law punish one who is the unwilling and unintentional cause of an accident. But in common parlance "accident" is a very wide term; much wider than in the law. A railroad train plunges through a defective bridge, or runs through an open switch; the next day the newspapers are full of the last railroad accident, as they call it. But in nine cases out of ten it is nothing of the kind— it is negligent, not accidental, as the railroad finds when the demands for injuries begin to come in or are settled at the end of a lawsuit. But it is not a crime to cause death or bodily harm accidentally, by an act which is not unlawful. It is an accident, for instance, where a schoolmaster punishes a child in a moderate manner, and the child dies from the effects of the thrashing. It is an accident where in turning a man out of your house, using no more force than is necessary, the man stumbles, strikes his head against a stone and is killed. It is an accident where a person throws a piece of wood into his yard, which is carried by an extraordinary gust of wind into the street where it hits a pedestrian and kills him. It is not, however, as the cases in Kelyng show, where there is negligence or where a fatal result is likely to result from the act done. Nor is it an accident where the thing done is unlawful. A schoolmaster gives a child an immoderate beating (which is unlawful) and the child dies; this is not an accident. 2. A man is criminally responsible for negligence. The cases from Kelyng, and the remarks at the beginning of this note, illustrate this rule. 18 [Time, 1849. Scene I. - A shop in the town of Ipswich. Scene II. and III. The road between Ipswich and Bentley. Scene IV.The Court of Assizes at Bury St. Edmunds]. SCENE I. [A Shop in the Town of Ipswich; over the door is the sign "Ralph Longbottom, Tailor." As the curtain rises, Longbottom is discovered stretching his arms and gaping]. Longbottom (loq.). What a lovely day. What a day to be outside, instead of sitting cooped up here with no company but a hot iron and a yard stick. If I only had some one to go with me, I think I would shut up shop and go fishing; for really I have nothing to do; no business; no nothing. Ready. Hello, Ralph! [Enter READY. Longbottom. Hello yourself. What are you doing with that whip? Ready. I am going for a drive as far as Bentley. Come with me, can't you. Longbottom. The very man I have been wishing to see; of course I'll go. [Exeunt. SCENE II. [The road between Ipswich and Bentley]. Enter Trueman (loq.). the old man fastened up. the back door. He! He! ing: “You know, grandpa, to go walking in the road; you are so feeble that you might be run over by a team before you could get out of the way." Can't get out of the way, indeed! I'd have you know that the old man is not as bad as that yet. And Mary says: "Grandpa," says she, "if you were not so deaf it wouldn't be so bad, but you know you can't hear anything. Why can't they let me. alone? I fancy I am old enough to take care of myself; and I am going for a stroll now for all those pesky children. But my feet are sore, and I must walk in the middle of the road where it is softest. I'll hear the horses coming, never fear. They thought they had got [Exit TRUEMAN. SCENE III. [Another part of the same road. Enter LONGBOTTOM and READY in a buggy]. Longbottom. I wish we hadn't stopped so long at The Mitre, Reuben. You've had two horns too many. You can't drive steadily. You want to go fast? Well, give me the reins and I'll make the old nag go. (READY gives him the reins.) So long, hurrah, now ain't we flying. People had better keep out of our way, and wagons, too, if they don't want to lose a wheel. Hip, hip, g'lang. Here's two-forty on a nice road. Now they had better look out, for I can't; g'lang. Hello! what's that; ran over a man? I believe we did. More men ahead, and they tell us to stop. What's the matter? [LONGBOTTOM draws up; enter HODGE. Hodge. What do you mean by driving at that rate. You ran over a man just now, you drunken fools. You deserve to go to prison, and you will, I bet, if you have killed him. Who is it Podge; is he dead? [Enter PODGE. Podge. His neck is broken; it is old John Trueman. SCENE III. [A Court Room in the town of Bury St. Edmunds. The Assizes in Session.] Baron Park. Ralph Longbottom and Reuben Ready you are charged with killing John Trueman by driving over him in a buggy. Podge and Hodge have testified that you were driving at a very high speed, towards dusk, and in a very reckless manner. What have you to say? Keane. If your lordship please, I appear for the prisoners. I submit that they ought to be acquitted, as it appears that the deceased contributed, in a great measure, if not altogether, to his own death, by his own obstinacy and negligence. He was an old and very deaf man, who had an inveterate habit of walking at all hours in the middle of the road. Against the probable consequence of an indulgence in this habit he had been often warned, but without effect. The darkness, at the time, and his infirmity ought to have induced him to refrain from the selection of the most frequented part of the high road. No accident could have happened if the deceased had been on the side of the road where foot passengers always walk. He had, therefore, contributed to his own death; his relations could not, for this reason, bring an action for damages against the prisoners for negligence, and does not the same reasons exonerate the prisoners from a charge like the present? Baron Park. No. There is a very wide distinction between a civil action for pecuniary compensation for death arising from alleged negligence, and a proceeding by way of indictment for manslaughter. The latter is a charge imputing criminal negligence amounting to illegality; and there is no balance of blame in charges of felony, but whenever it appears that death has been occasioned by the illegal act of another that other is guilty of manslaughter in point of law. Your clients will have to be punished for their crime. [CURTAIN FALLS]. It is a most familiar principle of the common law that where an injury is produced by negligence, the injured party has no remedy |