Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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BY HUGH WILSON. ABBEVILLE, S. C., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1886. VOLUME XXX. NO. 31. 1 mmmammmmaaoumB^mamnmm i? i bihii 51 mr THE COMMON LAW. ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS ; ITS LEADING CHARACTERISTICS ; AND CERTAIN PROPOSED AMENDMENTS. ?. Kssay by W. A. lice. Esq.. Read Before the State Bar Association in C'oJumbia, Deeenibor 9. ihs.l, and by Bequest Before the Abbeville Literary Club, January 29, 188C. Abbeville, S. 0., Jan. 29, 1SS6. The Club met at the house of Judge McGow-1 an, Rev. W. H.IIanckel presided. The follow-1 Ink persons were present: Members?A? B. Wardlaw, W. II. Parker,! J. C. Klu^h, H. T. Wardlaw, L. Wardlaw Smith, A. W. Smith, Walter L. Miller, .1. S. Perrin, T. C. Perrin, J. W. Thompson, T. P. Thompson, F. B. Gar}*, George C. Hodges, James Chalmers, W. O. Bradley, It. E. Ilill, JB. G. Graydon, W. A. Lee, W, P. Calhoun, U T? Calhoun, R B. Gary, J. Fuller Lyon, L. W. Perrin, Wister Archer, W. H. Hanckel, j It. H. Wardlaw, L. W. White, W. C. Benet, j W. A. Templeton, Samuel McGowan, Ilugh | Wilson, S. C. C.ison, W. C. iicGowau, B. S. j Barnwell. Visitors?M tf. Beggs Rev. S. A. Weber, Rev. j r i nmpii, \1r T n nisilincrR. All- I W. N* Graydon, Mr. Richard Sondley, and 2s'. <*. Evans, Esq. Ttoe Mantes of tha following porsons wero proposed as candidates for membership: Rev. J. Lowrie Wilson, Kev. S. A Weber, Mrs. .Fannie J. Marshall and Mrs. Tyler. Mr. Parker moved that the periodicals of last year be soid on Saturday ibe 30th Instant ne I2M. Mr. II. T. Ward law moved to amend , toy inserting ".February 22nd" in place of Saturday next. Amendment lost and Mr. Parker's motion passed. Mr. W. A. Lee read an essay on the "The Common Lav" which was followed by discussion. Refreshments were then served. The Committee ou Essays and Place of Meeting reported as the next essayist, Mr. Hugh Wil?on, and as his alternate, Mr. 0. T. Calhoun? jind that th<e Club would be entertained Mr. Hugh Wilson at Mrs. Marshall's. The Ciuh then adjourned. WALTER L. MILLER, Secretary. ? The Essay. ATr. President ami Gentlemen (tf the South Curo' Una Bur AtxocicUien *' I esteem it a high privilege, that in the pros-1 enee of learned lawyers, and distinguished | judges; the prif-sts and high priests of thej tfmat temple of Justice: I may speak a word v L..U ,.r .i.?i?I.I.. L..i? r\i_ I J!1 Ut'Udll Wi blint llUUir ?uu> Wl liitin, j I Common Law, which forms the pride and noast of our civilization; ami which, even 2Jiore than our language and literatuie. is the cherished heritage that we biv-e received | from our Emilivn fa?hers; and which l.\ in? av the basis of our State and Federal jurisprudence: ami throwing its protecting shield sironnd the hearths and homes of fifty millions of our people, scatters over the broad territory ot tntrty-oight States, from the Atlantic to the l'-jieific, the blessings of Anglo-1 American liberty and Anglo-American enterprise. THE COM310If LAW DEFINED?DIVISIONS OF THE SUBJECT. In discnssinc: the subject of the Common Isnc, I use the term in i's widest sense, as opposed to the Roman Civil Law; and propose to speak briefly of its origin and progress; its / fading characteristics; and ccrUUn proposed. kmc rut in cuts cut d improvements. THE FOttESTS OK GERMANY. The Common Law of England! We are carTied baok in imagination to an era, long .-interior to the time when the white horse of the Saxon set foot in llrit.dn, and to a savage people, whodwelt in the lores ts of Germany, vh?><e manners and customs are delineated by the pen of Tacitus, of whom Gibbon speaks, ?s "jealous of thtir persons and careless of their possessions, destitute of industry and the art-, but anim itcd by a hUh sense of honor and independenceto whose "sentiment j or personal independence, and love of individual liberty." Guizot attiibutes the intro-! Auction of a new element into European eiv-j ilization?an element unknown to the Romans. and to the Christian Church?but I which lias played a noble part, and brought j about lasting blessings in the history of the race. Here are to be traced the seminal principles of personal freedom and chivalrous regard for woman, which have ever "been the ?llstingui>hing characteristics of English eivUzatiun. ALF2ED THE GREATEST OF THE SAXON * KINGS, The. Common Istw af England! We again loncl wings to our imagination, and survey the home of our lathers, when Alfred, the greatest of the Saxon kings, ruled over a tainted realm, which had been consolidated l*y nis grandfather Egbert; and which *aved by the sword from the hand of the Dine, was embelisiieJ by those arts of peace whicn proved him the w isest of English iaw givers; who to the glory of the warrior, added the yet brighter lustre ol'the (statesman, the legislator and liie ruler; who re-ennetea, established and enforced the best of the ancient laws, ind estab.Ished, if he did not -originate, thai division of the kingdom into counties, hundreds and tithing*-', which formed the basis of all local administration; lu ilntained a rising and expanding series of courts, from the hundred's court, to the Witvnagemote?or Afwembly of the Wise?and b.v ? Just apportionment of punishment to crime, marked out clearly the boundaries of English law, and made sure ami fast the safeguards of English liberty. Such a survey kindled the enthusiasm of the monarchial historian, Hume, who attributes to the Saxon epoch, the awakening of a new spirit, which inspired E .rope with 'sentiments of liberty, honor, equity ! and valor."' MAGNA CIIARTA AND THE PI.ANTAGENETS. The- Cnmmon Lena of Ennland! Time rolls. on ! the Norma1) lias conquered the Saxon, I and the vanquished lil;e captive Grecce,I &as given law to the conqueror: four hundred years from the days of Allred, and two hundred years from the time when William the Noitnan, had parceled out the lands of the Saxon among his haughty liarous^ wlieu the animosities ol' race had lna measure abat-d. and the nameof Englishmen hud supplanted that of Norman and JSaxon, we are culled upon to witness the first preat battle in behalf o; English liberty, when 'the army of God and mother Church," as the barons of Runnymede proclaimed themselves, with Stephen Langton, an English prelate, at their bead, wrested Mayan CJuirt'i from King John, rebuked the unjust prerogatives of the Crown, and at the same proclaimed the freedom of the Kuhjt'ct, in the j memorable words, "No freeman shall be talc-i or imprisoned, or disseized, or outlawed,) or banished, or otherwise injured, unless by j the legal judgment of his peers, and the law of the laud;" fixed the Couris at Westminister, and at the same time brought justice home to the door of every one. The Great Charter, according to IJallam, "infused a new goul into the people of England," embodying as it does the ancient customs of the King-i dom, and the old traditions of English liberty, whicli originated in the days before tlic| conquest! and which furnished the watchword j of cfvll and political liberty In centuries yet i to cotnc. EDWAUD I, THE ENGLISH JUSTINIAN. The Common Law of EnglandTime would : fail to speak of the wise legislation of him,! who perhaps has been justly called, tlie Knfili>h Justininn, the first Kdward, who eonfirmed the preceding Charters; marked out the boundaries of the Courts; perfected the I forms of writs and pleadings, and perpetuated j those records of Judicial proceedings which form the body and soul of the Common I,aw; j tospeakof those muninentsol Kugiish liberty, which were extorted from the kinglj' prerogatives of theTudorsand the tyranny ot the | Htuarts?the Petition of Right, the J[abcag\ Corpus Act, the Bill of Right-: and the Act of! Settlement?trophies of many a well-fought fight, on the battle fields of liberty, in centu ries gone by. AMERICAN COLONIZATION. The Common Law of EnglandThis formed i the cherished birthright of those fathers of the Republic, who on the rocks of Ply- j mouth and amid the forests of the .South, j planted wide and deep the foundations of this I mighty Empire; which embodied in Royal I Charters,and affirmed in Colonial Statutes, guided thesages of the American Revolution, And through every period of our history, has guarded the rights of liberty and property; restrained the power of the State, and protected the freedom of the citizen. LEADING CHARACTERISTICS OK THE COMMON LAW. We proceed next to consider briefly, the leadiiiff princijrtrs and the (iisliii(/iti*hinr/ cli'tracter> sties of ike Common L'uv, which uive it a peculiar claim to the love and admiration, nay veneration of our people, ESSENTIALLY ENGLISH. And first it is essentially English: it. is the cause and product alike of our civilization ; ii has grown with our growth and .strengthened, with our strength;! I h;us entwined itself with all the associations of our early life, kept pace with all the developments of our lalergrowlh, and reached its full efflorescence in the crowning glory i f our vigorous manhood. Other systems have been super-imposed upon conquered provinces and given law to the vanquished. The Civil Law has formed the basis of the European systems, and w'lethei in the form of digests and codes, h.is furnished the principles, the language and the modes of procedure. But the Common Law. in its origin and progress, was essentially English; * 1 * * 1 I.a rxf tll.i l^n'rlUh llOH IIP* IUMWI,> !."? VHC illO? WI t? Wi |M< |#X? pJe. Without e'aiming for if the high amiquity, assigned by Fortescue, Selden and Cuke, wo may affirm that the nation continued to be essentially Saxon, even alter the Norman conquest; that the Saxon customs maintained their hold upon the people and ameliorated the severity of the Feudal laws; that though the Norman tonsue and tho Norman tonus of procedure prevailed in the higher Courts, still in the county and itinerant Court*, Saxon law was administered, and Saxon law was developed from Saxon originnlseven under Norman kings; and us the nation threw olf the shackles of Its former yoke, it gradually re-established those institutions and 1>?\vs. which were more consonant with the genius and spirit of the people. A GROW TIT, SOT A CRKATI0X. Again, we may remark as springing naturally out of the last mentioned characteristic, that the Common Law, perhaps even more) than our language and literature, is a growth, j not u ercution ; a development; an evolution gradual and progressive; not a sy.-tem mod-; eled upon some high standard of theoretical ] perfection and ideal excellence, and pruned) into svmmetrv by the loiriu of the .schools ; I and which might have given laws to some i Platonic Republic or modern Kutopia : not a , system sprinaiifg into being as the fabled j Minerva from the brow of Jove; but a sys- i tem of humble origin and small beginnings,! having its source In the hearths and homt-s ! of the people, giving stay and support to the! virtues which consecrate the lireside?the fear j of God and obedience to law; which arises ; from the necessities ol" the hour, and Is | moulded by the exigencies of everyday life; which comes home to the "business and bosoms'" of men, because it bus been perfected in the field, In the workshop, in the marketplace and in the forum: which discards no' f ireign element as such, but appropriates and : makes peculiarly its own, wha ever may pro-! mote Us own development or advance the in-! teiesls of the people. The Canon and the Civil Law have alike contributed to its I growth, pruned its excrescences, and tempered its crudities, but they have been only subsidiary to its development, and furnished on-1, jy nit unicriiiis "i j iiuvi im/iv. ? ns"i-. i ous growth. Sin s Lord Hale, our "ancient'; laws, especially that have a common concern, ! are not tin* i sues of this or that. Council or}, .Senate, but they are t'ie productions of the 1 various experiences of the wisest thing in the j inferior wo !d, to wit time, which as it discovers da j-nfier day new inconveniences so it doth successively apply new remedies, and , indeed is a kind of aggregation of the discoveries and results, and applications of ayes and events." So also the philosophic liurke, j "By pursuing the method of nature in the 1 conduct of the state, in what we improve.!1 wc are never wholly new. and in what we re-1' tain wc are never wholly obsolete. I5y ail-j" heringln this manner av.d oji the?e princi-, pies to our forefathers, we are guided n ?t by j the superstition of the antiquary, but by the spi.it of piiilosop.iicuu.uouy; binding up the ! constitution of our country, with our deans t j, domestic lies: ad.p:iug our fun<lauicutid laws into the bosom of our f,unity air-clions .1 keeping inseparable mi l cherishing "with nil j the warmth of their combine.l and mutually reflected charity, our state, our hearth*, our sepulchres and our altars." A SYSTEM FOUNDED ON PRECEDENT. As connected with the last mentioned char- , ficti-ristlc, wh may ag iin remarK, that the j Common Law, is emphatically a system , founded on precedent. The memorable an swer of the parliament of Merton to the pre-1 latt s who wauled to make the municipal law | conform to the Canon I<aw, so as to legiii- i mate i.-sue born before wedlock? Aolumits. ley?..* Auylbic Mature''?retlects the spirit of mv: lutr, aim uu^ i-aijuomwii iw uit- twn* i trol.ing principles of English jurisprudence; i, laid wide ami dc?-p, and m..do fast and j sure. the safeguuid* of civil and constitutio,.- j, al liberty. The doctrine of at are (hciai.i . lies at tiie foundation of English jurispru- I dence; and the great body of the Common! Law is to be found in the long series of re-! pot ted ca>es, coining down from the days ot j, Edward II, which constitutes the only mi*! thoritative exposition of its principles. Kven l.ord Mansfield, who made greater innovations upon tlie law, than any of liis predeecs-' sots, declared that the certainty of a iu.'c was I, often of much more importance than the rea- j .son of it: and that a settled rule ought to be j observed for the sake of property ; and we all j remember the strong language of .Sir William ! Jones?"2so man who is not a lawyer, would j ever know how to act, and no man ft ho is hi lawyer, would know what to advise, unless [ Courts were bottud by authority, as the Pagan I deities were said to be bound by the decrees of:' fate." But amid all tlie changing scenes, and j growing development of an advancing civili-' zation.ft. is- impossible to preserve the ancient 1 boundaries, and to stand with Lord Kcnyon'J Super antiquas Via*. The child outflows its i cot lies, the nation in a measure outlives its ; traditions; and they who minister to a people, whose ships cover the seas, anil whose work- j shops overspread the land, must accomino-j date the ancient laws to the wants of a complex atid highly advanced civilization. Hence whilst it is characteristic of the English peo-' pie, to preserve and to perpetuate, it is equal- j ly characteristic to renovate, to enlarge audi to re construct; discarding what is obsolete,! and embodying the ancient spirit in forms. more adapt* d to llie exigencies of our expand-1 ing civilization. ITS RICHNESS AND VARIETY. Iloncc, wo remark ivaiti that the Common Law is distinguished for l lie richness andva- j rietj/of its elements, and the comprehensiveness J of its provisions. At a lime when the Human 1 Civil Law, like the Empire it Keif, cohered tlie earth with its overshadowing greatness, the Common Law originalins in a eode of savage J barbarians, found lodgment on British soil; and gathering contributions alike from the, t'anon and the Civil Law, the wise utterances of its legal sages, :i Br.ieton, a Glanviile and a Forlescnc: a Coke, a Hale and a IJlaekstono: the luminous decrees of a Holt, a Mansfield and a Cam len; a Ilardwicke, a Stowell, and an Kldon ; and i>f those sagos of American j law?a Marshall, a Kent and a Story?who re- i fleeted back with equal lustre, the learning of j Westminster Hall; found its development in t hat beneficent system of Equity Juris/iru-' deuce, originated and perfected by a Ilardwicke. an Kldon,and others; and in that wide I domain of the Commercial. Law of England,! which owes its origin to the genius and varied j accomplishments of Lord .Mansfield. Thus ii j is that the Common Law has grown with the ; greatness of England, and its Anglo-American J descendants,and has developed that iriagnifi-j cent system of Municipal and Constitutional t Law. which fears no rivalry with any oilier; ' and is worthy to dispense justice to the great- j est people upon earth and to inspire and sustain its expanding civilization. ITS FREE SPIRIT. Finally, we may emphasize, a lending char-j aeterisfic of the common Law, which has been perhaps abundantly shown ; its free spirit and repai d for individual riyht, which constitutes lis controlling principle?which limis expression in the Federal Constitution and in the Hillof Kightsof every State in the Union; which guarantees the inestimable ritilit of Trial by.Jury, and protects against two trials for the same oll'euce, which protects alike person and property, and furnishes all the safeguards of Individual ri^lit. Chancellor Kent, with ?!l his admiration of the Civil l,a\v, whilst preferring its exposition of the rights and duties of tutors and guardians, and those which flow from personal contracts express or implied, and from trusts in their complicated details, declares that were he reduced to the alternative of choosing between the Unman Civil Law, and the Common Law, for the protection ot life and property, lie would "infinitely prefer the latter, even to i he entire compilation of tiie Institutes, the Pandects and the Code of the Emperor .1 nstinian." SUGGESTED AMENDMENTS IJY WAV OF CODIFICATION. We shall now consider briefly the necessity of certain proposed amendments and imp lavements, mainly in the form of tiie General Law, by way of arrangement, abridgment and condensation, which seems forced upon us in the increasing multiplicity of our legal treatises, digests and reports, and which threatens to bury us under the load of our accumulated treasures. The Reports English, State and Federal, have accumulated by the thousand, and arc multiplying year'y by the hundred : shall we codify the law ? or rather why should ; we not ? What is codification ? If it cousists ana??caw?JBCT?n??? < in extracting, classifying and digesting those j b*adln?r principles which lie at the busts ol ail | decidcd cases, and aivc thein harmony and ! consistency; if it consists in givingorderand ! symmetry to the ill-assorted m'atcrinl which : lies nt our hands.rejecting this and selecting' that, but erection the new edifice, substantial-' ly out of the old material, in the spirit of a wisejmaster-bnilder, and the temper of a just cotiservatism; in tine, if it consists in giving; clearness, certainty, and facility ot reference to the half-buried treasures of the law, eliminaiingthe husUsaad retaining the life giving germ ; then codification is a tiling to lie desired, and would seem to be Justified alike by reason, by precedent, and by authority. SUSTAINED BY HE A.SOX. Jiy reason. In every department of knowledge, which aspires to the name of science, facts are collected, classified, and digested, and from these are deduced 'hose ulterior facts, which constitute the leading principles of the science?all else is empiricism. S-> in every art and in every avocation of life, there are certain ultimate pi incip'.es, which direct the student and guide the practitioner. Lantruage has its rules, and Logic the panoply of the schools; and shall the Law. which from the immensity of its stores, and the varied | and complex character of its material, needs) above all others, the labors of the collator and | coditier,al<me fail to aspire to the name of a liberal science. To use tlie language of the great Calhoun, "Shall the high power of analysis and combination, which reduces the most complex idea to its elements, which tiaees causes to their first principles, and by the power of geneialization and combination, unites the whole in one harmonious system; which has ell'ectcd such wonders in the material world, be forever prohibited, under the senseless cry ot metaphysics, fiom being applied to I he high nurpo.-es of political science and legislation. Theanswer would he nay. though every year, every day and every hour did not furnish proof to the contrary. by i?;iecedej:t. We have abundant pretocdcnt, in the work of. codification on a small scale In every tre.Hise and disrest,"which issues from the press. They are but the precursors, the avanl couriers, of a wider and more complete work, which the necessities of the hour and the demands of the future are pressing upon us. In every State of the Union there has been a revision of the Statutes, and every revision is codification. We have penal codes and codes of civil and penal procedure, and why not codify the body of the taw? Jts antiquity, complexity and Immensity, whilst incr< a?ing the difficulty of the task, make it more necessary. It is 110 longer a question of utility and practicability; since both have been established in the history of legislation and jurisprudence. Some years ago, we coditied our Military Law, mill the law relating to county officers; this was followed by that revision of our law, and Code of Procedure, which again revised now form our General Statutes, This is only work upon a small segment of the law, but it Is a beginning and an attempt upon a small * 1 " '* *.? tf tat I if ovfni./lu/l tniMnlllMl/'li lilt* whole system of Jurisprudence, in its varied and cmnplex relations, and executed with the (ire, learn ins and skill, which its importanccdemands would Indeed f,'ivo clearness, certainty and facility of reference, to that which is now confusion, uncertainty and obscurity. Louisiana has iss Code, France its Code-Napoleon, and the Code of Justinian has governed half tlie civilized world, for more! than a thousand years, by tlio wise beneficence of its provisions; and we may profit by their cxampc. rv AUTHORITY. Do avc need written authority for the work, in the weighty rfx/mmn priuieiitttm f We ma.v tin-ill in toe written utterances of certain distinguished J nd ;i;h ; in the declaration of Chancellor Walworth,'"I think It not only practicable, but highly expedient, to collect the ge:i- i era! principles of the unwritten Commercial 11 n 1 other Civil law. and of our Kquity system, as well as the Criminal law of the State, now scattered through many thousand of volumes, of treatises, commentaries, digests and reports of judicial decisions, and to arrange I them under appropriate heads, divisions and j titles, in connection with the stiiute law on i llie same subject" Again, Judge Story, who was at the he id of the Mnssacnusetts Commission, to cod'fy the laws of thai State, re. ports, "that it is expedient to reducc to a code, those principles and details of the Common Law in civil cases, which are of daily use and j famiiiar application to the common business j of ^ite and the | resent state of pTopcrty and j personal rights and contracts"? to codify the penal 'aw, and the law of evidence; and to collect the known rules and doctrines of the I'omnion Law and give them a positive legislative sanction. OBJECTION THAT CODIFICATION WOULD HE DOTH USELESS AND IIUKTFtL. But the opponents ot codification, with our own venerated Legare at their head, tell us 111 j the spirit of t!ie ( aliph Omar, that to codify tli it wtiicli is fixed and certain in the principles of 1 lie law, would b? useless. iin<i that which is^loubl fill and obscure, would be hurlfii 1 ? would be to substitute the legislative will for the distilled wisdom of centuries, and to chain down to the procrusteau bed of tlic statute law, the varying and accommodating forms of the Common Law?to discard our books, and to substitute questions of construction, for the far more philosophical search after analogies in the multitude of derided cases. Hut admitting thut novel questions of construction arise, tliey are yet questions to be decided In the light of adjudicated cases, and a knowledge of the old, wilj be necessary to explain the new : and the legislative Mil, will be best interpreted in the light of past and contemporaneous construction. THAT IT IS TO SIX TIIE LAW FOR ALL TIME. The opponculK of codification seem to nssr me, that it is ;o fix the law, sure and fast for all time; that it is to be circumscribed in the] bounds of the present, without the reflected I lights of the past, or the anticipated wisdom of the future. But this is to assume what no friend of codification has contended for?that whilst the world moves, legislation is to stand | still. This is not so. The design is to eondense and to crystal izc the fruits of past re- j search, to simplify the complex, to bring to i light the obscure; to reconcile opposing doubts and to hring order out of confusion; and rejecting what is obsolete, and retaining all that is useful, todigest the whole into symmetrical and harmonious proportions. But the work is rot to remain in the old moulds of past wisdom, but is to be revised as revision becomes necessary, to accommodate it to the varying wants of a complex, and advancing civilization. Home of us may not live to see the day, but some of us may, when the (Jomrvw?,. l>v flu. lirrht.s of loni'll. ins and philosophy, will yet surpass the Coric of Justini.il) as well in the harmony and symmetry of its proportions, as now it does in t lie vigor jind spirit of its unpruned luxuriance; and may merit, the title of being the noblest body of laws that the world has ever seen. el0ucent ri.ea for i, aw-reform by lord brougham. In eonelnsion, we may quote the words of the peroration of tlie great, speech of Lord' liroughum in behalf of Luw-Keform; "It was J the boust of Augustus?it foriped part of tlie! glare, in which the perfidies of his earlier' years were lost,?that he found Itome of brick ; and left it of marble; a praise not unworthy a great prince, and to which the present reimi tias also its claims, lint how much nobler will be the sovereign's boast, when he shall have it to say, that he found law dear and left it cheap; found Unseated hook?left It a living letter; found it tin* patrimony of the rich ; ?loft it i he inheritance of the poor; found it t lie two-ed^ed sword of craft and oppression?| left it- the stuff of honesty and the shield of; innocence." hooker's grand f.rlonirm. We may also apply in part to it, the noble enlogy which the judicious Hooker applied toi law in general: "Of law 110 Jess can be acknowledge d, than tlii'.t its home Is the bosom of God; its voice j the harmony of the universe; all things in Ileaven and Kartli do it homage; the smallest as needing its care, and the greatest, as wit nvi-iniiicil lVotn its nower." Note Ii.v (lie EsKnyist. The above essay being read before nnj association <?f lawyers, omits certain distinc- i tionsand definitions which may assist the un-s professional reader in the proper understand- | ing of the subject. Its length was restricted j toone-half hour; and its scope was limited to; a contrast between the Common Law ami tlie j lloman Civil Law. That law was compiled at the command of the Kinperor Justinian, by Tribonian a distinguished lloman lawyer and seventeen associates, and comprises a Code mad*' up of Imperial Decrees, n Digest of the opinions of learned lawyers, and the Institutes, an elementary work. This law forms the basisol all Knropean law, and ditiers from the Common Law cl.ielly in its mode of Procedure, being by written evidence, pud its decisions by a single Judge. In this respect it forms the model of our equity system, whilst our Common Law tribunal is peculiarly distinguished by jury trials, when the truth is elicited by oral examination. Again, tlie Common Law may be distinguished from the statute Law, comprising those doctrines, customs and usages, which are to be found in the reports of decided cases, and the treatises of law writers. Again, the term is applied to express the whole law, statutory or customary, which is administered in Common Law Courts ns opposed to the equity system, administered in the Court of Chancery. In this country we | have adopted the Common Law so fsir as it has been recognized by colonial legislation, and general usage. Certain States have re-enacted the English Statutes, whilst in others, they have acquired validity without such reenactment. In this State especially we have made fewer chamres, than in any other, in the principles and practice of the Common Law of Kngland. IloninrliN of Jmlgre Mcfiowan on the Above. Judge McGowan, beinz called upon in his turn, said a good deal, which we did not dearly understand: but we suppose it was all right to the initiated, the experts in the proiession. As well as we could catch it, he ran a parallel or rather contrast between the common law of England, and the civil law of the Roman Empire. The former, tlie common or unwritten law, havinz its origin in the customs of our illiterate, but. sturdy Anglo-Saxon ancestors "time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary;" while the civil law ?earlier in point of time?was the nrtpnificent product of the cultivated intellect, of the m li't o r\f flm r\e\>\ I i ? ct r\ f thn rtfliotc of the Praetors, the dt-crecs of the Emporors, j ;?n?1 the laws emitted by ihe Unman Senate and people, collected by the*rreat lawyer Trilioninn and his associates, tinder the orders of the Emperor Justinian, and embodied In the world renowned Institutes, Pandects and the Novels or new Constitutions. One system was created by the cultivated intellect of the greatest people then on the face of the earth; while the other, at a later day, grew up alone: with the English nation from its infancy in the darkness of narharism. Each system h;is its admirers. Among the many legacies of value, which we have derived from the old common law, is that of the trial by jury. While 11 is possible that the doctrines and refined cqtmics of the civil law, may be useful in the decision of certain clashes of rights between citizens, we think the value of the trial by Jury if criminal cases can not be over estimated,ami in such eases at l^ast, it can not b1 yielded for any substitute. It is a great privilege to be tried by one's neighbors. Other members took part in the discussion. Mr. Parker, Mr. Graydon, Colonel E. B. Gary, Judge J. Fuller Lyon, Mr. Hanckcl, Oapt. L. W. While, Mr. Benet, and perhaps others, made remarks on the essay, and each made some fine points and-wise distinctions in the law, but of which this deponent is unable to give a fair report, and hence, without particular mention of the remarkH of any one, would only say that the essay and the discussion was of uninterrupted, interest from beginning to end. MR. BRAWLEY'S LETTER. Thf Digitized nnd Convincing Reply of the "Abbeville Medium" to the Strletnres of the IXoa. W. 11. Brawlcy. Abbeville Medium. Hon. W. II. Hrawley's letter published In our Inst Issue does not. demand much attention from us for there Is very little In It, except some sharp thrusts nt us, n complacent laudation of Charleston nnd the quality of her rcprescntatlvcsanda llttleadvlee. He makes a kind of general defense of Charleston's members In the matter of the census, hut docs not reach the case as made out by us at all. Our argument was that by the failure of the census measure some parts of the State would tie deprived of Just representation and Charleston would have more than her share. Tilts would have Its influence in State and Congressional conventions nnd Charleston would thus have more than her just power. Richland would also have a flctitions representation. Mr. Brawley has not disproved this for it cannot tie done. lie took care not to attempt any such thing. Next, we gave soinc law based on the decision In thcSt-.itc v. Williams demonstrating that the re apportionment could be made next Summer if the census had baen taken j in the Sprint. Mr. Brawley has nothing to I say about this law. lie would very soon lo>c j his fine reputation as a lawyer if he undertook to prove our position wrong. IHr, Dr.lWiC'J > IJIUII tilll uinu^ UII \>MIU uo I the champion of Charleston hot does not deny that Charleston will have more than | her constitutional proportion of representatives until a census is taken. Neither does he show that our law is bud. lie must therefore admit that we have the Constitution, the ' law and Just ice on our side and so plainly to;) that he would not attempt to show the contra ry. Mr. Hrnwlpy, however, seems to take pirtieular umbrage at our charge that, the members from Charleston'put themselves on record as denying a fiir representation to the balanoeof the State" and proceeds to give certain "facts." Let us take this clause in Its proper connection. It occurs in an article on the "so called rider" and reads: "The manner of Inking the census was prescribed by law and, of course, the work was to he paid lor. The appropriation was defeated by a long and specious argument that the amendment was a "rider." It was absurd ami nobody knew it. better than the members iroin Charleston who nut themselves on record ns denying a /air representation to the balance o.' the State." Here is the time and place of Charleston's defection. Here is where she put herself on record. It needs but one fact to prove it and that is the vote on the question of receding from the census appropriation. It stood, as near ns we can recall, Ob 10 iw in iavor 01 receding and 11 members from Charleston voted to recede. Thus they put themselves on record sis "denying a fill* representation to the balance of the State." This was the crucial test and Charleston was in the vocative. She was in full accord with the House until the decisive moment and then by her 11 votes refused to sustain I be appropriation and so will have five more representatives than she is entitled to for some years to come and also an unjust, preponderance in State and congressional conventions. This very vote did deny fair representation to other parts of the State and did keep five extra members for Charleston and she put herself on record, liut Mr. Brawley says that (when Charleston turned and fled) the question was not as to taking the census, but "shall the House force the Senate to accept its views on this subject by defeating the appropriation bill?" We heard Speaker Si inmons put no such question to the House. IfjMr. Brawley thought that was the question we excuse him for that vote ali hough be was wrong on the census from first to la?d. If Speaker Simmons ha 1 put any other question that the usual parliamentary one, he would have framed it some what as follows: "Will tlie Iloiue stand by the Constitution j and will the members stand by their oaths to support it?" and Charleston would have voted "No." Mr. Brawley need not have looked further than this vote to find where Charleston's power was used tor a sectional advantage. It may not have been so intended, butsuch has been the eil'eet for flic will have live more representatives (counting by the U. S. census) j than she is entitled to. Mr. Brawley is the last man of Charleston who should have attempted to defend his colleagues. lie voted against the census every time and does not even give tlie economy excuse. If he did so because the amendment was a "rider" ho was strangely inconsistent in voting for two additional professors in the University which was clearly against the law. We heard nothing from Charleston about this being a "rider" although the effect of that Item in the appropriation bill was to make two new ollicers and provide p:ty for them. If to claim equal rights for Benufort, Sumter. Laurens. Stmrtanburu and other counties is sectionalism, \vc may be counted in. We1 will not he diverted from the true issue hut j will continue to show the great injustice done the whole State. Importance or Itoc Culture. Trot. A. J. rook, of Michigan, snvs plants pour out their nect ir as a sort, of free cod'ee or i lunch to attract bees and other irsects, the j most important work in vegetable economy, | llie work of fertilization, which largely <le- , pends upon insects, and without which full fruitage is impossible. The simple work of gathering nectar tlien is indirectly of great economic importance. This nectar, which the bees convert into honey, would be wholly lost without them. Only the honey bees are abun-j dant early in the season, and they alone save 1 this valuable food element for man's good.! Thoactivity of bees is wonderful. By actual observation sin gle fl owers arc sometimes visited by bees lifty times a day, and bees have been seen to visit over twenty (lowers a milllit/' I, (V H.iot. r>P Mr?tm?vlr V V i>vtrii(?tr-<l 4.10.} pounds of honey on July IW, collected from basswood, which lind all boon gathered j by forty colonics of bees in just seven days. This is over one hundeeil pounds per colony, and the daily stores of each colony exceeded fourteen pounds. During the same time there was secured at Michigan College nearly half i ns much beautiful comb honey.from single! colonics. An excellent Michigan farmer, who , lias kept bees six or seven years, and who for j the last three years has had from sixty to| eighty colonies, reports the cash receipts from j these bees during each of tho last three years to exceed those of the entire balance of his farm. THE FARMERS' FIGHT. ?? ? CAPT. B. R. TILLMAN ON AGRICULTURE. ?. An Open Letter to the Farmers of South Carolina ?'-MeaMnrew and not Men" the Watehworrt. To the. Editor of The New* and Conner: I ask space in your paper, which reaches every nook and turner of the .Slate, to say a few words to my follows who belong to the despised and oppressed class csilled former?. cannot take time to reply to all the let ters of s> in pat hy and approval I am receiving. I take this method of letting the writers know I appreciate their words of thanks.and encouragement, and will continue to battle for our rights as occasion offers. Wit!tout nnticipating anything of the kind clrcumstanecs or f.tie has pushed mc Into an unexpected prominence as a leader in the movement, which has sis nn object tiie elevation, encouragement nnd protection of the fanners of the State. I have spoken nothing hut the truth, as I saw it, and have contended for simple Justice. Justice is aH we ask and nothing less should satisfy us In making this demand I have touched a chord which vibrates from Georgetown to Oconee. The pent up indignation of the farmers has found a voice through me. and the masses of our people are ready to follow any one, however insignificant, who hns thcboldness to lead. I did not commence this agitation with any such cxpccta'ion, but I should be a coward to refuse to !ead, at least, till we organize. The farmers can th?-n choose their own "Moses." I feel it my duty to do this much and to try to dircct the storm I have raised till such an organization is perfected. The way out of this wilderness is very plain. Even I can lead you out, but I cannot either drive or carry you out on my back. "Who would he free himself must strike the blow." I have worked you up and shown some of the wrongs and impositions heaped upon you, no? all by any inenns. But one sharpshooter, however bold, can only annoy our masters These men say: "Farmers won't slick together, they are such fools," and "this thing will soon blow over," "Just keep quiet and th'-sc fanners will go to sleep again presently and we can continue our misrule and robbery." Rut, my brot her farmers, we must not go to sleep again. We cannot aflord it. No skirmish line, however, can take this fortrefs or obtain- mlress for our grievances, I have mortally offended many ol the "leading and most, progressive farmers of the State," as Col. Duncan calls them, nnd those whoshould be leaders in this movement are banded with our enemies. Cajolery, misrepresentation, idirule, deception, any and every artifice will be used to separate and divide us. The ring which dominates our State has ts allies and minions in every county,and. alas! that I must say It, many of them are farmers. We must pit organization against organization or we bad as well not commence the fight. Twenty-five intelligent, earnest men who will work are enough in any county. They ca-i leven the whole mass and prove InvJjvi1 le in any just quarrel w'.iere fanners' iito liivnlvnrt nmvidoil llirv show tt'Cll* disinterestedness by not running for any office themselves. Let who will have the offices. All we ought to do is to demand guarantees on certain well-defined points mid then vote for "Old Nick himself," if he gives tlie necessary pledge. Hut be sure they are given publicly, repeatedly nod in unmistakable language. "Measures and not men" must be our watchword, and remember "everything is possible to the man who works and waits," even the farmer. Victory is not doubtful in such n contest. And this is, perhaps, a fitting place for me to say to th"se who still doubt my own motives. that if I sha.l indeed become an "agricultural Moses" and be tiie instrument to redeem and regenerate our languishing and retrograding farming interests, I shall lie content, like Moses of old, to die before I reach the "promised land" of office. Make me a trustee, of a genuine agricultural college, like Gen. Stephen P. Lee's, and I ask no more. Ilad I sought an office I would have Joined tiie state Agricultural Society and become an humble worshipper of the luminaries whose orbit circles around the State House. I know how to get an office, but God forbid I should so debase my manhood. I thank God I can make my living, even a* a farmer, without scrambling for a place at the public crib. If I ever get an office I will walk to it like a man, not crawl like a spaniel, and it will seek me, not 1 it. However, I am a standing candidate for trustee of a real "farmers' collcge." To obtain that, and to have a board of agriculture "composed of farmers electedby farmeis and devoted to the interests of farmers alone," without a lawyer and merchant as overseers?to haveourseives protected against fraudulent fertilizers and punish the culprits ?to reduce our taxes, or have them spent for the whole people and not for a class or a locality?these and many other things can only be brought about by unity of purpose and concert of'action. We are told we have not got s. nse enough to do this. Perhaps not, but I am not willing to believe it. What is everybody's business is nobody's. Many of us arc too busy or tot stingy to spend the time und money to bring this about. Most of us are too poor, but we will grow poorer if we fail to doit. I say to every man who reads this, if you are a fanner this is your business us much as ml no. See to it! If you feel incom peieni m icuu, oe rcuuy loiunuw, anu n yuu can't exactly have your own way don't sulk. Either quit grumbling, or "fall In," and having chosen your leaders follow them and obey orders. All this may sound presumptuous, lut it is common sense. I am giving instructions like a general, out I am ready, willing and anxious to yet in the ranks if others will tilku the lead. I am fighting for a purpose, and victory is what I want, not position. In ordv'r to bring about this unity of action we ought to hold, at an early day, a farmers' convention, to take into consideration the depressed condition of our agricultural interests and the causcs therefor; and to consider what remedies are necessary to make our farming more remunerative, increase the value of our lands and stop the waste now going on, aud to render our farmers more independentandenlightened. Thesixty thousand while voters who are farming for a support, whose all Is cropped U;i in land which is constantly growing poorer, and who pay three-fourths of the taxes, have a right to demand such aid from the State as they may d?em necessary. And if we meet In convention and formulate our demands, then make those demands issues in the Democratic nominations next summer, we will have our wishes respected as they should be. We are no btggars asking alms, but men claiming our rights, and If we wish a college to educate our sons as farmers we want to see the candidate, fr >m Governor down, who will dare stand up and tell us we shall not have it. Suppose it does cost money, from whose pockets does the most of the money in the treasury come? For whose benefit is so little of it spent? Oil! the insolence and effrontery of some m-n is almost unbearable. Hut forbear. l win noi assume me ri'sponsiuiiuy m inning a call fur such a convention, but if those who have urged mc to continue this crusade with the assurance that, the farmers were "with me to a man;" if the thoughtful, loyal, true men who want reform and are willing to fight for it will semi me their names and make suggestions as to numbers and appointment of delegates, time and place of meeting. tVc., we will call such a convention soon, and the news after the next, election will he "the Dutch have taken Holland." The farmer will have to come to his own again. This is a farmer's state and fanners should govern it. 15. 11. TII.LMAN. Hamburg, January 2.". BP 1^ ? Pure Meanness. Laurens A (hcrtiier. To our mind, nothing Is more contemptible than to see a man trying to injure the prospects of a business rival," by slandering his cha raeter or abi 1 i t y. Honest coin pet i t ion ever tends towards improvement. Without it the world would stagnate; and anything in the shape of a monopoly, works an injury. It is right for a businessman to seek for himself all the patronage he can get by fair means; but the man who seeks to gain it by injuring his competitors, is lower in the scale of honor than a dog. The poor dumb brute will only growl when his own food Is endangered, and so longas his bone lasts, he looks complacently at his neighbor who happens to have a larger bone, without complaint. In his recent talk to the Yale Kent Club Prof. Sumner said that no State should bo compelled to educate the children of its citii'/fiis "Ami no 111:111 should marrv." be eon tinned, "unless lie can a fiord to support anil educate liis possible children. People talk about, tbe null fx of the parent and the duty of 1 he child, but I toll yon that a man who is the cause of his child's existence owes the child everything instead of being owed everything by the child, liirlh Is a dire misfortune for many children, and their parents cannot do cnougu for them in return for tbe inherited diseases and misfortunes which they bestow upon them. One of these duties is education, and no man should marry who cannot carry this out! Wo lenrn that I'rol. Milner, of the T.nurensvilli! Female College, has induced Mr. \V. O Monet, of Abbeville, to consent to deliver the address at the next commencement of that institution. Mr. Henet is a fluent and captivating speaker, and his reputation as an orator is sulticient to ensure a large crowd in attendance.?Laurcnsvillc Ucrald. Kote and Comment. Ilonca Path Plnindealer. Our town was somewhat (surprised on Friday last at the announcement that Messrs. C. B. Kay & Co., hud made au assignment of their stock of nonds, groceries, Ac., for the benefit of their creditors, \V. G. Smith, Esq., being the assignee. Wcare reliably Informed that their liabilities are only about ?L,00). while the available assets connected with the business are betweeu 8909 and 81,000. They were live merchants, audit can only be said that they gave their customers too much advantage in prices which no doubt caused the sudden crash. However, they are not to be outdone, as they have moved out on their valuable farm, gone to work and propose to redeem themselves, and may asaln be In our market on a more solid basis. They wereclever, honest and upriuht merchants. Success to theui in their farming. Married, at the residence of the officiating minlsler, Rev. L.W. Trlbble, on the evening of the27th, Mr. George W. Grubbs and Mrs. Mnr?/rnt C C.rnnv nil nf A iiHorcnn rmillt.V. Our town was enlivened by n short visit from two of Wllllaniston's ftilrest daughters. Misses Mamie and Etta Wilson, wbo were visiting the family of Mr. A. 1'. Shirley. May they soon come again, and stay longer when tln*y come. We are plad to loarn that the Donaldsvllle school under the management of Mr. Watkins and his accomplished sister, Miss Fannie, Is in a most nourishing condition, and bids lair to rank among the best schools in the Stale. Mr. F. I. Hell, of Due West, has commenced the repairing of Barker's Creek church, with the aid of his father and 1?. K. Branyon. He bos made considerable progress during the short time he has been at work. The time of year has arrived when we will be-in to give liens and mortgages for another year's supplies. Now. one thing I would like to impress on my fei'ow renters and erappers i is for us not to buy anything on timo that we can possibly do without. Iam not opposed to the lien law; it will do us no harm If we do not abuse it., but I believe it. has been abused to our ruin almost. Our last Legislature fai'ed to repeal the law, and let us try to repeal it or do away with the necersitv of the law, and It wil lrepoal itself. How aro we to do this? It enn be accomplished, in my opinion, if we will use more economy in our living; buying only what wcarc compelled to have; working more days in a year, and raising more of our supplies. Is th?re any place on this globe that, there can be a greater diversity of products grown thnn In our Piedmont section, and does any peoples depend mprc on the West for their supplies? I | believe nature has done as much lor us as | she has done lor any country. Now let I us resolve to benefit by It In every way we jean, until we can live at home, and what we ! do possess we can ca'l our own. Let each of us plant ns muuy more Irish and sweet potatoes, cabbaga, turnips and everything else that man or beast will eat, and keep fewer dous and more hogs. We eon raise our own tobacco, and scarcely miss the time it will require. Will It not be to the advantage, both to the landlord as well as the tenant, to plant at least enough In corn, to make as much again as the nm!c will consume? This will I make the farm sfclf-suslalning to the owner, and the tenant, will have some Tor himself, if he does not trade it all out for ribbons and other things he could do without. . Evolution in Writing Utensils. In the days of parchment and papyrus, pens were unknown because there whs no need of them. Tne ink was as thick then as printing Ink now is, and a brush was the thing with which to apply the ink to 1 lie parunment. To the present day the Chinese use a brush for this purpose, as also do most of the Oriental nations. But the invention of paper necessitated more delicate touches than ] could have been made with a brush, and the first eflbrt to meet the need was a split reed, j For a long time this nnswered the purpose; | but when greeter nicety was demanded, the I goose quill wus pressed into scrvice, and for ages suppled the demand. During the last century many attempts were made to Improve on the quill, the necessity of constantly mending it being a drawback to its use, but nil were unavailing. The attempts were principally directed to filing the points with some substance harder than the quill, so th it mending would not be needed, points of steel, copper, agate, and even diamond and ruby being tried, but all to no purpose. In the first year or the present century pens began to be made entirely of metal, and the survival of an old habit was plainly prominent in the first steel or metal pens made, they being shaped in the form or a quill at nearly as possible. They were fearfully hard, stiff things, went scratching over the paper with a most abominable noise, and spluttered at a great rattJ, and, as they sold lor fifty rents each, were not very popular. In I82() Glllot, the pen manufacturer, made a Wonderful Improvement by giving the pen "three silts Instead of one, which gave more flexibility. Improvements in machinery reduced -the selling price so that lie was able to sell these three-slit pens for about 310 a cross. It Is worthy of note that a better article of pen is row made and sold for twenty cents a1 gross than could then ba made for 54'), the difference beins; In t lie perfection of the machinery, calling for loss atientIon from the men employed. The cheaper pens are made entirely by machinery, but the better grades are made partly by hand, and it Is computed that the various manufacturers turn out every year about four hundred million pens, to be used once or twice and then thrown away. The process of manufacture is exceedingly interesting, and the persons employed slitting the pens by hand acquire wonderful kill, so that a quick cutter will shape fifteen 1 thousand pens In a day, and a pood slitter will cut tlies its in twenty-eight thousand. Conditions of SnccesM In Ufe. In a recent address before the Georgia .State Medical Association, Dr. Searcy stated that the physiological conditions of success In lift* depend mainly upon a vigorous, healthy action of the brain and nervous system. It fol lows, therefore, that, the structural integrity! | and functional capacity of the brain are mat-! I ters of the deepest importance, and their pre-1 servation and Improvement are ol vital mo-! inent. The author believes that much would j | be accomplished, could we discover the ways j in which the brain capacity is increased and; j lowered. The problem Is a mo-1 delicate one, i for up to a certain point the receptivity of the I brain Is directly proportional to the.strain al-i ready brought to bear upon its capacities. An , (oven balance between the brain functions is an essential element. The superior maul must have the ability, not only to eompre-' hend, but. in an equal degree, to deseriminatc; I he must be able to select lor a purpose, liesides llie sibility to learu, a man, to be successful, needs the power to verify his learning, lo ' | deduce ills own conclusions, and lo execute ills purposes with persistence. A simply erudite man is not necessarily I successful. On the contrary, he is ofien the! reverse, a perfect failure, for lack of the saving virtue of common sense. The capacity to receive is of small value unless it be coupled 1 with an ability to adjust arrange and impart, I It frequently happens that a man who Is sim j niy a scholar and nothing else is at an ai>S'>-! lute disadvantage In the presence of an unlettered man who is blessed with an inherent excellence of capacity in the three depart-j incuts of brain action. One need not be educated to possess this tralr, though it is tlie i addition to such natural gilts that brings dis! tiuction. It is not an exaggeration to say [that many a man of eminence has had occajsioii to envy his humbler associates the possession of those so-called commoner merits which would have given his own attainments a greater availability. Nature apparently re-! quires a certain amount of Die concrete to maintain a menial equipoise. The man who can learn, reason, ana execute with equal lacility possesses the elements of success, even though his qualities he but of an inferior ori M-I.iio nnn wlwi lins nnv nf those Incnl | ties abnormally develop* rt :it the expense of j the others will alwavs be crippled by the ah, senee of the essential leatures of a successful ! liie. ! Against slander there is no defence. Hell ' cannot boa?t of so foul a fiend, nor man de-j ! plore so foul a loe. It stabs with a smile; it Is In pistilenef* walking in darkness, spreading j contagion far and wide, which the most vary : traveler cannot avoid. It is lhe heart search; iij?r dagver of the assassin. It is the poisoned I arrow whose wound is Inetiralde. li is as fatal [as the stlii}r of the most deadly asp. Murder lis its employment; innocence its prey, and ( ruin its sport. ITon. AV. ('. lionet, of Abbeville, l:as eonsent! ed to deliver the address at the commence-j ment exercise of the Laurensville FemaleCol-! lege. Mr. lie .ct is i ne of the finest orators in ! the stateand we congratulate the president of, this institution in securing' such an attractive I speaker for lids occasion.?iAtvrcnn Advertiser. I Another large lot children's and Misses hose a! 10 cents, worth from Ij cents to 10 cents , at 11. M. iiaddon kfc (.Vs. i Now is your time to pet a good breech load-; 1 imr shot gun at New York cost. 1'. Rosenberg | a (.'o. Tin-: Prc.ri rtnd Banner prints letter beads bill beads, hand bills, etc., as well as they can , be printed elsewhere, and as cheap as the clH'iiprst. | (.'all and examine our stock of overcoats be-' ; fore they are all gone. 1'. llosenberg ?t Co. Velveteens, Velveteens, Velveteens, black,' I brocaded and colored, in a great, variety ot i I colors, see liicm at Bell & Gambia's. ' , '&tBm GEORGETOWN'S "WEALTHY AND INTELLIGENT" NEGROES EXPRESS THEIR CONTEMPT FOR THE "RURAL WHITE JUROR." The "Good Law-Abiding Colored Clt? izen" Arraign the Naughty White Man for What he Terms itn Unfair . Administration of Justice. [ Georgetown Enquirer.] The^pring term of the Circuit Court convened nt 10 o'clock on Monday morning. Judge R. U. Pressley presiding, and Solicitor Qiliund In attendance. ? ~y Pending the organization of tbe Grand Jui^,; ,i the Judge announced that the folio wine memorial signed by aboukforty negroes had been submitted to hlin: State of South Carolina, I- . > County of Gf.ougetown. f To the Board of Jury CominisFlnnei's? . \ Messrs. J. \V. Tarbox, Wm. DorrHI and Ja?. R. sparkman. Sins: We regret exceedingly to have to bring your attention to the Juries, an drawn by your board at cac.i term of the t; Court for Georgetown County : but we have n'ltlAntlv /flu nn<wl lutv^iVtlilinnr /?IH?ono> Aula*. ?,w ? ?m v.vi^vuo/ Mw,vv" . ? ly acquiesced, hoping thatat 'perhaps"?the next drawing of the Jury a fair antf partial representation would be given the colored people. In this we have been but too Midly disappointed, if we are to take for an example the Grand and Petit Juries for the present term of Court. This is a matter of no small importance to every citizen, be he white or colored. Alt 1 that we a?k of those iu authority is simple Justice. First. "We claim (and cluallenge successful) contradiction that there are as many colored tax-payers in thecounty as there are whites Second. We further claim that there can bo found us many colored men of intelligence an s the average "rural white Juror;" and in many 4 cases men of more intelligence and representative of more taxable property can be found , <3 among the colored citizens. Third. We would state that nlno-tenths of the cases before the Courts are those of color- . 3 ed vs. colored. With this simple statement we ask in the name of a free country and of Justice "Fair Represent our grievance to yon, believing that you are not disposed to be extremists, and would not inflict, knowingly on your col- : < ored feliow-atlzens a wrong so stupendous, V: and ono which our white fellow-citissens would not tolerate for even one terra of CourL : A UNION DEPOT. * ' The Columbia an<l Greenville and Air I'lne Offices to be Consolidfti* ed?the West Greenville Building to be Abandoned. Orecnville Ncic*. Yesterday morning O. B. Talcott* general manager, anil D. Cardwell, general |-a.ssenger agent, of the Columbia and Greenville railroad company, came here and proceeded to ^ execute ordeis agreed upon by the higher - i uui wiiu uuiiiwi men re virnii JlKiuius HKU IIUU arrange for the consolidation of the Columbtu and Greenville and Air Line depots at the depot of llie lutter road, at the end of Washlng ton street. 'l'bc arrangements were completed and the change will he elfeeted In about four weeks, after which time the Columbia and Greenville trains will be run to and from the Air Line depot over llie switch already In operation connecting the two roads. C. E. Watson, '-->1 the depot agent of the Air Line, will be in charge of tbo consolidated depots. The present Columbia and Greenville depot will bo offered for rent. Thechaage Is for cconoray. The railroad authorltleH estimate that by using one local 3 management and set of officers and buildluf* for the two nil treads $2,010 a year will be saved for the Richmond and Danville system to which both roads belong. A similar cbango ;i will be made at Spartanburg, where tbeofflces of the Spartanburg and Asheyllle and Union J -"J and Columbia and ihe Air"Llne will be united. At. Columbia, the agencies of the Columbia and Greenville and Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta roads will be consolidated at the. C. C. & A. depot., and Shannon Morrison, the . / present agent in that city of the C. & O., will probably be the Joint agent. . v. r As soon as the news of the consolidation necuine kiiuw [] litre uiucu interest wiib aroused mid tlie subject was generally discussed among business men. The prevailing opinion seemed to be that the location of the joint depot at Lhe present 0. and G. site would have > been more convenient to the majority of our people, and some citizens of West Greenville were quite low spuited. expressing the opinion that the removal of the depot would 111jnlre their section of the city. The great majority, however, agreed that the change would cause no serious disadvantage or great advantage to anybody. ^ Mr. Talcott says a flag station 'will be kept at the present C. and G., depot ami that trains will be stopped there lor the convenience of persons wishing to get on or 'off. Freight coining by the ear load will be run down on the switch and delivered lu West Greenville as heretofore. A .Singular Case, nn<l a Little Friend* ly Advice. [Edgcjuid Advertiser.] We have recently heard that one of our citizens, who had given a certain mortgage on his land, and afterwards paid the mortgage, but neglected to have the Record in the Clerk's oltice marked "."satisfied," is now having considerable trouble In consequence of said neglect. It appears that this party, who we will call Jones, live years ago, borrowed from his neighbor, Smith, one thousand dollars, aud gave a mortgage on seven hundred acres of land, to secure the payment of the said debt. In one year thereafter, Jones paid Smith the mortgage in full; Smith surrendered thesaino to Jones, and the latter took it home and put it away, supposing the matter was settled torever. Recently, however, Jones concluded to sell the seven hundred acres of land, and had fnnnrl si mirrlinser in Mr. A. ?f. n. Katinhirtorv price, but when Mr. A. had h.s attorney to examine the Record, the attorney reportei that the mortgage heretofore mentioned on said land was still of force, so far a? he could gather from the record. Mr. A. therefore declined to take Jones' titles until the mortgage on the land was duly cancelled on the Cleik^s books. And now Jones' troul le in the matter assumes shape. Jones rushed home and mado search throughout the household for the mortgage which lie had paid lour years before, but it could nowhere he found. He then went to theU'crk of Court, stated Ills case, appealed to that officer to mark the morleage satisfied on his ex parte sta enienf, but this, of course, the Clerk, the guardian, as it were, In this case, of the rlshts of mortgacor as well as mortgagee, declined to do until satisfactory evidence v/as ottered from Smith, or his legal representative (the said Smith, having died one year af;er the ri ortgage was paid.) Jones then went to see Mr. B., the administrator on the estate of Smith, but Mr. B. promptly Informed Jones that he knew nothing about ttio mortgage; that he found nothing in referenda thereto among the assi-ts or papers of Mr. Smith deceased; that the latter might have received payment on the mortgage, or might, have transferred the mortgage to some ono el>e; that, at any rate, he could not give any certificate or writ'en evidence that would justify I he Clerk of Court in cancelling the mortgage in question. And Jones is in a dilemma?and is advised to ask un order of the Circuit. Court authorizing and directing the ('jerk to act in the premises. This perhaps is his only remedy. And right here, in conclusion, we would offer a littl" friendly advice as follows : 1st. Don't give a mortgage, if you can possibly avoid it. 2nd. If you do give a moricago, rest not, day or niglit, until you have paid It. :5rd. And when you have paid your mortgage, delay not until the same lias been duly cancelled on the public records?for in this matter, "Delays are dangerous." Who Did It? [Columbia Register.| If the up country feels itself aggrieved and injured by the failure of the enumeration an-l appoi lionmeni under it, provided for by the Constitution, itshould ask itself who did it? To this we answer, Your own men in tin- Legislature did it. \our nine .Senators did it, who voted to defeat the House bill providing the necessary appropriation. Or if you conline the up country to tlie Piedmont helt. then we say your own men?I'ietnann, Black and"" '^N Maxwell did it. Kor the vote shows that if tliey had voted wilh the Senate minority on the census hill, the bill would have had a ma? lority of two. It is useless to blame the two Charleston Senators for doing exactly that wliii li ilif itiri>i> Senators of vonr own sr-eiti-.n did ; with this important dittercnee.that If tlio two Charleston Senators bad Voted lor the bill they would have only made a tie, but if your throe Senators had toed the mark the M.l would have pussed the Son ate by two vote* and the enumeration would have been mndo hi 1SW5, and the proper apportionment madeund?rit in the session just ended. Sknd to the Press anil Banner tor lien and* mortgage blanks of the bcsi lorm.