The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-07-22

for instructions 2"
The station-master frowned.
~They couldn't complain of you in thai
case, at any rate, r" pursued Boldon.
The station-master hesitated.
I'll wait in the waiting-room till you
get an answer" said Boldon, as he led
the way to that cheerful apartment
| The official darted 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 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 constable in the imposing uni
form of the Great Railway company, on
the left.
AS it was Saturday night, nothing
could be done that day, and Mr.. Boldon
did not choose to disturb the Sabbath
rest of Mr.. Lionel Winn, his only avail
able friend. by asking him to bail him
out on Sunday.
On the Monday morning, however, an
early message was sent to Mr.. Winn, and
he promptly appeared and bailed 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 LamboTIIe and one of
the shopkeepers, who were able and
willing to prove that he could not pos
sibly have travelled from a greater dis
lance than Lamborne on the preceding
Saturday night The charge was of
course dismissed, one of the magistrates,
jolly old fellow named Bracebridge,
remarking that Mr.. Boldon, who seemed
to be 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 long account of the sin
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 a 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 ticket.
Mr.. BASTARD, &C, was counsel for the
plaintiff, and nobly he performed his
task. He pictured his client, member
of an honorable profession, 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
hlllo AAtl0 VIC OONAAdSCs pun
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-thatt the rights of
the traveller and the liberty of subject
should be vindicated 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
free-born 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,
where 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 circumstances
of the case, may think will fairly COM
pensate the plaintiff for the wrong he
suffered"
The jury promptly found their YER
dict-damages fifty pounds. The result
was received with some cheering, which
became general when Mr.. BASTARD an
nounced that his client had never in
tended to put the damages in his own
pocket, and that he would send check
for the amount to the treasurer of the
county hospital.
This well-timed generosity settled the
question of Mr.. Boldon's popularity. The
ladies' committee of the hospital nomi-
mated him at once as one of their male
advisers, and his name was put on the
list of life governors. The amateur
dramatic and choral societies sent him
tickets for their entertainments, given
for the benefit of charity. The West
borough Independent printed in a promi-
nent position the letter of the hospital
treasurer gratefully acknowledging Mr..
Boldon's munifcent gift, and added a
few laudatory words of its own,
FlnaIly, dlJef u pl6dSdllb hlllo supper
in Mr.. Boldon's lodgings, there appeared
the following paragraph in that excel
lent organ of public opinion;
"We have heard it rumored lately that
few of our more prominent townsmen
have been talking of according to Mr..
James Boldon, solicitor, substantial
mark of their appreciation of his public
spirited behavior in a late trial, and of
his DISTINGUISHED conduct in handing over
the fruits of his victory to one of the
most deserving of our local charities.
We have heard it whispered that w. II.
Bracebridge, Esq, j. l., who has already
publicly expressed his sympathy with
Mr.. Boldon and Algernon Tracey, Esq,
the treasurer to the Daleshire county
hospital, have expressed some intention
of heading the subscription list. We give
this to our readers with all possible re-
serve, but we have no hesitation what
ever in saying that such conduct ON the
part of the gentlemen we have named
would reflect honor upon themselves,