(np - Melville - was Re: The People's History & the Cold War ) equity? who ever heard of that?

[Michael Bailey]

Mark Kohut wrote:
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> Which is one of the reaches of genius.....
> Bartleby can't be reached......................
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one more eve of christmas eve attempt to pin the tale on something...

from the wiki Chancery article,
The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including
trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of lunatics and
the guardianship of infants. Its initial role was somewhat different,
however; as an extension of the Lord Chancellor's role as Keeper of
the King's Conscience, the Court was an administrative body primarily
concerned with conscientious law. Thus the Court of Chancery had a far
greater remit than the common law courts, whose decisions it had the
jurisdiction to overrule for much of its existence, and was far more
flexible. Until the 19th century, the Court of Chancery was able to
apply a far wider range of remedies than the common law courts, such
as specific performance and injunctions, and also had some power to
grant damages in special circumstances. With the shift of the
Exchequer of Pleas towards a common law court, the Chancery was the
only equitable body in the English legal system.

the phrase that stands out is "Keeper of the King's Conscience"

wow, what a charge!

could the Bartleby story be a commemoration of the end of this tradition?

(again, Wikipedia (must give them some money sometime)) -- this time
from the article on the New York Court of Chancery:

"The Court of Chancery was abolished by the New York State
Constitutional Convention of 1846, which reorganized the New York
state judicial system. This became effective on July 5, 1847, when its
equity jurisdiction was transferred to the New York Supreme Court and
its appellate jurisdiction was transferred to the New York Court of
Appeals. The Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals succeeded the
Chancellor as the Head of the State's judicial system."

so Melville would've been in his 20s at the time, right (b 1819 d
1891) ? And that was when Typee came out as well.
and by the time he wrote Bartleby, Chancery had been folded into the
NY court system, and was becoming a fond memory, like smoking a
cigarette and blowing smoke rings while reading the paper at a lunch
counter...

anyway, perhaps the cognitive dissonance and the phasing out of
Bartleby's person conspire with the phasing out of the Chancery Court.


On a bright note of Christmas cheer, let me suggest that the function
of tempering the harsh tendencies of the Law has not been abandoned at
all.  In fact, perhaps the law has to some extent become more
accommodating, and the numerous factions of civic-minded people who
volunteer their time and money, including a great deal of pro bono
work on the part of the very class of lawyers from whom our narrator
was drawn.

Certainly we must say sometimes that we prefer not - but let us
remember the many opportunities held out to us and look for some that
we do prefer!
"Seek, and ye shall find...knock and the door will be opened to you..."

happy holidays    (-:)>'