Star.
London, England, 1823-04-08 00:00:00

SHERIFF'S COURT, SURREY:

PALMER, EBO. V. Twit.. •
Yesterday a Writ of Inquiry was executed-before
the Under ,Sheriff and a Jury of the County..of Sur-
rey, for the.purpose of assessing the damage*
in an ac!,
tion brought by Mr. Fy sche Palmer, Member for Riad-
ing, against Captain Nicholas B. Bull, formerly Com•
minder of the King of the Netherlands steam-packetl,
for a libel published by him in the Juke Ball Never+
paper of the 18th of August; 1822, and in whicli
action the defendant had suffered judgment to go by
default. The plaintiff's damages were laid at £2OO.
Mr. CHMILES l'alLues stated the case for the
plaintiff. In the course of last year an event had oc-
curred, which caused at the time a very considerable
ferment, which, lie believed, had scarcely even yet
subsided. That event was the death of the late Lord
Londonderry. Considering the suddenness with which
it came upon the Public, and the mournful circum-
stances by which it was accompanied, few occur-
rences had ever created a stronger sensation in this
country. Different persons viewed it in different

lights; but there was no man—he spoke it to the ho-
nour of the country—let his political prejudices be
what they might—let him detest as strongly as pos-
sible the political principles of the late Lord London-
derry—who did not join in expressing sorrow at the
distress in which the manner of that distinguished
Nobleman's death bad plunged his surviving rela-
tions. Unmindful of political feelings, friend and
foe had j.,ined in a sincere, and, he believed, well-
merited tribute to his virtues. Few men had had

the good fortune to possess a greater number of pri-
vate friends; and in proportion to their number must
have been the pain and disgust which they felt on,
hearing of the conduct which had been falsely im-
puted to his Hon. client by the defendant in the pre-
sent action. When.the news of Lord Londonderry's
death arrived at Reading, his client was in a private
billiard-room. The nesys.became the topic of con-
versation; and in a few days afterwards the feelings
of Mr. Palmer were horrified at reading this para-
graph in the John Bull Newspaper, which he should
distinctly trace to Mr. Nicholas Boys Bull. The
Learne,l Gentleman then read from the John Bull the
following paragraph :
" Mr. C. Fysche Palmer was in the billiard-room at Reading,
between twelve and one o'clock on Tuesday morning, when be
said to Dr. iklitford, of that town, that' Ile should have a dinner
at the Crown on the occasion, with a haunch of venison, and

turtle, and tots tfpunch 1' This he repeated several times, add-
ing, ' that it should be a regular jollification."'
—Now, what kind of person must the world suppose
Mr. Palmer to be, if, filling the station 'in society that
he does fill, he could, after hearing of the mournful
death of• a distinguished individual, express himself
in the barbarous and inhuman phrases that were im-
puted to him—if he could make the death of that
di.tinguished individual, with whom he had never
had any quarrel, and who was, besides, the favoured
Minister of • his Majesty, not merely a subject for
indecent remark, but even a subject for merri-
riment and regular jollification ? The libeller went
on—" Mr. Fysche Palmer subsequently addressed
himself to an individual present, and asked him
to make ore of the party." It was worth 'the
while of the Jury to observe tile minuteness of the
particulars to which the libeller had adverted ; it
spewed the art and cunning of the man : he added
the particulars, in order to lead the reader of them
to this conclusion—that they were so many and so.
minute, that it was impossible that all of them could
he false. But to return to the paragraph: it went on:
—" This person feeling himself to be insulted" (and,
said Mr. Phillips, well he might) 46 by such aninvi-
tation, told Mr:Palmer that he as mach detested
him as he did his character and politics.'" Mr. Pal-
mer, it was well known, differed in politics, no doubt
conscientiously, from th' late Lord Londonderry;
upon the politics of that Nobleman, he (Mr. Phillips)
had neither time, nor place, nor intention at that mo-
ment, to dilate; all that he•claimed was, that the
same credit might be given to his client for purity of '
intention as the defendant seemed so anxious ,to de-
mand for the late Lord Londonderry. The defendant
went on to state, that the Gentleman who received
the invitation told Mr. Palmer that he 64 wished his

punch might choke him. Mr. Fysche Palmer incensed
at this rebuke, required an apology, which was re-
f rsed." These words, continued the Learned Gentle-
man, formed part of the paragraph complained of.
But these words were not all: they were accompanied
by comments, which he should also prove to have
been written by Mr. Nicholas B. Bull. In those com-
ments Mr. Palmer was described as a miscreant, who
in intellect and feeling was belo'w the brutes, as a
man who had disgraced himself by the use of expres-
sions that ought never to have escaped the lips of a
Christian and a Gentleman. Those comments, be it
recollected, were written by Mr. N. Bull, on a libel
of which he was the sole creator and inventor. Let
the Jury attend to them :
" One could hardly belieye, if one did not know it, that such
expreuions could have escaped a Christian and a Gentleman (as
Mr. Painter we presume to be, as being in Parliament), even
though be were a Whig ; but true it Is, that in this most extraor-
dinary display of patriotic feeling, Mr. Fysche Palmer thus pub-
licly indulged."
—They might, perhaps, be inclined to ask how thee
paragraphs gut into the newspaper in question He
would tell them : Mr. Bull went to the King's Bench
prison, where Mr. Shackell, the printer of the Joke
Ball, was at that time confined for a libel, of which
he had been found guilty. He dined with the printer,
and told him the circumstances which he (Mr. Phillips)
had just detailed to them.. The printer, on hearinf
them, felt considerable astonishment, and said, " It s
impossible that they can be true!" "Oh !" replied
Mr. N. Bull, " I'll give you my honour, or my oath,
if you like, that they're all true r The printer then
asked him—" What is it you want me to do ?"
want to write them," said Mr. Bull, " as a paragraph
for your paper." The editor then desired him to sit
down and write them. He wrote them accordingly.
Mr. Shackell was struck with the improbability of the
story, and again asked the question, how was its
truth to be vouched for? Mr. Bull replied, "1, for
one, am willing to vouch for it; besides, I'll give you
the names of the persons who were present." " Well,
then," said Mr. Shackell, " if such be the case, I I
think it only right that his constituents should know
what sort of a person they have got to represent
them." The libel was, in consequence put to press;
and if the matter had rested there, it might, perhaps,
have been somewhat excusable, from the haste with'
which it was composed. Unfortunately for the defend-
ant, he could not even have the benefit of this ex-
.

. . , . .
cuse. It was on the Thursday that the conversation
which he had just detailed took place. Ott the Sator-
day followink.Mr.Shackell again' suSifOr Mr. Bolt.
He had then got the proof or resoiseisFige paragraph
question.. He -gave it: of 1-Mi. -N. Bally saying,
4 Here is the prost-s-400k it IlitOr, and if you are not'
quite sure of what you state, we'll leave tl,e paraT,
.it
' graph out altogether." “ No," said Bull. " don't ci; '
(that—it's true as gospel-..put itinl”.. snAthat, inste •
Hof cancelling it, lie gave it his deliberate approlsa+
1 tion, after he had had two whole day'. to 112BeC. f Urn
it. Not ouly did he approve v.f the !tatements,,hut
,also of the comments by which they were Accompa4
vied. It was almost unnecessary to i A,...tne their
minds with a repetition of them; but tbeie was one
to which be could not refrain from driw lug their at-
tention. It was this—
" A Whig of eminence may be andwed some excuse for re.
joking at the fall of a great Tory. breanse Ms • ruling passion.—
tbe hope of place—may be flattered by such an event ; but this
'apology cannot be allowed to „men wilose talents and preten-
sions are so extremely humble as those of Mr. Pilmer, who. ex-
cept, perhaps, as deputy assistant clerk to Mr. Creevey, would
never be employed by any Administration upon earth: •
That was one-of the comments : but let them listen
to what came next. After abusing Mr. Palmer in.
every possible manner, oil he goes—
" Lest the incredibility of the above statement should make it
doubtful with our readers, we beg to observe that there were
is the room, amongst other witnesses to the affair, the Ilnu. Cid.
Aostruther, Capt. Price, Mr. Tuppin, Mr. Thomas Tanner,
Mr. Bull, and Captain Rich."
It would strike the Jury with horror to hear, that
of the gentlemen thus vouched by the libeller to have
been the witnesses to the allair, one was in France,
another in B:ightln, another confined to his bed by ill
health, and the fourth absolutely unknown iri the
town of Reading ; and yet it was on the authority of
such persons that Mr. Bull avouched a libel to be
true which he hims'elf positively knew to be false.—
Perhaps, however, Mr. N. Bull laboured under some
mistake. There was no ground for stating that Mr.
N. Bull had acted under a mistake ; the whole story
was a pure invention of his own; nothing had oc-
curred that was at all like it. He would produce the
Gentlemen who were present in the billiard-room,
and they would declare upon their oaths, that so far
from the facts being as Mr. Bull had stated, they
were directly the reverse—that, in place of the con-
versation imputed-to Mr. Palmer, he had expressed
before Mr. Bull the regret which he felt at the man-
ner of Lord Londonderry's death, had stated his sor-
row at seeing the people about Wokingham rejoicing
-at his death, and had added, that he had gone out
of his Inn there on purpose to rebuke them for so
doing. He should prove, he repeated, that this was
said in the presence of Bull himself ; what, then, must
that individual be, who after hearing Mr. Palmer ex•
press his regret at the manner in which Lord London-
derry had died, and his indignation at the savage joy'
with which the people received the tidings of it—
what must he be, who under such circumstances,
could go to, the publicpress of the country, and im-
pute to his 'honourable client conduct dialnetrically
the reverse of that which he had actually followed?
He would tell the Jury what Mr. Bull was. Hewas
the son-in-law of Mr. Tanner; one of the persons skid
to be present at the conversation, and one of the most
violent opponents of Mr. Palmer athis diterentelee-
tions in Reading. That circumstance might afford
them some clue to the malice which had led the de-
fendant to write the libel for which he was now called
upon to answer. He would bring before them indi-
viduals of great influence in the town of Reading,
who would tell them, that if his Hon. client had not
taken this method of vindicating his character the
electors of Reading would never again have returned
him to Parliament; for, feeling as men and Chris-
tians ought to feel, they would have spurned a man
who could make the death of a political opponent a
fit subject for merriment and revelry. It was not
long before the Club, in-whose room this conversa-
tion was said to have occurred, assembled to take
notice of it.. The persons who were present whilst
Mr. Palmer was in the toom were all examined as to
it. Every one of them declared upon his honour, first
of all, that he did not hear one word of the imputed
conversation ; and, secondly, that he had not given
any information of it to the John Bull newspaper.—
' Colonel Anstruther, the President, then wrote to Mr.
Nicholas Bull, who was the only person present who
' had not been examined, requiring from him a similar
disavowal. The following was his reply :
• .. •,- *. ' - . • i'-.% .1- to London, Sept. IS, 18211.
" Sir,,--In reply to your letter which I received but this mo-
ment, on my return from Holland, I beg to state that Mr. Pal-
mer did, in my presence and in my hearing, say to Dr. Mitford,
who was then in conversation with Mr. Palmer on the subject
Of the death of the Marquis of LondOnderry, that be would go
and prepare for a good' blew out' (that was his expression;--that
there would be a haunch of veni•rin, and plenty of punch too;
and more-than once invited the doctor to partake of it; and I d
verify and truly believe that ibis invitation was given in conic.
'pence of the lamented death of the Marquis of Londonderry;
and I do most candidly,. and as a man confess, that I have re-
peated what I have beard to my own privatefriends, but not
with intention of its publicity," fa deliberate falsehood, said Mr.
Phillips, as I will prove t 6 you upon oathr; " and I Would pet
k to Mr. Palmer's honour; whether or no this invitation 'tfts
not given in consequence of the-event alluded to.
.. .
I have the honour of remaining, '
Sir, your most obedient servant, 1
" NICH. B. BULL
" To the Hon. Col. Anstruther, Reading, Berks."
Now; he would produce Mr. Shackell, who wotild
prove, that instead of not wishing to give the fabri-
cation publicity, the defendant had absolutely forced
him to publish it, and after reading the proof-sheet
which contained it, had given his honoor that it was
all correct. .He would produce a letter in Mr. Bull's
own band-writing, in which be said that he would 'oe
answerable for the contents of the paragraph, and be
hoped that , the Jery would make him a. little more
answerable than he had expected.to be made. The
letter was in answer to ooe from the printer :
0 My dear Shackell-,We have just arrived,"and•l• have this.
moment seen your man, and have got your note, as well as the
inclosed. What am Ito do ? I cannot say._ tbo every worth
mentioned in the sank is exactly true; but UM' F'Arner Wilke
was going to proiride Ms-dingier On the occasion is vs true-de dint
.I am alive.- This has muck hart me for Leectainly ex
sonic parts. Pray write me, and tell me what you advise epe ;IN
do. We are off again in the morning, and I tweiltitcuast to you.l
but cannot spare a minute. Our passage baspeess *post arduow,
one. Pray tell me what I can do to gams( 0( Mis roe/ nee-'
plentivtmaffsairha e% aii
.cklren remain jose.u.seck hits blear "14
... N. B. BULL"
..I,_
il
What could they think-Of a mim who had acted thtts
to an honourable indiiidual-tOro'Could 'deliberately
say that a Gentlemint expressed exultation -and triu mph
at the death of at, individual of whose fate' he had
always Spoken with regret ?—who could publish:to
the world that a man of rank and education Was
preparing to revel and Make merg'otet the body of

..:; el 4 .

. , •
his political opponent hefi.ic it hid yei grown cOl d fro n'i
the blow which insanity had indieted upon it Si-..."' tvlid
could detail with a particularity of taleehaut the
frost dis:,usting, that an honourable hian like hit
client had, t‘ith a f- worse [hall that of the can-
._ elan`
I,Dibal, declared his inteatioa Of making the death of
,a 'min who had never injured him, the subject of
r' botttiapemerrirtent ? Up to that day the defend-
ant hont,igiyleno.itoraement for the atrocious calum-
nies Iseiluid-otterede he latd-, put •in a plea 44' the ge.
nthiit-isiue;•and-ftati,kept it to4lte.lata extremity ;and
it 'rat itrily *IWO Irethtind that. Mr., Palmer was net
to ite deter relTrorh. rina itit iriehts 'Character, that tae
had' alloyed judgmient to gn by default., fltti„ Phillips
then called the attention of the• Jury to, the litre of
'coltitudt whiCh Mr.- Patinae 'had thought proper to
ow:wander titese iircuntstakces. . Ilasimortey•beett
his object, he would have attkkedihettrop. tie' tors of
the John Bnll Newspaper, because -i• Patter of the
great eirculatints which the John •roduciOtOsed must
be provided With stifficieortundt •to antietrati de-
mands made against it. But upon Me.Trilitsek's going
to them, and upon their informing hisilliit they had
published the statement in quettoh•till iiiiithshbrity
of a person who •proto,fsed-txr *Unit 'for k-Oitoath,
and that they wet* ready inttniseq' pew* Gilts false-
hood to give him up, Mr; Palliser 'raid, tbsdAtongh
the printer was much 'to binite- fat' 'giving such
easy currency t,, so outrageottia-slander, still the
author of it was much more culpable, and there-
fore against hint only would he proceed. He was
given to understand that the • defendant was not
a person in good circhmstaneer; his brief stated
that he had recently been an insolvent. He knew,
however, that he was the son-in-law of Mr. 'fanner,
one of the most wealthy persons in the town of Read-
ing, and he therefore thought 'hat the damages in
this case could not inconvenience him much. At any
rate poverty was no excuse. The law said that the
man who could not pay in purse must pay in Per-
son ; and he asserted that if the plea of poverty was
set up by the defendant, it opened to him
.(Mr. Phil-
lips) this remark—that as chiruter wits -th• only
Wealth of poverty, he ought hoe to have endeieonted
to rob a Gentleman of that gem, cif which, as it was
the only property he poisesie4heoupt toliave bet-
ter known the valUe. TheieWain'oe•point Which he
had forgotten. ' He Understood that Mr.Pahnerhad
dined out on the day in question, and that Mr. Bull
had pitched upon that foundation his whole story.
He was prepared to prove, in case any allusion was
made to that topic,•that the invitation had been given
three weeks before, and•had no relation whatever to
the death of the Marquis of Londonderry. He should
now proceed to prove the facts Which he had stated;
and having done so, he knewthe case could not be
left in better hands. . . ' •-•-. • •-• •- - •- •
William Shacked and his brother, Edw. 'Shackell,
were then called, and fully proved the-case, as
stated by the Learned Counsel. .
Captain W. H. Hall and Captain Wodehonse, who
were in the billiard-room at the time of the alleged
conversation, here proved that nothing of the kind
had occurred.

John Hoope Greene, Esq. deposed that he had
been a resident at Reading for the last eight years.
He knew Mr. F. Palmer: he was one of the Members
for Reading: he had been twice returned after a se-
vere contest. . ' •
As far as you are conversant with the inhabitants
'of Residingtdo you know what impression this state-
ment of Captain Bell's made upon them to the ad-
vantage or disadvantage of Mr. Palmer?
. The witness answered, that to his knowledge most
-Material injury had been duneto his character by it:
•
he had had the plea Sure oC tassiving 'Mr: FyiChe
Pal-
mer for some years.
Mr. Knight, and gr. *Morns, beth residents of.
Reading, also stated .that.oii.. paragreiih in the Alta
But( 444_149e bp,V4pi:ei great paid getseraliaiachief
in that tewn,,„ , ,
Mr. Pp ur4.ssii hoe int. in tie Vaiions letters which
be had read in tke cOprse of hit Sited, and also the
original . manusrApt;*of jhat • Ail,. in itTicholas
. .
Bull's writing. u•
Mr. ALLay,atidiesfect :the 'Airy for the ileliencla or.
• .•, •. •
The quisaps. fanattislt Aptnied evidence,
and left it totlieplitiy 1;? costsidei their ierdikt. .
The Forremikn Of tfic Jury is:jolt:that lie wased to
know, before :the' ;nom was
,4earid. for the..TurY to
deliberate, Whether they could dive
griAfei d4Mages
than those. laidtin the declaration T Hi,•-issight be
asked tie questiOn , by, his 'brother Jurymen ; and if ,
he were, he should not.#B6,*, how to answer.it.
The UN ornittaktpq said, that Wal 4' very proper
question to he.4kitr7. • lito*irst.ite, riply, that
, . .
greater -dantages.cimild not be even than those men-
tioned ita the -deilaration.
The Jury, after a short deliberation, returned a
verdict for the. pAainti ff— Damages £2OO.
We under Stand, that' the.jory expressed their re-
gret that they were noridlowetttapve more.

According to a Parliamentary paper, the expense
of the Custom House establishment in Scotland is
£122,4b2.: .
IMPORTANT TO MANIIVACIIIIIERS OS WOOLLENS.
By a Decree puhlishi:d at Lisbon, on Marck 12th, the
operation of the Decree of the 14th of July, 1821, is
suspended, and the importation of British Woollens
into Portugal allowed, on paying a duty of only 15
per cent. This regulation is to remain in force till
the conclusion of the Treaty now negotiating with
Great Britain. . -
•
HIGHLAND SMUGGLERS, AND SASENAOIt flat.
GOONS.—Saturday se'nnight, Mr. SMITH, Excise of-
ficer, Cupar Angus, having been apprized of a con-
cealment of one hundred aukers of whisky en Cairn-
-01-Mount, set out with a party of the Scots Greys to
levy war upon them for the King's use.' On arriving
at the place, they found their intended prize guarded
by forty armed Highlandinen, who shewed no dispo-
sition to surrender the .whole of their charge, though
they offered the iniairtni,party a free-will.offering of
forty aukers.. The offer was rejected, and the &g-
-goons were ordered forward; but floes the depth of
I the snow there was only nee pass which could be en.

tered, and it .was so narrow as only to admit of a
single horseman advancing at a time. He who led
the van in tha attack was speedily dismounted by one
of the Braemen; and the King's servants, thos con-
vinced of the impossibility of leaking a seizure, now
offered to accept the forty Vikers. Thu smugglers,
aware of their advantage. refused to comply ; but
made them a compliment of nine ahkers, with which
they departed 1
•