Opening Address and Closing Argument of Richard H. Dana, Jr., Esq., Counsel for the Libellant, (Benj. F. Dalton); In the Dalton Divorce Case

by Richard Henry Dana Jr.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1857 edition. ...a hequet given and not returned. Then she allows him i0 put upon his finger her hushand's ring; she thought that was going too far,and she took it hack and gave him another, ind she wore his and decerved her hushand; she knew at was wrong; she did not stop; she went on. Then comes the letter, the fatal letter, declaring his love, picturing it in ardent terms, saying that he must possess her entirely or cease to think of her more, saying that he musf fved upon love, and asking an a poinlment so that they can he alone, and he says, 'Bo lt, Neiiie,do it.' There is the gieat pause. It was not a word. If it had heen a sudden word, of an importunate lover, overmastering her hy his importu nity in a convenient place under the hewitehlng moonlight, and she had fallen, we could have wept over it The moon might hide its light hehind the clouds to weep over it. But it was a letter. it was a written roposal. She had time. She read it. She ad not the excuse that it was pressed upon her suddenly. She read the letter. She understood its meauinir Oh, she ought to have fled to the mountains, not lingering in all the plain, lest she should he consumed. But she did not. She acceptcd the appointment. She passed the last great pause, the last stage on this downward road, this Incilis ilescenriu. Providence has placed for us all stages. pauses, finger posts, indications that the fool may read. She reached the last, and she passed it. The next day, the 15ih, she went out in the omnls hus with them. There was a point to pause. There is the carriage at the roadside; and there are two men, neither oi' whom can he recognized as acquaintances. What did she do then? She went into the house, her sister with her. Does she pause then 7--Bhe comes...

62 pages, Paperback

Published September 13, 2013

About the author

Dana was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 1, 1815, into a family that first settled in colonial America in 1640. As a boy, Dana studied in Cambridgeport under a strict schoolmaster named Samuel Barrett, alongside fellow Cambridge native and future writer James Russell Lowell. Barrett was infamous as a disciplinarian, punishing his students for any infraction by flogging. He also often pulled students by their ears and, on one such occasion, nearly pulled Dana's ear off, causing his father to protest enough that the practice was abolished.

In 1825, Dana enrolled in a private school overseen by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who Dana later mildly praised as "a very pleasant instructor", though he lacked a "system or discipline enough to insure regular and vigorous study". In July 1831, Dana began his studies at Harvard College, though he was suspended for six months before the end of his first year for supporting a student protest. In his junior year, he had a case of measles which also caused ophthalmia and his weakening vision inspired him to take a sea voyage.

Rather than going on a Grand Tour of Europe, he decided to enlist as a common sailor, despite his high-class birth. He left Boston on the brig Pilgrim on August 14, 1834, on a voyage around Cape Horn to the then-remote California, at that time still a part of Mexico. On the 180-ton, 86.5 foot-long Pilgrim, Dana visited a number of settlements in California (including Monterey, San Pedro, San Juan Capistrano, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Clara and San Francisco). He returned to Massachusetts aboard the ship Alert on September 22, 1836, after two years away from home.

He kept a diary, and after the trip wrote Two Years Before the Mast based on his experiences. The term "before the mast" refers to sailor's quarters -- in the forecastle, in the bow of the ship, the officers dwelling near the stern. His writing evidences his later social feeling for the oppressed. After witnessing a flogging on board the Pilgrim, he vowed that he would try to help improve the lot of the common seaman.

After his sea voyage, he returned to Harvard to take up study at its law school, completing his education in 1837. He subsequently became a lawyer, and an expert on maritime law, many times defending common seamen, and wrote The Seaman's Friend, which became a standard reference text on the legal rights and responsibilities of sailors.