The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-01-13
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Terms, by Nail, II Advance
STORIES OF TRIAL m RATTLE.
Curious Ola Customs.

by Battle. we CLEAN from the writer
pages some interesting passages.
Feudal trials on the Continent were
things of violence from beginning to
end. The very halls Of justice there
had fighting look. "In those Of all
seigneurs, ecclesiastic as well as laic, "
says a writer OF the eighteenth century
(St. Foix), "the figures of two champi-
ons, completely armed and ready to
encounter, were seen in the place where
the crucifix with US the royal arms
now stands" Ragneau reports that
there were two such figures in the JUS
tice hall of the chapter of st. Meri.
Sauval says: II am much deceived It
| have not myself seen them in the two
chambers of requests of the Palasie, be-
fore they were painted, gilded and orna-
mented as they are at present; and l
think that behind the crucifix of one OF
these chambers there still remains a
considerable portion, if not the whole,
of the figure OF one OF these champions. "
The feudal court was composed Of the
seigneur-who might have been a
bishop or an abbot as a noble-or his
bailiff, and Of not less than four.of his
feudatories or peers.
Contempt OF court was not death
with them as now. The president vi
the court could compel anybody who
disregarded his authority to fight him.
At Bourges, for instance, we learn from
the character which abolished this pc
culiar method of maintaing the judicial
authority in that quarter ll45), that if
the provost had summoned any person
who refused to appear, the next pro-
ceeding of the functionary was to ad-
dress the obstinate individual in the
following form: 81 sent for thee and thou
dfdst not think it worth thy while to
come. / demand, therefore, the salts
faction of the duel for the contempt"
And doubtless the provost must have
found it a great satisfaction, when some
peculiarly ugly customer gave him a
sound thwacking in addition to despis-
ing his behests. The duel was especial
" designed for those capital cases in
which there was just cause for suspi-
cion against the party accused, bur not
sufficient evidence to prove his convic-
ton. But, in France at least, which
meant not only France proper but also
French-speaking Switzerland, Savoy,
the Sicilys, and the Flanders, in short,
fully a third Of the medieval Christen-
don't was hardly possible to conduct
anv action of law without having re-
sources to il.
A CURIOUS COMBAT N ENGLAND.
\ curious judicial combat was fought
in London, July IA, 1890. The wife of
the appellant, Sir John Anneslie, was
near relative Of the renowned Chandos,
and had inherited from him large do
won and held by the sword in
France. The old warrior had intrusted
Cathringtos, one of his squires, with
the government of an important castle,
and the squire had been continued in
his command by Anneslie and his
dame. The castle in question was one
Of the many that fell before the sweep
ing march, and, as French historians
delight to recount, the proves of Do
guesclin. This duel, however, throws
a light on Doguesclin's conquests, in
which other means little less glorious
than military skill and valor are seen to
play an important part.
BUTCHERY IN IRELAND.
A butcherly instance of the duel took
place in Dublio, September, 1888. Tea
que McGilpatrick O'Connor, a semi
wild chief from Connaught, accused
Conner Mccormick OConnor, another
wild chief from the same province, be-
fore the Lords Justices and the Council
of killing and numbering his men, they
being then under protection. This the
appellant declared had been done by
the simple plan of firing their lodgings
at midnight, aud assailing them as they
issued from the flames. The defendant
admitted the deed, justified on the plea
that the slain men were rebels, and Of
fered to prove his assertion by battle
He thus very completely turned the
tables on his foe. Rebellion was a
greater crime in the eyes Of the-Lords
Justices than murder, and the original
complainant was at once transformed
into the defendant. One of the Lords
Justices was Archbishop Lotus, but
this worthy prelate, far from advocst-
ing peace by word and example, not
only gave his fiat for the duel, but pre-
sided there in person, along with his CO
adjutor, Sir Henry Wallop. The quar-
rel was decided in the Castle yard, on
foot, the weapons sword, dagger and
large, and the usual defensive armor.
Having first been stripped to their
shirts, and carefully searched for anu
lets by Mr.. Secretary Fenton, the
champions encountered. The homi-
eide proved the better man-at-arms,
and wounded the other OConnor twice
in the leg and once in the eye. Find
ing the day go against him the latter
attempted to close, and to his misfor-
tune succeeded His antagonist proved
quite as superior in strength as in skill,
got his head into chancery and pun
melled with the hilt Of his sword until
he had knocked off the helmet. This
done the victor hammered away at the
bare head until, as an Hibernian auth
or strangely phrases it, he had knocked
the seven senses out Of it, Having
achieved this extraordinary feat Conner
Mccormick O'Connor hacked off the
victims head with. the victim own
sword, and presented the dainty morsel
to the Lords Justices, who ordered 1t
forthwith to be stuck on a pole for gen.
eral contemplation and edifcation.
PLEBEIANs AND MOBILES.
The duel was nearly as common
among plebeians in the good old time
RAN b