Willis: Anglo-American Law 
111 
consideration are found in Anglo-American law. Equity in- 
troduced into contracts the law of assignability of rights by 
specifically enforcing a covenant not to revoke a power of 
attorney given the assignee. The Statute of Frauds already 
referred to had a number of provisions covering contracts, 
in certain cases requiring writing, signed by the party to be 
charged, and in one case (sales) requiring either writing, or 
receipt and acceptance of part of the goods, or part pay- 
ment. Lord Mansfield also in this period incorporated into 
the law of England the law merchant, with its important 
topics of insurance and negotiable instruments, and further 
developed their principles; but their development continued 
into the nineteenth century, and for this reason the United 
States contributed something to the Anglo-American law of 
the subjects. Equity also, by intervening in cases of fraud, 
mistake, accident, etc., developed the voidability of contracts 
for various vitiating circumstances. In 1710 an act was 
passed making void securities given for money lost in gam- 
bling. 
Mortgages. At about the beginning of the fifteenth century 
the modern form of mortgage in the form of a conveyance 
in fee upon condition, title to revert to the mortgagor in case 
of payment but to become absolute in case of nonpayment on 
the due day, became the regular form of mortgage. The law 
courts construed the condition literally, so that the mortgagor 
not only lost his property but still owed his debt. Equity 
began to relieve from forfeiture where there had been an ac- 
cident, and later mere negligence, and finally wherever there 
was a penalty. This was the case in the common law mort- 
gage. The right of the mortgagor to redeem in equity was 
established by the time of James I. Equity regarded the 
mortgagor as the true owner, and the mortgagee as holding 
the title as security. The development of this doctrine re- 
sulted in making mortgages a branch of equity. The modern 
lien theory of mortgages is really the adoption at law of the 
equity view of mortgages. 
Agency. Liability of principal and master in the law of 
agency continued upon the basis of commanded acts until 
1689, and thereafter on to the nineteenth century upon the 
basis of a presumption of a command. 34 
34 Turberville v. Stamp e. Comb; 459. 
