The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1835-06-19 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

LONDON LAW REPORT.  KING'S BENCH, MONDAY.  THE K tree v. RoalNsore.—The defendant had been convicted some time ago of publishing a libel reflecting on General Darling, formerly Governor of New South Wales. He was now brought up to receive judgment. Mr. Justice Littledale, as senior puisne judge, passed sentence on the defendant. He observed that the defendant had been an officer for a period of twenty-five years in his Majesty's service, and had served in different parts of the globe with topour and credit to himself; and he was called upon to recei%e the judgment of the court, having published a libel. The libel itself might be divided into two parts; the first was written by the defendant himself, and chiefly related to the punishment rif two soldiers, named Sadds and Thompson, who; it was stated, had been punished in an unjustifiable manner, by having irons of unusual size and weights put on their persons; to charging General Darling with having, by oppressive conduct, driven other individuals to commit suicide. It referred also to observatione upon the opiniuns of Mr. Wentworth, who had threatened to bring forward an impeachment against General Darling. The second part of the libel consisted of letters pii'ulished by Mr. Had, the editor of The Sydney Monitor, and republished by the defendant in this country; it was iu the shapeof a letter, commenting upon a letter of General Darling to Mr., Hume, which had reference to proceedings in the House of Commons, and upon a pamphlet General Darling's brother had published in this country. The principal charge against General Darlingwas, that he had ordered the two soldiers, Sadds and Thoinpson, to be punished with too much rigour. Now, looking at. the affidavits, the-court found some facts admitted on both sides. It appeared that those two soldiers, on their regiment being ordered to proceed to the East Indies, determined nut to proceed there, and for the purpose of securing that object committed a petty larceny, for which they were tried and sentenced to seven years' transportation. The governor considered their offence, in endeavouring to avoid service in the East Indies, a very serious one, and ordered that they should, be taken out of the hands of the civil power, and transferred to the military. Gen. Darling, in doing su, had only executed a power with which as governor of the colony he was entrusted; and be accordingly commuted the sentence of the civil court from transportation to a sentence that they should work, on the public roads in irons for the period of seven years. It appeared that Sadds at that time was very ill,—that lie died after having endured only five - days' punishment; but there was no positive proof that Sadds had died from the effects of the punishment, or that his death was occasioned by it. General Darling had entered fully into the proceedings and circumstances attending that courtmartial, and had assigned, as his reason for taking those two !addles s out of the hands of the civil power, that the state of the military then in the colony had induced him to do so; and had also compelled him to inflict the severe sentence upon them. The learned judge concluded by sentencing the defendant to fuur months' iinprisunment in the Marshalsea prison. • THE KING r.