in the

tain bag of letters sent by the post, to wit, from in the county of

to

con

county of taining sundry bills of exchange, and that he hath just cause to suspect and doth suspect that one

of

did

steal, take and carry away the said letter or packet, and therefore this informant prayeth me the said justice to issue my warrant to apprehend the said

No. 10. Warrant to apprehend for stealing a Letter out of

a Bag, 7 Geo. 3. c. 50. s. 2.

-County of

To the constable of

and to all other his majesty's peace officers in the said county.

of

in the said county

to wit. Whereas hath this day made information and complaint upon oath before me W. R. esq. one of his majesty's justices of the peace, &c. for the said county, that a certain letter or packet from and out of a certain bag of letters sent by the post, to wit, from in the county of aforesaid, containing. sundry bills of exchange hath been stolen, and that he hath just cause to suspect and doth suspect that one

late of

did feloniously steal, take and carry away the said letter or packet containing the said bills of exchange. These are therefore, &c.

No. 12. Warrant of Commitment thereon.

County of

to wit.

[Commence and conclude in common form.]

On suspicion of having feloniously stolen, taken and carried away one packet (the said packet being then and there a letter containing sundry bills of exchange) from and out of a certain bag of letters then and there sent by the post, to wit, from in the county of to the city of

against the form of the statute, &c. and against the peace, &c. The commitment to be " until discharged by due course of law."

155

LIBEL.

A LIBEL is a malicious defamation tending to blacken the memory of one who is dead, or the reputation of one living, and to expose him to hatred, contempt, or ridicule.

73.

1 Haw.

A libel may be by writing, printing, signs, or pictures, and it is immaterial whether the libellous matter be true or false, or whether the libelled is of good or evil fame, where reparation is sought by indictment or information; but if an action on the case for damages is brought, the defendant may justify by proving on the trial the truth of the facts, and by that means show that the plaintiff has received no injury.

The persons punishable for libels are the composer or person procuring the same to be composed, the printer and publisher. 1 Haw. c. 73. s. 10.

It is not lawful to publish even a correct account of the proceedings in a court of justice, if the account contains matter of a scandalous, blasphemous, or indecent nature. Rex v. Mary Carlisle, M. T. 60 Geo. 3. 3 B. & A. 167.

A justice of the peace has authority by virtue of his office to issue a warrant for arresting a party charged with having published a libel, and upon neglect of the party arrested to find sureties, and he may commit him to prison, there to remain until he shall be delivered by due course of law. Butt v. Conant, H. T. 60 Geo. 3. 1 Geo. 4. 1 Bro. & Bing. 548. And see 60 Geo. 3. c. 38.

No. 1. An Information for printing and publishing a scandalous and seditious Libel.

County of

The information and complaint of

the parish of

to wit.

of

in the county of taken on oath before me W. R. esquire, one of his majesty's justices of the peace, acting in and

for the said county, this

day of

of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and

in the year

in the said county

printer, wickedly and maliciously contriving and

intending the right hononourable Sir C. D. knight, chancellor and under-treasurer of the exchequer of our lord the king, and one of the commissioners of our said lord the king, for executing the office of treasurer of the exchequer of our said lord the king, to detract, scandalise and vilify, and to represent the said Sir C. D. as an unjust officer and minister, and little fit to be used and entrusted by our said lord the king in the weighty affairs of the kingdom; and also to bring the said Sir C. D. into great hatred, contempt, and disgrace, and not only with all his majesty's liege subjects, but also with our said lord the king, and also deceitfully, wickedly, and maliciously contriving and intending to detract, scandalise and vilify the peers of this realm, the bishops of the church of England by law established, and the members of the honourable House of Commons of this kingdom, and to represent the said peers, bishops, and members of the House of Commons as corrupt persons, and to bring them into great scandal, infamy, hatred, and disgrace with all the liege subjects of our said lord the king, and for that purpose did on the

at

day of

wickedly and maliciously print and publish, and cause and procure to be printed and published, a certain false, scandalous, and seditious libel, intituled "Robin's Reign, or Seven's the Main, being an explanation of E. F.'s seven Egyptian Hieroglyphics, prefixed to the seven volumes of the Craftsman. The dye is flung :" in which said libel of and concerning the said Sir C. D. and the said peers, bishops, and commons of this kingdom, and also of and concerning the votes given by the said peers, bishops, and commons, are contained among other things, divers scurrilous, feigned, false, scandalous, seditious, and malicious matters according to the tenor following, to wit. See C. D. (meaning the said sir C. D.) C-s (meaning the said members of the House of Commons of this kingdom), L-ds (meaning the said peers of this realm), and B-s (meaning the said bishops of the church of England by law established) buy, speak then spectator is corruption high? Mark well the visage of such slavish tool: the blockhead, hypocrite, and gaudy fool; 'tis these great men (meaning the said peers, bishops, and members of the said House of Commons) who give our wealth away; borrow in p-s (meaning pensions) but in vs (meaning the votes of the said lords, bishops, and Commons) they pay: like Judas thus for gold betray the state; his crimes they (again meaning the said lords, bishops, and commons) share, and may they (again

meaning the said lords, bishops, and commons) share his fate; to the scandalous infamy of the said Sir C. D. and also of the said peers, bishops, and members of the said House of Commons, against the peace, &c. And therefore the said informant prayeth me the said justice to issue my warrant to apprehend the said

No. 2. The like, for publishing a scandalous and libellous Letter, imputing the crime of Theft to a Person.

[Commence and conclude as in the last form.] That in the county of

late of

wickedly, maliciously, and unlawfully, on the at the parish of

of

gent.

day

in the county of a certain false, scandalous, and libellous writing against the said falsely, maliciously, and scandalously did write and publish, and in the name of

did

then and there cause to be written and published in the form of

a letter directed to him the said

as follows, to wit, To

which said letter is

[set forth the whole of the

letter, charging the party with stealing turkies, fowls, &c.]

and that he the said

the said

with an intention to scandalize

and to bring him into contempt, hatred, infamy and disgrace, the said false, malicious and scandalous libellous writing afterwards, to wit, on the

and to one

day of

in the year aforesaid, and on divers other days and times as well before as afterwards, at the parish aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, to one and to divers other persons then and there present, falsely, maliciously and scandalously, did openly deliver and cause to be delivered, against the peace, &c.

No. 3. The like, for a Libel on a private Person.

[Commence and conclude as above.] in the county of

late of

That

at the parish of in the said county, unlawfully and maliciously did compose and publish, and cause and procure to be composed and published, a certain false, scandalous, malicious, and defamatory libel, of and concerning in the said county of

of

containing therein among other

things the false, scandalous, malicious and defamatory words and matter following, of and concerning the said

that

is to say [set forth the libel and the inuendoes] which said false, scandalous, malicious, and defamatory libel, he the said afterwards, to wit, on the

day of

aforesaid, at aforesaid, unlawfully, wickedly and maliciously did send, and cause to be sent to one form of a letter addressed to the said

in the

and did thereby

then and there unlawfully, wickedly, and maliciously publish, and cause to be published the said libel, against the peace, &c.

No. 4. The like, for exposing to sale and public view an obscene Print.

of

at

[Commence and conclude as before.] That

bookseller, on the

day of

late

in the

there

year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and in a certain shop of him the said situate, unlawfully, wickedly, maliciously, and scandalously did sell and utter to one a certain lewd, wicked, scandalous, infamous, and obscene print on paper, intituled "The Parson receiving Tithes in kind," representing a man in the habit of a clergyman in an obscene, impudent, and indecent posture with a woman; and which said lewd, wicked, scandalous and obscene print on paper is contained in a certain printed pamphlet, then and there uttered and sold by him the said to the said intituled "The Covent Garden Magazine, or Amorous Repository, calculated solely for the entertainment of the Polite World, for April 1773, against the peace, &c.

of

No. 5. The like, for Hanging a Man in Effigy. [Commence and conclude as above.] That

late

in the county aforesaid, falsely, wickedly, and maliciously did make and cause and procure to be made a certain gibbet and gallows, and also a certain effigy or figure intended to represent the said

and then and there unlawfully, wickedly and maliciously, did erect, set up and fix, and cause and procure to be erected, set up and fixed, the said gibbet and gallows in a certain yard and place near unto a certain common highway there situate, called and near to a certain ferry, called the

ferry,

where the said was used and accustomed to ply in the way of his trade and business of a waterman, and then and