--_Boston
Centinel._]
_Salem Observer_, May 4, 1833.
-------------------------
The ridiculous practice here recorded does not appear to have gained a
foothold in America. It would have been, to say the least, less
harmful in its effects than the hanging of witches or the whipping of
Quakers.
PROSECUTIONS AGAINST ANIMALS. The second number of the American
Jurist, just published, contains a curious article relating to
the prosecutions formerly instituted against animals, and for
whom counsel was sometimes assigned by the Court, in the same
manner as is now done in cases of capital felony. The first case
mentioned is a prosecution of some rats in the Bishopric of
Autun, in France. They had become so mischievous that a bill in
due form was filed against the rats, and a summons issued for
their appearance before the Court. The Judge, unwilling to take
advantage of their default, appointed an advocate to plead for
them, and he managed their cause so adroitly that by means of
this prosecution he obtained an elevation to the highest honor of
his profession.
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