The Sun.
London, England, 1828-11-28 00:00:00

the other paper. He should show that Lord
Strangford was not called upon to answer every
libel which might appear in a paper of the Ist of
December, and for the facts of which the readers
were told, " vide the paper of the Ist June." It
was not incompatible to re-write a letter in London
which had been 'mitten in the Tagus, and that a
diplomatic agent who had made such alterations had
never before been considered a man wanting in ho-
nour or honesty. In what book his Learned Friend
found his warranty for so denouncing a man he (the
Attorney-Gene'ral) could not imagine=--whether in
Wickford, or Grotius, or any other learned work.
The gist of the libel was the charge against Lord
Strangford of his being unworthy of belief upon his
oath. But what had that to do with his diplomatic
character ? The Court would observe that his di-
plomatic character was entirely sunk, and an attack
made upon his personal reputation. It was impos-
sible for Lord Strangford to defend himself against
these attacks, for, to answer them, he must expose
passages which had been suppressed, and thus com-
promise his character as a man, and his discretion as
a Minister. And, after all, what did the diplomatic
charges amount to ? Nothing more than that he had
addressed one communication to the public, and the
other to the Minister. But this took place every
day. Every bolly knew that in diplomacy there
were two copies prepared of all documents, No. I,
for the Miriister's inspection, No. 2, for the public.
This was justified by the nature of the public service.

(Mr. Justice BAYLEY here shook his head, as if in
disapprobation of the explanations of the Learned
Counsel.) _ .

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL—WeII, my Lord, it is
the practice of these departments, and may be justi-
fied by necessity.
Mr. Justice BAYLEY—I like honesty in all places,
Mr. Attorney.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL observed that it was
known every public Minister wrote public and pri-
vate despatches at the same time. The Learned
Gentleman then continued to argue that, even sup-
posing Lord Strangford not to have been quite con-
sistent with himself in his diplomatic character, yet
that was no justification for this libel. He was
charged qua diplomatist with falsehood, and called
upon qua a private individual to answer it. This
was not fair, nor reasonable.

Mr. littouctwr here said that they had affidavits
to show that Lord Strangford had vilified Mr. Can-
ning's memory, but had- not used them, as he
(Mr. B.) did not think they bore upon the question.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL followed upon the
same side. He argued that this ought to be re-
garded as a distinct and substantive libel. Ordi-
nary readers of newspapers look no farther than the
leading article, and that, therefore, ought to be
treated as unconnected with any complicated and
detailed statement taken from another paper. To
charges so vague as these it was impossible to give
a specific denial. In conclusion, he contended, fol-
lowing the Attorney-General, that there was no
part of Lord Strangferd's diplomatic conduct which
could not be justified.
Their Lordships conferred together for a consi-
derable time, when

Lord TENTERDEN said, we think the particular
paragraph in The Sun, upon Lord Strangford, is
not warranted to the letter by itself, and uncon-
nected with the extract from the Times ; but we

think we ought to look at both statements as they
are set out in the same paper; and, looking at the
whole, and all the circumstances of this case, and
the rules by which this Court has been governed,
we think we ought not to make this rule absolute.--
Rule discharged.

- - - - -
THE ARMY.

Detachments belonging to the 4th and 11th Light Dra-
goons arrived in town on Wednesday, from Maidstone, on
the Recruiting Service.
A Detachment belonging to the 19th Light Dragoons
arrived in town yesterday from Dublin, on route to the
Cavalry Depot at Maidstone.

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