The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1848-11-15

she land all her children: took The Rail
4 Road train for Bristol ,s md must have
reached their desiinatio ia q tewS hour5
afterwards.
Here Is one hills chapte he lifa5nf &:
poor hard working woman, and five could
read the UNIV ritten history of families and
individuals, or others equally and sill
more afllctinlg, would rise upon our yisions
ORIGINAL Il . HUMOR. !. VI j I ssss ss$:
a SouINTIge jury! Once upon aiimej!
4or to be d little more particular, nearly
half a3c century ago, (for the editor Of this,
paper. IL rettie iefnbers the time, t,lace and &
3scene, whichiare firmly fixed upon his
oyish recolle ec,ions, there dwelt in stte.l
town OF ----- in old Eng gland, !, a3 res
able oddity,i in the personof an at.
iitorney at law, who, al,Ilong oh not fair std
look upon, for he was, in truth, one ofthe
9homliest specimens OF humanity bee{
held by moTtdl man. was wittal d person;
of sound Judgment, great beneyolence,
various learning. q poet, o. painter, and q
wit OF no mean order. 4
II SO happened hat the aforesaid gen.
5tleman, G. g Esq, was sappoinss
tied High Sheriff fof the town off.
He was q mnn of fortune and had q kind
heart, MS many poor prisoner couldtesti-
yfy, who parlook Of faheI good heer with
which the prisoners were li6erally SUPP
piled at Christmas and other well known
festivals, from the private: purse Of the
4 High Sheriff.
II wls, of course, The duty of The High
Sheriff 70 summon a @ rand and Petit Ju-.
1fys TO attend at The quarter sessions of.
which The Recorder, Mayor and Alder
men Of The borough composed the Court.
In the performance OF his official duty lit
sunlHioning the petit iGrryjF. our High sShes.
iiFindnlged in some ofSthe strangest and
;drollest freaks ihlt have ], probably ever
been heard of in my other town or conn.s I
TRY. in The first place he summoned for
the October court al jury consisting Of
twelve of tile fa,test fneti ha could .fifi8 I'LL
the borough. and when they came 70 the.s
book TO }beS sworn, ,it aPPeared sthat only !.
nine jurors could sit cor1fortabl bly, within
the box! "A flera great deal of sWeGtiing;
squeezing and scolding, the tahfsl waa
literally jammed into the box, and when
seated, they presented To- the eye OF The
court the barristers and audience, the
itightest fit Of q jury that was ever seen i'll \
any court room. Literally they became,
much to The amusement of the Court and
IFS robed advocates, a packed jury, and
no mistake!
For the January term, our faeeiidus
High, Sheriff lin consequence Il was said 4
.ofsome hint from the Recorder that there
should be no more fat pannels summoned
TO his couri, went into the opposite exs
treme. He summoned twelve q Of the
SLRANEsT AND 5TALLEsT5 men he could find
in the borough; and when they took their
seats in the box, it itappeared comparative
.lyempty there was induced loom enough
for twelve more Of the ssafiie sort aid dit
mensions. "a
Forthe April torn Of the court, our.
humorous functionarv summoned a Jury
consisting oftWelve BARRIERS! Now 1t SO
happened that among the latter were the
very perreqniers who dressed the Recor-
der's and barrister's wigs, mud some Of the
later arriving late Of the bar, had 10 q p:
pear that morning in court, with their
wigs undrcssed or hail dressed, so us to
cut very ridiculous figure, amidst the
smiles and haltsuppressed laughter ofthe
DySeotiuSt -. = NS kAISN SJli6Siils Ol5COuESc3
enjoyed the fun anazingl u, but looked
sgrayo as q judge, while he tried to- keep
silence in the court room.
But the crowning joke of this waggish
funciionary occurred at. the sumrnoning
of his fourth and last jury af the Summer
Sessions III July. For that term of tie
court, the High Sheriff. not having the fear 4
ofthe Recorder, the Mayor and the AL:
dcrmen, before his eyes,, actually sum.
moned q squinting Jury! twelve as queer
looking bipeds as ever took their seats in q
.ajury box--n jury that was probably
more looked at and lnnghed at shan
any of the appointed twelve that over
were sworn, To- swell and truly try and
true deliverahce mako between their
Sovereign Lord the King and the prisoner
ut the bar h
SGD But the scene was 80 irresistibiy drolt
that the Recorder could NOT maintain his
gravity. The Mayor and Aldermen fol-
lowed suit. The barristers laughed
while their wigs became bald and povdl
erless; nay, even the poor prisoners in the
dock who were to be put upon their triaL
and some of them undergo iranspor oriatio1,
could not refrain from joining in The zen;
ernl cachtna finyt a nd Svh III Is lna7 7sfJed