Living off your virtues

virtue (n.)

c. 1200, vertu, “moral life and conduct; a particular moral excellence,” from Anglo-French and Old French vertu “force, strength, vigor; moral strength; qualities, abilities” (10c. in Old French), from Latin virtutem (nominative virtus) “moral strength, high character, goodness; manliness; valor, bravery, courage (in war); excellence, worth,” from vir “man” (from PIE root *wi-ro- “man”).

For my part I honour with the name of virtue the habit of acting in a way troublesome to oneself and useful to others. [Stendhal “de l’Amour,” 1822]

Especially (in women) “chastity, sexual purity” from 1590s. Phrase by virtue of (early 13c.) preserves alternative Middle English sense of “efficacy.” Wyclif Bible has virtue where KJV uses power. The seven cardinal virtues (early 14c.) were divided into the natural (justice, prudence, temperance, fortitude) and the theological (hope, faith, charity). To make a virtue of a necessity (late 14c.) translates Latin facere de necessitate virtutem [Jerome].

escheatment

What is the right of escheat?The term escheatment refers to the process of turning custody of abandoned assets or accounts over to a state authority

BOTTOMRY BOND

The instrument embodying the contract or agreement of bottomry. The true definition of a bottomry bond, in the sense of the general maritime law, and independent of the peculiar regulations of the positive codes of different commercial nations, is that it is a contract for a loan of money on the bottom of the ship, at an extraordinary interest, upon maritime risks, to be borne by l he lender for a vovage. or for a definite period. The Draco, 2 Sumn. 157, Fed. Cas. No. 4,057; Cole v. White. 26 Wend. (N. Y.) 515; Greely v Smith, 10 Fed. Cas. 1077; The Grapeshot, 9 Wall. 135, 19 L. Ed. 651.

Othello the Moor

Henry Perronet Briggs Online

Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1603.

The story revolves around two characters, Othello and Iago. Othello is a Moorish general in the Venetian army charged with the generalship of Venice on the eve of war with the Ottoman Turks over the island of Cyprus. He has just married Desdemona, a beautiful and wealthy white Venetian, much younger than he, against the wishes of her father. Iago is Othello’s jealous and bitter ensign who maliciously goads his master’s jealousy until the usually stoic Moor kills his beloved wife in a fit of blind rage.

inquisition (n.)

late 14c., “judicial investigation, act or process of inquiring,” from Old French inquisicion “inquiry, investigation” (12c., Modern French inquisition), from Latin inquisitionem (nominative inquisitio) “a searching into, a seeking; legal examination, a seeking of grounds for accusation,” noun of action from past participle stem of inquirere (see inquire).

In Church history, inquisitors were appointed from 382 C.E. to root out heretics; the ecclesiastical court appointed 13c. by Innocent III to suppress heresy never operated in Britain. The English word began to be used in this sense (and with a capital initial letter) after c. 1500, and usually refers to the office’s reorganization 1478-1483 in Spain, where it fell under the control of the state as what is commonly called the Spanish Inquisition, noted especially for its severity, secrecy, and the number of its victims.