Edgerley v. Swain
Supreme Court of New Hampshire
Case, for slanderous words, tried at the September term of the Common Pleas, 1853, on the general issue. The declaration alleged that the defendant, in a certain discourse which he had concerning Lydia Edgerly, one of the plaintiffs, at Meredith, on the second day of December, A. D. 1851, maliciously and falsely uttered of her these false, scandalous and defamatory words: “ You have had old John Tilton up here on top of you once ; you are like an old boaring sow, and a…
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Case, for slanderous words, tried at the September term of the Common Pleas, 1853, on the general issue. The declaration alleged that the defendant, in a certain discourse which he had concerning Lydia Edgerly, one of the plaintiffs, at Meredith, on the second day of December, A. D. 1851, maliciously and falsely uttered of her these false, scandalous and defamatory words: “ You have had old John Tilton up here on top of you once ; you are like an old boaring sow, and a bulling cow— thereby meaning that said Lydia had been guilty of gross lewdness, and lascivious and adulterous behavior. The…
1Opinion of the CourtEowler, J.
If any of the words set forth in the declaration are actionable of themselves, in the absence of any colloquium or averment of the sense in which they were spoken, it must be those first laid. We do not understand that the plaintiff was bound to prove all the words laid; it was enough for him to prove some material part of them. But those which were proved should have been proved substantially as stated, and to have been used in the sense in which they were alleged to have been spoken. 2 Phillips’ Ev. 97 ; Maitland v. Goldney, 2 East *481434, 438 ; Rex v. Berry, 4 Term 218 ; Barnes v.…
2Cases cited4 opinions
- Olmsted v. MillerNew York Supreme Court · 1828
- Shisler v. KeavySupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1874
- Alter v. Bowman, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Schuylkill County1874
- Ryan v. MaddenSupreme Court of Vermont · 1840