51茶馆

Enchiridion Iuris Scripti Galliae Moribus. London, 1556.

This 鈥渆nchiridion鈥� (small manual or handbook) on French customary law is the oldest book in our collection with an epigraph. In fact, it has two:

Quasi imber super herbam: et quasi stillae super gramina.
[Let my teaching fall] like the rain upon the grass and dew upon the plants. 鈥擠euteronomy 32:2

Officio, non eventu facienda metire.
Judge what must be done according to duty, not outcome. 鈥擴nattributed

Gift of Michael H. Hoeflich

听

William Lambard, Eirenarcha. London, 1599.

Lambard harnessed the theme of peace in his justice of the peace manual with this passage from the Aenied, one of the most quoted in Latin literature. Lombard created the title term Eirenarcha himself from the Greek words 鈥渆irene鈥� (peace) and 鈥渁rchos鈥� (leader or chief).听听听

Hae tibi erunt artes, pacique imponere morem.
These will be your arts 鈥� to impose the ways of peace. 鈥擵irgil, Aeneid

Gift of Daniel R. Coquillette

Thomas Gordon, The Justice of Parliaments on Corrupt Ministers. London, 1725.

Gordon鈥檚 work recounts instances in which government officials engaged in corrupt acts. One of the cases discussed is Francis Bacon鈥檚 1621 bribery scandal. Bacon was Lord Chancellor, the highest legal officer in England, when he pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe.听

Robbery is apparent, and hath the face of a Crime; but extortion puts on the visor of virtue for expedition of justice.鈥� 鈥�Coke on Littleton听

Thieves for their robb鈥檙ies have authority, when judges steal themselves. 鈥擲hakespeare (Measure for Measure, Angelo in Act 2, Scene 2)

Gift of Daniel R. Coquillette

Hugo Arnot, A Collection and Abridgment of Celebrated Criminal Trials in Scotland. Edinburgh, 1785.

Arnot advocated for the reform of the criminal statutes, including more humane punishments. This epigraph is Aeneas鈥� horrified response from a scene in the Underworld after Sibyl shows him Tartarus, the hell where wicked souls are tortured.听

Quae scelerum facies, O virgo, effare, quibusue urgentur poenis? Quis tantus plangor ad auras?
What forms of crime are these? Say, O maiden! With what penalties are they scourged? What is this vast wailing on the wind?听 鈥擵irgil, Aeneid

The Public Laws of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Providence, 1798.

With this epigraph, the publishers of this Rhode Island statutory compilation are essentially saying, 鈥淲e printed the laws, and now you鈥檙e on notice!鈥� Similar iterations of this common maxim go as far back as Aristotle. It also makes an appearance in Roman law sources and in the book of Leviticus.听

Ignorantia legis neminem excuat.
Ignorance of the law does not excuse its violation.

Granville Sharp, The Law of Retribution . . . . London, 1776

Sharp (1735-1813) was a British abolitionist, biblical scholar, and supporter of the American colonists鈥� revolution against the Crown. He published this antislavery work in 1776 and used this passage from Ezekiel as an epigraph, referencing God鈥檚 retribution for acts of oppression:

The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. . . . Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them. 鈥擡zekiel 22:29 & 31

Gift of Daniel R. Coquillette

John Cowell, The Interpreter: Or a Book Containing the Signification of Words. Cambridge, 1607.

Cowell was an English civilian lawyer and law professor. When his law dictionary hit the market in 1607, Cowell immediately found himself in hot water and his book in flames. His definitions of terms like 鈥淜ing鈥� and 鈥淜ing鈥檚 Prerogative鈥� put him in the middle of a power struggle between the King and the House of Commons that led to the book鈥檚 suppression.

In legum obscuritate captio
There鈥檚 deception in the obscurity of laws. 鈥擴nattributed, perhaps Cowell听

Gift of Daniel R. Coquillette

Les Huictme Part des Reports de Sir Edw. Coke. London, 1611.

Coke uses quotations from the Magna Carta and the 1275 Statute of Westminster (a codification of existing criminal and civil laws that was enacted during the reign of Edward I) to elevate the concept of equal justice under the law:

Rex praecipit ut pax Sacrosanctae Ecclesiae . . . .
The King commands that the peace of the Holy Church and the realm be firmly preserved and kept in all respects, and that justice be administered to all, both poor and rich. 鈥擳he Statute of Westminster I (1275)

Nulli vendemus, nulli negabimus, aut differemus iusticiam aut rectum.听
To no one shall we sell, deny, or delay justice or what is right. 鈥擬agna Carta

Charles Edwards, The Juryman鈥檚 Guide throughout the State of New York. New York, 1831.

The epigraph in this book comes from William Blackstone鈥檚 Commentaries on the Laws of England. It emphasizes the idea that the law should apply to and restrain the rich and powerful as much as anyone else. The passage also extols the value of a jury, appropriate for this guide to jury service:

The most powerful individual in the state will be cautious of committing any flagrant invasion of another's right, when he knows that the fact of his oppression must be examined and decided by twelve indifferent men. 鈥擝lackstone

Gift of Kathryn 鈥淜itty鈥� Preyer

[William Pope,听 Jr.], Precedents. 1806.

Creators of manuscripts鈥攕uch as this book of form or model documents鈥攁lso included epigraphs on their handmade title pages. The tradition of including such quotations was likely familiar to them from their own book collections.听听

Lex est sanctio justa, jubens honesta, et prohibens contraria.
The law is a sacred sanction, commanding what is right and prohibiting the contrary. 鈥擴nattributed, but a common legal maxim

Equitas est perfecta quaedam ratio, quae jus scriptum interpretatur et emendat.
Equity is a certain perfect logic, which interprets and amends the written law. 鈥擴nattributed, but possibly from Coke