The Sun.
London, England, 1811-02-01 00:00:00

L.4IV REPORT.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, [AN. 3t.

LIBEL"
,
Mr. GARROW" My Lords, I am insquaetl on
the part of the Bishop ref Derry to move fora Rule
to sheW mkt why a criminal -information should
not issue. It wi.a be Seen by your Lordships, that
it is not with the intent of multiplying informations.
He has at last found the author of that scandalous
Libel that appeared first in The Cambrian News-
paperand was copied into so many others, stating
.that he, the Lord Bishop was gazeitA a bankrupt.
By bringing ithe author before your. Lordships, it
will leave it in your 'power to be more lenient to
the other defendant. I an-sorry this application
is against no less a man than Mansel Phillips,
Esq. Member of Parliament for Stafflad. It ap-
pears by the
_affidavits which I hold in my hand,
that Mr. Mansel Phillips had been at Swansea,
and proposed to' f .rnish .the Editor ot The Cam=
briar Newspaper with paragraphs from London,
to enable that paper to tun before the London
papers ; this ptopoution was agreed to by Mr.
Jenkins, the Editor, and he recetvesl the paragraph
complained ot with (abets, from Mr. Mansel Phil-
lips, written in his own.liand, and inclosed in his
frank,, and it was printed from the original manu-
script.
Lord ELLENDOROUGH---", Do you, prodn.ce the
monuscript, Mr; Garrow ?"
Mr. GARROW.—" My Lord, I do not 5 • bur I have
an affidavit of the printers employed under Mr;
Jenkins,, accounting why it cannot, be produced`.--
It appears that it is the custom. ot "the• trade to,t
cut eil,l manuscripts up in small pitces for expedi-
tion for,if one rust) was obliged to het up 'a' whole
,letter, it
,would keep the paper too late for publics-
' tion. , •ss.

_____
°` Lord, ELLENBOK9I)Gii--.." Take your Rule."
Lord ELLENAOROyGkt observed, that on looking
over the list .of, causes for .London, there were 70
already entered, on which account be would sit at
Nisi Prins at Guildhall at ten _o'clock on Monday
neat; and that•his Brother Judges would attend to
the duty, of that Court on that. day. .
• '
THB KING V. IIiNNERTY.
•
Mr. BEVW prayed the judgtneut' of the Court
against the defendant, who had suffered.. it-lo' go.
against him by default
The iediament, which was read by the proper
officer, was for a libel on the Right Hon. Robert
Stewart, coinmonly called Lord Castlereagh, one of
his Majesty'S•prineipal Secretaries of State, which
appeared in the Morning Ciiromcle of the last year.
The indictment set out the whole of a long letter to
the &him of that Paper, signed by the defendant,
in which the libel was contaitied. It appeared, that
the defetidant had aecompanyed the expedition to
• Walcheren for the porpoie of wiiting,,a, narrio:vr.‘ of
its proceedeigs, u hen a general order was issued to
Lord Caathant and Sir Rieh.ird Strachan, to itieulie
of all the vessels whiCa comee.ed the expel:woe,
whether a gentle i an of the name of Fioneriy was
on board, and it he was found so, to convey him to
his Dardship 4.7 r Si:- Richard, with a view to his
being sent home. The delendant Nt as accordmelY
conveyed to Sit R cinird.Straeleitt, by whom ;,c Je-
kunwledged hinsseif to has 0 been treated ,k i:+n IL(.:
greatest kindness, and was sent houie, as speeddy
as wais practicabie, on board a revenue cutter.. The
lettdr in she MOrning Chronicle, charged as toe pre-
sent libel, consisted oi a narrative at length,ol these
facts, and an attribution of the whole measure to
Lord Castlereagh, who must have been actuated in
the business, the letter observed, either Irons a .de=
sire to suppress the truths ;Vhieh.th: deleedant's ie-
tended,Htsioq'of the Expedition woold.h:ive con-
oaiued,• or'frorn a desire to olackeb the defendant's
character . by sa obnoxious a ptece of persecution.
The indietment • charged the defendant with insiou-
ming, that this measure was only oite instance of a
course of oppression, which the defendant bad re-
ceived from the' personal malice of Lord Castlereagh,
and that. his Lordship had been guilty of great
villainy in and concertOng the administratieo of Ire-
land; '
Mr..Fisisiettnt wished to ask Lord Ellenborough
ortennestion.
• Lord ELLENi3OROUGII.---." Have 'you no Coun-
sel i" - •
Mr. FINNERTY.—" I haVe retained no Counsel ;
but I wish to ask if Mr. Clifford should address
himself for me towards the teennical part of my
case, whether I shall thereby be precluded from
.
itddressing the Court myself in mitigation of punish-
Ment ?"
Lord ELLENTIOROUGILie Yes, you will i the
roles of the Court ate, that a detendant,onay ei-
ther speak by' his Counsel or by himself, not by
both."
Mr. FussusitTv.---" Then, my ,Lord; I have no
Counsel, and' must menage the case as well as I am
able."-
Mr. GAiIIOW bad no affidavits to produce on the
part of the Crown :
But Mr. VINNKUTY put in a very long affidavit,
in which he stated that the Court having, in an ap-
plication by him to postpone the trial of has cause
Oa account of the absence Ot 'material witnesses,
thrown out their opinion as to the caloomious vca-
turd of the libel, he had thottght it most teapecttul
to the Court to suffer judgment to go against him
by default, reserving to himself the testimony of
such of his witnesses whose regard to justice would
induce them so make affidavits for him, and the
present opportunity of justifying the Whole imputed
libel, whico he did must unequivocally. The affi-
davit proceeded to 'state, that he had, at thesame
time when he wrote the letter, flu intention to.
' libel any body.; and that he had, before its pub-
lieatiOn, coosulted an eminent barrister as to
tip libellous tendency of it, who . was of opinion
that it was not libellous; that. !Ire defendant was
no conspirator in Ireland ; that Ito was Invited to
accompany the expedition by Sir Home PephaM,
for thel sole purpose of narrating the proceeding:;
of the expedition ; and the affidavit quoted a letter
from Sir Horne to that effett:----the deponent so-
tenuity declared that he had no other view in acr
companying the expedition; that he rejected' the
proposal of Lord Chatham and Sir Richard Strachan
to publish nothing but what had uudergone their re-

vision; Ow lie hail incurreJ considerable• ekfeiisA
in his voyagO ; and that the prejudice which had
been excited against him by the. Order for hisquit-
ting tire ekpedition, " had depiA him of pout.
which 'he calculated he should have gain-Ji by
intended publication ; that ice had intended to bring.
an action against Lord Castlereagh for a libel, but
was advised :gains( it by his Counsel; that he did
not accompany the etpc4lition elandestindy ; that
the main objeel of Lord Castlereagh has to.,harasa
the deponent; and that a Noble LOTti, nearly con-
neeled with Lord CaStlereagh, had been" heard to
declare in a publicceff,e-room, " I wish some man
would shoot that fellow (meaning the deponent)
our of the way." The affidavit Was then proceed-
in. to enter into the circumstance of the trial of =Mr.
Orr, in Ireland, for administering a seditious o.lth;
in which trial, the letter in the MorninB, Chronicle
stated the verdil of guilty to have been "ohteirined
from the Jury by promises, by threats, ani by- n-
toxieating them with liquor and was about; to
quote two affidavits made by as many of the Jurors
to this died, when the Coutt.objecled-to,thetr pe-
rusal, as iirelevant.• , •
Mr:FINNERTY observed, that it was stated as a
fa& in the imputed libel, that these affidavits were
made; and he thought it proper to verity that.state-
ment. The affidavits wet en ,t long. •
Lord 4LENEOttotiGti consented to kat them,
long or short.
The-defendant's affidavit traveling still farther
from the record, however, as it proc,:c(kilir,;,;l,,
Lord'at.etvaottoooli at last obj4ted
.to trying '
the Government of Ireland, tinder pretence
passing sentence upon the defendant, .mcl tetOsed
ro heat'atty.. more Aliudavits gitoted
.trpyn the, subj...ct
of Lord 'CrtSlereagh's comito in ire hind.
Mr. FINNERTY said that such a liberty•liad been
gr:mted in the case'of Governor PK:ton,3,the Govern-
ment of Trinidad was fully investigated neon the
trial of that man for tor;ure ; the defendant's (Mr.
Finnerts) Crime was merely that of reprOatmg a ,
wan who patronized torture. The letter in he
Morning Chronicle' made a general char6o of cruelty
against Lorl Castlereagh ; and the detendant.
now proving prtieolar instances Of it.
Lord ELLEstaynotrott.—“ And so,we are to go
through the whole flue of my lord Castlereagh:''
INIr FINNERTY sit,l,
,that he had taken particular
pains to sciu:tre hla conduct by the proceedings on
the case of GoNernor Fitton to which he alladei
where.the defendant having sutfered judgment to
go hy default, had proceeded in his justification.
Lord ELIA.NI3OROLIGII.---^"
Mr. i'rtiNttarY.-4" in his rmirgation, by pro-
clueing Lb:l:affidavit of Colonel Draper, which went
to rebut cQlonel,Voliarton's charges by a recritnid,
nation of forgery."
Mr. Justice Iitt,ILEY.--:" Upon a general char 'e
you cannot tot° lraciiculats. •
Mr. FiNsr,ttTy \V is :;bout IQ :reply, when
Lord Et.i..nNit.•ll6lJuit observed, ti:zt the Court
wou'o not be reeir,d upstn. Con.eiel at the, lair
would not reply to I el tile C,,ett,3, r d
litougli greater indulgeoLe was allowed le
,de!epu.
ants alio appeared pet 6' loaliy, there tnit,,t be a.leltlltt
t•ct:tl'l.9 that,
Mr. G \ititlp.V now f-it hirnwlf cailcd upon to in-
terfere. He l'egret;eld the abs,iJ
roar of the Attorney G. Dom, who..x.vott,, 11.,,ye con-
(-Meted tnls ;)ros..c,:tr;.in ;*ail? ; 40d-he
had beee desiredbr that Ad.oe.it to i:ive the de-
fendant every teasonablc Ituerty.,
Mr. GARRoW thought,,how ever, that the Court
were pfaccd in a situation from tilt ch one day or
another the public justice might suft:er., afire
feodant disclairned COunsel, and therefore every al-
low'atice was male to him ;• but if such-an Aids-
vit a, the present had been pat in by any Gentit,-
man at the Bar, the
,Learned counsel did nut Ite-
Silate to say, that it would nut have bran
.siAtrerva
to remain on the files of the. Court. Was the de-
fendant, then, upon the ground,of appearitlg.with
out Counsel, to accumulate: libel nut tmly. upon the
prosecutor,'but,Upon every perAm.whom his fattest
might suggest to him 3 This mischief, their Lori:-
ships would Observe, was not cured by merely desir-
ing the officer to Rasa by the improper 1)44.1(14 of
the .affidavit—the whole affidavit was on the file ;
and it was thus in the power ef;the defendant, or
of any body -else), to give the whole as a document
upon the Record of the King's Bench Court. Thus
it might be ptiblished with impunity. The de.
Pendant's affidavit .was a more aggravated injury titan
that of which Lord Castlereagh complained. .
Mr. FINNBRT,vr complained of,. the Learned
Counsel's-want Of liberality and truth, in im-
puting to him a wish to prepagate new
As for that contained in the paper, there IA 04 not
a line in it which was not riuqt and w hich.he was
not prepared to prove. He 4,i.received Mintier&
froml,ord Castlereagh, which would have goaded
any other man into madness,, or sunk him 'taw the
graVe.
Lord ELLENBOROUGII.—" The loobjesi of yon
affidavit is to chew the irritation under winch yott
were when, you wrote this letter,: now, this 4..
davit goeir very far beyond this :; and you had bet-
ter prepare another, and a more. temperate one.
Mr. FINNERTY asked, how he could avoid the
'statement of all the filets which a 1 peered in his
affidavit ?
Lord ELtit4ottotiou.—" It is not for the Court
to advise parties. ,There is excellent 'advice to U 4
obtained at the bar, notwithstanding you have. berm
advised by one eminent Barreger that this paper
no libel. Prepare a new atrilavit, and do be upon
your guard. The Court have no pleasure in wild-
ing you back ; it is for your own good. When
you be ready ?"
Mr. FINNERTY thanked the. Court for their seg•
gesiion, which he would adopt, and hoped to t
lead), uith a new.affilivit by Monday or Tuesday

next.
Lord ELLENSPROUGH.—^" Draw an affidait, that
instead of doing you harm, 61141 do ptu good. Us,
Coon 'doolt W,lat cc, haVt3 hurt."
The, defrodant wets remanded Thursday.