The Nevada Democrat., 1859-10-05
THE CHIvALRY OF THE OLDEN TIME.

Inc LOn0Ou IdttteT, Vi KNVFSmDeA @osA A'~Ni
thus takes of the Chivalry Of that day, which
is as applicable now as it was one hundred and
fifty years ago:
The. Proceedings ofthe Court of Honor, he'd N
Sheer Lane on Mo71d0y, The 20th OF N0UenbeTJ
ITO, before Isaac Bickerstaf, Esquire, Censor
of Great Britain.
Peter Plumb, of London, merchant, was in.
dicted by the honorable Mr.. Thomas Gules, OF
Gule-hall, in the county of Saiop, for that the
said Peter Plumb did, In Lombard street, Lon
don, between the hours Of two and three
In the afternoon, meet the said Mr.. Thomas
Gules, and, after short salutation, put on his
hat, value five-pence, while the honorable Mr..
Gules stood bare-headed for the space OF two
seconds. 1t was further urged against the
criminal, that, during his discourse with the
prosecutor, he felOniously stole the wall OF him,
having clapped his back against it in such
manner, that II was impossible for Mr.. Gnles to
recover IL again at his taking leaveof him.
The prosecutor alleged that he was the cadet
OF very ancient family; and that, according
to the principles of all the younger brothers Of
the said family, bo had never sullied himself
with business, but had chosen rather to starve,
like man of honor, than do anything beneath
bis quality. He produced several witnesses,
that he had never employed himself beyond the
twisting Of whip, or the making pair OF nut
crackers, In which be only worked for his dl-
version, in order, to make present now and
then to his friends. The prisoner being asked
what he could say for himself, cast several re-
Hections upon the honorable Mr.. Gnles as,
that he was not worth groat that nobody In
the city would trust him for a half-penny that
be owed him money, which he had promised to
nav him several times, but never kept his word
and, in short, that he was idle, beggarly fellow,
and OF no use to the public This sort OF Ian
guage was very severely reprimanded by the
Censor, who told the criminal, that he spoke
in contempt of the court, and that be should be
proceeded against for contumacy, II he did not
change his Style The prisoner, therefore, de-
sired TO be heard by his counsel, who urged in
his defence, that he put on his hat through ig-
norance, and took the wall by accident They
likewise produced several witnesses, that be
made several motions with his hat in his hand,
which are generally understood as an invita-
tion to the person we talk with 10 be covered !;
and that, the gentleman not taking the hint, he
was forced to put on his hat, as being troubled
with cold. There was likewise on Irshman,
who deposed, that he had heard him cough
three-and-twenty times that morning. Aud as
for the wall, it was alleged, that he had taken
1t inadvertently, to save himself from shower
Of rain which was then falling. The Censor
having consulted the men of honor, who sat at
bis right hand on the bench, found they were
all of opinion, that the defence made by the
prisoners counsel, did rather aggravate than
extenuate his crime that the motions and inti-
nations OF the hat were token Of superiority
in conversation, and therefore not to be used
by the criminal TO q man Of the prosecutors
quality, who was likewise vested with double
title to the wall at the time of their conversa-
tion, both as it was the upper hand, and as il
was o shelter from the weather. The evidence
being very full aud clear, the jury without go
ing out OF court, declared their opinion unani-
mously by the mouth of their foreman, that
the prosecutor was bound In honor to make the
sun shine through the criminal or, as they af-
terwards explained themselves TO whip him
through the lungs
The Censor knitting his brows into frown,
and looking very sternly upon the jury, after a
little pause, gave them to know that this court
was erected for the finding out ofpenalties suit
able to offences, and to restrain 0utrages OF
private Justice and that he expected they
moderate their verdict The jury therefore
retired, and being willing to comply with the
advlces OF the Censor, after an hours conver-
saton, delivered their opinion as follows:
That in consideration this was Peter Plumb 3
first offence, and that there did not appear any
malice prepense in it, as also that he lived in
good reputation among his neighbors, and that
his taking the wall was only Sc sedefendendo, the
prosecutor should let him escape with life, and
content himself with the Sitting of bis nose and
the cutting off both his ears Mr.. Bckerstall,
smiling upon the court, told them that be
thought the punishment, even under its present
mitigation, too severe and that such penalties
might be ofill consequences in a trading nation
He therefore pronounced sentence against the
criminal in the following manner : that bis hat,
which was the instrument of offence, should be
tod tO fha xrf iho al oh
60 to the warehouse, from whence he came and
thence, as occasion should require. proceed to
the Exchange, or Garraway's coifee-house, in
what manner he pleased but that neither he,
nor any of the family of the Plumbs, should
hereafter appear in the streets of London, out
of their coaches, that so the foot-way might be
left open and undisturbed for their betters'
Dathan, a pedling Jew, and T. Il, a
Welshman, were indicted by the keeper OF an
alehouse in Westminster, for breaking the peace
and two earthen mugs in dispute about the
antiquity of their families, to the great detri-
mont ofthe house, and disturbance of the whole
neghborhood Dathan said for himself, that
he was provoked to 1t by the Welshman, who
pretended that the Welsh were an ancienter
perple than the Jews Whereas, says he, Il can
show by this genealogy in my hand, that am
the son Of Meshech, that was the son of Naboth,
that was the son of Shalem, that was tho son of
- The Welchman here interrupted him,
and told him, that he could produce shcnnalo-
gy as well as himself; for, shat he was John
ap Rice, ap Shenken, ap Shones.' He then
turned himself TO the Censor and told him in
the same broken accent, and with much warmth
that the Jew would needs uphold, that king
Cadwalader was younger than Issachar.' Mr..
Bickerstaf seemed very much inclined to give
sentence against Dathan, as being Jew but
finding reasons, by some expressions which the
Welshman let fall in asserting the antiquity of
his family, TO suspect that the said Welshman
was Pr@-Adamite, he suffered the jury to 20
out, without any previous admoniton. After
some time they returned, and gave their verdict
that it appearing the persons at the bar did
neither Of them wear sword, and that couse-
quently they had no right to quarrel upon a
point of honor to prevent such frivolous APP
peals for the future. they should both of them
be tossed in the same blanket, and there adjust
the superiority as they could agree on 1t be-
tween themselves The Censor confirmed the
verdict
Richard Newman was indicted by major
Punto, for having used the words, 'perhaps il