Nor  could  the  fact,  that  the  individual,  against  whose  so-
ciety she  was  warned,  was  her  step  mother,  change  in
the  least  the  obligation  of  the  defendant ;  the  danger  to
the  safety  of  the  witness  was  by  the  connection  increased
in  a  ten-fold  degree,  and  the  obligation  on  the  defendant
increased  in' proportion.  It  will  be  recollected,  that,  in
the  preceding  remarks,  we  do  not,  in  the  most  remote
manner,  mean  to  be  understood  to  say  or  intimate,
that  there  was  just  cause  for  the  opinion,  which  Mrs.
Marsh  entertained  of  Mrs.  Adcock;  it  is  not  pre-
iended.  All  we  intend,  all  we  mean  is,  that  Mrs.
Marsh,  holding,  honestly,  these  opinions  of  Mrs.  Adcock,
was,  by  the  law,  justified  in  making  them  known  to
Sally  Adcock ;  and  that  her  communication,  so  made,

,  was  what  is  termed^  a  privileged  one.    And  we  farther
I  hold,  that  without  any  request  from  the  mother,  she  would,
I  under  the  other  circumstances,  have  been  justified.   When,
however,  a  communication  is  shown  to  be  a  privileged
one,  as  flowing  from  a  legal  or  moral  obligation,  the  plain-
tiff may  if  he  can,  prove  that  it  was  not  made  in  good


JUNE  TERM,  184S.  865


Adcook  «.  Manb.
