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the defendant; and then charged that the placard was written, printed, and published by the defendant, of and concerning those letters. The fourth count was on the placard alone: but stated the intent to be to vilify Mr. Fane. All the other counts stated the intent to be to vilify Mr. Fane and the memory of his daughter, and to excite discord among the different members of his family. Plea-Not guilty.

It was proved, that the placard was printed by the diréction of the defendant; and Mr. Fane proved that he received the letters addressed to him.

A clerk of the defendant, named Evans, was called, and he was asked if he had written one of the advertisements. He objected to answer, because it might criminate him.

Lord TENTERDEN, C. J.-He is not bound to answer.

Sir J. Scarlett, (to the witness).-Do you know who wrote it?

Lord TENTERDEN, C. J.-He must answer that.

The witness.-I do.

Sir J. Scarlett.-Name the person.

Lord TENTERDEN, C. J.-He is not bound to do that, because it may be himself. You can not only not compel a witness to answer that which will criminate him, but that which tends to criminate him: and the reason is this, that the party would go from one question to another, and though no question might be asked, the answer of which would directly criminate the witness, yet they would get enough from him whereon to found a charge against him.

The placard was read. It was signed "An Oxfordshire freeholder." It contained the following passage:-"Were

you not warned that your own character was at stake, by your continuing to associate and connect yourself with a person regarding whom such statements had been long openly talked of? Were you not informed, that it was commonly said, that you knew of and sanctioned his conduct? Did you never have any specific information given you, which would enable you, without inflicting the slightest injury upon any one, to ascertain the truth of such reports? And were you not urged, over and over again, in justice to yourself, not to credit the plausible professions of others, but to inquire and judge for yourself? Were not dates, names, and every particular furnished you for that purpose?"

It was proposed to read the letters, no evidence had been given of the hand-writing; but it was stated by Mr. Fane, that he should not have understood the meaning of the placard if he had not also seen the letters.

Denman, A. G.-I am quite satisfied that your Lordship will not hold that the fact, that the defendant is the author of a placard in which some letters are mentioned, will let in those letters as evidence against him. The other side in effect say thus:-Let us read the letters, and we will shew how they are evidence. It is quite new, that a thing should be received to shew whether it is evidence or not.

Sir J. Scarlett.-I will take the simplest case. Suppose an indictment against a publisher for publishing a book of which he was not the author, and that book referred to another book, without which it was not intelligible. Could it be contended, that the book referred to could not be read in evidence? Whatever is necessary to make a libel intelligible, the prosecutor is entitled to read; and the publisher would not be allowed to say that he did not know it alluded to the former publication. I will assume that the present defendant knew nothing of these

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letters, yet, as the libel published by him refers and alludes to these letters, and is unintelligible without them, he cannot be allowed to say that a part of the entire malignity of the libel shall be kept back from the Jury, because he did not understand it. Such an objection as that can never shut out the evidence against the publisher. It should be observed, too, that the placard distinctly refers to these letters. It says, "Were you not warned? Did you never have specific information?" And Mr. Fane tells us that he received these letters, and that he himself should not have understood the meaning of the insinuations in the placard, if they had not. Whoever was the author of this placard was clearly the author of the anonymous letters; but even admitting that the defendant did not know of the letters, yet, as they are alluded to in the placard, he cannot prevent their being read.

Campbell.-It has been frequently decided, that whatever shews the quality or probable consequences of a libel, ought to be set out, and ought to be proved. In indictments for seditious libels, where the libels refer to public events, which give a quality to them, those events are stated in the indictments, and proved; but if they are not set out, they cannot be proved.

Manning.-If this were an action, the question would be how the public would understand this placard? but being a criminal proceeding, the question is, how Mr. Fane, the party libelled, would understand it. If in this libel it had been said, that the contents of a certain document were true, and that document contained a certain charge, it would be no defence, that the publisher of the libel did not know the contents of that document; and, in the present case, there is an express allusion to the letters in the placard.

Lord TENTERDEN, C. J.-The correct way is to ask Mr. Fane, whether he considered that the placard referred to

the letters; and I will do so now. Mr. Fane, what did you understand by the expresssions-" Were you not warned?" and, "Did you never have any specific information given you?"

Mr. Fane. I understood those passages to allude to these letters.

Denman, A. G.-It has been said, on the other side, that if a bookseller be charged with a libel, he is to have every thing read in evidence against him which is alluded to in the book that he has published. Now, it seems to be a most dangerous doctrine, that a bookseller, publishing a work in the most innocent language, is to be answerable for other papers of the contents of which he knows nothing. If a book, published by the defendant, says that A. B. is guilty of all that is stated in another book, for this the defendant would be answerable. But, suppose a bookseller to publish a statement, that A. B. walked up St. James's street, could it be said that another paper could be adduced in evidence, in which, walking up St. James's street was coupled with some dreadful offence. Actio non facit reum sed mens. Mr. Campbell has instanced the case of public events having been given in evidence: those are admissible because they are known; but this is the case of letters known only to the writer and the receiver; and although there may be some words in this placard which may refer to these letters, or to something else, still that ought not to let the prosecutor into giving evidence of other things said against him at other times, and not by the present defendant.

Lord TENTERDEN, C. J.-My opinion will be confined to the particular facts of this case, and the evidence already given. Mr. Fane says, that the placard refers to the letters, and would not be intelligible without them; and I think, that a defendant, who refers to other papers in

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his publication, must submit to have them read, as explanatory of such publication; but it does not at all follow, that the Jury will be satisfied, that the defendant was either the author or the publisher of those papers.

The letters were read.

To shew that the letters were of Mr. Slaney's handwriting, a witness, named Richards, was called. He had never seen Mr. Slaney write; but he had seen a number of letters, which purported to have come from him, on the subject of a cause in which he was engaged on one side, and the witness on the other side; and the witness further stated, that he had acted upon those letters in the course of the cause.

Denman, A. G.-Objected to this witness being asked as to the hand-writing of the defendant.

Lord TENTERDEN, C. J.-How do you prove the handwriting of a person abroad, except by the evidence of those who have corresponded with him?

Denman, A. G.-But there the letters of the party, whose hand-writing is to be proved, have been addressed to the person who has been called to prove it.

Lord TENTERDEN, C. J.-A clerk comes from a merchant's counting-house, and proves the hand-writing of a party by his knowledge of it, acquired by his seeing the letters of the party, which have been received at his master's counting-house. It is frequently done.

The witness was examined as to the hand-writing of the defendant. He said, that they were written in a very disguised hand; but that he believed it to be that of the defendant.

The Jury found the defendant guilty on all the counts of the information.