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

Eng. law. When an inquisition is made to the, king’s use of any thing, by virtue of ofice of him who inquires, and the: inquisition is found, it is said to be office found.

civil- and canon laws. In the ancient civil law, the person who was the minister of, or lattendant upon a magistrate, was ‘called the offictal. In the canon law, the person to whom

EX. Vide Ex officto, ‘and 3 Bl. Coin, 447.

Multa ignoramus que non laterent, si veterum Lectio nobis esset familiaris. Macrobius.

comm. law, denominations of money of Spain. In the ad valorem duty upon goods, dc. the former are computed at ten cents, and the latter at five cents each. Act of March 2, 1799, s.

An omission is the neglect to perform what the law requires. When a public law enjoins on certain officers duties to be performed by them for the public, and they omit to perform t

merc. law. <A term used to express the ageregate value of the different stocks in which a loan is usually funded. 2 Esp. Rep. 361.

civil law. The name of a servitude by which the wall or pillar of one house is bound to sustain the weight of the buildings of the neighbour. The owner of the servient building is

Scotchlaw, a valuable consideration.

when for the plaintiff, is that he recover a sum of money ascertained by a jury, for his damages occasioned by the committing of the grievances complained of, and the costs of suit

Choice; Election, (q.v.) where the subject is considered. OR, in the termination of words, has an active signification, and usually denotes the doer of any act; as, the grantor, he

An ancient superstitious mode of trial. When in a criminal case the accused was arraigned, he might select the mode of trial either by God and his country, that is, by jury; or by

Rules made by a court or other competent jurisdiction. The formula is generally in these words: It ts ordered, g&c. Orders also signify the instructions given by the owner to the c

legislation. A law,a statute, a decree. This word is moré usually applied to the laws of a corporation, than to the acts of the legislature; as the ordinances of the city of Philad

civ. and eccles. law. An officer who has original jurisdiction in his own right and not by deputation. In England the ordinary is an officer who has immediate jurisdiction in eccle

Verbally; orally. Formerly the pleadings of the parties were ore tenus, and the practice is said to have been retained till the reign of Edward the Third. 3 Reeves, 95; Steph. Pl.

contracts, practice, as a model or example to be copied or imitated. It also means first, or not deriving any authority from any other source; as, original jurisdiction, original w

Engl. law. The transcripts and other documents sent to the office of the treasurer-remembrancer in the exchequer, are called by this name to distinguish them from recorda, which co

practice in the English law, is a mandatory _ letter issued in the king’s name, sealed with his great seal, and directed to the sheriff of the county wherein the injury is committe

It is an admitted principle, that a person shall not be permitted to claim under any instrument, whether it be a deed or a will, without giving full effect to it m every respect, s

A minor or infant who has lost both of his or her parents. g Sometimes the term is applied to such a person who has lost only one of his or her parents. 3 Mer. 48; 2 Sim. & Stu. 93

The name of a court in some of the states, having juridiction of the estates and persons of orphans.

pleading, evidence. In actions of trespass, the declaration concludes by charging generally, that the defendant did other wrongs to the plaintiff to his great damage. When the inju

Vide Weights.

torts. An ouster is the actual turning out, or keeping excluded, the party entitled to possession of any real property corporeal. An ouster can properly be only from real property

To abandon or forsake a right.

title to property, is the right by which a thing belongs to some one in particular, to the exclusion of all other persons. Louis. Code, art. 480.

The name of a court authorised to hear and determine all treasons, felonies and misdemeanors, and, generally, invested with other power in

comm. law, equal. It is used to denote a state of equality or equal value. Bills of exchange, stocks, and the like, are at par when they sell for their nominal value; above par or

Equality of name or blood, but more especially of land in the partition of an inheritance among co-heirs, hence comes disparage and disparagement. Co. Litt. 166.

That which i is superior. It is usually applied to the highest lord of the fee, of lands, tenements, or hereditaments. F. N. B. 135. Where A lets lands to B, and he underlets them

Thename given to all such things as a woman has a right to retain as her own property, after her husband’s death, which she used personally during his life: they consist generally

Tenant paravail is the lowest tenant of the fee, or he who is the immediate tenant to one sumed he has the avails or profits of the land. F.N. B. 135; 2 Inst. 296.

estates, is a part of the estate. 1 Com. Dig. Abatement, H 51, p- 1383; 5 Com. Dig. Grant, E 10, p. 545.

The state or condition of holding title to lands jointly by parceners, before the com- mon inheritance has been divided. Litt. sect. 56.

Engl. law, are the daughters of a man or woman seised of lands and tenements in fee simple or fee tail, on whom, after the death of such ancestor, such landsand tenements descend,

Engl. law. The name of a writ against one who violently. breaks a pound, and takes from thence beasts which, for some trespass done or some other just cause, were lawfully impounde

kindred. Vide 1; 7 Term R. 350, 351, o.; 3 Branch, Line. Johns. Cas. 60; 1 Chit. Pl. 68.

a man’s equals; his peers, ' 466, ch. 10, s. 1. (q. v-); 3 Bl. Com. 349. PARRICIDE, a term used in the

crim. law. In;civil law, is one who murders his a similar offence or crime; equal in: father; itis applied by extension to guilt. A person who tn pari delicto! one who murders his

By the same, punished by being scourged, and afgradation. terwards sewed in a sort of sack

eccles. law. One who has full possession of all the rights of a parochial church. He is so called because by his person the church, which is an invisible body, _ig represented: in

A share; a purpart, (q- v.), PARTICEPS CRIMINIS, in crim. law, are partners in crime, whether in the same degree or in part delicto, (q. v.) or in different degree: for one may be

is an estate which is carved out of a larger as, an estate for years to A, remainder to B for life; or anestate for life to A, remainder to B in tail: this precedent estate 1s call

conveyancing. A deed of partition is one by which lands held in joint tenancy, co-parcenary, or in common, are divided into distinct portions, and allotted to the several parties,

This officer is appointed by the secretary of state; his duties are to attend to the business of the office under the superintendence of the secretary; and when the secretary shall

A way over water: a voyage made over the sea or great river, as, the Sea-Gull had a quick passage; the money paid for the transportation of a person over the sea, as, my passage to

comm. law. A book used by merchants with their customers, in which an entry of goods sold and delivered to a customer is made. It is kept by the buyer and sent to the merchant when

civil law. One who was sui juris, and consequently was not either under parental power, or under that of a master; a child in his cradle, therefore, could have been pater familias,

What belongs to the father or comes from him; as, paternal power, paternal relation, paternal estate, paternal line. Vide Line.

This expression 1s used in the French law to signify that in a succession, the property coming from the father of the deceased, descends to his paternal relations.

The state or condition of a father. The husband is prima facie presumed to be the father of his wife's children, born during coverture, or within a competent time afterwards; pater

The country; the men of the neighbourhood competent to serve ona jury; a jury. This is with re nen synonymous. PAT (q¥.)

eccles. lac. He who has the disposition and gift of an ecclesiastical benefice.

The right of appointing to office; as the patronage of the president of the United States, if abused, may endanger the liberties of the people. In the ecclesiastical law, it signif

One so poor that he must be supported at the public expense. The statutes of the several states make ainple provisions for the support of the poor. It is not within the plan of thi

Contribution or tax for paving the streets or highways.

Vide Pledge. PAWN-BROKER One who is lawfully authorised to. lend money, and actually lends it, usually in small sums, upon pawn or pledge.

The country. Trial jon pays, is a trial by the ieee ee by jury. Vide Pats.

civil law. Is the unlawful appropriation ‘by a deposttary of public funds, to his own or that of others, of the pro-

civil law. The savings which were made by a son or slave with the consent of his father or master. Inst. 2, 9,1; Dig. 15. 1, 5, 3; Poth. ad Pand. lib. 50, tit. 17, c. 2, art. 3.

civil law, property. By this term was understood, 1, money; and 2, every thing which constituted the private property of an individual, or which was a part of his fortune; a slave,

That which relates to money. Pecuniary punishment, is one which imposes a fine on a convict; a pecuniary legacy is one which entitles the legatee to receive a sum of money, and not

are persons who travel about the country with merchandise, for the purpose of selling it. They are obliged under the laws of perhaps all the states to take out licenses; and to con

Equal. A man’s peers are his equals. A man is to be tried by his peers. In England and some other countries, this is a title of nobility; as, peers of the realm. In the United Stat

Eng. law, a punishment formerly inflicted in England, on a person who, being arraigned of felony, refused to plead and put himself on his trial, and stubbornly stood mute. He was t

The wool pulled off the skin or pelt of a dead sheep.

Are those which inflict a penalty for the violation of some of their provisions. It is a rule of law that such statutes must be construed strictly. 1 Bl. Com. 88; Esp. on Pen. Acti

contr., is a clause in an agreement, by which the obligor agrees to pay a certain sum of money, if he shall fail to fulfil the contract contained in another clause cult, in many ca

crimes, the act of inserting the penis in the female organs of generation. This has been denied to be sufficient to constitute a rape without emission. (q- v-) See on this subject,

One who is supported by an allowance at the will of another. It is more usually applied to him who receives an annuity or pension from the government.

It signifies a state, as, the people of the state of New York; a nation in its collective and political capacity. 4 T. R. 783; see 6 Pet. S. C. Rep. 467. The word people occurs in

by the head or polls. This term is applied when an estate is to be divided share and share alike. Vide 1 Rop. on Leg. 126, 130. or by misadventure is said to take place when a man

measure. The length of sixteen feet and a half: a pole or rod of that length. Forty perches in length and four in breadth make Engl. law. A pardon for a man who for contempt in not

Absolute; positive. A final determination to act without bope of renewing or altering. Joined to a substantive, this word is frequently used in law; as peremptory action, F. N. B.

A license or warrant to do something not forbidden by law; as, to land goods imported into the United States, after the duties have been paid or secured to be paid. Act of Cong. of

Scotch law. Barter. Exchange of one movable subject for another.

By every part or parcel and by the whole. A joint tenant of lands is said to be seised per my et per tout. Litt. s. 288.

This word, which is derived from the French prendre, to take, signifies a taking or receiving.

he who receives the profits of Jands, &c. A cestut que use, who is legally entitled and actually does receive the profits, is the pernor of profits. PERPETUATING TESTI-

in estates, may be defined to be any limitation tending to take the subject of it out of commerce for a longer period, than a life or lives in being, and twentyone years beyond; an

In its most extensive sense perquisites signifies any thing gotten by industry, or purchased with money, different from that which descends from a father or ancestor. Bract. lib. 2

pleading, by which, whereby. When the plaintiff sues for an injury to his relative rights, as for beating his wife, his child, or his servant, it is usual to lay the injury with a

This word is applied to men, women, and children, who are called natural persons. It is also used to denote a corporation, which is an artificial person. 1 Bl. Com. 123. Natural pe

is a fiction of the law, the effect of which is to put the representative in the place, degree, or right of the person represented. The hcir represents his ancestor. Bac. Abr. Heir

Having the capacities of a person; for example, the defendant was judged personable to maintain this action. Old Nat. Brev. 142. This word is obsolete.

belonging to the person. This adjective is frequently employed in connexion with substantives, things, goods, chattels, actions, right, duties, and the like; as personal estate, pu

is the right or interest which a man has in things personal; it consists of things temporary and movable, and includes all subjects of property not of a freehold nature, nor de- -

by stock; by roots. When, for example, a man dies intestate, leaving children and grandchildren, whose parents are deceased, the estate is to be divided not per capita, that is by

The act of in, be true. va fluencing by expostulation or re- PETTY AVERAGE. Vide quest. While the persuasion is con- Average. fined within those limits which leave PETTY-BAG. Engl.

is a seat in a church separated from all others, with a convenient space to stand therein. It is an incorporeal interest in the real property. And, although a. man has the exclusiv

A light house or beacon. It is derived from Pharus, a small island at the mouth of the Nile, on which was built a watch-tower.

One engaged in the practice of medicine.. A physi- ‘cian in England cannot recover for fees, as his practice is altogether honorary. Peake C. N. P. 96, 123; 4 T. R. 317. But in Pen

med. jur., is the science which treats of the functions of animals; it is the science of life. The legal practitioner who expects to rise to eminence, must acquire some acquaintanc

mer. law. This word has two meanings. It signifies, first, an officer serving on board of a ship during the course of a voyage, and having the charge of the helm and of the ship’s

contracts, is_ the compensation given to a pilot for conducting a vessel in or out of port. Poth. Des Avaries, n. 147.

Engl. law. ‘The name of} upon the high seas, should commit a roll in the exchequer otherwise; the crime of as piracy defined by the called the Great Roll. law of nations, he should

pleadings.— This is a technical word, essential to charge the crime of piracy in an indictment, which cannot be supplied by another word, or any circumlocution.. Hawk. B. 1. c. 37,

is the right of fishing in the waters of another. 5 Bac. Ab. 318; 5 Com. Dig. 366. Vide Fishery.

pleading, evidence. A particular portion of space; locality. In local actions, the plaintiff must lay his venue in the county in which the action arose. It is a general rule, that