The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-12-08 00:00:00

would read against Player's Magazine, was he then in a situa-
tio uto make such a complaint as he had that-day made? Mr.
Erie then proceeded to read a great many articles in various
publications containing attacks on Fraser's Magazine, from the
year 1832 to 1831, and called evidence to prove the connexion
of Mr. Watts with the papers in which they appeared.
Lord Dentnait concluded his charge to the jury by saying
that the evidence offered 10 show that Mr. Watts had libelled
Mr. Fraser had altogether failed. The jury would, therefore,
consider what was the natural injury such a work would sus-
tain, and give what they thought fair damages against the per-
sons who had inflicted-upon the plaintiffs this injury.
The jury having retired for about a quarter of an hour re-
turned a verdict for the defendants on the first count, as they
did not consider the publication in November, 1834, to be a
libel, and for the plaintiff on the second count—Damages, £l5O.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.-SATURDAY
TA lIPLEG, CLERK V. BLABY.

LIBEL-Mr. Sergeant Wilde stated the plaintiff's case, who
is the clergyman of the parish of Fiore, in the county of North-
amptonshire. The defendant is a respectable farmer residing
in that neighbourhood. A series of libels of the grossest de-
scription bad been published in the Northaandon Free Press on
'the plaintiff, and the defendant being. the author of them, the
action was brought to remove the injurious imputations cast
upon the character of the plaintiff. The libel complained of
insinuated that the plaintiff was illegitimate, and that he had
given "a new version of the list of voters," by having "muti-
lated it by a sort of clerical grammatical dexterity, converting
the plural into the singular, and allowing voters mho have from
two to nine houses only one house." The libel also doubted
the purity of the plaintiff's religious and moral conduct, liken-
ing him to Judas, and pointing him out as a hypocrite, and
charging, him with being "a justice of the pe4ce, a turnpike-
road-commissioner, a licensed gaine-ki11,,,r, a hark-aivay fox
hunter, and lastly a parson." The publication of the libel,
together with a great number of others contained in placards
published by the defendant, having been proved,
Mr. Sergeant Adams, for the deendant, addressed the court,
led evidence to how that the plaintiff had also published
laitiMitlqually virulent in reply to those of the defendant. The
nature of this evidence will be collected from the reply of
Mr. Sergeant Wilde who said that, although he felt it his
duty to offer souse observations to the jury on the evidence
offered on the part of the defendant, he would abstain from
uttering a word that could mislead them. Ile was utterly as-
tounded at the vituperation in which his learned friend. had
indulged in opening the defendant's case, and could not under-
stand why such uncalled-fur contumely had been levelled at
the plaintiff. 'A libel, which was calculated to disgrace and
hunt from society a highly respectable clergyman, was said by
his learned-friend to be all nonsense. The church was now the
subject of the most exci4g discussion; and if it were intended.
to make a run against clergyman, a better course could not
be adopted for the purpose than representing him as a tory,
and charging him with smuggling tory votes on the registration
list. The allegation of midnight destruction hid altogether
failed, and so had every other part of the defence. The plaintiff
challenged full investigation, and his mostnnxious desire was
that his whole conduct should undergo an impartial examina-
tion. It was in this spirit, and from this wish, that the present
appeal was made to a jury of his country.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—darnages 40s. They
also found a verdict for the plaintiff on the other issues.