The Portland daily press., 1865-01-31

meut to salve bis wounds. 1t was on the above
article that proceedings were instituted, and
for its publication Bro. Adams sought to trans
fer $4,000 from the pockets Of the Press to
those Of the Argus. 1t would have been de-
lightful sport for him, if we had called another
person by name, and held him private cit
izen-up to reproach for his alleged dislcyaity'
but when a small missile was SHE'D at his own
head. then circumstances altered the case,
it was another mans OK that was goreo.
Hoping that sssober second thought" might
do its perfect work. and that our neighbor
would in good time conclude 70 take advice OF
his friends and drop suit unwisely com.
menced-commenced to punish his neighbor
for using no more exasperating language than,
he has a thousand times used in return-our
columns have seldom contained an allusion to
the pending suit; the defendant has never
crowded for trial, but has been disposed to al
low him quietly to drop the matter should he
feel inclined to do SO. Before the late trial
defendant was assured the matter might be
settled If he would give writing setting forth
that he did not intend to charge Mr.. Adams
personally with the crime Of murder or trea-
son. He declined to give any writing, be-
cause he would write nothing that he would
not publish, and because he insisted that the
language itself conveyed no impression of any
such intention on his part Fef
The trial came. Mr.. Adams, counsel pro-
posed that II our counsel would disclaim in
writing any intention to charge his client with
personal crime the writing to be such as any
honorable men like Judge Davis, Judge Fox.
Judge Kingsbury, or others whom he named,
should say was fair, he would drop the prose
cution if consented to by us. The next morn
ing our counsel did offer such paper, and
then they demanded other conditions, which
would have been equivalent to whitewashing
the editor Of the Argus and confessing that he
is not only truly loyal man but whole
souled supporter of the Government. Of
course defendant could consent to no such
farce, and the trial went on, and like fever
or the small pox, had its regular run.
1t is proper to state here that at the time
the articles complained of was written, Mr..
Foster was sole publisher of the Press, the
original firm having been dissolved the LIST of
February previous, md the present firm not
having been organized till a few days after the
suit was commenced. This may explain why
the suit was brought against Mr.. Foster only,
when the purpose, probably, was not to strike
him, but to reach some one else. 3l Jay y
| The trial has resulted as most people sup
posed it would, in disagreement Of the jury.
The whole thing was political, from begin.
ing to end, and the jury, as they could scarcely
avoid doing, doubtless weighed it in political
scales. The charge Of Judge Davis was brief,
but remarkably clear and explicit. The Id
uertiser reports him as follows:
He said it was for them to decide whether
the article was libelous or not. The article
was a political one, and it was difficult to
keep the mind free and unbiased; but they
must take the facts as they are, and come to
a conclusion, If they could, according to the
law and the evidence. He defined libel, and
said that the defense was, that the article was
not libelous, and il libelous true; and II either
ground was sustained, the verdict must be for
the defendant. He said the parties differ in
the meaning of the language used in the Press.
Plaintiff claims that treason is charged, but
they would see whether treason was intended
| or whether plaintiff was only charged with
| taking q course which, in the opinion of de-
! PENDANT, tended to the same results. He said
that an article to be libelous, must expose
| man to public contempt, and If the charge on
i ly exposed man to the contempt ola part of
the public it was not libelous. There had
been times when to call a mad temperance
man, would expose him to the contempt of a
portion of the public; aud to call man an Gb-
olitionist, would expose him to the contempt
ofalarger part of the public, but it was not Il
belous. And just before the war, many able
statesmen would have preferred disunion to
war, or any further concession to the South.
To call that class disunionists under the cir
cumstances, would not have been libelous.--
BY public contempt Is meant the contempt OF
people in general, and they were to judge
whether this article was Of such a nature.
The argus itself compliments the charge
and says mo exceptions were taken to the ru.
lings Of the court or the charge, by the coun.
sci on either side" 1t also says "the trial wa.
conducted by counsel on both sides in the
most courteous and gentlemanly manner"
Judge Howard, counsel for Mr.. Adams
made the best OF his materials. We thought
in his plea that he labored under good deal
of embarrassment, and that it might be owing
to the consciousness he was himself SO recent
ly tried before that the great jury of the peo-
pie. and that their verdict was so overwhelm-
ing against him. s
Mr.. Woodman's plea was what was to be ex-
pected, able and exhaustive. He went to the
bottom of the subject, and spared neither pains
nor effort to secure verdict for his client
He was ably assisted by Geo. F. Talbot, Esq
o. s. District Attorney. Il,
80 endeth the first lesson" The next will
come in course at the next term. Mr.. Ad-
ans might have dropped 1t before the thing
was carried so far by entering "neither par
ty"-we doubt If he can have that opportunity
again. He will now have to prosecute the
suit with no possible prospect of verdict in
dis favor, piling up costs that he can throw
upon the defendant only by such an impossi-
BILE verdict, or he must back square out, and
allow his "non-suit to be recorded"