Note 35 — Chapter II · CIVIL LAW.

A special application by English lawyers of the term equity in its original sense, as opposed to strictum jus is to be seen in the phrase, the equity of a statute. By this is meant the spirit of a law as opposed to its letter. A matter is said to fall within the equity of a statute, when it is covered by the reason of the statute, although through defective draftsmanship it is not within its actual terms. “Valeat aequitas,” says Cicero, “quae paribus in causis paria jura desiderat.” Topica IV. 23.