New-York tribune., 1881-12-12
LIBEL IN LONDON.
THE CASE OF SCOTT VS.. SAMPSON

IrRoM TIE REGULAR oohA JoXDoN. November -
r,o ,,,d of journalism which is called persona.
~. hoon brought into court TINS "ccA ""' rit
- for two DAYS. and handled III way -
.nolism of the more decent klnu anu 'no
'nerauv NAV rejoice in. The case iacNeo Nv 10
meut that coud attract attention 'no "a.
- AZ Clement Scott, the theatrical crlhc Oh i"e
MIN qelegraph one of the best known ana nioS'
J,lo ot the men who discuss dramatic AFFAIRS III
,nt The defendant was Mr. Henry SAMPSON
aditor and part owner of a weekly paper cai'ou
the Rejerte. sporting paper, reputed TO oe one U,
tba most reckless of the journals which i've anu
tbriveD on gossip and scandal Inc Loi" N''I' %
Tustice tried thei cause with special jury wiz"
eminent counsel 20 asslst-such is the theory VI Wv
law-his I.ordship in the discoveE OF truth' "'i,
Inovn names were brought IN, and people wen
known in a certain world thr"ngcd the count
There was "a collision of a most unusuM h'u" "
tween the two leading counsel lheIe "0'0 i'''
ron,rts in the papers. There a summing mp Dy
Lord Coleridge of a character which the la'e Lolu
Chief Justice Cockburn did much to popuarlze;
tb some udicial intervention i'll the cOuTse OF the
t,oI of n similar nature Olympian, Apostolic,
noternal. humorous and austere hy turns Ana
there was verdict at the end quite az remarkabie
as ANYTHING else in this remarkable case
Yon remember what sensation was caused py
+be will of Adelaide Nelson, leaving the bnlK Oh
Ler property to Admiral Carr-Glyn; with egac'es 10
sundry other persons, including one OF @o'ooo 10
distinguished dramatic critic. Nothing was ici' "
Mr. Scott. Not long before, Mr. Scout had taheN
over a magazine called The Theatre RON MI
Henry Irving The conduct OF IL required h'oi0
money than Mr. Scott had at command, anu ho "I
nlied 10 Admiral Carr Glyn, whom he knew we'll
- loon Of 50 SEQ. which he obtained. Upon this
there apoeared in The Referee a paragraph III
he heard
makes him shiver with disgust for his species
Miss Ne,lson. lie remarks, of doubtful antece-
denis but when she died she might have been lelt
70 rest in peace free from ghouls and boodsuckers
Then referring to the legacy above mentioned, he
proceeds thus:
Now comes what, if il actually happened. take
10 he one of the most infamous tIanSactlohs ever
perpetraed in the name OF rc'lectaoIe Ilo-cSSi" %
Another theatrical critic, whose name l! nY' " ru
mentioned In the wall. called upon Adnltdl arI-
Glvn and limited at a good MANY teTrDie thihEs
which might he said about MISS Nelson that ne
felt very much hurt after all lie hat done that MS
name should have been omitted, ana tlat OF course
he sDOuld not do anything oDJ1ctlonaoIG, out, etc
etc etc as anyone who understands Wnat such
creature would say can fill N for himself; lie re-
suit was that Admiral Carr-t!lyn lald inns repre-
sentative of English journalism t'Oo III klhu OF
coin A way was | believe, arranged for making
The bargain lose some of its bloodgulltinesS Now.
the critic is engaged on great and lnnpehtal daiy
rnper hold that the no thus baclInallcd MISS
NELSON'S residuary legatee Is no less INFAMOUS tht
were those wTetches who, according 70 iieIoHou"S'
outraged the dead bodies OF women WIlch wore en-,
trnsted 10 them for embalming such SCI undlel
is unft for the company of his fellow man lie IS
not worthy to pc spat upon 6y hard-WHihihg anu
honest journalist Unhappiy, 1t IL only Que OF Il
series of stories which point III the same direction
MI Scott. though not named. was pointed at in
snch a way that nobody could mistake the intention
of the paragraph; the less so as he. bad been at
tackled often before in the same paper. lie brought
an action for libel The editor and part owner OF
the paper answered that what he had SAID was
true--peaded justification, as the lawyers say, ana
the case was tried upon that issue. Upon one other
also Before it came into court the defendant put
interrogatores to the plaintiff, with view to show
inc that if he had not blackmalled Admiral Glyn,
he had at some previous time backmalied some
body else and had himself also been guilty of libel
ling other people. The law in England permits
that to be done As Mr. Russell said in his opening
the ulain meaning of such inteIrogatories was
If Won pursue your claim for redress for this gross
libel upon YOU we will put you TO the torture; We
will rake up any matters in your past life which we
can discover and which you may be reluctant To
have blazoned forth 10 the world Anything more
atrocous added Mr.. Russell, most truly could not
be conceived but il had failed to terrify Mr. Scott
The prospect of "A cross-examlnation OF the same
sort in open court equally failed to terrify him.
The object was to terrfy but nothing need be added
TO NJ Russel's condemnation of the state of the
law which permits a defence TO ali action for libel
10 be conducted in this way.
Now comes the most extraordinary thing of all in
this trial The defendant did attempt to torture"
Mr. Clement Scott by cross-ex examination and did
attempt To prove that he levied contributions on
actors and actresses in connection with The
Tkeatre-an attempt which signaly failed, and
finally brought Lord Coleridge down on the de-
fepdant's counsel But there was not even an at
tempt to prove the truth of the main accusation
against Mr. Scott The whole case turned on the
ouestion whether Mr.. Clement Scott did or did not
blackmail Admiral Glyn. But it was the plaintlh
and not the defendant who put Adm rai Glyn INTO
the witness box. The Admiral testified that he had
volunteered to help MI. Scott, and that 1t was with
reference to tins general proposal that Mr. Scott
made the specific application for the So, 500 which
he lent him out of friendship. and also cut of love
for art and s 2er cent" Then Mr. Russell asked:
q Is there the slightest ground for the suggestion
that in reference to this advance of $500 the plain
tiff either directly indirectly, by threat expressed
or implied mentioned or made alluslon 10 Miss
Nelson or her property And the Admiral an
swered Mono whatever; it is a most malicious
lie"
There is simpy nothing left of the after that
question and answer. But that did not prevent the
defendants counsel from trying 1T out mad al
most written trying il on. Everything was urged
tnat could be urged-every innuendO every ILL
situation, every dark hint that might damage Mr..
Clement Scott with the Jury or the public The
Judge allowed twas obliged to allow it. l sup
pose 1t was obvious enough that Mr.. Clement
Scott is an impulsive man. sensitive. not always dis
Greet in controversy not at all prudent in business
If any point made against HIM it was this: that
in some Instances actresses had paid for the appear
ance of their photographs in Mr. Scotts magazine,
and for their biographies at advertisement rates IL
was remarked with some force that dram attic critic
would do better to keep himself free from business