Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-05-13
QUAINT JUDGMENTS.
Delivered by Kings, and Dukes,
and Wise Men Generally.
Broke the Force of His Fall-Owned He
SOMA Dog Detective-The Duke of
OssOne and the Galley

SOMA Dog Detective-The Duke of
Ossone and the Galley
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 at 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 in the various
histories and records of men and ma
tons are 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 eff
fective in bringing about the desired
result. The case in which Portia ap-
peared as counsel is no fiction of
Shakespeare's, though she herself NAV
be. The main facts of the singular
bond and its attempted enforcement,
and the consequent trial and Judgment,
as related in "The Merchant of Ven
ice,' are fairly well-authenticated mat
tiers of history.
There is a story related of iudo-
ment given by Pedro the Cruel Of
Spain, imbued with very much the
same spirit as the one delivered in the
court at Venice. A slater was engaged
in repairing the roof of a house, and
while so engaged, through some false
step or other accident lost his balance
and rolled down the santing 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 slater-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.
juries 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 interposition of the
body of the unfortunate wayfarer.
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 il
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 at 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
iii the position where the deceased man
had been at the time of the accident
and the son might mount on the rool
of the house and throw himself thence
on to the slater, and so mete out to him
the same treatment as had been metet
out to his, the plaintiffs, father. The
son, however like Shylock, declined tc
run the risks incidental to carrying ou
the Judgment.
The Emperor Claud was appealed tc
by young man who complained thai
his mother had disowned him, saving
that he was no son of hers, and in nc
way entitled to any share of the famil,
property. The Emperor investigated
the matter, AMI came to the conclusion
that, though there was no way o.
quite conclusively proving that the
young man was the son of the woman
there was yet, practically, no doub
about it. He ordered the woman
to be brought before him, and sale
and the punishment of her spoilers
TO her: DO you still deny that this m al
is your SOM" The relationship wa.
persistcntly denied. "Well, then,
said Claud, IF he is not your son, h,
shall be your husband. | order tina
you be Immediately married to him. '
This unexpected command reawakenec
in her the maternal feeling: and con
Tossing her perjury, she fully acknowl
edged the young man as her son.
1t rs related of the Sultan Soliman III.
that, upon his return to Constantine
pie after the conquest of Belgrade,
poor woman came to him, complain
ing that her cottage had been broker
open by some of the soldiers, who hat
carried away all her goods while sh,
was asleep. Soliman smiled, and toll,
hcrshe must have been sleeping hard, i
SHE had not heard the noise the mel
must have made in carrying away he
property.
at Is true, my lord" she boldly re
piled, that slept soundly, because
believed your Highness was watchin!
over me-" The Sultan, though h,
felt the force of her rcbuke, neverthe
less admired her reply. and took step
for. the restoration of her propert,
aud the punishment of her spoilers
giving her as well, twenty pieces o
gold.
Scaliger relates that a gentleman c
high position, named Macaire. one o
the bodyguard of King Charles ". o
France, having some grudge agains
one of his comrades. Aubrey de Mont
didier, meeting him one day in the for
est Bondy, near Paris, accompanie,
only by his dog. treacherously muir
dercd him and buried the body. VIVA
the dog was doing while his maste
was being murdered, Scaliger does no
tell us; but it appears to have BEEF
temporarily absent. probably hunting
When it returned. it found out the spo
where its masters body was buried