In the Court of King's Bench, on Saturday, a rule
which had beert obtained by the Earl of Lonsdale for a criminal information against the proprietor of the Cariisle Journal, for publishing several libels against him, was made absolute.
On the same day, a similar rule, which had been obtained by Lord Lonsdale against Mrs. Luff, the proprietor of the Kendal .Times, was also made absolute. The defendant is .a widow with six children, who derive their only means of support from the paper. The libel in ques- tion was inserted by her editor, whom she had discharged : and she threw herself upon the mercy of Lord Lonsdale. Sir James Scarlett said, that Lord Lonsdale had every disposition not to press any thing against her, but he must insist upon having the rule made absolute.
A rule which had been obtained in the Court of King's Bench by Mr. Harding, an attorney in Chancery Lane, against the proprietor of the Satirist for a libel, was discharged on Monday, without costs. The libel charges Mr. Harding with having received improperly 125/. from a person confined in the King's Bench prison, and refusing to give a receipt for more than 51. of it. The Court considered the whole matter two questionable for them to interfere by criminal information.
In the Court of King's Bench, on Tuesday, Sir James Scarlett showed cause against a rule obtained last term by Sir John Camp- bell against Mr. Hannam, for sending a challenge to Mr. Lam- bert. Mr. Hannam is a gentleman residing at High Hall in Dor- setshire, and Mr. and Mrs. Lambert were on a visit to his house last January. On the night of the 12th of that month, Mr. Lambert had sworn that he found Mrs. Lambert, undressed, in the bedroom of Mr. Hannam. He immediately laid hold of that gentleman ; and a struggle ensued, which awoke the servants, and at last Mr. Hanna= escaped, and ran. down stairs in his shirt. Mr. Lambert soon after- wards commenced an action against Mr. Hannam : who sent him a letter demanding an explanation of his conduct. Mr. Lambert replied that no explanation was necessary. Mr. Hannam then wrote again, saying that he considered him unworthy of notice, and that he should promulgate that opinion. The rule had been obtained against Mr. .Hannam for writing this letter, as tending to provoke a breach of the peace. Mr. Hannam and Mrs. Lambert both made affidavits, which severe read by Sir James Scarlett, strenuously denying any criminal in- tercourse between them. Mr. Hamm swore that Mrs. Lambert had cever been in his bedroom, until she was pushed into it by her husband, in a perfect fury, when he (Mr. Hannam) had opened the door for the purpose of going dowilstairs. Mrs. Lambert swore that she had never been in Mr. Hannam's room, and that she was returning to her own room when Mr. Lambert pushed her into that of Mr. Hannam. There was a great deal more contradictory swearing respecting other particulars. Chief Justice Denman, without pronouncing any opinion as to whether adultery had really been committed, made the rule abso- lute against Mr. Hannam. The Court, he said, was bound to inter- fere for the protection of the public peace, which Mr. Hannam's letter bad a tendency to break. Mr. IV. Clement, the proprietor of the Observer, was sentenced on Tuesday last, in the Court of King's Bench, to pay a fine of 1001. for a libel upon the Dutchess of Richmond. The libel, it will be recol- lected, intimated that the Dutchess had quarelled with her husband and had eloped from him.
Application was made on Tuesday, on behalf of Mr. Spalding, Lord Brougham's son-in-law, for another rule for a criminal informa- tion against the printer of the Northampton Herald, who had published an account of some remarks stated to have been made by Mr. Spald- ing at a public dinner, which remarks were disrespectful to the Queen. lir. Spalding had already obtained one rule ; and the ground of his application fora fresh one was, that the defendant intended to produce three affidavits to prove that be had really made use of the expression imputed to him. He bad the affidavits of Lord Clanbrassil, Lord Dillon, and others, to contradict those of the defendant. The Court refused the rule ; observing that it would be a dangerous precedent to grant it under such circumstances.
Mr. Halls, the Bow Street Magistrate, was sentenced by Justice Littledale in the Court of King's Bench, on Wednesday, to pay a fine of five pounds, for having illegally detained Mr. Carmichael Smith in custody for about half an hour in the office. Sir Richard Birnie, since dead, had been found guilty of the same offence as Mr. Halls.
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