The Sun.
London, England, 1827-11-02 00:00:00

east any imputation upon him. The County Fire
office received the-amount of duty on their policies,
and were'accountable for it to Government. Their
country agents received these duties along with the
premiums, and the office was then reimbursed for
its advances to Government. The imputation might
be upon these agents, if they stated that subsisting
policies had been abandoned, or that the insured had
not paid the ditty: The improper accounting or the
fraud of the agents might create mistakes if there
were any, but Mr. Beaumont chose to make it his
-own case. Still he (the Attorney-General) might
Say, without accusing Mr. Beaumont of designing
anything mono that his mode of doing the business
-opened a wide door to fraud. With respect to Mr.
-Lye's letter, that certainly would have been libellous
if it had not been in answer to Mr. B.'s own letters.
His three letters to the Commissioners and to the Lords
of the Treasury appeared in the first paper—they re-
flected in the strongest manner upon Mr. Lye, who
was justified in answering them; and the editor,
.who had inserted those letters, was bound to insert
the answer. But that answer clearly showed that
there was a controversy depending between the
writer and Mr. Beaumont ; it therefore could not do
Mr. Beaumont's character any injury, as every man
who read the letter would plainly see there was a
dispute between the parties; and therefore would
not credit any thing that might appear to Mr. Beau-
mont's disadvantage. The ATTORNEY-GENEIAL,
in conclusion, said, I submit confidently to you,
Gentlemen, that Mr. Beaumont is not entitled to
•your verdict on this occasion—l submit that what
has been charged as a libel is nothing more than a
portion of a controversy between two individuals, who
have adopted the same organ for giving publicity
to their sentiments—l submit that the Editor of
this paper did no more than give fair opportunity to
the accused party of being heard against hisaccuser. If
it should be stated to you by my Lord, that, in point
of law, you ought to return a verdict for the plaintiff,
the law gives you a discretion over the amount of
damages ; and I trust that you will not punish the
Editor of the Morning Herald, at the instigation of
Mr. Beaumont, of all r'cn, for promoting the public
circulation of that which was not only already in
print, but which might be had almost at every coffee-
house in London. Gentlemen, the Editor of the
Morning Herald undertook to give no decision be-
tween the contending parties. Who spoke truth,
or who stated falsehoOd, he did not declare. Having
published the accusations of the one, he publishes
the defence of the other, and I trust that your verdict
will not announce your opinion that he was wrong.
Lord TENTERDEN said, that when a person pub-
lished any thing for his own profit, he ought first to
ascertain its truth. A part of the first publication
was certainly highly injurious to the plaintiff's cha-
racter. His Lordship was sorry that the Commis-
sioners had let -it pass from them, for it was beside
the subject of their inquiries. The letters that had
been supposed to have been written by the plaintiff
had been published by the defendant without his
consent—an answer from Lye might have been ex-
pected. In that letter the words " foul falsehoods"
occur again and again, and he advises Mr. Beaumont
to behave with Christian charity, and to lay aside
all malice. The question was, whether there was
any justification for publishing that letter. The de-
fendant had, without the plaintiff's authority, pub-
lished something which he took to be letters written
by the plaintiff; and because he thdught fit to pub-
lish those letters, .he therefore published the answer.
Had the plaintiff authorized the publication of the
first letters, it would have been a very different
thing. If the jury could say they were such publi-
cations as they would be willing to have published
of themselves, they would find for the defendant ;
but if they did net think so, then they were bound
to find for the plaintiff, with such such damages as
they would deem to be a proper compensation._

The Jury retired for about- three-quarters of at:
hour, and then returned with a verdict for the plain.
tiff—Damages Is.

THE HIGH TIDE.

ST. KATHARINE'S DOCK.

The works at St. Katharine's Dock, which lately have
been carried on with so much expedition, were suddenly sus-
pended yesterday morning. The tide, which at this time
of the year is generally very high, was on Wednesday night
considerably increased by a strong northerly wind, which
caused the river to swell to an unusual degree, so as to
overflow the banks of the Thames. Between ten and
eleven o'clock, the river forced its way into the bed dug for
the formation of St. Katharine's Docks, inundating the
buildings and warehouses erecting there, with such fury,
that before any efforts could be made to check its progress,
the whole of the new docks was completely filled with
water, exceeding in some places 27 feet in depth. This
accident, we are informed, would not have 'occarred, had
it not been for an old building left standing close to the darn
in a very ruinous state, under which the river first forced
its way.
ANOTHER. ACCOUNT.)
St. Kattuiririe's Dock was on Wednesday night visited
by an irruption of the Thames, of so extensive a descrip-
tion, that, in a few minutes, all those portions of the dock
which have been excavated were filled to the level of the
water in the river. It took place, fortunately, at an ad-
vanced hour of the night (five minutes before eleven),
ootfhne_ralvteirse‘lci,•eottni
ittshewraayi:iddoittyibltviesiths
tihv
eh i
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itihfiecei mo mi.
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when all the workmen had long departed for their homes,
d
have been commensurably great. The persons who heard
the irruption describe it as similar in sound to a violent
storm, accompanied with that kind of noise which is pro-
duced by a lofty cataract. So rapid was the pouring in,
that •though the portion of ground excavated exceeds eight
acres, and the depth thirty feet, the entire, in less than a
quarter of an hour, was filled to tide level, when the anise
ceased. The wooden bridge is completely swept away;
the engine-house and engine, which were nearly adjoining,
are completely under water, with the exception of the roof
of the former, a portion of which is still visible, and the
monkeys, as they are termed, and their scaffolding, which
were used in driving the piles, are scarce one foot above
the surface. The docks are as full'as if they had been
finished, and the water admitted for the commencement of
liwmess. They bear, however, an appearance of devasta-
TM, similar to that which the Cornish coast might exhibit
when a shipwreck has taken place; spars, beams of timber,
tackle, and ropes and pullies, are scattered and floating in
all directions. When the aperture is closed, the seat of
which is where the old St. Katharine's Dock was formerly
situated, the expence attending the
,pumping out of the
great body of fluid which has rushed in will be immense.
Above 400 persons will for the present be thrown out of
employment.