Sec. 34. Loyalty of attorney.— "Duke. Come hither, Isabel: Your friar is now your prince: As I was then The ethical side of an attorney's duty toward his client is here touched on, for to be "holy" to the client's "business"; "not changing heart with habit," but to be loyal to the person engaged, is but the primal duty of one "attorney'd" in another's service. The business of attorneys is to carry on the practical and formal parts of suits.2 The principal duties of attorneys are, to be true to the court and their clients; to manage the business of their clients with care, skill and integrity; to keep their clients informed as to the state of their business and to keep the secrets confided to them, as such. That ic Poet recognized these several duties as among the attorney's promised service, is apparent from this verse. Confession is referred to in Love's Labour's Lost, as follows: "King. Teach us, sweet madam, for our rude transgression Some fair excuse. Prin. The fairest is confession. Were you not here, even now, disguised?" (Act V, Scene II.) In Macbeth, Malcolm is made to say: "My liege, they are not yet come back. But I have spoke with one that saw him die; who did report that very frankly he confess'd his treasons." (Macbeth, Act I, Scene I.) After discovery of his treason, the earl of Cambridge, said to Henry V: "Cam. I do confess my fault; and do submit me to your highness mercy." (Act II, Scene II.) Cardinal Beaufort, exclaims, concerning the murder of Gloster. in 2 Henry VI: "Car. . O, torture me no more, I will confess." (Act III, Scene III.) 'Measure for Measure, Act V, Scene 1. 1 Kent's Comm. 307. 4 Burr. 2061; 1 Barnew. & Ald. 202. Sec. 35. Intent, distinguished from wrongful act.— In that he did the thing for which he died: His act did not o'ertake his bad intent, And must be buried but as an intent That perished by the way: thoughts are no subjects, Here, the intent to commit an offense is clearly distinguished from the crime, or actual accomplishment of the act. Claudio "did the thing for which he died;" but with Angelo, "His act did not o'ertake his bad intent, and must be buried but as an intent, that perished by the way." In defining "intents" as "merely thoughts," the legal definition of a criminal intent it not far digressed from, as criminal intent is said to be "a design, resolve, or determination of the mind." But, of course, from a strictly legal standpoint, the conclusion of the pleader is wrong, that because Angelo did not accomplish the crime intended, he was guilty of no offense, for as a matter of fact, when a man intending one wrong fails, and accidently commits another, he will, except when the particular intent is a substantive part of the crime, be held to have intended the act he did commit. Nor is it any reply to this suggestion that Angelo was guilty of no offense, in thus meeting his own wife, for as he had refused to so recognize her, his act was equally as guilty as Claudio's, for the latter did recognize Juliet as his common law wife. 1 Measure for Measure, Act V, Scene I. Bouvier, Law Dict. Roscoe, Crim. Evid. 272; Eden, Pen. Law (3d ed.), 229; 1 Carr. & K. 746. In Henry V, Williams explains to the king: "Will. All offenses, my liege, come from the heart: never came any from mine, that might offend your majesty." (Act IV, Scene VIII.) Speaking of the intent of Gloster, although not accomplished, Suffolk said, in 2' Henry VI: Sec. 36. Breach of promise. "Duke. For this newly married man, approaching here, Whose salt imagination yet hath wronged Your well defended honor, you must pardon, for But as he adjudged your brother (being criminal in Thereon dependant for your brother's life." Claudio had been guilty of not only a breach of promise-which would have given, at common law, a civil action-but also of seduction, as well, under promise of marriage, as adjudged by Angelo. The "violation of sacred chastity" is nothing more nor less than the common law offense of seduction, which was defined as "the act of a man in inducing a woman to commit unlawful "Suff. And, were't not madness, then, To make the fox surveyor of the fold? (Act III, Scene I.) Illustrating the criminal intent of the deliberate murderer, the Poet makes Richard III say, while contemplating the murder of his brother: “Glo. . . if I fail not. in my deep intent. Clarence hath not another day to live." (King Richard III, Act I, Scene I.) The Poet asks the Painter, to tell Timon of Athens: "Poct. I must say him so too; tell him of an intent that's coming toward him." (Act V. Scene I.) The King is made to say. in Hamlet, reflecting on his guilt, in the murder of his brother: "King... My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent: And, like a man to double business bound. I stand in pause where I shall first begin, And both neglect." (Act III, Scene III.) Tarquin is made to say, in The Rape of Lucrece: "If Collatinus dream of my intent, Will he not wake and in a desperate rage 'Measure for Measure, Act V, Scene I. (218. 220.) sexual intercourse with him." An action for breach of promise is a suit for damages for the violation of a "contract mutually entered into by a man and woman that they will marry each other." While a breach of promise suit is always a civil suit for damages for violation of the contract of marriage, when such breach is accompanied by a seduction, the violator of the promise is subject to a criminal prosecution, in most countries, as for a violation of the criminal laws.3 Sec. 37. Punishment by marriage to prostitute.— "Duke. city, Proclaim it, provost, round about the If any woman's wrong'd by this lewd fellow- Lucio. I beseech your highness do not marry me to a whore. Your highness said, even now, I made you a duke; good my lord, do not recompense me in making me a cuckold. Duke. Upon mine honor, thou shalt marry her. Remit thy other forfeits.-Take him to prison Lucio. Marrying a punk, my lord, is pressing to death. whipping and hanging." This is no doubt a reference to the old Italian law, in force during the lifetime of the Poet, by which the punishment assessed against a criminal of the nature of Lucio, by the compulsory marriage to a prostitute, would be assessed in lieu of other penalty for his crime. But the 'Bouvier, Law Dict. 2 Strange, 937; Addison, Con. (4th ed.), 676. This is made a crime by statutes in most of the United States, as it was in England. 1 Bishop, Cr. Proc. 1106. 4 Measure for Measure, Act V, Scene I. Fabio. Gori's Archivio Storico, etc.. (Spoleto Tip. Bassani), vol. III, pp. 220, 221; Rolfe's Measure for Measure, p. 219, notes. Duke, in this instance does not assess this punishment, in lieu of the other penalty the law authorized, but after the marriage of Lucio, to the woman he had wronged, he also contemplated that this offender should be whipped and hanged. Lucio's reply to this judgment of the Duke, that this combined the punishment assessed against those criminals who refused to plead, by pressing them to death, known as peine forte et dure,1 elsewhere discussed, with the other punishments assessed, shows how much he abhorred the sentence of marrying a prostitute. 1 Fleta, lib. 1. c. 34, sec. 33; Brit. C. C. 4, 22. |