45 P. 761 | Or. | 1896
The only question presented for consideration is whether the evidence is sufficient to justify a more favorable finding than that of which
The evidence shows that the plaintiff was virtuous, and the court found that during her married life she had always behaved toward the defendant as a good and dutiful wife should in all respects. This finding rebuts any inference of a want of moral character or lack of virtue, and this being so, the false accusation, as a conclusion of law, must necessarily have cast a shadow over her life rendering it burdensome. To charge a woman, in the presence and hearing of others, with the commission of the crime of adultery, is to render her subject to the gross insults of lustful men who may hear and believe the rumor, which, whether true or false, tends to rob her of her good name, alienate her friends and acquaintances, and deprive her of their society and companionship. Every woman of ordinary intelligence understands the force and effect of such accusations, even when falsely made by her enemies, and in consequence thereof her life must necessarily be rendered burdensome, but how much greater