Law Of Nature
Law Of Nature. That Law Which God, The Sovereign Of The Universe, Has Pre Scribed To All Men, Not By Any Formal Pro Mulgation, But By The Internal Dictate Of Reason Alone. It Is Discovered By A Just Con Sideration Of The Agreeableness Or Disagree Ableness Of Human Actions To ...
Lease
Lease. A Species Of Contract For The Possession And Profits Of Lands And Tene Ments Either For Life Or For A Certain Term Of Years, Or During The Pleasing) Of The Par Ties. 2. One Of Its Essential Properties Is, That Its Dn Ration Must Be For A Shorter Period ...
Legacy
Legacy. A Gift By Last Will. The Term Is More Commonly Applied To Money Or Personal Property, Although Sometimes Used With Reference To A Charge Upon Real Estate. 2 Williams, Exec. 947 ; 5 Term, 716; 1 Burr. 268 ; 7 Ves. Ch. 391, 522. An Absolute Legacy Is One ...
Legal Heir
Heir, Legal. In Civil Law. A Legal Heir Is One Who Is Of The Same Blojd As The Deceased, And Who Takes The Succession By Force Of Law. This Is Different From A Testamentary Or Conventional Heir, Who Takes The Succession In Virtue Of The Disposition Of Man. See. La. ...
Legiance Expatriation Naturalization
Legiance ; Expatriation; Naturalization. Nemo Plus Commodi Heredi Euo Relinquit Gudm Ipse Habuit. No One Leaves A Greater Benefit To His Heir Than He Had Himself. Dig. 50. 17. 120. Nemo Plus Finis Ad Alientato Traneferre Poteet,qudra Ipee Habet. One Cannot Transfer To Another A Larger Right Than He Himself ...
Legiti1viation
Legiti1viation. The Act Of Giving The Character Of Legitimate Children To Those Who Were Not So Born. , 2. In Louisiana, The Civil Code, Art. 217, Enacts That " Children Born Out Of Marriage, Except Those Who Are Born Of An Incestuous Or Adulterous Connection, May Be Legitimated By The ...
Legitime
Legitime. In Civil That Por Tion Of A Parent's Estate Of Which He Cannot Disinherit His Children Without A Legal;cause. 2. The Civil Code Of Louisiana Declares That Dons, Tione• Inter Rime Or Mortis Caned Cannot Exceed Two Thirds Of The Property Of The Disposer, If He Leaves, At His ...
Letter
Letter Or Credit. An Open Or Sealed Letter, From A Merchant In One Place, Directed To Another, In Another Place Or Coun Try, Requiring Him That If A Person Therein, Named, Or The Bearer Of The Letter, Shall Have Occasion To Buy Commodities, Or To Want Money To Any Particular ...
Letters Rogatory
Letters Rogatory. An Instru Ment Sent In The Name And By The Authority Of A Judge Or Court To Another, Requesting The Latter To Cause To Be Examined, Upon In Terrogatories Filed In A Eause Depending Before The Former, A Witness Who Is Within The Juris Diction Of The Judge' ...
Letters Testamentary
Letters Testa.mentary. An Instrument In Writing Granted By The Judge Or Officer Having Jurisdiction Of The Probate Of Wills, Under His Hand And Official Seal, Making Known That At A Certain Date Tho Last Will And Testament Of A B (naming The Testator) Was Duly Proved Before Him ; That ...
Lex Fori
Lex Fori (lat. The Law Of Tbe Forum). The Law Of The Country, To The Tribunal Of Which Appeal Is Made. 5 Clark & F. Hou. L. 1. 2. The Forms Of Remedies, Modes Of Pro Ceeding, And Execution Of Judgments Are To Be Regulated Solely And Exclusively By The ...
Libel
Libel. In Practice. The Plaintiff's Petition Or Allegation, Made And Exhibited In A Judicial Process, With Some Solemnity Of Law. A Written Statement By A Plaintiff Of His Cause Of Action, And Of The Relief He Seeks To Obtain In A Suit. Law, Eccl. Law, 17 ; Ayliffe, Par. 346 ...
Liberty
Liberty (lat. Liber, Free ; Libertas, Free Dom, Liberty). Freedom From Restraint. The Faculty Of Willing, And The Power Of Doing What Has Been Willed, Witbout Influence From Without. A Privilege Held By Grant Or Prescription, By Which Some Men Enjoy Greater Privileges Than Ordinary Subjects. A Territory With Some ...
License
License (lat. Licere, To Permit). In Contracts. A Permission. A Right Given By Some Competent Authority To Do An Act Which Without Such Authority Would Be Illegal. An Authority To Do A Particular Act Or Eerie& Of Acts On Another's Land Without Possessing Any Estate Therein. 11 Mass. 533 ; ...
Lien
Lien. A Hold Or Claim Which One Person Has Upon The Property Of Another As A Security For Some Debt Or Charge. In Every Case In Which Property, Either Real Or Personal, Is Oharged With The Payment Of A Debt Or Duty, Every Such Charge May Be Denominated A Lien ...
Lien 3
Lien. 3. Seamen Are Employed Either In Mer Chant-vessels For Private Service, Or In Public Vessels For The Service Of The United States. Seamen In The Merchant-vessels Are Re Quired To Enter Into A Contract In Writing, Commonly Called Shipping Articles, Which See. This Contract Being Entered Into, They Are ...
Lieutenant
Lieutenant.. This Word Has Now A Narrower Meaning Than It Formerly Had : Its True Meaning Is A Deputy, A Substitute, From The French Lieu (place Or Post) And Tenant (holder). Among Civil Officers We Have Lieu Tenant-governors, Who In Certain Cases Per Form The Duties Of Governors (see The ...
Liicri Caltsa
Liicri Caltsa (lat. For The Sake Of Gain). In Criminal Law. A Term Descrip Tive Of The Intent With Which Property Is Taken Cases Of Larceny. According To The Tenor Of The Latest Authori Ties, Lucri Causd Would Appear To Be Immar Terial ; Though, In Recent Cases, Judges Have ...
Line
Line. In Descents. The Series Of Per Sons Who Have Descended From A Common An Cestor, Placed One Under The Other, In The Order Of Their Birth. It Connects Successively All The Relations By Blood To Each Other. See Consanguinity; Degree. O 6. Tritavua, Tritavia. 6 2, 5. Atavus, Atavia. ...
Liquidated Damages
Liquidated Damages. In Prac Tice. Damages Whose Amount Has Been De Termined By Anticipatory Agreement Betvveen The Parties. Where There Is An Agreement Between Parties For The Doing Or Not Doing Particular Acts, The Parties May, If They Please, Estimate Beforehand The Dam Ages To Result From A Breach Of ...
Loan For Ube
Loan For Ube (called, Also, Commo Datum). A Bailment Of An Article To Be Used By The Borrower Without Paying For The Use. 2 Kent, Comm. 4th Ed. 573. Loan For Use (called Commodatum In The Civil Law) Differs From A Loan For Consumption (called Mututtm In The Civil Law) ...
Loss
Loss. In Insurance. The Destruction Of Or Damage To The Insured Subject By The Perils Insured Against, According To The Ex Press Provisions And Construction Of The Con Tract. These Accidents, Or Misfortunes, Or Perils, As They Are Usually Denominated, Are All Distinctly Enume Rated In The Policy. And No ...
Lost Papers
Lost Papers. Papers Which Have Been So Mislaid That They Cannot Be Found After Diligent Search. 2. When Deeds, Wills, Agreements, And The Like, Have Been Lost, And It Is Desired To Prove Their Contents, The Party Must Prove That He Has Made Diligent Search, And In Good Faith Exhausted ...
Louisiana
Louisiana. The Name Of One Of The New States Of The United States Of America. 2. It Covers A Part Of The Territory Ceded By France To The United States By The Treaty Of The 13th April, 1803. It Was Admitted Into The Union By An Act Of Congreas Approved ...
Lucid Intervals
Lucid Intervals. In Medical Jurisprudence. Periods Ha Which An In Sane Person Is So Far Free From His Disease That The Ordinary Legal Consequences Of In Sanity Do Not Apply To Acts Done Therein. 2. Correct Notions Respecting The Lucid Interval Are No Less Necessary Than Correct Notions Respect Ing ...
Machine
Machine. In Patent Law. Any Contrivance Which Is Used To Regulate Or Modify The Relations Betvreen Force, Motion, And Weight. In Its Broadest Signification, This Term Is Applied To Any Contrivance Which Is Used To Regulate Or Modify The Relations Between Force. Motion, And Weight. " The Term Machino Includes ...
Magna Charta
Magna Charta. The Great Charter Of English Liberties, So Called (but Which Was Really A Compact Between The King And His Barons, And Almost Exclusively For The Benefit Of The Latter, Though Confirming The Ancient Liberties Of Englishmen In Some Few Parti Culars), Was Wrung From King John By His ...
Maiority
Maiority. The State Or Condition Of A Person Who Has Arrived At Full Age. He Is Then Said To Be A Major, In Opposition To Minor, Which Is His Condition During Infancy. The Greater Number. More Than All The Opponents. Some Question Exists As To Whether A Majority Of Any ...
Mala Praxis
Mala Praxis (lat.). Bad Or Unskil Ful Practice In A Physician Or Other Professional Person, Whereby The Health Of The Patient Is Injured. Wilful Nzal-practice Takes Place When The Physician Purposely Administers Medicines Or Performs An Operation Which He Knows And Expects Will Result In Damage Or Death To The ...
Malice
Malice. In Criminal Law. The Doing “, Wrongful Act Intentionally Without Just Cause Or Excuse. 4 Barnew. & C. 255 ; 9 Mete. Mass. 104. A Conscious Violation Of The Law, To The Prejudice Of Another. 9 Clark & F. Hou. L. 321. Malice Is Never Understood To Denote General ...
Malice 3
Malice. 3. In Some Of The States, By Legislative En Actments, Murder Has Been Divided Into De Grees. In Pennsylvania, The Act Of April 22, 1794, 3 Smith, Laws, 186, Makes "all Murder Which Shall Be Perpetrated By Means Of Poi Son, Or By Lying In Wait, Or By Any ...
Malicious Prosecution
Malicious Prosecution. A Wanton Prosecution Made By A Prosecutor In A Criminal Proceeding, Or A Plaintiff In A Civil Suit, Without Probable Cause, "by A Regular Process And Proceeding, Which The Facts Did Not Warrant, As Appears By The Result. 2. Where The Defendant Commenced A Crimi Nal Prosecution Wantonly, ...
Mandamus
Mandamus. In Practice. This Is A High Prerogative Writ, Usually Issuing Out Of The Hifhest Court Of General Jurisdiction In A State, In The Name Of The Sovereignty, Directed To Any Natural Person, Corporation, Or Inferior Court Of Judicature Within Its Jurisdiction, Requiring Them To Do Some Particular Thing Therein ...
Mandate
Mandate. A Judicial Command Or Precept Issued By A Court Or Magrstrate, Directing The Proper Officer To Enforce A Judg Ment, Sentence, Or Decree. Jones, Bailm. 52. A Bailment Of Property In Regard To Wbich The Bailee Engages To Do Some Act Without Reward. Story, Bailm. 137. The Contract Of ...
Manslaughter
Manslaughter. In Criminal Law. The Unlawtul Killing Of Another Without Malice Either Express Or Implied. 4 Blackstone, Comm. 190 ; 1 Hale, Pl. Cr. 466. The Distinction Between Manslaughter And Mur Der Consists In The Following. In The Former, Thongb The Act Whioh Occasions The Death Be Unlawful, Or Likely ...
Manufacture
Manufacture. In Patent Law. A Thrui Which Is Used To Denote Whatever Is Made Directly By The Hand Of Man, Or Indi Rectly Through The Instrumentality Of Any Machinery Which Is Controlled By Human Power. It Is Also Applied To The Process By Which Those Results Are Produced. A Com ...
Manumission
Manumission. The Act Of Releasing From The Power Of Another. The Act Of Giv Ing Liberty To A Slave. The Mndern Acceptation Of The Word Is The Aet Of Giving Liberty To Slaves. But In The Roman Law It Was A Generic Expression, Equslly Applicable To The Enfranchisement From The ...
Maritime Contract
Maritime Contract. One Which Relates To The Business Of Navigation Upon The Sea, Or To Business Appertaining To Commerce Or Navigation To Be Transacted Or Done Upon The Sea, Or In Seaports, And Over Which Courts Of Admiralty Have Jurisdiction Concurrent With The Courts Of Common Law. 2. Such Contracts, ...
Marriage
Marriage. A Contract, Made In Due Form Of Law, By Which A Man And Woman Reciprocally Engage To Live With Each Other During Their Joint Lives, And To Discharge To Wards Each Other The Duties Imposed By Law On The Relation Of Husband And Wife. 2; All Persons Are Able ...
Maryland
Maryland. One Of The Thirteen Original States Of The Union. 2. The Territory Of Maryland Was Included In The Grants Previously Made To Companies Formed For The Settlement Of Virginia. These Grants Were Anoulled, And Maryland Was Granted By Charles The First, On The 20th Of June, 1632, To Cectlius ...
Massachusetts
Massachusetts. —acknowledgments Of Deeds Are To Be By The Grantors, Or One Of Them, Or By The Attorney Executing The Same. They May Be Taken Before Any Justice Of The Peace Of The State, Or Before Any Justice Of The Peace, Magistrate, Or Notary Public, Or Massachu Setts Commissioner, Within ...
Massachusetts
Massachusetts. One Of The Ori Ginal Thirteen States Et The United States Of America. 2. In 1627, A Eompany Of Englishmen Obtained From The Council Of The Plymouth Colony A Grant Of " All That Part Of New England Lying Three Miles South Of Charles River And Three Miles North ...
Master
Master. One Who Has Control Over An Apprentice. A Master Stands In Relation To His Apprentices In Loco Parentir, And Is Bound To Fulfil That Relation, Which The Law Generally Enforces. Ha Is Also En Titled To Be Obeyed By His Apprentices Ae If They Were His Children. Bouvier, Inst. ...
Master In Chancery
Master In Chancery. An Offi Cer Of A Court Of Chancery, Who Acts Ss An Assistant To The Chancellor. 3 Edw. Ch.n. Y. 458 ; 19 Ill. 131. Tbe Masters Were Originally Clerks Associated With The Chancellor, To Discharge Soma Of The More Mechanical Duties Of Hie Office. They Were ...
Master Of A Ship
Master Of A Ship. In Maritime Law. The Commander Or First Officer Of A Merchant-ship ; A Captain. The Master Of An Ameriean Ship Must Be A Citizen 'of The United States, 1 U. S. Stat. At Large, 287 ; And A Similar Requirement Exists Most Maritinie States. In Some ...
Mate
Mate. In Maritime Law. The Officer Next In Rank To The Master On Board A Mer Chant Ship Or Vessel. In Such Vessels There Is Always One Mate, And Sometitnes A Second, Third, And Fourth Mate, Accord Ing To The Vessel's Size And The Trade In Which She May Be ...
Measure
Measure Or Damages. In Practice. A Rule Or Method By Which The Damage Sustained Is To Be Estimated Or Mea Sured. The Defendant Is To Make Compensation For All The Natural And Proximate Conse Quenoes Of His Wrong, But Not For Secondary Or Remote Consequences. There Are Cases In Which ...
Medical Evidence
Medical Evidence. Testimony Given By Physicians Or Surgeons In Their Pro Fessional Capacity As Experts, Or Derived From The Statements Of Writers Of Medical Or Sur Gical Works. This Kind Of Evidence Was First Recognized By Charles V. Of Germany, And Incorporated In The "caroline Code," Framed At Ratisbon In ...
Medical Jitrispriidence
Medical Jitrispriidence. That Science Which Applies The Principles And Prac Tice Of Medicine To The Elucidation And Settle Ment Of Doubtful Questions Which Arise In Courts Of Laws. 2. These Questions Are Properly Embraced In Five Different Classes : The First Includes Questions Arising Out Of The Relations Of Sex ...
Memorandum
Memorandum (lat. From Memorare, To Remember). Au Informal Instrument Re Cording Some Fact Or Agreement : So Called From Its Beginning, When It -was Made In Latin. It Is Sometimes Commenced With This Word Though Written In English : As, "memc Randum, That It Is Agreed ;" Or It Is ...
Merger
Merger. The Absorption Of A Thing Of Lesser Importance By A Greater, Whereby The Lesser Ceases To Exist But The Greater Is Not Increased. In Estates. When A Greater Estate And Less Coincide And Meet In One And The Same Person, Without Any Intermediate Estate, The Less Is Immediately Merged, ...
Michigan
Michigan. The Name Of One Of The New States Of The United States Of America. It Was Admitted Into The Union By Act Of Congrees Of January 26, 1837. 5 U. S. Stat. At Large, 44. See Act Of Congr. June 15, 1836, 5 U. S. Stat. At Large, 49. ...
Military Law
Military Law. A System Of Regu Lations For The Government Of An Army. 1 Kent, Comm. 377, N. That Branch Of The Laws Which Respec4s Military Discipline .and The Government Of Persons Employed In The Military Service. De Hart, Courts-mart. 16. Military Law Is To Be Distinguished From Martial Law. ...
Militia
Militia. The Military Force Of The Nation, Consisting Of Citizens Called Forth To Execute The Laws Of The Union, Suppress In Surrection, And Repel Invasion. 2. The Constitution Of The United States Provides On This Subject That Congress Shall Have Power To Provide For Calling Forth The Militia To Execute ...
Mine
Mine. An Excavation In The Earth For The Puipose Of Obtaining Minerals. 2. Mines May Be Either By Excavating A Portion Of The Surface, As Is Common In Some Classes Of Gold-mines, Or Almost Entirely Be Neath The Surface. Mines Of Gold, Silver, And The Precious Metals Belong To The ...
Minister
Minister. In Governmental Law. An Officer Who Is Placed Near The Sovereign, And Is Invested With The Administration Of Some One Of The Principal Branches Of The Government. Ministers Are Responsible To The King Or Other Supreme Magistrate Who Has Appointed Them. 4 Conn. 134. In Ecclesiastical Law. One Ordained ...
Minnesota
Minnesota.- Within The Territory [state]; Before Any Judge Or Commissioner Of A Court Of Record, Or Before Any Notary Public Or Justice Of The Peace Within The Territory. Without The Territory, And Within The United States; The Deed May Be Executed According To The Laws Of The State, Territory, Or ...
Minnesota
Minnesota. One Of The New States Of The United States Of America. 2. It Was Created A Territory By Act Of Eongresa, March 3, 1849, And Admitted Into The Union As A State, May 11, 1858, Under A Constitution Framed And Adopted By A Convention At St. Paul, On The ...