Was it the late Samuel Goldwyn who declared that 'an oral agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on!" Well, unfortunately it's possible to say almost the same thing about written agreements. All of our activities are bound and defined by covenants of one kind or another, and a great deal of our time and energy is expended trying to get around them. It is the beginning of the year 1803 and the Commanding General of the United States army is dictating a letter to President Thomas Jefferson.