Farm
Farm. A Certain Amount Of Provision Reserved As The Rent Of A Messuage. Spel Man, Gloss. Rent Generally Which Is Reserved On A Lease ; When It Was To Be Paid In Money, It Was Called Blanche Firme. Spelman, Gloss. ; 2 Black Stone, Comm. 42. A Term. A Lease ...
Father
Father. He By Whom A Child Is Be Gotten. 2. By Law The Father Is Bound To Support His Children, If Of Sufficient Ability, Even Though They Have Property Of Their Own, 1 'brown, Ch. 387 ; 4 Id. 224; 2 Cox, N. J. 223 ; 4 Mass. 97 ; ...
Fault
Fault. An Improper Act Or Omission, Which Arises From Ignorance, Carelessness, Or Negligence. The Act Or Omission Must Not Have Been Meditated, And Must Have Caused Some Injury To Another. Lee. Elem. 4 783. See Dotus ; Negligence ; 1 Miles, Penn. 40. Gross Fault Or Neglect Consists In Not ...
Fbudum
Fbudum. A Feud, Fief, Or Fee. A Right Of Enjoying Forever The Lands Of An Othe•, Which The Lord Grants On Condition That The Tenant 'shall Render Fealty, Military Duty, And Other Services. Spelman, Gloss. It Is Not Properly The Land, But A Right In The Land. This Form Of ...
Fcetits
Fcetits (lat.). In Medical Jurispru Dence. An Unborn Child. An Infant In Ventre Sa Mere. 2. Until About The Middle Of The Fourth Month It Is Called Embryo. At That Time The Development Of The Principal Organs Begins To Be Evident And They Present Something Of Their Mature Form. Although ...
Fee
Fee. A Reward Or Wages Given To One For The Execution Of His Office, Or For Profes Sional Services, As Those Of A Counsellor Or Physician. Cowel. Fees Differ From Costa In This, That The Former Are, As Above Mentioned, A Recompense To The Officer For His Services ; And ...
Felony S
Felony. S. A Private Person Who Is Present When A Felony Is Committed, 1 Mood. 93 ; 3 Wend. N. Y. 353 ; 12 Ga. 293 ; Or During The Coin Mission Of A Breach Of The Peace, 10 Clark & F. Hou. L. 28 ; 1 Crompt. M. & ...
Feodal Law Feudallaw
Feudal Law, Feodal Law. A System Of Tenures Of Real Property Which Prevailed In The Countries Of Western Europe During The Middle Ages, Arising From The Peculiar Political Condition Of Those Countries, And Radically Affecting The Law Of Personal Rights And Of Movable Property. 2. Although The Feudal System Has ...
Ferry
Ferry. A Liberty To Have A Boat Upon A River For The Transportation Of Men, Horses, And Carriages With Their Contents, For A Res. Sonable Toll. 42 Me. 9 ; 3 Zabr. N. J. 206 ; Woolrych, Ways, 217. The Term Is Also Used To Designate The Place Where Such ...
Fiat In Bankruptcy
Fiat In Bankruptcy. An Order Of The Lord Chancellor That A Cornmissi•n Of Bankruptcy Shall Issue. 1 Deacon, Batik. 106. Fiats Are Abolished By 12 & 13 Viet. C. 116. Fiction. The Legal Assumption That Something Which Is Or May Be False Is True. 2. The Expedient Of Fictions Is ...
Fictitious Payee
Fictitious Payee. When A Con Tract, Such As Negotiable Paper, Is Drawn In Favor Of A Fictitious Person, And Has Been Indorsed In Such Name, It Is Deemed Payable To Bearer As Against All Parties Who Are Privy To The Transaction ; And A Holder In Good Faith May Recover ...
Fieri Facias
Fieri Facias (lat. That You Cause To Be Made). In Practice. A Writ Directing The Sheriff To Cause To Be Made Of The Goods And Chattels Of The Judgment-debtor The Sum Or Debt Recovered. It Receives Its Name From The Latin Words In The Writ (used When Legal Proceedings Were ...
Figures
Figures. Numerals. They Are Either Roman, Made With Letters Of The Alphabet: For Example, Mdcclxxvi ; Or They Are Arabic, As Follows : 1776. 2. Roman Figures May Be Used In Contracts And Law Proceedings, And They Will Be Held Valid ; But Arabic Figures, Probably Owing To The Ease ...
Finder
Finder. One Who Lawfully Comes To The Possession Of Another's Personal Property, Which Was Then Lost. 2. The Finder Is Entitled To Certain Rights, And Liable To Duties Which He Is Obliged To Perform. This Is A Species Of Deposit, Which, As It Does Not Arise Ex Contractu, May Be ...
Fine
Fine. In Conveyancing. An Amicable Composition Or Agreement Of A Suit, Either Actual Or Fictitious, By Leave Of The Court, By Which The Lands In Question Become, Or Are Acknowledged To Be, The Right Of One Of The Parties. Coke, Litt. 120 ; 2 Blackstone, Comm. 349 ; Bacon, Abr. ...
Firm
Firm. The Persons Composing A Part Nership, Taken Collectively. The Name Or Title Under Which The Mem Bers Of A Partnership Transact Business. The Word Is Used As Synonymous With Partner Ship. The Words "house," "concern," And Com Pany" Are Also Used In The Same Sense. This Name Is In ...
Fishery
Fishery. A Place Prepared For Catch Ing Fish With Nets Or Hooks. This Is Com Monly Applied To The Place Of Drawing A Seine Or Net. 1 Whart. Penn. 131, 132. A Common Of Fishery Is Not An Exclusive Right, But One Enjoyed In Common With Cer Tain Other Persons. ...
Fixtures
Fixtures. Personal. Telnittels To Real Estate, Which May Be Severed And Re Moved By The Party Who Has Affixed Them, Or By His Personal Representative, Against The Will Of The Owner Of The Freehold. 2. Questions Frequently Arise As To Whether Given Appendages To A House Or Laud Are To ...
Florida
Florida. The Name Of One Of The New States Of The United States Of America. 2. It Was Admitted Into The Union By Virtue Of The Act Of Congress Entitled "an Act For The Admis Sion Of The States Of Iowa And Florida Into The Union," Approved March 3, 1845. ...
For Torts
For Torts. By Husband Or Wife. The Act Of A Hus Band Or Wife Who Leaves His Or Her Consort Wilfully And With An Intention Of Causing Perpetual Separation. See Desertion. Insurance. The Transfer By An Assured To His Underwriters Of His Interest In The In Sured Subject, Or The ...
Force
Force. Restraining Power ; Validity ; Binding Effect. A Law May Be Said To Be In Force When It Is Not Repealed, Or, More Loosely, When It Can Be Carried Into Practieal Effect. An Agreement Is In Force When The Parties To It May Be Compelled To Act, Or Are ...
Forcheapum
Forcheapum. Pre-emption. Blount. Forcible Entry Or Er. A Forcible Entry Or Detainer Consists In Violently Taking Or Keeping Possession Of Lands, Or Tenements, By Means Of Threats, Force, Or Arms, And Without Authority Of Law. Comyns, Dig. ; Gabbett, Crim. Law. 2. To Make An Entry Forcible, There Must Be ...
Foreign Judgment
Foreign Judgment. The Judg Ment Of A Foreign Tribunal. 2. The Various States Of The United States Are In This Respect Considered As Foreign To Each Other. In Louisiana It Has Been De Cided That A Judgment Rendered By A Spanish Tribunal Under The Former Government Of That State Is ...
Foreign Judgment
Foreign Judgment. The Judg Ment Of A Foreign Tribunal. 2. The Various States Of The United States Are In This Respect Considered As Foreign To Each Other. In Louisiana It Has Been De Cided That A Judgment Rendered By A Spanish Tribunal Under The Former Government Of That State Is ...
Foreign Laws
Foreign Laws. The Laws Of A Foreign Country. 2. The Courts Do Not Judicially Take Notice Of Foreign Laws; And They Must, Therefore, Be Proved As Facts. Cowp. 144; 3 Esp. Cas. 163; 3 Oomph. 166 ; 2 Dow & C. Hou. L. 171 ; 1 Cranch, 38 ; 2 ...
Forfeiture
Forfeiture. A Punishment Annexed By Law To Some Illegal Act Or Negligence In The Owner Of Lands, Tenements, Or Heredita Ments, Whereby He Loses All His Interest Therein, And They Become Vested In The Party Injured As A Recompense For The Wrong Which He Alone, Or The Public Together With ...
Forgery
Forgery. The Falsely Making Or Ma Terially Altering, With Intent To Defraud, Any Writing Which, If Genuine, Might Apparently Be Of Legal Efficacy Or The Foundation Of A Legal Liability. 2 Bishop, Crim. Law, 432. The Fraudulent Making And Alteration Of A Writing To The Prejudice Of Another Man's Right. ...
Formation Of The Obligation
Formation Of The Obligation. 14. In Construing The Language Of The Eon Tract To Decide Whether It Constitutes An Ori Ginal Promise Or A Guaranty, It Is Difficult To Lay Down A General Rule: The Circumstances Of Particular Cases Vary Widely. The Word Guaranty Or Surety May Or May Not ...
Forum
Forum. In Roman Law. The Paved Open Space In. Cities, Particularly In Rome, Where Were Held The Solemn Business Assem Blies Of The People, The Markets, The Exchange (whence Cedere Ford, To Retire From 'change, Equivalent To "to Become Bankrupt"), And Where The Magistrates Sat To Transact The Busi Ness ...
Fost Facto 7
Fost Facto. 7. A Statute Is Not To Be Deemed Repealed Merely By The Enactment Of Another Statute On The Same Subject. There Must Be A Posi Tive Repugnancy Between The Provisions Of The New Law And The Old, Tework A Repeal By Implication ; And Even Then The Old ...
Francigena
Francigena. A Designation For Merly Given To Aliens In England. Frankalmoigne. A Species Of Ancient Tenure, Still Extant In England, Whereby A Religious Corporation, Aggregate Or Sole, Holds Its Lands Of The Donor, In Con Sideration Of The Religious Services It Per Forms. 2. The Services Rendered Being Divine, The ...
Fraud
Fraud. The Unlawful Appropriation Of Another's Property, With Knowledge, By De Sign, And Without Criminal Intent. Fraud Is Sometimes Used As A Term Synonymous With Covill Collusion, And Deceit, Hut Improperly So. Coat& Is A Secret Contrivance Between Two Or More Persons To Defraud And Prejudice Another Of His Rights. ...
Freedom
Freedom. The Condition Of One To Whom The Law Attributes The Single Individual Right Of Personal Liberty, Limited Only, In The Domestic Relations, By Powers Of Control Which Are Associated With Duties Of Protec Tion. See Husband And Wife ; Parent And Child; Guardian And Ward; Master And 'apprentice. 2. ...
Fugitive Slave
Fugitive Slave. ,one Who, Held In Bondage, Flees From His Master's Power. 2. Prior To The Adoption Of The Constitution Of The United States, The Duty Of Surrender Ing Slaves Fleeing Beyond The Jurisdiction Of The State Or Colony Where They Were Held To Service Was Not Regarded As A ...
Funding System
Funding System. The Practice Of Borrowing Money To Defray The Expenses Of Government. 2. In The Early History Of The System It Was Usual To Set Apart The Revenue From Some Particular Tax As A Fund To The Principal And Interest Of The Loan. The Earliest Record Of The Funding ...
Funeral Expenses
Funeral Expenses. Money Ex Pended In Procuring The Interment Of A Corpse. 2. The Person Who Orders The Funeral Is Responsible Personally For The Expenses, And If The Estate Of The Deceased Should Be Insol Vent, He Must Lose The Amount. But If There Are Assets Sufficient To Pay These ...
Gaming
Gaming. A Contract Between Two Or More Persons Bywhich They Agree To Play By Certain Rules At Cards, Dice, Or Other Contri Vance, And That One Shall Be The Loser• And The Other The Winner: When Considered In'itself, And Without Regard To The End Propose& By The Players, There Is ...
Gaseous
Gaseous. Irritant Poisons, When Taken In Ordinary Doses, Occasion Speedily Violent Vomiting And Purging, Preceded, Accompanied, Or Followed By Intense Pain In The Abdomen, Commencing In The Region Of The Stomach. The Oorrosive Poisons, As Distinguished From Those In A More Limited Sense Termed Irritant, Generally Produce Their Result More ...
General Average
General Average (also Called Gross) Con Sists Of Expense Purposely Incurred, Sacrifice Made, Or Damage Sustained For The Common Safety Of The Vessel, Freight, And Cargo, Or The Two Of Them, At Risk, And Is To Be Contributed For By The Several Interests In The Proportion Of Their Respective Values ...
General Warrant
General Warrant. A Process Which Used To Issue From The State Secretary's Office, To Take Np (without Naming Any Person In Particular) The Author, Printer, And Pub Lisher Of Such Obscene And Seditious Libels As Were Particularly Specified In It. It Was De Clared Illegal And Void For Uncertainty By ...
Georgia
Georgia. The Name Of One Of The Ori Ginal Thirteen .states .of The United States Of America. 2. It Was Called After George Il, King Cif Great Britain, Under Whose Reign It Was Colonized. In 1752, George Ii. Granted A Charter To Com Pany Consisting Of General James Oglethorpe, Lord ...
Gift
Gift. A Voluntary Conveyance ; That Is, A Conveyance Not Founded On The Considera Tion Of Money Or Blood. The Word Denotes Rather The Motive Of The Con Veyance: So That A Feoffment Or Grant May Be °ailed A Gift When Gratuitous. A Gift Is Of The Same Nature As ...
Government
Government (lat. Gubernaeulum, A Rudder. The Romans Compared The State To A Vessel, And Applied The Term Gubernator, Helmsman, To The Leader Or Actual Ruler Of A State. From The Latin, This Word Has Passed Into Most Of The Modern European Languages). That Institution Or Aggregate Of Institutions By Which ...
Grand Jury
Grand Jury. In Practice. A Body Of Men, Consisting Of Not Less Than Twelve Nor More Than Twenty-four, Respectively Returned By The Sheriff Of Every County To Every Session Of The Peace, Over And Terminer, And General Gaol Delivery, To Whom Indictments Are Pre Ferred. 4 Blackstone, Comm. 302;.1 Chitty, ...
Ground Rent
Ground Rent. Rent Paid For The Pri Vilege Of Building On Another Man's Land. Johnson ; Webster. A Rent Reserved By The Owner Of Unimproved Land Upon A Lease Of The Land To Be Built Upon, As Contradistin Guished From The Rent Paid To The Lessee By His Tenant Of ...
Guaranty
Guaranty. An Undertaking To Answer For Another's Liability, And Collateral Thereto. A Collateral Undertaking To Pay The Debt Of Another In Case He Does Not Pay It. Shaw, C. J., 24 Pick. Mass. 252. It Is Distinguished From Suretyship In Being A Secondary, While That Is A Primary, Obliga Tion; ...
Guardian
Guardian. One Who Legally Has The Care And Management Of The Person, Or The Estate, Or Both, Of A Child During Its Minority. Reeve, Dom. Rel. 311. A Person Having The Control Of The Property Of A Minor Without That Of His Person Is Known In The Civil Law, As ...
Guardian Ad Litem
Guardian Ad Litem. A Guardian Appointed For The Purposes Of A Suit. 2. Tne Appointment Of Such Is Incident To The P Iwor Of Every Court To Try A Case, N. Y. 430 ; And The Power Is Then Confined To The Particular Case At Bar. Coke, Litt. 89, N. ...
Guerrilla Party
Guerrilla Party (span. Guerra, War ; Guerrilla, A Little War). In Military Law. Self-constituted Sets Of Armed Men, In Times Of War, Who Form No Integrant Part Of The Organized Army, Do Not Stand On The Regular Pay-roll Of The Army, Or Are Not Paid At All, Take Up Arms ...
Habeas Corpus
Habeas Corpus (lat. That You Have The Body). A Writ Directed To The Person Detaining Another, And Commanding Him To Produce The Body Of The Prisoner At A Certain Time And Place, With The Day And Cause Of His Caption And Detention, To Do, Submit To, And Receive Whatsoever The ...
Half Sister Half Brother
Half-brother, Half-sister. Persons Who Have The Same Father, But Dif Ferent Mothers ; The Same Mother, But Dif Ferent Fathers. A Copper Coin Of The United States, Of The Value Of One Two-hun Dredth Part Of A Dollar, Or Five Mills. This Coin Was Authorized By Resolution Of Congress, Passed ...
Hamesucken
Hamesucken. In Scotch Law. The Crime Of Hamesucken Consists In "the Felonious Seeking And Invasion Of A Person In His Dwellingshouse." 1 Hume, 312; Burnett, 86; Alison, Crim. Law Of Scotl. 199. 2. Th6 Mere Breaking Into A House, With Out Personal Violence, Does Not Constitute The Offence, Nor Does ...
Health
Health. Freedom From Pain Or Sick Ness; The Most Perfect State Of Animal Life. It May Be Defined, The Natural Agreement Acid Concordant Disposition Of The Parts Of The Living Body. Public Health Is An Object Of The Utmost Import Ance, And Has Attracted The Attention Of The National And ...
Hearsay Evidence
Hearsay Evidence. That Kind Of Evidence Which Does Not Derive Its Value Solely From The Credit To Be Given To The Wit Ness Himself, But Rests Also, In Part, On The Veracity And Competency Of Some Other Per Son. I Phillipps, Ev. 185. 2. The Term Applies To Written As ...
Heir
Heir. At Common Law. He Who Is Born Or Begotten In Lawful Wedlock, And Upon Whom The Law Casts The Estate In Lands, Tene Ments, Or Hereditaments Immediately Upon The Death Of His Ancestor. The Term Heir Has A Very Different Signification At Common Law From What It Hae In ...
Highway
Highway. A Passage, Road, Or Street Which Every Citizen Has A Right To Use. 1 Bouvier, Inst. N. 442; 3 Kent, Comm. 432; 3 Yeates, Penn. 421. The Term Highway Is The Generic Name For All Kinds Of Public Ways, Whether They Be Carriage Ways, Bridle-ways, Foot-ways, Bridges, Turnpike Roads, ...
Homicide
Homicide (lat. Homo, A Man, Cedere, To Kill). The Killing Any Human Creature. 4 Blackstone, Comm. 177. The Killing Of A Man By A Man. 1 Hawkins, Pl. Cr. C. 8, 2; 5 Cush. Mass. 303. Excusable Homicide Is That Which Takes Place Under Such Circumstances Of Accident Or Necessity ...
How Far Admissible Parol
Parol Evidence, How Far Admissible. The Rule In Regard To The Admissibility Of Parol Evidence To Vary, Control, Or To Render Intelligible The Words Of A Will, Is Not Essen Tially Different From That Which Obtains In Re Gard To Contracts. It May Be Received To Show The State Of ...
Husband
Husband. A Man Who Has A Wife. 2. As To His Obligations. He Is Bound To Receive His Wife At His Home, And Should Fur Nish Her With All The Necessaries And Conve Niences Which His Fortune Enables Him To Do, And Which Her Situation Requires ; But This Does ...
Hypothecation
Hypothecation. A Right Which A Creditor Has Over A Thing Belonging To Another, And Which Consists In A Power To Cause It To Be Sold, In Order To Be Paid His Claim Out Of The Proceeds. There Are Two Species Of Hypothecation, One Called Pledge, Pipit's, And The Other Properly ...
Identity
Identity. Sameness. In Cases Of Lar Ceny, Trover, And Replevin, The Things In Ques Tion Must Be Identified. 4 Blackstone, Comm. 396. So, Too, The Identity Of Articles Taken Or Injured Must Be Proved In All Indictments Where Taking Property Is The Gist Of The Offence, And In Actions Of ...
Idiocy
Idiocy. In Medical Jurisprudence. A Form Of Insanity, Resulting Either From Con Genital Defect, Or Some Obstacle To The Deve Lopment Of The Faculties In Infancy. 2. It Always Implies Some Defect Or Disease Of The Brain, Which Is Generally Smaller Than The Standard Size And Irregular In Its Shape ...
Idiot
Idiot. A Person Who Has Been Without Understanding From His Nativity, And Whom The Law, Therefore, Presumes Never Likely To Attain Any. Shelford, Lun. 2. 2. It Is An Imbecility Or Sterility Of Mind, And Not A Perversion Of The Understanding. Chitty, Med. Jur. 327, Note S, 345; 1 Russell, ...
Ignorance
Ignorance. The Lack Of Knowledge. 2. Ignorance Is Distinguishable From Error. Ig Norance Is Want Of Knowledge; Error Is The Non-con Formity Or Opposition Of Ideas To The Truth. Con Sidered As A Motive Of Actions, Ignorance Differs But Little From Error. They Are Generally Found Together, And What Is ...
Ii Gaius Institutes
Ii. Gaius' Institutes. A Tractate Upon The Roman Law, Ascribed To Caius Or Gaius. 3. Of The Personal History Of This Jurist Nothing Is Known. Even The Spelling Of His Name Is Mat Ter Of Controversy, And Be Is Known By No Other Title Than Gains, Or Caius. He Ie ...
Iii Justinians Institutes
Iii. Justinian's Institutes Are An Abridg Ment Of The Code And Digest, Composed By Order Of That Emperor And Under His Guid Ance, With An Intention To Give A Summary Knowledge Of The Law To Those Persons Not Versed In It, And Particularly To Students. Inst. Proem. 3. 5. The ...
Illinois
Illinois. One Of The New States Of The United States. 2. Civil Government Was Organized Nuclei. The Jurisdiction Of The United States, By The Ordioance Of The Continental Congress, In 1787, Being Part Of The Northwestern Territory. In 1800 That Territory Was Divided, And A Territorial Government Was Cre Ated ...