THE MODERN OGRE.
Wz never know the dangers that encompass us. Richter's timid
• men slime had an two for all the niceties of symptom. which may indicate surrounding danger. He could collect the latent dial militia ef a dog by the aspect of his tail; but even his Woo eye ‘510441 haVe boon =ale to detect a peril which is flagrant, thoegh, in-visible, in that the most petioeful of abodes, the moat sacred- from danger—the English drawing-room. It is here one may. enetainter the greatest monster of English Society, the Court of (lletacery. A gentleman attracted by a bevy of fair ladies cannot distinguish amongst them anything which makes one mare. dangerous than another, except the excess of beauty; he is net aware of the risk he undergoes by making himself agreeable ; he does not know the frightful penalties a man may incur by doing so maoli as asking a lady to dance too often. As a high authority han observed, this week, there is nothing to distinguish the , dangerous ela.sses of the fair in their dress, or to point out the deans& to be avoided. Yet, it seems, from the same high au- tho.rity, fearful danger hangs around those young ladies who happen to be wards in chancery. A man must meddle with them at his peril. If he should be so much as suspected of " court- ing" one of them, he runs the risk of being what is called "in cratempt,"—that hideous condition with so small a name, and• stira frightful consequences. For is it net the fact that persons have been for years imprisoned for no moral fault, for no dis- honesty, no crime, for nothing but some half-conscious, or uncon- scious, disregard of the will and pleasure of the Court of Chancery? Mr. Thomas Iackson is a miller of Loughborough in Leicester- shire. He is "a solid, respectable, and worthy tradesman," possessing some means, and such personal flualites as have en- Vird. the affection of a young lady of nineteen. Very soon after elia became of age, on the 10th August 1858, Mr. Miller was married to the young lady, and he applied to the Court of Chan- cery, whose ward she was, for certain arrangements, admitted to be proper, respecting her property. He must have been quite unaware of the misdemeanour which he had committed, until the Lord Justice Knight Bruce discovered it. Lord Justice said --" I suppose that as these parties waited only fourteen days the whole matter was preceded by what is commonly called 'court- ing'; and if so, does it not seem probable that a contempt was committed ? What apology is offered ?" Probably Mr. Jackson could hardly understand for what it was that he had to apologize. Biidegrooms seldom think it necessary to betake themselves to a magistrate and express regret for what they have done. Mr. Dean represented that all the parties were agreed, and that the husband was fully competent to support his wife. But Lord Jug- tiee Knight Brace was not to be so foiled, though he tempered the rigour of justice with the mercy of humanity. "My impres- sien. is," he said, "that a contempt has been co • ; though I do not give any conclusive opinion." And the Lord Justice Turner also, most judiciously we think, reserved his opinion on the question of contempt. Even his brother Lord Justice went so far as to admit something like hardship in the case.
"Perhaps it is hard that such a consequence as contempt should follow from courting a young lady who happens to be a ward of this Court, as ladies so situate do not wear any distinctive dress. Mrs. Jackson can communicate to us when it will be agreeable to her to appear for examination, and her husband say whether he accedes to the views expressed by this Court as to the settlement."
Was the Lord Justice Knight Bruce serious, or was it a ponder- ous joke? As regards the strict letter of the law there can scarcely be a doubt. Mr. Dean did not think it necessary to trouble the court with cases on the important subjeot ; yet there are in- stances, he said most truly, in which rmfants have been mar- lied as soon after they attained majority, "and contempt was not held to have been committed." Whatever may be the law, it is frightful to hear so much as a question raised, especially upon authority so solemn and weighty as that conveyed in the potent yoke of the Lord Justice Knight Bruce. It would, perhaps, be Safer to leave no doubt upon the subject, but to make a special law for the information and guidance of those whom it may con- trol. The Lord Justice has himself thrown out a hint; it is that young ladies in the position of Mrs. Jackson before her marriage, should bear a distinctive dress. It might be called the ".Noli me tangere " costume. It should convey a distinct warning that any person trespassing or intruding, or guilty of courtship or flirta- tion, would be prosecuted as the law directs ; by order of OW Court of Chancery. . .
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