The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-05-08

his mother used to co, oh so long ago, and
have been thinking ebout him ever since!'
The old man did not know whether his
boy was alive or not; he had indirectly heard
of him being alive when he was five years
old, but never since. He was careful to
ascertain the boys rights in his fathers
estate which was very consi derabie, aud
while he seemed 70 dread the result OF
him or his descendants laying claim to
chifds part, lie nevertheless refused to make
a will cutting off the inheritance. Not long
after the old man died. and the secret was
barred in his coffin with him save so much
as he had confided to me. / was counsel
for his administrator in the settlement of his
estate. filed the petition to partition his
lands, and no one save myself ever dreamed
that there was possibility that another heir
was living away of in North Carolina
There is no class of cases which brings
more vexation to the lawyer in general prac-
tlce ordinarily than an lncubatiDg divorce
case. In large majority of divorce cases
there is sudden flare up, separation and
divorce; but occasionally, where there is
property to be disposed or and young child
rem to look after, long time is required for
the egg to hatch into an open and public
separation. During that time each of the
parties will sometimes strive to the very
utmost to put the other in an attitude
which will appear wrong one to the
public. The husband wishes to retain as
much of his property as possible, and the
wife is striving for the largest possible share.
The law wisely closes the mouth of both as
witnesses, and the merest scraps and shreds
of evidence are all that either can hope to
rely on. Both parties take counsel and both
see the difficulty and hence the ingenuity
of both will be put TO the utmost stretch to
have the world believe that the fault is with
the opposite side. In the presence of strang-
ers how loving, how kind, how considerate
each will he tO the other Eaughi
Sometimes, however, it happens that one
of the parties will be mainly to blame.
Oftener this is SO than otherwise. In such
case the warfare on the one side will be
offensive, while on the other it will be
defensive. Then il is that the lawyer $
advice is of greatest use to him or her who
defends Then il is that cool hand and a
cooler head becomes of the greatest impor-
tance. l remember a case in point. 1t
occurred many, many years ago.
hush ana OF large means de-
termined for some cause or other on
having a divorce from his wife. He was a
farmer. She was his first wife and by the
Joint industry OF the two a handsome for
| tune had been accumulated. A house full
| of children born at regular intervals during
a period of sixteen years filled the house
| Tne wife loved her husband and children, and
was as devoted 10 husband and children as
| wife could be. At least such was the testi-
mony of those Of the neighbors who were In
position TO know. No sooner had the man
determined on a divorce. than he began a
| system of aggravating prosecutions that was
| diabolIcal enough to have driven a saint into
| perpetual fury. In the presence Of
strangers he was all smiles, but. t.alone with
| her and he was fend. Nor did he conceal
! from her his motive. But who would have
! believed her story Surely no judge, for
had she abandoned him and published his
infamy to the world, the story of it would
never have reached the judicial ear. 1t
| would have been '-hearsay." She came
to me. / saw at once that we had a
| tiger and a fox to fight. Skill, caution
forbearance, prudence, sense, everything
was necessary to carry on the unequal COM
| bat successfully. There was too handsome a
property to divide, and the mothers love
| for her children was toe strong for the battle
| to go without bitter contest. Say nothing
| to aggravate, do nothing to exasperate but
stick to your position IN that household" 1"
was tue advice given She acted upon ii.
! She discharged faithfully all her duties of
wife and mother. She endured all his taunts
and jeers. She held the citadel, until, at the
| end of two years, the man became fairly
| furious, and determined on a last and most
| desperate charge. He hired for the purpose
| q characterless vagabOnd as a farm hand and
promised the wretch fifty dollars if at given
time he would creep or force his way into
the wife's bed. Fifty dollars was a large
sum, and the brute agreed TO il at once.
| The wife got an inkling of what was going
on, and her wrath for once got the better
of her, and she charged her husband
with his intended crime l think it likely
! that she uncapped the volcano of her fury
at that particular time, and no doubt she
said many things not calculated to soothe
| the spirit OF bad husband. At any rate he
| lost his head, and in his endeavor TO add to
her wretchedness confessed to enough by
way of taunt TO verify the truth of her for
mer suspicious. At once she posted off to
consult her lawyer what shall / do?'
she asked. "Shall ] abandon children and
all after these years of suffering and mis-
ery?' 1.
MOI said; never. Go and get you a
| pistol, carry il on your person in the day.
| time, and take it in the bed with you at
night, and il that hired rufian offers you
| an insult shoot him down.
Perhaps the advice was dangerous. If
bad il to do over again, would most likely
| not give it that way. But instead OF harm
! good came of it. She procured the arm
| the hired man found it out, and instead of
being party TO the ruin of a woman who
had never harmed him, he turned against a
mac who had cheated him out of part of
| his wages for work honestly done. and told
the story OF that mans infamy. The battle
was won, and the wife now abandoned her
defensive position, brought her suit for d.
vorce, and had her own way. She kept the
farm and the children. and he became
vagabond and wanderer.
i see almost every day on our streets
little boy whose publicly known history goes
back to a misty morningin November agood
many years ago. On that morning fellow
townsman on opening his front door found
| bundle of rags on his door step, and on
unrolling them a newborn infant was found
with one little fist cranlmed into its mouth
He was a toundling and after much
inquiry and more guessing had been
wasted in the vain effort to trace
out his parentage. the child was turned
over to the largest hearted and poorest family
in the town to be charitably brought up; and
now he may daily be seen bounding through
| our streets in all the joyousness of childhood.
not knowing or caring to know, aught of
father and mother who so cruelty turned
him out to the cold charities of the world in
that misty November morning good many
years ago. On the same street was, up to
within year or so back, to be seen an aged
gray haired man, most venerable and wise