New-York tribune., 1907-09-07

rms seems roughly TO represent the reason
lhs' SO far as there any rational thought
PACK OF these strange proceedings. One Of the
most instructive IN the book, which is
dWelt on with considerable detail, the original
documents being quoted in full is that Of a tr1al
OF some insects at St Jean de Maurienne in
loS' 1t appears that complaint had been lodged
against these insects, a species of weevil, some
years earlier, and proclamation had been is-
sued concerning their depredations Evidently
the culpr1ts carelessly dsregarded the warning,
ana al length they were actually brought 10
trial The called before "fis most
reverend iordship. the prince bishop Of Maui
rfenne or the reverend lord. his vicar general
and Official in the name of the people. After
the formal charge had been read two distin-
guished jurists appointed respectively
procurator and counsel for the defence. After
some delay-it is notable that the advocates
employed every device known to the practice of
criminal law--the counsel for the defendants,
Pierre Reubaud, presented his answer to the
complaint He averred that the action was
not maintafnable and that the plaintiffs should
be non-suited. his clients had kept within
their rights and had not rendered themselves
liable 10 accommodation. He cited the story
of the creation to prove that the Creator in
tended all animals to have sufficient means of
support The accused. in taking up their abode
in the vines of the plaintiffs, were, he asserted.
only exercising their legitimate rights. He even
appealed from the civil and canonical law 10
natural Law. and ended by exhorting the plain
tiTs TO entreat t ae mercy Of heaven for their
sins. in punishment Of which the plague was
probably sent
The main point in the plaintiffs reply to this
eloquent plea was that while animals ~-ea- it is
true. created before man. they were plainly in
tended 10 be subordinate to him and subservient
70 lie
extensive citations from the Scriptures While
the lawyers thus argued the insects continued
their mischief 50 actively that a public meeting
was called to consider the prorriety and neces-
sity Of providing for the animals a place outside
the vineyards where they might obtain sufficient
sustenance without devouring the vines. A place
actually was thus SET apart. but after legal
delays counsel for the insects declared that he
could not accept this provision. as tho spot IN
question Was sterile and would not support his
clients Then more argument and finally the ap-
pointmcnt of = commission of experts. whose
written report taken under adyieemeut by
the court.
After following the case thus far with growing
interest. II is p brutal shoc 20 he told that the
decision cannot nc known. as the last page OF
the records has been destroyed by mice in
sects-perhaps Mr.. Evans suggests. rather grim
~. by deputaton of the weevis themselves.
who thus took the law into their own hands. /
II is unfortunate that this is 60 for the record
otherwise furnishes an excellent type Of one OF
the two classes Of these cases-that namely. in
which the trial held before an eccIesIa sticaI
tribunal. and in which the sentence was OK
communication the anathema Of the Church.
For insects. rodents and Wild beasts. which could
not be actually brought before the court, this
was obviously the only punishment, and such
cases were almost invariably tried before preI
ate. But a numerous class of cases dealt with /
domestic animals which had taken human life. /
and since the Church had authority to iur!ct
capital punishment these were brought before a
civil tribunal, even when the prosecution was
originated by the ecclesiastical authorities. The
most frequent victims seem to have been pigs, /
probably because in every medieval village and
city they were allowed TO run AZ large in great
numbers. In the fifteenth century no less than
eighteen trials OF pigs are recorded, the crime in
every case being The killing OF n small child In
nearly every the cuiprit was hanged or
burned or buried alive Occasionally n vicious !
bull or horse was prosecuted for murder. on
the whole the legal rights OF these dumb pris- !
oners seem 70 have been well guarded as were
those Of mon in the same position. The accused .
animal was always provided with counsel and /
the proper forms were Vigorously observed Oc- /.
casionauy. by the ingenuity of counsel the pris-
oner escaped scot free Not InfreQueHtly the .
penalty mitigated
Such proceedings appear absurd enough TO
twentieth century rationalistic eyes. But Tor (
nal legal processes against animals accused or
murder fall far short OF the limit Of absurdty +
reached in these affairs. Snakes. fishes. flies
and gnats have more than once been excom- I
rnunicated dogs have been placed IN the pillory
in Vienna; wrts of ejectment have been served
on rats and the custom Of expelllng rats from
house by posting a rhyrnE exhortation stlll
survives In Ireland and some parts OF the United
states In 1474 the magistrates Of BALE SEN
tenced a cock 10 be burned at the stake for
the heinous and unnatural crime Of laying an
egg" II is gravely recorded that the eXecu- I
tioner. on cutting open the cock found three /
more eggs in him. In this case. Mr.. Evans
observes, I'VE have 10 DO not with freak OF
nature but with the freak Of an excited mag /.
Ination tainted with superstition" 1t is we'll
known that in ancient times capital punishment !
was sometimes visited on inanmate objects-a
statue which had fallen and killed man, for /.
instance L is not so well known that as late /
as 1891 when a Russian prince was assassi- /
mated the great bell in Uglch, which had sound /
ed the signal OF insurrection, was sentenced 10 +
uerpetual banishment in Siberia, and was con- /
veyed TO Tobolsk It was later partially purged I
and recorsecrated but not until 1892 It (
-r11v hardened and restored TO its place in tg- /
Itch.
In the collection ard exposition Of the curious /
facts connected with this study Mr.. Evans has !
displayed industry, ingenuity and a wide range /
of reading His scholarship. though various, ~
not always exact. and the book suffers from a
somewhat haphazard arrangement. A more Sc
rious fault s his evident prejudice against al
things religious. His zeal for condenning the
Oh fhn NhTiG