political dictionary; forming a work of universal reference, both
TRANSCRIPT
Political Dictionary; forming a work of universal reference, both constitutional and legal; and embracing the terms of civil administration, of political economy and social relations, and of all the more important statistical departments of finance and commerce. Volume IBOTH
AND
FINANCE AND COMMERCE.
1845.
STA.MFOI\D BT.!'.EET,
ADVERTISEMENT. I,
THE PoLITICAL DICTIONARY was suggested by the consideration that the 'Penny Cyclopredia' contains a great number of articles on matters of Constitution, Political Economy, Trade and Commerce, Adminis tration, and Law; and that if these articles were so altered as to make them applicable to the present time, wherever alteration was necessary, and new articles were added, wherever there appeared to be a de
ficiency, a work might be made which would be generally useful. The citizens of a Free State are or ought to be concerned about
everything Political that may affect their own happiness and the con dition of future generations. In a system like our own, which is founded on ancient institutions and usages, and has now for near eight centuries been in a course of growth and change, the relations of the several parts to one another become so complicated that it is difficult for any one man, however enlarged may be the range of his under standing, and however exact his judgment, to form a correct estimate of the whole of_ this present society' of which he is a part. Such a knowledge can only be got by a combination of a knowledge of the past with the know ledge of the present ; in other words, by an historical exposition of all existing institutions that rest on an ancient foundation, and by a consideration of their actual condition.
The articles in this work combine both methods. The subjects are treated historically, whenever such a treatment is required; and they are also presented in their actual condition, so far as that has been mo dified by successive enactments, continued usage, or other circum stances.
The mass of matter that is available in Parliamentary Reports and other printed documents, for such purposes as have been here indicated,
vi ADVERTISEMENT.
is such as no other nation has ever possessed ; as indeed no other has ever established an Empire that embraces so many remote countries, so many varied interests. These materials have been used for this work, so far as the limits of it rendered it possible to use them efficiently.
Some of the articles in this Dictionary have been reprinted from the ' Penny Cyclopoodia' with little or no alteration, and some have been reprinted with such alterations as were required by the changes that have taken place within the last ten years. J\Iany articles are entirely new, and treat of important subjects which have never, so far as we know, been presented to English readers in the form of a cheap dic tionary, or indeed in any other form.
It is perhaps hardly necessary to observe that most of the articles which are of a legal and historical character apply only to England; and, in some cases, to England and Ireland. Several articles however have been inserted in order to explain such of the institutions of Scotland as are matters of general interest.
LONDON, August 1st, 18-15.
ralty.] Adoption. Adult Schools. Adulteration. Adultery. Adventure, Bill of. Advertisement. Advice. Advocate. Advocate, Lord.
Advocates, Faculty of. Advocation. Advowson. Advowsons, Value of. lEtolian Confederation. Affinity. Affirmation. Age. Age of Life. [Mortality.] Agent. Agio. Agiotage. Agnate. [Consanguinity.] Agrarian Laws. Agriculture. Agriculture, Statistics of. Aide-de-Camp. Aids. Albinatus Jus. [Aubaine.] Alderman. Ale. Ale-Connor. Ale-Founder. [Ale-Conner.] Alehouses. Ale-Taster. [Ale-Conner.] Alien. Alimony. Allegiance, or Legiance. Alliance. [Treat.Y..l Alliance, Holy. LHoly Alliance.] Alliance, Triple. [Triple Alliance.] Allodium, or Alodium. Allotment System. Alloy. [Coinage; Mint.] Almanac. Almoner. Alms-House. Ambassador. Amendment. [Bill in Parliament.] Amnesty. Amphictyons. Anarchy.
, Anatomy Act.
of England and Ireland.] Annals. Annates. Annuity. Annuity, Scotch. Annus Deliberandi. Anti-League. [League.] Apanage. Apothecaries, Company of. Apparent Heir. Apparitor. Appeal, Criminal Law. Appeal, Civil Law. Appeal. Appraisement. Appraisers. Apprentice. Apprising. [Adjudication.] Appropriation. [ Advowson.] Approver. Arbitration. Arbitration, Scotch Law. Archbishop. [Bishop.] Archdeacon. Arches, Court of. Archive, or Archives. Areopagus, Council of. Aristocracy. Armiger. [Esquire.] Armorial Bearings. [Heraldry.] Army. Armies. [Military Force.] Arraignment. Arrest, Personal. [Insolvent.] Arrestment. Arson. (Malicious Injuries.] Articles of War. [Mutiny Act.] Assent, Royal. Assembly, General, of Scotland. [Gene
ral Assembly.) Assembly, National. [States-General.] Assembly of Divines. [Westminster As
sembly.l Assessed Taxes. [Taxes.] Assessor. Assiento Treaty. Assignat. Assignation. [Assignment.] Assignee-of a Bankrupt. [Bankrupt.] Assignee-of an insolvent debtor's estate.
[Insolvent.] Assignee-of Bill of Lading. [Bill of
Lading.]
Regimiento.
culty of.] Barter. Bastard. Bath, Knights of the.
ix TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Bawdy-Houses. [Prostitution.] Beacon. Beadle. Bed of Justice. Bedchamber, Lords of the. Jlede-House. Beggar. (Mendicity.] Benefice. Beneficium. Benefit of Clergy. Benevolence. Betrothml!nt. Bigamy. Bill-Broker. [Broker.] Bill·Chamber. Bill in Chancery. (Equity.] Bill in Parliament. Bill of Exchange. _rEx~hange, Bill 0£] Bill of Exchequer. [National Debt.] Bill of Health. [Quarantine.] Bill of Lading. Bill of Rights. Bill of Sale. Bill of Sight. Bill of Store. Billon. Bills of Mortality • .Bishop. Bishopric. Black-Mail. Black-Rod, Usher of the. Blasphemy. Blockade, Law of. Board. Bona Fides, and Bona Fide. Bona Notabilia, [Executor.] Book Trade. Booty. [Admiralty Courts, p. 29.] Bordarii. Borough-English. Borough, Municipal. [Municipal Cor
porations.J &rough, Parliamentary. [Parliament.] Bottomry, Bottomree, or Bummaree. Bounty. Bounty, Queen Anne's. [Benefice, pp.
343, 345.J Bread. [Adulteration; Assize.] Brevet. Br~wer. [Alehouses, p. 99; Adultera
tion, p. 36.) Bribery. Brick. Bridewell. Bridges.
Brief (in Law). Brief, Church. Brief, Papal. Broker. Brothel. [Prostitution.]. Budget. Building, Acts for Regulating. Bulletin. Bullion. Bulls, Papal. Burgage Tenure. Burgess. fl\Iunicipal Corporations; Com
mons, House of.] Burgomaster, Burgenneister. Burial. [Interment.J Burne!, Acton, Statute of. Butter. By-Law.
CABAL. Cabinet. Cachet, Letters de. Canon. Canon Law. Capacity, Legal.' (Age; Insanity; Wife.] Capital. Captain. Cardinal. Carrier. Cash Credit. [Bank, p. 278.] Cathedral. Catholic Church (Roman). Caucus. Cavalry. Cemetery. [Interment.]; Censor. [Census, Roman.] Censorship of the Press. [Press.] Census, The, at Rome. Census. Central Criminal Court. [Circuits.] Certificate. [Bankrupt, p. 292.] Certiorari. Cessio Bonorum. Cession. fBenefice, p. 349.] Cestui que Trust. [Trustee.J ' Challenge. (Jury.] Chamberlain. Chancel. Chancellor. Chancellor of Scotland. Chancery. Chancery, Inns of. [Inn.] Chantry. Chapel. Chaplain.
x TABLE OF CONTENTS.
. Chartists. Chase. [Forest.] Chattels. Cheque. Chicory. [Adulteration.] Chief Justice. [Courts.J Child-Killing. [Infanticide.1 Child-Stealing. (Abduction. j Chiltern Hundreds. Chimney-Sweeper. Chivalry, Court of. [Courts.] Church Brief. [Brief, Church.] Church-Rates. Churchwardens. Cincinnati, Order of. Cinque Ports. Circuits. Citation. Citizen. City. Civil Law. [Roman Law.] Civil List. Civilization. Clarendon, The Constitutions of. Clearing-House. [Bank, p. 273.] Clergy. Clergy, Benefit of. rBenefit of Clergy.] Clerk in Orders. [Clergy.] Clerk of Assize. Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. Clerk of the House of Commons. Clerk of the Market. [Weights and
Measures.) Clerk of the Parish. [Parish Clerk.] Clerk of the Parliament. Clerk of the Peace. Clerks in Ordinary of the Privy Council.
[Privy Council.] Clerks and Servants. [Servants.] Client. Coal-Trade. Code, Codex. Codes, Les Cinq. Codicil. [Code; Will.l Codification. [Lawana Legislation.]. Coffee Trade. Cognovit. Cohabitation. [Concubinage.]
Coining. Collation. [Advowson; Benefice, p. 340.] College. [Collegium.] Collegium, or Conlegium. Colonel. Colonial Agents. Colony. Combination Laws• Commander. [Captain.] Commandery. Commendam. [Benefice, p. 350.] Commissary. Commission. Commission. Commission. [Agent; Broker; Factor.] Commission, Ecclesiastical. [Ecclesias
tical Commission.] Commissioners, Lords. [Admiral ; As·
sent, Royal; Parliament.] Commissioners ofBankrupts. [Bankrupt.] Commissioners of Lunacy. [Lunacy.] Commissioners of Sewers. [Sewers.] • Committee of Public Safe~. Committees. [Parliament.j Commodore. Common Law. Common Pleas, Court 0£ Common, Ri~hts of. Commons. Llnclosure.] Commons, House of. Commons, Irish House 0£ [Parliament
of Ireland.] Companies, or Guilds. [Colleginm;
Guilds.] . Companies, Joint-Stock. (Jomt-Stock
Parliament.] Confiscation. [Forfeiture.] J Conflict of Laws. [International Laws. Conge d'Eslire. Congress. Consanguinity, or Kin. CourU Conscience, Courts of. [Requests,
of.] Conscription. Conservators of the Peace.
xi TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Corporations.l Corporation and' Test Acts. [Established
Church; Nonconformists.J Correcti.on, Houses 0£ [Transportation.] Corruptton of Blood. [Attainder.] Cortes. Cottage System. [Allotments.] Cotton Cultivation and Trade. Cotton Manufacture and Trade. Councils of the Church. Councillors. [Municipal Corporations.] Counsel. Count. County. [Shire.] County Court. [Courts.] County Rate. Court Baron. [Manor.]j Court-Martial. Courtesy of England.· Courtesy of Scotland. ·
Court of Record. [Courts.] Courts. Courts, Customary. [Copyhold.] Courts, Ecclesiastical. [Ecclesiastical
Courts.] Courts of Record. [Courts.] Coverture. (Wife.] Credentials. [Ambassador.] Credit. Credit, Letter 0£ Crime and Punishment. [Transportation.] Criminal Conversation. rAdultery.] _ Criminal Law. [Law, Criminal.] Crown Solicitor. Curate, Perpetual. [Benefice.J Curator. Currency. [Money.] Cursitor Baron. Customary Freeholds. [Copyhold.J Customs or Usages. Customs-Duties. Custos Brevium. Custos Rotulorum.
DAMAGES. Damnum. [Damages.] Deacon. Deadweight. [National Debt.] Dean. Debenture. Debt. [InsolventJ Debt, National. [National Debt. l Debtor and Creditor. [Insolvent.] Declaration. [Oath.] Declaration of Right. [Bill of Rights.) Decree, Decretal. [Canon Law, p. 445;
Catholic Church, p. 459.] Decree. [Equity.] Deed. Deer-Stealing. [Game-Laws.] Defamation. [Slander.] Degree. [University.] Del Credere Commission. [Agent.] Delegates, Court 0£ Demand and Supply. Demesne. [Manor.] Demise. Democracy. Demurrage. Denizen. Deodand. Departement. Deportation, [Banishment.] Deposit. Deposition. .
p. 349.] Diocese. [Bishopric.] Diplomacy. Diplomatics. Directoire Executi£ Disability. Discount. Discount-Broker. [Broker.] Discovery. [Evidence.] Dispensation. [Benefice.] Disseisin. [Seisin.] Distress. Dividend. Division of Employment. Divorce. Divan. Docket. [Bankrupt.] Doctor. Doctors' Commons. Domesday-Book. Domicile. Donatio Mortis Causa. Donative. [Benefice, p. 344.] Dowager. Dower. Dramatic Literary Property. (Copyright] Drawback. Drawer. [Exchange, Bill of.] Droits of Admiralty. Duchy; of Lancaster; of Cornwall [Civil
List, p. 515.] Duelling. Duke. Duty. [Right.]
EARL. Earl Marshal. Earthenware. Easements. Easter Offering. [Offerings.] East India Company. Eccles~ast~cal Commissioners for England. Ecclesiastical Courts. .. Echevin.
Economistes. [Political Economy.] ~ Edicts, Edicta. , [Equity.] Education. Effendi. Egg Trade. Election. Election Committees. Elector. [Commons, House of; Muni·
cipal Corporations.] Elopement. [Dower.] Emancipation. [Parent and Child.] Embargo. Embezzlement. [Agent.] Emigration. Empannel. [Panel.] Emperor. Endowment. [Dower; Benefice ; Uses,
Charitable.] Enemy. [Alien, p. 102.] Enfeoffment. [Feoffment.] Enfranchisement. Engrossing. [Forestalling.] Enlistment. Ensign. Entail. [Estate; Primogeniture.] Envoy, Episcopacy. (Bisho12.] Equality. [L1berty.j Equerries. Equity. Esch eat. Esquire. Established Church of England and Ire
land. · Estate. Evidence. Exchange. fDivision of Employment;:
Demand ana Supply.] I
Exchequer Bills. [National Debt. l, . Exchequer Chamber. [Exchequer, eourt
of; Courts. l Exchequer, C'ourt of. Excise Duties. Excommunication. Execution. Executor. Exemplification. [Evidence.] Exeter, or Exon Domesday. Exhibition. [School.J Exile. lBanishment. · Exports. (Balance o Trade.] Extra-Parochial. [Parish.] Eyre. [Courts, p. 711.)
I
I
POLITICAL DICTIONARY.
ABATTOIR. ABANDONMENT is a term used in marine insurance. Before a person who has insured a ship or goods can demand from an insurer or underwriter the sti pulated compensation for a total loss of such ship or goods, he must abandon or relinquish to the insurer all his interest in any part of the property which may be saved.
ABATTOIR, the name given by the French to the public slaughter-houses which were established in Paris by a de cree of Napoleon in 1810, and finished in 1818. There are 'three on the north, and two on the south side of Paris, not far from the barriers, and about two miles from the centre of the city. The cattle markets for the supply of Paris are several miles distant, and the cattle are driven from them round the exterior boulevards to the abattoirs, and conse quently do not enter the city. The con sumption of Paris in 1840 was 92,402 oxen, 437,359 sheep, 90,190 pigs, and 20,684 calves: the number of butchers, all of whom are required to take out a licence, does not much exceed five hundred. At one of the abattoirs each butcher has his slaughter-house, a place for keeping the meat, an iron rack for fa!low, pans for melting it, and a place with convenience for giving cattle hay and water, and where they may be kept ~efore being slaughtered. A fixed sum is charged for this accommodation, and in 1843 the fee was 6 francs for each ox, 4 fr. for a cow, 2 fr. for a calf, and l 0 c. fo~ a sheep. The income of the esta blishment, arising from these fees, the sale of manure, &c., was above 48,000l. in 1842. .It is stated in Dulaure's 'Paris,' that the fee paid for each head of cattle
ABATTOIR. includes all the expenses of slaughtering; but a witness who was examined before a. Parliamentary Committee on Smithfield Market, and who had visited Paris for the purpose of inspecting the abattoirs, says that the butchers employ their own men. Dulaure's account is probably correct. The butchers can have their cattle slaughtered at any hour of the night, but they mm~ take away the meat at night. There is an inspector appointed at each abattoir, and means are taken to prevent unwholesome meat getting into consumption. There are slaughter-houses under public regu lations in most of the continental cities; and those of New York and Philadelphia and some other of the cities of the Ame rican Union are, it is said, placed on a similar footing. The medical profession in France' attach great importance to slaughter-houses being strictly regulated,, and removed from the midst of the popu lation. ·
The great cattle-market in Smithfield for the supply of London existed above five centuries ago, but the spot was at that time a piece of waste ground beyond the city, instead of being, as at present,· surrounded by a dense population. In 1842 there were sold in Smithfield Mar ket 175,347 cattle, and 1,468,960 sheep, and at least this number are annually slaughtered within the limits of the me-· tropolis. There are slaughtermen who kill for other butchers frequently above a hundred head of cattle, and perhaps five or six hundred sheep every week ; many butchers kill for themselves to a consider able extent; and there are few who have not accommodation for slaughtering aud dressing a few sheep, eit11er in the cellar underneath their shop, or in the rear of
B
ABATTOIR. [ 2 ] ABBOT.
their premises. The business of slaugh tering cattle and sheep in London is con ducted just in the way most convenient to the butcher, without reference to the convenience and comfort of the public. There are slaughter-houses for sheep within fifty yards of St. Paul's Church yard, and within a hundred and fifty yards of Ludi;ate-street, one of the great thoroughfares of London. The fear of creating a nuisance, cognisable as such by the law, is in some measure a substitute for the vigilant inspectorship maintained in the public slaughter-houses on the con tinent; ai;d those who slaughter cattle know that in proportion as their esta blishments are cleanly and well venti lated, it is easier to keep the meat in a proper state ; but the ignorant, the care less, and those who cannot afford to im prove the accommodation and conveni ence of their slaughter-houses, require to be placed under the restraint of positive regulations. A general police regulation on the subject is thought to be necessary by many persons. In the Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Smithfield Market, to which allusion has already been made, the question of establishing abattoirs in London is noticed. The butchers objected to them on account of the expenses to which they would be put by having to carry the meat to their shops; ancl they alleged also that the meat would not keep so well in conse quence of being removed so soon after being killed. These objections apply in some degree to the present system, under which the great slaughtermen kill for the butchers of a certain district, though the district is certainly much smaller than would be attached to one of several abattoirs.
By 4 & 5 Henry VII. c. 3, butchers were prohibited from killing cattle within the walls of the city of London, on ac oount of" the annoyance of corrupt airs engendered by occasion of blood and other foul things <:<>ming by means of slaughter of beasts and scalding ofswine." In 1532-3 this act was partially repealed by 24 Hen. VIII. e. 16, the preamble of which recited that since the act 4 & 5 Hen. VII. the butchers of London had made drains to carry off the filth from
their slaughter-houses, and had adopted regulations for avoiding nuisances under the advice of the corporation of the city; and they also alleged that the cost of carrying and re-carrying meat made it dear. It was then enacted that the act aforesaid should not extend to butchers within the city, who may kill within the walls.
ABBEY (from the French Abba¥e), a religious community presided owr'by an abbot or abbess. When the superior was denominated a Prior, the establishment was called a priory; but there was lat terly no real distinction between a priory and an abbey. The priories appear to have been all originally off-shoots from certain abbeys, to which they continued for some time to be regarded as subordi nate. The wealthiest abbeys, in former times, were in Germany; and of all such foundations in the world the most splen did and powerful was that of Fulda, or Fulden, situated near the town of the same name in Franconia. This monas tery, which belonged to the order of St. Benedict, was founded by St. Boniface, in the year 784. Every candidate for ad mission into the princely brotherhood was required to prove his nobility. The monks themselves elected their abbot from their own number; and that digni· tary became, by right of his office, Arch Chancellor to the Empress, and Prince llishop of the diocese of Fulda. He claimed precedence ·over all the other abbots of Germany. One of the first effects of the Reformation, both in Eng· land and in Germany, was the destruction of the religious houses ; in England their extinction was complete. [llloNAS TERY.]
In the early times of the French mon archy the tenn abbey was applied to .a duchy or earldom, as well as to a reli gious establishment; and the dukes and counts called themselves abbots, although they remained in all respects secular per sons. They took this title in consequence of the possessions of certain abbeys having been conferred upon them by the crown.
ABBOT the title of the superior of certain esUtblishmcnts of religious per sons of the male sex, thence called abbeys.
ABBOT. [ 3 ] ABBOT
The word ahbot, or ahbat, as it has been sometimes written, comes from abbatis, the genitive of abbas, which is the Greek and Latin form of the Syriac abba, of which the original is the Hebrew ab, father. It is, therefore, merely an epithet of respect and reverence, and appears to have been at first applied to any member of the clerical order, just as the French •p(>.re,' and the English 'father,' which have the same signification, still are in the Roman Catholic church. In the ear liest age of monastic institutions, how ever, the monks were not priests; they were merely holy persons who retired from the world to live in common, and the abbot was that one of their number whom they chose to preside over the association. The general regulations for monasteries, monks, and abbots (Hegu meni) of the Emperor Justinian, in the sixth century, are contained in the Fifth Novel. In regard to general eccle siastical discipline, all these communi ties were at this time subject to the bishop of the diocese, and even to the
· pastor of the parochial district within the bounds of which they were esta blished. At length it began to be usual for the abbot, or, as he was called in the Greek Church, the Archimandrite (that is, the chief monk), or the Hegumenos (that is, the leader), to be in orders ; and since the sixth century monks generally have been priests. In point of dignity an abbot is considered to stand next to a bishop; but there have been many abbots in different countries who have claimed almost an equality in rank with the epis copal order. A minute and learned ac…
AND
FINANCE AND COMMERCE.
1845.
STA.MFOI\D BT.!'.EET,
ADVERTISEMENT. I,
THE PoLITICAL DICTIONARY was suggested by the consideration that the 'Penny Cyclopredia' contains a great number of articles on matters of Constitution, Political Economy, Trade and Commerce, Adminis tration, and Law; and that if these articles were so altered as to make them applicable to the present time, wherever alteration was necessary, and new articles were added, wherever there appeared to be a de
ficiency, a work might be made which would be generally useful. The citizens of a Free State are or ought to be concerned about
everything Political that may affect their own happiness and the con dition of future generations. In a system like our own, which is founded on ancient institutions and usages, and has now for near eight centuries been in a course of growth and change, the relations of the several parts to one another become so complicated that it is difficult for any one man, however enlarged may be the range of his under standing, and however exact his judgment, to form a correct estimate of the whole of_ this present society' of which he is a part. Such a knowledge can only be got by a combination of a knowledge of the past with the know ledge of the present ; in other words, by an historical exposition of all existing institutions that rest on an ancient foundation, and by a consideration of their actual condition.
The articles in this work combine both methods. The subjects are treated historically, whenever such a treatment is required; and they are also presented in their actual condition, so far as that has been mo dified by successive enactments, continued usage, or other circum stances.
The mass of matter that is available in Parliamentary Reports and other printed documents, for such purposes as have been here indicated,
vi ADVERTISEMENT.
is such as no other nation has ever possessed ; as indeed no other has ever established an Empire that embraces so many remote countries, so many varied interests. These materials have been used for this work, so far as the limits of it rendered it possible to use them efficiently.
Some of the articles in this Dictionary have been reprinted from the ' Penny Cyclopoodia' with little or no alteration, and some have been reprinted with such alterations as were required by the changes that have taken place within the last ten years. J\Iany articles are entirely new, and treat of important subjects which have never, so far as we know, been presented to English readers in the form of a cheap dic tionary, or indeed in any other form.
It is perhaps hardly necessary to observe that most of the articles which are of a legal and historical character apply only to England; and, in some cases, to England and Ireland. Several articles however have been inserted in order to explain such of the institutions of Scotland as are matters of general interest.
LONDON, August 1st, 18-15.
ralty.] Adoption. Adult Schools. Adulteration. Adultery. Adventure, Bill of. Advertisement. Advice. Advocate. Advocate, Lord.
Advocates, Faculty of. Advocation. Advowson. Advowsons, Value of. lEtolian Confederation. Affinity. Affirmation. Age. Age of Life. [Mortality.] Agent. Agio. Agiotage. Agnate. [Consanguinity.] Agrarian Laws. Agriculture. Agriculture, Statistics of. Aide-de-Camp. Aids. Albinatus Jus. [Aubaine.] Alderman. Ale. Ale-Connor. Ale-Founder. [Ale-Conner.] Alehouses. Ale-Taster. [Ale-Conner.] Alien. Alimony. Allegiance, or Legiance. Alliance. [Treat.Y..l Alliance, Holy. LHoly Alliance.] Alliance, Triple. [Triple Alliance.] Allodium, or Alodium. Allotment System. Alloy. [Coinage; Mint.] Almanac. Almoner. Alms-House. Ambassador. Amendment. [Bill in Parliament.] Amnesty. Amphictyons. Anarchy.
, Anatomy Act.
of England and Ireland.] Annals. Annates. Annuity. Annuity, Scotch. Annus Deliberandi. Anti-League. [League.] Apanage. Apothecaries, Company of. Apparent Heir. Apparitor. Appeal, Criminal Law. Appeal, Civil Law. Appeal. Appraisement. Appraisers. Apprentice. Apprising. [Adjudication.] Appropriation. [ Advowson.] Approver. Arbitration. Arbitration, Scotch Law. Archbishop. [Bishop.] Archdeacon. Arches, Court of. Archive, or Archives. Areopagus, Council of. Aristocracy. Armiger. [Esquire.] Armorial Bearings. [Heraldry.] Army. Armies. [Military Force.] Arraignment. Arrest, Personal. [Insolvent.] Arrestment. Arson. (Malicious Injuries.] Articles of War. [Mutiny Act.] Assent, Royal. Assembly, General, of Scotland. [Gene
ral Assembly.) Assembly, National. [States-General.] Assembly of Divines. [Westminster As
sembly.l Assessed Taxes. [Taxes.] Assessor. Assiento Treaty. Assignat. Assignation. [Assignment.] Assignee-of a Bankrupt. [Bankrupt.] Assignee-of an insolvent debtor's estate.
[Insolvent.] Assignee-of Bill of Lading. [Bill of
Lading.]
Regimiento.
culty of.] Barter. Bastard. Bath, Knights of the.
ix TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Bawdy-Houses. [Prostitution.] Beacon. Beadle. Bed of Justice. Bedchamber, Lords of the. Jlede-House. Beggar. (Mendicity.] Benefice. Beneficium. Benefit of Clergy. Benevolence. Betrothml!nt. Bigamy. Bill-Broker. [Broker.] Bill·Chamber. Bill in Chancery. (Equity.] Bill in Parliament. Bill of Exchange. _rEx~hange, Bill 0£] Bill of Exchequer. [National Debt.] Bill of Health. [Quarantine.] Bill of Lading. Bill of Rights. Bill of Sale. Bill of Sight. Bill of Store. Billon. Bills of Mortality • .Bishop. Bishopric. Black-Mail. Black-Rod, Usher of the. Blasphemy. Blockade, Law of. Board. Bona Fides, and Bona Fide. Bona Notabilia, [Executor.] Book Trade. Booty. [Admiralty Courts, p. 29.] Bordarii. Borough-English. Borough, Municipal. [Municipal Cor
porations.J &rough, Parliamentary. [Parliament.] Bottomry, Bottomree, or Bummaree. Bounty. Bounty, Queen Anne's. [Benefice, pp.
343, 345.J Bread. [Adulteration; Assize.] Brevet. Br~wer. [Alehouses, p. 99; Adultera
tion, p. 36.) Bribery. Brick. Bridewell. Bridges.
Brief (in Law). Brief, Church. Brief, Papal. Broker. Brothel. [Prostitution.]. Budget. Building, Acts for Regulating. Bulletin. Bullion. Bulls, Papal. Burgage Tenure. Burgess. fl\Iunicipal Corporations; Com
mons, House of.] Burgomaster, Burgenneister. Burial. [Interment.J Burne!, Acton, Statute of. Butter. By-Law.
CABAL. Cabinet. Cachet, Letters de. Canon. Canon Law. Capacity, Legal.' (Age; Insanity; Wife.] Capital. Captain. Cardinal. Carrier. Cash Credit. [Bank, p. 278.] Cathedral. Catholic Church (Roman). Caucus. Cavalry. Cemetery. [Interment.]; Censor. [Census, Roman.] Censorship of the Press. [Press.] Census, The, at Rome. Census. Central Criminal Court. [Circuits.] Certificate. [Bankrupt, p. 292.] Certiorari. Cessio Bonorum. Cession. fBenefice, p. 349.] Cestui que Trust. [Trustee.J ' Challenge. (Jury.] Chamberlain. Chancel. Chancellor. Chancellor of Scotland. Chancery. Chancery, Inns of. [Inn.] Chantry. Chapel. Chaplain.
x TABLE OF CONTENTS.
. Chartists. Chase. [Forest.] Chattels. Cheque. Chicory. [Adulteration.] Chief Justice. [Courts.J Child-Killing. [Infanticide.1 Child-Stealing. (Abduction. j Chiltern Hundreds. Chimney-Sweeper. Chivalry, Court of. [Courts.] Church Brief. [Brief, Church.] Church-Rates. Churchwardens. Cincinnati, Order of. Cinque Ports. Circuits. Citation. Citizen. City. Civil Law. [Roman Law.] Civil List. Civilization. Clarendon, The Constitutions of. Clearing-House. [Bank, p. 273.] Clergy. Clergy, Benefit of. rBenefit of Clergy.] Clerk in Orders. [Clergy.] Clerk of Assize. Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. Clerk of the House of Commons. Clerk of the Market. [Weights and
Measures.) Clerk of the Parish. [Parish Clerk.] Clerk of the Parliament. Clerk of the Peace. Clerks in Ordinary of the Privy Council.
[Privy Council.] Clerks and Servants. [Servants.] Client. Coal-Trade. Code, Codex. Codes, Les Cinq. Codicil. [Code; Will.l Codification. [Lawana Legislation.]. Coffee Trade. Cognovit. Cohabitation. [Concubinage.]
Coining. Collation. [Advowson; Benefice, p. 340.] College. [Collegium.] Collegium, or Conlegium. Colonel. Colonial Agents. Colony. Combination Laws• Commander. [Captain.] Commandery. Commendam. [Benefice, p. 350.] Commissary. Commission. Commission. Commission. [Agent; Broker; Factor.] Commission, Ecclesiastical. [Ecclesias
tical Commission.] Commissioners, Lords. [Admiral ; As·
sent, Royal; Parliament.] Commissioners ofBankrupts. [Bankrupt.] Commissioners of Lunacy. [Lunacy.] Commissioners of Sewers. [Sewers.] • Committee of Public Safe~. Committees. [Parliament.j Commodore. Common Law. Common Pleas, Court 0£ Common, Ri~hts of. Commons. Llnclosure.] Commons, House of. Commons, Irish House 0£ [Parliament
of Ireland.] Companies, or Guilds. [Colleginm;
Guilds.] . Companies, Joint-Stock. (Jomt-Stock
Parliament.] Confiscation. [Forfeiture.] J Conflict of Laws. [International Laws. Conge d'Eslire. Congress. Consanguinity, or Kin. CourU Conscience, Courts of. [Requests,
of.] Conscription. Conservators of the Peace.
xi TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Corporations.l Corporation and' Test Acts. [Established
Church; Nonconformists.J Correcti.on, Houses 0£ [Transportation.] Corruptton of Blood. [Attainder.] Cortes. Cottage System. [Allotments.] Cotton Cultivation and Trade. Cotton Manufacture and Trade. Councils of the Church. Councillors. [Municipal Corporations.] Counsel. Count. County. [Shire.] County Court. [Courts.] County Rate. Court Baron. [Manor.]j Court-Martial. Courtesy of England.· Courtesy of Scotland. ·
Court of Record. [Courts.] Courts. Courts, Customary. [Copyhold.] Courts, Ecclesiastical. [Ecclesiastical
Courts.] Courts of Record. [Courts.] Coverture. (Wife.] Credentials. [Ambassador.] Credit. Credit, Letter 0£ Crime and Punishment. [Transportation.] Criminal Conversation. rAdultery.] _ Criminal Law. [Law, Criminal.] Crown Solicitor. Curate, Perpetual. [Benefice.J Curator. Currency. [Money.] Cursitor Baron. Customary Freeholds. [Copyhold.J Customs or Usages. Customs-Duties. Custos Brevium. Custos Rotulorum.
DAMAGES. Damnum. [Damages.] Deacon. Deadweight. [National Debt.] Dean. Debenture. Debt. [InsolventJ Debt, National. [National Debt. l Debtor and Creditor. [Insolvent.] Declaration. [Oath.] Declaration of Right. [Bill of Rights.) Decree, Decretal. [Canon Law, p. 445;
Catholic Church, p. 459.] Decree. [Equity.] Deed. Deer-Stealing. [Game-Laws.] Defamation. [Slander.] Degree. [University.] Del Credere Commission. [Agent.] Delegates, Court 0£ Demand and Supply. Demesne. [Manor.] Demise. Democracy. Demurrage. Denizen. Deodand. Departement. Deportation, [Banishment.] Deposit. Deposition. .
p. 349.] Diocese. [Bishopric.] Diplomacy. Diplomatics. Directoire Executi£ Disability. Discount. Discount-Broker. [Broker.] Discovery. [Evidence.] Dispensation. [Benefice.] Disseisin. [Seisin.] Distress. Dividend. Division of Employment. Divorce. Divan. Docket. [Bankrupt.] Doctor. Doctors' Commons. Domesday-Book. Domicile. Donatio Mortis Causa. Donative. [Benefice, p. 344.] Dowager. Dower. Dramatic Literary Property. (Copyright] Drawback. Drawer. [Exchange, Bill of.] Droits of Admiralty. Duchy; of Lancaster; of Cornwall [Civil
List, p. 515.] Duelling. Duke. Duty. [Right.]
EARL. Earl Marshal. Earthenware. Easements. Easter Offering. [Offerings.] East India Company. Eccles~ast~cal Commissioners for England. Ecclesiastical Courts. .. Echevin.
Economistes. [Political Economy.] ~ Edicts, Edicta. , [Equity.] Education. Effendi. Egg Trade. Election. Election Committees. Elector. [Commons, House of; Muni·
cipal Corporations.] Elopement. [Dower.] Emancipation. [Parent and Child.] Embargo. Embezzlement. [Agent.] Emigration. Empannel. [Panel.] Emperor. Endowment. [Dower; Benefice ; Uses,
Charitable.] Enemy. [Alien, p. 102.] Enfeoffment. [Feoffment.] Enfranchisement. Engrossing. [Forestalling.] Enlistment. Ensign. Entail. [Estate; Primogeniture.] Envoy, Episcopacy. (Bisho12.] Equality. [L1berty.j Equerries. Equity. Esch eat. Esquire. Established Church of England and Ire
land. · Estate. Evidence. Exchange. fDivision of Employment;:
Demand ana Supply.] I
Exchequer Bills. [National Debt. l, . Exchequer Chamber. [Exchequer, eourt
of; Courts. l Exchequer, C'ourt of. Excise Duties. Excommunication. Execution. Executor. Exemplification. [Evidence.] Exeter, or Exon Domesday. Exhibition. [School.J Exile. lBanishment. · Exports. (Balance o Trade.] Extra-Parochial. [Parish.] Eyre. [Courts, p. 711.)
I
I
POLITICAL DICTIONARY.
ABATTOIR. ABANDONMENT is a term used in marine insurance. Before a person who has insured a ship or goods can demand from an insurer or underwriter the sti pulated compensation for a total loss of such ship or goods, he must abandon or relinquish to the insurer all his interest in any part of the property which may be saved.
ABATTOIR, the name given by the French to the public slaughter-houses which were established in Paris by a de cree of Napoleon in 1810, and finished in 1818. There are 'three on the north, and two on the south side of Paris, not far from the barriers, and about two miles from the centre of the city. The cattle markets for the supply of Paris are several miles distant, and the cattle are driven from them round the exterior boulevards to the abattoirs, and conse quently do not enter the city. The con sumption of Paris in 1840 was 92,402 oxen, 437,359 sheep, 90,190 pigs, and 20,684 calves: the number of butchers, all of whom are required to take out a licence, does not much exceed five hundred. At one of the abattoirs each butcher has his slaughter-house, a place for keeping the meat, an iron rack for fa!low, pans for melting it, and a place with convenience for giving cattle hay and water, and where they may be kept ~efore being slaughtered. A fixed sum is charged for this accommodation, and in 1843 the fee was 6 francs for each ox, 4 fr. for a cow, 2 fr. for a calf, and l 0 c. fo~ a sheep. The income of the esta blishment, arising from these fees, the sale of manure, &c., was above 48,000l. in 1842. .It is stated in Dulaure's 'Paris,' that the fee paid for each head of cattle
ABATTOIR. includes all the expenses of slaughtering; but a witness who was examined before a. Parliamentary Committee on Smithfield Market, and who had visited Paris for the purpose of inspecting the abattoirs, says that the butchers employ their own men. Dulaure's account is probably correct. The butchers can have their cattle slaughtered at any hour of the night, but they mm~ take away the meat at night. There is an inspector appointed at each abattoir, and means are taken to prevent unwholesome meat getting into consumption. There are slaughter-houses under public regu lations in most of the continental cities; and those of New York and Philadelphia and some other of the cities of the Ame rican Union are, it is said, placed on a similar footing. The medical profession in France' attach great importance to slaughter-houses being strictly regulated,, and removed from the midst of the popu lation. ·
The great cattle-market in Smithfield for the supply of London existed above five centuries ago, but the spot was at that time a piece of waste ground beyond the city, instead of being, as at present,· surrounded by a dense population. In 1842 there were sold in Smithfield Mar ket 175,347 cattle, and 1,468,960 sheep, and at least this number are annually slaughtered within the limits of the me-· tropolis. There are slaughtermen who kill for other butchers frequently above a hundred head of cattle, and perhaps five or six hundred sheep every week ; many butchers kill for themselves to a consider able extent; and there are few who have not accommodation for slaughtering aud dressing a few sheep, eit11er in the cellar underneath their shop, or in the rear of
B
ABATTOIR. [ 2 ] ABBOT.
their premises. The business of slaugh tering cattle and sheep in London is con ducted just in the way most convenient to the butcher, without reference to the convenience and comfort of the public. There are slaughter-houses for sheep within fifty yards of St. Paul's Church yard, and within a hundred and fifty yards of Ludi;ate-street, one of the great thoroughfares of London. The fear of creating a nuisance, cognisable as such by the law, is in some measure a substitute for the vigilant inspectorship maintained in the public slaughter-houses on the con tinent; ai;d those who slaughter cattle know that in proportion as their esta blishments are cleanly and well venti lated, it is easier to keep the meat in a proper state ; but the ignorant, the care less, and those who cannot afford to im prove the accommodation and conveni ence of their slaughter-houses, require to be placed under the restraint of positive regulations. A general police regulation on the subject is thought to be necessary by many persons. In the Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Smithfield Market, to which allusion has already been made, the question of establishing abattoirs in London is noticed. The butchers objected to them on account of the expenses to which they would be put by having to carry the meat to their shops; ancl they alleged also that the meat would not keep so well in conse quence of being removed so soon after being killed. These objections apply in some degree to the present system, under which the great slaughtermen kill for the butchers of a certain district, though the district is certainly much smaller than would be attached to one of several abattoirs.
By 4 & 5 Henry VII. c. 3, butchers were prohibited from killing cattle within the walls of the city of London, on ac oount of" the annoyance of corrupt airs engendered by occasion of blood and other foul things <:<>ming by means of slaughter of beasts and scalding ofswine." In 1532-3 this act was partially repealed by 24 Hen. VIII. e. 16, the preamble of which recited that since the act 4 & 5 Hen. VII. the butchers of London had made drains to carry off the filth from
their slaughter-houses, and had adopted regulations for avoiding nuisances under the advice of the corporation of the city; and they also alleged that the cost of carrying and re-carrying meat made it dear. It was then enacted that the act aforesaid should not extend to butchers within the city, who may kill within the walls.
ABBEY (from the French Abba¥e), a religious community presided owr'by an abbot or abbess. When the superior was denominated a Prior, the establishment was called a priory; but there was lat terly no real distinction between a priory and an abbey. The priories appear to have been all originally off-shoots from certain abbeys, to which they continued for some time to be regarded as subordi nate. The wealthiest abbeys, in former times, were in Germany; and of all such foundations in the world the most splen did and powerful was that of Fulda, or Fulden, situated near the town of the same name in Franconia. This monas tery, which belonged to the order of St. Benedict, was founded by St. Boniface, in the year 784. Every candidate for ad mission into the princely brotherhood was required to prove his nobility. The monks themselves elected their abbot from their own number; and that digni· tary became, by right of his office, Arch Chancellor to the Empress, and Prince llishop of the diocese of Fulda. He claimed precedence ·over all the other abbots of Germany. One of the first effects of the Reformation, both in Eng· land and in Germany, was the destruction of the religious houses ; in England their extinction was complete. [llloNAS TERY.]
In the early times of the French mon archy the tenn abbey was applied to .a duchy or earldom, as well as to a reli gious establishment; and the dukes and counts called themselves abbots, although they remained in all respects secular per sons. They took this title in consequence of the possessions of certain abbeys having been conferred upon them by the crown.
ABBOT the title of the superior of certain esUtblishmcnts of religious per sons of the male sex, thence called abbeys.
ABBOT. [ 3 ] ABBOT
The word ahbot, or ahbat, as it has been sometimes written, comes from abbatis, the genitive of abbas, which is the Greek and Latin form of the Syriac abba, of which the original is the Hebrew ab, father. It is, therefore, merely an epithet of respect and reverence, and appears to have been at first applied to any member of the clerical order, just as the French •p(>.re,' and the English 'father,' which have the same signification, still are in the Roman Catholic church. In the ear liest age of monastic institutions, how ever, the monks were not priests; they were merely holy persons who retired from the world to live in common, and the abbot was that one of their number whom they chose to preside over the association. The general regulations for monasteries, monks, and abbots (Hegu meni) of the Emperor Justinian, in the sixth century, are contained in the Fifth Novel. In regard to general eccle siastical discipline, all these communi ties were at this time subject to the bishop of the diocese, and even to the
· pastor of the parochial district within the bounds of which they were esta blished. At length it began to be usual for the abbot, or, as he was called in the Greek Church, the Archimandrite (that is, the chief monk), or the Hegumenos (that is, the leader), to be in orders ; and since the sixth century monks generally have been priests. In point of dignity an abbot is considered to stand next to a bishop; but there have been many abbots in different countries who have claimed almost an equality in rank with the epis copal order. A minute and learned ac…