The ways of the hour

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THE WAYS OF THE HOUR.

[Illustration:

The Theft The Ways of the Hour ]

[Illustration:

“This bears some resemblance, Mr. Wilmeter, to an interview in a convent. I am the novice, you the excluded friend, who is compelled to pay his visit through a grate.” Ways of the Hour. Page 115. ]

THE

WAYS OF THE HOUR.

A TALE.

BY

J. FENIMORE COOPER.

‘Is this the way I must return to native dust?’

NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1892.

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Entered, according to the Act of Congress, In the year 1861, by W. A. TOWNSEND AND COMPANY, In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.

[Illustration]

PREFACE.

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The object of this book is to draw the attention of the reader to some of the social evils that beset us; more particularly in connection with the administration of criminal justice. So long a time has intervened since the thought occurred, and so many interruptions have delayed the progress of the work, that it is felt the subject has been very imperfectly treated; but it is hoped that enough has been done to cause a few to reflect on a matter of vital importance; one that to them may possess the interest of novelty.

A strange indifference exists as to the composition of the juries. In our view, the institution itself, so admirable in a monarchy, is totally unsuited to a democracy. The very principle that renders it so safe where there is a great central power to resist, renders it unsafe in a state of society in which few have sufficient resolution to attempt even to resist popular impulses.

A hundred instances might be given in which the juries of this country are an evil; one or two of which we will point out. In trials between railroad companies and those who dwell along their lines, prejudice is usually so strong against the former, that justice for them is nearly hopeless. In certain parts of the country, the juries are made the instruments of defeating the claims of creditors who dwell at a distance, and are believed to have interests opposed to the particular community where the debtor resides. This is a most crying evil, and has been the source of many and grievous wrongs. Whenever there is a motive for creating a simulated public opinion, by the united action of several journals, justice is next to hopeless; such combinations rarely, if ever, occurring in its behalf. In cases that are connected with the workings of political schemes, and not unfrequently in those in which political men are parties to the suits, it is often found that the general prejudices or partialities of the out-door factions enter the jury-box. This is a most serious evil too; for, even when the feeling does not produce a direct and flagrant wrong, it is very apt so far to temper the right as to deprive it of much of its virtue. In a country like this, in which party penetrates to the very bottom of society, the extent of this evil can be known only to those who are brought into close contact with the ordinary workings of the institution.