The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-12-15

ALE 0AGAx w 6hA1x VA06s
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Presecut1on Of the Wsw York Herald hY
Signsr Fry, late Aanaxer or me IeallaM
svPxslos Soyar.
Before Hon Judge oakley.
Dsc ls-At the opening Of the Court this msrnias she
summing up Of tbs unset in hs interesting was
continued by Mr.. Jordan on bshs Of the plaintiff.
CLOSING ADDRESS OF MR.. JORDAN FoR sIeNOR FRY
Mr.. Jordan and ssia-B-fors proceed to subs
nit our ideas to the jury upon tns subsct win avsm
state few points Of law which will hsad up to the
Court but previous TO doing Deg leave to submit
point is one of SUBJECT that ia perfectly familiar =
every court and every layer, aud moreover Is never
publication which charges IN. plaintiff With disSrsoesl
conduct and holds him TO htrst, rdiculs and
tempt, u Ibslous. We clam that these public &tiona
effect these objects, and that ground We
not by den al thas such In tteir efss but by
sort of . counter clam, would call it under the
code OF privilege cr.tcn sthsi words, the privi-
iegs Of criticism apprrbsnd the OF important sass-
ton about which the ths counsel win have any
trouble on his subject 10 wAstssr 'hsss bs from their
character within whst known In law privie ged
criticism. will undertst. ds6us what suppose Ia
be the privilege Of criticm vx-rh.t no publicatoa
which Is hbsllous, in other words which hels
up TO rideus contempt, privlss ed . criticism,
except it be matters 10 which the public have n,
paper occupant Of the puOt a.d the Ssssh, In sf.
FORTS Ofar the public have Immediate interest in
Them am willing to censsd. offsets Of criticism.
But whenever that point arrives At which the public In
teres there aks the pnbie Character and there
the mouth or the pen Of the critic must step.
l will take, for instance the author Of . BOOK
history. He Processes 10 wnt, the history Of
the Mexican war, or any sh-r particular period So
have an interest in it. ne In b-iors the pubic q
sert OF representative rather leader Of public opl-
Mona vehicle Of public infornstio. his history be-
part Of the literature Of the try and tia
HISTORY may be fairly His book, Is book.
that IT, as work Of the mind, and not work Of thu
hands-is liable to be critics.s II be criticised
verey 1t may be rciculed, provided it contains
doctrines enments which ridio slous contains
which consistent "th truth may be denounced
falsehoed bad reasoning Bat the you get
to the end Of that that moment the Office Of the critic
stops, and his protection stops Suppose man ID thu
author of book and that boz il aos be criticised
and riecued no action hes Bat suppose the critic
little beyond thai, asd charge. the Authsr and
publisher Of the book with having cheated the papsc
maker cut Of the paper tn hook o-wth having
cheated the composors who 'et the type to print L.
and the bookbnder whose hands bound t. and al tho
to know II making such charge would within the
province Of legitimate criticism There was
ferrtd to yesterday by learned friend the otheH
side. 1t Ia the OF Gather sole Mall 18th Meesou
and Wssby, asS In the side note to the case see II
stated that
parish charitable society in the parish from Ssnsa
o. which disssntes Arc BY ma 1ss the
sss i:Sss
81
.n fer pus8ss in evidence As
sRssy as H the ni.: i':n
they Be OF q .c have besn ssh. BY th: defendants s
ofthe paper and the consequent injury to the plaintiff
As ! have not had opportunity Of looking At the
the opinions Of the judges win not trouble the court
BY commenting that will the liberty,
however, OF saying that believe bears out the doc-
trne was about stating, h.d been stating at the
time dveIgea. Well, thes, not only the author Of
book but the publisher Of the subject oe
criticism; his wrtpgs-those in which the public A.
conseraedsre the SUBJECT Of critic and privileged cri.
uclm But the moment they get to the point where the
punss have Ave no interest hsr, tn: wig right Of the critic
the getting up Of the paper the employing Of the agents
the paper book to pr"ssvery thing Of that kind Z
. mere private matter it il the private business
Wiling Z admit that tSs morality, tn. ses the
ability Of the piecss represented by Mr. Fryths pro-
prisy Of conduct and ability Of the sectors and the
qualities of the whether rood bad or
different fair subjects Of Ultimate criticism because
thus far the public have stersthus far they have
AL the interest that they have 10 the opera Now, in
Sht at the time, that A beyond that An attack
upon the in his private and that the
attack comp'sned here upon any public act Of
the plaintiff with which the public bad any concern
Where has 1t been undertaken 10 crtce any OF his
pieces that he had psformsdwhsrs has it been undar-
taken to crcise the peri rmance of any of ii
tor-wheIe has it b.tn andstsk to crcise the
duct or ogrssy of the conduct of those actors upos
The s'age Not word of II in all these bitter and vim
c'ivs psblics tioDs which ted by the a
hn to the nun ber Of 1t least adozeH, believe there
ant In his remarks upon Mr. Fry, wert off Of the stage
behind the scenes into the grs-n room" into the
y.r Office. into his rooms oto Phadelphis New
York, anywhere else, excapt upon the stsge Of th<
opera use, to criicise rebuke ard the CON
duct Ct the plaintiff. he was ceyons his protects. d
critic is espor sble for the truth Of his facts In all cases.
Though errors Of judgment tolerated. the expressol
Of the Judgment .nd the reasoning the subject A
that In point Of fact subject to criticism But fsc1
are assumed for the purpose Of p'onou ncng Judgment
and crtcisng, the critic responsible for the truth Of
case, they assumed that at this sfsncy bali there
were prostitutes AID backlsgif they that in
there were similar class Of people, similar classes
if they assumed all that for the purpose Of founding
c,iticisn upon it. they .rs bound 70 show that the
facts true in order to justly the cr icism. The
critic right to assume what Is false and then 70
to pronounce his Judgment reasoning upon that
PENDANT with your Honors sanction Itrust-rssp
for all those declarations hs made matters Of fact
tending to %puSn Mr. Frys In that opeT.
in pute to the plaintiff disregard for justice prepris
and moral obligation The qualification in an action for
Ii mutt be broad the libel itself As for instance
lie libel charges drunkenness proof Of any degree
of into xication short of absolute drunkt JUG
vs. King in this State and it mil the law Of the state
of New York Let apply that principle to this
the Ilsinn is charged With having transmitted tele
graphic despatch from Phsdepha directing his agents
here TO libel abuse Madame Truf the proof that he
sent telegrsphic message announcing TO them that
justification has right to mingle little truth
with great deal Of fasehood and when complained Of
aleee that the charge was parity rue The offensive part
OF The charges in this Is utterly untrue and that
Part which proved to be true will shos by and BY
perfectly true Does my learusd friend on the oth
side intend to present any points the court nowf
Mr.. SandfordI win prepare In the course Of the
day.
Mr. Jo An then handed up his written points, smbrac.
ing Ii principles referred to the foregoing remarks
and then sad Gentlemen q the jury-Io before you
not for the pleasure Il coming before you you,
TO submit my views on the testimony in this nod
for the pleasure Of coming before you for than one
reason In the first place ths subject 10 disaSreeable
and the seeona Iace the stats of my health ID NOD
good hav been alta eked slightly last evening" believe
by the effects Of cold and feeling little feveish to-day
nay make unable 10 ad you - l would desire
But however. will try to disc args my duty-withod
talking much about nysel which Is always bed tasts
quietly with as little physical exsrion to myself and
briefly and with little espsss upon your patience
~ possibly can and do justice to the subject before
you. Ny lesrsed friend the other aide for whoso
udgme mt aud talent have the highest respect has