Newspapers / The Wilson Mirror (Wilson, … / March 27, 1889, edition 1 / Page 1
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W I lUs 1M i iVMEEOE,, ' "Our Aim will be, the People's PigTit Maintain, Unawed by Power, and Unbribed by Gain." VOL VIII. A JUDGE'S CHARGE OS FOR BREACH OF l'KOM ISE. AX ACT I fpoo onr Jury 8en- Gentlemen ok Ti.E Jcrv. Let me first thank vou for having kept awake dor-in- the entire time of the protracted tnal. and thus again having refuted the slander discharge of the malignersot our jury .jrs ,en,, who maintain that during every .m portant trial, one half of the jury fall asleep The case before you gentleman of the jurj , - ...rv imnnrtant subiect is one toucning a ..r - - . marriage. The two great essential elements in civilization requisite of the existence and continuity of the modern State, and as mar-ria-e i admitted to be quite a tax m itself we'mav consider it as the most essential Now the action for breach of promise of marriage is mainly distinguished from ether actions in this, that it will not he, if the advisarv parties belon- to the same sex. No well authenticated precedent can be found, tending to show that this action has ever been brought by one man against an other, nor can any case be called to my at tention, where this action was brought by one woman against another. I do not wish to he understood as asserting that this never occured, since it is impossible to say what a woman may or may not do, when her blood is up. Fortunately gentleman of the jurv, we are not obliged to resolve that doubt in the present instance, since it is conceeded bv the evidence, that the plain tiff is a woman and the defendant is a man. in fact no one who saw and heard the plain tiff testify, could for a moment entertain anv doubt as to her sex. Another fact equally important i that the defendant is either innocent or guilty of the breach of promise with which he stands charged. The importance of this f-ct cannot be overestimated, because if he c ould not be possibly guilty under the evi dence, or could not possibly be innocent that is, if the testimony were all one way there would greatly curtail, if not entirely abrogate your prerogative as jurors, to find a verdict in accord with your sympathies, or other notions of equal weight and con sideration. These two points in the case being thus settled, it only remains to charge vou briefly on the points of law and your duties in the premises. On all subjects not controlled by statutes, we are supposed to bs governed bv the Common Law of Eng land. Breech of promise of marriage is one of those subjects. Our Legislature who could not conceive the possibility of any man re fusing to marry a woman, particularly if she was young and pretty, and willing to marry him, have not provided by statute for such a case. This action therefore must le governed by the rules of the common law. But what common law? Now it is generally supposed that there is but one commmon law, but we who have been charged with the trial of cases for many years, know better. Common law is noth ing but immemorial usage or custom, and there are two kinds of it, the common law of England and the common law of juries. This dualty in the common law has led to absurd verdicts according to a common law of their own. One of the principal features of this law is that the character of the parties litigent, is a very important, if not controlling fea ture, determining the verdict. Thus if the defendant is a railroad company or an in surance company, all admissible presump tions must be drawn in favor of the plain tiff, and he is generally entiiled to a ver dict, regardless of the mere secondary mat ter of evidence. This is the immemorial usage, that if the plaintiff is a woman, and the defendant is a man, to find for the plaintiff. No departure from this rule is on record in any case when the plaintiff, as in the prsent instance, was young, pretty, witty and vivacious. Some say that the foundation of this custom of juries is, the gallantry of the sex. This proposition how ever I must deny. The true foundation the court charges you, gentlaman, is the regard men have for their mothers. One of the ureat charter rights which your an cestors, gentleman, wrung from a reluc tant tyrant at Runnymede at the point of the battle axe, is the right to have a mo ther. This right to speak is the palla dium of liberty, and is indirectly recognised in the Declaration of our Independence. For if w;e had r.o mother, we could have no existence, we could not be engaged in the i-uisuu oi nappmess, yet to be thus engaged WILSOft. NORTH CAROLINA. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 1889. is, as every school boy knows, one of our inalienable rights. . What I have stated heretofore may in it self be bufficient to guide you to the true verdict; still, if you desire also to pay some attention to your secondary matter of evi dence you should be guided by the follow ing rules. If you believe the plaintiff and her witnesses are entiiled to no credit, you will disbelieve them, unless you further be lieve that the plaintiff should have a verdict anyhow. If you find that the defendant's witnesses have departed from the truth, you will reject their testimony, unless your sympathies are with the defendant. The matter of evidence is exclusively for you, gentleman. Still, I cannot forego making a fussing remark or two on that subject. I think the promise with all appurtenances sufficiently proven. The testimony of the fair plaintiff has unquestionably strongly impressed you w ith the probability of its truth. The lifelike picture of the situation could not be mistaken; you all know that situation, because to use an expressive phrase you have all been thereat sometime or another. The promise being thus es tablished, the question is, was there any cause given justifying its breach: The main if not the only cause, we are told, is flirtation with another man. But is this a cause? Is not the right to flirt one of the inalienable rights of woman? Is it not the pursuit of her happiness? Was the Declaration of Independence written for man alone? I need say no more. I think these suggestions are sufficient to determine your verdict as to which party shall prevail. If not you will have to de termine it yourselves upon deliberation. I am sorry to say that the authorities treat ing on the custom of juries are not agreed, Drawing straws and tossing a penny, all have their supporters, but I am of the opin ion that the best three out of five in the National game of euchre, between the lead ers of the opposing factions in the jury room, is now in harmony with the genius of our institutions, and equally well sup ported by reason and authority. Having first settled the right or wrong of the case and in one of the. manners suggested de termined to find either for the plaintiff or for the defendant, the further enquiry as to the remains if you find for the plaintiff. Now the question of damages is one of the gravest importance. Is it the only one in which the plaintiff and her lawyer are equally and evenly interested, and therefore must be handled by you with a great deal of care. If the plaintiff has a verdict, she is en tilled by way of damages, to all she has lost and to all she has found by the defendant, unwarranted conduct, in breaking off the match. Now what has she lost? She has lost the comfort of the defendants society She has lost the comfort of turning up her nose at some other woman, who has missed getting her husband. She has probably lost the comfort of a sealskin sack and many other comforts too numerous to mention. And what has she found? She has found wounded affections. She has found that her best friend, who envied wih her all her heart, now secretly rejoices in her discomfitune. She has found mental auguish, lacerated feelings and a whole lot of disagreeable things. For all these she is entiiled to full conpensation. But here is the nib. How is this compensation to be measured. Most of these things have no market value, except perhaps, the seal skin sack. Whoever heard of wounded af fections and lacerated feelings, prime quality, being advertised at somuchayard. Neither are these articles sold for cash or future delivery. Not the ; most ventur some speculator ever "got up a corner on mental anguish, although mental anguish has been the result of many a corner. Here again the great superiority of the ccmmonlawof jurors over the common law of England is manifest. The simplest and most approved method to reach a result is this. After you have agreed that the plaintiff is to have a verdict, each of you take the wounded affection, comfort of society of sealskin sack and other comforts lost and found by the plaintiff, and each of you make a lumping estimate, so much for the lot, write it down of a piece of paper. After everyone has done this, the estimates are footed up and their aggregate are divi ded by thenumber of jurors. Thus I am proud to say the practical mind of the American juror has found ready solution in the most complicated cases of the . ad- of rreasuresdamages. Ther.r is a five-year old boy in Mecklen burg count v who can read a chapter in the Bible. A MIXTURE. EDITORIAL ETCHINGS EUPIIOXI OUSLT ELUCIDATED. Numerous Newsy Notes and Jlaujr Merry Morsels Paragrapblcally Packed and Pithily Pointed. A plain man The ranchero. Every bakery has its pie rate. A course of sprouts Celery. Maid to order A servant girl. Regular church goers sextons. Representatives of the pen pigs. A beastlv show The menagerie. A moving scene a game of chess. Lawrence Barrett is worth $725,000. A slow match Four years of court ship. Helena Modjeska was born in Poland in 1S44. Some scales never learn the error of their weighs. " ? : ' Henry Irving has just reached his fifty ' first year. Patti, it is said, has lost certain notes of her voice. All the pawnshop patron wants is to be let a loan. Clara Morris Was born in C!evaland, Ohio, in 1S46. Sarah Bernhardt will not visit America again until 1S90. The King of the Netherlands is flighting death Inch by inch. John Wanamaker's life is insured for a round million of dollars. Henry Villard, the railway magnate, is about fifty-five years old. It is claimed by old hunters that a rabbit train is merely a hair line. The Emperor of China has jus'i tiau 260 pairs of boots made for him. Madrid theatres are allowed by law to use oniy the electric light. ' The hog trust will make the lover of pork chops bristle with indignation. Apcording to the market reports, onions are strong at ten cents a bunch. John Bright never was at any school a day after he was fiffeen years oleff Captain Walker, Chief of 'Bureau of Navigation, is promoted to Commodore. Your washerwoman may be a good soft soaper, but she is not always a whitevrasher. Harrigan, the New York actor-author, has just completed a new three-act com edy. : A girl always wants a fellow to tie a true lover's knot when she gets him on the string. Mrs. W. J. Florence will permanently retire from the stage at the close of the season. Mr. Le Grand B. Cannon, of Vermont, is said to be a director in 450 different cor porations. Scventv years ago James Russell Low ell celebrated Washington's Birthday by being born. A grand-niece of Schubert has been giv ing a piano recital with moderate success in London. If he who hesitates is lost, the man who stutters must have great difficulty in find ing himself. The grandmother of the Queen of Mada gasca is dead. She was neatly a hundred years old. The German Emperor has started an elaborate daily "Court Circular," which he edits himself. Ernest Henry Charles Dechen, the Ger man geologist, is dead. He was eighty eight years old. The full name of the biggest man in France at present is George Ernest John Maria Boulanger. Ali i doubts that Modjeska will play in connection with Edwin Booth next season seem now to be removed. Richard Henry Stoddard, the New York poet and editor, has beei almbst totally blind for the past three month. Mr. Forude's book on Australia has given birth to a new word in the Assembly House at Melbourne. It is "Froudacity." Marie Van Zandt has made a sensationa! furor in Madrid in 'Lakme," being called in front of the curtain twenty times. Four opera companies will fight one another for the profitable patronage in New York city during the summer months. George S. Bachelor, of New York, has been appointed Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, vice H. S. Thompson, resJgned. The London Figaro says that a sister of Mary Anderson w ill shortly make her de but in the English provinces or the United States. A woman dentist in Philadelphia is re ported to have a practice of $ 1 1,000 a year. And yet she is often seen looking down the mouth. Mr. A. D. Sarles, a Vermont school teacher, obtained his first certificate from John G. Saxe in 1841. He is still in active service. In the death of the Rev. Dr. Breed, of Philadelphia, the Presbyterian Church loses one of its most scholarly and influential ministers. Mrs. William P. Fyre, the wife of the Maine Senator, is said to be writing a soci ety novel that will deal with official life in Washington. W. Van Dyke, proprietor of the Minnie Douglas Opera Company, now traveling in Iowa, has become heir to $140,000 by his uncle's death. Admiral Luce, United States Navy, re cently retired, will in future make his home with his daughter, at her hardsome New port (R. I.) cottage. Rev. Dr. T. H. Pritchard of Wilming ton, N. C, is suggested by the Religious Herald as successor to Dr. Boyce in the Presidency of the Sonthern Baptist Conven tion. Cleveland's New York law firm is com posed of G rover Cleveland, Charles W. Bangs, Frances S. Bangs, Travers Lynde Stetson, Charles E, Tracy and Charles MacVeavh. President Harrison usually w ears a high buttoned, double-breasted frock coat, and seldom has a suit all of the same piece. He is a regular smoker, smoking small cigars of clear Havana. Count Herbert Bismark, the German Chancellor's eldest son, has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and his brother William to the rank of Major at the request of their father. Edward F. Jones, the scale maker and Lieutenant-Governor of Ncvr York, was born in 1S2S. He began his business ca reer at the close of the war, and was long past forty when he became rich. The New York Mail and Express says the President continues opposed to sending Mr. Whitelaw Reid to London, but has informally offered him the Paris Mission which Mr. Reid recntly accepted. Lord Sackville, the damaged diplomat, is devoting his attention at present to his mansion, Knole. He has thrown the old and beautiful place open to the public, a thing which the late lord and master re fused to do. Congressman Reed, of Maine, is descri bed as a big, awkward, loose-jointed man. He moves at a swinging gait, his hands buried deep in his overcoat pockets and his hat well back on his head. He wears a No. 10 shoe. W. C. Whitney, O. H. Payne and Dan iel S. Lamont are the names that appear on the door of a well-fit ted up office in the citv of New York. The ex-Secretary of the Navy and hisJ-rich brother-in-law have Uken him into copartnership with them in their railroad schemes. Norman J. Colman, who was the first agricultural member of the Cabinet, is a practical farmer who for a number of years has conducted a first-class agricultural newspaper. He is a small man, very quiet in dress and manner. Mr. Coleman is said to be an accomplished ventriloquist. The President has appointed Thomas W. Palmer, of Michigan, to be Minister to Spain; John F. Swift, of California, to be Minister of Japan; Tohn D. Washburn, of Massachusetts, to Minister Resident and Consul-General to Switzerland; Albert G Porter, of Indiana. Minister to Italy, and John A. Evander, of Illinois, to be Minister to Denmark. It is not generally known, but neverthe less it is said to be a fact, that a considerabe colony of lepers exists in Southern Louisi ana. It is located in the almost impenatra ble swamps near the coast. The disease is almost entirely confined to the descendants of the Acadians. When one is taken with it he leaves his friends and family and goer to the settlement in the swamps. NO. 3 STATE NEWS. FROM THE DEEP BLUE KEA TO X E GRAND OLD MOUNTAIN. An Hour Pleasantly Npent With Onr Delightful Exenanres. A shoe factory is talked of in Durham. A seal was captured below New Bern last w eek. A twelve year old boy in Salem weighs 1S6 pounds. The farmers around LaG range are buv ing no fertilizers this year. Pitt county farmers arc usinr less juano this year than ever before. The Agricultural and Machanical col lege will be comp'eted by the middle of August. Friday morning last the jail at Jackson, Northampton county, was burned to the ground. Col. John S. Cunningham, of Peajon. w ill plant this year two and a half million hills of tobacco. The value of railroad property in this State4s fifty million dollars. It pays to the ' State a tax of $25,000. The matter of connecting Raleigh and Durham by telephone is again being re vived after a short rest. The citizens of Conctoe, Edgecombe county, haye subscribed nearly enough stock for another oil mill. It is estimated that 10,000 negroes have left North Carolina since the exodus from, the eastern counties began. Senator L. Wilson, of West Virginia,, will deliver the annual address at the Wake Forest commencement in June. Mr. George R. French, a highly es teemed citizen of Wilmington, died in that, city on the 15 inst., in the SS year of his Dr. R. H. Lewis, of Kinston has been, elected by a committee of the Dialectic So ciety, of the University, to deiiver an ad dress, before its members at the next Comr mencement. There are now 219 students at Wake Forest college. Rev. Dr. Carter, of the First Baptist church, in Releigh, will preach the sermon before the graduating class next June. The Raleigh Graded School closed last Friday. No money to carry, them on. It is thought an election will be held in Ral eigh in May, to vote for or against addi tional taxation for continuing the school. Auditor G. W. Sanderlin has received and accepted an invitation to deliver the literary address before the graduating class of the Chowan Baptist Institute, Murfrees boro, N. C, at the commencement June next. As North Carolina has taken such a prominent part in the matter of a Southern Exposition, it is probable that Raleigh will be the place for the first meeting of the Southern ExpositionCompany to perfect a permanent organization. Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley railroad has commenced work on its wharves on the river near Wilmington. When this road is completed from Wilmington to its connections in the northwest, it will be one of the most impo.-tant lines in the State. A terrific hail storm prevailed in Wil mington last Wednesday. The hail was as large as hen eggs. Ben Moore, a colored boy, eighteen years old, was caught in the storm, and so furiously was he pelted by these icy missiles that he died in a little while after reaching the house. One of the most important industries in Rocky Mount, and one which has done a great deal of good towards building up the town, is the carriage and buggy works of Hackney Bros. By close attention to bus iness, fair and honest dealings, and first -class w ork, they ; have made a reputation second to none in the South. Opium & Liquor Habits Cured Without Nerv ous Shock or Distress. Oar Double Chloride of Gold Bemedlea for the Cure of the Opium and Liqi or Habits, have teen on the market for 1 0 VEARS,dunntf which time they have never failed to make a Cure of either Habit, where tbev have been jfiven even a meajrre chance. We will Cure Onrx Patient at their own home? in fro.Ti 4 to 6 weeks, painlessly, and without loss of food, sleep or occupation. e easily Cnre n,.. ,.. v vrLC;nt;nfTiiiiPF.Wias. ruli proof of the above furnished, and Literature for the Core cf either Habit sent free on application. Adores. THE LESLIE E. KEELEV CO.. mviGIIT. LIVINGSTON CO.. ILLINOIS. r
The Wilson Mirror (Wilson, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 27, 1889, edition 1
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