, 1886-07-08

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made and provided"
Mr.. Boldon %mournfully shook his
head. ~Oh, no, sir" he said meekly. 81
really cam do that"
You nave to go to the lookup, then,
r~ejoined the station-master, roughly.
You'd best pay up"
Mr.. Boldon only shook his head again
and sighed heavily.
AS the lawyer expected the official was
exasperated by his obstinacy and en-
couraged in his high-handed manner by
the meekness with which he was con-
fronted. None of the railway people re-
~cognized in the shabbily-dressed, I'M
shaven individual before them the spruce
gentleman who had paid a poor mans
fare a few days before.
"Bonnor, go for a constable said the
station-master, with the air of an in
flexible judge awarding a term of twenty
years penal servitude.
Don't do that; I'll give you my name
and address, I'm known in the place
that is, In quite respectable, you know"
"Oh, l { dare say returned the station
master, with true official supercilious-
ness.
hti an awful PAUSE III tht
porter was gone to fetch the constable.
Don't you think" suggested Boldon,
almost timidly-"don't you think it
might be as well to telegraph to London
for Instructions
The station-master frowned.
They couldn't complain of you in that
case, at any rate" pursued Boldon.
The station-master hesitated.
I'll wait in the w~aiting-room till you
get an answer" said Boldon, as he led
the way to that cheerful apartment.
The official darted a suspicious glance
at the prisoner. Still, the advice was
prudent and he acted upon it. In half
an hour the answer came back: "The
passenger without n ticket must pay the
fare from London, or be charged before
the magistrates"
Just let me see the message you've
got, said Boldon, when the result was
announced to him. IF it is as you say,
I'll go quietly, or pay
They showed him the message.
mo, really can't pay all that money,
you know said Boldon, sadly, as he
read the telegram; and accordingly he
was marched off to the police office,
guarded bya policeman on the right
and by a constable in the imposing uni
form of the Great Railway company, on
the left.
AS it was Saturday night, no.hnag
could be lone that day, and Mr.. Boldon
did not choose to disturb the Sabbath
rest of Mr.. Lionel VIM, his only avail
able friend J.ssking &iss to bail him
Snutas&y<y.
On the Alu2day morning, however, an
early message wal ant to Mr.. VIM, and
he promptly appeared anu sailed out the
young lawyer, who was heartily tired of
his incarceration. Later in the day the
case came on before the magistrates,
and Mr.. Boldon attended with the land
lady of the inn at Lamborne and one of
the shopkeepers, who were able and
willing to prove that he could not pos
sibly have traveled from a greater dis
lance han Lamborne On the preceding
Saturday night. The charge was of
course dismissed, one of the magistrates,
n Jolly old fellow named B~racebridge,
remarking that Mr.. Boldon, who seemed
to be n respectable solicitor, had been
treated shamefully, and that if he stood
in Mr.. Boldon's place he would be in
clined to let the Great Railway company
hear of the matter again.
Next day The Westborough Independ-
ent contained a long account of the ~in-
creditable and really scandalous outrage,
to which one of the most respected mem
bers of the legal profession in our town
has been subjected and it need hardly
be said that, in n day or two, the course
at which the worthy magistrate had
limited was adopted. Mr.. Boldon brought
his action against the railway company
for false imprisonment and malicious
prosecution.
AS everybody knows, Westborough is
an assize town, and the case of Boldon
VS.. the Great Railway company excited
a good deal of public interest. Every
body wished to know how the law stood
on the question, for everybody had had
occasion some time or other to travel
without a ticket.
Mr.. BASTARD, &C, was counsel for the
plaintiff, and nobly he performed his
task. He pictured his client, a member
of an honorable profession, a gentleman
of delicate and sensitive feelings, dragged
by the ruthless hands of the police
through the crowded streets on a Satur-
day night, exposed to the rude gaze of
the jeering mob, and shut up in a cold,
lonely cell for the greater part of two
whole days. And all for what? Because
this gentleman had the courage, the pub
lie spirit, to resist an unreasonable and
illegal impost. 1t was the interest OF
every railway traveler-he might, there
fore, say of every man, woman and child
in the three kingdoms-that the rights OF
the traveller and the liberty of subject
should be indicated in the person of his
client. My client doesn't care for
damages, gentlemen" said Mr.. Bustard
in conclusion. That is not his object in
coming here. His object is to expose an
abuse, an illegal abuse, gentlemen, which
has been too long continued-to clear his
own character of the ignominy which
has been cast upon ito vindicate the
the sacred principle of the liberty of a
freedom Englishman."
AS for the question of law, Mr.. Lynx,
who was for the railway company,
hardly ventured to rely upon it. 1T
has been held over and over again. said
Mr.. Justice Portman, that this bylaw
is bad and illegal. 1t affects to infiict a
fine OF arbitrary and varying amount,
whe .e there is no breach of the criminal
law, for here. as in most such cases,
there is no pretense that there was any
attempt to defraud. You will find a
verdict for the plaintiff, gentlemen" he
added to the jury. with such damages
as you, looking at all the circumstance
Of the case, may think will fairly com
pensate the plaintiff for the wrong he