A report of an action for a libel : brought by Dr. Benjamin Rush, against William Cobbett, in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, December term, 1799, for certain defamatory publications in a news-paper, entitled Porcupine's gazette, of which the said William Cobbett was editor / taken in short hand by T. Carpenter.

  • Rush, Benjamin, 1746-1813
Date:
1800
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A report of an action for a libel : brought by Dr. Benjamin Rush, against William Cobbett, in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, December term, 1799, for certain defamatory publications in a news-paper, entitled Porcupine's gazette, of which the said William Cobbett was editor / taken in short hand by T. Carpenter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    3/134
    The following charge ivas delivered at the close of the pleadings, by the Hon. Judge Shippen. Gentlemen^ rT I HIS is an action brought by the Plaintiff againfi the Defendant for writing, printing and publishing divers fcandalmis libels, co defame and villify'him. The defendant has pleaded that he is not .'!' v :— his counfel, however have acknowledged the publication of the pa- pers, which, otherwife, it would have been incumbent on the plaintiff to prove. The queflion, therefore, will be, whether they amount in law to defamatory libels or not ? By the law and practice in England, in the cafe of libels, the only talk of the jury is, to j«dge of the fact of publication, and the truth and fair, application of the inuendos. The court, as judges of the law, referving to themfelves the fole power of deciding whether the paper amounts to a libel or not: But in this (late, by the fpecia! di- rections of our conflitiuion, the jury poffefs the power of judging both of the law and fad, under the direction of the court. A libel is defined by the law, to be the malicious defamation, ex- prefled either in printing or writing, orbyiignsor pictures, tending to blacken either the memory of one who is dead, or the reputation of one who is alive, or totxpofe him to public hatred, contempt or ridi- cule. This offence may bepunifhed, either by indictment at the fuitof the commonwealth, or by a civil action at the fuit of the party inju- red. When the profecution is by indictment, the court only are to direct the punifhment; but in a civil fuit, the damages are to be af- feffedfolely by the jury. The charges laid againfi the defendant in the declaration, are vari- ous ; but they may be reduced in fubflance to the following.—That he repeatedly calls the plaintiff a quack, an cmpync; charges him with intemperate bleeding, injudicioufly adminiflering Mercury in large dofes in the yellow-fever ; puffing himfelf off; writing letters and an- fwering them himfelf, filling him the Sampfon in Medicine; charg- ing him with mtirdering his patients and flaying his thoulands, and tens of thoulands. The counts laid in the declaration is full proved by the publications which are certainly libellous. In what manner do the defendant's counfel repel thefe prcofs ? Not by jullifying the truth of the matters chsrged againfi Dr. Rulh, which on the contrary they have repeatedly acknowledged to be falfe, but by analyzing the leveral allegations in the newfpapers, and from thence drawing a conclufion that no inten- tional perfonal malice appears, which they fay is the effence of the offence.—Malice refls in the heart, and is only to be judged of by the words and actions of the party ; the words themfelves import malice, and in that cafe the proof lies on the defendant to fliew the innocence of li; intentions; if lie has done that to your fatisfaction, you will acquit him ; but as this is chiefly founded on the allegation that the attack was meant to be made on Dr. RufiYs System, and not on the Alan; it unfortunately appears that not the lead attempt is made to combat the Doctor's arguments with regard to the fyfterh itfelf, but the attack is made merely by grofi fcurrilous abule of the Doctor him-