observance is not to be departed from, and things which have a certain meaning are to be changed as little as possible.) ACQUEST, goods obtained by purchase or donation. Encyc. Lond.

Acquietantia de shiris et hundredis, to be free from suits and services in shires and hun

dreds. Cowel.

ACQUIETARE [quietam reddere], to acquit, absolve. Blount.

ACQUITANDIS PLEGIIS, a writ of justices lying for the surety against a creditor who refuses to acquit him after the debt is satis. fied. Reg. Writs, 158.

ACQUITTAL [acquitter, Fr., to free, acquit, or discharge], a deliverance and setting free of a person from the suspicion or guilt of an offence; also to be free from entries and molestations by a superior lord, for services issuing out of lands. Cowel. Acquittal is of two kinds.-1. Acquittal in deed, as when a person is cleared by verdict; and 2. Acquittal in law, as if two be indicted of a felony, the one as principal and the other as accessory, and the jury acquit the principal, by law the accessory is also acquitted. 2 Inst. 334.

ACQUITTANCE, a release or discharge in writing of a sum of money or debt due, as, where a man is bound to pay money on a bond, rent reserved upon a lease, &c., and the party to whom it is due, on receipt thereof, gives a writing under his hand witnessing that he is paid, this will be such a discharge in law, that he cannot demand and recover the sum or duty again if the acquittance be produced. Termes de la Ley, 15. ACRE [acker, Germ., ager, Lat.,] a parcel of land containing in length forty perches, and in breadth four perches, or in proportion to it, be the length or breadth more or less. By the customs of various counties, the perch differs in quantity, and consequently the acre of land, the difference running from 164 feet to 28. The general calculation is, that there are 4840 yards in an acre, i. e. 10 square chains of 22 yards each. The French acre, arpent, contains 1 English acre, or 54,450 square English feet, of which the English acre contains only 43,560. The Strasburg acre is about an English acre. The Welch acre contains commonly two English acres. The Irish acre is equal to 1 acre 2 roods and 19 perches English. The Scotch 6150 square yards, the Roman 3200, and the Egyptian aroura 3698.

ACRE, or ACRE-FIGHT, an old sort of duel fought by single combatants, English and Scotch, between the frontiers of their kingdoms with sword and lance. It was also called camp-fight, and the combatants, champions, from the open field that was the place of trial. Jacob.

ACROISA, or ACRUCIA, blindness. Du Fresne.

ACT BEFORE ANSWER, when the lords ordain probation to be led before they de

termine the relevancy, and then take both at
once under their determination. Scotch
Law.
An endeavour

ACT OF BANKRUPTCY.

by a trader to avoid his creditors, or delay, defeat, or evade their just demands. It must be committed within England or Wales, unless expressed otherwise by statute. It may be committed after the party has retired from trade, provided it be during the exist ence of a sufficient petitioning-creditor's debt, contracted either before the trading commenced or whilst in trade; it can never afterwards be purged or cancelled, but may be concerted or agreed upon between the trader and any creditor or other

person, and it must be committed within twelve months prior to the issuing of the fiat. The acts of bankruptcy are the following:-1. Departing the realm; 2, being out of the realm, remaining abroad; 3, departing from the dwelling house; 4, otherwise absenting himself; 5, beginning to keep house; 6, suffering himself to be arrested for any debt not due; 7, yielding himself to prison; 8, suffering himself to be outlawed; 9, procuring himself to be arrested, or his goods, monies, or chattels to be attached, sequestered, or taken in execution; 10, making, or causing to be made, either within the realm or elsewhere, any fraudulent grant or conveyance of any of his lands, tenements, goods, or chattels, 11, making, or causing to be made, any fraudulent surrender of any of his copyhold lands or tenements; 12, making, or causing to be made any fraudulent gift, delivery or transfer of any of his goods or chattels; 13, lying in prison twenty-one days; 14, escaping out of prison or custody; 15, filing a declaration of insolvency; 16, not paying or securing or compounding for debt within twenty-one days after affidavit filed, or giving bond, &c., under 1 & 2 Vict., c. 110, §8; 17, not appearing to summons or appearing and not admitting demand, or deposing to a good defence, or not paying, securing, or compounding for such demand within fourteen days, or giving bond, &c.; 18, appearing to suinmons and admitting demand, and not paying, tendering, securing, or compounding for such demand within fourteen days; 19, appearing to summons and admitting part of demand, and not deposing to a good defence as to residue, and not paying, tendering, receiving, or compounding for the sum admitted, or giving bond, &c., within fourteen days; 20, being served with an order of a Court of Equity, Bankruptcy, or Lunacy for payment of money, and neglecting to pay the same; 21, not paying, securing, or compounding for a judgment debt within fourteen days after notice; 22, filing petition in Insolvent Debtors' Court; 23, paying or securing petitioning-creditor's debt. As to the act of bankruptcy by a member of parliament, who is trader, see 6 Geo. IV., c. 16, s. 10; and see Flather's Archbold's Bankruptcy, tit. "The Acts of Bankruptcy." ACT OF CURATORY, extracted by the

clerk upon any one's acceptance of being curator. Scotch Law. ACT OF GRACE. The act so termed in Scotland was passed in 1696; it provides maintenance for debtors imprisoned by their creditors. It is usually applied in England to insolvent acts and general pardons at the beginning of a new reign or other great occasions. Encyc. Lond.

ACT OF PARLIAMENT. A statute, act, or edict, made by the Queen, with the advice and consent of the lords spiritual and temporal, and the commons, in parliament asseinbled. Acts of parliament form the leges scriptæ, i. e., the written laws of the kingdom. The oldest now extant is Magna Charta, and the earliest statute of which any record exists is that of Gloster, 6 Edwd. 1. The statutes from Magna Charta down to the end of the reign of Edward II., including also some which, (because it is doubtful to which of the three reigns of Hen. III., Edward I. or II. we should assign them), are termed incerti temporis, compose what have been called the vetera statuta; those from the beginning of the reign of Edward III. being contra-distinguished by the appellation of the nova statuta. An act of parliament cannot be altered, amended, dispensed with, suspended or repealed, but by the same authority of parliament which created it, the maxim being, that it requires the same strength to dissolve as to create an obligation.

Statutes are either public or private, general or special. A public or general act, is an universal rule applied to the whole community, which the Courts must notice judicially and ex officio, without being formally set forth by a party claiming an advantage under it. But special or private acts are rather exceptions than rules, since they only operate upon particular persons and private concerns, and the courts are not bound to take notice of them if they are not formally pleaded, unless an express clause is inserted in them, that they shall be deemed public acts, and shall be judicially taken notice of as such, without being specially pleaded; which provision is now most usually introduced. In order to convenience of reference, the printed Statute Book of each parliamentary Session, is classed thus:-1, Public general acts: 2, Local and personal acts, declared public; 3, Private acts, printed; 4, Private acts, not printed.

With regard to the different nature of their objects or provisions, public general acts are sometimes described as declaratory, penal, or remedial; declaratory, make plain what the common law is or has ever been, when it has become disputable by its obscurity: penal, impose punishments for offences committed; and remedial, supply defects or redress abuses in the existing law. They are also distinguished into enlarging or restraining, enabling or disabling acts.

The principal rules for the interpretation

of acts of parliament are the following:-1, That a statute begins to operate from the time when it receives the royal assent, unless otherwise provided for. But where an act expires before a bill continuing it has received the royal assent, the latter act takes effect from the expiration of the former, unless otherwise provided, and except as to penalty. (48 Geo. III., c. 106), 2 It is to be construed equitably, not according to its mere letter, but the intent and object with which it was made; 3, that these points be considered-the old law, the mischief and the remedy; 4, that a remedial statute be more liberally, and a penal more strictly construed; 5, in construing a statute, all other such statutes made in pari materia, ought to be taken into consideration; 6, a statute which treats of things and persons of an inferior rank, cannot by any general words be extended to those of a superior; 7, where the provision of a statute is general, everything which is necessary to make such provision effectual, is supplied by the common law; 8, a subsequent statute may repeal a prior one, not only expressly, but by implication, as when it is contrary thereto, i. e., so clearly repugnant that it necessarily implies a negative. But if the acts can stand together, they shall have a concurrent efficacy; 9, if a statute, that repeals another, is subsequently repealed, the repealed statute revives without any formal words; and 10, acts of parliament derogatory from the power of subsequent parliaments do not bind.

Statutes are variously cited: many of the old statutes are called after the name of the place where the parliament was held which passed them, as the Statute of Merton, or Marlebridge, or Winchester, or Westminster; others are denominated entirely from their subject, as the Fines and Recoveries Act, the non-arrest Act; some are distinguished from their initial words, as the statute Quia emptores or de donis. But since the time of Edward II, they are generally cited by naming the year of the king's reign in which the statute was created, together with the chapter or particular act, according to its numerical order, as 1 Wm. IV., c. 47. All the acts of a session together make properly but one statute, and therefore, when two sessions have been held in one year, it is usual to mention stat. 1 or 2. Consult Dwarris on the Statutes, and Stephen's Commentaries, vol. 1, § 3.

Acta

exteriora indicant interiora secreta, & Co. 146.-(External actions show internal secrets.)

ACTILIA, military utensils. Blount. Actio panalis in hæredem non datur, nisi fortè ex damno locupletior hæres factus sit. Vin. Com. 756.-(A penal action does not lie against the heir, unless indeed the heir is benefited from the wrong.)

Actio quælibet in suá vita. Jenk. Cent. 77.(Every action proceeds in its own way.) ACTION, the form prescribed by law for the

recovery of one's due, or it is a lawful demand of a person's right. The learned Bracton thus defines it :-" Actio nihil aliud est quam jus prosequendi in judicio quod alieni debetur (an action is nothing else than the right of prosecuting to judgment that which is due to any one), Celsus Dig. 44, tit. 7, § 51. Actions are divided into criminal and civil; criminal actions are more properly called prosecutions, and perhaps, actions penal, to recover some penalty under statute, are properly criminal actions. Actions civil are divided into three classes :-1, real, which concern real property only-they are three, action of dower, dower unde nihil habet, and quare impedit; 2, personal, such as concern contracts, both sealed and unsealed, and offences or trespasses; the former are called ex contractu—they are debt, promises, covenant, account, annuity, and scire facias; the latter are ex delicto, as case, trover, detinue, replevin, and trespass ri et armis; 3, mixed, which lie as well for the recovery of the thing as for damages for the wrong sustained, as ejectment. See 3 Bl. Com.; Stephens on Pleading; and Archbold's Criminal Pleading. For the classical learning on the subject, consult Smith's Dict. of Antiq., tit. “Actio.”

Actio injuriarum personalis moritur cum persona. Bacon (A personal action on a tort (i. e., ex delicto), dies with the person.) But if the tort or injury be of such a nature as that thereby property is acquired, which be nefits the testator, who was the wrong doer, an action for the value of the property would survive against the executor for legal waste, and equity would probably decide in respect of equitable waste, in analogy to law. Lansdowne v. Lansdowne, 1 Mad. 16; 3 & 4 Wm. IV., c. 42, s. 2.

Actio non datur non damnificato. Jenk. Cent. 69.-(An action is not given to him who is not injured.)

ACTION PREJUDICIAL, otherwise called preparatory or principal, an action arising from some doubt in the principal, as in case a man sue his younger brother for lands descended from the father, and it is objected against him that he is a bastard, this point of bastardy must be tried before the cause can proceed. It is, therefore, termed prejudicialis, i. e., prejudged.

ACTION OF A WRIT, a phrase used, when

a defendant pleads some matter by which he shews that the plaintiff had no cause to have the writ he brought, yet it may be that he is entitled to another writ or action for the same matter. Cowel.

ACTION OF ABSTRACTED MULTURES. An action for multures or tolls against those who are thirled to a mill, i. e., (bound to grind their corn at a certain mill), and fail to do so. Jacob.

ACTION FOR POYNDING ON THE GROUND, so called because founded upon some infeofment for an annuity (whether annual rents, life rent, or feu duty, &c.), that affects the ground, and that ground

being thus debitor, it is called debitum fundi (a debt of the ground), for which both moveables found upon the ground may be poynded (distrained), and these failing, the property affected by this servitude may be apprized or adjudged even in prejudice of intervening singular successors. Scotch Law. ACTION IN THE SCOTCH LAW, a prosecution by any party of his right, in order to obtain a judicial determination. Scotch Dict. ACTIONARE (in jus vocare), to prosecute one in a cause at law. Thorn's Chron. ACTIONARY, a commercial term used among foreigners for the proprietor of an action or share of a public company's stock. Actiones composite sunt, quibus inter se homines disceptarent, quas actiones, ne populus prout vellet institueret, certas solemnesque esse voluerunt. (Actions are disposed by which men dispute among themselves, which actions are made definite and solemn, lest the people proceed as they think proper.)

Actiones in personam, quæ adversus eum intenduntur, qui ex contractu vel delicto obligatus est aliquid dare vel concedere. (Personal actions which are brought against him who, from a contract or tort, is obliged to give or allow something.)

Actionum quædam sunt in rem, quædam in per sonam et quædam mixtæ. Co. Litt. 284. (Some actions are upon the thing (contract), some against the person, and some mixed.) ACTO (Acton, Aketon, Fr., Hanqueton). A coat of mail. Du Fresne. ACTON-BURNEL.

The Statute merchant

2 Edw. I., 1283, so termed from the place where it was made, situated in Shropshire. Cowel.

ACTOR, generally a plaintiff. In a civil or private action the plaintiff was often called by the Romans petitor; in a public action, (causa publica), he was called accusator. (Cic. Ad. Att. i. 16). The defendant was called Reus, both in private and public causes this term, however, according to Cicero (De Orat. ii. 43), might signify either party, as indeed we might conclude from the word itself. In a private action, the defendant was often called adversarius, but either party might be called so with respect to the other. Also a proctor or advocate in civil courts or causes. Actor dominicus was often used for the lord's bailiff or attorney. Actor ecclesiæ was sometimes the forensic term for the advocate or pleading patron of a church. Actor villa was the steward or head bailiff of a town or village. Cowel. In the Common Law action of replevin, both parties are deemed plaintiffs (actores), and therefore, when the record is carried down for trial by the defendant (which is usually the case), it is not necessary to have the proviso in the jury process (distringas), as

in

cases of trial by proviso, although in practice it is usually inserted. As either party is at liberty to carry the cause down for trial, the defendant is not entitled to

move for judgment as in case of a nonsuit under 14 Geo. II., c. 17, § 1; but if either plaintiff or defendant give notice of trial, and afterwards do not proceed to try the cause, or countermand their notice in time, the opposite party will be entitled to costs, as in ordinary cases. Chit. Arch. Prac. 807; Woodfall's Land. and Ten. by Harrison, 741.

In all bills for an account in equity, both parties are deemed plaintiffs (actores), and therefore the defendant, contrary to the ordinary proceedings, is entitled to orders in the cause, to which a plaintiff alone is generally entitled, as for instance, an order for a ne exeat regno, even against a co-defendant. So it is a general rule, that no person but a plaintiff can entitle himself to a decree; but in bills for account, if a balance be ultimately found in favour of a defendant, he is entitled to a decree for such balance against the plaintiff. And though a defendant cannot ordinarily revive a suit, which has not proceeded to a decree, yet in a bill for an account, if the plaintiff die after an interlocutory decree to account, the defendant can revive the suit against the plaintiff's personal representatives. And if the defendant die his personal representatives may revive against the plaintiff. Story's Eq. Jurisp. vol. 1, p. 425.

Actor sequitur forum rei. Home's L. T. 232. -(A plaintiff follows the court.) Actori incumbit onus probandi, Hob. 103.-(The weight of proof lies on a plaintiff.) ACTS DONE, distinguished into acts of God, of the law, and of men, hence the following maxims:

Actus curia nemini gravabit. Jenk. Cent. 118.--(An act of the court hurts no person.) Actus Dei vel legis nemini est damnosus, or facit injuriam. 5 Co. 87.-(An act of God or of law is hurtful to no one.) Actús inceptus cujus perfectio pendet voluntate partium revocari potest; si autem pendet ex voluntate tertiæ personæ, vel ex contingenti, revocari non potest. Bacon.—(An act already begun, the completion of which depends on the will of the parties, may be recalled; but, if it depend on the consent of a third person, or on a contingency, it cannot be recalled.)

Actus legitimi non recipiunt modum. Hob. 153. -(Legitimate actions do not receive, any measure.)

Actus me invito factus, non est meus actus. (An act done by me against my will is not my act.)

Actus non facit reum, nisi mens sit rea, 3 Inst. 307.-(An act itself works no offence unless the mind be guilty.)

Actus repugnans non potest in esse produci. Plowd. 355.-(A repugnant act cannot be produced as in responsible existence.) ACTS OF SEDERUNT, ordinances of the Court of Session, under authority of the act 1540, c. 93, by which authority is given to make such statutes as may be necessary for the ordering of processes and the expe

dition of justice. The Court is also authorized by other acts of parliament to make enactments relative to certain matters therein pointed out. Scotch Law. ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. The

acts of the general assembly, issued under their legislative powers, are binding on all the members and judicatories of the church. The form of their procedure is regulated by an act of the church (1679) termed the barrier act. Scotch Law.

ACTUARY, a clerk that registers the acts and constitutions of the convocation; also the registrar in the Court Christian. Jacob. Also an officer appointed to keep Savings Banks' accounts, or the proceedings of a common Court.

ADAR (the same meaning as Aries, a ram, mighty). The twelfth sacred month of the Jewish calendar, and sixth of their civil year, answering to the end of February and beginning of March. As the lunar year which the Jews followed in their calculations is shorter than the solar by about eleven days, which at the end of three years make a month, they then intercalate a thirteenth month, which they call Veadar, or the second Adar. Brown's Dict. of Bible; Jahn's Bib. Antiq c. vi. § 103. ADCORDABILIS DENARII, money paid by a vassal to his lord upon the selling or exchanging of a feud. Encyc. Lond. ADCREDULITARE, to purge one's self of an offence by oath. Leges Mæ. c. 36. ADDITION, the title or estate and place of abode given to a person besides his name. Termes de la Ley, 20.

Additio probat minoritatem. 4 Inst. 80.—(An addition proves minority.)

Ad ea quæ frequentius accidunt jura adaptantur. Wing. 216.-(The laws are adapted to those cases which more frequently arise.) ADELING, ETHLING or EDLING, [ædelan, Sax.], noble, excellency. A title of honour among the Anglo-Saxons, properly belonging to the king's children. Spelm. Glos. ADELINGIA. Athelney in Somersetshire. ADEMPTION, a taking away of a legacy, i. e., if a testator, after having given a legacy hy his will, alienate the subject of it during his life, it is an ademption. Ambl. 402. A digniori fieri debet denominatio et resolutio. Wing. 265.-(The title and exposition ought to be made from that which is most worthy.)

AD INQUIRENDUM, a judicial writ commanding enquiry to be made of anything relating to a cause in the Superior Courts. Reg. Judic.

ADJOURNMENT, a putting off until another time or place. An adjournment of parliament is a continuance of the session from one day to another. I Bl. Com. 185. The consul used to dismiss the Roman Senate in the following words: "Nil vos morarum, Patres Conscripti." Juvenal, Sat. iv. 144. Adjournment of parliament differs from prorogation, the former being not only for the shorter

time, but also done by the Houses themselves, whereas the latter is an act of royal authority.

Adjournamentum est ad diem dicere, seu diem dare. 4 Inst. 27.—(An adjournment is to appoint a day, or to give a day.) ADIRATUS, a price or value set upon things stolen or lost, as a recompence to the owner. Cowel. ADJUDICATION, giving or pronouncing judgment, a sentence, or decree. But in Scotch Law it is used to express the diligence by which land is attached in security and payment of debt, or by which a feudal title is made up in a person holding an obligation to convey without procuratory or precept. There is thus, 1. the adjudication for debt; 2. The adjudication in security; and 3. the adjudication in implement. Scotch Law.

ADJUDICATION SPECIAL, when the Lords of Sessions, proportionably to the suins due, adjudge to the creditor some part of the debitor's lands, with a fifth part more beside composition due to the superior, and the expences for obtaining enfeoftment; but if the debitor do not consent to such an adjudication, in the terms of the act 1672, all his lands and other heritable subjects are adjudged in the same manner as they were formerly apprized. Scotch Law. ADJUDICATION

AFTER THE OLD FORM, when the hæreditas jacens (the heir having renounced), is adjudged to the creditor for payment of his money. Scotch Law. ADJUDICATION UPON OBLIGEMENT, when a man having obliged himself to enfeoff another in lauds disponed by him, the Lords adjudge upon his refusal to perform. Scotch Law.

AD JURA REGIS, a writ brought by the king's clerk presented to a living against those endeavouring to eject him, to the prejudice of the king's title. Reg. of Writs, 61. ADJUSTMENT OF A LOSS, the settling and ascertaining the amount of the indemnity which the assured, after all allowances and deductions made, is entitled to receive under the policy, and fixing the proportion which each underwriter is liable to pay. Marsh, 529.

ADIATION, a term used in the laws of Hol

land for the application of property by an executor. Knapp Rep. Privy Council, p. 107. ADLAMWR [ad-lam-gwr, one returning]. A proprietor who, for some cause, entered the service of another proprietor without agreement, if he left him after the expiration of a year and a day, he was liable to the payment of thirty pence to his patron. Welch

Law.

AD LAPIDEM, Stoneham in Hampshire. AD LARGUM, at large, used in the following and other expressions: title at large, assize at large, verdict at large, to vouch at large, &e. Cowel.

ADLEGIARE [aleier, Fr.], to purge of a crime by oath. Brompt. Chron. c. 4 & 13. ADMANUENSES, persons who swore by lay

ing their hands on the book. Old Law Books. ADMEASUREMENT, WRIT OF. It lies against persons who usurp more than their share, in the two following cases :-admeasurement of dower, where the widow holds from the heir more land, &c., as dower, than rightly belongs to her; and admeasurement of pasture, which lies between those having common of pasture, where any one or more of them surcharges the common. Termes de la Ley, 23.

ADMINICLE, aid, help, or support, 1 Edw. IV., c. 1. In the Scotch Law, it is a term used in the action of proving the tenor of a lost deed, and applicable to any deed or even scroll tending to establish the existence or terms of the deed in question. ADMINISTRATOR, he to whom the goods and effects of a person dying intestate are committed by the ordinary. The following are limited administrations:-Administration durante minori atate, is where an infant is made executor, in which case, administration with will annexed, is granted to another, until the infant executor attain the age of seventeen years, when this administration ceases. But where an infant is sole executor, the 38 Geo. III., c. 87, s. 6, provides, that probate shall not be granted unto him until his full age of twenty-one years, and that administration, with the will annexed, shall in the mean time be granted to his guardian, or such other person as the Spiritual Court shall think fit. Administration durante absentia is granted, when the next of kin is beyond sea, lest the goods perish or the debts be lost. Administration pendente lite, is granted where a suit is commenced in the Ecclesiastical Court concerning the validity of a will, until the suit be determined, in order that there should be somebody to take care of the testator's estate. Administration cum testamento annexo, granted when there is not any executor named in the will, or if an incapable person be named, or a person named who refuses to act. Administration de bonis non, granted when the first administrator dies before he has fully administered. An ancillary administration, because it is subordinate to the original administration, for collecting the assets of foreigners taken out in the country, where the assets are locally situate. Consult Toller on Executors, or Williams' Executors and Administrators, Story's Conflict of Laws, 518, 522. ADMINISTRATRIX, a woman who has goods and chattels of an intestate committed to her charge in like manner as an administrator. Blount.

ADMIRAL [supposed to be derived of Amir, Arab., a governor, and λios, Gk., belonging to the sea], a high officer or magistrate having the command of the Royal Navy. The word is said by others to be derived from the Saxon aen mere al, over all the sea; the office of the admiralty, anciently, was called custodia maritima Anglia. Spel. Glos. An admiral has two subordinate commanders under him, a vice-admiral and rear-admira!,