A breach of promise is the violation or failure to per form some obligation, engagement or duty, assumed by the party so failing. The words are not used in this verse in their technical legal sense, but rather in the sense that a mere engagement upon which no legal action could be maintained, was broken. Sec. 154. Arrest upon mesne process-Debtor's dungeon. "Dromio of S. No, he's in Tartar limbo, worse than hell. A wolf, nay, worse, a fellow all in buff; A back-friend, a shoulder-clapper, one that counter- The passages of alleys, creeks, and narrow lands; One that before the judgment carries poor souls to Dromio means to convey the idea that the arrest has been made by an officer, upon mesne process, before final judgment or trial, and he will be placed in a debtor's dungeon, which was meant by the cant term, "hell." By the terms "back-friend" and "shoulder-clapper." he means an officer who approaches from the rear of the person arrested, and places him under arrest by clapping his hand upon his shoulder and so advising him. This is the usual manner of making an arrest and the person is just as much deprived of his liberty, when so address't, as 1Comyns Did., C. 45-49. Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene II. 3 Bouvier's Law Dictionary. There was a place under the Exchequer Chamber, where the King's debtors were confined, called "hell" and also a place in Wood's street, given this name, as established by certain old publications, cited by Doctor Rolfe, in Comedy of Errors, p. 161, notes. Rolfe's Comedy of Errors, p. 161, notes. if he had been locked up in prison, for he is denied his right of locomotion.1 Sec. 155. Action "on the case.' "Adriana. Why, man, what is the matter? Dromio of S. I do not know the matter; he is 'rested on the case."2 An action on the case is a cause of action for an injury done by some tort, or wrongful act of the party causing the injury, although the injury was not the direct result of the wrong intended, as where one negligently leaves an obstruction in a street or pass-way and the obstruction causes an injury, the injured one could sue in an action on the case."3 Of course Dromio gets the legal terms mixed, in this instance, for as Antipholus was arrested in an action of debt, or on a contract, it was not an "action on the case" at all, but for the breach of an obligation. assumed by a contract or upon an implied assumpsit to pay the reasonable value for, the chain, which would be an entirely different kind of an action, in law.* "Ant. E. Thou hast suborn'd the goldsmith to arrest me.' Suborn is to procure privately or secretly, as where one is incited to perform a criminal or bad action, by bribe or persuasion." Newell on Mal. Pros. and False Arrest. Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene II. 'Cooley's Torts. 'Lawson's Contracts (3d ed.). Speaking of the action of trespass upon the case, during the reigns of Henry VI and Edward IV, Reeves observes, in his History of English Law: "The action most favored was that of trespass upon the case, which, during these two reigns, expended itself in a manner that made it applicable to numberless cases for which the common law had not before provided any remedy." III Reeve's History Eng. Law, p. 559. Comedy of Errors. Avt IV, Scene IV. C Bouvier's Law Dictionary. In law, when one is procured to take a false oath, he is said to have been "suborned" to commit perjury and the one who so procures him to falsely testify is said to be guilty of subornation of perjury.1 12 Chitty, Cr. Law, 317. In Macbeth, Macduff is made to say: "They were suborn'd; Are stolen away and fled; which puts upon them (Macbeth, Act II, Scene IV.) In 1' Henry IV, Hotspur is made to say, to Northumberland: "Hot. But shall it be that you,-that set the crown upon the head of this forgetful man; and, for his sake, wear the detested blot of murd'rous subornation." (Act I, Scene III.) In 2' Henry IV (Act IV, Scene I) Westmoreland thus addresses the archbishop of York: "West. When ever was your appeal denied? Wherein have you been gall'd by the king? What peer hath been suborn'd to grate on you?" The Poet makes Joan of Arc say to the Shepard, in 1' Henry VI: "Puc. Peasant avaunt; you have suborn'd this man, Of purpose to obscure my noble birth." (Act V, Scene IV.) Suffolk thus pleads against the good Gloster, in 2' Henry VI: "Suff... Hath he not twit our sovereign lady here, With ignominious words, though clerkly couched, As if she had suborned some to swear, false accusations to o'erthrow his state." (Act III, Scene I.) Gloster tells King Henry VI: "Glo. . . Foul subornation is predominant and equity exil'd your highness' land." (2′ Henry VI, Act III, Scene I.) Attempting to make Gloster responsible for the treason of his wife, Suffolk, in 2' Henry VI, said: "Suff... The duchess, by his subornation, upon my life, began her devilish practices." (Act III, Scene I.) Tyrell, in King Richard III, refers to Dighton and Forrest. "Whom I did suborn to do this piece of ruthless butchery." (Act IV, Scene III.) In speaking of her husband, Othello, to Emilia, Desdemona is made to say: "Dcs. Beshrew me much, Emilia, I was, (unhandsome warrior as I am,) And he's indited falsely." (Act III, Scene IV.) "Off. He is my prisoner; if I let him go, The debt he owes will be required of me." A prisoner is one held in confinement against his will. Lawful prisoners are those charged with crime, or a civil liability. The prisoner in this instance was of the latter kind and being arrested on original process he was entitled to his liberty, only on proper bail being provided for the payment of the debt and if the officer granted him his freedom, it would be upon this condition, with himself as surety for the debt.* The wronged Lucrece complains at Opportunity: "Guilty thou art of murder and of theft, Guilty of perjury and subornation, Guilty of treason, forgery and shift, Guilty of incest, that abomination; An accessory by thine inclination To all sins past and all that are to come, From the creation to the general doom." (918, 924.) Defying Time and Jealousy, the Poet tells his friend, in the CXXV Sonnet: "Hence, thou suborn'd informer: a true soul When most impeach'd stands least in thy control." (13, 14.) Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene IV. Bouvier's Law Dictionary. 6 Toullier, 82. 1 Salk. 402; II Reeve's History Eng. Law, 439, 440. After his arrest, on the attempt to over-power him, Antipholus said to the Officer: "Ant. What, will you murder me? Thou gaoler, thou, I am thy prisoner; wilt thou suffer them to make a rescue? Off. Masters, let him go; He is my prisoner and you shall not have him." (Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene IV.) In 1' Henry IV, King Henry thus addressed Hotspur: "K. Hen... Send me your prisoners, with the speediest means, or you shall hear in such a kind from me, as will displease you." (Act I, Scene III.) "Dun. And you whose places are the nearest, know, Our eldest Malcolm, whom we name hereafter, Estate is the condition and relation which an owner bears toward his property of any description. It particularly includes inheritances and such properties that can be devised and hence, the king, here, uses the term, as embracing his earthly acquisitions, which he devolves upon the eldest son, where the law of England placed his property rights.3 'Macbeth, Act I, Scene IV. 2 Coke, Litt., secs. 345, 650. 'Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Primogeniture. In the more extensive use of the word, it signifies everything of which riches may consist-and this is the sense in which it is used here and in the technical sense, it indicates the degree or nature of one's ownership in land. In As You Like It (Act I, Scene I) Rosalind said: "Ros. Well, I will forget the condition of my estate, to rejoice in yours." Lord Abergavenny, in King Henry VII, speaking of the pageant |