The Tiffin weekly tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1859-1868, 1867-02-21

Huu the otucStS OF cOnSi0Crntc CIR II
cumspeeticn, not TO assume this per.
formance of impossibiitios; aud pro.
nouncing emphatically all efforts vain
looking TO recovery. And when
hard pressed by vexatious importuni.
ties, as often happens under like cir.
cumstances TO satisfy in9uisitive Gu.
riosity, his noble impulses became
master of his discretion, whereupon
solf.assured Of his own skill aud dis. /
n .terestod reservations, no declared |
X ith no little emotion provoked by
SIC occasion, that the disease was
learly case of depletion ,oi,hopt
fcptctioR which always had been aud
probably ever would be extremely
dangerous if not inourable. 1t might
indeed, said he, be sovereign rene.
dy for TifiiH and yet be death to Ft.
Ball in accordauco with the familiar
aphorism that prescription which
will cure one not unfrequently will
kill another. All readily understood
aud appreciated this wise aud con.
vincing discrimination.
Therefore our Inundated Fort Ball
belligerents, pcnsive with anxiety and
yexation, sought legal counsel from
their listening lawyer. hoping, like
some ohockmated coquotte, TO recover
soothing equivalent for their loss
and disappointment, iu damages to be
extorted from somebody when identi.
fed as the author of their calamity.
Now, il must bo remembered that
these lowyers are a jolly, ingenious,
rollicking set Of fellows-7jostling and
fighting each other like Kilkenny
cats one moment, and the next cooinC
together like harmless doves. New
ertheless they are morally aud intel
lectually powerful host, acting, and
that fearlossly, MS sentinels upon the
battlements Of the law, which, unseen
aud almost unfelt, permoates commu-
nifty, and, under their vigilant criti-
cism, protect the fundamental iuter-
ests Of civil society. Aud, "lot us
render unto Cmsar the things which
are C@sar's," for among these, our
Fort Ball lawyer justly occupied
high position. No puritan ever uu-
derstood his catochism better than he
understood Blackstone, and Chitty,
and Swift's Digest--the pillars of his
library; and it was even intimated
that, now and then, on tho Sabbath,
for the want Of Bible, and as a pas
time after singing "Old Hundred"
he would venture to peruse the canon
Law and learned commentaries of Sir
Edward Coke. But first in his estima-
tion, and above all legal lore,
especially dear to his heart; aud indeed
mover intention'iy disregarded, atleast,
by lawyers, was the law of compensa-
sss;On. Tho goodly proprietor of Tiff
fin did not then reside there nor had
he been there for months, and, conse-
sequently, knew nothing of this in
tcrnocine conflict; nor could ho bo |
amenab!e for it. Our Tiilin belliger-
ents, in a pecuniary point of view,
was of themselves sadly irresponsible,
and therefore if judgment for dam
should be rendered, our lawyer would
be compelled to look TO his own af-
ficted associates for remuneration in
the promises, without the probability
Of reimbursements from the defend
ents. This, at the outset, presented
serious dilemma, but he never eyaded
the performance Of duty. IIo told
his impatient clients. that under the
circumstances divers things must be
considered, in order to arrive at just
and correct conclusions aud among
these as most prominent
LIST. Whether or not they had a
legal right to abut their dam against
the opposite bank on the east side of
the river2
I'd. Who committed the transgress-
ion2 for if nobody was guilty, nobody
could be punished.
3D.. Whether OF not the tran1gress.
ors, if ascertained, were Of ability to
compensate in damages such verdict
as might be obtained against them
for if mott the suit would result either
in a loss to themselves or in viola
tion of the law of compensation.-I
Waving, however, altogether, the
two latter subjects of inquiry, he was
of the opinion that the first interrog.
atory involved legal question Of the
gravest magnitude, and, consequently,
deserved very serious consideration.
Its abstrusoness might, perhaps, be
such as to attract the attention, by
stimulating the cupidity Of the law
yers, to undertake its solution and
therefore he would take the whole
subject undor advisement, that no
detriment might result from an imma-
turo determination. 1t may not be
inopportune TO suggest that this was,
undoubtedly, the original precedent
In our county for the reservation of
legal decisions for future announce
ment aud it must be conceded that
It's great practical convenience and
utility are equaled only by its fre-
quency since the popular election of
our Judiciary.
But the Fort Ball bclligercnts were
too excitable, and too much excited
for delay in a matter Of such deep
concernment The contrast from the
extreme of prospstity to that Of ad-
yersity, SO sudden and irretricyable,
could not fail to provoke the bitter
est lamentations OF all and the ex.
hausted sovereigns, yielding to the
Impulse of hopeless despair, again
poured forth yolleys of imprecations
against such as they suspected as
having inflicted this direful calamity,
aud if nobody did it, then against
the caprice and vagrancy Of the mill
pond itself. IL would be useless if
not inexcusable TO repeat the ontburst
of their excited and jaundiced indigI
nation. Suffice it 10 say that their
wives, in those days always preseat,
where danger or indiscretion might