The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-05-19
spOoNER VS.. DANIEL.

FRIDAr MORNING. MAJ 10, 1854
SPOONER vs.. DANIEL.
Wegave ycsterdaya statement of the case
Of Sheasjashub Spooner va John NJ. Daniel.
We don't know Shearjashub. Certainly he has
an extraordinary name. Upon examination,
We end that he was named after q son ofthe
prophet Isaiah. It was carious fancy which
could select such name for \ harmless child
But what's in name I The first syllable is,
a. Ill events, appropriate. The skearing pro-
pensities Of the future purchaser Of Boydell's
plates must have been evident in his cradle.
8 We mean no offence to Shearashub or to
his fathers house. Heaven forbid We
have the law oflibel lying open before us. and
the fear Of damages before our eyes. We
should like to see Shearjashub Spooner shear
US of eight thousand dollars!
The article of the Examiner, which sub
jected the author to the persevering atten-
tions Of Shearashub. was free and sharp
criticism on certain engravings for which
agents of Spooner were soliciting subscrip-
scriptions in this city. But it is admitted,
even by tho New York Tribune, which has
some reasons to remember the e raminer with
sentiments not of the kindest sort, that the
criticism was prompted by NO personal hos
tility to Spooner, and that the suit was entire
ly uncalled for. Moreover, it is very ex-
traordinary circumstance, if there was so
much merit in the pictures as Spooner claims
for them. that single editorial of the Eram-
aner should have taken the winds completely
ont Of his sails and let down his magnificent
engravings fat to the ground. That fact is
rather conclusive of the justice of the criti-
cism.
But whatever may be the law or public OPT
MON as to the grounds for an action of libel in
this case, there can be no difference of senti-
ment as to the improperly of the course pur'
sued by Spooner. He was in Richmond, eth
er in person or in proxy, soliciting subscrip-
tions to his engravings; he invited the editor
of the Examiner to view them and examine
them, with the object undoubtedly, of mott
cling them in his paper this request was
complied with, and the editor did notice them,
though not in the way that Spooner anticipa-
ted The Examiner certainly did not putt his
wares, or, if it did, it was a puff of the hurri-
cane kind, which damaged Shearjashub, $50
he says,) to the amount of 100000. We ad-
,nire his modesty in making that demand, and
the moderation ofthe jury in giving him $4,000
But the time and the place in which
he should have defended himself, was the
time when and the place where the libel was
uttered. 1t was in Richmond that he should
have appealed to the courts for damages
But he lay in wait in New York, and some
time after, when the editor of the Examiner
visited New York, Shea,jashub vindicated
the excellence of the American Boydelrs
Shakespeare" by causing the officers of the
law to pounce down upon the man who had
doubted the genaineness of that immortal
production, and held him to bail to answer
his complaint. After the lapse of number
of years and in the absence of the defendant
from the country, verdict is obtained of
$4,000 1t must be admitted that whether or
not the lines on Boydell's plates had been so
worn down in England that it was impossi-
BILE to retouch and bring them out again, the
impressions Of Daniels criticisms were not
20 easily effaced from the adamantine tablets
Of Spooner's unforgiving soul.
We conjecture, however, that the verdict
Of $4,000 damages will not transfer that sum
from the pockets of the defendant to the poe
kets of the plaintiff in this case. The affair
viii probably be taken before other judges
But should Sheauashub ultimately succeed
in lingering the amount of damages rendered
by the New York jury, he will make more by
libel suit than he is ever likely to make by
BOyden. We advise him, in that event, to
give up Boydell, except as a means of pro-
voking unfavorable criticism. If he can sue
deed only once q year, in inducing some edi
tor to abuse him or his engravings, and now
and then favor him with an assault and bate
ny, he will soon make bis fortune. A fortune
earned in this way, we are inclined to sus.
pect, Sheariashub is not the sort of person to
despise. He would gobble down a rank libel
aseagerly as turkey devours tomato worm
and on kicks and cuffs he would wax frisky
and frolcsome. To those of the editorial fra
ternity who feel themselves overburthened
with combativeness, and anxious to cut, thrust
ana Diaze away at somebody, we recommend
the iilustrious Shearjashub, a gentleman who,
we dare say, is willing to receive proposals,
sealed or otherwise, for tweak at his repu.
tafion or his proboscis, and will award the
contract to the highest bidder.
THE UNITED STATES AND GREECE
his stated by correspondent of the U. S.
herald that, on the e2d of February. a Mr.
Msawe.', an American, travelling in Greece,
aehvered an Grafton at the chapel of DIR.
Aing. in Athens, in which he declared, uu.
DER the folds Of the United States flag which
was nylng over the chapel, that the L. s.
government would certainly sympathize in
the Greek instruction and give it moral and
material support. We suppose this Mr.. Max.
well Is Hugh Maxwell Esq, formerly United
States District Attorney for the Eastern Dis.
trict OF New York, who has been recently
visiting the East Of course this yovarnroon.