Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1886-05-26
QUAINT JUDGMENTS.
Delivered by Kings, and Dukes
and Wise Mon Generally.
Broke the Force OF Ills Fail-Owned HoI
SOMA Dog Detectivo-Thc Duke OF
Ossonc and tho Galley

Broke the Force OF Ills Fall-Owned Her
Son-A Dog Detective-Tho Duke OF
Ossonc and tho Galley
Slaves.
Every one, of course, is familiar with
the judgment delivered by King Sol
onion in the case of the two mothers.
Extraordinary as it must ut first have
appeared to those who heard it, it had,
nevertheless, the effect of bringing out
the truth, and making manifest which
of the rival claimants was the genuine
one. Scattered about i'm the various
histories and records of men and ma
tons arc to be found many other decis-
ions of despotic kings and princes, I'M
restrained by the iron hand Of statute
law and precedent, which seem equal
ly quaint, and yet were equally CT
fcctivc in bringing about the desired
result. The case in which Portia APP
pearcd as counsel is no fiction Of
Shakespeare though she herself may
be. The main facts of the singular
bond and its attempted enforcement,
and the consequent trial and Judgment,
as related in 1.-The Merchant OF Ven
ice" are fairly Northumberland mat
tiers of history.
There is Il story related of judg-
ment given by Pedro the Cruel Of
Spain, imbucd with very much the
same spirit It's the one delivered in the
court at Venice. A slater was engaged
IN ,pi,, b,
while SO engaged, through some false
step or other accident, lost his balance
and rolled down the slanting side of the
roof, and fell over the edge into the
street below. just at this momentum
fortunately for himself, though fortu-
nately for the slatcr-a man was pass
ing along the street just in front Of
the house whose roof was being re-
paired. Upon him the slater fell,
knocking him TO the ground with such
force that he eventually died of the in
jurics he received; while the slater
does not seem to have been much the
worse for his fall, being saved from
any violent conclusion with the hard
pavement by the intcrposition of the
body of tho unfortunate wayfarcr.
The dead mans son brought an ac-
ton against the slater, asking that he
might receive punishment for killing
his father, and be made to pay him,
the son. damages TO compensate him
for his loss. The King, before whom
the matter was laid, inquired into it
and satisfied himself that the slater
was in no way to be blamed, his fall,
and its fatal consequence, being purely
accidental. In delivering his judg-
ment, he said that it was natural that
the son should desire some satisfaction
for the death of his father ut the hands
of the man who had killed him, and
that this he was ready to order him.
The slater must go and stand exactly
in the position where the deceased man
had been ut the time of tho accident,
and the son might mount on the roof
of the house and throw himself thence
on TO the slater, and so nletc out to him
the same treatment rs had been melted
out to his, the plaintiffs. father The
son, however, like Shylock, declined to
run the risks incidental to carrying out
the Judgment.
The Emperor Claud was appealed to
by IL young man who complained that
his mother had disowncd him, saying
that he was no son of hers, and in no
way entitled TO any share of the family
property. The Emperor Investigated
the matter, and came to the conclusion
that, though the. was no way of
quite conclusively proving that the
young man was the son of the woman,
there was yet, practically, no doubt
about il. He ordered the woman
to be brought before him, and said
and the punishment of her spoilers,
to her: do YOU still deny that this man
is your sonP" The relationship was
persistently denied. "Well, them"
said Claud, IF he is not your son, he
shall be your husband. | order that
you be Immediately married to him."
This unexpected command rcawakcncd
in her the maternal feeling; and con-
Tossing her perjury, she fully acknowl-
edged the young man as her son.
IL Is related of the Sultan Soliman III. +,
that, upon his return to Constantine
pic after the conquest of Belgrade, o
poor woman came to him, complain
ing that her cottage had been broken
open by some of the soldiers, who had
carried away all her goods while she
was asleep. SOliman smiled, and told
her she must have been sleeping hard, il
she had not heard the noise the men
must have made in carrying away her
property.
ut Is true, my lord" she boldly re-
piled, THAT slept soundly, because l
believed your Highncss was watching
over me-" The Sultan, though he
felt the force of her rebuke, ncvcrthc-
less admired her reply, and took steps
for the restoration of her property
aud the punishment of her spoilers.
giving her as well, twenty pieces Of
gold.
Scaligcr relates that gentleman of
high position, named Macaire, one Of
the bodyguard of King Charles ", Of
France, having some grudgc against
one of his comrades, Aubrey de Mont
didicr, meeting him one day in the for
est Bondy, near Paris, accompanied
only by his dog, treacherously MUIR
dcrcd him and buried the body. What
the dog was doing while his master
was being murdered, Scaligcr does not
tell us; but IL appears to have been
temporarily absent, probably hunting.
When IL returned, it found out the spot
where its masters body was buried,
and lay down on the grave, and kept
watch over it until thepangs of hunger
drove It in quest of food. II trottcd OF
into Paris, to the kitchen of one of
Montdidicr's most intimate friends,
where II was well known and hospita-
bly, received. Food was offered to IL,
and when the poor animal had satisfied
its hunger, il set of again for its
masters grave in the forest of Bondy.
Next day the same conduct was re-
pcatcd, and for several days after
ward. At last the curiosity Of one of
the servants who fed the dog was
aroused as to the cause of its daily
visits, and he resolved to follow II. He
traced 1t to the forest, and saw It lie