could have done, and the reasoning to shift the responsibility for a war that he had brought on, from his own shoulders to the vengeance of the Divine Economy, is in keeping with the religious training which prompted the charge of an attribute even beneath that of the beasts of the field-for these even, cherish no such thing as vengeance to the Almighty, in order, no doubt, to shift the blame from other shoulders, on which it ought to lie.

Sec. 262. Bearing testimony.

"Flu.

I hope your majesty is pear me testimony, and witness, and avouchments, that this is the glove of Alencon, that your majesty is give me, in your conscience now."1

Bearing testimony is to make a statement, as a witness, under oath or affirmation, to a given state of facts. This is the meaning of the word as used here, and the speaker calls upon the king to corroborate him, or bear witness, that the glove he had was the glove given him by the king.

Sec. 263. Martial law.

"Flu.

An please your majesty, let his neck answer for it, if there is any martial law in the 'orld." "Martial law" is that military rule or authority, which exists in time of war, and is recognized by the laws of war, as to persons within the scope of active military operations, in so far as it may be necessary, in order to fully carry on the purposes or objects of the war. Martial law,

'Henry V, Act IV, Scene VIII.

2

Bacon, Abr., Evidence, (A); 1 Greenleaf, Evid., secs. 98, 328. Henry V, Act IV, Scene VIII.

1 Kent's Comm. 377; DeHart Mil. Law, 13-17; O'Brien, Mil.

Law, 26, 30; Tyler, Courts Martial, 11, 27, 58, 62, 105.

Basset said to Vernon, in 1' Henry VI, after being struck by the latter: "Bas. Villain, thou know'st the law of arms is such,

That, who so draws a sword, 'tis present death;

Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood."

(Act III, Scene IV.)

in time of war, supersedes and abrogates the civil law, as to those engaged in the war, hence the appeal was properly made here to "martial law," for the punishment of an offender who was engaged in the war himself. It extends to the camp and its environs and to near field and other operations of war and has its basis in actual necessity and the chief military officer is the person who enforces such rules, so the King, in this instance, was the proper authority to ask the punishment of Pistol from.

CHAPTER XXI.

"FIRST PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH."

274. Condemned woman's privilege of pregnancy.
275. Compromise.

Sec. 264. Homicide.

"Reig. Salisbury is a desperate homicide;
He fighteth as one weary of his life.
The other lords, like lions wanting food,
Do rush upon us as their hungry prey."

Homicide is the destruction of the life of a human being, either by himself, or by the act, procurement or culpable omission of another.2 When the death is caused

by the intentional act of the deceased himself, the offender is called felo de se and when the death is caused by another it is either justifiable, excusable, or felonious, according to the facts connected with the killing.3

To constitute the crime of homicide the person killed must have been entitled to live, and in legal contemplation a soldier of the enemy, in time of war, has no right to his life, but may be killed by the enemy in battle, without the one killing him, being guilty of a homicide. So the

'1' Henry VI, Act I, Scene II.

21 Hawkins, Pl. Cr. sec. 2; 2 Bishop, Cr. Law, sec. 538.

31 Hawkins, Pl. Cr. Ch. 8.

2 Bishop, Cr. Law, supra.

killing of the soldiers of France, by the soldiers of England did not amount to a legal homicide, and the speaker in this verse was technically wrong, in so applying this name to lord Salisbury.

Sec. 265. Distraining property.

"Glo.

nor king

Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God

Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use."

Distress, at common law, was the taking of a chattel, or other personal property, out of the possession of the owner, into the custody of the party injured, to procure satisfaction for the wrong done. It was resorted to for the purpose of enforcing payment of rent, taxes or other duties, as well as to exact damages for the trespasses of cattle. The remedy is of great antiquity and is said to have dated back to the Gothic nations of Europe, since the Roman Empire and English statutes made various amendments to the remedy since the days of Magna Charta.3

As the remedy by distress was virtually a taking of the law into the hands of the landlord, or other person entitled

Blackstone's definition of homicide, as the "killing of any human creature," is not in strict accordance with the law as presented by other writers, as it leaves out of the definition of the crime that the killing must have been done by another human being. 4 Bl. Comm. 177; 1 Hawkins, Pl. Cr. sec. 2.

Repulsing Richard's suit, Lady Anne tells him, in King Richard III: "Anne: If I thought that, I tell thee, homicide, These nails should rend that beauty from my cheeks." (Act I, Scene II.)

Referring to King Richard, in his talk to his troops before the battle Richmond said: "Richm. . . For what is he they

follow? truly, gentlemen, a bloody tyrant and a homicide." (Act V, Scene III.)

1 Henry VI, Act I, Scene III.

22 Bl. Comm. 6.

Bacon, Abr. Distress; 4 Dane, Abr., 126; Taylor's Land. and Ten., sec. 566; Coke, Litt. 317.

to the compensation or redress exacted, it was more or less of a high handed proceeding, considering the property rights of the one whose property was distrained, hence Gloster accuses the bishop of Winchester of resorting to the remedy of distress and of holding the Tower for his

own use.

Sec. 266. Proclamation.

"May. Nought rests for me, in this tumultuous strife, But to make open proclamation:

Come, Officer, as loud as e'er thou canst."

A proclamation is the act of causing some state matters to be published or made generally known.2 In English practice, it was also the declaration made by the crier, under the authority of the court, that something was about to be done. There was the proclamation of rebellion, and proclamation of "exigents," known to the old English law, and the proclamation here used comes nearer the latter in its object, for under this proclamation, on the issuance of a writ of exigent, a proclamation issued to the officer of the county where the offenders lived and he made three proclamations for the offenders to yield themselves or be outlawed. This is no doubt the threat intended by the Mayor of London, in this instance, in order to preserve the peace.

'1' Henry VI, Act. I, Scene III.

2 Bacon, Abr.; Buller, Nisi Pr. 226; Dane, Abr.; ch. 96a; Brooke, Abr.

3 Bouvier's Law Dictionary.

Let's

York said, in 2' Henry VI: "York. as I hear, the king is fled to London, to call a present court of Parliament. pursue him, ere the writs go forth." (Act V, Scene III.)

Hastings orders a proclamation, in 3' Henry VI, as follows: "Hast. Sound, trumpet; Edward shall be here proclaim'd:Come, fellow soldier, make thou proclamation. (Gives him a paper. Flourish.)

Sold. (Reads) Edward the Fourth, by the Grace of God, etc., (Act IV, Scene VII.)