Fkatjs.L

A cheating; deceit; imposition; fraud. Compare Dolus. rraus est eelare fraudem. It is a fraud to conceal a fraud. Concealment (g. «.) may amount to fraud. Fraus latet in generalibus. Fraud lurks in general expressions. Pia &aus. Pious fraud: evasion of law to advance the interests of a religious institution. See Mortmain. FBiBE. Not subject to restraint or control; having freedom of will; at liberty; also, that on which no chai'ge is made. Compare Frank. 1. Liberated from control of parent, guardian, or master; SM,i juris: said of a child, ward, apprentice. 2. Individual; exclusive; privi'eged; independent; opposed to common: said of a fishery, a warren, and formerly of a City or town, qq. v. See also MUNICIPIUM. 3. Clear of offense, guiltless, innocent; also, released from arrest, liberated: used of persons acquitted or released from imprisdnment. 4. Open to all citizens alike: as, a free school, q. V. 5. Not arbitrary or despotic; assuring liberty; defending individual rights against encroachment by any person or class: as, a free government, free institutions.^ 6. Certain; honorable; becoming a freeman; opposed to base: as, free-socage, g. v. 7. That for which no charge is made for use; opposed to toll: as, a free bridge, q. v. Not gained by purchase: as, free admission, free passage. Free on board. In a contract for the sale and delivery of.goods "free on board " vessel, the seller is under no obligation to act until the buyer names the ship to which the delivery is to be made: until he knows that he could not put the articles on board.^ Compare Fbais. 8. Neutral: as in saying that "free ships make free goods." Freely. Without constraint, coercion, or compulsion.* See Duress; "Will, 1. ' Smith, Contr. 95; Eeed, St. Frauds. = Webster's Diet. ' Dwight II. Eckert, 117 Pa. 508 (1888), cases. Freedman. One made free; a manumitted slave. See Citizen, Amendments; Liberty, 1. Freeman. One born or made free as to civil rights. In the constitutions of Pennsylvania of 1776 and 1790, " freemen " described citizens who were capable of electing or being elected representatives of the people in the Provincial Council or General Assembly. The term with this meaning was brought by William Penn from England. A freeman is one in possession of the civil rights enjoyed by the people generally. This freedom of civil rights was termed his "freelaw," and W£is liable to forfeiture for disloyalty and infamy... The language of the amended constitution of 1838 was " white freeman." i In those constitutions, referring to the right of suffrage, does not include females." Freehold. The possession of soil by a freeman. Such estate as requires actual possession of the land. Such estate in lands as is conveyed by livery of seisin, or, in tenements of an incorporeal nature, by what is equivalent thereto; as, by receipt of rent.3 An estate in real property, of inheritance or for life; or, the term by which it is held.^ Any estate of inheritance or for life, in real property, whether it be a corporeal or incorporeal hereditament. 5 Also, the land itself. See Abatement, 1; Waste, 1. Freeholder. The actual owner of land. He was originally a suitor of the courts, a juror, voted for members of parliament, and could defend his title to land." Such as holds a freehold estate, that is, lands or tenements, in fee-simple, fee-tail, or for term of life.^ One who owns land in fee, or for life, or for some indeterminate period. The estate may be legal or equitable.' One who has title to real estate, irrespective of the amount or value thereof.' A freeholder whose estate is worth a specified sum, clear of incumbrances, is, by the law of some localities, privileged from arrest in civil actions; and he may not be required to furnish security for the performance of a legal obligation. See further Arkest, 3. 1 Mc Oafferty v. Guyer, 59 Pa. 115-18 (1868), Agnew, J. » Bumham i;. Lnnlng, 9 Phila. 841 (1871). ' [2 Bl. Com. 104, 809. * Gage V. Scales, 100 lU. 821 (1881), Craig, C. J. •4 Kent, 24. «2 Bl. Com. 120. ' Bradford v. State, 15 Ind. 353 (1860): Jacob. Freehold estates are: 1. Of inheritance — (a) absolute, as tenancy in fee-simple; (6) limited: qualified or base, and conditional — later, fees-tail. 2. Not of inheritance. These are chattel interests in lands. They are for life, and either conventional or legal; the lowest species is the estate for the life of another, i See Condition; Fee, 1; Feud: Shelley's Case.