Several States of the American Union:

WITH REFERENCES TO THE CIVIL AND OTHER SYSTEMS OF FOREIGN LAW.

BY JOHN BOUVIER.

Ignoratis terminis ignoratur et ars.-Co. LITT. 2 a.

Je sais que chaque science et chaque art a ses termes propres, inconnu au commun des hommes.-FLEURY.

FOURTEENTH EDITION, REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED.

VOL. I.

8.

PHILADELPHIA:

GEORGE W. CHILDS, 600 CHESTNUT ST., (LEDGER BUILDING.)

ль

B7826 L 147Ed.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by

JOHN BOUVIER,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by
JOHN BOUVIER,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by
JOHN BOUVIER,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by

ELIZA BOUVIER AND ROBT. E. PETERSON, TRUSTEES,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by

ELIZA BOUVIER AND ROBT, E. PETERSON, TRUSTEES,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE.

Ir has been the aim of the publisher of the present edition of the Law Dictionary to vary in nothing from the general plan of Judge Bouvier, and to make only such modifications and additions in his work as the changing conditions of the law seemed to require. The period since the death of the able author has been so fruitful, however, both in legislative enactments and judicial decisions, that numerous alterations and additions have been rendered necessary, resulting in an aggregate increase of matter to the extent of more than fifty per cent. This new matter has been prepared by gentlemen of recognized eminence at the bar or on the bench, and peculiarly well acquainted with the special topics upon which they have treated. The general editorial supervision has been performed in a very thorough and efficient manner by DANIEL A. GLEASON, Esq. The more useful part of Kelham's Dictionary, which in former editions was printed as a supplement, has been now incorporated in the body of the work. Careful attention has been given to the citation of authorities, and they have been brought down to the date of the preparation of the respective articles. By making use of a more condensed form of arrangement and of a somewhat smaller-sized type than were employed in the old editions, the contents have been increased to the extent above named without a corresponding enlargement of the bulk of the volumes.

iii

The publisher cannot hope that in so extensive a labor there have been no mistakes, either of omission or commission.

He

can only claim that he has spared neither time, labor, nor expense in the endeavor to make the book thoroughly accurate and complete; and he submits the present edition of Bouvier's Law Dictionary to the profession and the general public, trusting that the work may be found even more valuable in the future than it has been in the past.

PHILADELPHIA, 1867.

GEORGE W. CHILDS.

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION.

To the difficulties which the author experienced on his admission to the bar, the present publication is to be attributed. His endeavors to get forward in his profession were constantly obstructed, and his efforts for a long time frustrated, for want of that knowledge which his elder brethren of the bar seemed to possess. To find among the reports and the various treatises on the law the object of his inquiry, was a difficult task: he was in a labyrinth without a guide; and much of the time which was spent in finding his way out might, with the friendly assistance of one who was acquainted with the construction of the edifice, have been saved, and more profitably employed. He applied to law dictionaries and digests within his reach, in the hope of being directed to the source whence they derived their learning; but he was too often disappointed: they seldom pointed out the authorities where the object of his inquiry might be found. It is true such works contain a great mass of information, but, from the manner in which they have been compiled, they sometimes embarrassed him more than if he had not consulted them. They were written for another country, possessing laws different from our own, and it became a question how far they were or were not applicable here. Besides, most of the matter in the English law dictionaries will be found to have been written while the feudal law was in its full vigor, and not fitted to the present times, nor calculated for present use, even in England. And there is a great portion which, though useful to an English lawyer, is almost useless to the American student. What, for example, have we to do with those laws of Great Britain which relate to the person of their king, their nobility, their clergy, their navy, their army; with their game laws; their local statutes, such as regulate their banks, their canals, their exchequer, their marriages, their