A Dictionary of Law

An under-ground survey.

Lat. Latent; hidden; not apparent. See AmBIGUITAS.

Hidden; concealed; that does not appear upon the face of a thing.

Anambiguity which arises not upon the words of the will, deed, or other instrument, as looked at in themselves, but upon those words when applied to the object or to the subject wh

A deed kept fortwenty years or more in & man’s scrutoire or atrong-box. 7 N. J. Law, 177.

A defect in an article sold, which is known to the seller, but not to the purchaser, and is not discoverable by mere observation. See21N. Y. 552.

In old records. Sidesmen; eompanions; assistants. Cowell.

The right of lateral and subjacent support is that right which the owner of land has to have his land Supported by the adjoining land or the soil beneath. 27 Grat.77; 19 Barb. 380;

Toliesideways, in opposition to lying endwuays; used in descriptions of

LATHE. The name of an ancient civil division in England, intermediate between the county or shire and the hundred. Said to be the same as what, in other parts of the kingdom, was t

or LATHE. A division or district peculiar to the county of Kent, Spelman. Vi

An officer under the Saxon government, who had authority over a lathe. Cowell; 1 BI. Comm. 116.

In the civil law. Great or large possessions; a yreat or large field; acommon. A great estate made up of Smaller ones, (fundis,) which began to be common in thé latter times of the

A possessor of a large estate made up of smaller ones. Du Cange.

<A word used by Lord Coke in the sense of an interpreter, 2 Inst. 515. Supposed to be a corruption of the French “latinier,” or “latiner.” Cowell; Blount.

The language of the ancient Romans. There are three sorts of law Latin: (1) Good Latin, allowed by the grammarians and lawyers; (2) false or incongruous Latin, which in times past

Lat. In Roman law. Aclass of freedmen (lidertini) intermediate between the two other classes of freedmen called, respectively,“ Cives Romani” and “Dediticii.” Slaves under thirty y

In old English practice. A writ which issued in personal actions, on the return of non est inventus to a bill of Middlesex; so called from the emphatic word in its recital, in whic

In the civil law and old English practice, A lying hid; lurking, or concealment of the person. Dig. 42, 4, 7, 5; Bract. fol. 126.

A bearer; a messenger.

In the civil and old Engtish law. <A robber. Dig. 50, 16, 118; Fleta, lib. 1, c. 88,§ 1. A thief.

The act of robbing; a depredation.

The prerogative of adjudging and executing thieves; algo larceny; theft; a thing stolen,

Larceny.

A second mowing; the aftermath,

In the civil law. To hame; to cite or quote; to show one’s title or authority. Calvin. In feudal law. To determine or pass upon judicially. Laudamentum, the finding or award of aju

Jn Roman iaw. Testimony delivered in court concerning an accused person’s good behavior and integrity of life. It resembled the practice which preyails in our trials of calling per

An arbitrator; a witness to character,

In Spanishlaw. The tax paid by the possessor of land held by quit-rent or emphyteusis to the owner of the estate, when the tenant alienates his right in the property. Escriche.

In the civil law. A sum paid by a new emphyteuta (q. v.) who acqtiires the enphyteusis, nob as heir, but as a singular successor, whether by gift, devise, exchange, or sale. It was

An arbitrament or award. In old Scoteh law. Senteuce or judg-

Frank-pledge. 2 Reeve, Eng. Law, 17.

A kind of offensi re Weapon, now disused, and prohibited by 7 Rich. Livers.

In English law. An officer of {lie household of the sovereign, whose bisiness formerly consisted only in composing an ode annually, on the sovereign's birth» day, and on the new ye

Pieces of gold, eccined in 1619, with the king’s bead laureated; hence the name.

Lat. Praise be to God. An old heading to bills of exchange.

A laundry or place to wash in; a place in the porch or entrance of cathedral churches, where the priest and other officiating ministers were obliged to wash their hands before they

In Spanishlaw. A new work, Las Partidas, pt. 3, tit. 32,11.

1. That which is laid down, ordained, or established. A, rule or method according to which phenomena or actions co exist or follow each other. 2. A system of principles and rules o

Solicitors practicing in the Seotch courts. Law always construeth things to the best. Wing. Max. p. 720, max. 193.

Opposed to tmmutable, alaw not founded in the nature of things, but imposed by the mere will of the legislature.

In Scotchlaw. Security for the peaceable behavior of a party; security to keep the peace. Properly, « process for obtaining such security. 1 Forb. Inst. pt. 2, p. 198.

This phrase is used, under the Louisiana Civil Code, to signify costs incurred in court in the prosecution of aauit, to be paid by the party cast. 17 La. 206; 11 Rob. (La.) 28. Law

In American law. An appellate tribunal, for- ‘merly existing in the state of South Carolina, for hearing appeals from the courts of law.

The day prescribed in a bond, morteage, or defeasible deed for payerty mortgaged. But this does not now occur until foreclosure. In old English law. Law day or lage day denoted a d

Legal; warranted or anthor ized by the law; having the qualifications prescribed by law; not contrary to nor for. hidden by the law. The principal distinction between the terms “la

The Norman French language, introduced into England by Will ium the Conqueror, and which, for several centuries, was, in an emphatic sense, the language of the English daw, being t

Full age; majority; generally the age of twenty-one years,

The expression “lawful authorities,” used in our treaty with Spain, refers to persons who ex« ereised the power of making grants by aus thority of the crown. 9 Pet. 711.

Such a discharge in insolvency as exonerates the debtor from his debts. 12 Wheut. 370. of the country, even though it be contraband of war; fora neutral has aright to carry such go

A freeman, unattainted, and capable of bearing oath; a le gaits homo,

Money which is a legal tender in payment of debts; e. g., gold and silver coined at the mint,

Thecutting several claws of the forefeet of dogs in the forest, to prevent their running at deer.

The corrupt form of the Latic language employed in the old English law-books and lega! proceedings. It contained many barbarous words and combinations.

An ancient local English court, said to have been held in Es- Bex once a year, at cock-crowing, without a light or pon and ink, and conducted in a whisper, Jacob.

An outlaw.

An annual English publication of a gitast official character, comprising various statistics of interest in connection with the legal profession. It includes (among otijer informati

Peers inthe British parliament who have held high judicial office, or have been distinguished in the legal profession. Mozley & Whitley.

Inold Englishlaw. An ancient customary tine, paid either in money or cattle, ab every alienation of land lying

LOWNDE. In old English law. <A plain between woods. Co. Litt. 50.

That law which gives precepts and rules concerning war; how to make and observe leagues and truce, to punish offenders in the camp, and such like. Cowell; Blount. Now more commonly

In Roman law. An act of Valentinian, passed A. D. 426, providing that the writings of only five jurists, viz., Papinian, Paul, Gaius, Ulpian, and Modestinus, should be quoted as au

A sort of law of reprisal, which entitles him who has re ceived any wrong from another and cannot get ordinary justice to take the shipping or goods of the wrong-doer, where he can

A rule of conduct arising out of the natural relations of human beings, established by the Creator, and existing prior to any positive precept. Webster. The foundation of this law

Due process of law, (q. v.) By the law of the land is most clearly intended the general law which hears before it condemns, which proceeds upon inquiry, and renders judgment only a

Law administered in the court of the mayor of the staple; the law-merchant. 4 Inst. 235. See

A system of rides and principles established among nations, and intended for the regulation of their mutual intercourse; otherwise called “international law,” (qg. 0.) A code of pu

Published yolumes eontuining the reports of cases argued and adjudged in the courta of law. Wing. Max. p. 382, max. 101; Finch, La bh. 1, a. 3, no. 39. Law respecteth possibility o

A maritime code said to have been drawn up by Richard I.at the Isle of Oleron, whence its name. These laws ure constantly quoted in proceedings before the admiralty courts, as are

This term denotes a branch of public international law, and comprises the body of rules and principles observed by civilized nations for the regulation of matters inherent in, or i

John D. A concordance of words and phrases construed in the judicial reports, and of legal defin: tions

The ecclesiastical law, or law Christian. Co. Litt. 344.

<A vernacular term for a auit, action, or cause instituted or depending bebween two private persons in the courts of law.

Being entitled to, or having the benelit and protection of, the law.

A person learned in the law: ag an attorney, counsel, or solicitor. Any person who, for fes or reward, prosecutes or defends causes in courts of record or other judicial tribunals

2 To state or allege in pleading.

edj. Relating to persons or things

2. A share of the profits of a fish« ing or whaling voyage, allotted te the officers and seamen, inthe nature of wages. 3 Story, 108.

A corporation composed of lay persons or for lay purposes. They are cither civil or eleemosynary. Ang. & A. Corp. 28-30; 1 Bl. Comm. 470.

To state at the conclusion of the declaration the #mount of damages which the plaintiff claims.

In the law of shipping. Days allowed in charter-parties for loading and unloading the cargo. 8 Kent, Comm, 202, 203,

Law.

A feeheld by ordinary fendal tenure, as distinguished from the ecclesiastical tenure of frankalmoign, by whichan ecclesiastical corporation held of the donor, The tenure of frankai

In English ecclesiastical law. <A lay person holding a spiritual appropriation. 3 Steph. Comm. 72

Stating in the margin of a declaration the county in which the plaintiff proposes that the trial of the action shall take place.

In ecclesiastical law. The ceremony of putting a bishop in possession of the temporalities of his diocese,

One of the people, and not one of the clergy; one who is not of the legal profession; one who is not of a particular profession,

This term has come to be used technically in highway laws as embrace ing all the series of acts necessary to the complete establishment of a highway. 28 Conn 375.

<A place for dung or soil.

or LAAARETTO. A pesthouse, or public hospital for persons affected with the more dangerous forms of contagious diseases; a quarantine station for vessels LA“2ZI, A Saxon term for p

The counsel on either side ofa litigated action who is charged with the principal management and direction of the party’s case, as distinguished from his juniors or subordinates, i

Where a deed was — executed before the levy of a fine of land, for the purpose of specifying to whose use tha fine shouid inure, it was said to “lead” the use. If executed after th

That one of two or more counsel employed on the same side in a cause who has the principal management of the cause,

Among the yarioug cases thal are argued and deterinined in the courts, some, from their important character, have demanded more than usual attention from the judges, and from this

A question put or framed in such a form as to suggest the answer sought to be obtained by the person interrogating. Questions are leading which suggest to the witness the answer de

1. A treaty of alliance between different states or parties. It may be offensive or defensive, or both. It is offensive when the contracting parties agree to unite other againstane

Legality; the condition of a galis homo, or lawful man.

To incline in opinion or preference, A court is sometimes said to “lean ainst” a doctrine, construction, or view contended for, whereby it is meant that the court regards it with d

Possessing learning; erudite; versed in the law. In statutes pre- Beribing the qualifications of judges, “learned in the law” designates one who has received a regular legal educat

Legal doctrine. 1 Leon. 77.