1 tenant, that he would retain and use and finally dispose of the land according to the intention of the cestui que use, or him to whose use it was granted, and suffer him to take the profits. Uses were derived from the fidei commissa of the Roman law, and it was the duty of the Roman magistrate, the praetor, to enforce the observance of this confidence. This being the source of the English "use" it is quite proper for the Poet to make Antony use this legal term in advising her that he left his heart with her, in his absence. Sec. 412. Title by descent and purchase distinguished.— His faults, in him, seem as the spots of "Lep. heaven, More fiery by night's blackness; hereditary, This verse distinguishes, clearly, between the title by descent and that by purchase, as it is known at law. In the law of real property, a title by descent, is a hereditary title, descending to an heir by operation of law, with which he has nothing to do as the acquisition of such title is involuntary, on his part. A title by purchase is one derived by bargain and sale, from the owner, hence, it is one voluntarily selected by the buyer or purchaser." Lepidus, out of charity for Antony, refers to his faults as mere "spots of heaven;" as hereditary, rather than purchased; "what he cannot change, than what he chooses." In this last analysis, he distinguishes, as any lawyer might properly do, between things acquired by operation of law, 1 Plowd. 352; Bacon, Law Tr., 150, 306; Coke, Litt. 272b; 2 Bl. Comm. 328. 'Bacon's Inst., 2, 23-2; 2 Bl. Comm. 333; Bacon, Law Tr. 335. Antony and Cleopatra, Act I, Scene IV. Tiedeman's Real Prop. (3d ed.), Chap. Title by descent. 'Tiedeman's Real Prop. (3d ed.), Chap. Title by Purchase, in which the will of the possessor has nothing to do-and the law of nature is liken'd to the law of man-and the things voluntarily taken, by one's own choosing, as a title by purchase. It is a lawyer's excuse for one's natural weaknesses. Sharpen with cloyless sauce his appetite; That sleep and feeding may prorogue his honor, Prorogue means to defer or postpone, as a term of Parliament is said to be prorogued, or prolonged. Prorogue is sometimes used as a synonym for adjournment, when a trial is said to be prorogued, or a term of court is said to be prorogued, or adjourned.2 Pompey would have the good things enjoyed by Antony, in Egypt, so dull his honor that it would be prolonged and put off, that his joinder in the war might be too late to avail his allies and thus Pompey would reap the benefit of his absence. "Cleo. I do not like, but yet, it does allay Malefactor is a common legal term for a wrongdoer, or a violator of the law, and especially of the criminal law.* Cleopatra, out of her suspicion, or intuition, foresees the dark object concealed by the messenger and with a 1 Antony and Cleopatra, Act II, Scene I. 'Tomlin's Law Dictionary. 'Antony and Cleopatra, Act II, Scene V. 'Bouvier's Law Dictionary. foreboding of the evil to come, looks upon the words used by the messenger as the accompaniment of some direful news, which the Poet compares to prisoners, ushered in by a jailor. Sec. 415. Antony's suicide-felo de se. "Der. He is dead, Cæsar; Not by a public minister of justice, Nor by a hired knife; but that self hand, Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it, The Poet here distinguishes accurately between suicide or felo de se, and death in a legal manner, or by a minister of justice. It was a crime, in England to kill one's self and an accessory to such a crime was guilty of murder.2 And the crime did not only extend to one wilfully killing himself, but if one intended to kill another and killed himself, the crime was the same, by the English law. The punishment inflicted on a suicide, consisted, formerly in an ignominious burial, in the highway with a stake driven through the body, and without Christian rites, and the goods and chattels of the suicide were forfeited to the crown.3 The English Act of 1824 permitted burial in the churchyard of the suicide, without rites, between 9 and 12 p. m., but by the Act of 1882, burial at any hour, with the usual rites, were sanctioned. As a person committed felony in killing another, so, in law, he was held equally guilty in laying violent hands upon himself and this was called felonia de seipso. And Bracton shows that a man who killed himself forfeited his movables. Bract. 150. Imogen, in speaking of self-slaughter, is made to say, in Cymbeline: "Imo. Against self-slaughter There is a prohibition so divine That cravens my weak hand.” (Act III, Scene IV.) In pronouncing the funeral oration, at the grave of Ophelia, the Priest, in Hamlet, refers to the fact that "Her death was doubtful; And, but that great command oe'rsways the order, Touching suicide, Hamlet is made to say: (Act V, Scene I.) "Ham. O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Or, that the Everlasting had not fix'd (Act I, Scene II.) her own price Proclaims how she esteem'd him and his virtue; What kind of man he is."1 Election, in the law, is the choice between alternating or inconsistent rights or claims.2 The right may arise, either under contract or independently of contract, as where one has the right, in case of loss, either to pay a certain sum, or rebuild the property destroyed, the decision of which course would be pursued, would be called making one's election. This right is of especial importance in equity practice, where constantly recurring instances are arising of the assertion of the right. In the sense in which the term is used here, it is rather 1 Cymbeline, Act I, Scene I. 'Bouvier's Law Dictionary. In this same play, a Lord is made to say: sin to make a true election, she is damned." "2 Lord. If it be a (Act I, Scene III.) |