writing, under seal, was called a specialty contract, to distinguish it from other writings or contracts, not bearing a seal. A specialty debt, such as a bond under seal, in the event of the debtor's death, prior to 1870, when such preference was abolished, had the right of prior payment over simple contract debts. The Anglo-Saxons affixed the cross, but the Normans introduced the custom of sealing all specialty contracts with seals of wax and the execution of written instruments after the conquest was accompanied with various circumstances of solemnity, such as sealing, dating, attesting and otherwise evidencing the execution of the instrument by the parties thereto." These seals of wax were of various colors and were generally round or oval and were affixed to a label on the parchment or to a silk string fastened to a fold at the bottom of the writing or to a slip of the parchment, cut from the writing and made pendulous to impart greater character to the document. The distinction, while obtaining, in the Poet's time, in law, between sealed and unsealed instruments, has been largely, by statute, abolished in England at the present day, as well as in the United States." 1Lawson, on Contracts (2nd Ed.). 2 Ante Idem. Bishop, Contracts; Beach, Mod. Law Contracts. I Reeve's History Eng. Law, p. 337. 4 Mad. Form. Diss. 26; I Reeve's History Eng. Law, 337. Lawson, Contracts, supra. Ante idem. In King John, the Arch Duke of Austria said to Arthur: "Upon thy cheek I lay this zealous kiss, A seal to this indenture of my love." (Act II, Scene I.) King John is made to say, replying to Hubert: "Hub. Here is your hand and seal for what I did. K. John. O, when the last account 'twixt heaven and earth Is to be made, then shall this hand and seal (Act IV, Scene III.) In King Richard II, the Duke of York said to his son: "York. What seal is that, that hangs without thy bosom? Yea, look'st thou pale? let me see the writing." (Act V, Scene II.) Sec. 89. Moiety.— "Duke. Make room, and let him stand before our face.Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice But touched with human gentleness and love, This appeal for mercy, whereby the Duke appeals to Shylock to forego the penalty of his bond and accept the money, or forego a "moiety of the principal" is in keeping with the whole scope of the Poet's treatment of this trial. Instead of regarding the contract as void, because of its illegality, to obtain the better effect and reach the climax of the judgment scene, the Poet treats the bond as legal and the penalty as collectible. This better shows the true character of the Jew, whose rights are trampled under foot for the dramatic effect of the trial scene, after being judicially recognized by the Court, by the subterfuge on Portia's part. And Cade says, in 2' Henry VI: "Cade. . . Is not this a lamentable thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb, should be made parchment? that parchment, being scribbled o'er, should undo a man? Some say, the bee stings: but I say, 'tis the beeswax, for I did but seal once to a thing and I was never my own man since." (Act IV, Scene VII.) The wicked Queen Margaret takes her farewell from Suffolk, in 2' Henry VI, as follows: "Q. Mar... O, could this kiss be printed in thy hand, That thou might'st think upon these by the seal." (Act III, Scene II.) Coriolanus tells the Citizens, from whom he seeks support: "Cor. I will not seal your knowledge, with showing them. I will make much of your voices and so trouble you no further." (Act II, Scene III.) 1 Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I. "Moiety," in law, is the half of any thing, as where a testator bequeathes one "moiety" of his estate to one person and another to another, each will take a half thereof. The "principal" of this obligation, was, of course, the sum originally loaned, less the interest or damages, due because of the breach.2 These terms are purely legal in their scope and illustrate the familiarity of the Poet with the lexicon of the law. 'Littleton, 125. 2 Bouvier's Law Dictionary. In All's Well That Ends Well (Act III, Scene III), the Countes said to Helena: "Count. I pr'ythee, lady, have a better cheer; If thou engrossest, all the griefs are thine, Leontes, in Winter's Tale, said: "Given to the fire, a moiety of my rest, might come to me again." (Act II, Scene III.) And Hermione, the good queen, said: "A fellow of the royal bed, which owe, a moiety of the throne, a great king's daughter." (Winter's Tale, Act III, Scene II.) And, in the same play, Autolycus said to the Shepard: give me the moiety:-are you a party in this business." IV, Scene III.) "Well, (Act Speaking of the unequal division of his part of the country to be conquered, Hotspur is made to say, to Glendower and Mortimer, in 1' Henry IV: "Hot. Methinks, my moiety, north from Burton here, in quantity equals not one of yours." (Act III, Scene I.) Henry V, in wooing Katharine of France, said: "K. Hen. do but now promise Kate, you will endeavor for your French part of such a boy; and, for my English moiety, take the word of a king and bachelor." (Act V, Scene II.) Richard soliloquizes, in King Richard III: "Glo. On me, whose all not equals Edward's moiety? On me, that halt, and am misshapen thus?" (Act I, Scene II.) The Duchess of York, on learning of Clarence's death, said to her daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth, in Richard III: "Duch. O, what cause have I (Thine being but a moiety of my grief), To over-go thy plaints, and drown thy cries." (Act II, Scene II.) Replying to the suit of Queen Katherine, in King Henry VIII, "Shy. I have possess'd your grace of what I purpose; And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn, To have the due and forfeit of my bond. Upon your charter and your city's freedom." Shylock here proclaims to the Duke that if his contract is not to be enforced, the provision of the organic law of Venice which guaranteed the inviolability of contract obligations, would be violated. The challenge is to the effect that the very Charter of the city would be threatened by such holding. A charter is a grant made by the sovereign, either to the whole people, or to a portion of them, securing to them the enjoyment of certain rights. A notable illustration of such an instrument, in English history, was Magna Charta, the great repository of English liberties. A charter differs from a constitution, in that the former is granted by the sovereign, while the latter is established by the people themselves, but both are regarded as the fundamental or organic law of the section where they apply.* before the king became enamored with Anne Boleyn, he said to her: "K. Hen. . . you have half our power; the other moiety, ere you ask, is given." (Act I, Scene II.) Cæsar thus refers to Antony's death, in Antony and Cleopatra: "Caes. The death of Antony is not a single doom; in the name lay a moiety of the world." (Act V, Scene II.) In Cymbeline, Iachimo said to Posthumus, in making the wager: "Iach. . . I dare, thereon, pawn the moiety of my estate to your ring." (Act I, Scene V.) In King Lear, Gloster, is made to say: For equalities are so weighed, that curiosity in neither, can make choice of either's moiety." (Act I, Scene I.) 1 Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I. 21 Bl. Comm. 108; 1 Story, Con. Sec. 161. 3 Two of the original drafts of Magna Charta are preserved in the British Museum. Coke, Litt. 6; Dane, Abr. Charter. Sec. 91. The issue before the court.— "Duke. Are you acquainted with the difference That holds this present question in the court? Por. I am informed thoroughly of the cause."1 The Duke here enquired as to the Court's familiarity with the issue to be decided and Portia's reply shows that the Poet had in mind the necessity of a familiarity with the facts in issue, concerning which the judgment of the law, upon those facts, was sought. It is a rare thing that even an extra judicial opinion as to the construction of a written instrument can be offered, without having the contract to be construed before the interpreter thereof," but in the whole scope of this trial, it does not appear that the Court really scanned the original of this bond, which Jaques, in As You Like It, declares to the Duke: "I must have liberty, withal, as large a charter as the wind, to blow on whom I please." (Act II, Scene I.) King Richard II is made to say, in speaking of his willingness to grant blank charters for money to carry on his wars. (Act I, Scene III): "K. Rich. We are forc'd to farm our royal realm; The revenue whereof shall furnish us For our affairs in hand: If that come short, Our substitutes at home shall have blank charters." Stirring the citizens against Coriolanus, Brutus said: "Bru. He was your enemy; ever spake against your liberties, and the charters that you bear, i'the body of the weal." (Act II, Scene III.) In the 58' Sonnet, to Southampton, the Poet said: "Be where you list, your charter is so strong That you yourself may privilege your time To what you will." (9, 11.) Charter is referred to in the LXXXVII' Sonnet in these lines: "The charter of thy worth gives thee releasing; My bonds in thee are all determinate." (3, 4.) 1 Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I. 2 For the rules respecting the interpretation and construction of written instruments, see, 1 Bl. Comm. 59; 2 Kent's Comm. 522; Parsons, Cont. 3. |