Legal Term Dictionary

The precinct and limits of a chapel. The same thing to a chapel as a parish is to a church. Cowell; Blount.

The precinct and limits of a chapel. The same thing to a chapel as a parish is to a church. Cowell; Blount. Less...

A hood or bonnet anciently worn by the Knights of the Garter, as part of the habit of that order; also a little escutcheon fixed in the forehead of horses drawing a hearse at a funeral. Wharton.

A hood or bonnet anciently worn by the Knights of the Garter, as part of the habit of that order; also a little escutcheon fixed in the forehead of horses drawing a hearse at a funeral. Wharton. Less...

A summary of matters to be Inquired of or presented before justices in eyre, justices of assise, or of the peace, in their sessions. Also articles delivered by the justice in his charge to the inquest Brit c. iii.

A summary of matters to be Inquired of or presented before justices in eyre, justices of assise, or of the peace, in their sessions. Also articles delivered by the justice in his charge to the inquest Brit c. iii. Less...

An ecclesiastic who performs divine service in a chapel; but it more commonly means one who attends upon a king, prince, or other person of quality, for the performance of clerical duties In a private chapel. 4 Coke, 90. A clergyman officially attached to a ship of war, to an More...

An ecclesiastic who performs divine service in a chapel; but it more commonly means one who attends upon a king, prince, or other person of quality, for the performance of clerical duties In a private chapel. 4 Coke, 90. A clergyman officially attached to a ship of war, to an army, (or regiment) or to some public institution, for the purpose of performing divine service. Webster. Less...

An itinerant vendor of small wares. A trader who trades from place to place. Say. 191, 192.

An itinerant vendor of small wares. A trader who trades from place to place. Say. 191, 192. Less...

In ecclesiastical law. A congregation of ecclesiastical persons in a cathedral church, consisting of canons, or* prebendaries, whereof the dean is the head, all subordinate to the bishop, to whom they act as assistants In matters relating to the church, for the better ordering and disposing the things thereof, and More...

In ecclesiastical law. A congregation of ecclesiastical persons in a cathedral church, consisting of canons, or* prebendaries, whereof the dean is the head, all subordinate to the bishop, to whom they act as assistants In matters relating to the church, for the better ordering and disposing the things thereof, and the confirmation of such leases of the temporalty and offices relating to the bishopric, as the bishop shall make from time to time. And they are termed "capitulum," as a kind of head, instituted not only to assist the bishop in manner aforesaid, but also anciently to rule and govern the diocese in the time of vacation. Burn, Diet Less...

The aggregate of the moral qualities which belong to and distinguish an individual person; the general result of the one's distinguishing attributes. That moral predisposition or habit or aggregate of ethical qualities, which is believed to attach to a person, on the strength of the common opinion and report concerning More...

The aggregate of the moral qualities which belong to and distinguish an individual person; the general result of the one's distinguishing attributes. That moral predisposition or habit or aggregate of ethical qualities, which is believed to attach to a person, on the strength of the common opinion and report concerning him. The opinion generally entertained of a per- son derived from the common report of the people who are acquainted with him. Smith v. State, 88 Ala. 73, 7 South. 52; State v. Turner, 36 S. C. 534,15 S. E. 602; Fahnestock v. State, 23 Ind. 238; State v. Parker, 96 Mo. 382, 9 S. W. 728; Sullivan v. State, 66 Ala. 48; Kimmel v. Kimmel, 8 Serg. A R. (Pa.) 337, 8 Am. Dec. 672. Character and reputation are not synonymous terms. Character is what a man or woman is morally, while reputation is what he or she is reputed to be. let reputation is tbe estimate which the community has of a person's character; and it is the belief that moral character is wanting in an individual that renders him unworthy of belief; that is to say, that reputation is evidence of character, and if the reputation is bad for truth, or reputation is bad in other respects affecting the moral character, then the jury may infer that the character is bad and the witness not reliable. General character has always been proved by proving general reputation. Leverich v. Frank, 6 Or. 213. The word "character" no doubt has an objective and subjective Import, which are quite distinct. As to the object, character is its quality. As to man, it is the quality of his mind, and his affections, his capacity and temperament. But as a subjective term, certainly in the minds of others, one's character is the aggregate, or the abstract of other men's opinions of one. And in this sense when a witness speaks of the character of another witness for truth, he draws not upon his memory alone, bujt his judgment also. It is the conclusion of the , mind of the witness, in summing up the amount of all the reports he has heard of the man, and declaring his character for truth, as held in the minds of his neighbors and acquaintances, and in this sense character, general character, and general report or reputation are the same, as held in the books. Powers v. Leach, 26 Vt. 278. Less...

v. To impose a burden, obligation, or Hen; to create a claim against property; to claim, to demand; to accuse; to instruct a jury on matters of law. In the first sense above given, a jury In a criminal case is "charged" with the duty of trying the prisoner (or, More...

v. To impose a burden, obligation, or Hen; to create a claim against property; to claim, to demand; to accuse; to instruct a jury on matters of law. In the first sense above given, a jury In a criminal case is "charged" with the duty of trying the prisoner (or, as otherwise expressed, with his fate or his "deliverance") as soon as they are impaneled and sworn, and at this moment the prisoner's legal "jeopardy" begins. This is altogether a different matter from "charging" the jury in the sense of giving them instructions on matters of law, which is a function of the court Tom-aason v. State, 112 Tenn. 596, 79 S. W. 803. Less...

n. In general. An incumbrance, lien, or burden; an obligation or duty; a liability; an accusation. Darling v. Rogers, 22 Wend. (N. Y.) 491. In contracts. An obligation, binding upon him who enters into It which may be removed or taken away by a discharge. Termes de la Ley. An More...

n. In general. An incumbrance, lien, or burden; an obligation or duty; a liability; an accusation. Darling v. Rogers, 22 Wend. (N. Y.) 491. In contracts. An obligation, binding upon him who enters into It which may be removed or taken away by a discharge. Termes de la Ley. An undertaking to keep the custody of another person's goods. State v. Clark, 86 Me. 194, 29 Atl. 984. An obligation entered into by the owner of an estate, which binds the estate for its performance. Com. Dig. "Rent" c 6; 2 Ball * B. 223. In the law of wills. A responsibility or liability imposed by the testator upon a devisee personally, or upon the land devised. In eqnity pleading. An allegation in the bill of matters which disprove or avoid a defense which it is alleged the defendaut is supposed to pretend or intend to set up. Story, Eq. PI. § 31. In eqnity practice. A paper presented to a master in chancery by a party to a cause, being a written statement of the items with which the opposite party should be debited or should account for, or of the claim of the party making it It Is more comprehensive than a claim, which implies only the amount due to the person producing it, while a charge may embrace the whole liabilities of the accounting party. Hoff. Mast 36. In common-law practice. The final address made by a judge to the jury trying a case, before they make up their verdict, in which he sums up the case, and instructs the jury as to the rules of law which apply to its various issues, and which they must observe, in deciding upon their verdict when they shall have determined the controverted matters of fact The term also applies to the address of the court to a grand jury, in which the latter are Instructed as to their duties. In Scotch law. The command of the king's letters to perform some act; as a charge to enter heir. Also a messenger's execution, requiring a person to obey the order of the king's letters; as a charge on letters of horning, or a charge against a superior. Bell. —General charge. A charge or instruction by the court to the jury upon the case as a whole, or upon its general features or characteristics.—Special charge. A charge or instruction given by the court to the jury, upon some particular point or question involved in the case, and usually in response to counsel's request for such instruction. Less...

Under the former system of equity practice, this phrase was used to characterize the usual method of taking an account before a master. After the plaintiff had presented his "charge," a written statement of the items of account for which he asked credit the defendant filed a counter-statement, called a More...

Under the former system of equity practice, this phrase was used to characterize the usual method of taking an account before a master. After the plaintiff had presented his "charge," a written statement of the items of account for which he asked credit the defendant filed a counter-statement, called a "discharge," exhibiting any claims or demands he held against the plaintiff. These served to define the field of investigation, and constituted the basis of the report. Less...