Macbeth

In perusing this unrivalled tragedy I am so carried away by the intense interest which it excites, that I fear I may have passed over legal phrases and allusions which I ought to have noticed; but the only passage I find with the juridical mark upon it in Macbeth, is in Act IV, Sc. 1, where, the hero exulting in the assurance from the Weird Sisters that he can receive harm from "none of woman born," he, rather in a lawyer-like manner, resolves to provide an indemnity, if the worst should come to the worst:

—without much considering what should be the penalty of the bond, or how he was to enforce the remedy, if the condition should be broken.

He, immediately after, goes on in the same legal jargon to say: [112]

But, unluckily for Macbeth, the lease contained no covenants for title or quiet enjoyment: there were likewise forfeitures to be incurred by the tenant—with a clause of reentry—and consequently he was speedily ousted.*

Othello

In the very first scene of this play there is a striking instance of Shakespeare’s proneness to legal phraseology: where Iago, giving an explanation to Roderigo of the [113] manner in which he had been disappointed in not obtaining the place of Othello’s lieutenant, notwithstanding the solicitations in his favour of "three great ones of the city," says:

"Nonsuiting" is known to the learned to be the most disreputable and mortifying mode of being beaten: it indicates that the action is wholly unfounded on the plaintiff’s own showing, or that there is a fatal defect in the manner in which his case has been got up: insomuch that Mr. Chitty, the great special pleader, used to give this advice to young barristers practicing at nisi prius: "Always avoid your attorney when nonsuited, for till he has a little time for reflection, however much you may abuse the Judge, he will think that the nonsuit was all your fault." [114]

In the next scene Shakespeare gives us, very distinct proof that he was acquainted with Admiralty law, as well as with the procedure of Westminster Hall. Describing the feat of the Moor in carrying off Desdemona against her father’s consent, which might either make or mar his fortune, according as the act might be sanctioned or nullified, Iago observes:

the trope indicating that there would be a suit in the High Court of Admiralty to determine the validity of the capture.

Then follows, in Act I, Sc. 3, the trial of Othello before the Senate, as if he had been indicted on Stat. 33 Hen. VII. c. 8, for practising "conjuration, witchcraft, enchantment, and sorcery, to provoke to unlawful love." Brabantio, the prosecutor, says:

The presiding Judge at first seems alarmingly to favour the prosecutor, saying:

The Moor, although acting as his own counsel, makes a noble and skilful defence, directly meeting the statutable misdemeanour with which he is charged—and referring pointedly to the very words of the indictment and the Act of Parliament:

Having fully opened his case, showing that he had used no forbidden arts, and having explained the course which he had lawfully pursued, he says in conclusion: [116]

He then examines the witness, and is honourably acquitted.

Again, the application to Othello to forgive Cassio is made to assume the shape of a juridical proceeding. Thus Desdemona concludes her address to Cassio, assuring him of her zeal as his Solicitor:

The subsequent part of the same scene shows that Shakespeare was well acquainted with all courts, low as well as high—where Iago asks:

Who has a breast so pure
But some uncleanly apprehensions
Keep leets and law-days, and in session sit
With meditations lawful? [117]

Antony and Cleopatra

In Julius Caesar I could not find a single instance of a Roman being made to talk like an English lawyer; but in Antony and Cleopatra (Act I, Sc. 4) Lepidus, in trying to palliate the bad qualities and misdeeds of Antony, uses the language of a conveyancer’s chambers in Lincoln’s Inn:

That is to say, they are taken by descent, not by purchase.†

Lay gents (viz., all except lawyers) understand by "purchase" buying for a sum [118] of money, called the price; but lawyers consider that "purchase" is opposed to descent—that all things come to the owner either by descent or by purchase, and that whatever does not come through operation of law by descent is purchased, although it may be the free gift of a donor. Thus, if land be devised by will to A. in fee, he takes by purchase, or to B. for life, remainder to A. and his heirs, B. being a stranger to A., A. takes by purchase; but upon the death of A., his eldest son would take by descent.

English lawyers sometimes use these terms metaphorically, like Lepidus. Thus a Law Lord who has suffered much from hereditary gout, although very temperate in his habits, says, "I take it by descent, not by purchase." Again, Lord Chancellor Eldon, a very bad shot, having insisted on going out quite alone to shoot, and boasted of the heavy bag of game which he had brought home, Lord Stowell, insinuating that he had filled it with game bought from a poacher, used to say, "My brother takes his game—not by descent, but by—purchase"—this being a pendant to [119] another joke Lord Stowell was fond of—"My brother, the Chancellor, in vacation goes out with his gun to kill—time."

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* The lease frequently presents itself to Shakespeare's mind, as in Richard III, Act IV, Sc. 4—

This is as clear a reference to leasing, as if he had said in full, "demise, lease, grant and to farm let." back

† So in The Second Part of Henry IV., Act IV, Sc. 4, the King, who had usurped the crown, says to the Prince of Wales:

i. e. I took by purchase, you will take by descent. back