The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-09-25
JEWS HARP TO BILL ARR. ON
THE CODE

You will note, dear Bill, that curteSy
is mentioned but once, and that is
when the name is carved upon its
tomb. But n curtaiIcd existence is
meted out to his former helpmate.
The word "dowern means the inter
est which the wife has under this Code
in the land of her husband, after his
death, under certain circumstances.
That last word was once defined by n
youthful aspirant for the hand of an
old gentlcman's daughter, in the fol-
lowing colIoquy:
Old Gent" have noticed YOUR
attentions to my daughter, and infer
your intentions, but before the matter
proceeds farther, my paternaI solic-
ltude prompts me to inquire into your
condition. Please tell me, what, sir,
are are your circumstances ?'n
The youth turned little white
about the gills he looked up and he
looked down, and at length, with quay
ering voice, responded, "The fact is,
sir, Tve got no circumStdncc$W
The certain circumstances in the
Code are numerous, so to speak, and
to find them out the Old FOgy will
have to do as the pentent Dan Rice
said he did about the Scriptures.
''The fact is, sir" said he in giving in
his experience to Il reverend gentle
man, "the fact is, / didn't read the
Bible much in early life, for its texts,
you know, didn't suit my vocation
especially that part about Jooii&h talk-
ing and .jeSting' but since I've got re-
ligion, Pve took to reading it pretty
Hrciy"
The veterans will have to take to
that Code pretty lively, think. You
will first note there's nothing said in
the definition about 'tencments." Let
Us inquire into the "ccrtain circuln-
St0RccS -
lst. If she be a butren rclct of
"BorOn and JcnOic," she's to be
thrown into the pot, sol's; proridcd
there be pot, and there be no step
children.
Cd. If she shall have been prolific,
and "have her culver full of arrows,n
she's thrown into hotchpot with the
children, and has to scramble for it in
fee with them.
In other words, she becomes an heir,
just on the chldren's platform.
Wouldn't old Coke whistle, if he were |
to be told that the wife is to be the |
heir of the husband There's one APP
palIing sentence that comes in when
she's left sOlls, and that is, she's to
inherit her leige lords estate, tetOtally |
IN fee, "after all his debts are paid"
There's where the howl will come in.
Under the old law, if Mr.. Simpkins
had started in with Mrs. Simpkins,
rich in broad acres, and sold out with
out Mrs. Simpkin's consent, and got
lIIo puIlcI DuSlllcSS, anu buSlcN u anu
then died, Mrs. S. could give a gentle
tap at Mr.. Broadacre's door, and
politely request him to fork over her
one-third, as long as she lived, any
how. And he would have had to fork
it over, Bill, for if he had grown con-
the writ of dover would
have gently squeezed it out of him.
But under the Dos de i0 cote NOU-
Ucllc, if the Baron, beginning as rich as
Crmsus, and dying as poor as Lazarus,
the femme will be left HncOuUertc to
the cold charities of mankind--with a
years provision. Her only chance
lies in the homestead exemption, and
the concomitants Of property exempt
from execution.
But the homestead depends upon ac-
Lual residence; so if Mr.. Simpkins
gets tired of living on his farm, moves
into town, rents a house, and dies in
solvent, what then? A beautiful
chance for a contrariety of opinion
When Mr.. SIS administrator files Il !
petition to sell the farm aforesaid to :
pay debts, and Mrs. Simpliins files her
Il for dover, "under this Code" t
under certain circumstances" what a
splendid field for augmentation there
will be by the fossil ncophytcs on both
sides. Whether the widow is 10 be I
better off under "cCrtam cH'ctDH- !
than she was under the old
aw, time and experience alone will '
determine.
But married women ! All, Mll, this a
: to be the paradise for such, at least, ;
IS are disposed to wear the breeches. a
She is to be free, sovereign, and he de- c
pendent It an embodiment of States c
lights in woman's rights, including a
he right of secession, "UHdCr cCFtdiH
circumstances" in petty-coats. She "
an contract rs she pleases. She can II
ue her husband and be sued by him, b
lot in the pldntiUc pleadings of the
'ourt of Cupid. She can complain,
Iot i'm the subducd "lectures OF Mrs.
'audle." Oh, no. The brOmstick has
zen Transmitted To the sceptrc, and
ow for brcdchcS of contract on the Il
art of her leige lord. she can don the 5
reaches by law, and in the harsh jar e.
on of declaration of war, appear as G.
Mrs. Susan SiBlpEiaS, rs. JCdCdidh b
"and the said plaintiff com Il
Iaincd of the said defendant etc. q
The .fCD1Hc cOUUcrtCS began TO Il
merge from the state of dependence o
4 this State forty-one years agO-that p
1889; they made another stride in h
SIG, then i'm 1857, then i'm 1870. In 1867 h
he was allowed To "make will of Il
crown, - though without doubt many I
had discovered before that a
me that she had q 1rW Of her OlCH. et
Thus, by sort of half-hammond- b
In ntla thn NHnrl ihn hnNs No ihnmuh | | n