The Sun.
London, England, 1820-04-25 00:00:00

THE THEATRES.

tiriußy-LANE.7-The Tragedy of King Lear, sn
long suspended-on avcount or a reason riot neces-
sary to state, but highly intereving and delicate,
has been now revived at both ',Theatres. BooTft
certainly increased
.his reputation by his per-
tormance of the injured King at Covent-Garden ;
and KEAN„ whose popularity could hardly `ac; in-
-creased, has not Ivssened his credit by Iris a SSa
!ion of Ore character last. night at this Theatte.
The character requires 'so much Cri!ical shitty,
as Well as practice, that it world he rash to
decide upon the mvolts of a first perform,
auce• on so atdeoas a still. Mr. L N is •
.a great master of effect, and his shill in that fe-
stive( was veiy successfully exerted list night.
His conc.cuoinn of the part 'was evidently
just, and: he alternations ofouger, self-reproach,
and tenderness, were well expressed. We
conceive that his transitions from the choleric to
the familiar were too/sudden, and that the tami-
liar
was too often intro.: bleed. Wit the numerous
audience that attended were not only satisfied, but
vehement and persevering in'applanse, and. there-
fore, we shall not enter into any elaborate ctificismi
on the occasion.—Mr. RAE- was-well received
on his entrance in Edgar, and he acquitted himseli
successfully in the fir,t 'performance of so ri,'ldt
a part. We have seldom seen Garfekil and Regan
so %volt personated as by Mrs. -GLOV 11.4 and
-Mrs. EGERTON Dow Tots was effectively handy,
blunt, and faithful in Kent. Mrs. NVEI.'
was highly animated, and gave a very inte-

resting tendertiegs to Gardena. The Ptay was
brought fotward with splendid costume in the
antique style, as well as grandeur in the scenery.
The storms
.were whit great effect, its
the lurid gleams, the waving of the trees, &c.
except that the gloom was too, strong, as it
obscured the features of the Actors. Altogether
this fine production of the fit at ut dramatic Poets is
revived in such a manner, by the merit of the Ac-
tors, and munificeoce ut the Managers, as to
deserve the zealous patronage which no daunt
attend it.

COVENT-GARDEN .7-7 A numerous audience con-
filmed.' the success of Henri Quartre last night.
The pruning-knife has been so skilfully employed,
that nothing but needless shoots have been cut
away". The piece therefore, in bring inure con-
densed, is more impressive. . _

COBoUIiG EATRR.—A new piece WIS brought
forward lat,t night, taken from Airs. OPIE's cele-
braTed tale of—The Father and. Daughter. Ilia
ttlict ckarae;er. was assigned to BooTribi and was
most ably supported by him. Thu piece is well
dramatized, and is adorned with great splendour
and variety of scenery. It Was received with
grea t applame.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON.

..~~.-~

Yesterday (St. George's Day failing on Sun-
(!ay) the Society of Antiquaries' met. at t heir apart.
tricots in Somerset-pace, in pnrsnatice of their
Statutes and Charter of 1
President, Conned, and
the year erisning.:--=,slie:.
George Earl of Aberdeen,
-Right Honourable Sit Jo-
seph Banks,. Bart.
F. A. Barnar4,
Williako Bray, Esq.
Nicholas Carlisle, Esq.
Eleven of the
New Council'; and

i'lcorporatiott, to rhet tt
:)fliers of. the Society for

ctlimn
It. P.lit, Esq.
Hugh Leyccster, Esq.
Si! Gure.Ouseley, Bart.
Mathew Raper, Esq.,
were re•choscn of the

• Thomas AmyOto Esq. Hudson Gurney, Esq.
Rev. E. Itahoe, . tlattolt,o, Esq.
John di flirty* Marquess of William, Lord Bishop itf
rundeo, London,
.I,lin Cooke; M.D. S Sie (leorge Nayier, Kilt.
Francis Feeding, F,sq. .• 1 11 illiara Wilkins, E;q.
Ten of • the other Members of the Socitty, were
chosen of Elie New Conneil, and they were be-•
verttliy tl clarcd to be the Council for the ye',ar
etwiing and, on a Repot, wade of the Oftif:ers
of the Society, it appeared that
George Earl of ,1-ierdeen, K.T. was elected President,
William Bitty, Esq. Treasurer, •
Taylor Conibe, Esq. M.A.' Director,
Nicholas Carlisle, Esq. Secretary, and
Henry Ellis, Esq. B.C.L. Secretary for the ensuing year.

The Sociefy atierwarils dined together at the
Free Masons' Tavern, in Great .Queen-sareet, ac-
cording to annual cutorn. •

SRI!' NEWS.

:sr~

DEAL, APRIL 24.--Sailed last evening the Co-
ronvntdel, tinwer, for 'Madras' and Bengal
Came down 'froth the Riyer, and sailed, the St.
Wirispear,,for, Bermuda ; City
of Genoa, for Genoa ; St,uth Eck,, Homitle, for
nieste ; Ocean, Young, (or the Sutph Seas ;
Agincourt, Railston, tor Qa,ehee ; and Princess
Amrlia, 11:ktott, for China : the latter remains.
PORTSMOUTH, APRIL 24.=-Arrived the Loyalty,
Hearn, from Liyerp.ool for London. Sailed ihe
4eplivr, Cox, for .110nica.
i-latiwictt, APRIL 24.—Arrived the Prine3
Charlotte packei flow and Thetis packet
from Gotteriburgh, each with a mail._ _

RAMSGATE, APRIL 24.-Sailed the Netherlamk
transport Pori fur Plymouth, th the stores,
&c. of the Netherlands late brig of war Kosack,
lost on the Goodwin Sand,:

LIVERPOOL, APRIL 23.7: A;rivecl the Doris,
Boyle. trom Sierra one. Arrived off this;soft.
the Dee; , (roni Demerara, and
Adams, from
.Bar:baovs.

FALM6UTII, APRIL 22.—Arrived ofr thls ro:t
the Eliza 'And Jane, Jenkii)4, ttilm St. Michael's
for Loudon. Arrived the Ainndaftl, Kunizell,
from Arundahl, in 1.7 days ; and Amelia, Bully,
froni Lisbon for Lontfon, in 22 days. The Itoydl
Eagle, ,(,I,bb)),. nod Brothers, Benninger!), soiled:.
ttom Lisbon, in company with the Amelil, on.
the ISt 1.1151...; the Duke of Kent p cket ec as goihg
in as she ,was coming. out. S4lled the Staniner
packet a mail for the Islands.
AFall. 21.—A smneglere with to-
hacc.), was r...iptyted Sainirhy by the Vandeleur
tiesenoe cruiser, Capt. Hopkins, .All -her car,go
Wag discharged helot e. the Vstideleur came up %%1,11
her. She I 5 n tine ntAd is. reported 1,, tie
well adapted tnr smuggling. She .now lies at t_lie
.butt of

Vestettlay the dispatches %vete .cli sed at tlie
East tiottse,aoddeiivered to the Pursers ,f
'he ti)? ovvng. ships, viz.--,-The Captaiti
S%sDERS ;
,and the Sealeby C.Astle, Captaiti
J. 13. SOTHIIBY, !or ,China direct.

DINNER OF 11IF. FRIENDS OF ALDERMAN WOOD,

A re.specfahle Meeting ~f the Friends of Mr.
Alderman WOOD dined together yesterday HI the
inAldersgate Lord Erskine, Messrs.
Brig and Will-thread. Joseph Hume, Esq
D. W. 1-lArrey, 11 P., P. Moore? M P. and 'se-
veral otter distinguished personages were pi e•
stot. Mr. W. Smith, M.P. filled the Chair win,
his usual shiliiy and good humour.
Mier an excellent dinner " th• 2. King" was
gi‘en, and " the Queen, and the other Branches
of the Royal Family," which was received with
the utmost enthusiasm.
The Ct-tAIIIMAN,aIter observing that the health
of the King, who never died, included a compli-
Meta to the predecessor, said, there was one
Member' of the Royal Family on whom the hearts
of all Buitous had 'been affectionately fixed, and
who had left no .nec,ssoe. He had scarcely any
need to mention the Princess Charlotte.

" The Mentor). of the Princess Cliallotte of Wales,l was
then di•uak in silence.

The CO AIaNIA/4 then said, there were two mem-
bers of the Royal Family (of whom, unfortu-
nately, otte only yet existed) who had been dear
to the Citizens of London by their continued
aften,ion to all works of charity, and who would
not he the less iteae to the company' because they
hatt honoured his Worthy Friend, Mr. Alderman
Wm,d, with their petsonal friendship. lie would
theterore propoie the health of his (loyal High-
net. the Duke of Sussex, to whom this mark of
recpect, he observed, would not .he the less grate-
Id flow its hell% Connected with the memory of
leis brother.
" The Duke of SOSStX" was drunk withipplause. •
After some appropri ute toasts and songs,
The CIIMUNI AN said, he had to propose the
of a man, who was -known to them all -in
si•fise capaci:y or other. To the elder among them
he-as as known as the. sucutfs,tful advocate of the
liberties of the sutrjec Co,:rts of Jt,srice, and
as the peculiar chafopiod +and I/ igtiment of the
by Joey ; to the, youst;:er a'nonag them As
the equally 5.1.'111 1111 l 'suppi.o ter of the Ill?rries of
the people in Plrliantent . He proposed Cite health
of Loud 'ErsiOne; which was eceived with the
WartMSt apptaose.
..Lord-taskficrro-etrirned thanks, and expressed
the manner in o'hirh he had been affected at the
recap ion his nanae• hAd met *Hi. Fie inculcated
oU the Meeting the neeessily of 4 maintenartee
the spt;it of Tr:at by Jory, and of a Reform in
the Rest eseotatiotcof the People. He 43. s.4erved,
I! at he was a citizen, thought ,tint a Liveryman of
London ; if be 10.0 l stood in the latter sit 'IA, ion
he shan't! ha've tendered ilia rote for 1/6nOurd.
Frietti4 (Mr. and :argued On tier le-
gality of It. This wo-:1:1 have dune Ito. good to
• bis Fiend, but it word,( (rave letised
by one vote linmajwity on the poll—(applause).
II is Lordship t heo .1-41 %wed in, terc.a sub Cell I e,.ki +l-
litsoo, on. next...sob of the Revolotion in Spain.
.‘ The Cause of Frvedosu the lodependence of
South Ametica,” was drank with alylaie.
The CHAtumiks .4,0, that the toasts which had
been hi; !c:: to given, tho.7A they brepol,ed the
of the:company, were not itume-
diattly cona,etet! with !the object of the meeting.'
He '7d now to give the licalih of a man avhov all
the meeting la:,d hailed eta the" Worthy presen-
tative of the City—who had received honosus, he
helieted tioexampled, from his fellow•cbizens,
an:l bath now for a third time been sent to the
House of Commons as the advocate of their tights.

He should have felt ashamed if the private clia•
racer, as well as the uniformly consistent con-
duct of the Worts'? Alderman in his public trust
bad no, secured that CSait
‘• Akerman Wool, and success to him," was drank with
uni vet sai.accidtuatitin.
Ald,Aanaii Li o.io tetnrned thanks, and
stated, that he lamented that he had not been this
titue reitirno to Parliament, supported, as he had
boort been, by two Gentlemen of similar poli!i-
cal principles. Yet, setting personal ft clings
apart, be was disposed to consider, that the fact
of his i.),ing placed at the head of the poll, was a
species of it-in:110 to the cause of liberty, aud he
had orttred this opinion front the weal-known fact
that the Miniscrial party had attached the utmost
input lance to a similar manifestation in their fa-
vour. He trusted that the cause of Reform would
be brought torvirra in the House in the present
Pacitantent unit powerful support ; and expressed
lila confidence that lisis Cmit\e, which of all others
was nea, est to their hearts, wid(' speedily make
way, by he CM, Vietloll of all classes in its favour.
The CHAIRMAN proposed Messrs. Byng and
Matt Inead, the Members tor Middlesex. When
hits neighbour's house was on fire; a man was sup-
posed to feel most warmly interested, and on this
principle nortiiitg coull be more interesting to the
Citizens of London than the late contest in Mid-
ctiesex. 1u Mi Allesex, a Genileman who was in
other respecta pertec'ly unexceptionable anti me-
ritorious, had been rejected by thee County for his
political subserviency, while his Colleague, who
ditiered front btu' in no other respect but in his
poliiical independence, bad been .suffered to re-
!ltaitt, and had been associated with a Gentleman
as yet comparatively unknown, but chosen on one
of the best principles, viz. that he was of a good
bteed.—(Applause)—He concluded by giving the
healtbs or Mr. llyng and Mr. tVoithread.
Mr. BYNG 811(1 Mr. WHITEIREAD severally re-
turned thanks, and expressed their cordial sym-
•paitty in the progress of the cause in London
which had already trioniphedin Middlesex.
Mr. P. Moore's health svas drank. He return-
ed Mr. G. Tiertit-y and the friends of
the People," and several other appropriate anti
patriotic toasts were given. Several excellent
songs were sung by Messrs. illeielloll, Broad-
hurst, Pine, and other professional Gentlemen,
and by Mr. Shaw. The company continued to-
gether to a lute hour.

EmloßATloN,Tholigh no general plan has
yet heen adortecl tor atAivg the distressed syntk-
men its go to Gilman, v.e ate g 134-1 lwar that
svontant:nla esnige,iiOn to a consitlerlhle extent
is taking 1.1.ee. persons from Paisley
leave ;0(ely :;01),.! for Ctill,da; null A asaseiving
Citrgyoom, vri,ht3o of tii4 flock, frnin the north
Or Ayssliiie, are ai)oot iernoving to. the UniteJ
bia(et.—(eitticorx :Chronicle )

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, APRIL 24.

Tilts BABA. OF DAANLEY V. ROBBEIT BLIGHT

Mr. Cinami?‘ rote for the p►►rpose of bringing
0 the recollection of the Court the circumstance
of Mr. Bligh'a application to it upon the first thy
of the present tern►. Fie had then obtained a
role to. silo 1%, cause why he should out be dis•
charged front confinement upon entering intocer-
taiu
recognizances. As Counsel tor Lord Dar-II
14, hr (.Jr.Gurney) was now prepared to show
cAnse ; hut as Mr. Bligh had not sued out any
Habeas corpus, it was necessary to consider of
some means of procuring his attendance:
'I he LORD CHIEF asked if Lord Daru-
iey•had exhihite:l articles of the peace during the
present term.

Mr. GURNEY replied in the negative ; saying.,
that he imaginedit might be more convenient to
dispose of the t ule in the first instance ; b►►t it the
Cou'rt thought otberwi•e, Lurd Darnley was at
hand, and would immediately exhibit articles.—
He would have previously done so, were it not for
the rule which Mr-Bligh had obtained upon the
fist day of Tem.
Lot d Darnley soon alter entered the Court, and,
being accoMmodated with aseat upon the Bench,
exhibited articles of the peace, and applied for
permission to retire while they were•read,- on the
ground that the recital would be extremely pain-
ful to his feelings„ The Court, however, inform-
ed hint that his presence was necessary, as he
would have to swear to the truth of what Was
lead.

The articles were then read, and set forth a long
course ot insult and aggression on the part of the
defendant towards the noble exhibitant 'and his
family. It appeared that, on more than one oc-
casion, from the year -1806 to the present time,
Lord Darnley had retrained from calling lOr juda-
ment, and had released recognizance's under wine))
the defendant was bound to disco.linue his mo-
lesta;loos the same course -of-conduct had. how-
ever, been unifmmly pursued ; the defend.ant was
perpetually in putcliit ot some member of Ilse
family, both in France and in:Eng'and, _and,
wheoever he happetied to meet them, loaded them
with the foulest lIIVECIice dill! abuse. Atter en-
,gaging to go ahroatfon conditions to tC:t Lord
Darnley assented, lie still continued to, reside in
the neighbourhood of Lold Darnley's house, in
13..rkeley-stinare 3 and a short time since came ttp
so his Lordship, and addreised him in these
terms :—" Do you acknowledge the falsehood of.
yolir affidavit against me ?" Efts Lordship an-
swered, that he would have. nothing to sav to it :
«you ‘ll.ipii the defendant exclaimed, " I must
have 44ti•faction, aid, by G—,
a 1 us ill !" These
articles concluded by .sta!iog, that the exhibitaia
had never ustd the slightest provocation, or done
any thing so irritate the feelings ot the attendant.
Lord Dattiky vi as filially that he WWI 14tt
moved to, this application either by malice or ha-
tred, but in order to preserve his life And person
from great bodily harm.
Mr. GURNEY then applied to the Court as to
appointing a day for Mr. appearance ; and
a rule was maele fur Winging bun up on Wednes-
day next.
THE KING V. SIR FRANCIS BURDETT, FART.

Mr. DeNmAN moved for a rule to s':ew cause
why the verdict obtained for the Crown in this
case, at the last Assizes for the County
ClotirtrymottbeLseeit-
cester, before Mr. Justice Best, s
aside, awl a new trial granted. Tile Honourable
Barnet appeared in Court, accompanied by Mr.
Hobbouse and tither friends, and tools his seat on
the Attortseys''Betoth. Mods interest was excit-
ed by the imporance of the case, and those parts
of the Court allotted to strangers were crow(!ed to
excess. Tile 'Learned Counsel's motion occupied
a considerable portion of the day, from the de-
sultory and interlocutory matter which look place,
into a detail of which it is not necessary to enter.
'I hree principal grounds of objection to the ver•
diet were urged. First, that there was no evi-
dence to go to the Jury of the alleged libel hav-
ing been published in the county of L,icester ;
iecond, that the Learoed Judge had refused to
receive evidence touching the matters of and con-
cerning which the supposed ;Wei was written,
namely, the transactions at Manchester on the
16t1a of August ;—and, air d, that the Learned
Judge had misdirected the Jury in point of law.—
Upon the first point the Learned Counsel recapi-
tulated the evidence given on the trial, which has
already beets before the public, and contended that
if there was any proof of a publication ut all, it
was proof of a publication in Westminster. It was
true that the supposed libel was dated from the
Hon. Baronet's seat called Kirby Park, in Leices-
tershire, and that he was seen in that County on
the 22d and 23d of August; on the former of which
days the paper was dated, but there was no evi-
dence to shew that the libt I was published its the
county. Mr. Brooks's evidence welt; to shew, that
he had received the supposed libel in Landon from
a professional Gentleman named Bickersteth, to
whom it bad been sent in an envelope. The
evidence undoubtedly went to shew that the paper
and the superscriptiots of the envelope were in the
hand-writing of the defendant, and that the latter
was unsealed, but thete was nothing but presump-
tive evidence that the letter was published its the
county where the venue was laid. The informa-
tion charged the defendant with writing, cons•
posing, and publishing the all, libel its the
County of Leicester, or with causing it to be
composed, written and published in that county,
and the onus lay upon the prosecutors to make out
either of those allegations. For-any thing that
appeared on the trial, the libel might has..e been
published in Itutlaodaire, or some other adjoin;..
ing county, and if so, the Court in Leicestershire
had no jurisdiction to try the iofounivion. 1. lie
Jury could not be called upon to presume by in-
ference, from Ilse circumstance. stated; that the
publication took place in Leicestershire, but ongirt
to have had positive and undoubted proof that it
did in fact take place there. If such a tact 'could
have been established, it was its the power of the
Crown to have calied-Mr. Pickerstevh, to whom
the letter t at• enclosed, to prove where he re•
eeived it, but that Gcosiemase was Ito: citiledh, al-
corgh he was wFbin the reach of a' bubea.-na,—
He conteuded that the were ►stns D ar.d tons

po9ing a Ebel, ho ever criminal its import, was
n-,t an act for which the defendant was liable to
puni,hment, because th,e author of a libel had the
locus penituake, a.id could not be amenable to the
law unless he actually published it. lie retell-cif
to the Act for reversing the attaiinler of Alger-
von Sydney, to support this proposition, but when
called upon to produce the Act, the Learned
Counsel had it not at hand. The Learned Ser-
jeant- who conducted the vrosecution, had, indeed,
labonred to establish the proposition that the de-
fendant was equally as liable for writing-and com-
posing the libel, as if be had published it, hut the
LeHrned Judge repudiated that doctrine, and told
the Jury that there must -be a publication in order
to render the defendant answerable criminally..

Mr Justice BEST interposed and said, that the
way in which be lett the case to the Jury was
this :—That, as tar as Sir F. Burdett was con-
nected with the paper, all that was done by him
was done in Leicestershire. That it was written
by trim in that county, a> appeared by the date,
•4'Kirhy -Palk, August 22,'• and, according to a
ease referred to at the time,'reported•in llntrow's
Reports, that fact was evidence to go to the Jury,
that it was written in the place from whence it
was dated. li was proved that the defendant had
been seen in Leice'stersi.ire eon the day the letter
bore date. A great -deal of discussion took place
as to whether the letter had•been sent by the post.
liere was in tact no evidence that it had been
so sent ; and as there was no evidence that the
letter had ever been sealed,• it was lett to the
Jury ro say, Whether the letter so unsealed hod
,b;.en delivered 'to any person in the coutty of
Leicester, for if i was, his Lordship was- of opi-
:Jinn thar it was a publication in Leicestershire.
But his Lordship had forther stated io the Jury,
in the langnaee of the information, that the evi-
deoce was sufficient to slew that the defendant
had-caused the to be published in LeiCester-
st+ii,, wherever it was atterwaids put/Us-lied. The
July, ever. had expressly found that the libel
was pitfall..! ed in Leicestershire.
lilt Dt..-smAx said,,he was not aware of any dis-
:!Jic, Ina Takeo at tire trial, as to whether the de-
fett.;arit had cattsett the libel to be published in
Leicestershire. The objection on which he re-
lied was, that there was •no evidence to go to the
Jury, 44 air in-Leicestershire,.
L:nel as his Lordship had said that there was finch'
evidence, he did not address himself to any Col,
lateral question. 1-le now,thes clove, urged with
great cw,,fitknce,
.tilat the objection taken was'
wed founded,
.and :insisted that the defendant
could not he answerable for the writing and coin-
poslng the libel alone, because there rlntst be a
distinct publication proved. The case Of the
Seven BiAops was a deciSive: gut hbrity to shew
_the neeesiity of making out the venue of-the pub-
lication.
The CHIEF JUSTICE- said he wished to be satis-
fied by sonic authority, that tiwe mete writing and •
Composing a libel, without publication, was not a
criminal act for which the author was punishable.
The case- nt,Algcrnon Sydney was totally dissimi-
lar from the present. lle had before him an au-
thory, no less than that of Lout-Chief Justice
which was nitrite the other wey. HisZord-
ship alluded to the King v. Beene, 12 Mod. 219,
where it was held ,on an indictment for '' caw-
posing, writing, and making a libel," a verdict of
No' Guilty as to the making and composing, but
Guilty of writing it is sufficient.
Mr. DENMAN said, that. Mr. Serjeant Viiigban
had so argued at the trial, but he believed that the
Case referred to had ceased to be law-

Mr. Justice BAYLEY called upon the Learned
Counsel to cite some case in t•bich it had been
overruled. The case of the King v. Beere had
,undergo►►e much consideration. in consequence of
the decision in the King v. Payne, adjudged three
years before, where the Jury negatived .the
publication, and found the deiend*snt guilty
of the writing, and he was very severely punish-
ed. The King v. Beere fully established the doc-
trine, that writing and composing a libd, though
no publication takes place, is sufficient to_sustain
an indictment.

The CHIEF JUSTICE said, he was not aware that
the King v. lleere had ever been overruled, and
his Lordship read the opinion as there delivered
by Holt, C. J.
Mr. Justice HOLROYD said, that in the 9th liar-
grave's State Trials, 273, diet e were two eases
utile') expressly laid down the same doctrine as
that ruled in the King v. Becre.
The whole Conrt seemed to-be of opinion that
this case was still good law, end they also thought
the question, whether the defendant had caused
the libel to be published in Leicestershire, in or-
der that it might be published in another County,
was well kit to the July, and proof that he did
so was sufficient to support the indictment.
Mr. DENMAN said, that neither of the propo-
sitions now suggested was under consideration at
the 'trial, and therefore he was not prepared to
argue them. lie came prepared merely to discuss
the qitesni, whether there was sufficient evi-
dence to go to the Jury of publication in Leices-
tershire, autl he insisted that there was not, re-
ferring to the King v. Watson, I Campb. 215 ;
the King a. Williams, 2 Campb. 506; the Dutch
Consul's case, 7 East Rep. 65 ; anti the King v.
Harris, tried lately before the present Chief Jus-
tice at the Monmouth Assizes. The Learned
Counsel then addressed hituseit to the second ob-
jection, contending that he was at liberty to offer
general evidence to spew the fairness and truth of
the allegtd .libel. lie had tendered evidence to
spew that women and children bad been intim-
manly cut down at Manchester, but the Learned
Judge had refused to receive it• Llad this been a
libel upon'an individual, he admitted that evidence
of its truth was not admissible, but being corn-,
posed of general observations touching facts cap-
able of out, be contended that the defendant
was entitled to the benefit of such evidence, to
negtuice the malice Iniputed by tlic:leformation.
'I he case of the King v. Horne, in Cowper's Re-
ports, was a decisive authority upon this point, as
was also that of she Icing v. Stockdade, in which Mr.
Justice Best %vas Counsel. The third' objection
was', that the Learned Judge, in his address to
the Jury, when commenting upon the Libel
Act, 32 George ill., etrargetr Wein upon the law
of the ease in a manner inconsistent 'with the
whole sprit the Art, the eitieet of which was
to lent:, the Jury to the unqualified ..-exercise of

their own judgment upon the law as well as the
fact. His Lordsli.p said, "Itis my duty, under
the view I-take of this Act of Parliament, to tell
you, as matter of lam., that this is a libel, and it
is tor you to say, whether you will adopt lit
opinion, collecting the facts from tote eviden
and unless you are satisfied that I am wrong, yOn
will take the law from me." This, the •Learded
Counsel contended, was an objectionable node
of leaving the case to the Jury, who would nacti"
rally think they were bound to take the law
this particular -case from the Learned 3ikiget
without exercising that privilege. which the Libel
Act gave them of judging for themselves upon
the law as well as the fact. Upon these ihree
grounds, therefore, he submitted, considering tile
vast importance of the case,lhat the deiendairs
was entitled to a new trial,
The COURT scented to think that there was no,-
thing in the third objection, and that the Judobad
properly left the question of law to the Jury ;t'bttt
The CHIEF JUSTICE said -(after conferring Witii
the other Judges)—As at present-advised, it 'does
not appear to- the Court, that sufficient fouhdr-
tio'n is laid before us to grain a Rule to slim catrie,
but we will consider the,case further before we
tither grant or refuse it,