The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-09-04
CURRENT TOPICS.


" Each Jury shall consist uf twelve jurors, the
agreement Of two.thirtls of whom shnll bo suili-
ciunt for u verdict, in all cases. lrih civil and
pcnnl. except i'll capital cases. when thrcr-fonrthB
must agrco to make verdict vali,l But the
foreman, in rendering tho verdict. shall stnto
how many jurors have agreed" III support
Of this he alleges tho often defeats of justice
BY tho unanimity requirement, tho inconsistou-
cy OF the attempt TO make agreement by coll
fnenlent, the fact that nowhere bu, in England
and tho United States is tllis una,lIlity re-
quired To nuke q verdict, thu violation " tho
ruo that no man shall be placed in jeopardy
twice upon the Same charge, which is wrought
by calling that no trinl i'll which the jury ,o mol
agree anu io rcas0ns M follows: What ~ utin'
nimity worth when il is enforced, when tho
Jury is out any lc '...l at time, which proves tlla
the formal ununitn,ty. tho outward agreement, is
merely acconlmu.i dive unanimity. if may mako
word? Such n verdict il moi an ntrinsically
truthful one; the ulIunmty is real 'allorcemcnt
or artificial. Again, the unanimity principle puts
il in the power Of any refractory juror. possibly
sympathizing morc with crime than with society
and right, to defeat the ends Of justice by hold
ing OUT Every remembers eases uf the
pluineBt and of well proved atrority going uupun-
ishcd because of one or two jurors resisting the
others, either from positively wicked motives or
some mawkish reasons Which ought 10 lIayo pre-
vented them from going into the jury lux alto
gcthcr. The French and
German rule, and l believe the Italian also, is
that il seven jurors nro against iiyr the judges
retro, and if the bencl decides with tho Eve
against tho suyen the verdict is tho side of Tho
five. II eight jurors nErco against four it il
verdict, in capital we'll III in common criminal
cascs. There is civil jury in France, Germany
and Italy," We think thorc is 4 general tlImiru-
ton Of respect Tor jury trials. Lawyers seem to
look upon then as imPodilnents to justice, aud VIC
suppose ths estimation docs mol change when
lawyers come upon the bench +! is most pro-
vokng oppression When, after n costly trial, one
refractory juror defeats u verdict. obstrnrtctl
Justice is injustice. Public opinion dues not
attribute such sanc.ity to This mndo OF jury
trials as to make reform impracticablr. Perhaps
such modification would increase the popular re-
spect for trial by jury.
The IAxIry of our marriage laws has been
matter Of rcproach tons with our English critics,
but if some recent statements of the London
journals arc 10 DO relied upon, the morals OF tho
British middle and upper classes nro far below
those of average American families. Tho last
number Of tho London Rerie,c on hnnd aays
" Concubinago is OH the increase i'm London,
IL,
respect to tho relations between the sexes exists
among great number of literary doc'rinaridns,
who arc indeed giving practical evidence of tho
FREQ lvyc faith, which thoy accept attor reject
ing every other. The Pagnnis,n Of tho upper
GLASSES is tho result of cultivated indulgence,
and of the customs and dresses which keep the
fever OF passion Mt the highest; tho Paganisn of
writer's and thinkers is not easily explained.
One Of the most disagreeablc sights in the world
is profigate philosopher, reminiscent OF the
sty and tho study; but what shall We say Of tho
intellectual woman whose domestic lifo is rcgu-
lated by tho marital institutions of the Pacific
islands2" This is q very grave statement, aud
one which cannot be either verified or denied this
aide of the ocean. II is matter of common no.
toriety, however, that Miss DnADDoS, the novelist
is the mistress of MAXWELL, her publisher, and it
is also known that Miss EVANS, the nuthoross of
"Romolo and Adam Dcde," ia living in unhoy
bonds with LENEs, the Comptist philosopher
When RUsKIN's wifo left him for MALLAIs the
artist, it did not prevent that eloquent writer from
subsequently warmly praising the pictures OF the
successful rival to his wfc's Infections, and when
RusKIN lectures, Mrs. RusKIy and her paramour
aro frequently seen in the audience applaudng
the deserted husband We presume That il is
these, and similar cases not known here, to which
ticlc. Certainly no such charges will lie against
our literary class. All our really noted authors
and authoresscs, far us the public arc aware
lead blameess lives. Notwithstanding the lax
'diVorce laws of some OF our States, We doubt il
there ID a country upon earth where domestic
purity is 60 general or go highly regarded ns il in
among the white people of the United States.
THE PARIS CORRESPONDENT of The Ioston Gazette
nos L.,
covered that there nlno thousand families who
live by supplying thu objects required ut or after
funerals; collins, flowers, ton,sto nes, or who are
hearse-dryers, pall-bearcrs, Graye-liggers, hurry
gardeners, etc. Reckoning each or
these familiea to be composed of three persons,
you have twonty-scven thousand persons who live
Oh death. Who'd hayo thought We had 80 MANY
ghouls for noighbors2 Ono IF the oldest trades
OF these ghouls is the censorship Of cpitaphs No
inscription ia allowed to bo put on tomb in
Pars until after it has received tho impyimahr of
this censor. was astonishcd to hear of the cx-
istcncc of tlIis officer, for walk in my of our
gravc-yards is as good as reading Zoo Miller, 30
ludicrous arc many OF the inscriptions. relncm-
Der thero is one at Pcro la Chaise Sacred TO the
mon,ory OF Mno. HEnpInT, ono Of Tho best SANG
ago makers OF Paris. Her disconsolate husband
continues to carry tho business mt tho oil stand
No. 90 Ruc St. Antoine, md then suggests tpelf:
'sacrcl TO tho memory Of Mmc. YAssAIDE, wifo of
Mons. LOUIS YAssAIDE blacksmith; the railing
around this lot was mado in his smithy; aud hero
is anothcr Under tlIs stone sleeps IIESRr ScnsEI-
DER, our only son, who sailed in tho ship iigGp for
China, and was never heard of nfterward.' Whero
was tho consor2 hnvo mndo inquiry and have
been told his positive orders to veto no cpitaph
which is not absolutely inalmissablc. He vetocs
about Ryo hundred year. How grolcsquo they
must be What strange alterations the soundcst
mind is guilty off,
THE CINCINNATI GAZETTE says that for years past
1t has been known that valuable pearls might DO
found in tho muscle shells Of tho Miami river.
which, at times, has been the cause of consider
able excitement Occasionally when somo ono llas
been fortunate in hunting theso precious articles,
parties would become infatuated with the idoa that
they might find sufficient number in abort timo
to make them possessors Of vast wealth, and have
thus been led to spend days and even weeks to-
gother in fruitless search. Then again, other
parties, without really expecting to DO fortunate In
this limo, have, BY accident, discovered most bcau-
tiful pearls. Recently this las been tho case with
several gentlemen with whom we are acuuaintcd.
On last Saturday thrco gentlemen, amusing them-
sorea in the search, discovered pearls which arc
said to DO worth fifty dollars. We have seen leso
specimens. 80 beautiful in shape and color as to
excite the admiration of all who have seen Them
We wero informed by tho possesgor Of these TINT |
still another gentlemen, last week. discovered |
NfI I,,, Il, f..I