a matter of record and hence can be read by all persons, thus furnishing record evidence of the right secured thereby.1 The good duke of York here tells the king that if he confiscates the duke of Hereford's property, he must recall the letters-patent securing him the land he holds by right of homage and livery of seisin and thus do violence to the rights of citizens in the kingdom. Sec. 201. Seize.— 3 "K. Rich. Think what you will; we seize into our hands, His plate, his goods, his money and his lands."2 To seize, in the law, is the act of taking possession of the property of a person, condemned by the judgment of his sovereign or of a competent tribunal, to pay a sum of money, for which the property is taken. The act of seizure may also be made because of the violation of some public law, by one qualified and competent to make such seizure, but the seizure of the king, in this instance, was contrary to law, as no attainder had lawfully been adjudged against Gaunt, nor his son, and the right of property, by virtue of the law, was thus denied the rightful owner. 1 Bouvier's Law Dictionary. Replying to the request of Suffolk and Norfolk to surrender his great seal, Cardinal Wolsey, in King Henry VIII, said: "Wol. That seal, you ask, with such a violence, the king, (Mine and your master,) with his own hand gave me: Bade me enjoy it with the place and honours, during my life; and, to confirm his goodness, tied it by letters patent: Now, who'll take it?" (Act III, Scene II.) 2 King Richard II, Act II, Scene I. 32 Cranch, 87; Comyns Dig. C. 5. In The Passionate Pilgrim, in narrating how Venus wooed Adonis, it is said: "Even thus,' quoth she, 'he seized on my lips,' And with her lips on his did act the seizure." (XI, 9, 10.) "Ross. The commons hath he piled with grievous taxes, And lost their hearts; the nobles hath he fin'd, For ancient quarrels and quite lost their hearts.”1 In the criminal law, a fine is any pecuniary punishment imposed by a lawful tribunal, upon a person convicted of some crime or misdemeanor.2 The kind of fine referred to in this verse is that known at the ancient common law as a fine le roy, which was a sum of money that any one was compelled to pay the king for any contempt or offense. Any one committing a trespass or quarrelling or committing other misdemeanor, could be fined by the king therefor, and the fine thus exacted was called a fine le roy.3 Sec. 203. Repeal.— "Green. self, The banish'd Bolingbroke repeals him And with uplifted arms is safe arriv'd A repeal is the abrogation or destruction of a law or decree by a competent authority. When a law is repealed it leaves all the civil rights of the parties the same 'King Richard II, Act II, Scene I. 2 Bacon, Abr. Fines and Amercements; Sheppard Touch. 2. Termes de la Ley; Cunningham, Law Dictionary. Winchester replied to the Mayor of London, who was trying to command the peace, before the Tower, in 1' Henry VI, as follows: "Win. Here's Gloster, too, a foe to citizens: One that still motions war, and never peace, O'ercharging your free purses, with large fines; That seeks to overthrow religion." (Act I, Scene III.) Speaking of the tumult over the birth of Queen Elizabeth, the Lord Chamberlain, in King Henry VIII, said: "Cham. As I live, If the king blame me for't, I'll lay ye all, by the heels, and suddenly; and on your heads Clap round fines, for neglect." (Act V, Scene III.) 'King Richard II, Act II, Scene II. Bouvier's Law Dictionary. 1 as if no such law or decree had been in force, hence, the inference here is that Bolingbroke, by force of his own will and with strong arms had repealed the decree of banishment, and set aside the order for his banishment, by virtue of a power above that of the king's. Sec. 204. "Boling. Covenant. My heart this covenant makes, my hand thus seals it."2 A covenant, in the law of contracts, is an agreement entered into by deed, or contract under seal, whereby the promisor or covenantor promises the performance or nonperformance of certain acts or that a given state of things does or does not exist, as in the contract is specified.3 Bolingbroke here makes his heart the party to the covenant or promise and seals it, with his hand, as all such covenants were, by law, required to be sealed, to give the covenant validity.* Sec. 205. Breaking laws. "York. It may be, I will go with you:-but yet, I'll pause, For I am loath to break our country's laws."5 This respect for the law, shown by the duke of York, is worthy the emulation of the most respected citizens, for 1 Bacon, Abr. (Statute, D.) 2 King Richard II, Act II, Scene II. 'Bacon, Abr. Covenant, B; Rawle, Cov. 364; 4 Kent's Comm. 473. 3 Coke, Inst. 169. Warwick said to the duke of York, in 1' Henry VI: "War. Be patient, York; if we conclude a peace, It shall be with such strict and severe covenants, As little shall the Frenchmen gain thereby." (Act V, Scene IV.) King Henry VI, tells Suffolk, in regard to his marriage with Margaret: “K. Hen. . . post, my lord, to France; Agree to any covenants." (Act V, Scene V.) by strict adherence to law alone can the mandates of the law be maintained. In the broader sense, law is the aggregate of the rules of conduct to keep the members of society within the proper limits. In its analysis, it may include adherence to rules for the protection of the person or the property of the member who invokes the law, or it may apply to the class of public wrongs known as crimes; but in either case, it is the same law, requiring the same obedience and this obedience to the law which York recognizes as the first duty of citizenship, shows that York spoke with a deep knowledge of the underlying duty of the citizen. Sec. 206. Livery. "Boling. I am denied to sue my livery here, 3 Livery as here used, referred to the writ known at the common law, which the heir, on arrival at his majority, had the right to sue out, to obtain the possession of the seisin of his lands, at the hands of the king. The king was regarded as the absolute owner of the soil and the rights of the lords to hold the land was mediately or immediately from the sovereign, hence, when a new tenant of the freehold, by descent, desired to possess his land, he had to do so by sueing out livery. Bolingbroke com 12 Bentham, 402-407. The servant, in the Duke of York's garden, is made to say: "1 Serv. Why should we, in the compass of a pale, Keep law and form and due proportion, (King Richard II, Act III, Scene IV.) The Duke of Gloster replied to Cardinal Winchester, in l' Henry VI, as follows: "Glo. Cardinal, I'll be no breaker of the law: But we shall meet and break our minds, at large." (Act I, Scene III.) 2 King Richard II, Act II, Scene III. 32 Bl. Comm. 68. 4 Tiedeman, R. P. (3d ed.), Chap. III, The Feudal System. plains that this common law right was denied him, in the face of his letters-patent, which gave and secured to him this right. Sec. 207. Attorneys. "Boling. a subject, What would you have me do? I am And challenge law: Attorneys are denied me; To my inheritance of free descent."1 Attorneys are those put in the place, stead or turn of another, to manage his affairs, or some particular affair, by direction of the principal. The right of appearing by attorney was a right given all citizens at common law, for Lord Coke says: "All persons who are capable of acting for themselves and even those who are disqualified from acting in their own capacity, if they have sufficient understanding, as infants of proper age, may act by attorneys." Bolingbroke invokes the law of descent, as recognized in England, and being denied attorney to present his cause, he appears in person, as he had a right to do. In 1' Henry IV (Act IV, Scene III) Hotspur thus explains his father's former friendship for the king: "Hotspur. . . . My father gave him welcome to the shore; And when he heard him swear and vow to God He came but to be Duke of Lancaster, To sue his livery and to beg his peace, With tears of innocency and terms of zeal, My father, in kind heart and pity mov'd, Swore him assistance and perform'd it too." 'King Richard II, Act II, Scene III. * Spellman, Gloss; Bacon, Abr. Attorney. Coke, Litt. 52 a. Referring to the wordy abuse of Queen Margaret, after the death of her sons, Queen Elizabeth observed, in King Richard III: "Q. Eliz. Windy attorneys to their client woes, Airy succeeders of intestate joys, Poor breathing orators of miseries." (Act IV, Scene IV.) In attempting to woo his own niece, through her mother, Richard III said to her mother: "K. Rich. Therefore, dear |