APPENDIX TO CHRONICLE. 311 



that the captors were obliged to 

 proceed to adjudication. What is 

 the case now ? Can any one doubt 

 but that this is an English ship? 

 It is not denied; but something 

 is attempted to be borrowed from 

 the cargo, to invaUdate the title 

 of the ship: but, taking the whole 

 circumstances of the case, and 

 viewing them in every direction, 

 it is impossible to surmise that 

 this is not a transaction wholly 

 and essentially British. It is 

 difficult to lay down in a case 

 so entirely British, that suspicion 

 shall attach, because the bills of 

 lading do not contain account 

 and risk. The master has suffi- 

 ciently verified them ; he swears 

 that the cargo belongs to British 

 owners, and to none others. This 

 cannot be considered a justifiable 

 seizure under any view of the 

 case. Captors should take care 

 to proceed on proper grounds in 

 exercising the rights of war. It 

 is a British ship and cargo, pro- 

 ceeding from one British port to 

 another, with despatches from 

 the Governor of the colony to 

 the government of the mother- 

 country. She has been unjustly 

 seized, and great injury has 

 thereby ensued to the owners. 

 It is mj' duty, therefore, to let 

 the weight fall on those who 

 have been the cause of the in- 

 jury ; therefore I shall pronounce 

 a sentence of costs and damages 

 against the captor, referring the 

 amount of them to the registrar 

 and merchants. 



GLASGOW, OCT. 5. 



This day at 10 o'clock, the 

 Court was opened by Lord Gil- 

 lies. The cause to be brought 

 before the Court having excited 



a great deal of interest, the hall 

 was extremely crowded. The 

 following issue in the cause, in 

 which Thomas Stewart, of Glas- 

 gowfield, is pursuer, and Thomas 

 Allan, banker, in Edinburgh, and 

 Alexander M'Kay, of Belfast, 

 are defenders, was submitted to 

 the Jury: — 



" Whether a paragraph inserted 

 on the 28th of January, 1817, in 

 a certain newspaper, published 

 and circulated in the city of 

 Glasgow, or elsewhere, called the 

 Belfast Newsletter, of which the 

 defenders are the proprietors, 

 and which paragraph is hereunto 

 annexed, and particularly set 

 forth and referred to in the sum- 

 mons, is of and concerning the 

 pursuer; and whether the descrip- 

 tion of Mr. S. and Mr. S. of 

 Glasgow, in said paragraph, was 

 meant and understood to apply 

 to the pursuer, and whether the 

 said paragraph was or is injurious 

 to the character, credit, or repu- 

 tation of said pursuer. 



The damages were laid at 3,000^. 



Mr. Jeffi-ay opened the case 

 for the pursuer, and said that he 

 appeared for the purpose of ob- 

 taining reparation at the hands 

 of the Jury for the grievous in- 

 jury inflicted on the feelings and 

 reputation of Mr. Stewart. The 

 paragraph which contained the 

 libel was headed Heinous Fraud, 

 in capitals. It stated that a sin- 

 gular discovery had lately been 

 made in Glasgow. That a ser- 

 vant of a Mr. S. of that city having 

 heard that a relation had died in 

 India, and left him a considerable 

 fortune, he applied to his master 

 to assist him in recovering the 

 money. After a long delay, his 

 master informed him, that his 



exertion* 



