Beauty and the Beast, and Tales of HomeTaylor, Bayard
General
Beauty and the Beast, and Tales of Home
Taylor, Bayard
Short stories; United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
As the summer passed over, and the first and second call for volunteers
had been met, and more than met, by the patriotic men of the State (how
we blessed them!) we began to take courage, and to feel, that if our
new civil position brought us no very tangible enjoyment, at least it
imposed upon us no very irksome duties.
The first practical effect of the new law came to light at the August
term of our County Court. The names of seven women appeared on the list
of jurors, but only three of them answered to their names. One, the wife
of a poor farmer, was excused by the Judge, as there was no one to look
after six small children in her absence; another was a tailoress, with
a quantity of work on hand, some of which she proposed bringing with her
into Court, in order to save time; but as this could not be allowed,
she made so much trouble that she was also finally let off. Only one,
therefore, remained to serve; fortunately for the credit of our sex,
she was both able and willing to do so; and we afterward made a
subscription, and presented her with a silver fish-knife, on account of
her having tired out eleven jurymen, and brought in a verdict of $5,000
damages against a young man whom she convicted of seduction. She told
me that no one would ever know what she endured during those three days;
but the morals of our county have been better ever since.
Mr. Spelter told me that his State exchanges showed that there had been
difficulties of the same kind in all the other counties. In Mendip (the
county-town of which is Whittletown, Mrs. Whiston's home) the immediate
result had been the decision, on the part of the Commissioners, to build
an addition at the rear of the Court-House, with large, commodious and
well-furnished jury-rooms, so arranged that a comfortable privacy was
secured to the jury-women. I did my best to have the same improvement
adopted here, but, alas! I have not the ability of Selina Whiston
in such matters, and there is nothing to this day but the one vile,
miserable room, properly furnished in no particular except spittoons.
The nominating Conventions were held in August, also, and we were
therefore called upon to move at once, in order to secure our fair
share. Much valuable time had been lost in discussing a question of
policy, namely, whether we should attach ourselves to the two parties
already in existence, according to our individual inclinations, or
whether we should form a third party for ourselves. We finally accepted
the former proposition, and I think wisely; for the most of us were so
ignorant of political tricks and devices, that we still needed to learn
from the men, and we could not afford to draw upon us the hostility of
both parties, in the very infancy of our movement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account