Montgomery, J.[400] The court also ruled throughout the case that in this action the defendant was not at liberty to prove that the plaintiff was in fact guilty of the criminal offence imputed to him in the prosecution instituted by the defendant. It is well established by authority that in an action for malicious prosecution it is a complete defence to show that the plaintiff was in fact guilty of the offence charged against him by defendant, and this though the proof of guilt is furnished by evidence not known to defendant when the prosecution against the plaintiff was instituted. This testimony is not in such case offered in support of probable cause, but to show that the plaintiff has suffered no wrong by his arrest. The law considers that, if a criminal is fortunate enough to escape conviction, he should rest content with his good luck, and not belabor one who suspected his guilt and acted accordingly. As was said in Newton v. Weaver, 13 R. I. 617:—
“The action for malicious prosecution was designed for the benefit of the innocent, and not of the guilty. It matters not whether there was proper cause for the prosecution, or how malicious may have been the motives of the prosecutor, if the accused is guilty he has no legal cause for complaint.”
See, also, Threefoot v. Nuckols, 68 Miss. 123; Whitehurst v. Ward, 12 Ala. 264; Parkhurst v. Masteller, 57 Iowa, 478; Turner v. Dinnegar, 20 Hun, 465; Lancaster v. McKay, 103 Ky. 616.
The other Justices concurred.[401]
Action upon the case for falsely and maliciously suing out a commission of bankrupt against the plaintiff, who declared upon three counts; in the first, having stated his honesty, he alleges that the defendant did falsely and maliciously exhibit a petition to the Lord Chancellor that the plaintiff was indebted to him in £200, and had committed an act of bankruptcy, that the commission thereupon issued, and the plaintiff was declared a bankrupt, and that afterwards the commission was superseded; and the plaintiff avers that he never committed any act of bankruptcy; the second count is much the same, with the like averment; the third count is much the same, but without such averment. To this the defendant pleaded the general issue, and there was a general verdict and damages for the plaintiff taken, upon all the three counts; whereupon it was moved that the judgment might be arrested.
This case was argued twice at the bar, in two former terms by Serjeant Hewitt and Serjeant Burland for the defendant, and by Serjeant Whitaker and Serjeant Nares for the plaintiff; and in this term the Lord Chief Justice gave the opinion of the whole court, that judgment must be for the plaintiff.
Lord Chief Justice. Upon the arguing of this case, the first objection was, that this action will not lie, there being a remedy given by statute, that a proceeding on a commission of bankruptcy, was a proceeding in nature of a civil suit; and that no action of this sort was ever brought: but we are all of opinion that this action is maintainable.[402]
The general grounds of this action are, that the commission was falsely and maliciously sued out, that the plaintiff has been greatly damaged thereby, scandalized upon record, and put to great charges in obtaining a supersedeas to the commission; here is falsehood and malice in the defendant, and great wrong and damage done to the plaintiff thereby. Now, wherever there is an injury done to a man’s property by a false and malicious prosecution, it is most reasonable he should have an action to repair himself. See 5 Mod. 407, 8; 10 Mod. 218; 12 Mod. 210. I take these to be two leading cases, and it is dangerous to alter the law. See also 12 Mod. 273; 7 Rep. Bulwer’s case, 1. 2 Leon. —— 1 Ro. Abr. 101; 1 Ven. 86; 1 Sid. 464. But it is said this action was never brought; and so it was said in Ashby and White; I wish never to hear this objection again. This action is for a tort; torts are infinitely various, not limited or confined, for there is nothing in nature but may be an instrument of mischief, and this of suing out a commission of bankruptcy falsely and maliciously, is of the most injurious consequence in a trading country.
It is further said the stat. 5 Geo. 2, has given a remedy, and therefore this action will not lie; but we are all of opinion, that in this case the plaintiff would have been entitled to this remedy by action at common law, if this Act had never been made, and that the statute being in the affirmative, hath not taken away the remedy at law. 2 Raym. 163. And this is a universal rule, that an affirmative statute is hardly ever repealed by a subsequent affirmative statute, for if it is possible to reconcile two statutes they shall both stand together; if they cannot be reconciled, the last shall be a repeal of the first; but the most decisive answer is, that this statute-remedy is a most inadequate and uncertain remedy; for though there be the most outrageous malice and perjury, and the party injured suffer to the amount of ten or twenty thousand pounds, yet the Chancellor has no power to give him more than the penalty of £200; besides, the method of applying to the Chancellor, is more tedious, expensive, and inconvenient than this common law remedy, and this case in its nature is more properly the province of a jury, than of any judge whatever.
It is further objected, that in the third count there is no averment that the plaintiff was not indebted to the defendant, or ever committed an act of bankruptcy; but no case was cited to show such averment to be necessary; the ground and substance of the declaration is falsehood and malice; there are no instances of such averments in conspiracy, that the party was innocent, or did not do the fact on which he was indicted, but the precedents are the other way. In an action for words, as for saying a man is a thief, the plaintiff has no occasion to aver he is not a thief, and this case is analogous; for after the plaintiff has alleged that the commission was false and malicious, it would be tautology, to make such averment that he was not indebted, &c., and this declaration would have been good on a demurrer; more clearly it is so, after a verdict.
Malicious prosecution. From Licking. The plaintiffs declared that they were residents of the town of Newark, and possessed of a large amount of personal property, deposited in a warehouse to be forwarded to New York, for a market; and that the defendant well knowing the premises, and that the plaintiffs had not absconded, but contriving and maliciously intending wrongfully to injure them, made oath before a justice of the peace, that they had absconded to the injury of their creditors, as he verily believed, and thereupon sued out of the Court of Common Pleas, a writ of attachment, and caused the said property to be seized by the sheriff, and held for a long time, whereby the same was injured, the plaintiffs deprived of the opportunity of forwarding their goods to a market, and greatly injured. Plea, not guilty.
Upon trial to the jury, the counsel for the plaintiffs admitted that the plaintiffs were indebted to the defendant at the time of his affidavit, as sworn to in it; whereupon the court directed a nonsuit, with leave to move to open it, and for a new trial, which is now made.[403]
By the Court, Wood, J. The only question presented in this motion, is, do the facts set forth in the declaration constitute a legal cause of action, provided the plaintiffs were indebted to the defendant, when he sued out the writ of attachment?
In Connecticut, there is a statute which provides, that where a plaintiff shall “willingly and wittingly” wrong any defendant by prosecuting any action against him with intent wrongfully to trouble and vex him, such plaintiff shall pay treble damages for the first offence, be liable to a fine for the second, and for the third, may be proceeded against as a common barrator. Judge Swift thinks the act founded in the clearest principles of justice. Swift Dig. 493. At common law, it seems well settled, that no action will lie for a malicious prosecution of a civil suit, without cause, where there is no arrest. I Salk. R. 14. The costs allowed in all other cases are supposed to be a sufficient compensation for the injury, however malicious. The rule itself may perhaps be admitted, but the reason on which it is said to be founded cannot be so readily admitted, for at common law no costs were allowed. If the plaintiff failed, he was amerced for his false clamor, and if he succeeded, the defendant was at the mercy of the King. But at common law, whenever there was an arrest, holding to bail, or imprisonment, where no debt was due, or for a greater sum than was due, with a malicious intention to injure, the action lay for a malicious arrest. 1 Saund. R. 228. The action for a malicious prosecution, which technically only applies to cases of malicious prosecution of criminal complaints, lies as well where there is not, as where there is an arrest; and the grounds of the action are the malice of the defendant, want of probable cause, and injury to the plaintiff’s person by imprisonment, his reputation by scandal, or to his property by expense. 1 Swift Dig. 491. Having no direct adjudication on the question before us, we may look to the analogies of the law. The counsel for the defendant insist that because the plaintiffs’ indebtedness to the defendant in the former suit is admitted, there was probable cause for suing out the writ of attachment. This does not seem to us to follow. To constitute probable cause for suing out a writ of attachment, the law requires an affidavit of indebtedness, and also that the debtor has absconded, or is non-resident. The absence of either is absence of probable cause for the writ, and the false affirmation of either fact, knowingly, as a means of procuring the writ, shows express malice, whilst the taking of property without cause is a sufficient injury to sustain the action.
In the Supreme Court of New York, it has been decided, that case would lie against both plaintiff and defendant, for fraudulently setting up the judgment as unsatisfied, when in fact paid, and causing an execution and sale of land once held by it as a lien, but which had been afterwards conveyed by the defendant to a third person. The court in that case say, “If it appear that the unlawful acts of the defendant occasioned trouble, inconvenience, or expense to the plaintiff, this action lies.” The general rule is, that for every injury the law gives redress; and it would be a reproach to the administration of justice, if one, by perjury, could take from another the control of his property, under form of law, and the law afford no remedy. Nice technicalities are sometimes applied to get rid of a hard case; but when, under form of law, opportunity is sought to gratify malice, to the injury of another, courts will not be astute to avoid, but rather seek ground to sustain an action. We have no facts in this case, before us, but the statement in the declaration, and the admission of indebtedness; but these show a sufficient prima facie cause of action, and cause for opening up the nonsuit.
Beck, J.[405] The petition alleges that defendants brought an action against plaintiff and his wife, charging in the petition that they two conspired and confederated together to defraud defendants, by representing to defendants, under the assumed name of Baker, that they were the owners of certain lands in Poweshiek County, which defendants were induced to purchase of plaintiff and his wife, who, in such assumed name, executed to defendants a warranty deed therefor; that, in an action by one Woodward, a deed, purporting to be executed by him to the Bakers, under which they claimed title to the lands, was declared to be void, for the reason that it was forged and fraudulent, and that plaintiff herein and his wife well knew the condition of their title, and representing that they were the owners thereof, for the purpose of cheating defendants, and of obtaining money by false and fraudulent pretences, and did, in that manner, obtain the sum of $3,000 from defendants. It is further alleged that defendants herein served out a writ of attachment in the suit brought by them, which was levied upon real estate owned by plaintiff’s wife, and that defendants for a time prosecuted their action, but finally dismissed it at their own costs. Plaintiff, in his petition in this case, alleges that he was not indebted to defendants in any sum at the time their action was brought against him; that he was not guilty of the frauds therein charged, and that the action was commenced and prosecuted by defendants maliciously and without probable cause. The defendants, in their answer, admit the commencement of the suit, the issuing of the attachment, and that it was levied upon real estate owned by plaintiff’s wife. There was no evidence showing, or tending to show, that the writ of attachment was levied upon any property owned by plaintiff. The wife of plaintiff does not join in this action.
We think the doctrine is well established by the great preponderance of authority that no action will lie for the institution and prosecution of a civil action with malice and without probable cause, where there has been no arrest of the person or seizure of the property of defendant, and no special injury sustained, which would not necessarily result in all suits prosecuted to recover for like causes of action.
See 1 Am. Leading Cases, p. 218, note to Munn v. Dupont et al., and cases there cited; Mayer v. Walter, 64 Pa. St. 289; Kramer v. Stock, 10 Watts, 115; Bitz v. Meyer, 11 Vroom, 252, S. C. 29 Am. Rep. 233; Eberly v. Rupp, 90 Pa. St. 259; Gorton v. Brown, 27 Ill. 489; Woodmansie v. Logan, 2 N. J. L. 93 (1 Pen.); Parker’s Adm’rs v. Frambes, Id. 156; Potts v. Imlay, 4 N. J. L. 330 (1 South.)
This doctrine is supported by the following considerations: The courts are open and free to all who have grievances and seek remedies therefor, and there should be no restraint upon a suitor, through fear of liability resulting from failure in his action, which would keep him from the courts. He ought not, in ordinary cases, to be subject to a suit for bringing an action, and be required to defend against the charge of malice and the want of probable cause. If an action may be maintained against a plaintiff for the malicious prosecution of a suit without probable cause, why should not a right of action accrue against a defendant who defends without probable cause and with malice? The doctrine surely tends to discourage vexatious litigation, rather than to promote it.
It will be observed that the statement of the doctrine we have made extends it no farther than to cases prosecuted in the usual manner, where defendants suffer no special damages or grievance other than is endured by all defendants in suits brought upon like causes of action. If the bringing of the action operates to disturb the peace, to impose care and expense, or even to cast discredit and suspicion upon the defendant, the same results follow all actions of like character, whether they be meritorious, or prosecuted maliciously and without probable cause. They are incidents of litigation. But if an action is so prosecuted as to entail unusual hardship upon the defendant, and subject him to special loss of property or of reputation, he ought to be compensated. So, if his property be seized, or if he be subjected to arrest by an action maliciously prosecuted, the law secures to him a remedy. In the case at bar, the pleadings and evidence show no such special damages. No action could be prosecuted to recover money fraudulently obtained, in which the defendant would not suffer the very things for which plaintiff in this case seeks compensation in damages.
Counsel for plaintiff, in support of their position that the action may be maintained, though no arrest of defendant or seizure of property be had in the proceeding alleged to have been maliciously prosecuted, cite Green v. Cochran, 43 Iowa, 544, and Moffatt et al. v. Fisher, 47 Id. 473. In the first case, the action alleged to be malicious was a proceeding for bastardy, which, under the statute, operated as a lien upon defendant’s lands from the commencement. In the other case, the action which was the foundation of plaintiff’s claim was forcible entry and detainer, and, before final disposition thereof, the defendant was ousted of possession of the land, whereon was a coal mine. In both instances the property of the respective defendants was reached by the proceedings. The facts of these cases are not within the rule we have stated, and do not support counsel’s position.
Case. The second count of the declaration alleged that the defendant heretofore, to wit 1st January, 1838, and on divers &c. between that day and 22d November, 1838, contriving and maliciously intending to injure, harass and damnify plaintiff, and to put him to great vexation, unlawfully and maliciously did advise, procure, instigate and stir up John Thomas to commence and prosecute an action of trespass on the case in the court &c. (Queen’s Bench) against the now plaintiff; that by and through such advice, procurement, instigation and stirring-up, John Thomas did in fact afterwards, to wit 4th January, 1838, commence and prosecute the last-mentioned action. The present declaration then set out three counts of a declaration in case at the suit of John Thomas against the defendant, averment of a trial at nisi prius at Dorchester, on 18th July, 1838, and that the defendant was then and there acquitted of the premises mentioned to be charged against him by John Thomas. And thereupon afterwards, to wit 22d November, 1838, it was considered, in and by the said court &c., amongst other things, that the said John Thomas be in mercy for his false claim against the now plaintiff defendant in the said last-mentioned action as aforesaid. Whereby the now plaintiff was not only put to great trouble and vexation, but was also obliged to pay, and did in fact pay, a large &c., to wit £800, in and about the defence of the said action.
The defendant pleaded, in effect, that the advice given by him was given in the character of an attorney.
Replication de injuria.
Special demurrer. Joinder.[407]
Lord Denman, C. J. The case of Pechell v. Watson, 8 M. & W. 691, proceeded on the principle that to maintain an action already commenced was unlawful. That is not here charged; and therefore the count ought to show the ingredients which make the instigation to a suit actionable. The plaintiff has not done this; for, beyond all doubt, the absence of reasonable or probable cause is one such ingredient, in the absence of which it does not appear that the plaintiff has been unlawfully disturbed.
Patteson, J. I think this declaration is bad, for the reason already given. The case is analogous to that of a complaint of malicious prosecution or arrest; and here, as there, the want of reasonable or probable cause ought to be alleged.
Williams, J. The averments in this declaration might be sustained by proof that the defendant, not being an attorney, had held a conversation with Thomas, and had said, “If your story is correct, you might sue Flight.” No action could be maintained on that, unless it further appeared that the now defendant knew that there was no right to sue the now plaintiff.
Coleridge, J. It is not asserted here that the suit maintained was without reasonable or probable cause: there are only general words, imputing an instigation and a stirring-up. There should be added to these, in strict analogy with actions for malicious prosecution or arrest, as my Brother Patteson has pointed out, an averment of want of reasonable or probable cause: and without such averment this declaration shows no right of action.
Tindal, C. J.[409] This is a special action on the case, in which the plaintiff declares that he was the master and owner of a vessel which, in September, 1836, he mortgaged to the defendant for the sum of £80, with a covenant for repayment in September, 1837, and under a stipulation that, in the mean time, the plaintiff should retain the command of the vessel, and prosecute voyages therein for his own profit; that the defendants, in order to compel the plaintiff through duress to give up the register of the vessel, without which he could not go to sea before the money lent on mortgage became due, threatened to arrest him for the same unless he immediately paid the amount; that, upon the plaintiff refusing to pay it, the defendants, knowing he could not provide bail, arrested him under a capias, indorsed to levy £95, 17s. 6d., and kept him imprisoned, until, by duress, he was compelled to give up the register, which the defendants then unlawfully detained; by means whereof the plaintiff lost four voyages from London to Caen. There is also a count in trover for the register. The defendants pleaded the general issue; and, after a verdict for the plaintiff, the case comes before us on a double ground, under an application for a nonsuit, and in arrest of judgment.
The second ground urged for a nonsuit is, that there was no proof of the suit commenced by the defendants having been terminated. But the answer to this, and to the objection urged in arrest of judgment, namely, the omission to allege want of reasonable and probable cause for the defendants’ proceeding, is the same,—that this is an action for abusing the process of the law, by applying it to extort property from the plaintiff, and not an action for a malicious arrest or malicious prosecution, in order to support which action the termination of the previous proceeding must be proved, and the absence of reasonable and probable cause be alleged as well as proved. In the case of a malicious arrest, the sheriff at least is instructed to pursue the exigency of the writ; here the directions given, to compel the plaintiff to yield up the register, were no part of the duty enjoined by the writ. If the course pursued by the defendants is such that there is no precedent of a similar transaction, the plaintiff’s remedy is by an action on the case, applicable to such new and special circumstances; and his complaint being that the process of the law has been abused, to effect an object not within the scope of the process, it is immaterial whether the suit which that process commenced has been determined or not, or whether or not it was founded on reasonable and probable cause.[410]
Hubbard, J.[411] In the present suit, which is an action on the case against the defendant for prosecuting a suit in the name of Thomas Bond against the plaintiff, the plaintiff avers, in his declaration, (which accompanies the exceptions) that the defendant, without authority from said Thomas, and having no reasonable ground for believing that anything was due from the plaintiff to him, attached the plaintiff’s property, and prosecuted said suit against him, from November term, 1840, to November term, 1841, when he became nonsuit; and evidence was offered tending to prove these allegations. The instructions to the jury were, that “the plaintiff must prove the former action to have been commenced and prosecuted maliciously, that is to say, with some improper motive, or without due care to ascertain his rights, as well as without authority, and without probable cause.” The error complained of may have arisen from not distinguishing, during the trial, between an action on the case for malicious prosecution, and an action on the case for prosecuting a suit in the name of a third person, without authority, by reason of which the defendant sustains injury.
In a suit for malicious prosecution, the gist of the action is malice; but there must also exist the want of probable cause. And without the proof of both facts, the action cannot be maintained, though the existence of malice may often be inferred from the want of probable cause. But in an action on the case for damages for prosecuting a suit against the plaintiff without authority, in the name of a third person, the gist of the action is not a want of probable cause,—for there may be a good cause of action,—but for the improper liberty of using the name of another person in prosecuting a suit, by which the defendant in the action is injured. Nor is the proof of malice essential to the maintenance of such action. If the party supposes he has authority to commence a suit, when in fact he has none, and the nominal plaintiff does not adopt it, the action fails for want of such authority. In such case, though the party supposed he had authority, and acted upon that supposition, without malice, still if the defendant suffers injury by reason of the prosecution of the unauthorized suit against him, he may maintain an action for the actual damages sustained by him, in the loss of time, and for money paid to procure the discontinuance of the suit, but nothing more. Where, however, in addition to a want of authority, the suit commenced was altogether groundless, and was prosecuted with malicious motives—which may be inferred from there existing no right of action, as well as proved in other ways—then, in addition to the actual loss of time and money, the party may recover damages for the injury inflicted on his feelings and reputation.
In this case, the learned judge having instructed the jury that a want of probable cause and malice must concur with the want of authority to commence the suit in the name of a third person, to enable the plaintiff to maintain the action, we think there was error in the instruction, and that though the damages might be enhanced by showing malice and a want of probable cause, yet that the proof of them is not essential to the maintenance of the action.
This was an action for the publication of a libel.
The witness who was called to prove the publication of the libel (which was contained in a letter written by the defendant to the plaintiff) stated on cross-examination that the letter had been delivered to him folded up, but unsealed, and that without reading it, or allowing any other person to read it, he had delivered it to the plaintiff himself, as he had been directed.
Lord Ellenborough held that this did not amount to a publication which would support an action, although it would have sustained an indictment,[413] since a publication to the party himself tends to a breach of the peace.
This was an action on the case for a libel. The defendant pleaded the general issue, and gave notice of special matter.[415]
The cause was tried at the Saratoga circuit in November, 1847, before Justice Paige. On the trial the defendant admitted that he wrote the letter containing the alleged libel, sealed the same, and put it into the post-office at Saratoga Springs, directed to the plaintiff at his residence. The plaintiff proved by John R. Brown that the letter was read to the witness by the defendant at his office in the presence of a young man who was a clerk of the defendant. The defendant’s counsel then moved for a nonsuit, on the ground that a publication of the libel had not been proved. The judge denied the motion.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff of $250. And the defendant, upon a bill of exceptions, moved for a new trial.
Willard, J. The fact that the defendant read the letter to a stranger, before it was sent to the plaintiff, was not questioned on the trial, and is assumed to be true by the form of the objection; but it is insisted that such reading did not amount to a publication of the libel. No man incurs any civil responsibility by what he thinks or even writes, unless he divulges his thoughts to the temporal prejudice of another. Hence, a sealed letter containing libellous matter, if communicated to no one but to the party libelled, is not the foundation for a civil action, although it may be of an indictment. Lyle v. Clason, 1 Caines, 581; Hodges v. The State, 5 Humphrey, 112; 1 Wms. Saund. 132, n. 2; Phillips v. Jansen, 2 Esp. 626; 2 Starkie on Slander (Wend. ed.), 14. But where the defendant, knowing that letters addressed to the plaintiff were usually opened by and read by his clerk, wrote a libellous letter and directed it to the plaintiff and his clerk received and read it, it was held there was a sufficient publication to support the action. Delacroix v. Thevenot, 2 Stark. 63. And in Schenck v. Schenck, 1 Spencer, 208, a sealed letter addressed and delivered to the wife containing a libel on her husband was held a publication sufficient to enable the latter to sustain an action.[416] Reading or singing the contents of a libel in the presence of others has been adjudged a publication. 2 Starkie on Slander, 16; 5 Rep. 125; 9 Id. 59 b; 1 Saund. 132, n. 2. The reading of the letter in question by the defendant in the presence of Brown was a sufficient publication to sustain this action.
This was an action for a libel and slanderous words. The libel was contained in a letter directed to plaintiff.
A clerk of the plaintiff proved that he had received the letter; that it was in the handwriting of the defendant; and that in the absence of the plaintiff he was in the habit of opening letters directed to him which were not marked “private.” He further stated that defendant, who was well acquainted with the plaintiff, was aware of the nature of his (the clerk’s) employment, and that he believed defendant knew that witness was in the habit of opening plaintiff’s letters.
Lord Ellenborough said that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to consider whether defendant did not intend the letter to come to the hands of a third person, which would be a publication.
Action of tort for slander.
Bigelow, J.[419] Proof of the publication of the defamatory words alleged in the declaration was essential to the maintenance of this action. Slander consists in uttering words to the injury of a person’s reputation. No such injury is done when the words are uttered only to the person concerning whom they are spoken, no one else being present or within hearing. It is damage done to character in the opinion of other men, and not in a party’s self-estimation, which constitutes the material element in an action for verbal slander. Even in a civil action for libel, evidence that the defendant wrote and sent a sealed letter to the plaintiff, containing defamatory matter, was held insufficient proof of publication; although it would be otherwise in an indictment for libel, because such writings tend directly to a breach of the peace. So, too, it must be shown that the words were spoken in the presence of some one who understood them. If spoken in a foreign language, which no one present understood, no action will lie therefor.[420] Edwards v. Wooton, 12 Co. 35; Hick’s Case, Pop. 139, Hob. 215; Wheeler & Appleton’s Case, Godb. 340; Phillips v. Jansen, 2 Esp. 624; Lyle v. Clason, 1 Caines, 581; Hammond N. P. 287.
It is quite immaterial in the present case that the words were spoken in a public place. The real question for the jury was, were they so spoken as to have been heard by third persons? The defendants were therefore entitled to the instructions for which they asked.
Case. The declaration stated that the defendant, in the presence and hearing of divers subjects, falsely and maliciously charged the plaintiff, a gardener, with being a thief. Plea: Not guilty. At the trial, before Rolfe, B., it appeared that the words were uttered by the defendant, a toll collector, to the plaintiff, as he passed the Kingsland turnpike-gate, in the presence of several persons as well as the witness. The nature of the previous conversation between the plaintiff and defendant did not appear. The learned Baron told the jury that it was immaterial whether the defendant intended to convey a charge of felony against the plaintiff by the words used, the question being, whether the by-standers would understand that charge to be conveyed by them. Verdict for the plaintiff for £5.
Humfrey now moved for a new trial, on the ground of misdirection.[422]
Alderson, B. In this case, had there been no by-standers who could understand the words as imputing felony, or who knew all about the affair respecting which they were uttered, the judge’s direction would have been wrong, for it would then be damnum absque injuria, the injuria being the having no lawful occasion to impute felony.
Parke, B. The witness appears to have been well acquainted with the affair to which the words related. If the by-standers were equally cognizant of it, the defendant would have been entitled to a verdict; but here the only question is, whether the private intention of a man who utters injurious words is material, if by-standers may fairly understand them in a sense and manner injurious to the party to whom they relate, e. g., that he was a felon.
Some doubt being suggested as to the facts proved, the court conferred with Rolfe, B.; and the next day,
Pollock, C. B., said, We find from my Brother Rolfe that there were several by-standers who not only might but must have heard the expressions which form the subject of this action. That disposes of the case as to the matter of law. Words uttered must be construed in the sense which hearers of common and reasonable understanding would ascribe to them, even though particular individuals better informed on the matter alluded to might form a different judgment on the subject.
Bayley, J., now delivered the judgment of the court.[424] This was an action for slander. The plaintiffs were bankers at Monmouth, and the charge was, that in answer to a question from one Lewis Watkins, whether he, the defendant, had said that the plaintiff’s bank had stopped, the defendant’s answer was, “It was true, he had been told so.” The evidence was, that Watkins met defendant and said, “I hear that you say the bank of Bromage and Snead, at Monmouth, has stopped. Is it true?” Defendant said, “Yes, it is; I was told so.” He added, “It was so reported at Crickhowell, and nobody would take their bills, and that he had come to town in consequence of it himself.” Watkins said, “You had better take care what you say; you first brought the news to town, and told Mr. John Thomas of it.” Defendant repeated, “I was told so.” Defendant had been told, at Crickhowell, there was a run upon plaintiff’s bank, but not that it had stopped, or that nobody would take their bills, and what he said went greatly beyond what he had heard. The learned judge considered the words as proved, and he does not appear to have treated it as a case of privileged communication; but as the defendant did not appear to be actuated by any ill will against the plaintiffs, he told the jury that if they thought the words were not spoken maliciously, though they might unfortunately have produced injury to the plaintiffs, the defendant ought to have their verdict; but if they thought them spoken maliciously, they should find for the plaintiff: and the jury having found for the defendant, the question upon a motion for a new trial was upon the propriety of this direction. If in an ordinary case of slander (not a case of privileged communication), want of malice is a question of fact for the consideration of a jury, the direction was right; but if in such a case the law implies such malice as is necessary to maintain the action, it is the duty of the judge to withdraw the question of malice from the consideration of the jury: and it appears to us that the direction in this case was wrong. That malice, in some sense, is the gist of the action, and that therefore the manner and occasion of speaking the words is admissible in evidence to show they were not spoken with malice, is said to have been agreed (either by all the judges, or at least by the four who thought the truth might be given in evidence on the general issue) in Smith v. Richardson, Willes, 24; and it is laid down in 1 Com. Dig. action upon the case for defamation, G 5, that the declaration must show a malicious intent in the defendant, and there are some other very useful elementary books in which it is said that malice is the gist of the action, but in what sense the words malice or malicious intent are here to be understood, whether in the popular sense, or in the sense the law puts upon those expressions, none of these authorities state. Malice in common acceptation means ill-will against a person, but in its legal sense it means a wrongful act, done intentionally, without just cause or excuse. If I give a perfect stranger a blow likely to produce death, I do it of malice, because I do it intentionally and without just cause or excuse. If I maim cattle, without knowing whose they are; if I poison a fishery, without knowing the owner, I do it of malice, because it is a wrongful act, and done intentionally. If I am arraigned of felony, and wilfully stand mute, I am said to do it of malice, because it is intentional and without just cause or excuse. Russell on Crimes, 614, N. 1. And if I traduce a man, whether I know him or not, and whether I intend to do him an injury or not, I apprehend the law considers it as done of malice, because it is wrongful and intentional. It equally works an injury, whether I meant to produce an injury or not, and if I had no legal excuse for the slander, why is he not to have a remedy against me for the injury it produces? And I apprehend the law recognizes the distinction between these two descriptions of malice, malice in fact and malice in law, in actions of slander. In an ordinary action for words, it is sufficient to charge that the defendant spoke them falsely, it is not necessary to state that they were spoken maliciously. This is so laid down in Style, 392, and was adjudged upon error in Mercer v. Sparks, Owen, 51; Noy, 35. The objection there was, that the words were not charged to have been spoken maliciously, but the court answered, that the words were themselves malicious and slanderous, and, therefore, the judgment was affirmed. But in actions for such slander as is prima facie excusable on account of the cause of speaking or writing it, as in the case of servant’s characters, confidential advice, or communications to persons who ask it, or have a right to expect it, malice in fact must be proved by the plaintiff, and in Edmonson v. Stevenson, 1 Term Rep. 110, Lord Mansfield takes the distinction between these and ordinary actions of slander. In Weatherstone v. Hawkins, Bull. N. P. 8, where a master who had given a servant a character, which prevented his being hired, gave his brother-in-law, who applied to him upon the subject, a detail by letter of certain instances in which the servant had defrauded him; Wood, who argued for the plaintiff, insisted that this case did not differ from the case of common libels, that it had the two essential ingredients, slander and falsehood; that it was not necessary to prove express malice; if the matter is slanderous, malice is implied, it is sufficient to prove publication; the motives of the party publishing are never gone into, and that the same doctrine held in actions for words, no express malice need be proved. Lord Mansfield said the general rules are laid down as Mr. Wood has stated, but to every libel there may be an implied justification from the occasion. So as to the words, instead of the plaintiff’s showing it to be false and malicious, it appears to be incidental to the application by the intended master for the character; and Buller, J., said, this is an exception to the general rule, on account of the occasion of writing. In actions of this kind, the plaintiff must prove the words “malicious” as well as false. Buller, J., repeats in Pasley v. Freeman, 3 T. R. 61, that for words spoken confidentially upon advice asked, no action lies, unless express malice can be proved. So in Hargrave v. Le Breton, 3 Burr. 2425, Lord Mansfield states that no action can be maintained against a master for the character he gives a servant, unless there are extraordinary circumstances of express malice. But in an ordinary action for a libel or for words, though evidence of malice may be given to increase the damages, it never is considered as essential, nor is there any instance of a verdict for a defendant on the ground of want of malice. Numberless occasions must have occurred (particularly in cases where a defendant only repeated what he had heard before, but without naming the author), upon which, if that were a tenable ground, verdicts would have been sought for and obtained, and the absence of any such instance is a proof of what has been the general and universal opinion upon the point. Had it been noticed to the jury how the defendant came to speak the words, and had it been left to them as a previous question, whether the defendant understood Watkins as asking for information for his own guidance, and that the defendant spoke what he did to Watkins, merely by way of honest advice to regulate his conduct, the question of malice in fact would have been proper as a second question to the jury, if their minds were in favor of the defendant upon the first; but as the previous question I have mentioned was never put to the jury, but this was treated as an ordinary case of slander, we are of opinion that the question of malice ought not to have been left to the jury. It was, however, pressed upon us with considerable force, that we ought not to grant a new trial, on the ground that the evidence did not support any of the counts in the declaration, but upon carefully attending to the declaration and the evidence, we think we are not warranted in saying that there was no evidence to go to the jury to support the declaration; and had the learned judge intimated an opinion that there was no such evidence, the plaintiff might have attempted to supply the defect. We, therefore, think that we cannot properly refuse a new trial, upon the ground that the result upon the trial might have been doubtful. In granting a new trial, however, the court does not mean to say that it may not be proper to put the question of malice as a question of fact for the consideration of the jury; for if the jury should think that when Watkins asked his question the defendant understood it as asked in order to obtain information to regulate his own conduct, it will range under the cases of privileged communication, and the question of malice, in fact, will then be a necessary part of the jury’s inquiry; but it does not appear that it was left to the jury in this case, to consider whether this was understood by the defendant as an application to him for advice, and if not, the question of malice was improperly left to their consideration. We are, therefore, of opinion, that the rule for a new trial must be absolute.