The coarse mode of procedure in Ahab _v._ Naboth ruthlessly exposed and
carefully contrasted with the humane and enlightened form of the present
day.
Here I awoke, and my wife said unto me, "Dear, you have been dreaming and
talking in your sleep."
Now fearing for what I may have said, although of a tolerably clear
conscience, I enquired if she could tell me what words I had uttered.
She replied that I had mentioned the names of many eminent men: such as
Mr. Justice Common Sense.
"Indeed," quoth I; and then I told my dream. Upon which she observed,
that it seemed there must be much exaggeration. To this I made answer
that dreams do generally magnify events, and impress them more vividly
upon the senses, inasmuch as the imagination was like a microscope: it
enabled you to see many things which would escape the naked eye.
"But," said my partner, "if they are distorted?"
"If they are distorted, they are not reliable; but a clear imagination,
like a good lens, faithfully presents its objects, although in a larger
form, in order that those who have no time for scientific observation,
may see what the scientist desires to direct their attention to. There
are creatures almost invisible to the naked eye, which, nevertheless,
cause great irritation to the nerves. So, also, there are matters
affecting the body corporate of these kingdoms which the public are blind
to and suffer from, but which, if thoroughly exposed, they may be
inclined to take a hand in removing."
"I don't believe that Mr. O'Rapley," said she: "he seems a cantankerous,
conceited fellow."
"Why so he is; but cantankerous and conceited fellows sometimes speak the
truth. They're like those cobwebbed, unwholesome-looking bottles which
have lain a long time in cellars. You would hardly like to come in
contact with them, and yet they often contain a clear and beautiful wine.
This Mr. O'Rapley is a worthy man who knows a great deal, and although a
bit of a toady to his superiors, expresses his opinions pretty freely
behind their backs."
"And what of this Master Bumpkin--this worthy Master Bumpkin I hear you
speak of so often?"
"A very shrewd man in some respects and a silly one in others."
"Not an unusual combination."
"By no means."
And then I told her what I have already related; to which she observed it
was a pity some friend had not interposed and stopped the business. I
answered, that friends were no doubt useful, but friends or no friends we
must have law, and whether for sixpence or a shilling it ought to be
readily attainable: that no one would be satisfied with having no other
authority than that of friendship to settle our disputes; and besides
that, friends themselves sometimes fell out and were generally the most
hard to reconcile without an appeal to our tribunals.
"Well, it does seem a pity," said she, "that judges cannot sit as they
did in Moses' time at all seasons so as to decide expeditiously and
promptly between the claims of parties."
"Why so they do sit 'continuously,'" quoth I, "but the whole difficulty
consists in getting at them. What is called procedure is so circuitous
and perplexing, that long before you get to your journey's end you may
faint by the way."
"Is there no one with good sense who will take this matter up and help
this poor man to come by his rights. It must be very expensive for him
to be kept away from his business so long, and his poor wife left all
alone to manage the farm."
"Why, so it is, but then going to law, which means seeking to maintain
your rights, is a very expensive thing: a luxury fit only for rich men."
"Why then do people in moderate circumstances indulge in it?"
"Because they are obliged to defend themselves against oppressive and
unjust demands; although I think, under the present system, if a man had
a small estate, say a few acres, and a rich man laid claim to it, it
would be far better for the small man to give up the land without any
bother."
"But no man of spirit would do that?"
"No, that is exactly where it is, it's the spirit of resistance that
comes in."
"Resistance! a man would be a coward to yield without a fight."
"Why so he would, and that is what makes law such a beautiful science,
and its administration so costly. Men will fight to the last rather than
give in. If Naboth had lived in these times there would have been no
need of his death in order to oust him from his vineyard. Ahab could
have done a much more sensible thing and walked in by process of law."
"In what way?"
"In the first place he could have laid claim to a right of way, or
easement as it is called, of some sort: or could have alleged that Naboth
had encroached on his land by means of a fence or drain or ditch."
"Well, but if he hadn't?"
"If he hadn't, so much the better for the Plaintiff, and so much the
worse for Naboth."
"I don't understand; if Naboth had done no wrong, surely it would be far
better for him than if he had."
"Not in the long run, my dear: and for this reason, if he had encroached
it would have taken very little trouble to ascertain the fact, and Naboth
being a just and honest man, would only require to have it pointed out to
him to remedy the evil. Maps and plans of the estate would doubtless
have shown him his mistake, and, like a wise man, he would have avoided
going to law."
"I see clearly that the good man would have said, 'Neighbour Ahab, we
have been on neighbourly terms for a long lime, and I do not wish in any
way to alter that excellent feeling which has always subsisted between
us. I see clearly by these maps and plans which worthy Master Metefield
hath shown me that my hedge hath encroached some six inches upon thy
domain, wherefore, Neighbour Ahab, take, I pray thee, as much of the land
as belongeth unto thee, according to just admeasurement."
"Why certainly, so would the honest Naboth have communed with Ahab, and
there would have been an end of the business."
"But show me, darling, how being in the wrong was better for good Naboth
than being in the right in this business?"
"Most willingly," said I; "you see, my dear, there was quickly an end of
the matter by Naboth yielding to the just demands of neighbour Ahab. But
now let us suppose honest Naboth in the right concerning his vineyard,
and neighbour Ahab to be making an unjust demand. You have already most
justly observed that in that case it would be cowardly on the part of
Naboth to yield without a struggle?"
"Assuredly."
"Well then, that means a lawsuit."
"But surely," said my wife, "it ought to be soon seen who is in the
wrong. Where is Master Metefield who you said just now was so accurate a
surveyor, and where are those plans you spoke of which showed the
situation of the estates?"
"Ah, my dear, I see you know very little of the intricacies of the law;
that good Master Metefield, instead of being a kind of judge to determine
quickly as he did for Master Naboth what were the boundaries of the
vineyard, hath not now so easy a task of it, because Ahab being in the
wrong he is not accepted by him as his judge."
"But if the plans are correct, how can he alter them?"
"He cannot alter them, but the question of correctness of boundary as
shown, is matter of disputation, and will have to be discussed by
surveyors on both sides, and supported and disputed by witnesses
innumerable on both sides: old men coming up with ancient memories,
hedgers and ditchers, farmers and bailiffs and people of all sorts and
conditions, to prove and disprove where the boundary line really divides
Neighbour Naboth's vineyard from Neighbour Ahab's park."
"But surely Naboth will win?"
"All that depends upon a variety of things, such as, first, the
witnesses; secondly, the counsel; thirdly, the judge; fourthly, the
jury,"
"O," said my wife, "pray don't go on to a fifthly--it seems to me poor
Naboth is like to have a sorry time of it before he establish his
boundary line."
"Ay, if he ever do so: but he first is got into the hands of his Lawyers,
next into the hands of his Counsel, thirdly, into Chancery, fourthly,
into debt--"
"Pray, do not let us have a fifthly here either; I like not these
thirdlys and fourthlys, for they seem to bring poor Naboth into bad case;
but what said you about debt?"
"I say that Naboth, not being a wealthy man, but, as I take it, somewhat
in the position of neighbour Bumpkin, will soon be forced to part with a
good deal of his little property in order to carry on the action."
"But will not the action be tried in a reasonable time, say a week or
two?"
"I perceive," cried I, "that you are yet in the very springtide and
babyhood of innocence in these matters. There must be summonses for time
and for further time; there must be particulars and interrogatories and
discoveries and inspections and strikings out and puttings in and appeals
and demurrers and references and--"
"O, please don't. I perceive that poor Naboth is already ruined a long
way back. I think when you came to the interrogatories he was in want of
funds to carry on the action."
"A Chancery action sometimes takes years," said I.
"Years! then shame to our Parliament."
"I pray you do not take on so," said I. "Naboth, according to the decree
of Fate, is to be ruined. Jezebel did it in a wicked, clumsy and brutal
manner. Anyone could see she was wrong, and her name has been handed
down to us with infamy and execration. I now desire to show how Ahab
could have accomplished his purpose in a gentle, manly and scientific
manner and saved his wife's reputation. Naboth's action, carried as it
would be from Court to Court upon every possible point upon which an
appeal can go, under our present system, would effectually ruin him ages
before the boundary line could be settled. It would be all swallowed up
in costs."
"Poor Naboth!" said my wife.
"And," continued I, "the law reports would hand down the _cause celebre_
of _Ahab_ v. _Naboth_ as a most interesting leading case upon the subject
of goodness knows what: perhaps as to whether a man, under certain
circumstances, may not alter his neighbour's landmark in spite of the
statute law of Moses."
"And so you think poor Naboth would be sold up?"
"That were about the only certain event in his case, except that Ahab
would take possession and so put an end for ever to the question as to
where the boundary line should run."
Here again I dozed.