Star.
London, England, 1827-05-22 00:00:00

His Honour illustrated his po.ition by other ezanapha:
as that d a person omitting to put out ,a candle+ by
which an bored house was burnt; and the case of a
.sailoe wholaunched upon a tempestuout ocean, Where
bis ship is lost; and concluded a most luminous and
eloquent address by decreeing for the plaintiffs.
COURT•OF COMMON PLEAS, M* In.
cot.. ZERILIMAT 0. COL. ItAtithiAs.
This was an action for libel, in which the plaintiff re•
covered a verdict, with 501. damages, at the Sittings
after the last Term. Colonel Fairman this day per-
sonally applied fot a rule to shew caabe for a new trial,
uposi art affidavit is which, after stating his indigence,
an allusion was made to a certain theatrical heroine,
with whom the plaintiff cohabited. It was stopped by
the Court, and, as the Colonel could not drew that he
had been prevented by the plaintiff from applying fo
a rule before the judgment was signed, the Court re-
fused the rule.

LIVY V. lIIILWZ.

Mr. Sergeant WILDI 'hewed cause against a Rule,
which was obtained on a former day by Mr. Sergeant
Adams, to shew Cause why the verdict in this cause
should not be set aside, and a new trial had. Ii will be;
recollected, that this trial took place before the Lord,
Chief Justice, at Westminster, at the iktinga after lasi
Term, and the Jury returned a verdict fur the defeird.l
ant. It was an action brought by Mr. Levy, a Sheriff's
officer, residing in the vicinity of Oxford-street. against
the proprietor of a periodical publication, called The
Spirit of Me Timms, to recover a comperisation• io do,
mages for having published a libel in that work, which
the plaintiff considered to be injurious to his goodnanse.
fame, trtc. The alleged libel was in the form of a song;
and was headed " Levy the Bum."
Mr. Sergeant Wrose, in sheaving cause against the
rule, observed that this was not a case in which a Jury
' had given a hasty verdict ; but they had taken t met
'deliberate upon the facts proved in evidence; and altar
calm and,cool reflection they had come to the cooelatio•
that the defendant was entitled to a verdict. Mather
the Jury were right or wrong in that conclusion it wai
far their Lordships to determine; but he (the Learned
&rgeint) was of opinion, that they were perfectly right,
and that the verdict ought not to be disturbed. It was
a recognised principle of law that a libel was a pub
lication the nature and tendency of which was to
injure or degrade, and the publication of which
the . plaintiff complained had no such tendency.--;
It merely told a ridiculous story in verse, which asps
calcul.ted to raise a laugh, but not to injure or degrade
anybody. Their Lordships must know that different
feelings existed in the minds of persons in a different
station or rank in society, and what might be considered
a libel on one individual would not be a libel on atroo,
ther. Regard must be had to the rank in society of the
parties, as it would be aboud to hold a publication a
libel on a person in one station.of life. b- cause it would
be a libel on a person of a different rank in society.—
The Jury.who tried the cause were of about the fame
rank is the plaintiff, and were fully able to-judge of
the objeCt, character, and tendency of the poblicatioa,
-and they bad pronounced it to he no libel on the plain-
,tiff. He therefate contended that, as, the Jury, ia cases
of libel, were judges of the law as well as the fact. their
verdict ought not to be set aside.
The Lord Chief Justice Bear said, that he would,
not trouble Mr. Sergeant Adams to reply, the Court
/laving male up its mind on the question under discus-
sion. One of the most beautiful parts of our Consti-
tution was. that if any thing was done ikeyror in our
Coatis of Justice, it could be afterwards tea sight in the
Court above. If this were not the case. trial by Jury,'
instead of being a-blessing tattle country. would prove
the reverse. It the Jury were Judges of the law as well
as of the fact. much evil would at ise from arbitrary de:
cision4. In the present case the Jury had found a entrain
against the law. The Learned Judge who tried the cattail
pronouticed the publication to be a libel on the plaintil4
and he was authorised to do so after evidence was resale.
ed, prov'ng that it applied to the plaintiff, and imputed
to him that he had acted wrongfully in his character of
Sheriff 's officertand held him up in a most ridiculous light.
A publication of that description had too long been held
in Westminster Hall to be a libel, for the question to be
now disputed. The Jury had returned-a vesdict in
direct opposition to the law, and the Judge's opinion.
' His brother Wilde had often stated, that in cases of libel
Juries were the judges of the law as well as of the fact,
but that he denied. The opinion of the Learned Sergeant
was probably founded on the 32d of Geo. 111. cap. 60.
which Aet of Parliament only applied to criminal cases,
and had no relation whatever to civil actions. His
Lordship, however, protested against the doctrine of
Juries being Judges of the law in criminal cases ; they
were bound to confine themselves to the fact, whether
the inuendo were proved or not—they, however, might
return a general verdict. His Lordship further' oto
served, that if a Jury, had a right to act in defiance of,
and in direct opposition to, the opinion, of the Judge—
if Juries were allowed to do so, the character of Judges
would be left to the arbitrary discretion of Juries, and
would not be protected by the law. He was firmly
convinced, that the publication was libellous, and that
the Rule ought to be made absolute.
The other Judges concurred with his Lordship.—
The Rule was made absolute.
The LORD Com Jorrics, some time afterwards ob-
served, that leo he should have been mitunderstood.or
lest any misapprehension should arise, he would take
that opportunity of stating, that in criminal cases, if
Juries found in favour of a defendant, in opposition to
the law. the verdict could not be set aside; but if they
found against a defendant, and against the law, the
Court above had power to set aside the verdict, and
grant a new trial. •