The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-07-15


yet"
A striking irstance of the ,asautage of the
new method of trial, by whisis the parties to
suits are allowed, and mag ha requirsd, to
undergo examination 40 witns sssEs, 10 presented
by the case of Cough versus fees, lately tried
in the Eag;ish Court Of yar hequer. The
plaintiff in this case was The Ct lsb' ated Tenn
perance lecturer. The dese s3fut wss also Q
Temperance lecturer, but I'm sloyed 10 the
service of another, and in s1u Q respects an
antagonistic association. n Cough, a. APP
peared from his own tsstimeay, 10 ct present,
and has been for four or 6vsSyssrs, in the ser.
vice of two British Temper nca Societies, the
National League and the 80 ktish League,
which pay him at the rate o. TN guinsas, up.
ward OF ffsy dollars, lectur-s he delivers in
q year two hundred lectures, % elat his income
from this source exceeds ter II susAnd dollars
Q year. The object Of thetwA societies for
which Mr.. Cough lectures II ,aasd to be to
eradicate drunkenaess BY pslau ssion and pro.
hibition. The rival society, ;caI ed the United
Kingdom Alliance, for With Dr.. L,es, the
defendant, lectures seems e. rely more exclu.
sively on legal restraint, sdxDca1ing IN enact
ment of the character of the Aaine Law. The
ibels charged we're contsitysd in letters cd.
dressed to Me. Wilson. gentleman of large
f. rtune, residing near Notfsagham, and who
takes warm interest in the 3I0cieties for which
Mr.. Cough lectures. Prov .ked at an attack
upon Mr.. Sinclair, another Temperance lectur.
err, which DR.. Lees falssls aecribed to Mr..
Cough, he charged him in: hese letters with
being addicted to the use - opium, not only
insisting that Mr. Cough has. bten seen +" mar.
cotically and helplessly inf .xieated," but as.
serting that unless he dig not know what
drugging was, he had hims. seen him in that
coHdition.
These charges coming tesths knowledge Of
Mr.. Cough, he hastened to hrinS his action, for
the sole purpose of establishing their falsity.
With this object in view, u9der the new Fog.
lish practice, he offered hi 1sef az witness,
and swore positively that .e had never used
Opium in any form in bis liz, and that since he
took the pledge in 1912 ht had never tasted
spirits, except when in sickness in l845, in
which his life was despairet of, it was given to
hin as q medicine. Against this positive
denial on the part of Mr.. Tough himself the
defendant had nothing to efer and he there
fore found it necessary, tr way of escaping
heavy damages, to retract he charge he had
made.
Under the old system, AZ &C ion for Islander,
even though the plaintiff o-tai led judgment
in his favor, often left the truti of the charges
exceedingly doubtful. BY tle new method, the
party accused is not only lie 10 Offset the &C.
cusation by his own denial under oath, but in
subjectiDg himself to ci discrimination he
affords the strongest guara ty of his truth. At
the same time he places ,e accuser, who is
not ready to back up his ..hasges by himself
taking the stand, in the pc ,iti7,n in which DR..
Lees found himself-that OF rel racting charge
in support of which he had previously offered
himself as witness. -7ri0un.
We had yesterday the p safare of an inter.
view with M. Felix Belly, 70 Gentleman whose
recent movements in Cei 5rsl America have
caused some stir in nsv:sl ,ircles. But We
| the sending of feet to e-clfde NJ. Belly and
the French Prctectorate fr.-m Central America,
have been rather precipsan in their ideas
| M. Belly is merely pac &c Spectator, wto,
| with q vast capital to bss,k lm, proposes to
| dig q canal across the Istrnls. OF the feasi.
| bihty of this enterprise he PEI ks with absolute
and enthusiastic n6dei.se. 1t is no more
difficult, he thinks, than l., piercing of Mount
| Cents or than dozen OF, or achievements of
modern engineering. Nc does he see why
the American people or their Government
should view the enterprise. with jealousy. For
the practical work of digsine the canal, New
York must be the starti,g point. Here the
| requisite machinery, the ,Ats, the instruments,
work-must be procured y ere supplies must be
laid in for the workmen here the numerous
array of special assistant AMI agents must be
| engaged. In fact, for tas mere commence.
ment, the company mus eypend here some
| $500, 900 or $500, 900; ais1 the subsequent-ex.
| penditure, as the work at,.ances, must also be
heavy and constant. Beside, when the canal
| is done, it will be immen' ~ 1ore beneficial to
| American commerce thas to that Of any other
nation. Why then shouS v, be disturbed at
the prospect of its constr tiCn.
NJ. Belly goes back to SUR ,pe to day in the
| Persia. He intends to r. suri here 10 no great
length of time, when he : ill AXE steps for the
| actual commencement Of The canal. He is sp.
character, and if be will ,nly make the canal,
we can promise him as .ntueh immortality as
any single individual ous.t 20 enley.-N. r
Paper.
The only speck of wa that now ascks the
peaceful sky Of Europe !, the contest between
Turkey and Montenegro. which the latest &C.
counts tell us is about to 30 enewed With vigor.
Montenegro is a small country. of European
Turkey, situated among ss Black mountains,
from which it takes its n-,>ne. The area is only
about $50 square miles, apt i has some 100 600
inhabitants, mostly of ths Greek church, igno-
|
tions of highwaymen. ne ,olitical position
of this little community hes song been anoma.
lous. Turkey claims it, a1d 1t pays an annual
tribute to the Porte, but g hiss An independent
government of its own, a1-t IL also partially un.
der the protection of Rulsie- Turkey has many
times endesvored to reJace its hardy noun.
tsineers to complete srA teetiou, but without
success, and in the prestst struggle the noun.
taineers have shown th. SERVES able to cope
with their masters. Tha-s Is disposition on
the Fart of France and f;ussis to favor the in.
dependence of Montenee,o, Gnd France has in
sisted that Turkey shelf allow it's affairs to be
submitted to the e1is!ffg soDfersnce Of the
Western Powers at Paris. turkey objected to
this, and especially clait,.d hat certain towns
seized by the MontenegrIs during the Crimean
war should first be ret1.fe3. France, how.
ever, said that all the qGsstians connected with
the affair should be refeS Nd TO the conference.
TO this Turkey appearee 10 assent, because she
did not dare do otherwi,a But if late accounts
are true, she is Determined to make another
effort to substantiate he claims by force, with
out awaiting the decision7of her protectors.
| The condition of the rlasaes was 20 exceed
ingly bad on Wednesds, June 81, that every
window of the House G. Commons was tightly
closed to keep out the tsench but the smell
was condensed with teuepld power in the pas
sages and corridors. There were mot more
than thirty members present. So foul and
wide-sprsading has the tench from the Thames
nov become, that Mr.. yturaey has given the
| Speaker of the House ef Commons notice that
he can no longer be Responsible for the health
of the members. Up Is Tuesday, he got iresh
air draughts from the StW Chamber, but when
night came, the poison3 10 enemy took posses
| sion of that chamber, "a 4 M beat him outright