Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court September 15, 1859 (Sheffill v. Van Deusen)

Bigelow, J.

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 *305the words are uttered only to the person concerning whom they are spoken, no one else being present or within hearing.