Sec. 339. Retainers. "Q. Kath. ness' favours, You have, by fortune, and his high Gone slightly o'er low steps; and now are mounted The Queen, in this verse spoke in the legal terms of lawyers. A retainer is a fee given to a lawyer to insure his future services either in the prosecution or defense of a lawsuit, or the performance of some other legal service.2 The Cardinal, according to the expressions of the Queen, had reached such height that he did not bother with small affairs, but received retainers from the powers of the earth alone. Sec. 340. Appearance in Court. "Q. Kath. I will not tarry; no, nor ever more, Appearance, in legal practice, is the coming into court, of a party to a cause, whether as plaintiff or defendant.* No formality is required on the part of the plaintiff in entering his appearance for the filing of the suit does this; but on the part of the defendant, more particularity is required. Appearance may either be entered by personally appearing to the action, or by entering the appearance in a formal way, by entries of record in the court. When one desires to plead to the jurisdiction of the court, afterward espoused Catherine Howard. This latter statute was to abolish the effect of the canonical decree, as this marriage was forbidden by the canon law, although not by the Levitical degree. (IV Reeve's Hist. Eng. Law, pp. 314-317; 330-335.) as Katherine did, in this instance, appearance by an attorney is improper, for the appointment of the attorney, as an officer of the court, would admit the jurisdiction. A married woman, when sued without her husband, at common law, had the right to personally appear, so Katherine had evidently had good legal advice, in pursuing the course she did in refusing to enter her appearance in the court presided over by Cardinal Wolsey. I left no reverend person in this court; "Under hand and seal," are formal words, in the law, indicating the formal execution of a document, required to be sealed, to give it validity. It is the customary manner of closing a written document, to be executed by two or more, the formal words being, "Witness our hands and seals," or "Under our hands and seals," as adopted by the King here. The King is addressing himself to the law members of his court, assuring them that he had acted in a disinterested manner, having the writs issued in a legal, formal manner, by leaving no "reverend person" 15 Watts & S., 215. 1 Chitty, Pl. 398. The Poet treats the entry of an appearance in the legal way and after Katherine had questioned the jurisdiction of the Court, she left, so that she would not be held to have waived the question of the court's jurisdiction over her person. As an appearance is treated as a voluntary entry of one's person into court and dispenses with the necessity of process, the good Queen thus claimed her rights in a strictly legal manner and did not pursue a course that would estop her from afterward treating the proceeding as a nullity or questioning the jurisdiction of the court, over her person. (Bouvier's Law Dictionary.) King Henry VIII, Act II, Scene IV. in the court, but proceeding "under seals." If certain judicial writs were presented without the prerogative seal, they were void; the officer sealing such writs was called the "sealer of writs," and the undue prominence given by the Poet to the seals attached to these writs, shows his familiarity with the requirements of the practice obtaining in such cases.1 Sec. 342. Motion to dismiss appeal. "Cam. Meanwhile must be an earnest motion A "motion," in legal practice, is the application of one of the parties to a cause, or his counsel's application, for him, for some rule or order which he thinks is necessary, in the ordinary progress of the cause, to get relieved from some matter which would work injustice, if the motion were refused. The Cardinal observes that the Queen's appeal will delay the termination of the King's suit for divorce and recommends that "earnest motion" shall be made to persuade her to dismiss her appeal to the Pope. Sec. 343. Dilatory pleas. "K. Hen. I may percieve, These cardinals trifle with me: I abhor Dilatory pleas are those which have for their object the dismissal, suspension, or obstruction of a suit, without touching the merits of the controversy, until the impediment or obstacle insisted upon shall be removed. The Queen's course in this divorce suit, came within the class 13 Coke, Inst., 169. King Henry VIII, Act II, Scene IV. 33 Bl. Comm. 305. King Henry VIII, Act II, Scene IV. Bouvier's Law Dictionary. of pleas known as dilatory pleas, in that she did not want to submit herself to the jurisdiction of the court, or meet the cause on its merits, but endeavored to obstruct the proceeding by other than a trial on the merits. The King here objects to the tactics followed by the Queen and the Cardinals in granting her additional time, in the cause. First, she asked for a continuance of the cause, to enable her to confer with her friends in Rome. and this being denied her, she objected to the proceeding, before Cardinal Wolsey, because of his bias and prejudice against her; this being denied her, she questioned the jurisdiction of the court; refused to enter her appearance and left the court. The Cardinals then decided that they had no jurisdiction, unless they could persuade her to withdraw or dismiss her appeal to Rome and of this practice, the King complained, and called it "dilatory sloth.” Sec. 344. Adjournment of court."Cam. So please your highness, The queen being absent, 'tis a needful fitness 2 Adjournment of court is to put off or re-set another day for the trial of a cause, or the transaction of the business of the court. Adjournments are either sine die, or to court in course, or temporary or until some other day, before the regular term of court, in course. The adjournment mentioned by the Cardinal here, is the latter kind and was made necessary by the action of the Queen, in refusing to enter her appearance and to submit to the jurisdiction of the court over her person. 'King Henry VIII, Act II, Scene IV. 2 Sh. Bl. Comm. 186. Menenius tells Brutus, in Coriolanus: "Men. you wear one a good wholesome forenoon, in hearing a cause between an orange-wife and a fosset-seller; and then rejourn the controversy of three-pence to a second day of audience." (Act II, Scene I.) Sec. 345. Trial at law. "Cam. if the trial of the law o'ertake you, You'll part away disgrac'd." A trial at law, is the examination, before a competent tribunal, according to the laws of the land, of the facts put in issue in a cause, for the purpose of determining such issue. The object of the threat of the Cardinal was to deter the Queen from her course in insisting upon her appeal to Rome, or a trial according to the forms of law, and the inducement is held out that the King, because of his previous regard for her, will deal more gently with her than a court, influenced by him would do, and that she had better avoid a trial at law, because of the resulting disgrace that would accrue to her, from this proceeding. Of course this was a subterfuge, to assist the King in his unholy inclinations. "K. Hen. Forsooth, an inventory, thus importing,- An inventory is a list, schedule, or enumeration, in writing, containing, article by article, the goods and chattels, rights and credits, together with the lands and tenements of a person or persons.* 'King Henry VIII, Act III, Scene I. 23 Bl. Comm. 333. 'King Henry VIII, Act III, Scene II. 2 Bl. Comm. 514; 4 Bacon's Abr., 86. Surrendering his earthly effects to the king, after the issuance of the writ of praemunire against him, Cardinal Wolsey said, in King Henry VIII: "Wol. And,-pr'ythee, lead me in: There take an inventory of all I have, To the last penny; 'tis the kings." (Act III, Scene II.) |