fellow, a rogue, a man of bad principle, a base fellow, a very great rogue, a rascal, a scoundrel, a vile scoundrel, a very great scoundrel, a bankrupt, a cheat, a cheating knave, a fellow of no honor, owes more than he is worth, is not able to pay his debts and is thousands worse than nothing. And the said E thereafterwards on the same day, continuing his malice against the plaintiff, did, in the presence and hearing of divers of our liege subjects,* falsely, maliciously, and with a loud voice, speak and utter the following false and scandalous words of and concerning the plaintiff, to wit, W F [meaning the plaintiff ] is a vile fellow, a rogue, a great rogue, a very great rogue, a cheat, a great cheat, a shuffling rascal, and his [meaning the plaintiff's] credit is not worth a groat; he [meaning the plaintiff] is a rascal, a scoundrel, a mean, pitiful fellow, a great cheat, and no person would give sixpence for any debt he owes, (meaning the plaintiff owed) to give any thing for it; for he (meaning the plaintiff) is not able to pay his debts, he (meaning the plaintiff) owes more than he is worth, and I can prove it; and he (meaning the plaintiff) cannot pay his debts, is worse than nothing, is thousands worse than nothing, and owes more than he is worth. And the said E, on &c., of his further malice, in the hearing of divers worthy and good people, did, at &c., utter and speak, of and concerning the plaintiff, these false and scandalous words, to wit, W F (meaning the plaintiff) is a rogue, a bankrupt, a cheat, and a villain; he (meaning the plaintiff) bottomed a ship for more than she was worth, and cast her away on purpose to cheat the bottomers. And at another time, he (still meaning the plaintiff) bought an old ship that had been condemned, purely to send his brother in (meaning the plaintiff's brother) to be cast away, in order to get his brother's interest and estate then depending in the family, (meaning his said brother's proportion and share in his father's estate, then depending in the law ;) and if his father (meaning the plaintiff's father) and all the friends he (meaning the plaintiff) had in the world were on board (meaning on board the said ship,) he (meaning the plaintiff) would have cast her away. He (meaning the plaintiff) is a mean spirited, ungenerous fellow, and loves money so well, that he never did a generous action in his life. And the said E thereafterwards, on the same day, of his further malice, did, in the hearing of divers of our liege subjects,* utter and speak the following false and scandalous words, of and

* Citizens of this Commonwealth.

concerning the plaintiff, to wit, W F [meaning the plaintiff] is a mean spirited, ungenerous fellow, and loves money so well, that he never did a good or generous action in his life; he (meaning the plaintiff) is a rogue, a villain, a bankrupt and a cheat; he (meaning the plaintiff) bottomed a ship for more money than she was worth, and cast her away on purpose to cheat the bottomers; and he (meaning the plaintiff) bought an old condemned ship, purely to send his brother in it to be cast away; that he (meaning the plaintiff) might get by it, because there was an estate depending in the family (meaning in the family of the plaintiff's late deceased father,) and if his father (meaning the plaintiff's father) and all the friends he had (meaning the plaintiff had) in the world, were on board (meaning on board the said ship,) he (meaning the plaintiff) would have cast her away. And the said E, on &c., at &c., of his further malice against the plaintiff, speaking of and concerning the plaintiff, in the hearing of many of our liege subjects,* did speak and utter the following false and scandalous words concerning the plaintiff, to wit, I hope he (meaning the plaintiff) will recover money enough out of the prize in England, to pay his debts (meaning the plaintiff's debts ;) but if he (meaning the plaintiff) doth recover enough, it must be a very large sum, he (meaning the plaintiff) owes more than he is worth, and is not able to pay his debts. And the said E, on &c., at &c., speaking of the plaintiff's conduct in his trade, dealings, and merchandise, did of his further malice, speak and utter the following false and scandalous words of and concerning the plaintiff, in the presence and hearing of divers of our good subjects,* to wit, he [meaning the plaintiff ] is a vile fellow, not fit for society, a cheat, a rogue, and is as great a rogue and villain as lives; he [again meaning the plaintiff] is as great a rogue and villain as is in the world. And the said E, on &c., at &c., upon a discourse had and moved concerning the plaintiff's conduct in his trade, merchandise, and dealings, in the hearing of divers of our liege subjects,' of his further malice against the plaintiff, did speak and utter the following false and scandalous words concerning the plaintiff, to wit, he [meaning the plaintiff ] is not fit company for any man; he [meaning the plaintiff ] is a rogue, a bite, a cheat, a cheating,' dishonest villain, a knave, a scoundrel, and I can prove it. By reason of the speaking of which false and scandalous words in manner as aforesaid,

* Citizens of this Commonwealth.

the plaintiff hath greatly suffered in his good name and reputation, and lost the good-will and esteem of many worthy persons of great note, wealth, and business, with whom he before had large and very profitable tradings in merchandise, who of late have refused to entrust the plaintiff with their affairs and business, or to continue or carry on any commerce with him, to the damage, &c. Fletcher v. Vassal, Suffolk, S. C., Aug. T. 1752. E. TROWBRIDGE.

NOTE. The special damage here should be alleged with more certainty, if it is intended to introduce evidence of it; e. g. "and many persons &c., viz. A, B, C, D and E, with whom the plaintiff, before the speak ing of the said false, scandalous, and malicious words, had large dealings, from which he derived great advantage and profit, have since, and on account of the speaking of the said words, and for no other reason whatsoever, wholly refused to entrust the plaintiff with their affairs and business," &c.

For a libel by letter intimating the plaintiff to be insolvent.

For that whereas the plaintiff, at the time of writing and publishing the several false, scandalous, and defamatory words, hereinafter mentioned, had been and was a merchant, and sought his living by buying and selling, and had always conducted himself with fairness and punctuality towards his creditors; and till then had never been suspected of bankruptcy, insolvency or any fraudulent intention, and always had been, and then was, in good circumstances, credit and esteem, viz. at &c. aforesaid; yet the said E, well knowing the premises, but envying the happy condition of the plaintiff, and maliciously contriving and intending to degrade and injure the plaintiff, in his good name and credit in his business aforesaid, and to cause him to be reputed as worthy of no credit, and also to prejudice and injure the plaintiff with one M H, a trader at &c., who for a long time had dealt with, and was then dealing with the plaintiff, in the way of his trade; and to induce the said M H to leave off dealing with the plaintiff, on &c., at &c., did falsely and maliciously, write and publish a certain scandalous and malicious libel of and concerning the plaintiff, in his aforesaid business, in the form of a letter directed to the said M H, containing therein this false, scandalous, malicious, and defamatory matter following of and concerning the plaintiff in his business aforesaid; "Sir, you (meaning the said M H) will be surprised to see a stranger write to you (meaning the said M H,) but as I (meaning himself, the said E,) have no other view but doing as I (again meaning himself, the said E,)

would be done by, therefore as I (again meaning himself, the said E,) believe you (again meaning the said M H) are a fair trader, therefore cannot see you (meaning the said M H,) wronged without letting you (again meaning the said M H) know it, for I (again meaning himself, the said E,) am told you (meaning the said M H) have large dealings with one S W [meaning the plaintiff] and he [meaning the said plaintiff] was a bankrupt some years before [meaning before the writing and publishing of the said libel,] and never could get his [meaning said plaintiff's] certificate; so all that he [meaning the said plaintiff] has or deals for, is his [meaning the plaintiff's] former creditors' right, and he [meaning the plaintiff] has not been in business above three quarters of a year, and now is joined with his [meaning the plaintiff's] brother [meaning one G W,] and J M [meaning one JM,] and they [meaning the said plaintiff, GW and J M] get all the credit they [meaning the said plaintiff, G W and J M] can, by one [meaning one of the three last mentioned persons] recommending another [meaning another of those three last mentioned persons,] and they [meaning the said plaintiff, G W and J M] are arrested every day, &c. &c.; to bail one another and pay nobody, so now I (meaning himself, the said E,) have done my [meaning his, the said E's,] part, and if you [meaning the said M H] are not the man it [meaning the said letter or libel] was designed for, pray burn it [meaning the said letter or libel,] and if you [meaning the said M H] take the hint, burn it [meaning the said letter or libel,] for the writer [meaning the writer of the said letter or libel ] is neither to get nor lose by it; so farewell." And the said E, on the same day, at &c. aforesaid, wrongfully, falsely and maliciously sent the said libel in the form of a letter, unto the said M H, and the same was by reason thereof, received and read by the said M H, as thereby published by the said E, to the said M H; by means of the writing and publishing of which said false, scandalous, malicious and libelous matters, the plaintiff is not only much hurt and prejudiced in his good name, credit, and esteem in his aforesaid business, but also is fallen into great discredit amongst his creditors, and other worthy persons, with whom he had dealt and traded in his aforesaid business, and of whom the plaintiff was accustomed to buy goods and merchandise on credit, without ready money; and especially the said M H, insomuch that those creditors and other persons, and especially the

said M H, on occasion of the writing and publishing of the said libel, have altogether refused, and still do refuse, to buy or sell, or have any thing to do with the plaintiff in his business aforesaid, &c.

For a libel. By husband and wife, for charging the wife with slander, falsehood, &c.

In a plea of Trespass on the Case, for that whereas the said S now is, and from the time of her birth hitherto has been, a good, pious, virtuous and honest subject of this commonwealth, and has always, during all the time aforesaid, behaved and governed herself as such; and, until the time of the writing and publishing of the false, scandalous and malicious libel hereinafter mentioned, has always been, and was always reputed and esteemed, among all her neighbors. and divers other good and worthy citizens of this commonwealth, to be a person of good name, fame, credit and reputation, to wit, at said N; and she, the said S, has never been guilty, nor until the time of the writing and publishing of the said false, scandalous and malicious libel, suspected to have been guilty of slander or lying, or of any other such hurtful and noxious crime, or of any grossly base and immoral conduct; and the said W, and S his wife, before the time of the writing and publishing of the said false, scandalous, and malicious libel, were used to live quietly and happily together, and to enjoy great happiness in their married state; yet the said D, well knowing the premises, but contriving and maliciously intending to prejudice, degrade, and injure the said S, in her aforesaid good name, fame, credit, and reputation, and to hold up and expose her to public infamy and disgrace, contempt and hatred, and to disturb and destroy the domestic peace and happiness of the said S, in her family, and also, to subject her to the pains and penalties, by the laws of this commonwealth, made and provided against, and inflicted on persons guilty of slander or lying, or other grossly base and immoral conduct, did on &c., at &c., falsely, maliciously, and scandalously, write and publish, and cause and procure to be written and published, a certain false, scandalous, and malicious libel, of and concerning the said S, containing therein the false, scandalous, defamatory, and opprobrious matter following, of and concerning the said S; that is to say, "To all whom it may concern. A few plain truths and undeniable facts. S. D. [meaning the above named S, wife of W. D., of &c.,] has made and