Kidd V. Royal Agricultural Society of England. 483 
of labour throughoufc the country (without any malice or indirect motive on 
their part being suggested) for the acts of their subordinates and agents on 
whose judgment they rely. 
Now, with these remarks I will proceed to read to you that of which we 
complain, it will scarcely require any comment of mine to show that it is 
; that which is known as a libel in law ; for anything which is written and 
published disparaging to the honour or character, or tending to lower the 
reputation of another, or, as in this case, afi'ecting the trade of the person who 
is made the subject of it, is, in the eye of the law, a libel. Gentlemen, what 
1 1 hold in my hand purports to be a report of the Koyal Agricultural Society 
j of England, and it was published in the ' Mark Lane Express and Agricultural 
I Journal ' of March 11th, 1872 — published therefore under the sanction of the 
1 Society — published so as to receive at once a very high authority and a very 
extensive circulation. The paragraph to which I wish to call your attention 
[ is headed " Quarterly Report of the Chemical Committee " (that is the Com- 
mittee who report to the Council of the Eoyal Agricultural Society) — " During 
! the last quarter very few samples of artificial manure have been I'orwarded for 
[ analysis. Of those sent to the consulting chemist he has no complaint to 
I make. As usual, during this season, cases of so-called poisoning from the use 
, of cakes have been brought under his notice. The iirst to be mentioned is 
from Charles 0. Eaton, Esq., Tolethorpe Hall, Stamford." Now I need not 
J' U you, as later on the whole of the libel will be before you, that this is a 
mplaint from a Mr. Eaton with regard to some evidently bad linseed cake 
which he had received, which led to widespread mischief amongst his cattle, 
: and on which the opinion of a veterinary surgeon was given that some of the 
cattle were poisoned by the cake. It then proceeds : — " The cake contained 
much earth-nut, also locust meal, rice-dust, grass seeds, broken corn, and the 
usual small weed seeds found in inferior or dirty linseed, and was altogether 
( a bad linseed cake." Well now, gentlemen, having introduced the matter as 
one of a class of " so-called poisoning," and of " bad linseed cake," it then 
, proceeds — and this is the passage of which we complain, — " Another case 
comes from John Wells, Esq., February 18th, a member of our Council," I 
i make no comment upon that further than to say, that probably in the case of 
f a member of the Council of the Society, if there was an extra caution to be 
applied, so far as the secretary was concerned, one would have commended 
him for it ; because it is possible that when members are the complaining in- 
dividuals it might affect the judgment of those who are brought in contact 
with them — " the whole of whose cattle were attacked with various symptoms 
irmnediately after eating from a fresh purchase of cake, although only one case 
terminated fatally. This cake very much resembled the cake sold to Mr. 
Eaton, containing a quantity of seeds, cotton cake, rice, broken corn, and 
cocoa-nut, apparently made from dirty linseed, and the sweepings of corn 
warehouses. A small sample of this cake had been sent before purchase to ■ 
Mr. Wells as best linseed cake, price 101. per ton, from Ayre Brothers, Hull — 
the makers Messrs. Kidd, of Hull." Now, gentlemen, it requires no comment 
from me to ask you to agree that the obvious import and result of that para- 
graph which I have just read to you is this, that here is another case " of so- 
called poisoning " — another case " of bad linseed cake," like that of Mr. Eaton's, 
which was pronounced very bad indeed, and then it speaks of its having led 
T'.i " serious symptoms," and to the cattle being " attacked." Serious symjitoms 
of what? Why, of poisoning, as I venture to say, is implied by the use of 
deleterious cake containing, more or less, either x^oisonous or injurious ingre- 
dients; and leading to one attack which terminated fatally. It is obvious 
that any one reading this would infer that the attack of the cattle, and the 
fatal result in the one case of these serious symptoms was attributable to the 
cnmpound which, as best linseed cake, is said to have been supplied by Messrs. 
