Star.
London, England, 1812-01-24 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

. -

SHERIFFS-COURT, 'I HU RSDAY, JAN. O.
MENNYI ESQ. V. WALSH AND LANE.
A special Jury of Merchants ti London met to
assess the damages, under a writ of enquiry, in this
i. ti,tn, in which the defendants had sufferedjudgment
- to go ag iinst them by default.
Mr. S .ijoant BEST stated the case on behalf of the
plafntiii, who i.. a Captain in his Majesty's Royal
Navy, and Master and Commander t.t his Majesty's
sloop Trinculo. The. defendants are:the responsible
proprietors f the daily newspapers called the British
Press and the Glebe; and the action was for a libel
on the plaintiff, whiat appeared in bbtla these news-
hr ing and evening if the 11th Oc-

:

now holding at Slicernes4 nn Capt. Renny,
Trinculo, for charges pr ferret againit
drunkennett and covr.ti dice. Capt. Renny
he read his cl• fence en- Mondry last —t' c
not yet known. Cwt. R. it a iiephew of

leant began by mat king the boun-
:y of the British press, to which
by the title of the newspaper in
it became juries to preserve that
ihoved them to guard against the
to press. He was content to take
ibel and not libel, as those of false-
Ind the libel, which the present de-
litted should be called so, Was not
not the least foundation in or relit-
plaintiff had been engaged in the
lormiug the duties of its profession,
had t: e misfortune to be on bad
ors, cf whom the First Lieutenant
:hargcs against hint, for which he
irt-martial. With some of these offi-
was convinced of the defendants'
they refused to give up the name
libel, he was warranted in cons'.
ily as the printers and publishers of
tators and authors. He then pro-
'law respecting the publication of
Courts of Justice; a practice per-
inled by that law, and by every one
trovided only that it be done correctly,
when the Court s required, provided
's be published pending the trial of a
more days than ore. These restric-
h, no one had a right to complain
tight have received from such cor-
i entire publication. Could the libel
id such a report ? A Court-mar-
at Sheerness"—it was over. This
the paper of Friday, the II th of
. Court-martial had met on the pre-
the 7th, and had pr' notinced its
following Wednesday, the news of
have arrived in town from Sheer-
in Thursday ; and yet the Wen-
ike the trouble of enquiring at the
'ing the truth of the report, or the
t•miirtial, d;Avn to Friday evening,
the libel into their other paper, the
►s they supplied the public with
king and afternoon) and deliberately
to sentence of the Court-martial was
Their information, however, at-
minute as far as it went. •, Captain
'what? - has denied the charges most
offered to prove by, evidence, that
:tilt of malice and conspiracy?—
:d insanity," thereby, as it should
;he truth of the charges of drunken-
:e,and only excusing them by the
grievous frailty of human nature
is pleased to inflict upon mankind.
:fence : his defence was such as the
had stated, and did not mention the
the sentence was known. But
Seileant had the while proceedings
Would be proved. The lodgment
that the charges against Captain
were most unfounded, and not at
he Court did thetefute most fully
-ably acquit the said Alexander
every pert thereof. 'the Court
time at a loss for expressions sufil-
mar k their sense of this prosecutitin,
or gittate in malice, a perversion
tsuborilitiation which could not be
:obated. This sentence was pro-
rednesday ; and on the Ft Way came
the statement which formed the sub.
t action. But the malignant author
tent es ith slandering the plaintiff
who was privately known only by
tosition, and publicly only •by Itts
which should have induced every
his fame through the worisl—Sir
: come in for a spattering of the
R. is a nephew cf Sir• D. Baird."
ivid Baird to do with the Court-mar-
in • Realty ? And although the re.
as to render him proud of his-
try statement of the fact, at the cad
and slanderous defence which the'
id to have set up, and the effect of;
to be yet unknown, slimed the ma-
the writer of the: libel ; and would
in a case of this kind, even thcugh
writer were stu..s usly kept out of
to be given up, in recompensing
*large damages. The libel was
Defendants papers into several
the journalists of this town rely
tility of each other for the truth of
nature, affecting character so ma-
•e was not a respectable newspaper
:h would have originated such a re-
From a. third person, without the
inquiry into its authenticity; f r
;rent responsibility, and the public
advertising their correspondents that
zomrnunication must'rte Letter yeti.
being tender politic). The pars
' the defendants' libel. upon the as-
would not have published it unless
be true, had all been proceeded
plaintiff's only object being to go
head of the slander, those prosecu-
!ropped upon proper apologies, which
to make except the British Prat.—
of this paper (Mr. Lane), Cap-

fain 15 undas, the plaintiff's friend, had called ; and I
by whom he was informed, that the article had been I
written upon the Editor's own table, by a friend of
his, a gentleman from Deal or Dover ; and the name
of this gentleman Mr. Lane refused to give up. If.
he had, this enquiry would not have come before
the Court : and the Learned Serjeant now offered
to give up the case, and take nominal damages from
the defendants, if they would name to the plaintiff the
author of the libel, and furnish him with evidence to
proceed against him. Nor to this hour had any apo-
logy file the libel ever appeared in the Britith Frew.
The Learned Serjeant then proceeded to urge the
dearness of character to all, particularly to a sailor ;
and how fatal to him the least imputation was, th
he was deficient in courage or intellect, and had not
the full and constant posers:ion cif nis faculties. The
plaintiff had commanded,expeditions, and looked still
to command ethers, when he would doubtless have
occasion to give orders, the immediate reason and
necessity of which might not be apparent to every
seaman under his command. How necessary was it
that qo imputation of perversion of intellect should
glance upon a man in these circumstances ! Let but
such a report obtain a footing among his crew, and
subordination was at an end : all h s schemes were
liable to defeat ; his enterprises were sapped ; and his
exploits turned awry. The Learned Serjeant con-
cluded with an encomium on the British Navy, to
whom it was we owed the preservation of our coun-
try, the stability of the throne, the distinctions of pro-
perty,
and the exercise of those laws altich the lay
sat here in some part to administer. Surely, then, a
Naval Officer might securely appeal to those laws,
which his profession supported, and would meet with
that justice which his case deserved.
The minutes and sentence of the Court-martial.
were proved, pet in, and read.
Captain Dundas proved, that he had called upon
Mr. Lap six weeks ago, and reytested an apology to
be made in the Brilish Press for the libel in gurecion.
It had previously been contradicted in the Gybe of
the 15th of October. He then went in company
I with another Captain. He also called ten days ago
in company with Mr. Hyatt, the plaintiff's solicitor;
but still no concession was made in that paper. Mr.
Lane always refused to give up the author's name.
Mr. Hyatt added, that he had called this day
week : Mr. Lane stated the author of the libel to have
a particular and intimate knowledge of his brother.
Mr. GARROW then addressed the Jnry on behalf of
t the defendants, in mitigation of damages. He yin-
I dicaad the conduct of the defendants in nat giving
up the name of the author of the paragraph ; the in-
sertion of which he attributed to one of the chances
and casualties of newspaper composition. The Lear-
tied Coansel could conceive a case in which a man
might find himself in a coffee-house or in a mail coach,
with a naval officer, who should tell him as a matter
of news, that a court-martial had been opened on Mon-
day against so and so, whom he left reading a long
defence ; but the charges were so well supported,
that he must certainly be convicted. A case like this
would happen as long as Courts of Justice were open
to ail, and even attended by those who left unheard
one half of a trial, and did not understand the other.
This man should arrive in town a day or two after-
wards ; and happening to meet with his friend, who
should be one of the editors of our j urnals, should
tell him of the circumstance, and a paragraph ahou4l
be made of the news. In such a case he conceived
the editor would be justified in not giving up the
name of his informant, and in going before a Jury
himself, free and acquitted of malice ; for the clef,:n-
dents did not know the plaintiff: and it was the
Jury's province, in such a case, to give such mode-
rate, reasonable damages, as the accident and mis.
!fortune of the defendants might requite. The pant-
graph had been contradicted by the Glubr; and all the
otht.r copyists of it ; and it could notbe supposed that
the plaintiff's character had been in the slightest de-
gree injured by it.
After a suit.tble chlrge from the Judgeof the Court,
the Jury assessed the damages at A:500.

BOW-STREF.T.—Wednesday evening four men, who
are charged with uttering forged certificates of the
number of years of their service in the Royal Navy.
and by that means obtaining larger pensions than
they were entitled to, and defrauding the Commis-
sioners and Govern,,rs of Greenwich Hospital, were
brought to the Office by Vickery, and admitted to
bail themselves in £5O, And two sureties in
_£2s each.

James Howard, charged wit)t a similar off, nce, who
had only served six years, but passed a certificate for
twenty yeats service, and by that means obtaitied a
pension of i. 20 a year, and there being seven cases
against him, he having uttered six others be-
stdes his own, and not being prepared with bail to
answer each charge, he was committed.
MARLDOttOUGII-sTREET.- G. Hannam, who was a •
clerk in the banking-hcuse of Messrs. Birch and
Chambers, in Bond-street, was taken into custody at
Sandgate, in Kent, on Wednesday, and yesterday he
underwent an examination ; having absconded with
one note for £2OO, and another for £€.so, which he
had taken out of a drawer at the banking.house, but
other property was obtained by transfer from the
hocks, substituting names, and embezzling the money
purporting to have ben tiansferred. In addition to
this, there . were other charges for frauds, which I.e
had carried into execution ty making use of his em-
ployers' names. When appiehended, the £5O note
was found upon him, as well as others to more tt.an
that amount in small news, with a bag of guineas
and small gold, together with some Portugal coin,—
He was committed.

COIiONEIt'S INQUESTS.—Tuesday afternoon an In-
quest was held before Mr. UNWIN, the Coroner, at
the sign of the Ashby Castle, Northampton-square,
Clerk, nwell, on the body of a youth, 14 years of age.
It appeared that he was discovered to the watchman
while going his rounds, near the above suare, at
one &clot k, on Saturday morning last, quite dead,
sup; osed to have expired in a fit. The Jury, after a
mature deliberation, returned a verdict of—Died by
the Visitation cf Gon.

An inquest was taken on Tuesday evening, before
the Coroner for Southwark, on the body of a middle.
aged man, named Chapman, residing in Falcon.
court, in the Borough, when it appeared in evidence
that the deceased, while vocifer.iting some horrid im-
precations (in a state of intoxication), sud,tenly drop-
ped down dead. The Jury, after a sl.ort deliberation,
returned a verdict—Died by the Visitation of God.

• p tilers on the morni
t her laq, as follow
•• A court-mania! is n
et his Mai vy's sloop '
Lin by officers, for 4
I as pleVesi inanity; he
sentence is, however, t
Sir I).
l'he learned Serji
dairies of the libert3
subject he was led
goes:ion ; and as it
liborty, so it also bel
licentiousness of the
the distinctions of lil
bood and truth ; an
finclants had submi
only false, but had I
tion to truth. The
North Seas, in perfo
and there he had 1
terms u ids his office:
had pref. rred the cl
WAS flied by a court,
ccrs the plaini:ff
conneetion ; and as
of the author of the
Bering them not and
it, but as the origin:
ceeded to state the.
the proceedings of (
mitted and sancti.)n,
of those Courts, pro'
and in some cases,
that no proceedings
Pause wh ch lasted r
tions corn niied with
of any injury he mi
rect, impartial and
in question be calla
tial is now holding ;
report appeared in
October • and the(
ceding: Monday, tl
sentence on the fc
which might well 1
aess by the post on
darns did not tak,
Admiralty respectit
result of the Court.
when they copied t]
Globe, (for it seems
slander both mernil
affirmed, that " the
not yet known."
fected to be very
Renny has"—done,
positively, and has
they were the resit
No ; " has pleaded
seem, confessing thi
ness and cowardice
plea of the most g
Plinvinexce
He did read his dei
Learned Serjeant h
word insanity ; ant
what was it ? the S
in Cour, and they
of the Court was,
1 Alexander Reim), ,
311 ;novel ; and th
and most honour.
Ronny of all, and
were at the same ti
ciently, sirong to. m
which appeatect to
of hints, and an its
• too strongly repro
mulged cn the We,
the partial and falsi
jest of the present
of it was not Collte
Sir David Baird, v
his amiable dive'
brilliant exploit., vi
journalist to ring
David. Baird 'must
•• Captain
What bad Sir •Davi
tial against Captair
suit of . it.was such.
nephew, yet the dr
of the fablica'ted an
plaintiff was stated
which was stated t(
lignant motive of tl
warrant the Jury, ii
the name of the w
sight, and refused t
the plaintiff with
copied from the :
Other papers, for t
uptiti the responsibi
paragraphs of this
p•rially ; and there
among them which
poet; or taken it fr
most satisfactory
they knew their gri
%Lilly saw them ad'
Such and such. a co
fled, the subject be
which had copied
surance that they
they knew it to 1)
against ;' put the
to the fountaimhea
tions had been dro
all had consented t
'Upon the Editor