their disapprobation upon these connec-
tions, so disastrous to the success of the bank, and
knowing th.et if the directors desire to regain the loyalty
of shareholders and customers, confidence can only be
restored by a prompt correction of these errors. Favour
me by informing me if the directors propose to take action
to satisfy the minds of anxious shareholders on this
particular subject.—Your obedient servant, THOMAS M.
USBORNE." It was pleaded that this was a privileged
communication. For the plaintiff it was represented
that the letter was not written honestly, or to improve
the position of the bank, ( r without malice. It was
stated by counsel for Sir Joseph M Kenna, that Mr.
Usborne was animate 1 by personal hatred to him, which
he had avowed in other 1 otters ; and that this had arisen
from his having refused Mr. Usborne's proposition soon
after the commercial panic, that "the value of the bank
shares, in a falling market, should be sustained secretly by
means of the money in the bank "—a proposition, it was
added, made for the purpo,,e of " securing to himself
(Usborne) a sum of money he had lent upon the faith of the
shares of the bank, and which, if it had been carried out,
would have rendered all those engaged in it liable to
answer for it at the criminal side of our courts, as for a
conspiracy." Mr. Usborne, it was further stated, said at
the time that if Sir Joseph 111`Kenna did not yield to the
proposition it would cost him his place. " Sir Jcseph
replied he did not care, but that he would not yield to a
proposition which, to put it on the lowest ground, might
bring disaster upon the institution." Counsel observed
also that the relations betweea Sir Joseph M`Kenna and
the several institutions mentioned in Mr. Usborne's letters
had involved the National Bank in no loss. After hearing
many witnesses, the judge summed up, and the jury fo•ind
for the defendant, with sixpence costs.

LAW AND POLICE,

~s---

DEFAMING A CHIEF CONSTABLE'S CHAItACTEIL—At the
Leeds Assizes, Mr. Granhan, the chief constable of Brad-
ford, brought an action against a Mr. Myers for defama-
tion. On the 11th of February the plaintiff, who seems
to have been much respected, returned from London
to Bradford, and was partaking of a glass of spirits
when an alarm of fire was raised, and Mr. Granhan at
once went to the scene of the conflagration. When there he
saw the defendant interfering a great deal, and told him
that he must not. On hearing this the defendant seemed
annoyed, and a few days after wrote a letter to the Watch
Committee, stating that the plaintiff was the worse for
liquor ; and this was the libel complained of. Mr. Granhan
and several witnesses del-fed the truth of Mr. Myers's
allegations; but, on being examined, that gentleman
stated that Mr. Granhan was " the worse for liquor,"
and in this he was in some measure borne out by witnesses.

—The jury, after two hours' deliberation, found for the
plaintiff, with 40s. damages, and appended to the verdict
that they believed the plaintiff was under the influence of

PROSELY7ISIIVG AGENTS IN ITALY.

The following letter has been addressed to
he Guardian :

SIR,—I read, some years ago, an essay by
Mr. Meyrick on the "Theory of Equivocation,"
and his letter to this week's Gelardian, is a

sufficient proof that he has mastered that theory

in all its bearings.
I said that the Anglo-Continental Society
was bringing discredit on the English Church
by connecting itself with men of bad character
in Italy. Mr. Meyrick replied that I " pro-
bably alluded " to a certain person who was
in the pay of the Anglo-Continental Society ;
and that with respect to him the charge of
immorality, which had been made against him,
was " baseless." And then, in order to dis-

credit my testimony, Mr. Meyrick quoted an
impudent libel upon " six or eight English
priests," with an oblique hint that I was one
of them. Mr. Meyrick made this quotation
from " a Neapolitan journal ;" but he did not
think it necessary to tell your readers that the
journal in question was in his own pay, and
had for its editor the very man whose character

was in dispute.
I met Mr. Meyrick's letter with a plain
statement of facts, and this he characterizes as

" totally untrue," and declares that I am " mis-
informed on every point regarding which I
profess to give information to your readers."

Letus see.

I said that the editor of the E►nancipatore
Cattoilea and President of the Society Einan-

cipatrice was " a renegade Dominican priest ;"
and as proof of that assertion I mentioned
that he had practically abjured not only his

monastic vows, but even his clerical character,

by assuming the garb and dress of a layman.
Mr. Meyric replies that " Signor Prota is
not a renegade," but " an Italian Churchman,"
"striving to reform his Church from within,
on the basis of Holy Scripture, the Catholic
Creeds, the Catholic Councils, and Catholic
antiquity." Let Mr. Meyrick show me from
any of these sources a sentence or syllable
which indicates that " Catholic antiquity " re-

garded a priest who broke his monastic vows
and abjured his clerical character in any other
light than as a renegade, and I will admit his
right to monopolise the virtue of " a calm
judgment." Till then I shall continue to con-
sider " Signor Prota" a renegade. But lam
glad that Mr. Meyrick has avowed so plainly
the character of the reformation which he is
seeking to bring about in Italy. It is well
that the supporters of the Anglo-Continental
Society should be aware that they are doing
their best to reform the Italian priesthood by
simply abolishing it.
So much for my first " totally untrue" state-
ment. _ _ _

I made one mistake in my last letter, which
however, rather strengthens than weakens my
charge against the Anglo-Continental Society,
as I shall presently show. I represented the
grant which had been withdrawn from Prota
as made by the Anglo-Continental Society.
On reflection, however, I began to doubt the
correctness f this, and I lost no time in ob-
taining from Naples the true account of the
matter. I found that my misgivings were well-
founded; and you, Mr. Editor, will bear me
witness that I sent you a correction of my
mistake four days before Mr. Meyrick's letter
appeared ; though, as you were pressed for
space, you were obliged to postpone its inser-
tion till this week. Of this mistake Mr. Mey-
rick has greedily availed himself and by dex-
terously breaking it up into parts, has manu-
factured several mistakes out of one.
And now I will show Mr. Meyrick that his
correction of my mistake makes his case even
worse than I represented it.
The representative in Naples of a society
of English Churchmen, including several dig-
nitaries of the English Church—the Dean of
Chester, I think, among them—found it neces-
sary, for the fair fame of the Church of Eng-
land, to cut off all connection with Prota. He
sent an account of the whole matter home
to the society in England, which, having
examined into the facts, deliberately endorsed
his decision. Mr. Meyrick then came forward,
threw the wgis of the Anglo-Continental
Society over the character of Prota, set at
defiance the remonstrance of all the Church-
men at Naples, who were living on the spot
and had an intimate acquaintance with all the
circumstances, and still persists in subsidising
Prota and his crew, and belauding them in
the reports of the Anglo-Continental Society.
In other words Mr. Meyrick went out of his
way to commit, as far as he could, the Church
of England to the doings of a man whose only
recommendation is that he is a clever and un-
scrupulous controversialist. The letter which
you have just published from the British
chaplain at Naples shows how much credit
is due to the infamous fabrications of Signor
Prota. It also gives your readers an opportu-
nity of judging who is more open to the taunt
of acting in a " hasty way," and " asserting as
facts things that he cannot know"—Mr. Mey-
rick or I. lam sorry to see that Mr. Meyrick,
in spite of all he knows, does not scruple to
tout for subscribers to Prota's paper.
Mr. Meyrick says " the British Chaplain at
Naples is not and never has been a friend
of the Anglo-Continental Society.' " The
British Chaplain and I do not agree on all
points, and among the points on which we
differ might probably be included the best
mode of helping on a reformation in Italy.
But he is an earnest Churchman, anxious to
promote a reformation in Italy, jealous for the
honour of the Church of England, and inti-
mately acquainted with the ways and doings
of the so-called reforming priests at Naples. He
wishes well to the cause which the Anglo-
Continental Society professes to aid ; but he
loves the Church of England too well to have
anything to do with a society which is making
the Church pr of England a overb of derision
among thoughtful Italians.
Mr. Meyrick's laboured witticism on a mis-
print in my letter is sufficiently answered by
the note which you were so good as to append
to his letter.
" Prota," says Mr. Meyrick, "is not, and
never has been, personally in the pay of the
Anglo-Continental Society.' "
Mr. Meyrick must excuse me for saying that
he is taking refuge in a quibble. The money
is given to Prota as a subsidy to the Enian-
cipatore Cattolica, and therefore the money is
given to him, and, in matter of fact, he dis-
poses of it as he pleases.
I have a good deal more to say on this sub-
ject, but I shall reserve for another letter.
Meanwhile let me beg Mr. Meyrick to keep to
the points at issue between us. They are
these : _ _ _

1. English Churchmen at Naples, including
the British Chaplain, after a careful investiga-
tion of facts, stopped a grant which they had
made to the staff of the Emancipators Catto-
lica ; and one of the reasons of their so acting
was the discovery that Prota had misappro-
priated part of the grant to his own personal
use. Prota admitted this misappropriation in
a letter which I saw.
2. Prota was employed by the Government
to distribute some funds, and he lost that ap-
pointment.
3. Prota and his editorial staff had free
quarters, by favour of the Syndicate of
Naples, in the convent of S. Domenico Mag-
giore. Here Prota was for some time in the
habit of giving devotional tea-parties to the
friends of Reformation in Italy. The company
were attended to by a female in a Garibaldian
jacket. Some of the visitors expressed their
surprise at the apparition of a resident female
among a band of reforming monks. But
Prota assured them that the Garibaldina was
the wife of the convent porter, and a most
excellent woman. Some time after this, how-
ever, a street fracas took place, of which this
most excellent woman was the heroine, and she
had to appear before the police-court, when it
turned out that she was not, and never had
been, the wife of the convent porter.
4. The Syndicate of Naples was at last con-
strained) for the credit of the municipality, to

expel Prota and the whole staff of the Edvanci-
pOore Cattolica from their free quarters in S.
Domenico Maggiore. Your readers will ap-
preciate the significance of this strong measure
when I tell them that the Emancipatore Catto-
lica was an eager supporter of the Govern-
ment, and that its editor is a very clever writer.
5. Mr. Meyrick knew all these facts, as he
admits, " two years " ago. And yet he did
not hesitate, at the last meeting of the Anglo-
Continental Society, to put up Lord Harrowby
to denounce, in language not usually current
among gentlemen, all who ventured to expoF e
any of the underhand doings of the society.
I read Lord Harrowby's speech at Naples with
extreme amazement, and it convinced me that
the reports of the Anglo-Continental Society
are utterly untrustworthy. I spent more than
three months at Naples last winter, and I de-
clare, as the result of my knowledge, that the
last published report of Mr. Meyrick's agent
in that city is a ludicrous romance; and that
is the opinion of all Church-people at Naples.
In short, I went abroad predisposed in favour
of the Anglo-Continental Society, and I re-
turned to England with the conviction that the
good (if any) which it does is infinitessimal ;
the mischief certain and incalculable.
And now I call on Mr. Meyrick to produce
the evidence on the strength of which he
affirms that the scandals in connection with
Prota " are an invention of the enemy to dis-
credit an able writer and reformer." Who
is " the enemy 9" M. MAcCoLL.
July 30, 1868.

TIIE HON. THADDEUS STEVENS' SPEECH

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
The New York Tribune read the lion. THAD.
STEVENS out of the Republican party in its issue
of 21st July. If the Tribune could hand back to

the Democrats the bad coin they managed to pass

into Republican circulation, the biggest piece being
BEN. BUTLER, they would do a real service to the

party. Mr. STEVENS, in his late speech on the
payment of the Bonds, declared he would vote for
SEYMOUR and BLAIR if he thought the Republicans

intended to pay with gold, and in that case, as he
preferred the Democratic platform, he would join
the Democratic party. While admiring the un-
quenchable energy of THAD. STEVENS'S spirit, the
unsubduable nature of his courage, we have always
regarded his moral qualities with a mixture of con-
tempt and dislike. Ile appears to be wholly want-
ing in that just perception of things relating to obli-
gation, which tells on which side is the right and on
which the wrong. Perhaps, on the whole, he rather
prefers the wrong, and, like the Irishman's pig,
selects that way with a characteristic obstinacy.
THAD. STEVENS has two grand ideas : the one the
principle of universal suffrage, the right of negroes
to the ballot ; the other, the pay ment of the Bonds
in greenbacks. Though he finds the former in the
Republican scale, and the latter in the Democratic,
he is not like the donkey between two bundles of
hay, for, not hesitating which to chdese, he
goes straight to the Democratic ranks. Now,
his actin in this is indicative of his whole career,

and we learn how men of the meanest capacity
as regards the finer qualities of brain and culture
can rule others by indomitable " pluck" and resolu-
tion. In proportion to the ignorance of the assem-
bly is self-assertion valuable, and that THAD.
STEVENS should have exerted so great au influence
on the Representatives is a proof of the inferiority
of that body to the average intellect of the United
States. If true, this is a strong argument against
universal suffrage, as it shows that the lower the
qualification the more inferior the Representatives,
and the greater the chance of leadership falling into
such hands as THAD. STEVENS'. Men like 111ORRIS-
SEY, who, we suppose from his renown as a pugilist,
has more thickness of skull than capacity of brain,
are better qualified to judge of courage than of in-
tellect. Those who can pick out with an unerring
instinct the most vicious of rats or the best worry
among terriers would be bad judges of intellectual
capacity, and naturally follow his lead who com-
bined the rat and terrier qualifications. We can
appreciate a man taking Senator SUMNER'S position,
and devoting nearly all his energies co the elevation of
a race; for, even allowing that he was more guided by
enthusiasm than judgment, that his imagination was
victorious over his reason, yet we can hold

in high esteem one who acts the part consistently and
with self-sacrifice. When those who aspire to benefit
a great section of their fellow creatures, and profess
to devote themselves solely to this work, are actuated
by the purest and most elevated motives, they com-
mand alike the respect of men who desire their
success and their defeat. But when they show up
as impost irs, the world which has been imposed on
feels doubly aggrieved in having decreed the high
honours of philanthropy to such cheats, and that
man makes his crime appear at its worst by
putting it into juxtaposition with the charity
that covers a multitude of sins, and then men who
have thus thrust on them the glaring contrast be-
tween profession and act, condemn the more heartily.
Now it appears to us that THAD. STEVENS has in a
measure done this. Taking it how you will, the
elevation of the negro is a noble object for which to
strive. Taking it in any way you will, the payment
of the Bonds in greenbacks is a poor, sordid question.
When a man devotes himself to the former, whe-
ther it be wise or foolish, he enrols himself in the
band of philanthropists ; but when he goes over to
the enemy, that be may aid in what nearly all man-
. . .

_ .
kind consider to be a swindle, then we assert him to

be an impostor. If THAD. STEVENS' conduct really
be in accordance with his own declaration, we feel
constrained to apply this language to him. He has
raised himself to power as the advocate of a noble
sentiment which took possession of the national
mind. To carry that sentiment to its legitimate
conclusion in the Abolition of Slavery the people
had to pass through a great trial, accomplishing
it at a fearful sacrifice of life and treasure. A rem-
nant of the cost remains in the Securities held by
the creditors of the nation, and a question has arisen
regarding the mode of redemption. By one means
these creditors will be mulcted, and the nation will
make a direct gain at an indirect loss. By the
other, the creditors will make the direct gain.
Now the whole debt is but a remnant of the
cost of the war, and the question of payment
is but a percentage of the debt. Yet Mr.
STEVENS considers this bit of a bit the prrbe
the nation willingly paid to attain its object as
of more importance than the object itself. His
enemies have always asserted that his nature from
boyhood to old age is summed up in one word
" spleen ;" misanthropy, not philanthropy ; hatred,
not love. He has used, they affirm, the Negro to
degrade the Southerners, not to elevate the former,
but to sink the latter, and fuel has been added
to his hate by the injuries inflicted on his Pennsyl-
vanian works in the raids of the Confederates.
Having accomplished his object and gratified
his malice by seeing SAmno's foot on the neck
of the Southern aristocrat, he goes over to
the enemy reckless as to SAMBO'S future, that
he may have the pleasure of seeing the wings of the
bloated bondholders clipped. In answer to the ques-
tion—What harm have they done him ? they assert
that he has the fierce animosity of the Red Republi-
can against anything savouring of superiority. For
the most part the advocates of coin redemption are
the best class of Republicans, among whom, if the
United States now have an aristocracy, it is to be
found. This is sufficient for Mr. STEVENS. Is he
that has broken down the Southern Aristocrat to
endure the presence of a Northern oligarchy—and
was it not but the other day that these men defeated
his cherished scheme of driving the PRESI-
DENT out of the White House ? The Southerners
arc irrevocably floored, and SAMBO has served his
turn. To pay off the hatred conceived in the bit-
terness of his heart against the most estimable of
the Republicans, Mr. STEVENS finds his best weapon
in the greenback redemption. When he had
pounced on this card and played it, detecting with
the keen instinct of a demagogue its value, were
not these the men who stigmatized him ? and what
a feast of malice to cut them down with this
weapon, while he brought the noses of the Northern
aristocrats to the grindstone. With that utter
disregard to character, to consistency—he is pre-
pared to throw over every principle for which he has
fitrinll that *speculators may be checkmate/1 As