A Fable for Judges.

Evening Star, Issue 8553, 27 June 1891, Page 2 (Supplement)

A Fable for Judges.

Darby hal j ggfed with Joan along For years, and never thought it wrong (Nor docj cna hu3band in a million, If we the honest truth mu3fc own) That he should ride in front, and Joan Should sit behind him, on a pillion. The road was Ion?, and sometimes rough, And Dobbin's 'eg*, though stout; enough, Might have been just a thought more supple; But still their wiy, well pleased, they went ; They joggad along. I siy, content, A eimple-minded country couple. Well, as it fell upon a day While j jurnejinfr on their usual way, Little suspecting what huug o'er them, Behold ! attired in full-dress "' rig "_ Of gown and banis and horsehair wig, Thiee learned lawyers stood before them. " Here! hi 1 you two!" their Lordships Eaid (One of them wen? to Dobbin's head), With air imperious, almost regal, "In all our lives we mver saw Such bold defiance of the law ! Thi3 mido of riding's qalte illegal. 'Twill be a gross contempt of Court If you, fcir, dare maintain the sort C'f attitude in which we find you ; You can t, whoever owns the horse, Allege the slightest light, of course, To make the lady sit behind yvu, " This Is undoubted law, we know, And hold that it was always so, From earliest times of Celt and Saxon ; But, be that matter as it may, At any rate 'tis law to-day— Consult' Ex parte Emily Jackson.'" Poor Datby Btared; his law wa3 weak ; The man was naturally meek; And when they cried "Alight, dear madam!" 'Twas vain, he could not bat perceive, To cite the judgment in "Re Eve," And try them with "Ex parte Adam." His wife was struck by the advice; Dame Join dismounted in a trice ; ■While sheepish fain to follow, Stood gazing pensive on the ground, And turned the judgment round and round, Like something which he couldn't swallow. At he stammered out the words " Is t-he to ride in front, my Lords ?" (How that would have amazed Justinian !) But straight o:iino back the answer, pat: " We gnivd ourselves from saying that, On the. t we off a no opinion. " Our judgment's only gist and b.unt Is that you may not ride in front On any pita; and if you do, sir, Tour wife acquires the right, we say, To hire another horse, straightway, And have the bill sent in to you, sir." On this their Lordships left the place With that sedate and solemn pace Affected by the learned classeß; Joan looked at Darby, he at her, But neither seemed inclined to stir, And Dobbin browsed the roadside grasses. Some minutes after, Darby spoke, Prepared, unhappy man, to j ;ke On what might prove a life's estrangement. "I mustn't ride in front, 'tis true," Said he, "but neither, dear may y m So what's to be the new arrangement ?" Now, plans may in a fhsh arise, Which usually to devise Would take the mot inventive man years; And thus Impressed the husband cried: "If side by side we needs must ride, Let me suggest-a pair of panniers!" Joan answered not; the would not talk; She neither cared to ride nor walk; She mused, she sulked, she wanted roußiog. Darby, good eoul, reeolved to wait; He lit a pipe, and climbed a gate, While Dobbin still concinuedbrowing. But if I'm asked, my married friends, To tell you how this story ends, And what are now that pair's positions, I frankly own I do not know; I really caniot say—although I entertain my own suspicions. Judges are influential men, They awe the simple citizen; And their pronouncements ought to bind him But yet—but yet—when once those twain Remount, I think, you'll find again Darby in front, and Joan behind him. -H. D. T. The • Woman's Journal,' referring to the defeat of the Municipal Woman Suffrage Bill in the Massachusetts Senate, pluckily says: "This is our twenty-fifth annual defeat, but we are not cast down. Woman suffrage is one year nearer to its sure triumph than it was a year ago. The battle of Bunker Hill was a defeat. Leading men, Tories, clergymen, and editors opposed the object for which that battle was fought. All the same, it was on the side of right, and in the long run the right is sure to win." Miss Toppin: " This piece of ribbon was made to order. There's not another bit like it in the world." Miss Hoppin: "I'm going shopping to-morrow, and I wish you'd lend it to me to match."