It is only lately that ou...
The Times, 1824-12-06T00:00:00

It is only lately that our countrymeni nortlh of the Tweed have had trial by jl1ry in civil cases, but on several occa. sions of very considerable importance, they have already been able to appreciate its beneficial results, Their jury court is, indeed, more restricted in its jurisdiction, and less effective in its operation, than the practice which we are accustomed to in this part of the island, being enabled only to try questions of fact distinct from law, and that only on an issue from the Supreme Court; but even this is found a groat improvemeut in cases of libel, or in qucstions between unprotected indlividuals obnoxious to Government, and persons invezted wvith power. Before the establish- ment of the new system, the Judges of the Court of Ses- sion, in every case of libel, decided of their own sole autho- rity on law and fact, like the Royal Courts, or the Tribu- nals of Correctional Police in France ; and it may easily be guessed, by the maxims delivered from the Bench, both there and elsewhere, that an unfortunate wight charged with having written a libel, or, in other words, something at which a man in power chose to take offence, had as little chance of escape from damages or im- prisonment as his Puritanical an.estors had from torture when his legs were wedged in the " Boots." The situation of writers and publishers is now altered in this respect; and we have in the Scotch papers of Wednesday a trial which affords striking proof of the benefits of thle change. In this ease, a Provost or Mayor of Dundee, of the name of ANDERsow, brought an action against the editor of the Dundee Advertiser, and several other persons wvhose state- mients had been inserted ini that journal, for defamation in chirgi nghimwitlhmismanaginigorendangering the funds of a charitable institution of which he was a trustee. The passages quoted from the columns of the paper in question, and ch4rged as libellous, especially wvlen coupled with admitted facts, do not appear to display mulch vio- lence or to bEtray much exargeraion. A gentlem4n of the name of WEBSTER had bequeathed the sum of 6,0001. to trustcea, to be IAid out at interest, and the proceeds.to be applied to"the education of poor children born in Dundee, or in the neighbourhood. This bequest had been appro- priated by the. trustees to the use of the Dundee AMademy, ard h-ad been at first secured on -two landed estates int the 'neighbourhood. Tlis security had afterwards bean nar- rowed to one estate, which wag thought insufficient for an- swering the claims of the fund; and the Provost being both agent for the said estate and trustee for the charity at the time of this transaction, was accused of favouring his principal at the expense or to the hazard of his trust. It turned out afterwards, that the alarms of the friends of the charity were without founda- tion, and that the trust-money Was secure; but before this fact Was ascertained, the doubts and fears expressed in the paper were not unreasonable. In such a case, the editor of an opposition paper (but for the interveption of a jtry) would have had little chance against a keen supporter of Government-a local magistrate, and a man of borough in- fluence. That this Provost was at least as violent as his opponent, though on the safe and right side, will be evident from the following extract of an address to his fellow citi- zens, published in the Dundee COrier, of which he ivas at the time a proprietor:- "If you tamely submit to tbis-if you shall allow a tyranny, more costly and overbearing than that of any town council, to be forced on yeu by folly, and rivetted by lies; thea you will not only show your own weakness and degradation, but you wUll put Into the hands of the enemies of all popular rights, the maost powerful argument against reform-that the people could not make a good use of rights, although they bad them. I confess I think better of you; and I will not easily persuade myself, thak all the vehement egotism of self- constitutcd leaders, and all the misrepresentation, pert ribaldry, and unblushing failsehood, which can ieseuefrom a prostituted p7rets, canl blind you to that, which places in equal jeopardy your honour and your intcrest. If, however, you, either from tameness or indiffer- ence, fail to set pour foot on the reptlle, it stall be druggwedforth in- to the common view of manuind, where it cannot escape being wi - thered antd consumed by the light of truth." The Judge told the jury that injury had been done *o the plainitiff, and dird.eted them to give suitable damages. The jury, however, after a deliberation of three hours, came to a contrary conclusion, and brought in a verdict for the defendants, which was followed by a considerable expression of applause from the audience. Probably both the jury and the audience were satisfied that the abusive epithets of "jackal" and " reptile" in the Provost's paper was asufficient set-off against the more temperate censures of that of the defendant; but the Bench, unaided by a jury, and impene- trable to the unbiassed sense of the fellow-citizens of the parties, would have made no such admission.