This is an old defamation case from England in 1769. Defamation is the area of law concerned with protecting a person's reputation. In this case, Mr. Monsley published the following letter:⁣⁣⁣⁣

"Old Villers, so strong of brimstone you smell,⁣⁣⁣⁣
As if not long since you had got out of hell ;⁣⁣⁣⁣
But this damnable smell I can no longer bear,⁣⁣⁣⁣
Therefore I desire you would come no more here ;⁣⁣⁣⁣
You old stinking, old nasty, old itchy old toad,⁣⁣⁣⁣
If you come any more, you shall pay for your board,⁣⁣⁣⁣
You'll therefore take this as a warning from me,⁣⁣⁣⁣
And never more enter the doors, while they belong to J. P.⁣⁣⁣⁣
- "Wilncoat, December 4, 1767."⁣⁣⁣⁣

The insinuation was that Mr. Villers' had a bad odor and had a disease. One of the judges said, "Nobody will eat, drink, or have any intercourse with a person who has the itch and stinks of brimstone; therefore I think this libel actionable, and that judgment must be for the plaintiff (Mr. Villers)."

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