Syntactic Trees

Letter from María Ignacia Beldarrain to her husband José García Losada y Manjares.

The author writes her husband to express the sorrow and disappointment she felt when she knew that they are not going to see each other soon. She also describes him the trouble her family has had to endure.

José García Losada y Manjares were the lawyer of the defence in the lawsuit brought against Alonso Sánchez, resident in the village of Fuentelapeña, about the theft of a Spanish bushel of peas, which took place in 1789. At the end of the process, José García Losada y Manjares was sentenced to pay part of the costs for not having abided by the law and the royal orders and for having acted impertinently and maliciously during the process. In the opinion of the judge, this behaviour had complicated and prolonged the process, increasing its costs. The lawyer tried to appeal to avoid this payment, but the magistrate did not change his ruling. Although José García Losada y Manjares claimed that the charge of costs was unfair, and that it was too big a scorn for his name and honour, the magistrate decided to initiate the seizure of the properties of the lawyer. The lawyer was seized almost all his properties, he lost his cattle, and his wife suffered a premature delivery as a consequence of the stress. This letter was presented as a proof of the abuse he had to suffer at the moment of a request made by the lawyer in order to recover his cattle and to ask for an economic help. However, the final judgment confirmed the condemn against José García Losada y Manjares.