The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-22

ness More of Vice Thnn Industry
n Virtue--Dogs Were Considered
Vermin.
From the New York Times.
One who examines the ancient English
statutes must be struck with the minute
ness with which they provided for and
against the happenings of daily life. In
Scriptural phrase they took thought of
what the people should eat and drink. and
wherewithal they should be clothed. They
threw off the blankets at early morn and
blew out the candle at night. They meas
ured the cradle and the grave, and set
time to the dirge and to the dance. Like
a wise parent, they we'll knew their chii-
dren; nor did they ever err through spar
ring the rod In a word, all those who in
dulged in anticipatory sighs for a paternal
government could have suffered from it's
realization three or four centuries ago.
A statute of Edward III prohibited any
/ man from having more than three courses
at his dinner. In sumptuary act passed
| at this time dealing in painful detail with
| the proper dress for each class, 1t was en-
| acted that none but a lord was to wear
pixies in his shoes exceeding two inches in
! length. Times surely have changed since
/ bob-tallS were sign OF gentle blood! Dur
ing this reign and for long afterward rates
of wages and prices of food were ali regu-
lated by law.
A statute of Henry III directed that
"eYery pillory shall always have due
strength. so that offenders may have
judgment executed upon them without
danger to their bodies This unusual ten
derness can be understood when one con-
siders that the pillory was not an in
famous punishment but merely mild
corrective for the dehnquencies Of those
who were in other regards respectable.
Thus the baker was pilloried for short
weight-an abomination in the sight OF his
lOrd-and the butcher Tor Selling 10 Chrls-
tians any meat prepared for jews. Specu-
lators, too, who had forestalled the market
were in like manner exposed to the de-
cayed vegetables and eggs of the public
square. Besides, they were apt to lose
Idieness was more of vice than indus
try a virtue Under Henry VIII wander
ing beggars were to be carried to some
market town or other place and there tied
to the end of cart naked, ana beaten
with whips throughout such market town
or other place till the body should be
bloody by reason of such whipping.
Probably it was not necessary then 10
put a card in ones shop window referring
all applicants for aid to the charitable or
There is a popular misconception that
the court of the star chamber was a secret
tribunal of tyranny. Undoubtedly its
methods were contrary to modern ideas OF
equity; still, it was long regarded by the
commons a. the seat of redress against
the usurpations of the lords. Especially IL
was the guardian OF private morals; FOR
instance it committed the Earl or surrey
to the tower for eating fish in Lent. The
spiritual courts. on the contrary, true to
the traditions of the church in dealing un-
fairly with all public questions, were lar
more dreaded and deSpised- IL was a
common saving that they kept their cul-
prits on the bread of the affiiction and
the water of adversely.
An act of Henry VII against the deceit
FIJI stlrfing of feather beds provided that
such beds should contain certain amount
of feathers unmixed with horsehalr, which
il stated was contagious for man S
hodv 10 lie on" This recalls the ancient
law question solemnly considered, as to
where was the settlement of a man whose
he'd Law so that he lodged in two parishes
at once. 1t was finally decided that he lived
where his head lay, since that was the
nobler part" The blessings of sleep were
at all times fully recognized. In 1888 it
street after the houre of nyne of the clock
in the night" And as late as the reign
of George III, in a bill for the improve
rnent of the metropolitan watch, it was
enacted that the Waterman should be
compelled to sleep during the day" 1t is
questionable whether this remedy could
affect the chronic drowSiness of the peace
officers of the present day.
Animals were a frequent subject for the
care of legislatures and courts. Those
times tried and punished. This, however,
was far more common in the imaginative
south than in stolid England. For instance,
Clarmont-Avin, France, OF the legal exc
cution of a hog. In Great Britain, whales
and surgeons were always considered
royal fish, and when washed ashore or
caught in the interior waters, belonged to
the crown. A curious question was raised
in the courts, as to which part of the whale
belonged to the king, and which to the
queen The tail finally assigned to
her majesty on'the ground that she needed
whalebone for her wardrobe Unfortunate
W. for the complete justification of this
Judgment, that article of commerce comes
from the whales mouth. 1t is not the only
instance on record where court has fol-
lowed its own construction rather than
Dogs were treated after their kind. Ac-
cording TO the Year Book, they were YER
min Under the common law there was
no property in them; hence it was not
larceny TO steal one. This, by the way
was true in this state until the passage Of
the penal code From this immunity came
the old saying: "A man shall not hang
for a dog.
Ancient law causes were often as trivial
and particular as the statutes. There is
record of a long action in The reign Of
Henry " brought against a cook for
selling fowl which gave the plaintiff
sick stomach. This probably on the theory
that the law is a plaster" Another i'm
portant action Of that day was by a
guardian against a barber for cutting his
wards hair. Perhaps the man of trust re-
served all depletions for his own profit.