New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-10-21
FROM BOSTON.
IS A COUNT A COUNT
From Our Own Correspondent


i BosroS, Oct. 49, 1861.
The question whether it is libel to speak of tn,
Count Johannes soi-disdat Count has aRat ed on
courts more or less for many months. have hear,
it stated that every Judge of the Superior Court anC
there are eight or nine Of them has, first and last
had some share in trying and settling the question
Some Of the trials have resulted IN verdics for the
} Count, with exemplary damages; others have re-
suited in the Counts defeat and modification; some
have been contested by witnesses and counsel; Others
have gone by default or blunder The latest trial
took place last week before Judge Allen. who held
the scales of Justice evenly despite the occasional
oggle which the ludcrous incidents Of the affair must
have communicated TO his hands. | heard a
portion Of the trial. When went in the Count waa
reading his declaration. It was prodigiousy long,
containing sxty-one different particulars think. and
was full of the usual legal jargon. From it gath
cred, what afterwards appeared in evidence, that
pamphlet had been published by The Bee Printing
Company containing what purported 10 be an au-
thentis account Of the New-England Tour of the
Prince Of Wales. The grand bali at the Boston
Theater was of course described by the jenkins who
was employed By the publishers Of The Bee to do
this work. and il wss while describing this bah that
the unlucky reporter allowed himself to say, and
! The Bee Printing Company to print, the following
words
There fourishes sotdisans Cont. with his decoration
given by the Grand Duke Of Pumpemckel bought nom
some similar august pctsDtaie"
Ths was in the midst of a running sketch Of other
distinguished persona, for instance that agreeable
looking Of the world, the new Chief'Justice,
meaning Judge Bigelow; :" a venerable millionaire,
with his stately dame in her rich laces meaning
nobody knows whom, except the half-dozen million
aires and stately danes who were present, and who
were as eager no doubt, to appropriate the compli-
merit az the Count was to apply 10 himself the indg-
nifty; "tLe noble old Commodore, " to w.t. Commo.
dore Hudson; and 30 on. / cannot learn that this
half-eomplimentary and half-sDeering paragraph ex-
cited any great attention in the community. doubt
if any considerable number Of those who read il be-
slowed q moments thought upon il. b. +. Russell
esq. however member Of the Boston Bar, testified
that he read il, and he Immediately thought Of the
Count Johannes, AZ the sol-disaRt Count. He did
not know the Count, except by sight; he bad heard
his claim to the title canvassed and questioned by
most Of those who canvassed il. / thought the
counsel for the defendants might have made a good
point by asking if the paragraph tended to bring the
Count into hatred and contempt in the mind Of Mr..
Russell, who, as far as appeared, was the only
member Of the general public who had
read It, but the question was not asked.
But am getting a little ahead Of my story.
The Count was bis own principal witness as
well AZ his own lawyer; aud if the lawyer had fool
for client, which do not assert the client did not
have fool for lawyer or witness, for the Coun,
managed bis business exceedingly well; making
many blnnders, Of course for he is neopbyte at the
Bar, but treating Court and Jury with great deal
Of tact, examining the witnesses with skill, and
making his points at the right time and place. In
his faculty of interfering stump speeches for the
jury, ard for the audienee-whose good viii Is In
fictitious % the Jury-he put one in mind Of Choste
and Butler the gea. masters OF that art. The Count
related how he went to the Ball with his wife, how
he paid sl5 for his tickets how lie was recognized by
iioy. Banks and others Of his friends. The next
mo.uisg he saw the liJe which, ret forth in the
declaration, had been such an injury TO him.
Before his testimony was finished the defendants
counsel asked leave TO call one OF their witnesses,
who yas anxious to testify, because he had got to
,ail for Hayu the next day. This witness was Mr.
-. upon nv word cannot give his name, but
sounded Ike Espinasse. lie was an Austrian Jew,
srdss he WAS about 10 be sworn, the Count said
loudly that il not the Jews oath He must set
q" bis face TO the East" Right" said the clerk,
and the jew was accordingly 30 sworn. good
point for the Count the sympathetic faces oil the
people showed. The witness said he was native
NJ Austria. and a Doctor of Laws by gift OF the
Upiyersity of Vienna, where he had practiced law.
II, knew Austrian law, and he knew about titles.
And he told about them somewhat. And he SAID
quite positively that none but relgnng
sovereign could confer the title Of Count. An exile
in England could not confer it. The Count then
took the witness. lie cross-examined him to the
date Of his diploma; as to the number Of years he
praetced law in Vienna; as to,his reasons for eav-
ing Austria as to his passport, which was not v'sed,
though the LII. ID. had visited Belgium and other
lands before he came to America as TO the confer
ment Of titles by the University on Jew. un'
derstapd YOU to say, Sir" said tho Count, " that
from time iInmemorial, temPore anHemoT'o, the
University of Vienna has been in the habit OF
comforting the degree of LII. ID. upon Jews y
- Yesp said the Austrian. SO the Count did
not greatly impair his testimony. lie next tired ms
natience by asking him If he had not at "a previous
trial taken an oath as Christian and had not denied
that he vas Jew. The witness refused to answer
and said the Count was Z" impudent," and the Judge
ruled that as the witness had been properly swori
now. il was 10 matter how he had been sworn before
Perhaps the Jew is rs indifferent to forms us thu
Quaker looking gentlemen, who being asked by thu
,Jndce II he would swear or Affirm, replied that n
, "did'nt care d--n which," The Count proceeds
70 AJAX the jew doctor If he had studied history
"Yes." "Cannot a Count Palatne, possessed
royal prerogatives, bestow title = "only when q
ia reigning sovereign" Here the LID laughed
scratched his head and good naturedy explained L