New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-11-18

~rbed.
rho,,, Mexican, ~ Chief Justice Of Pennsyl
wants, had loosed on with perfect complaeency 50
LONG a, II was Washington, Adams and Hamilton
who were the objects Of abuse, without once
thinking Of calling The attention of grand uries to
the lbels upon them put forth by Bache, Duane
and Calender no sooner bad Cobbett under the
romm, d, plums of Peter Pseupne. opened upon
himself and the sham Democrats generally, than
he became at once senstively alive 10 the calumnies
of the press; and not content with the common
law AGAINST hbels-whicb, indeed, the Constitution
Of PENNSYLVANIA had modified somewhat to Nc
Kesps discomfort by allowing the truth to be given
in evideuce-he contrived an invention OF his own
for Furnishing Goblet, or rather hshed 1t mp from
that magazine of tyrannical precedents and bad law
afforded by the reigns of the Stuarts, with which,
as with other legal lore, the learned Judge was
perfectly familiar. Having had Cobbets brought
before him on the charge Of publishing certain
lhels without the least color Of law for 1t IN any
Peupsylyanian or even modern English practice, ne
Obliged Goblet, not only without trial but without
apy Indictment found against him, to give bonds to
keep the peace and not to publish any more ibels;
and whep some years after, DR.. Rush recovered a
verdict against Goblet for some structures upon
his murderous and now totally abandoned and repu-
dated practice in ye!low-ever cases. this recovery
was set I'D as a forfeiture of CObbett's bonds,
which he or his suretes were compelled to pay
This method of furnishing troublesome printers, or
of frightening them into silence by the apprehen-
sion of double penalties refused recognition andwas
however. been denied to be law by distinguished
Federal lawyer, who confirmed McKeans selection
of him to fill the post Of Chief Justice-made in
hopes of purloning Federal votes-by setting aside
this t,rsnuical innovation which Mexican had intro
duced. The Pennsylvania shaun Democrats ofto-day
would seem to have resorted to similar dodge in
the charge of conspiracy to libel" mentioned at
the beginning of this article. conspiracy, our
readers must know, is regarded by the law with
great horror and there are many cases in which
conspiracy 10 do an act, even though the act may
never be performed, punished with greater severity
than the performance of the act itself by single
isolated individual. The envenomed prosecutors Of
Passmore " illiamson probably consider that any
punishment which it is within the scope of the law
to intlict for mere libel would not be much Of
bugbear to man fresh from the clutches of Judge
Kane and false Imprisonment for trumped-up
contempt of court. He was no more likely to be
frightened at mere indictment or action for libel,
than the fshwives cells were at the familiar idea OF
being skinned. So they resolve, beside skinalng
him, to put him in pan and fry him. lie is not
only TO be prosecuted for libel-we should like to
know by the way, what this terrible libel is-but
i. held to ball. in hopes, doubtless, to frghten him
into holding his tongue on the additional charge OF
conspiracy. Philadelphia law has attained noto-
riety quite equal to that Of Philadelphia lawyers
and we shall watch with some interest this new de-
yeopment of it, Kansas with it's LecOmpte seemed
likely to Guido Philadelphia with its Kane; but
Philadelphia seems resolved not to yield the palm
without at least one more effort.