Modus

Manner; mode; way. The word was used in old English practice to denote the expression in a conveyance of the manner in which the estate conveyed should be held, or the nature of the estate which should pass by the conveyance: such as whether the estate should be held for years, for life, or in fee; whether by one or by several persons; if by several, whether jointly or in succession, and what estate to each. Hence it came to mean a qualification of the terms of an instrument, either by way of restriction or of enlargement; a departure or variance from the usual form of a conveyance, or from some other general rule or practice, according to the circumstances of a particular case, the will of a grantor, the agreement of parties, &c. This occurred most frequently, in old conveyancing, in relation to the prevailing mode of conveyance by donatio; the ordinary form of which was a gift of land to the donee and his heirs for certain homage and service, &c.; but the donor might depart from this form by a modus or qualification in the particular instance, enlarging the usual terms by including, with the heirs of the donee, his assignees or others, who were not in fact heirs, or restricting the descent of the land to one or more of his heirs, to the exclusion of others. This modus — the qualification of or variation from the ordinary applicable to the usual form of the conveyance. The modus of an indictment is that part of it whicli contains the narrative of the commission of the crime; the statement of the mode or manner in which the offence was committed. Trayn. Max. When teinds, in Scotland, have been valued, they are said to be paid by a modus. Beil. Modus is: 1. A payment in money in lieu of tithe in kind.

2.

A song in rhythm.

3.

A custom or rite.

Shipley.

When a provision in a will was intended to impose a duty on a legatee or heir, and not to suspend the vesting of the legacy, it was called modus.

Hunt. Rom. L. 743.

Modus de non decimando

A manner of withholding tithes. A claim, based on custom or prescription, to be discharged from paying tithes or any compensation in lieu of them. The entire discharge from the payment of tithes, by a custom or prescription known as de non decimando, arises either from some personal privileges which the party enjoys who is so discharged, or by a real composition made in lieu of payment of tithes, or from some other like circumstance. Thus the king, by his prerogative, is discharged from all tithes; so a vicar is discharged from paying tithes to the rector, and the rector to the vicar. A real composition is made by an agreement between the owner of lands and the parson or vicar, with the consent of the ordinary and the patron, that such lands shall for the future be discharged from payment of tithes in consideration of some land or other real recompense being given to the parson in lieu and satisfaction thereof. Brown. Modus decimandi. A manner of tithing. Some peculiar manner of paying tithes, difierent from the payment of one-tenth the annual increase. Modus decimandi is money, or other thing of value, given annually, in lieu of tithes.

Termes de la Ley

A modus decimandi, commonly called by the simple name of a modus only, is where there is by custom a particular manner of tithing; sometimes a pecuniary compensation, as 2d. an acre for the tithe of land; sometimes a compensation in work and labor, as that the parson shall have only the twelfth cock of hay, and not the tenth, in consideration of the owner's making it for him; somedmes, in lieu of a large quantity of crude or imperfect tithes, the parson is given a less quantity, when arrived to greater maturity, as a couple of fowls in lieu of tithe-eggs, and the like. Any means in short, whereby the law of tithing is altered, and a new method of taking them is introduced, is called a modus decimandi, 1. It must be certain and invariable; payment of different sums will prove it to be no modus, that is, no original, real composition.

2.

The thing given in lieu of tithes must be beneficial to the parson, and not for the emolument of third persons only.

3.

It must be something different from the thing compounded for.

4.

One cannot be discharged from payment of one species of tithe by paying a modus for another.

5.

The recompense must be in its nature as durable as the tithes discharged by it.

6.

The modus must not be too large, which is called a rank modus.

2 Bl. Com. 30.

Modus et couventio vinount legem

Manner and agreement overrule the law. The qualifications and restrictions imposed by the manner and terms of a conveyance, or the terms of an agreement between parties, control a general rule of law, or the usual practice as to a class of transactions, and become the law of the particular case, if such qualifications and terms are not themselves contrary to law.

Modus habills

A valid manner. Modus legem dat donation!. J. J. S. Wharton {Diet. tit. Modus') translates this maxim, Custom gives law to the gift; and G. F. Wharton {Leg. Max. 259) translates it, Agreement gives law to the gift. We much prefer Burrill's rendering, The manner gives law to the gift. The manner in which an estate is declared to be given by a feoffment (or gift) governs its operation, and the course of the estate under it. To much the same efiect is Trayner's rendering, but the illustrations he gives are somewhat loose. He paraphrases it as meaning: a donor may attach to his gift such conditions as he pleases.

Modus tenendi

Manner of holding. Relates to the different species of tenures by which estates were held.

Modtis transferrendi

The manner of transferring. Modus vaoaudi The manner of vacating. How and why an estate has been relinquished or surrendered by a vassal to his lord, might well be referred to by this phrase. See Trayn. Max. Modo et forma. In manner and form. Technical words of pleading a denial of an allegation, not only in its general efiect, but in manner and form such as time, place, &c., and were therefore, in most cases, matter of form rather than of substance. They are literally translated in the English forms.