The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

or SPORTELLA. A dole or largess, either of meat or money, given by princes or great men to the poor. It was properly the pannier or basket in which the meat was brought, or with wh

In old English law. Mutual promises to marry.

In old English law. Adultery. Cowell.

A use limited to arise on a future event, where no preceding use is limited, and which does not take effect in derogation of any other interest than that which results to the grant

One who penetrates secretly or In disguise or by false pretenses within military lines for the purpose of obtaining information to be used to the disadvantage of the forces so spie

One who settles on the lands of others without any legal authority. This term is applied particularly to persons who settle on the public land. 3 Mart. (La.; N. S.) 293; 5 Biss. (U

To make a wound with a pointed instrument. A stab differs from a cut or a wound. 3 ha. Ann. 514; Russ. & R. 356; Russ. Crimes, 597; Bac. Abr. "Maihem" (B).

A writ called by that name, founded on a custom in Normandy, that where a man in power claimed land in the possession of an inferior, he petitioned the prince that it might be put

In forest law. One of the four evidences or presumptions whereby a man was convicted of an intent to steal the king's deer in the forest. This was when a man was found at his stand

Words which it has been attempted to introduce as a substitute for "the right of representation and performance," but it can hardly be said to be an accepted term of English or Ame

A sum of money or other valuable thing, the ownership of which is in dispute, or to which one or more have contributed, or ow Ti, who agree that it shall of an event at present unc

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 who shall establ

A claim which has been for a long time undemanded; as, for example, where there has been a delay of twelve years unexplained. 3 Mason (U. S.) 161. STALLAGE (Saxon, stal). The liber

An impression made by order of the government, on paper, which must be used in reducing certain contracts to writing, for the purpose of raising a revenue. See Starkie, Ev.; 1 Phil

To abide by a thing; to submit to a decision; to comply with an agreement; to have validity; as, the judgment must stand.

In War. An ensign or flag used in war. In Measures. A weight or measure of certain dimensions, to which all other weights and measures must correspond; as, a standard bushel. Also,

A practice prevailing in England and a few of the United States in the selection of jurors in a criminal case, whereby the prosecuting attorney may peremptorily put aside a juror w

Refusal of one charged with crime to plead to the charge, or, after plea of not guilty, to put himself upon the country.

See "Covenant to Stand Seized to Uses." STANNARY COURTS (stannary, from Lat. stannum, Cornish, stean, tin, — a tin mine). In English law. Courts of record, in Devonshire and Cornwa

In international 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 merchandises and wares to sal

See "Court of Star Chamber."

To abide by or adhere to decided cases. It is a general rule that, when a point has been settled by a decision, it becomes a precedent which should be followed in subsequent cases

ET NON QUIETA MOvere. To adhere to precedents, and not to unsettle things -which are established. 9 Johns. (N. Y.) 395, 428; 11 Wend. (N. Y.) 504, 507; 23 Wend. (N. Y.) 336, 340; 2

An acknowledgment of or agreement to an existing condition of liability of the parties, from which the law implies that all items therein are true and a promise to pay the balance

A regular term of court, held at the time fixed by law or rule.

See "Particular Statement."

In English bankruptcy practice, a bankrupt or debtor who has presented a petition for liquidation or composition must produce at the first meeting of creditors a statement of his a

A written or printed statement by the plaintiff in an action in the English high court, showing the facts on which he relies to support his claim against the defendant, and the rel

In the practice of the English high court, where the defendant in an action does not demur to the whole of the plaintiff's claim, he delivers a pleading called a "statement of defe

In English practice, when the plaintiff claims a debt or liquidated demand, but has not indorsed the writ specially {i. e., indorsed on it the particulars of his claim under Order

In English lunacy practice, when a person has been found a lunatic, the next step is to submit to the master a scheme called a "state of facts and proposal," showing what is the po

A term used in the United States corresponding to the king's (or queen's) evidence of England.

Trials of political offenders. Also the name of a series of reports of such trials held in England.

See "Bill."

In civil law. A place where ships may ride in safety. Dig. 49. 12. 1. 13; Id. 50. 15. 59.

St. 5 & 6 Vict. c. 45, authorizes, in every case of copyright, the registration of the title of the proprietor at Stationers' Hall, and provides that, without previous registration

The will stands in place of a reason. 1 Barb. (N. Y.) 408, 411; 16 Barb. (N. Y.) 514, 525. STAT PRO RATIONE VOLUNTAS POpuli The will of the people stands in place of a reason. 25 B

The assembly of the tenants in the court of the lord of a manor, in order to do their customary suit. STATUS QUO (Lat.) The existing state of things at any given date. Status quo a

or STATUTORY. That which is introduced or governed by statute law, as opposed to the common law or equity. Thus, a court is said to have statutory jurisdiction when jurisdiction is

A law established by the act of the legislative power; an act of the legislature; the written will of the legislature, solemnly expressed according to the forms necessary to consti

In English law. A fair at which laborers of both sexes stood and offered themselves for hire; sometimes called, also, "Mop."

A security enentered before the mayor of London, or some chief warden of a city, in pursuance of 13 Edw. I. St. 3, c. 1, whereby the lands of the debtor are conveyed to the credito

Act 11 Hen. VII. c. 1, requiring subjects to give their allegiance to the actual king for the time being, and protecting them in so doing.

A statute regulating the distribution of the estate of an intestate.

St. 13 Eliz. e. 5, relating to fraudulent conveyances.

See "Frauds, Statute of."

See "Use."

The statute 32 Hen. 'VIII. c. 1, by which the right of testamentary disposal of property in lands is created. 2 Bl. Comm. 375.

A roll upon which an English statute, after receiving the royal assent, was formerly entered.

The statute of the staple (27 Edw. III. st. 2) confined the sale of all commodities to be exported to certain towns in England, called "estaple" or "staple," where foreigners might

When the language of a statute is ambiguous, and it is said to contain a statutory exposition of the former act.

A conveyance which superseded the old compound assurance by lease and release. It was created by St. 4 & 5 Vict. c. 21, which abolished the lease for a year. STATUTUM (Lat. statuer

The statute of Acton Burnell (g. v.) STATUTUM EX GRATIA REGIS DICItur, quando rex dignatur cedere de jure suo regie, pro commode et quiete populi sui. A statute is said to be by th

In old English law. The statute session; a meeting in every hundred of constables and householders, by custom, for the ordering of servants, and debating of differences between mas

The arresting of a judicial proceeding or process.

Laws suspending remedies against debtors. They are adopted during periods of financial distress or depression. There were numerous instances in acts passed by the legislatures of t

An arrest of the issuance of execution process on a judgment. It may be by direction of the judgment creditor for some cause which he conceives to be to his advantage, or it may be

A suspension of proceedings in a cause, either by an order of the court in the cause, or by some proceeding such as (in some states) an appeal which operates ipso facto as a suspen

This term imports, ex vi termini, nearly the same as larceny (2 G. Greene [Iowa] 311) but in common parlance it does not always import a felony; as, for example, you stole an acre

Theft Is so called by Finch. "Stealth is the wrongful taking of goods without pretense of title." Finch, Law, bk. 3, e. 17.

Instruments of husbandry, cattle, corn, etc., delivered by a landlord to his tenant on condition that the like number of goods of like quality should be returned on expiration of t

In clvU law. A name This word is said to be derived from the Latin stellio, a kind of lizard remarkable for its cunning and the change of its color, because those guilty of frauds

A system of fraternal insurance by which the member pays each year or group of years according to the actual cost of the society of the protection furnished him, and thus increases

or STREBRICH. The breaking, obstructing, or straitening of a way. Termes de la Ley.

A French measure of solidity, used in measuring wood. It is a cubic meter. See "Measure."

Barrenness; incapacity to produce a child. It is curable and incurable. See "Impotence." Incapacity of the male to impregnate, or of the female to conceive, when copulation is natu

Current money of Great Britain, but anciently a small coin worth about one penny, and so called, as some suppose, because it was stamped with the figure of a small star, or, as oth

If the plaintiff in a plaint in the mayor's court of London has attached property belonging to the defendant, and obtained execution against the garnishee, the defendant, if he wis

A person employed In loading and unloading vessels. He has no maritime lien on the ship for wages. Dunl. Adm. Prac. 98.

In English law. Places formerly permitted in England to women of professed lewdness, and who for hire would prostitute their bodies to all comers. These places were so called becau

Agreeing, in consideration of receiving a pecuniary or other advantage, to abstain from prosecuting a person for an offense not giving rise to a civil remedy, e. g., perjury. As a

The proportionable part of a man's cattle which he may keep upon the common. The general rule is that the comstock the land to which his right of common is annexed. There may be su

Estates granted in return for services, generally of a military kind. 1 Steph. Comm. 174.

In English law. Paid magistrates.

Liquidated damage. See "Damages." STIPULATip (Lat.) In Roman law. A contract made in the following manner, viz.: The person to whom the promise was to be made proposed a question t

A material article in an agreement. The term appears to have derived its meaning from the use of stipulatio above given; though it is applied more correctly and more conformably to

In the civil law, the party who asked the question in the contract of stipulation; the other party, or he who answered, being called the "promissor." But, in a more general sense,

The capital of a merchant or tradesman, including his money, merchandise, and credits. See "Capital." The goods and wares he has for sale and traffic. Of Corporations. The amount o

A written acknowledgment by the corporation of the interest of a shareholder in the corporate property and franchises. It expresses the contract between the shareholder and the cor

Dividends consisting of the issue of certificates of stock. There is a clear distinction between a stock dividend and an extraordinary cash dividend, the latter being a disbursemen

A building or room in which stock brokers meet to transact their business of purchasing or selling stocks. An association of stock brokers for the purpose of transacting their busi

The holder of shares of stock in a corporation or joint-stock company.

A fictitious transaction in stocks by way of speculation. Also the title of an act relating to such transaction. See "Gambling Contract."

In criminal law. A machine, commonly made of wood, with holes in it, in which to confine persons accused of or guilty of crime. It was used either to confine unruly offenders by wa

A contract of subscription to the stock of a corporation by which the subscriber agrees to take a certain number of shares of the capital stock of a corporation, paying for the sam

' In English Chancery Practice. An order to prevent a fund in court from being paid out or otherwise deal with without notice to a claimant. In Commercial Usage. An order to

A resumption by the seller of the possession of goods not paid for, while on their way to the vendee, and before he has acquired actual possession, of them. 15 Me. 314. For most pu

The victuals and provisions collected together for the subsistence of a ship's company; of a camp; or any like body of men. Store, as commonly used, is equivalent of the English "s

In Scotch law. Formerly this word included in its signification every species of theft accompanied with violence to the person; but of late years it has become the vox signata for

In maritime law. The proper arrangement in a ship of the different articles of which a cargo consists, so that they may not injure each other by friction, or be damaged by the leak

A privilege in the holder to demand of the seller at a certain price within a certain time certain property, or to require him to take, at the same price within the same time, the

A man of straw.

In maritime law. The run- Accidental stranding takes place where the ship is driven on shore by the winds and waves. Voluntary stranding takes place where the ship is run on shore

A person born out of the United States; but in this sense the term "alien" is more properly applied until he becomes naturalized. A person who is not privy to an act or contract. E

A deception, either by words or actions, in times of war, in order to obtain an advantage over an enemy. Stratagems, though contrary to morality, have been justified unless they ha

A military government; government by military chiefs of an army.

Nominal or worthless bail. Professional sureties, so called, it is said, from an ancient custom of such persons of wearing a straw about their clothing, that they might be known to

Men who used in former days to ply about courts of law, so called from their manner of making known their occupation (i. e., by a straw in one of their shoes), recognized by the na

See "Bstray."

A public thoroughfare or highway in a city or village. 4 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 106; 11 Barb. (N. Y.) 399; 39 111. App, 474. See "Highway."