EARNEST, or Anr,Es, as it is called in Scotland, from the civil law word arrluv, is a small sum of money which is given, or a simple ceremony, such as shaking hands, which is performed in proof of the existence of that mutual consent which constitutes contract. In the first case, the earnest is said to be pecuniary; in the second, symbolical. It is not the E., but the consent, i.e., the agreement to a certain price, that is the root of the bargain; and the E. thus becomdS a mere adminiele of evidence, which may be dispensed with even in cases in which it is exacted by custom, if the parties choose to preserve other evidence of the completion of their bargain. The contracts in which E. has been most frequently given both in this country and elsewhere, are sale and service. In the ease of sale, it usually consists of a small sum paid by the buyer, by the accept ance of which the seller is held to bind himself to the sale; in the case of service, it is a small sum given by the master, in accepting which the servant becomes bound to serve. The question as to whether the E. shall count as part of the price or wage depends on the intention of the parties, which, in the absence of direct evidence, will be inferred from the proportion which it bears to the whole sum. " If a shilling be given," as Mr. Erskine says, "in the purchase of a ship or of a box of diamonds, it is presumed to be given merely in evidence of the bargain, or, in the common way of speaking, is dead E.; but if the sum be more considerable, it is reckoned up in the price."—Institutes, b. iii. tit. iii. s. The original view of E. in England was, that it was a payment of a small portion of the price or wage, in token of the conclusion of the contract (Story on Sales, p. 216); and as this view seems to have been adhered to, the sum, however small, would probably there be counted as a part payment. There is only one decision under t4 17th section of the statute of frauds (29 Ch. II. c. 3), which provides that " no contract for the sale of any goods, wares, and merchandises, for the price of ,C10 sterling, or upwards, shall be allowed to be good, except the buyer shall accept part of the goods so sold; and actually receive the same, or give something in E. to bind the bargain, or in part pay ment.' The case referred to "related to the purchase of a horse, where the purchaser produced a shilling from his pocket, and drew it across the hand of the seller's servant, and then returned it to his own pocket; and it was held that this act (which is a custom in the n of England, and is called striking a bargain) was not sufficient to satisfy the requisitions of the statute."—Story, ut sup. From this decision it follows flint no
importance is attached in England to such fictitious ceremonies as the Jew plucking oil' his shoe and giving it to his neighbor, the Indian smoking his pipe, or the less poetical observance of which °Erskip,c tielis,, , „ napva,s,.cginnyvi among the lower classes in Scotland in his day. A ring suspended from the ear, which is bored for the purpose. - This mode of adorning the person has always enjoyed great favor amongst orientals. By . Persians, Babylonians, Lydians, Libyans, and Carthaginians, ear rings were worn by both sexes. In the classical nations of antiquity, their use was confined to women. In the Iliad (xiv. 182, 184 Juno is represented as adorning herself with ear-•ings made with three drops resembling mulberries. From this period down to the latest, the prac tice prevailed in Greece, and we find the ears of the Venus de Medici pierced for the reception of ear-rings. Pliny says (xi. 50) that there was no part of dress on which greater expense was lavished amongst the Romans; and Seneca mentions an car-ring which he says was worth a patrimony. It has four pearls, two above and two below the precious stone in the center. In the more valuable of the antique ear-rings, pearls were almost always used; and they were valued for the completeness of their form as well as for their whiteness. In place of a ring, the ornament was often attached to the car with a hook, a custom which still prevails in Italy. any Egyptian ear-rings of very beautiful design have been preserved. These antique designs have been imitated in modern times, and if the use of an ornament which seems fitter for a South sea islander than an English gentlewoman is to be continued, it can scarcely be made to assume a more graceful form than was often given to it by the ancients. See RING. During the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., ear-rings were worn iu England by men; a custom which is still continued by many sailors. Master Matthew, in Every Man in his humor, says to Brainworm: "I will pawn this jewel in my ear;" and Hall, in his Satires (B. vi. Sat. 1), speaks of the " ringed ear" of the new-come traveler; and many similar passages to the like effect might be quoted. At the present day in England, ear-rings are worn only by women. The ears are bored usually at about 7 years of age. The boring, which produces a temporary inflammation, acts as a counter-irritant in cases of sore eyes; and this is sometimes given as a reason for putting rings in the ears.