Lettre

Fr.

In French law. A letter. It is used, like our English "letter," for a formal instrument giving authority.

— Lettres de cachet. Letters issued and signed by the kings of France, and countersigned by a secretary of state, authorizing the imprisonment of a person. It is said that they were devised by P6re Joseph, under the administration of Richelieu. They were at first made use of occasionally as a means of delaying the course of justice ; but during the reign of Louis XIV. they were obtained by any person of sufficient influence with the king or his ministers. Under them, persons were imprisoned for life or for a long period on the most frivolous pretexts, for the gratification of private pique or revenge, and without any reason being assigned for such punishment. They were also granted by the king for the purpose of shielding his favorites or their friends from the consequences of their crimes; and thus were as pernicious in their operation as the protection afforded by the church to criminals in a former age. Abolished during the Revolution of 1789. Wharton.

I. fr.

In old English law. A letter; a conveyance or grant, so called from its form; a written authority to an attorney; a writ

In French law, a letter. It is used, like our English " letter," for a formal instrument giving authority. Lettres de cachet. Letters issued and signed by the kings of France, and countersigned by a secretary of state. It is said they were first made use of occasionally as a means of delaying the course of justice; but during the reign of Louis XIV. they were obtained by any person of sufficient influence with the king or his ministers; and persons were thus imprisoned for life, or for a long period, on the most frivolous pretexts, for the gratification of private pique or revenge, and without any reason being assigned for such punishment. They were also gran.ted by the king for the of shielding his favorites or their They were abolished during the revolution of 1789. Wharton. Levandae navis causa. For the sake of lightening the ship. This phrase is used, in discussing the law of general average, to denote a purpose of throwing overboard goods, which renders them subjects of general average. Levant et couchant. Rising up and lying down. A term applied to cattle which have remained long enough upon land to have lain down to rest and risen up to feed; generally held to be the space of a night and a day, or, at least, one night. Levari facias. That you cause to be levied. The name of a writ of execution at common law, commanding the sheriff to cause to be levied of the lands and chattels of the judgment debtor a sum mentioned, being that recovered by the judgment upon which the writ issues. The name, as is usual, is derived from the emphatic words in the Latin form of the writ. Under a levari facias the sheriff proceeded to sell the goods and chattels, and collect the rents, issues, and profits of the lands levied on, until the money was made. The writ was generally superseded by the elegit (q. v.), authorized by Stat. 13 Edw. I. (Westminster 2d), which proved to be a more effectual remedy. In the United States, the name has been applied to a writ authorizing the sale of mortgaged lands, to satisfy a judgment obtained by the mortgagee against the mortgagor, under a peculiar proceeding authorized by statute in some of the states. Levari facias damna de disseisitoribus. A writ formerly directed to the sheriff for the levying of damages, which a disseisor had been condemned to pay to the disseisee. Cowel. Levari facias quando vicecomea returnavit quod non habuit emptores. An old writ commanding the sheriff to sell the goods of a debtor which he had already taken, and had returned that he could not sell them; and as much more of the debtor's goods as would satisfy the whole debt. Cowel, Levari facias residuum debiti. An old writ directed to the sheriff, for levying the remnant of a partly satisfied debt upon the lands and tenements or chattels of the debtor. Cowel.