Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 09.pdf/577

that the prisoner must have been in liquor. In liquor! Why, he was drunk! And yet he murdered the very man who had been drinking with him! They had been carous ing the whole night, and yet he stabbed him, after drinking a whole bottle of rum with him! Good God, my Lords; if he INEBRIETY. will do this when he's drunk what will The English law of inebriety in relation he do when he's sober?" Happily the voltinto crime has had the tarins dœinon theory, following history. evenwhen fortified by We start with Coke's the ingenious reason doctrine that the drunkard is a volniiing of Lord Hermand, tarius dannon who did not take perma "hath no privilege nent root in the thereby but what criminal law of this country, and, curi hurt or ill so ever he doeth his Drunkenously,enough, the first esse doth aggravate effective blow which it." At the hands of it received came from Lord Her m and, a the hand of one of Scotch judge of the the sternest of Scotch old school, which was criminal judges — happily displaced at Lord Deas. An the beginning of the Aberdeenshire pro present century by prietor, habitually the school of Jeffrey, and irreclaimably ad Cockburn and Mondicted to drinking, crieff, Coke's doctrine caused the death of received a somewhat his wife by stabbing curious interpreta her with a carving tion. Two young knife, admittedly on MR. JUSTICK DAY gentlemen who were very slight provoca great friends went together to the theater in tion. He was tried before Deas. The de Glasgow and thereafter supped at the lodg fense was that at the time of the alleged act ing of one of them. They passed the whole the prisoner was insane. There was, in fact, night drinking rum. In the morning they no considerable conflict of evidence, medical quarrelled : one was fatally stabbed, and the or other. The habit of constant drinking to other was in due course tried and convicted excess, carried on for more than twenty of culpable homicide. The majority of the years, had produced, not, indeed, well-marked insanity, but only such an amount of weak judges were in favor of only a short sen tence of imprisonment. But the voice of ness of mind as was apparent to several witnesses, and even to his own lawyer in go Hermand was loud for transportation. Him self an ardent drinker, he felt that the reputa ing over his correspondence, so that he re tion of drunkenness was at stake. " We are garded him at times as not quite sane. The told," he said, " that there was no malice, and facts of the case showed that the homicidal the testatrix had died. The will was declared invalid. A curious case, where a marriage was set aside on the ground of undue influence, will be found in the English Law Reports, 12 Probate Division 2 1 .