The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

or HEARTH MONEY. A tax upon chimneys or hearths; an an-

The immediate progeny of human parents; offspring born to such parents. 262 111. 183; 200 111. 401. The son or daughter, in relation to the father or mother; the correlative of "pa

(See "Sons.") Legitimate offspring. ' L. R. 7 H. L. 568; 23 Hun (N. Y). 260; 14 N. J. Eq. 159. But see 42 Conn. 491. It includes only the first generation, and does not embrace gra

A range of hills in England, formerly much infested by robbers. To exterminate the robbers, a steward of the chiltern hundreds was appointed. The office long since became a sinecur

The way by which the king and all his subjects and all under his protection have a right to pass, though the property of the soil of each side where the way lieth may belong to a p

A toll for buying and selling; a tax imposed on goods brought for sale. Whishaw; Blount.

CHIRCHGEMOTE, CIRCGEMOTE, or kirkmote. (Saxon, circgemote, from circ, ciric, or cyric, a church, and gemot, a meeting or assembly). In Saxon law. An ecclesiastical court or assembl

In Old Conveyancing. A deed or public instrument in writing. Chirographs were anciently attested by the subscription and crosses of witnesses. Afterwards, to prevent frauds and con

In Roman law. A handwriting; that which was written with a person's own hand; an obligation which a person wrote or subscribed with his own For forms of such acknowledgments, see D

In feudal law. Knight service. Tenure in chivalry was the same as tenure by knight service. 2 Bl. Comm. 61, 62. See "Tenure."

COURT OF. This court was anciently held as a court of honor merely, before the earl marshal, and as a criminal court before the lord high constable, jointly with the earl marshal.

TENURE BY. Tenure by knight service. Co. Litt.

A word mentioned in a statute of 9 Hen. VI., by the sense of which it was in those days a kind of trade, and by the judges declared to be lawful. But Brooke, in his Abridgment, say

In ancient times, a person admitted to sit and worship in the choir; a chorister.

Bishops of the country in the early times of the church. CHOSE (Ft.) thing. Personal property. Choses in Possession. Personal things of which one has possession. Choses in Action.

In New Jersey. A board of county officers, having charge of the finances of the county, and composed of persons chosen by and representing the several towns or townships of the cou

A society of persons who profess the Christian religion. 7 Halst. (N. J.) 206, 214; 10 Pick. (Mass.) 193; 3 Ea. St. 282; 31 Pa. St. 9; 9 Barb. (N. Y.) 95. The place where such pers

Statutes passed in England in and since the year 1818, with the object of extending the accommodation afforded by the national church, so as to make it more commensurate with the w

St. 3 & 4 Vict. c. 86, containing regulations for trying clerks in holy orders charged with offenses against ecclesiastical law, and for enforcing sentences pronounced in such case

CHURCHSET, CIRSET, kirkset, or chirset. In old English law. A certain portion or measure of wheat, anciently paid to the church on St. Martin's day, and which, according to Fleta,

A tribute by which the expenses of the church are to be defrayed. justices, or in the ecclesiastical court. Wharton.

A church warden.

Customary obligations paid to the parish priest; from which duties the religious sometimes purchased an exemption for themselves and their tenants. Wharton.

An officer whose duty it is to take care of or guard the church. They are taken to be a kind of corporation in favor of the church for some purposes. They may have, in that name, p

See"Ceorl.'' CI, CY, or SI (Law Pr.) So. Pur ceo que fine est d hault barre, et de ci graund force, et de ci puissant nature, because a fine is so high a bar, and of so great force

The five ports of England which lie towards France. These ports, on account of their importance as defenses to the kingdom, early had certain privileges granted them, and in recomp

The stocks. Reg. Orig. 96b. Bracton and Fleta used in cippo. Bracton fol. 145b; Fleta, lib. 1, c. 42, §§ 1, 2.

In old English law. A tribute anciently paid to the bishop or archbishop for visiting the churches. Du Fresne; Whishaw.

A violation of ecclesiastical privilege.

Church scot; an ecclesiastical due.

A division of the country, appointed for a particular judge to visit for the trial of causes, or for the administration of justice. See 3 Bl. Conun. 58; 3 Bouv. Inst, note 2532,, I

A federal court created in 1891 in each circuit (q. v.), consisting of three judges, and having final appellate jurisdiction of cases from the circuit and district courts except in

In American Taw. Courts whose jurisdiction extends over several counties or districts, and of which terms are held in the various counties or districts to which their jurisdiction

Circuity is to be avoided. Co. Litt. 384a; Smith, Lead. Cas. (4th Am. Ed.) 20; Wingate, Max. 179; Broom, Leg. Max. (3d London Ed.) 309; 5 Coke, 34; 15 Mees. & W. 208; 5 Exch. 829.

Indirectly obtaining, by means of a subsequent action, a result which may be reached in an action already pending. This is particularly obnoxious to the law, as tending to multiply

Similar instruments to "letters of credit." They are drawn by resident bankers upon their foreign correspondents, in favor Of persons traveling abroad. The correspondents must be s

This term Is more comprehensive than the term "money," as it is the medium of exchanges, or purchases and sales, whether it be gold or silver coin, or any other article. Rapalje &

In Scotch law. A closing of the period for lodging papers, or doing any other act required in a cause. Paterson, Comp. Circumduction of the Term. The sentence of a judge, declaring

Act circumspectly. The title of a statute passed 13 Edw. I. A. D. 1285, and so called from the initial words of it, the object of which was to ascertain the boundaries of ecclesias

The particulars which accompany an act; the surroundings at the commission of an act. Though sometimes used in the sense of "fact," a circumstance is a "relative" fact, as distingu

The proof of certain facts and circumstances in a given case from which the jury may infer other connected facts which uusally and reasonably follow according to the common experie

See "Tales."

In Scotch law. Any act of fraud whereby a person is reduced to a deed by decreet. Tech. Diet. It has the same sense in the civil law. Dig. 50. 17. 49. 155; Id. 12. 6. 6. 2; Id. 41.

A ceorl (q. v.) Spelman.

In Spanish law. The order of a legal tribunal directing an individual against whom a suit has been instituted to appear and defend it within a given time. It is synonymous with the

A citation or summons to court. Skene de Verb. Sign. voc. "Adjurnatus." CITATIO AD REASSUMENDAM CAUSam. In civil law. The name of a citation, which issued when a party died pending

A summons is by natural right. Cases in Banco Regis Wm. III. 453. CITATION (Lat, citare, to call, t6 summon). In Practice. A writ issued out of a court of competent jurisdiction, c

A citizen, in the popular and appropriate sense of the term, is one who by birth, naturalization or otherwise Is a member of an independent political society called a state, kingdo

« In England. An incorporated town or borough which is or has been the see of a bishop. Co. Litt. 108; 1 Bl. Comm. 114; Cowell. A large town incorporated with certain privileges; t

A court having a local jurisdiction within the city of London. It is to all intents and purposes a county court, having the same jurisdiction and procedure. St. 30 & 31 Vict. c. 14

Pertaining to a citizen, as civil rights (9- V.) In contradistinction to "barbarous" or "savage," indicates a state of society reduced to order and regular government. Thus, we spe

In Civil Law. A personal action which is instituted to compel payment, or the doing some other thing which is purely civil. Poth. Introd. Gen. aux Cont. 110. At Common Law. An acti

A tribunal in Ireland vrith a jurisdiction analogous to that of the county courts in England. The judge of it is also chairman of quarter sessions (where the jurisdiction is more e

An insurrection of the people for general purposes, though it may not amount to rebellion where there is an usurped power. 2 Marsh. Ins. 793.

One of the two classes into which lay corporations are divided; the other division embracing what are termed "eleemosynary" corporations. 3 Steph. Comm. 170. Municipal corporations

A name given to statutes rendering the seller of intoxicating liquors civilly liable to the wife or family of a purchaser of liquor for damage

That change of state of a person which is considered in the law as equivalent to death. See "Death."

A doctor, professor, or student of the civil law. CI VI LIS (Lat. from civis, a citizen). Civil, as distinguished from criminal. Civilis actio, a civil action. Bracton, fols. 101b,

An Infringement or privation of some civil right, and which is a subject for civil redress or compensation, as distinguished from a crime, which is a subject for punishment. 3 Step

In old English law. A civil lawyer, or civilian. Dyer, 267.

Civilly; opposed to criminaliter, or criminally. When a person does an unlawful act injurious to another, whether with or without an intention to commit a tort, he is responsible c

Civilly dead; in a state of civil death. CIVIS (Lat.) In the Roman law. A citizen; as distinguished from incola (an inhabitant); origin or birth constituting the former, domicile t

Amenability to a civil action, as distinguished from amenability to criminal prosecution.

The liberty of a member of society, being a man's natural liberty, so far restrained by human laws (and no further) as is necessary and expedient for the general advantage of the p

An annual sum granted by the English parliament at the commencement of each reign, for the expenses of the royal household and establishment, as distinguished from the general exig

One which binds in law, and which may be enforced in a court of justice. Poth. Obi. 173, 191.

Any officer of the United States who holds his appointment under the national government-, whether his duties are executive or judicial, in the highest or lowest departments of the

In practice. The remedy which the party injured by the commission of a tortious act has by action against the party committing it, as distinguished from the proceeding by indictmen

See "Civil Liability." rights due from one citizen to another, the privation of which is a civil wrong, for which redress may be sought in a civil action. Also sometimes applied to

Governmental service other than military or naval; administrative functions. More commonly used to signify those offices in the federal, state or municipal governments which are fi

Civil proceedings in a court having both civil and criminal jurisdiction are said to ' be on the "civil side" of the court, whether heard by the same judge as tries the criminal ca

An internecine war in which the opposing forces both belong to the same country or nation, e. g. the Revolutionary War prior to the Declaration of Independence, or the late Rebelli

A challenge of the ownership of a thing which is wrongfully withheld from the possession of the claimant. Plowd. 359. See 1 Dall. (Pa.) 444; 12 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 179. The owner of p

VI, AUT PRECARIO. By force, stealth, or importunity.

In Admiralty Practice. A person authorized and admitted to defend a libel brought in rem against property; thus, for example, thirty hogsheads of sugar. 9 Cranch (U. S.) 191. ' In

An intervention by a third person, demanding judicature in the cause against the plaintiff, who has chosen to commence his action out of claimant's court.. 2 Wils. 409; 2 Sharswood

In practice. An intervention by a third person demanding jurisdiction of a cause which the plaintiff has commenced out of the claimant's court. Now obsolete. 2 Wils. 409; 3 Bl. Cor

A suit or petition to the crown, in the court of exchequer, to have liberties and franchises confirmed there by the attorney general. Wharton.

In the civil law. Covertly; secretly. CLAM DELINQUENTES MAGIS PUNIuntur quam palam. Those sinning secretly CLAMEA ADMITTENDA IN ITINERE per attornatum. An ancient writ, by which th

In old Scotch law. The warranty of stolen cattle or goods; the law regulating such warranty. Skene de Verb. Sign.

CONSTITUTIONS OF. The constitutions of Clarendon were certain statutes made in the reign of Henry II., of England, at a parliament held at Clarendon, by which the king checked the.

A number of persons or things ranked together for some common purpose, or as possessing some attribute in common. The term is used of legatees (3 Mc Cord [S. C] 440), of obligees i

A seaman or soldier serving at sea.

In the Roman law. Persons employed in servile duties on board of vessels. Code, 11. 12.

In English practice. In the English chancery division, where there are several parties to an administrament, and it appears to the judge (or chief clerk) that any of them form a cl

A part of a treaty; of a legislative act; of a deed; of a will, or other written instrument; a part of a sentence. As used in a statute relating to wills, a clause is "some colloca

By this clause, in a deed or settlement, the acts or deeds of a tenant for life or other proprietor, contrary to the conditions of his right, become null and void, and, by the "res

Contain all such matters of record as were committed to close writs. These rolls are preserved in the Tower. Rapalje & L.

A clause; a sentence or part of a sentence in a written instrument or law. So called as inclosing or including certain words. CLAUSULA GENERALIS DE RESIDUO non ea complectitur quae

Close; closed. A writ was either clausum (close) or apertum (open). Grants were said to be by literae patentae (open grant) or literae clausae (close grant). 2 Bl. Comm. 346. A clo

See "Quare Clausum Fregit."

An Inclosure.

The keys of the court. A figurative term applied in Scotch law to the officers of court.

A certificate given by the collector of a port, in which it is stated that the master or commander (naming him) of a ship or vessel named and described, bound for a port named, and

A specified number ol clear days is to be reckoned, exclusive of both the first and last days. 1 Dowl. (N. S.) 767.

In commercial law. an office where bankers settle daily with each other the balances of their accounts. Morse, Banks, 450.

In ecclesiastical law. The collection of decretals or constitutions of Pope Clement V., which was published, by order of John XXII., his successor, in 1317.

The name applicable to ecclesiastical ministers as a class.

In English law. Allowing of, or entitled to, the benefit of clergy (privilegium clericale). Used of persons or crimes. 4 Bl. Comm. 371 et seq. CLERICAL feRROR. An error made by a c

Benefit of clergy (q. v.)