Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

20. CHARTER, is the act creating the corporation, or separate government, or the privileges bestowed upon a community, or a society of individuals. It is derived from the Latin term charta, signifying a writing.2

21. A COURT,-is defined to be a place wherein justice is judicially administered. In our country, and in the New-England States especially, Court has sometimes had another signification, that of the legislative body; thus, the General Court of Massachusetts is the legislature. The former is, however, the correct meaning.

22. MUNICIPAL,-relating to a corporation.

Munici

pal laws are civil or internal, in opposition to national or external laws. Thus, laws relative to the descent of property are municipal laws; but laws relative to war, the army, and navy, are external and national.

5

23. JURISDICTION,-is extent of legal power. Thus, a court has jurisdiction over certain things, as all sums over a certain amount, when its legal authority extends over them. A government has jurisdiction over a certain territory, when its power extends over it.

24. IMPEACHMENT,-is a public accusation, by a body authorized to make it. Such were the charges preferred by the British House of Commons against Warren Hastings, Governor-general of India; and in this country by the House of Representatives, against Samuel Chase, one of the judges of the Supreme Court.

[ocr errors]

25. VERDICT, is the true saying of a jury. It is the answer which a jury make to the court and parties, when the plaintiff and defendant have left the cause to their decision.

26. JUDGMENT, -is the sentence of the law pronounced by the Court.

27. CRIME,

a crime, or misdemeanor, is an act

1 Black. Comm. 1 vol. 109. 2 Sullivan Polit. Class-Book, 49. 3 Black. Comm. 3 vol. p. 23. 4 Story's Comm. 159. 5 Johnson. 6 Johnson; Crabbe. 73 Black. Comm. 377. 83 Black. Comm. 395.

committed, or omitted, in violation of the public laws, either forbidding, or commanding it. A crime is a violation of the duty to society, in its aggregate capacity; while a private wrong, is a violation of the duty due to an individual. Crime is a civil, or legal term, signifying, not a moral wrong, but, a legal wrong. Thus, a man may have committed a great moral wrong, without being a criminal; and so, he may be a criminal, without being a moral offender, in the legal sense, falsehood on the one hand, and killing game at certain seasons on the other.

28. TREASON.-Treason is defined by the United States Constitution to be,-levying war against them, or, in adhering to their enemies,-giving them aid and comfort.? The government of the United States is believed to be the only one which defines precisely, the crime of treason; and, without that definition, the president Montesquieu said, liberty could not exist.

29. FELONY,—is defined to be any species of crime, which occasions a forfeiture of lands and goods. Felony, in common speech, however, signifies a capital offence. It may legally include others.

30. REPRIEVE.-A reprieve is the withdrawal of a judicial sentence, for a time, so that its execution is suspended.* 31. DIPLOMACY,-signifies the intercourse which is carried on between different nations by means of their ministers, or agents.

32. REVOLUTION,-is a radical change in the government of the country. It may be made in various ways -by force and blood, as in France, 1792; by the expulsion of one family and settlement of another, as in England, 1688, and in France, 1830; or by a separation of one part of a country from another, as in the United States, in 1776. Thus, also, all acts in opposition to the laws, and which are not legitimate under the consti14 Blackst. 5. 2 Constitution United States Court, 3 Sec. 31. $4 Blackst. 94. 44 Idem. 394. 5 Sullivan's Polit. Class-Book, 225.

tution, are revolutionary, because their tendency is the overthrow of the laws.

33. EX POST FACTO.-An ex post facto law is a retrospective criminal law. A retrospective law is one which acts upon things already done, and not merely upon those which are to be done. An ex post facto law makes something criminal which was not criminal when done. Thus, if the legislature should pass an act, declaring that all persons who had not attended church last year should be imprisoned, that law would be unconsti tutional, because ex post facto. But if the legislature should pass an act that those who had attended militia duty last year should be excused from paying taxes, and those who had not should not be so excused, such a law would be retrospective, but not ex post facto, because not criminal. An ex post facto law makes past acts crimi nal, which were not so before.1

34. A BILL OF ATTAINDER,—is a special act of the legislature, inflicting capital punishments upon persons supposed to be guilty of high offences, such as treason and felony, without any conviction in the ordinary course of judicial proceedings. If it inflict a milder punishment, it is called a bill of pains and penalties.

2

35. A BILL,-is a term used in legislation, and sig nifies the written form of a legislative act proposed to be passed.

36. REVENUE, is the money raised for the uses of government. It may be derived from various sources; but must be raised by the public consent, and converted to public uses.

37. A TREATY,-is an agreement between independent nations, and by the laws of nations, can be made only by the sovereign power, and is binding on the whole community.❜

38. NATURALIZATION,-is the act, by which a foreigner 1 Story's Comm. 212, 213.

2 Idem. 211. 1 Blackst. 257-Puff. Laws of Nations,, b. 8, ch. 9, sect. 6.

is made a citizen. The law, by which this is permitted, is called a naturalization law; and the acts by which a party avails himself of this law are the naturalization. America is believed to be the only country, where a general law is enacted for this purpose. In England, and most other countries, it may be done, as a matter of special favor; but, even then, the privilege never extends so far, as to make a foreigner eligible to the higher offices of state.1

39. BANKRUPTCY,-is the act of becoming a bankrupt. Bankrupt, bankruptcy, and bankrupt laws, are legal terms, signifying a particular kind of insolvency, or failure to pay one's debts. In common speech, one who cannot pay his debts, is a bankrupt, but it is not so in law. Thus, by the law of England, a bankrupt is a trader, who secretes himself, or does other acts tending to defraud his creditors.2 In the United States, no general bankrupt law has been made; but, were there one, a bankrupt would be one defined and described by that law.

40. TEST ACT,-Religious test; these are also legal terms, and refer to certain legal acts of past times. A Test Act is one, which requires all public officers and persons becoming citizens, before they can enter upon their duties, to subscribe to certain religious opinions, and perform certain religious acts. By the Constitution of the United States, this is expressly forbidden. But, under all other governments, something of this kind is required; thus, by the statutes of England, all civil and military officers, are required to make a declaration against transubstantiation, partake of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and obtain certificates of the same, before they can enter upon any such office.3

41. THE BALLOT,-signifies the ball, or ticket, by 11 Blackst. 374.

2 This is the definition; but the bankrupt is, now, one who honestly, as well as fraudulently fails, and gives up his property to his creditors.2 Blackst. 471.

3 Idem. 58-Wat. 25, ch. 2.

4 Johnson.

which persons vote at an election. To ballot signifies voting by ballot, i. e. by ball, or ticket. Formerly, voting was altogether viva voce, that is, by the voice,— the elector designating by name the person voted for; now, elections are generally made by ballot. The name of the person voted for is written on a ticket, and depo sited in a box.

42. QUORUM,-is such a number of any body as is necessary to do business. Thus, when it is said there shall be eleven directors of any institution, and seven shall constitute a quorum, seven is the number necessary to do business; and unless the contrary is expressed, a majority of a quorum only is necessary to a decision. Hence it often happens, that less than a majority of the whole decide important questions.

43. MAJORITY AND MINORITY.-A majority is any number greater than one half, and a minority is any number less than one half. One half, then, neither constitutes a majority nor minority; and, if a public body were so constituted, as to have an even number, with equal division of opinion, and no chairman, there never could be a majority, and consequently, no positive action. This has been the case in some public bodies, and is always attended with difficulty.

44. A PLURALITY,-is to have more than another number, though not always to have a majority of all the given numbers. Thus, when there are several candidates at an election, one may have a plurality, though not a majority; for he may have more votes than any one, though not more than all put together.

45. INDICTMENT.-An indictment is a written accusation of one or more persons, of a crime or misdemeanor, preferred to, and presented upon oath, by a grand jury.2

46. A GRAND JURY,-is a number of men not less than twelve, nor more than twenty-three, selected from the people in the body of the county, to enquire into of 1 Johnson. 2 4 Black. Comm. 302.

« ZurückWeiter »