Crowner's Quest Law. sessed a high tragic or social interest, can never lose the impression thus derived of the majesty of the law. No public scene of human life can surpass it to the apprehen sion of a thoughtful spectator. He seems to behold the principle of justice as it exists in the very elements of humanity, and to stand on the primeval foundation of society; the searching struggle for truth, the consci entious application of law to evidence, the stern recital of the prosecutor, the appeal of the defence, the constant test of inquiry, of references to statutes and precedents, the luminous arrangement of conflicting facts by the judge, his impartial deductions and clear final statement, the interval of suspense, and the solemn verdict, combine to present a calm, reflective, almost sublime exercise of the intellect and moral sentiments, in order
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to conform authority to their highest dictates, which elevates and widens the function and the glory of human life and duty. " Justice," says Webster, " is the greatest interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. Wherever her temple stands, and as long as it is duly honored, there is a foun dation for social security, general happiness, and the improvement and the progress of our race. And whoever labors on this edi fice with usefulness and distinction, who ever clears its foundations, strengthens its pillars, adorns its entablatures, or contributes to raise its august dome still higher in the skies, connects himself in name and fame and character with that which is, and must be, as durable as the frame of human so ciety." — Putnam's Magazine.
CROWNERS QUEST LAW. Response by Mr. Robert D Wilson at a Meeting of the Alleghany County, Penn., Bar to the Toast, "Crowner's Quest Law." "But is this law? Ay, marry is 't : crowner's quest law." — Hamlet. THE paper-book submitted by the plain tiff in error in this case is of the most meagre and unsatisfactory description; and we should be amply justified in refusing to consider the case on this ground. However, the high standing of the parties and the in terest excited by the contest, as well as the importance of the legal questions involved, lead us to consider it our duty to decide the case as well as we may with the materials furnished us. The pleadings in the case do not appear at all, and we are confined to the consideration of the finding of the crowner's quest and extracts from the testimony. It is only fair to the plaintiff in error to state that a large portion of the record was taken out of the prothonotary's office by one Carolus C Dickey, Esq., attorney for the
defendant in error, and is supposed to be somewhere on his desk; but the limited time has not sufficed to discover it among the papers. The facts in the case, as nearly as we can extract them from the evidence, are as follows : — Mrs. Polonius, widow of Mr. Polonius, deceased, whose sad death — in which per sons of the highest standing in this kingdom were implicated — is yet fresh in our memo ries, brought suit in the court below against j one Cornelius for damages for the death of her daughter Ophelia, alleged to have been caused by the negligence of defendant in not guarding a dangerous approach to a stream upon his demesne. The defence was, the deceased had committed deliberate suicide |
