The Cecil Whig., 1886-10-23

The following paragraph from an Eng
lish paper points moral which has long
been neglected "At the Thames Police
Court on Monday Edward L ,wcock was
charged with disorderly. conduct. A police
Sergeant stated that on Tuesday, as the
Prince of Wales was ON his return journey
from the People Palace at tine East Eud,
the prisoner rushed through the police
and tried to shake hands with the Prince
Witness caught him, but not before the
carriage had knocked him down. The
prisoner said he was carried away with
enthusiasm He was ordered.tn keep the
peace
Careful observers of human nature
have long foreseen that the mad love of
shaking hands which character,zes the
Anglo Saxon race would, sooner or later,
result in some such catastrophe as this
But the English Judiciary has risen to
the emergency, and as the result new
bulwark is erected in defense of individ.
ual rights. .Jurists on both sides of the
of Lowc"ck as establishing this hitherto
uudeclare1 principle that to shake hands
with "a man against his will is Il breach OF
the peace and may be punished accord
ingly. 1t makes no difference, of course,
that in this particular case the heir to
the throne was the person assaulted. In
such matters the common law of England
recognizes no distinction between the
King and his meanest subject To break
into royal palace and steal the crown from
under the Kings pillow would be nothing
greater than that of making similar
entry into a peasants hut. In the same
way it will, since the decision in re Low
cock. be held breach of the peace to
shake hands with any unwilling subject
of the British Empire.
1t is no wonder that this case is said to
have created tiutter in London clubs.
Several notorious boTes have already been
threatened with police prosecution, and a
complaint of assault and battery was
lodged last week by Tory barrister
against Liberal candidate for Paria-
ment, who, under a mistake as to the
barrister's political views, had solicited
his vote and wrung his hand with hypo-
critical fervor. The fact Is that this new
decision will hit the politicians harder
than it will any other class; and if the
precedent i'll Lowcock's case should be
followed i'll this country it would occasion
something very like a revolution in poll.
tical methods. Who is not familiar with
the public man. shake of the hand? Who
has not tiinched under the pressure of
his tough and callous palm? Who has
not seen him tumbliug over intervening
chairs in his eagerness to grasp the hand
What will become of him if it is in the
power OF any cynic or Mugwump Or dis
appointed worker" to have him up in
coart and bound over to keep the peace
for an Unlawful attempt to shake hands,
Let civil-service reformers consider the
advisabiitv of embodying the law of
Lowcot ks case i'll the statutes of the
United States.
Collateral principles. also, of nearly
equal importance would seem to flow
from this decision. II it be assault and
battery to shake IA mans hand against
his WILL it must be crime Of ,me sort
to buttonhole and detain him by main
force. Nor will there be anything un-
usu Il i'll this development of legal prin-
ciple. 5 uients of history are familiar
with the manner in which the common
law Of England is made responsive to the
changing conditions OF society. When
ever the new application OF d law becomes
necessary, some Judge. m"ie acute OF
mole bold than his fellows, is sure to find
something which, il not precedent, can
be made to wear an appearance of being
such, so as To satisfy the conservative in-
stincts ot the B -uch. THIS has been the
illegal to rush up to ID man (8ithout per.
mission, expressed implied,) and
rudely twist Or squeeze his leg; hereafter
it will equal. be "a crime to lntllct the
same violence upon his hand, aud, before
long, we may expect a judicial decision
to the effect that buttonhoing also is an |
offense against the peace and order of So
ciety, and punishable by fine or impris-
onment
Above all other earthly ills,
| hafe the big, old fashioned pills:
by slow degrees they downward wend,
And often pause, or upward tend;
With such discomi tort are they trsught,
Their good effects amount to naught
Now, DIR. Pierce prepares pill
That just exactly fills the bill
n Pellet, rather, that is all
n Pleasant Purg tive, and small;
just try them you feel their need,
lOu' III find that | sneak truth indeed