which these courts grant redress, as distinguished from the forms and proceedings in courts of law.1 Sec. 178. Canon of the law. "Const. Thy sins are visited in this poor child; The canon of the law is laid on him, Being but the second generation Removed from thy sin-conceiving womb." A canon is a rule of doctrine applied to designate the ordinances of councils or the decrees of the pope. The system of canon law, as administered in different countries, varies according to the recognition of the papal rules, beyond the dominions of the country where they are announced. The canon law has been a distinct branch of the law in the English ecclesiastical courts for many centuries, but the modification of the jurisdiction of those courts, of more recent years, has greatly reduced its independent importance as a branch of the law of that country.3 Sec. 179. Abstract and brief. “K. Phi. large, This little abstract doth contain that Which died in Geffrey; and the hand of time An "abstract," in law, is a short account of the different portions of the lawsuit, with a synopsis of the evidence 'Bouvier's Law Dictionary; Crabb's Hist. Eng. Law; Reeves' Hist. Eng. Law. Falstaff said to his companions, on dividing the booty from the robbery of the travelers, in 1' Henry IV: "Fal. An' the Prince and Poins be not two arrant cowards, there's no equity stirring." (Act II, Scene II.) 2 King John, Act II, Scene I. 'Bouvier's Law Dictionary: 1 Bl. Comm. 82. The above verse refers to the biblical injunction that the sins of the parent shall be visited upon the children, even to the second generation. 'King John, Act II. Scene I. offered at the trial, or of the distinctive portions thereof, sufficient for a full and fair consideration of the cause, before the court.1 Abstracts are filed in appeal cases, before the brief is filed for the perusal of the court, wherein the cause is pending. A "brief" is an abridged statement of the parties' cause, with a presentation of the points or issues involved in the cause. The object of the brief is to inform the person deciding the case of the important points for him to consider in making up his judgment in the cause. That the son of Geffrey, compared to a brief, would, by "the hand of time" be drawn into as huge a volume as his father, is the poetic conclusion which Shakespeare makes King Phillip draw, from the use of these legal terms. Sec. 180. Indenture. "Aust. Upon thy check lay I this zealous kiss, As seal to this indenture of my love."3 An "indenture," at common law, was any deed, or written instrument, between two or more persons, as distinguished from a deed pole, which was made by a single 1 Wharton, Law Dictionary. 2 Bouvier's Law Dictionary. The Duchess of York, on learning of the death of her grandchildren, the sons of King Edward, said: "Duch. Brief abstract and record of tedious days, Rest thy unrest on England's lawful earth." (King Richard III, Act IV, Scene IV.) Speaking of Antony, Cæsar, is made to say, in Antony and Cleopatra: (Act I, Scene IV.) A man who is the abstract of all faults That all men follow." Cleopatra tells Cæsar, in Antony and Cleopatra: "This is the brief of money, plate and jewels, I am possess'd of." (Act V, Scene II.) In speaking to Polonius, of the Players, Hamlet said: "Ham . . Do you hear, let them be well used; for they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the times." (Act II, Scene II.) King John, Act II, Scene I. individual. The name was adopted from the practice of indenting or scolloping the top or side of the instrument, with some word written over such indentations and then as many copies were delivered as there were parties to the contract, leaving part of each letter on either side of the line, so that the parts could be placed together and thus authenticated." As this form of agreement was a specialty contract, a seal was necessary thereon, hence the comparison of the kiss to the "seal to this indenture." Sec. 181. Rape. “K. Phi. far, But thou from loving England art so That thou hast under-wrought his lawful king, Out faced infant state, and done a rape איו "Rape," in its broadest sense, means to snatch, or seize with violence, and but for the connection in which the 1 Reeve's Hist. Eng. Law, 89. 'Coke's, Litt., 143b, 229a; Tiedeman, R. P. (3d ed.) 587. In 1' Henry IV, Prince Henry said to Francis: "P. Hen. Five years: by'r lady, a long lease for the clinking of pewter. But, Francis, dar'st thou be so valiant, as to play the coward with thy indenture, and to show it a fair pair of heels and run from it?" (Act II, Scene IV.) Hotspur is made to say in 1' Henry IV: "Hot. 'Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be red-breast teacher. An' the indentures be drawn, I'll away within these two hours; and so come in when ye will." (Act III, Scene I.) Thaliard, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, observes, that "if a king bid a man be a villain, he is bound, by the indenture of his oath, to be one." (Act I, Scene III.) In King John (Act II, Scene I), the Duke of Austria is made to say, to Arthur: "Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kiss, As seal to this indenture of my love." 'King John, Act II, Scene I. The word is from the Latin rapere, meaning to snatch, or seize. word is used in this verse it might be implied that it was intended in this sense, but the last line of the verse leaves no doubt, but what the term was meant to be used as it is in criminal law, wherein its meaning is the carnal knowledge of a woman, by a man, forcibly and against her will.' In the perpetration of this crime, if the consent of the woman was not voluntarily and freely given, at the time of the commission of the offense, her subsequent consent would not affect the guilt of her wrongdoer, and a female of tender years was incapable of consent under the English statute and the carnal knowledge of such female was consequently against her will and conclusively presumed to have been committed with violence, hence the reference to the commission of such a crime against "the maiden virtue of the crown." 112 Coke, 37; 4 Sh. Bl. Comm. 213; 2 Bishop, Cr. Law, 942; 2 Chit. Cr. Law, 810. 22 Westminster, c. 34; 18 Eliz. c. 7, s. 4. Paris thus attempts to justify his rape of Helen, in Troilus and Cressida: "Par. Sir, I propose, not merely to myself, The pleasures such a beauty brings with it; But I would have the soil of her fair rape Wip'd off, in honourable keeping her." (Act II, Scene II.) The Poet distinguishes between the act of carnal knowledge with one's wife and the crime of rape, in the following lines, in Titus Andronicus: "Sat. Traitor, if Rome have law, or we have power, (Act I, Scene II.) In Titus Andronicus, Aaron, the Moor, reflects upon the crime of rape: "Aar. And many unfrequented plats there are, Fitted by kind for rape and villainy." (Act II, Scene 1.) Aaron, the Moor, before his confession, says, in Titus Andronicus: "Aar. I must talk of murders, rapes, and massacres, Acts of black night, abominable deeds, Complots of mischief, treason; villanies Ruthful to hear, yet piteously perform'd." (Act V, Scene I.) Sec. 182. Interrogatories.— "K. John. What earthly name to interrogatories, Can task the free breath of a sacred king?" "Interrogatories" were the material and pertinent questions, in writing, exhibited for the examination of witnesses, or persons giving testimony in a cause. Either party, plaintiff or defendant, may generally exhibit original or cross interrogatories to the witnesses in a cause.3 But for scandal or impertinence interrogatories could, under certain circumstances, be suppressed, and the practice of submitting interrogatories to a king, never having been recognized by the common law, is denounced, in the opinion of King John, as inconsistent with his royal prerogative. Sec. 183. Tithes-toll. "K. John. Tell him this tale; and from the mouth of England, Add thus much more,-That no Italian priest "Tithes," in English law, were the tolls paid by the English subjects for the support of the clergy and consisted in the right of the clergy to a tenth part of the produce of land, or the stock upon the land and the proceeds of the personal industry of the inhabitants." Tithes have never obtained in the United States, but the clergy is supported by the voluntary zeal of the people for religion. The despairing Lucrece, makes her complaint at Opportunity that "Wrath, envy, treason, rape, and murder's rages, Thy heinous hours wait on them as their pages." (909, 910). 'King John, Act III, Scene I. Bouvier's Law Dictionary. 'Bacon. Abr.; Hind, Ch. Pr., 317. 'Gresley. Eq. Evid. pt. 1, ch. 3, sec. 1. King John. Act III. Scene I. Bacon, Abr.; Cruise, Dig. 22. |