Articles

A writing drawn up in an articulate form, that is, under distinct heads or divisions; as, a system of rules established by legal authority, e. g. articles of war, articles of the navy, articles of faith (qq. v.); a writing or instrument executed between parties, containing stipulations or terms of agreement, e. g. articles of agreement, articles of partnership, the articles of confederation of the United States; a statute, as having its provisions articulately expressed under distinct heads; a complaint at law drawn up in articulate form, as articles of the peace (q. v.); heads or items of judicial inquiry.

In American law

Articles of confederation: the compact between the original thirteen states of the Union.

In English law

Articles of faith: the system of faith of the Church of England, more commonly known as the Thirty-nine Articles; framed by Cranmer, and revised by the convocation of 1563. Articles of the navy: a system of regulations for the fleet, established under the statutes 33 Geo. II., c.

33, and 19 Geo. III., c. 17.

Articles of the peace: a complaint exhibited under oath to a court or to a justice of the peace, in order to compel a party who is meditating an injury to another to find sureties of the peace. Articles of union: articles agreed to in 1707, by the parliaments of England and Scotland, for the union of the two kingdoms. Articles of war: a system of rules for the government of the army. In Scots law. Articles of roup. The conditions under which property is exposed to sale by auction.