A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States

the same as Sunday, ( q: V- SACRA

comm. law, war. It is a passport or permission from a neutral state to the captain or master of a ship to proceed on a particular voyage: it usually contains his name and residence

mar. law, are written or printed directions, delivered by the commanding officer of a convoy to the several masters of the ships under his care, by which they are enabled to unders

a reward or recompense for services performed. It is _ usually applied to the reward paid to a public officer for the perform. ance of his official duties. The salary of the presid

A law by which males only are allowed to in-

in maritime law, originally meant the thing or goods saved from shipwreck or other loss; and in that sense it rs generally to be understood in our old books. But it is at present m

The setting or standing of any place. The seat or situation of a capital messuage, or the ground on which it stood. Jacob.

Vide Common Scold.

A person whose business it is to write deeds and other instruments for others; a conveyancer. © Money scriveners are those who are engaged in procuring money to be lent on mortgage

in English practice, is the office at which certain judicial writs are sealed with the prerogative seal, and without which they are of no authority. The offi-. cer whose duty it is

RIGHT OF, mar. law. The right existing in a belligerent to examine and inspcct the papers of a neutral vessel at sea. The right does not extend to examine the cargo; nor does it ex

crim. law. An examination of a man’s house, premises or person, for the purpose of discovering proof of his guilt in relation to some crime ‘or misdemeanor of which he is accused.

crim. law, practice, is a warrant (q. v.) requiring the officer to whom it is addressed, to search a house or other place therein specified, for property alleged to have been stole

merc. law, is the ability of a ship or other vessel to make a sea voyage with probable safety: there is, in every Insurance, whether on ship or goods, an implied warranty that the

Engl. law. An officer who is second or next to the chief officer; as secondaries to the prothonotaries of the courts of king’s bench or common pleas; secondary of the remembrancer

practice, is the name of a writ given by statute of Westminster the second, 13 Edw. I, c. 2, founded on the record of a former action of replevin. 2 Inst. 341. It commands the sher

crim. law, are those persons who assist, direct and support others engaged in fighting a duel. As they are often much to blame in inciting the duellists to their rash act, and as t

that which is not to be revealed. Attorneys and counsellors, who have been trusted professionally with the secrets of their clients, are not allowed to reveal them in a court of ju

THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED

government. This officer is appointed by the president. His duties are to execute all such orders as he shall receive from the president, relative to the procurement of naval store

crimtnal law, defending himself. Homicide, se defendendo, is that which takes place upon a sudden recounter, where two persons upon a sudden quarrel, without premeditation or malic

crimes, consists in of an estate of freehold; seisin was _ the raising commotions or distur- used in contradistinction to that prebances in the state;. it is a revolt carious kind

is a species of conveyance which derives its effect from the statute of uses, and operates without transmutation of possession.; By this conveyance, a person scised of lands, coven

The offence of a Stranger, claiming a right to the man who abuses the simplicity and land, which is called an abatement, confidence of a woman to obtain by (q- v-) The actual scisi

practice. The act of taking possession of the property of a person condemned by the judgment of a competent tribunal, to pay a certain sum of money, by a sheriff, constable, or oth

crim. law, is the right to protect one’s person and property from injury. Even homicide may be excused, se defendendo, where a man has no other probable ! means of preserving his l

By the laws of the states ef Pennsylvania, Delaware and Missouri, it is declared that the words graxt, bargain,and sell, shall amount to a covenant that the grantor was seised of a

contracts. One who disposes of a thing in consideration of money; a vendor. This term is more usually applied. in the sale of chattels, that of vendor in the sale of estates. The d

civ. law. Presumptions of fact are so called.

government, is the less numerous branch of the legislature. The constitution of the United States, art. 1, s. 3, cl. 1, directs that “ the senate of the United States shall be comp

government, is one who is a member of a senate. ‘No person shall be a senator [of the national senate] who shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and been nine years a ci

civ. law. A decree or decision of the Roman senate, which had the force of law. When the Roman people had so increased that there was no place where they could meet, it was found n

A judgment or judicial declaration made by a judge ina cause. The term judgment is more usually applied to civil, and sentence to criminal proceedings. Sentences are final, when th

practice. The trial of one person by himself, when he ig jointly indicted with others, for an alleged offence. Ona joint indictment against two or more defendants for a crime or mi

in contracts. When the husband and wife agree to live apart they are said to have made a separation. Contracts of this kind are generally made by the husband for himself and by the

The place where a corpse is buried. The violation of sepulchres is a misdemeanor at common law. Vide Dead bodies.

is a writ which is- by construction of law, passcs in the sues for the purpose of removing a premises, may by the habendum be rigoner in order to prosecute. 3 controlled; in which

personal, in Scotland, are those by which the property of a subject is burdened, in favour, not of a tenement, but of a person. Ersk. Pr. L. Scot. B. 2, t. 9, s. 23. Life-rent is t

civil law. The name of a servitude by which an obligation is imposed on the owner of a house to allow windows or lights to be put in his wall by the owner of the adjoining house. D

civ. law. The name of a servitude which obliges the owner of an estate to receive, or his right to turn aside, the droppings or stream from his neighbour’s house. Dig. 8, 2, 20 & 2

The time during which a legislative body, a court or other assembly sit for the transaction of business; as,a session of congress, — which commences on the ‘day appointed by the co

or Court of Session, in Scotland, is the highest civil court in the kingdom;- the Judges, called lords of the session, are fifteen in number. It has extensive. original jurisdictio

estates. ‘The act by which any one of the unities of a joint tenancy is effected, is so called; becausze the estate 13 no longer a joint tenancy, but is severed. A severance may be

is one entered for the mere purpose of delay; it must be of a matter which the pleader knows to be false; as judoment recovered, that is, that judgment has already been recovered b

A‘wether more than a year old. 4 Car. & Payne, 216; 19 Engl. Com. Law Rep. 351, 8. C.

‘This case reported in 1 Rep. 93, contains a rule usually known as the rule in Shelly’s case, which has caused more commentaries perhaps than any other case. It has been expressed

The name of the chief officer of the county. In latin he is called vice comes because in England he represented the comes or earl. His name is said to be derived from the Saxon scy

estates, is one which takes effect in derogation of some other estate, and is either limited by the deed creating it, or authorised to be created by some person named in it. This i

This word, in its most enlarged sense, signifies a vessel of any kind employed in navigation; for example, the terms the ship's papers, the ship's husband, shipwreck, and the like,

By this awkward, but perhaps necessary paraphrasis, justified by Sir William Blackstone, 2 Com. 124, is meant the estate which 1s thus described by Littleton, § 82: “ when tenement

if he make you secure. These words occur in the form of writs, which originally required, or sfill require, that the plaintiff should give security to the sheriff that he will pros

contracts. Bills of exchange are frequently made payable at sight, that is, on presentment, paid without further delay; but although the point be not clearly settled, it seems the

seal, (q. v.) Vide Scroll.

contracts, evidence, isa token of any thing; a note or token given without words. Contracts are express or implied. The express are manifested viva voce, or by writing; the implied

state of a person who does not speak, or one who refrains from speaking. Pure and simple silence cannot be considered as a consent to a contract, except in cases when the silent pe

pleading. When concludes with referring the matter to be tried by a jury of the country, the plaintiff must do so too; that is, he must also submit the matter to be tried by a jury

is one the evidence of which is mercly oral, or in writing not under scal, nor of record. 1 Chit. Contr. 1; 1 Chit. Pl. 88; and vide 11 Mass. R. 30; 11 East, R. 312; 4 Barn. & Ald.

simple or single; as, charta simplex, is a decd-poll, or single deed. Jacob’s L. Dict. h. t.

In the ecclesiastical law, this term is used to signify that an ecclesiastical officer is without a charge or cure. In common parlance it means the receipt of a salary for an offic

Without day. Sometimes a case is adjourned sine die, that is, the defendant is finally discharged, there being no day to which the cause is continued. When the court or other body

By itself, unconnected. A single bill is one without any condition, and does not depend upon any future event to give it validity. Vide Simplez.

construction. In grammar the singular is expressing only one, not plural. Johnson. In law, the singular frequently includes the plural. A bequest to "my nearest relation," for exam

when in favour of the plaintiff, is that he recover a specified sum, assessed by a jury, or on reference to the prothonotary, or other proper officer, for the damages which he has

contracts. The art of doing a thing as it ought to be done. Every person who purports to have skill in a business, and undertakes for hire to perform it, is bound to do it with ord

a _ calumniator, who maliciously and without reason imputes a crime or fault to another, of which he is innocent. For this offence, when the slander is merely verbal, the remedy is

A man who is by law deprived of his liberty for life, and becomes the property of another. A slave has no political rights, and generally has no civil rights. He can enter into no

the state or condition of a slave. Slavery exists in most of the southern states. In Pennsy]lvania, by the act of March, 1780, for the gradual abolition of slavery, it has been alm

criminal law. The infamous traffic in human flesh, though not prohibited by the law of nations, is now forbidden by the laws and treaties of most civilized states. By the constitut

Engl. law. A tenure of lands by certain inferior services in husbandry, and not knight’s service, in lieu of all other services. Litt. sect. 117.

crim. law. The crime against nature, committed either with man or beast. It is a crime not fit to be named; peccatum illud horrible, inter christianum non nominandum. 4 Bl. Com. 21

A military man; a private in the army. The constitution of the United States, Amendm. art. 3, directs that no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without th

The punishment of separate confinement has been adopted in renee) vania with complete success. Vide Penitentiary.

and battery, by which the defendant asserts that the plaintiff committed 'an assault upon him, and the defendant merely defended himself. When the plea is supported by evidence, it

When an action is brought, not for the recovery of lands, goods, or sums money, (as is the case in real or mixed actions, or the personal action of debt or detinue,) but for damage

These words have been adopted in several statutes, and sometimes indiscriminately used to signify, not only lunacy, which is periodical madness, but also a permanent adventitious i

A chief ruler with supreme power, one possessing sovereignty, (q. v-) It is also applied to a king or other magistrate with limited powers. In the United States the sovereignty res

is the exercise of all human power possessed in a state; it is a combination of all power; it is the power to do every thing in a state without accountability; to make laws, to exe

The presiding officer of the house of representatives of the United States is so called. The presiding officer of either branch of the state legislatures generally bears this name.

Vide Damages, Special; and 1 Chit. Pl. 385; Com. Dig. Action on the case for Defamation, D 30—G 11.

Vide Pleading, Special; and Co. Litt. 282; 3 Wheat. R. 246; Com. Dig. Pleader, E 15.

pleading. A technical special traverse begins in most cases, with the words absque hoc, (without this), which words in pleading form a technical form of negation. Lawes's Pl. 116 t

contracts, is a writing sealed and delivered, containing some agreement. 2 Serg. & Rawle, 503; 1 Binn. Rep. 261; Willes, 189; 1 P. Wms. 130. Al.though in the body of the writing it

practice. V. Verdict, Special; 7 Bac. Ab. 4.

metallic money issued © by public authority. This term is used in contradistinction of paper money, which in some countries is emitted by the government, and is a mere engagement w

a term used in the civil law, by which is meant person’s making a new species or subject from materials belonging to another. When the new species can be again reduced to the matte

contracts. a thing. Pard. Dr. Com. n. 12. The profit so made; as, he made a good speculation.

an addition given, in legal writings, to.a woman who never was married. Lovel. on Wills, 269.

estates, is one to arise on a future event, when no preceding estate is limited, and does not take effect in derogation of any preceding interest. Example: a grant is made by A in

estates, a pool. It is said to consist of land and water, and therefore by the name of stagnum, the water and the land may be ed. Co. Litt. 5.

contracts, is a third person, chosen by two or more persons, to keep in deposit property, the right or possession of which is contested between them, and to be delivered to the one

is the act by which an officer is put in public possession _of the place he is to fill. The president of the United States, or the governor, is installed into office, by being swor

revenue, is an impression made on paper, by order of the government, which must be used in reducing certain contracts to writrevenue. Vide Stark. Ev. h. t.3 1 Phil. Ev. 444. Inthe

tn war, an ensign or flag used in war.

meusure. A weight or measure of certain dimensions, to which all other weights and measures must correspond; as, a standard bushel. Also the quality of certain metals, to which all

intern. law. The right of staple, as exercised by a people upon foreign merchants, is defined to be, that they may not allow them to set their merchandizes and wares to sale but in

Engl. law. A court which formerly had great jurisdiction and power, but which was abolished by stat. 16 C. 1, c. 10, on account of its usurpations and great unpopularity. It consis

To abide or adhere to decided cases. It isa general maxim that when a point has been settled by decision, it forms a precedent which is not afterwards to be departed from. The doct

government. This word ig used in various senses. In its most enlarged sense, it signifies a self-sufficient body of persons united together in one community for the defence of thei

status, condition of man, is that quality which belongs to man in society, and which secures to him different rights, in consequence of the difference of that quality. Slaves, alie

Alabama. Alabama Reports. By Henry Minor. From 1820 to 1826. 1 vol. Stewart's Reports. From 1827 to 1831. 3 vols. Stewart & Porter’s Reports. From 1831 to 1833. 4 vols. Porter’s Re