The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-07-06
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.
Hes3lOnH N Unlo0.I
KINNERsLY VS.. KNoTT-A DIsaUIsITIoN ON NAM


signed it. To this declaration the defendant de-
INJURED specially and assigned as the ground of his
demurrer that the declaration had not properly set
forth his christian name, nor assigned any reason,
under the statute Sd and 4th William ", chap. AZ,
for not doing 80.
Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, on behalf of the defend
ant said their l0rdships often told that case
rested word, but here il rested on letter only.
Il his duty to contend both upon principle and
precedent, that this was good ground for demurrer
The Court had decided that the letter & . being
vowel and capable Of pronunciation, might be taken
TO be christian name, but they had at the same
time intHBat6d tlat snch you'd not be the case
with consonant, which, as il could not he sounded
alone, would be deemed TO be not name but an
initial letter only. Now in this case &C NJ " was
plainly initial letter, for it could not be pro-
nounced by itself Standing by itself, therefore, it
meant nothing. He was sure very eminent au
thoress miss Edgeworth) whose loss they had re-
Gently had TO lament, of opinion that all the
letters of the alphabet, by the mode in which they
were explained, were rendered little more 10 use
judicial language) than mOckerV, a delusiOn,
and a snare that A d, etc, meant A b G
d, etc, and nothing more; but even if it would
avail him, he feared his friend could not rely upon
such authority
The Lord Chief Justice-You say the " NJ
means nothing-then let it mean nothing. Would
a scratch be demnrrable
Mr.. Sergeant TaIfowd.-I say that " M by
itself, cannot be pronounced, and means nothing
but here it does mean something, which something
statute. Suppose a person Of the name of John
Robbins, the Court would surely hold declaration
bad which described him by the word John and
figures Of the redbreast In like manner the Court
would hold this declaration bad, because it either
put sign for one Of the defendants names, or de-
scrbed il by the initial letter. consOnant by itself
was a mere sound without meaning. The letter H.
indeed, by the custom Of london and some other
places was no sound at all, laughter though else
where it often protruded itself on all occasions
renewed laughter.l
Mr.. Justice Maule-I had policeman before me
as witness the other day, who told me he belonged
70 the : hen" division, and it was not until some
farther stage in the cause, that discovered it was
not division designated by the name of bird hut
by N" the alphabetical letter. TGreat laughter
Mr.. Sergeant IGlf0urd.-lt will probably be CON
tended that this person might have been chrstened
m the manner the bill Is signed, but submit that
the Court will not intend that Il is true we often
| hear OF absurd christian names, and / myself re-
member when many persons insisted upon having
their children ehrislened " Sir Francis Burdett."
Mr.. Justice MQute.-l remember a very learned
and ingenious argument by Mr.. Jardine, when sat
| in the Court Of Exchequer, by which he proved TO
the satisfaction of the Court that the christian name
Is the real name, and the surname is only an addi-
ton that in the case of John Stiles for instance
John is the real name, but Stiles was perhaps origin
ally added only because the ancestor lived near one
Mr.. Sergeant IdlfOund-Then having | hone
convinced the Court that M, by ITSELF cannot be
/ name, and means nothing, I submit il must he
I
/ 10 have been - stated.
Mr.. Justice Maue.-Pleadings are in writing
therefore the law presumes that the Court can read
and know its letters Vowels NAV be names and
/ 10 Sully's Memoirs " a Monsieur DO. IL spoken
| Of; but cOnsOmnts cannot be names alone, as they
| require in pronunciation the aid of novels.
| Mr.. Sergeant IakfOurd.-Yes; but in the case Of
consonants, they are taken to be but initials when
used alone, both in law and literature. Through
out the pOnderOus volumes of Richardson's novels
for Instance we find persons spoken of in this man
ner. In " Clarissa Harowe,' for instance, /" Lord
| NJ. IS mentioned throughout four volumes, but it
| could never he understood that this was the real
| name, or any thing more than an initial. Again.
an author well known to the Lord Chief Justice
lChares lamb wrote a farce entitled simply 4" Mr.
H., but the whole turns upon this being the initial
! onlyof a name he wished to conceal In his pro-
logue to it, he humOrously says
When the dispensers Of the public lash
Soft penBnce give letter and dash =,
And loses hall her progress by cuItainE
The affair Of Colonel B. with Ms A.
~ must forgive them ioT what is there, say,
~ hleh such plant Vowel must not grant,
oEwho poetic justice daes dispute.
When mildly melting at a lovers suit
The wile's Liquid, her good man 5 Mute"
And he concludes by an appeal to the consequences
OF this mlncing fashion, which [sad the learned
sergeant trust will have great weight with your
| lordships, for he adds
4 On. should this mincing faihon ever spread
rom ron names Of living heroes to the dead
| As each loved syllable sbogd mali sosv N
| Her a lexaHder TUNED into g,eat A,
| a single g her Cesar to express,
Her scip9 sunk into Roman s.
Gsat Hsnnba himself oSfs 1 a modes o. speech
| The learned sergeant then cited and argued upon
variety OF cases on his side Of the question, and
favor of his client
MT f. Robinson, on behalf of the plaintiff, said
ne did not deny the right Of every Engishman to
pe called by every name given him at his baptism
put he submitted that, before he claimed to be privi
legged on that account he must show that his priyi-
| lege has been invaded Here it was assumed
throughout that the g Nj - in the name g John M
Knott, was an initial letter. but he believed there
were instances in which persons had been chris
tened m this remarkable way in this country He
was told there was lately Eank director who was
chrstened Edmund r. Robinson''; but were it
otherwise in this country, did it follow that in no
other country Jew, Turk or heather, might not use
such names If, however il were an initial letter
why did not his friend apply to have the right name
substituted If II were a misdescriptiOn il was
pleadable in abatement. Such a name might
originate from an errsr Of the clergyman at The
christening.
The Lord Chief Justice.--In the upper circles of
society it is customary to hand in the name in
writing, which prevents mistakes.
Mr.. Justice Maule.-The practice Of the circles
with which am conversant was, and / believe is,
| to give the name verbally. There was, however,
| gentleman, the sheriff of one of the counties
| went through on circuit, Mr. John Wanley Saw
bridge Erie Drax, whose name was very probably
| handed in. CLaughter)
Mr. RoblRson.-There are many Scotch and
French names, such as M'Donald, M'Taggart,
ID Harcourt, D'Horsey-how are such names to be
set out in the pleadngs! Suppose, again, mans
name We're the name of a river, as X
| Mr. Justice Maule.-But that is not spelt so it
is idem per ide1a, X for ex. Beer, believe, is
sometimes called X, but not water Qaughter)
Nh RoblnSon.-Thers are some Of our names
which are precisely those OF letters, Gee, Jay,
Kay, etc.
Mr. Justice Maule,-But here it is not sonans,
only oonsonans, and cannot be sounded without
other letters.
Mr. RObRson.-Their lOrdships should remem-
Der the existence of publication called the Foaetic
Nuz, and unless they meant TO give a heavy
blow and great encouragement - TO that rising
| - L.. L 4 Il. !