Palestine daily herald. [volume] (Palestine, Tex.) 1902-1949, 1906-07-24
SLIPS OF NOVELISTS
LEGAL MISTAKES THAT HAVE BEEF
MADE BY GREAT AUTHORS.

A1eztil IIfAaDlnF SLY - tiAF W AlAhflN
gondolicrs. are solemn things" Yet
it is curious how seldom novelist
ventures into a law court without driv
ing his quill through acts OF parliament
and rules Of law alike.
That Dickens knowledge OF law. like
Mr.. Weller's Of London, was ''exten-
slve and peculiar" is amply demon
stratcd by the famous case Of Bardell
versus Pickwick Students Of that re
port may have been struck by the fact
that neither plaintiff nor defendant APP
peared in the witness box. The eX-
PLANTATION is that at that time parties
upon the record" We're not competent
witnesses. their interest in the case be
ing regarded as too strong "a tempta-
ton to. shall we say. iuaccuracy. But
had Dickens been lawyer Mr. Wrinkle
and his friends might also have been
spared the ordeal Of cross examination
AMI their friends and admirers de-
prived of many merry moments.
In his anxiety TO satirize the abuses
OF cross examination Dickens over
looked the legal rule that the counsel
who calls "a witness is not permitted TO
cross examine him ut all. but. on the
contrary. is bound by his answers;
therefore had SERGEANT Buzfuz permit
ted the Pickwickians to be called as
witnesses for the plaintiff (Which he
would have known better than TO do
their version of the words heard
through the door ION the jar" must
have been accepted, and ut the first at
TEMPT 10 badger either of them it would
have been the learned counsel Tor the
plaintin who received his lordship's in
junction ito be careful
But all lovers Of Dickens will rejoice
ut his ignorance Of the rule which
forces counsel never to call hostile
witness. Who could bear TO be depriv-
ed Of the evidence Of Mr.. Samuel Wei
Ter?
Exactly the same mistake is made By
Anthony Trollope in his well known
novel. THE Three Clerks" There the
hero. Alaric Tudor. is placed upon his
trial for misappropriating trust money
and defended 10y that famous leader,
Mr.. Chaffaubrass Of the Old Bailey.
Tudor's Mephistopheles, the Hon. I'm
decimus Scott, is called, much against
his will, as witness for the defense
cross examined by the celebrated Chat
fanbrass. forced TO confess his mis-
deeds and dismissed covered with
ignominy, to be subsequently expelled
from his club-pOetic justice which
would have been defeated even by a
chairman Of quarter sessions.
The great theoretical ana practical
knowledge Of law POSSESSED by Charles
Reade saved him from this error, as
from many others. Yet the famous
trial scene in Hard Cash" would have
been ruthlpssly deprived of its most
dramatic moment 10y any judge Of the
high court. When the hapless Alfred
Hardy. who has been wrongfully i'm
prisoned in an asylum by his wicked
father. comes at last to establish his
sanity before a jury. his case is closed
by the reading of 4 letter from his
dead sister Writing at the point Of
death. she solemnly denies his insanity
and begs him to show her words to his
accusers when she is no more. Read
aloud by the judge himself, her letter
reduces a crowded court to tears ami
goes far 10 secure her brother a trium-
plant verdict. with heavy damages.
Hard Cash is termed "a matter of
fact romance" but, as a matter OF fact
and law. no such letter could have been
received i'm evidence knowing that,
under ordinary circumstances. such
testimony would be inadmissiblc.
Reade is careful to establish that the
writer knew herself to be dying; but
he was unaware that a dying dcclara-
ton" is only admissible in evidence
upon a charge Of murder or man
slaughter Of the person who has made
it, and cannot be laid before the jury
in any other case whatever.
Numerous and entertaining are the
trial scenes which adOrn the works of
Mrs. Henry Wood, but they hardly pro-
fess TO be strictly accurate. Let me
point rather. to an Interesting slip on
the part of that most careful Of nov
elists. David Christie Murray. who
shares to some extent the popular con
fusion on the subject Of the law Of
libel and Islander. His powerful story,
"A Capful o. Nails" has for its hero
working mailer. who becomes an
agitator on behalf Of his much op-
pressed class. In consequence OF
speech deuouncing an INSCRIPTIONS
employer he is prosecuted on charge
OF criminal libel: but. thanks 10 a faith
full friend and smart lawyer, he
energies trlumphantly.
No fault can be found In this case
with the way I'm which the villain is
cross examined 20 pieces. The dill.
Guilty is that no such prosecution could
have been instituted at an You may
Islander "a man 10y drfamgtory speech.
but 10 libel linn you must write print
or otherwise permanently record your
defamation OF him. and, though Sian
der and libel alike may expose You 10
an action for damages. il is libel alone
that can bring YOU within the grasp Of
the criminal law
il is difficult 10 uphold This distiuc
ton. a libel is regarded as % public
crime as well as private wrong bp