New-York tribune., 1870-12-21
4 L1DY IN THE CASE.

FUOu WIS CTutl Wntn uo Luduc hOluCu, say >
one of George EliOts characters, in passionate
protest against her lot. The average American
jury has apparently adopted something of the
same impious doctrine, and thinks itself called
to right this wrong of creation in every pos
sible way. The ladies of The RepOlution in
form us that women never get their rights at
the hands Of men, and we heartily agree with
this statement so far as jurors are concerned.
Almost every week there is some scandalous
case of breach of promise, where woman
brings brazen forehead and q package of
love letters into court, and her lawyer cajOles
jury into furnishing a man by the cOnfisca-
ton of half his substance, for having found
out that the woman he was engaged to
was not the sort of person he wanted
for wife. If the man be old and
ugly, and the woman Young and pretty, the
unfortunate wretch is lucky if the jury leaves
him cent to pay his funeral expenses. In
that disgraceful case in Illinois, there is no
doubt that poor Spragues bad spelling cost
him an additional fifty thousand dollars. There
were no damages high enough to compensate
charming young woman for the cruel wrong
of being Tilted by a gray-headed miscreant
who spelt the name Of his Redeemer with a z.
On several occasions in recent years indiscreet
young ladies have shot their acquaintances
whom they could not persuade into matrimony
and have been held blameless by fearful .juries
amid the snuf1ling of sympathetic bystanders.
1t is not the aesthetic sense that is appealed
to in most of these instances. We cannot help
making great allowances for those sensi-
tive and beauty-loving Greeks who were
dazzled out Of judicial calm by the unvaicd
perfection of Phryne. But most of our Grim
inal women to-day have nothing but sex to
plead for them, and that is usually all-sufi-
cient. If any of our fair readers contemplate
murder, let them take heart and courage from
the proceedings on Monday in the Court Of
General Sessions. Miss Margaret Dunn, called
for her heroic stature Big Mag, was on trial
for the killing Of William Davis one night last
Summer Davis was familiar acquaint-
ance of hers, and she had, on the even
ing in question, invited him to visit her.
He went to her room in q state of intOxca-
tion, and, not finding her there, fell asleep on
her bed This amiable dove, returning to her
nest was so incensed at the liberty her friend
had taken, that she mashed his skull with a
broken whfetree," and then threw him out
in the lobby to die. Being tried for this
crime, the gallant jurymen found her guilty
only of mansaughter in the second degree
Recorder Hackctt sentenced her to a short
term of Imprisonment, az the extreme penalty
possible under such a verdict and we may
expect to see lachrymose petition for pardon
circulating before long, that this gentle being
may be restored again to the bosom of So
ciety. If she could be married to the jury, it
would be every way desirable, aud the deo-
dand whifietree should be given as a dOwry.
IL is, OF course, unnecessary for us to repeat
Our conviction that the hanging of men and
women is not a good tor wholesome thing
for society. II is altogether likely that with
the abolition of the death penalty we would
zee the end Of these ghastly farces where
women are concerned. No one wishes to hang
o woman, and therefore it is that men bring
in these Illogical verdcts But while bad
laws exist they should be executed, and thus
the sooner amended. A jury has no right to
consider the sex of criminal i'm determining
the degree of crime. But for these aberra-
tons the public sentiment is more blame
worthy than the irresponsible men who sit on
Juries. IL requires great deal of moral
courage to pronounce o woman guilty of the
crime OF murder. The very people who
believe III the justice Of your verdict will
denounce you for it some day when occasion
offers. Gen. Butler il a good enough lawyer
to know that Mrs. Surratt was proven guilty
of treason and murder, and yet he could not
resist the temptation Of saying in his smart
way thatMr Bingham had her innocent blood
on his soul.
IL is q fact not without significance that this
sentimentality in Courts of Justice in regard
to female criminals has rather increased than
diminished in recent days. Amid all the
changes OF law and custom that have resulted
in giving u larger freedom to women. both of