The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-01-07

nianfhs Eetweesn sernis while ID fhe accused
| fsfnsnred that ecious boon 1s9eedy trii',
sharing Him the fbrmentof anxint1s waiting
and long imprisonment, Oltens 10 otheT
courts, causing q suffering greater than that
Of the penalty following coBFic HoB.t III y
The concentration Of all the county ftieat
| ton in one. forum was of immense conie.
nience to our people, while the capacity OF
the court for prompt proceeding made u
one of the most effective Instruments OF JUS
tice. and made II unnecessary to keep suit
ors and witnesses hanging idly around the
eour. for q week at time, then to be sent
of till the next term; it was IN the poUer
OF the court to keep down its docket so that
causes could be reached nearly at the day set.
How the people UdluedS this their own
court is shown By the fact that after it was
presided OVERLY judge "learned in the
law" they brought nearly all their suits IN
the county court, while the docket OF the
circuit courts contained few cases except the
old ones, though the judges presiding there
were of commanding ability, and Of charac-
ter equal to any which had ever adorned the
| ermine.
Socially, the county court was Of great
benefit.
1t was identified with all the popular asso'
Citations and habits.
The court-days and the court.green were
the time and place of high change for the
county-when county people from every
part and visitors from elsewhere met and
exchanged ideas, information, experience,
and friendly offices, or made new contracts,
settled old ones, compared systems anu re-
suits of farming and stOck-raising, anu by
comparison of opinions arrived at true deci,
sions on public questions, with reneWeui
| n,edoes of concert Of action, and OF mutu.'
sunnort and frmness in maintaining tne id
Under such influences the people, ..' G1oi1
| not well be bribed, hoodwinked "i''oS.'
| nor conquered. h1ended tho
counsy J; poHp If interest, and formed that
so.t,,ra 60 neculiar to Virginia, It's county
| 1890, or;stics by which one acquainted
,n;.h ,ham could tell in u moment what
! county man came i'oi.'
eos ss means of education, the county court
WAS Of inestmable worth.
| Home-stayiDg youths have homely Wits
and. say what you please about 'home-
staying" as the most eminent Of human
virtues, like all virtues its excess becomes a
vice.
Men should not neglect their business for
idle wandering, it is true; but, on the other
hand, the due cultivation of all his mental
faculties is as much mans duty as the care
for his back or of his stomach. Even to the
student the attrition with other minds is as
essential to the correction of his ideas as is
the secIusion of his study. Solomon says
truly, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man
sharpencth the face Of his friend"
The man who never goes out Of sight OF
his own chimney, or of his own farm.lines,
will have few ideas beyond his ring-fence ;
his feelings and sympathies will become con-
tracted, his habits of thought narrowed, bis
interest in others limited, his intelligence
dwarfed, and himself the easy dupe Of any
newspaper or person who by design can get
his confidence.
What has done more than anything save
natures gifts to make the average general
intelligence of the people of Virginia higher
than that in most States, even Of those who
cannot read or write? mean their power OF
reasoning. Their shrewdness Of judgment,
their general information on questions OF the
dly, their keen interest in all that concerns
the State and the nation, their power OF
thought and cearness of perception, has
been these monthly assemblages and mental
exchanges, conyersing and hearing CONVEX
sation, receiving and imparting information,
suggesting and rectifying ideas, stirring
up and stimulating the mind.
Then, again, the close watching of the
proceedings in the courtroom, Of the con-
ficts of the bar, the skill at eXimin alton or
cross-questions, the searching question Of
law raised, the prompt and true replE<alI
imnart 1, 1S;aaa36nfs lsatGaDse1f1 =
!. d! cnuerI1I strength to habits OF at
e lott thol1uhf hy pypr.