The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary

STATUTE OF. An ancient English ordinance or statute (20 Hen. III. [1253]), which took its name from the place in the county of Surrey where parliament sat when it was enacted. 2 In

Used in our ancient books. An unbeliever.

An ancient word used to signify "house;" probably from the French maison. It is said that by this word the buildings, curtilage, orchards, and gardens will pass. Co. Litt. 56.

The estate of a mesne tenant. commencement and the end, as it relates to time. In England, the word "mesne" also applies to a dignity; those persons who hold lordships or manors of

WRIT OF. The name of an ancient writ, which lies when the lord paramount distrains on the tenant paravail. The latter shall have a writ of mesne against the lord who is mesne. Fitz

A middle or intermediate lord. 2 Bl. Comm. 59; 1 Steph. Comm. 168, 174. See "Mesne."

In practice. All writs necessary to a suit between its beginning and end, that is, between primary process or summons and final process, or execution, whether for the plaintiff, ag

The value of land during the period of a wrongful possession thereof; that is to say, from the time of wrongful entry to dispossession. 3 Bl. Comm. 205. The net rental value or val

(Law Fr.) Mistake; a mistaking. MESQUE (Law Ft.) Except; unless. Fet. Assaver, § 23.

In Danish law. A certificate of admeasurement granted by competent authority at home port of vessel. Jacobsen. Sea Laws, 50.

An employe or ofl Scer whose duty is to bear messages or communications. — I — In Eng,lish Law. An officer who takes possession of an insolvent or bankrupt estate.

An association engaged in the business of furnishing messengers for hire to any who may desire them. Such associations are held to be common carriers. 31 Abb. N. C. 147; 6 Misc. Ee

The harvest follows the sowing. Ersk. Inst. 174. 26; Bell, Diet.

A term used in conveyancing, and nearly synonymous with "dwelling house." A grant of a messuage with the to it, as also its curtilage, garden, and orchard, together with the close

A system of agricultural holdings, under which the land is divided, in small farms, among single families, the landlord generally supplying the stock which the agricultural system

A measure of corn given by a lord to customary tenants as a reward for labor.

A rent paid in victuals.

The boundary lines of land, with their terminal points and angles. Courses and distances control, unless there is matter of more certain description, e. g., natural monuments. 42 M

See "Process." METROPOLIS (Graeco-Lat. and Eng.) A mother city; one from which a colony was sent out. Calv. Lex. The capital of a province. Id.

In English law. One of the titles of an archbishop. Derived from the circumstance that archbishops were consecrated at first in the metropolis of a province. 4 Inst. 94. METUS (Lat

In French law. Movables (q'. V.) Meubles meublans, household utensils and ornaments.

NON DIMittere. It is mine to promise, not to discharge. 2 Rolle, 39.

In English law. One of the four terms of the courts. It begins on the 2d day of November, and ends on the 25th of November. It was formerly a movable term. St. 11 Geo. IV. and 1 Wm

or MICEL GEMOTE (Saxon, great meeting or assembly). One of the names of the general council immemorially held in England. 1 Bl. Comm. 147. One of the great councils of a king and n

Theft; dishonesty.

One who has been employed as an agent by a principal, and who has employed a subagent under him by authority of the principal, either express or implied. He is not, in general, lia

The phrases "middle of the river' and "middle of the main channel" are equivalent expressions and both mean the main line of the channel, or, as is frequently expressed, the middle

In medical jurisprudence. A woman who practices midwifery; a woman who pursues the business of an accoucheuse. MIESES (Spanish). Crops.

A length of a thousand paces, or seventeen hundred and sixty yards, or five thousand two hundred and eighty feet. It contains eight furlongs, every furlong being forty poles, and e

A compensation of so much per mile allowed to officers traveling on the public business, or to any person authoritatively summoned in respect to a matter of public importance, as t

In Civil Law. A soldier. Vel a "militia," aut a "multitudine," aut a numero, "mille hominum." Vocat. In Old English Law. A knight, because military service was part of the feudal t

In English law. Causes of action or injuries cognizable in the court military, or court of chivalry. 3 Bl. Comm. 103.

In English law. Include the ancient court of chivalry and modern court-martial (q. v.) 3 Bl. Comm. 68, 103.

The genuine or original feuds which were in the hands of mili-

In American law. Lands granted to soldiers for military services.

A system of regulation by acts of congress prescribing the rules and articles of war, and providing for the government of the army and discipline of the troops. 1 Kent, Comm. 377,

Those offenses which are cognizable by the courts military, as insubordination, sleeping on guard, desertion, etc.

A statute releasing an attachment issued against any property of any "soldiers in the actual military service of the United States" does not include a person in the naval service.

The soldiery of the kingdom of Great Britain.

Is synonymous with the term "military post," and means a place where troops are assembled, where military stores, animate and inanimate, are kept or distributed, where military dut

The various tenures by knight service, grand serjeanty, cornage, etc., are frequently called "military tenures," from the nature of the services which they involve. 1 Steph. Comm.

In English law. A nuncupative will, — that is, one made by word of mouth, — ^by which a soldier may dispose of his goods, pay, and other personal chattels, without the farms

Knights, and, In Scotch law, freeholders.

A body of persons enlisted and trained to military duty, but not kept in service, being subject only to service on call, as in case of invasion, insurrection, or riot. 94 111. 120.

A complicated engine or machine for grinding and reducing to fine particles grain, fruit, or other substance, or for performing other operations by means of wheels and a circular m

Formerly called the "Penitentiary at Millbank." A prison at Westminster, for convicts under sentence of t Bansportation, until the sentence or order shall be executed, or the convi

or MILL LEAT. A trench to convey water to or from a mill. St. 7 Jac. I. c. 19.

This term means merely coined money, and it is not necessary that it should be marked or rolled on the edges. Leach, C. C. 708.

The name of a coin. The milreis of Portugal is taken as money of account, at the custom house, to be of the value of one hundred and twelve cents. The milreis of Azores is deemed o

A testator must have a sound and disposing mind and memory. In other words, he "ought to be capable of making his will with an understanding of the nature of the business in person

In old records. A miner. MINIMA POENA CORPORALIS EST MAjor quallbet pecuniaria. The smallest bodily punishment is greater than any pecuniary one. 2 Inst. 220. MINIME MUTANDA SUNT Q

An old form of muniments (g. V.) Blount. The least possible quantity, amount or

The least is next to nothing. Bac. Arg. Low's Case of Tenures.

An association between the tenants in common of a mine, who work it together, and divide the profits in proportion to their several interests. 1 Mont. 224; 23 Cal. 198. It has been

In Governmental Law. An officer who is placed near the sovereign, and is invested with the administration of some one of the principal branches of the government. Ministers are res

That which Is done under the authority of a superior; opposed to judicial; as, the sheriff is a ministerial officer bound to obey the judicial commands of the court. When an office

Ministerial offices are those which give the officer no power to judge of the matter to be done, and which require him to obey some superior, many of which are merely employments r

A phrase used in English conveyancing to denote powers given for the good, not of the donee himself exclusively, or of the donee himself necessarily at all, but for the good of sev

Those which demand no further exercise of reason or understanding than every intelligent agent must necessarily employ; as, to convey an estate. They are a species of special trust

The party cross-examining a witness was so called, under the old system of the ecclesiastical courts. MINISTRI REGIS (Lat.) In old English law. Ministers of the king, applied to th

QUI INFRA AETATEM 12 ANnorum fuerit, utiagari non potest, nee extra legem poni, quia ante talem aetatem, non est sub lege aiiqua, nee in decenna. A minor who is under twelve years

In the law of evidence. A relative, collateral or subordinate fact; a circumstance. Wills, Circ. Ev. 27; Burrill, Circ. Ev. p. 121, note 582.

The state or condition of a minor; a status; infancy, depending for its existence upon the laws of the state in which the person is domiciled. 57 111. App. 496. The lesser number o

A minor cannot make oath. Co. Litt. 172b. An infant cannot be sworn on a jury. Litt. 289. MINOR MINOREM CUSTODIRE NON debet; alios enim praesumitur male regere qui seipsum regere n

The place designated by law where money is coined by authority of the government.

The charge at the mint for coining.

QUI TARDIUS SOLVit; nam et tempore minus solvitur. He does not pay who pays too late; for, from the de-

In Measures. In divisions of the circle or angular measures, a minute is equal to sixty seconds, or one-sixtieth part of a degree. In the computation of time, a minute is equal to

A book kept by the clerk or prothonotary of a court, in which minutes of its proceedings are entered.

In Scotch Practice. A pleading put into writing before the lord ordinary, as the ground of his judgment. Bell, Diet. In Business Law. Memoranda or notes of a transaction or proceed

Small tithes, usually belonging to the vicar; e. g., eggs, honey, wax, etc. 3 Burn, Ecc. Law, 680; 6 & 7. Wm. IV. c. 71, §§ 17, 18, 27.

In the civil law. Diminution.

The Mirror of Justices, a treatise written during the reign of Edward II.. Andrew Home is its reputed author. It was first published in 1642, and in 1768 it was translated into Eng

In Old English Law. The raise or issue in a writ of right. Spelman. In Old Records. A compact or agreement; a form of compromise. Cowell.

An accident by which an injury occurs to another. When applied to homicide, misadventure is the act of a man who, in the performance of a lawful act, without any intention to do ha

To cite falsely as a proof or argument.

Wrongful conversion of property by one to whom it has been intrusted. Steph. Dig. Crim. Law, 275. Somewhat similar to embezzlement in certain cases, as the misapplication cf funds

Improper or unlawful conduct. See 2 Mart. (La.; N. S.) 683. Generally applied to a breach of duty or propriety by an officer, witness, juror, etc., not amounting to a crime.

In Medical Jurisprudence. The expulsion of the ovum or embryo from the uterus within the first six weeks after conception. Between that time, and before the expiration of the sixth

An error in auditing and numbering. It does not include any pretended miscasting or misvaluing. 4 Bouv. Inst, note 4128.

Marriage between persons of different races.

Ignorant, or not knowing. St. 32 Hen. VIII. c. 9. Little used.

In practice. A continuance of a suit by undue process. Its effect is the same as a discontinuance. 2 Hawk. P. C. 299; Kitch. Cts. 231; Jenk. Cent. Cas. 57.

In old English law. An

(L. Fr.) In old English law. Apostates; unbelievers; infidels. Classed by Britton with the worst criminals; as murderers, robbers, prison-breakers, sorcerers, poisoners, etc. Britt

In old English law. To use improperly; to abuse. "If he misdemean an authority." Finch, Law, bk. 1, c. 3, No. 63.

A person guilty of a misdemeanor.

Every offense inferior to felony. See "Felony." MISE (Lat. mittere, through the French mettre, to place). In Pleading. The issue in a writ ot right. The tenant in a writ of right i

UBI JUS EST vagum aut incertum. It is a miserable slavery where the law is vague or uncertain. 4 Inst. 246; 9 Johns. (N. Y.) 427; 11 Pet. (U. S.) 286.. MISERABILE DEPOSITUM (Lat.)

The name and first word of one of the penitential psalms (Ps. li., 1), being that which was commonly used to be given by the ordinary to such condemned malefactors as were allowed

In old English law. A fine on the whole commtinity.

The performance of an act which might lawfully be done, in an improper manner, by which another person receives an injury. It differs from malfeasance or nonfeasance. See, generall

An adverse event not immediately dependent on the action or will of him who suffers from it, and of such a character that no prudent man would take it into his calculation in refer

An improper joinder, whether of actions, causes of action, offenses, parties, etc. See "Joinder." MISKENNING (Fr. mis, wrong, and Saxon cennan, summon). A wrongful citation; a vari

The use of a wrong name in designating any person in any instrument or proceeding. In contracts and deeds, a misnomer is generally immaterial if the person intended can be ascertai

Pleading incorrectly, or omitting anything in pleading which is essential to the support or defense of an action, is so called. 198 111. 466. Pleading "Not guilty" to an action of

In criminal law. A term used to signify every considerable misdemeanor which has not a certain name given to it by law. 3 Inst. 36. The concealment of a crime. Misprision of felony

The incorrect recital of a matter of fact, either in an agreement or a plea. Under the latter term is here understood the declaration and all the subsequent pleadings. See "Recital

The assertion of that which is not true. The nature of misrepresentations to entitle a party injured thereby varies with the nature of the relief sought, but in general the misrepr

A ship which has been at sea and unheard from for so long a time as to give rise to the presumption that she has perished with all on board. There is no precise time fixed as to wh