The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-01-03
Nice sharp Outlets OF the Law.
One Of Brougham's earliest appearances as
adyuCnle WIS In hchAlf Of a mMn nCCMscd Of

'uc VI i,IVuShhlH IlVsl abp'hi ahN'p "'
an advocate was in behalf Of Il man accused o
stealing pair Of boots. The evidence to tn,
theft was conclusive; but Brougham contend
ed that his client mu be acquitted, the arl
Ces stolen beng hHl.hOots, which he argues
I were not boots any more tn0u hall guinea
was IA guinea, or half lori II whole one
Lord E,kgroyc, knowing hi, man, guessed
that he was being played anon, So without
asking the prosecuting counsel IO reply, he At
once ovcrrucd tie Objection, ,ayIn.. 81 am
of opinion that 'bOOT Is a aynll gcH.fItc
lComprchcuding a hall.bpOt The distinction
| is bewrcn II half boot and half u boot The
moon Is always the moon, although some
times she i, haltmoon.' 4 more. Scrou,
contention was raised in lie Court Of Chan.
Gerry not many years since. trStator left
! property the disposition of which was affected
| by the death Of either" of the two persons
! One learned counsel strenuously insisted that
! the word either" meant both, and quoted
! Chaucer, Dryden, SOuthy, Richardson, Web
scr, and the Scriptures in support of his view.
| The court held that though the word might
sometimes be used in iha, SENSE its proper
meaning was one of two, rs in Machcath's
wcll.known affirmation;
How happy could / be with either,
We're pother dear charmcr away.
Common sense however, does not always
regulate legal decisions a NeapOhan tax
collector, proved to have appropriated the
public moneys to his own private uses, was
acquitted on the ground that being one OF the
public, he was part owner OF the money, and
could not steal what was his Own.-Thc son
of a wealthy Gernan Outrunnlng his allow
ance obtained a loan from Il banker On his
way home thief lghtened him of his pocket
book containing the borrowed notes, When
+, a.. HON lar dam up,l.G ,l.l,lnr
laughed at him; and he was compelled to
take legal proceedings before the Imperial
Tribunal Of Commerce. to have the pleasure
of hearing the court decide he haG no grounds
for action no loan contracted by minor be
ing recoverable unless he derived actual bene-
fit from the money which, thanks to the thei's
Intervention, the borrower IN this case had not
d8ne.-On the same principle did London
magistrate deal with u journeyman baker who
had spent twelve pounds of his masters money
IN buying religious tracts, which he gave
away while gong his rounds. He was dis
missed with the caution that it was a mistake
20 take money dishonesty even for n religious
purpose.
Distinctions of an exceptionally fine nature
are sometimes made ont of the courts. An
English lady holiday keeping in fishing vii
lagc IN Normandy, struck one day by the
ed her why she was so sad. 1t was the old
story; her sweetheart found no favor with
papa. knowing the Young fellow to be good
looking honest, and Industrious, the lady in
CURED what was the objection. "Ah, madam >"
said the weeping girl, MY father is proud
and hiS family is not in our station they are
people who only have cotton sheets. The
distinction of class, founded upon the posses
sion or non. possession of linen sheets, reminds
us of Nicaragua, where Mr.. Boyle tells US,
there are only two classes-those who wear
boots, and those who do not. So thoroughly
is this distinction recognized, that no one
to be booted will ever make public
appearance baretootcd, even though his boots
be mere upper feathers strapped over the
instcp, On the other hand barefoot will not
don a pair of boots unless he sees a probability
of emerging permanently from the lower
classes. The prices of admission to public
are regulated accordlugly-so
much for boots, halfprice for bareteet; and
no one ever dreams Of saving half the cost of
his pleasure by removing his boots before en-
tering. Chambers J0urnaL