Charge

A burden; a duty or liability attached to, or obligation imposed upon, a person; an incumbrance or lien upon land; an instruction given by the judge to a petit jury after the case is closed as to matters of law arising upon the evidence, — general, where it is upon the entire case, special, where it is by request, and upon special points; an address by the judge to a grand jury before they proceed to consider matters presented to them, instructing them as to their duty; a statement in writing by a party to a suit in equity, made before a master, of the items with which the opposite party should be debited, v. Charge, supra. Charge and discharge: the mode or form of accounting in equity where the complainant delivers his account to the master in the form of a charge, and the defendant his objections or counter-claim by way of discharga In Scots law. The command of the king's letters to perform some act, as, a charge to enter heir; a messenger's execution, requiring a person to obey the order of the king's letters, as, a charge on letters of horning, or a charge against a superior.