described by Bracton,' the most common of these being called deeds of gift libera et pura donatio and those sub conditione.

The Poet shows a familiarity with the various kinds of deeds of gift, for as Antonio had exacted that the deed should be "unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter," it would come within the class of deeds made on or after the espousal, by some friend or relative of the bride, whereby the land was given to them jointly, with such condition that although the wife should have no heirs, the husband would possess it, per legem Angliae.2

1 Bracton, 10b; II Reeve's History Eng. Law, p. 83.

2 Bracton, 22b; II Reeve's History Eng. Law, p. 91.

In delivering this deed of gift, to Lorenzo, Nerissa said: “There do I give to you and Jessica, From the rich Jew, a special deed of gift, After his death of all, he dies possess'd of." (Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I.)

"Orl. The courtesy of nations allows you my better, in that you are the first-born; but the same tradition takes not away my blood, were there twenty brothers betwixt us; I have as much of my father in me as you; albeit, I confess, your coming before me is nearer to his reverence.'

The law of primogeniture or the right of the first-born under the English law is here referred to, as inconsistent with the natural rights of the younger child. Under the law as it existed in England, the oldest son acquired title to the parent's lands, in preference to the younger children. This is noted, by Orlando, as a legal advantage only, for he vaunts that he has "as much of my father in me as you;" that the arrival first would not affect his blood and that he is, in other respects his equal, if not his superior.

1 As You Like It, Act I, Scene I.

This unjust distinction has been very generally abolished in the United States. Bouvier's Law Dictionary.

Clifford asks Edward, in 3' Henry VI: "Clif. And reason, too; Who should succeed the father, but the son?" (Act II, Scene II.)

Sec. 105. Bequest.

"Orl. As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion. bequeathed me; By will, but a poor thousand crowns, and, as thou say'st, charged my brother, on his blessing, to breed me well; and there begins my sadness."1 A bequest, is a gift of personal property, by will, in contradistinction to a devise of real estate. A sum of money could not be devised, but such sum would be "bequeathed" instead.

In King John, the Mother of the King, said to Phillip: “Eli. I like thee well; Wilt thou forsake thy fortune, Bequeath thy land to him, and follow me?

I am a soldier and now bound to France." (Act I, Scene I.) On regaining his armour, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, identifies it in the hands of the fishermen as the armour that "my dead father did bequeath to me," as a "part of mine heritage." (Act II, Scene I.)

After determining to die, when Collatine shall know the cause of her untimely death, Lucrece concludes:

"My stained blood to Tarquin I'll bequeath,

Which for him tainted shall for him be spent,

As is his due, writ in my testament." (1181, 1183.)

In language entirely legal, in form, Lucrece asks of her husband, in her complaint:

"Dear Lord of that dear jewel I have lost,

What legacy shall I bequeath to thee?" (1191, 1192.) Further on she is made to say

"This brief abridgment of my will I make;

My soul and body to the skies and ground."

And she appoints her husband executor of her will, in this language:

"Thou, Collatine, shalt oversee this will." (1198, 1199, 1205.) In the fourth Sonnet, the Poet asks of Loveliness, which is personified:

"Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend
Upon thyself thy beauty's legacy?

Nature's bequest gives nothing, but doth lend,
And being frank, she lends to those are free."

Sec. 106.

"Cel.

Heir.

You know, my father has no child but I, nor none is like to have; and, truly, when he dies, thou shalt be his heir: for what he hath taken away from thy father, perforce, I will render thee again, in affection; by mine honor, I will."1

The use of the word "heir" here is in the sense of an "heir apparent," or as one who had the indefeasible right to the inheritance, provided she outlive the ancestor, her father. In postponing the realization of her promise to convey the property realized from her own father, to Rosalind, the Poet did not overlook the contingency upon which the heirship depended, in law, i. e., the death of the speaker's father, for it is a legal axiom that no one can be the heir of a living person, hence the promise to make Rosalind the "heir" of her own father to the extent of the property taken from her parent, "when he dies.”

"Then how, when nature calls thee to be gone,
What acceptable audit can'st thou leave?

Thy unused beauty must be tomb'd with thee,
Which, used, lives th' executor to be."

1 As You Like It, Act I, Scene I.

22 Bl. Comm. 208.

Antigonus, in Winter's Tale, referring to his three daughters, said: "They are co-heirs; and I had rather glib myself, than they should not produce fair issue." (Act II, Scene II.)

And, in the same play, Florizel, son of Polixenes, said to his father: "Flo. . . . From my succession, wipe me, father, I am heir to my affection." (Act IV, Scene III.)

In King Richard II, the Queen said of Bolingbroke:

"Queen. So, Green, thou art the midwife to my wo,

And Bolingbroke my sorrow's dismal heir."

(Act II, Scene II.)

In King Richard II, the Duke of York thus addressed Bollingbroke: "York. Great duke of Lancaster, I come to thee,

From plume pluck'd Richard; who, with willing soul,
Adopts thee heir and his high scepter yields

To the possession of thy royal hand."

(Act IV, Scene I.)

"Orl. My father charged you in his will to give me good education: you have trained me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding from me all gentleman-like qualities: the spirit of my father grows strong in me, and I will no longer endure it: therefore allow me such exercises as may become a gentleman, or give me the poor allottery my father left me by testament."

The Bishop of Ely, urged the King to make war upon France, as follows, in Henry V: "Ely. Awake remembrance of these valiant dead, and with your puissant arm, renew their feats; you are their heir, you sit upon their throne." (Act I, Scene II.)

Describing the attempt to overthrow Henry V, Mortimer tells Richard Plantagenet, in 1' Henry VI: "Mor. But mark; as, in this haughty great attempt, They laboured to plant the rightful heir, I lost my liberty and they their lives." (Act II, Scene V.)

Mortimer tells Richard Plantagenet of his heirship, in 1' Henry VI, as follows: "The first begotten, and the lawful heir of Edward king, the third of that descent." (Act II, Scene V.) Speaking of the treason of Horner, Suffolk said, in 2' Henry

VI: "Suff. His words were these;-that Richard, duke of York, was rightful heir unto the English crown; and that your majesty was an usurper." (Act I, Scene III.)

Henry VI, in 3' Henry VI, thus deplores his condition: “K. Hen. I know not what to say; my title's weak. Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?

York. What then?

K. Hen. An if he may, then am I lawful king:

For Richard, in the view of many lords,

Resign'd the crown to Henry the Fourth;

Whose heir my father was, and I am his." (Act I, Scene I.) Edward tells Queen Margaret, in 3' Henry VI: "Edw. I am his king and he should bow his knee; I was adopted heir by his consent." (Act II, Scene II.)

On learning that Richmond was on the seas, bent on landing an army in England, King Richard III, said: "K. Rich. What heir of York is there alive, but we? And who is England's king, but great York's heir? Then, tell me, what makes he upon the seas?" (Act IV, Scene IV.)

'As You Like It, Act I, Scene I.