ABSTRACT
The Judges are detected by Mr. Fox’s Act, which leaves the power of deciding both on the law and the fact to the Jury, to give then opinion at then discretion, in trials for libel, as in other cases, in their charge to the Jury. The prosecutor was one of the ablest and most experienced lawyers of the day; the defendant was a man who had never spoken in public before in his life, and who, whatever credit be given him for firmness and readiness, has but little knowledge of law, and no peculiar talent for forcible and consecutive reasoning. The possession of money is but one mode of recommending ourselves to the good opinion of the world, of securing distinction and respect. The temptation to men in public life to swerve from the path of duty less frequently arises from a sordid regard to their private interests than from an undue deference to popular applause.
