The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-06-05

! that. Mr.. Herschell made strong argumenti II
| favor of his proposed change OF the law. He
said that these suits were mostly brought FOL
blackmailing purposes, to enlist money from
timid people by adventuresses and designing
females and that they were encouraged by
unprincipled lawyers, and were q great an.
noyance and scandal to courts and a disturb.
ance Of the peace OF society. He denied the
similarity OF such promises to ordinary con.
tracts; that they were uncertain Of proof
and subjected unsuspecting men to the wilee
and traps OF cunning and artful women.
Several able barristers In the House sup.
ported Mr.. Herschells proposition; Others
opposed 1t, including the Solicitor General,
the latter making highly poetical speech In
defense OF woman, even going so far, In .
juvenile strain, as to quote Byrons lines:
-"Mans love is. OF man. a thing apart;
lis womans whole existence"
A dry and cranky old solicitor demolished
the sentimental appeals Of his honorable
brother, by citing his experience, In a long
professional career, Of the many cases Of
entrapment OF rich old chaps by Mrs. divers
of England, in such implied contracts, and Of
the proneness Of juries to give larger dam.
ages than were ever incurred by that impossi-
bic fracture ola woman's heart. Physlolog-
ically and psychologically no such damage
was ever incurred by any daughter OF Eve.
It was pure imagination Of too imaginative
old maids or specializing widows and too
susceptible juries. The class Of Mrs. Bardells
was increasing fearfully in England, and he
thought venerable and unsophisticated Pick
rr,ao ~ l,n tnl k1,a4S
power and wiles.
Strangely enough, considering how firmly
fixed John Bull is In his attachment to old
laws, the resolution OF Mr.. Herschell was
adopted by the Commons by large major
lily. So the vocation Of Mrs. Bardell and Mrs.
Oliver has ceased henceforth In England.
No more suits for breaches Of promise Of
marriage In that enlightened country. Thus
the law Of England will be brought up to the
point Of wisdom, sound policy and good taste
Of the civil law, as 1t exists In France and In
this State, In one at least Of the two features.
In which there Is a violent conflict between
the two systems Of jurisprudence.
Under the civil law system no actions have
ever been brought for breaches Of promise OF
marriage, nor can an action for the invalidity
OF the marriage contract on the ground Of the
incapacity of either spouse to fulfill the first
great command to the progenitors of the
human family be maintained under that law
Yet there have been in England the most
common actions. A French commentator, re-
ferring to those wide differences between the
Jurisprudence of the two nations, refers them
to the superior delicacy and sensibillty OF the
T.otf In oil off ~ 1oun .on&7 ,a,,k
and domesticity.
Now, 1t appears that while In England the
evil OF these suits for breaches Of promise Of
marriage can only be extirpated by change
and abolition Of the law allowing such actions,
which have been very common in this coun-
try, or at least at the North, our more en-
terprising women have resorted to much
more effective and practical method OF vim
dicatinR the claims Of their sex and avenging
their wrongs on the violators Of their vested
and contract rights, thereby virtually render
ing the old action Of damages obsolete and Of
no sort OF value or dependence.
A whole day Of last week In New York city
one Of the criminal courts was taken up In
the consideration of the cases of three vigor-
GUS and enterprising victims Of the bad faith
Of lovers, who exemplited the efficacy Of this
new method of justifying their claims and
avenging their wrongs.
They were three young women who had
been deluded into anticipating recognitions of
the binding force of their inchoate marriage
contracts by men who afterwards event
back" on their solemn promises, and ventured
Unto other fields and pastures new"
Providing themselves with walls OF vitriol
these blighted females laid in walt for their
faithless deceivers, and gliding softly behind
them, and calling on them to halt, no sooner
caught full view Of their faces than, with
unerring accuracy, they bestowed upon them
copious douche Of the vitrlol, which sent the
villain traitors bowling through the streets
The loss Of several eyes, ineradicable
and defacing scars, nasal deliberations,
and frightful havoc of all facial
symmetry, horrible torture, and perma-
nent and revolving ugliness were the effects
Of this application Of the new code of honor,
adopted by the wronged women Of that in
genious and enterprising community, which,
we presume. Is, In that community. to
supersede henceforth the miserably I'M
satisfactory and Ineffective old common
law method Of avenging the wrongs Of
woman, to which the Commons of Eng
land have just applied the pruning knife. It
is true the court and jury Of New York do
not appear to recognize the legitimacy of this
new code of honor of women-unlike our
courts and juries, which have never failed to
give effect to the Code of Honor that has
long prevailed among gentlemen in this State
and city in the settlement OF personal con-
troversies. The court and jury in New York.
however, with the egoism characteristic OF
the male sex, did not shrink from the
responsibility Of finding these vitriolic
females guilty Of assault with intent to kill,
They were sentenced to the penitentiary for
five years. This proved no great victory
over the dauntless Amazonians. With shouts
Of exultation and ieering at the Gorgonic
faces OF their victims and prosecutors, they
accepted their doom as did the condemned
dlrondins OF France. who beguiled their Jour-