read it; and he believed that any one so reading it, would put that construction upon it. He contended that it was entitled to one higher interpretation than that. With regard to the second portion of the passage, commencing:—
"The detestable Judas gave the great Preacher of Christian religion, Jesus, into the hands of odious Pilate for the sake of thirty rupees; what wonder, then, if the proprietors of two newspapers, becoming enslaved by hope of gaining one thousand rupees, threw the poor helpless people of this land into the terrible grasp of your mouths."
Now, the imputation in this portion of the passage, upon which the prosecution relies, is the comparison made between Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of our Saviour, and Mr. Brett, but he contended that it was not open to the construction put upon it by his learned friend. It was unfair to construe it into that meaning. Although this did not appear in the indictment, still he thought that was the interpretation made by the prosecution. He apprehended this was the libellous matter, and after the suggestion which he had offered, he thought the Court would be extremely chary in upholding the correctness of the first count if they had any doubt as to its meaning. They would rather lean in favour of the defendant than against him. He thought it was only by way of illustration, and not by comparison, that the words were made use of. Upon the question as to whether a libel in law had been proved he would refer their Lordships to the cases of Robinson V. Jermyn, "Price's Reports," P. 11 to a case reported in "Dowlings' Practice cases" and to "Holt on the Law of Libel" P 118. The case reported in Holt was similar to the present. No evidence was shewn which attached blame or impropriety to Mr. Brett in his private or public capacity; he was merely charged with doing what in England and elsewhere was an everyday occurrence, namely, that he for fee or reward undertook to support, by means of his newspaper, the cause of the Indigo planters. Every man must obtain his livelihood in some way or another; and it was an honourable and recognised way of gaining his living. Every large party or sect throughout the world had some organ to convey and espouse their particular cause. If the fact of upholding the cause of any particular party by means of newspaper writing were to constitute a libel, there would be no end to litigation. These were all the
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