The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1886-04-16
QUAINT JUDGMENTS.
Delivered by Kings, and Dukes,
and Wise Men Generally.
Broke the Force of His Fali-Owncd Her
son-.A Dog Detectiye-The Duke OF
ossone and the Galley

son-4 Dog Detective-The Duke OF
ossone and the 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 1t 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
lions are to be found many other decis-
ions OF despotic kings and princes, un-
restrained by the iron hand of statute
law and precedent, which seem equal
iy 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 though she herself NAV
he. 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
ters of history.
There is a story related of judg-
mcnt 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 house, and
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 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 intcrposition 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 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 iudG-
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 90 and stand exactly
IN the position where the deceased man
mad been at the time of the accident.
and the son might mount on the roof
of the house and throw himself thence
on to the slater, and so mete 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 young man who complained that
his mother had disowned him. savino,
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 there was no way of
quite conclusively proving that the
young man was the son of the woman,
there was yet, practically, no doubt
about it. He ordered the woman
to be brought before him, and said
and the punishment of her spoilers,
to hers do You still deny that this man
is your son?n The relationship was
persistently denied. swell, then. I"
said Claud, ''if he is not your son. he
shall be your husband. / order that
you be Immediately married to him. y
This unexpected command reawakencd
in her the maternal feeling; and con
Tossing her perjury, she fully acknowl-
edged the young man asher son.
1t is related of the Sultan Soliman IT,.
that, upon his return to Constantino-
pie after the conquest of Belgrade, a
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
hershemust have been sleeping hard, if
she had not heard the noise the men
must have made in carrying away her
property.
1T is true, my lord,n she boldly re-
piled, ''that | slept soundly, because
believed your Highness was watching
over me-" The Sultan, though he
felt the force of her rebuke, neverthe-
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.
Scalger relates that a gentleman OF
high position, named Macaire, one OF
the bodyguard of King Charles ", .of
France, having some grudge against
one of his comrades, Aubrey de Mont
didier, meeting him one day in the for
est Bondy, near Paris, accompanied
only by his dog, treacherously MUIR
dered him and buried the body. What
the dog was doing while his master
was being murdered, Scaliger does not
tell Us; but it appears to have been
temporarily absent, probably hunting.
When it returned, it found out the SPOT
where its masters body was buried.
and lay down on the grave, and kept
watch over it until the pangs of hunger
drove it in quest of food, 1t trotted off
into Paris, to the kitchen of one of
Montdidier's most intimate friends,
where it was well known and hospita-
bly, received. Food was offered to it,
and when the poor animal had satisfied
its hunger, it set off again for its
masters grave in the forest of Bonly.
Next day the same conduct was re-
peated, 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 it. He
traced it to the forest, and saw it lie