to take indictments as to try causes at Nisi Prius, are commonly termed the assizes. There are two commissions. (I.) General, which is issued twice a year to the judges of the High Court of Justice; two judges being usually assigned to every circuit. See CIRCUITS. The judges have four several commissions: (1) Of oyer and terminer, directed to them and many other gentlemen of the county, by which they are empowered to try treasons, felonies, etc. This is the largest commission. (2) Of gaol delivery, directed to the judges and the clerk of assize associate, empowering them to try every prisoner in the gaol committed for any offence whatsoever, so as to clear the prisons. (3) Of Nisi Prius, directed to the judges, the clerks of assize and others, by which civil causes, in which issue has been joined in one of the Divisions of the High Court of Justice, are tried on circuit by a jury of twelve men of the county in which the venue is laid. See NISI PRIUS. (4) A commission of the peace, by which all justices are bound to be present at their county assizes, besides the sheriffs, to give attendance to the judges or else suffer a fine. There used to be another Commissionthat of assize directed to the judges and clerk of assize, to take assizes and do right upon writs of assize brought before them, by such as were wrongfully thrust out of their possessions. These writs are abolished, and recourse is had to an action of ejectment, tried at Nisi Prius. (II.) The other division of commissions is special, granted to certain judges to try certain causes and crimes.Bracton, lib. 3; 3 Bl. Com. 60, 269. See now the Judicature Act, 1873, ss. 11, 16, 29, 37, 77, 93, and 99, under which, however, no very material alteration is made in the manner of holding the assizes. A cause or matter not involving any question or issue of fact may be tried and determined with consent at the assizes (s. 29).

The holding of Winter and Spring Assizes is regulated by Orders in Council issued from time to time under the Winter Assizes Acts, 1876 & 1877, and the Spring Assizes Act, 1879 (39 & 40, Vict. c. 57, 40 & 41 Vict. c. 46, and 42 Vict. c. 1).

Assise of arms, 27 Hen II. A.D. 1181. Assise of bread, the sealed rate for the sale of bread.

Assise of darrein presentment, or last presentation; it lay when a person, or his ancestors, under whom he claims, had presented a clerk to a benefice who was duly instituted, and afterwards, upon the next avoidance, a stranger presents a clerk, thus disturbing the right of the lawful patron; upon this, the patron issued this writ, di

rected to the sheriff to summon an assize or jury, to inquire who was the last patron that presented to the church now vacant, of which the plaintiff complains that he is deforced by the defendant.-Termes de la Ley, 473. It was, however, abolished, and recourse had to the action of quare impedit (3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 27). But since the C. L. P. Act, 1860, s. 26, no quare impedit can be brought, but an action may be commenced in the Common Pleas Division of the High Court of Justice.

Assise of mort d'ancestor, a writ which lay where a person's father, mother, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, etc., died, seised of land, and a stranger abated. It is abolished by 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 27.

Assise of novel disseisin, an action similar in its nature to the one above, although it differed in many points. It is abolished by 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 27.

Assise of the forest, a statute touching orders to be observed in the king's forests.Manwood, 35. See Com. Dig., tit. 'Assise.'

Assiser, an officer who has the care and oversight of weights and measures.

Assises de Jerusalem, a monument of feudal jurisprudence, compiled by Gottfried of Bouillon, for the government of the Holy City after its conquest by the Crusaders. It was revised in the 13th and 14th centuries for the use of the Latin Kingdom of Cyprus. -1 Colq. R. C. L. s. 80, p. 86; 1 Hall. Lit. Hist. Eur. 28.

Assistance, Writ of, appears to have been first employed in the reign of James I.; from that time, though in general parlance it is said that the decree of the Court of Chancery acts only in personam, yet, if the possession of lands be decreed or ordered, and the defendant refuse to perform the decree, the Court directs this writ of execution to the sheriff, to enforce its decree.-Consolid. Ord.

xxix. r. 5.

Assistant Judge of Middlesex Sessions, appointed by 7 & 8 Vict. c. 71; may appoint a deputy.-14 & 15 Vict. c. 55, s. 14. See 22 & 23 Vict. c. 4.

Assistant overseers, appointed by 2 & 3 Vict. c. 84, and 7 & 8 Vict. c. 101, ss. 61, 62.

Assius, rented or farmed out for such an assize or certain assessed rent in money or provisions.-Blount.

Assithment [fr. ad and sithe, Sax., vice], a weregeld or compensation by a pecuniary mulct.-Cowel.

Assize. See ASSISE. In the practice of the criminal courts of Scotland, the fifteen men who decide on the conviction or acquittal of an accused person are called the assize, though in popular language, and even in statutes, they are called the jury.

Associate, was an Officer in each of the Courts of Common Law, appointed by the chief judge of the Court, and holding his office dum bene se gesserit (15 & 16 Vict. c. 73); his duties being to superintend the entry of causes; to attend the sittings of Nisi Prius, and there receive and enter verdicts ; to draw up the posteas, and any orders of Nisi Prius. The associates are now officers of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Jud. Act, 1873, s. 77), and by the Judicature (Officers) Act, 1879, are styled 'Masters of the Supreme Court."

Association, a writ or patent sent by the Crown to the Justices appointed to take assizes to have others (serjeants-at-law, for instance) associated with them; it is usual where a judge becomes unable to attend to his circuit duties, or dies.-Reg. Orig. 201. Also a public company or partnership.

The association of the people formed by 7 & 8 Wm. III. c. 27, s. 3, for the protection of the king and government, was put an end to by 1 Anne, st. 1, c. 22, s. 3.

Associations, Unlawful. See SOCIETIES. Assoile [fr. absolvere, Lat; absolver, absoiller, assoiller, O. Fr.], to deliver from excommunication; to acquit or absolve.—Staundf. Pl. Cr. 72.

Assoilzie, to acquit a defendant, or to find a person not guilty of a crime.-Scotch Law. As soon as possible. Within a reasonable time, the shortest practicable. Hydraulic Engineering Co. v. McHaffie, 4 Q. B. D. at p. 673.

Assuetude, custom.

Assumpsit [fr. assumo, Lat., to take upon oneself]. The action of assumpsit (which as a technical name, falls into desuetude with the passing of the Judicature Acts, 1873 and 1875) lies for the recovery of damages for loss or injuries sustained by reason of the breach or non-performance of a promise, either expressed or implied, the promise not being under seal, but yet founded on a proper consideration. See PLEADING.

The ordinary division of this action was into (1) common or indebitatus assumpsit, brought for the most part on an implied promise; and (2) special assumpsit, founded on an express promise.-Steph. Plead., 7th ed., 11, 13.

Assumption, the day of the death of a saint, quia ejus anima in cælum assumitur (because his soul is taken into heaven).—Du Cange. Also a usurpation.

Assurance. See INSURANCE.

and difficulties prevented and removed. See BARGAIN and SALE, LEASE and RELEASE, GRANT, COMMON ASSURANCES, etc., and generally under DEED.-2 Bl. Com. 294.

Assured, a person assured and indemnified against certain events. See INSURANCE.

Assurer, an insurer against certain perils and dangers; an underwriter; an indemnifier. See INSURANCE.

Assythment, damages recoverable by the heirs or representatives of a person killed from the person killing.

Aster, or homo aster, a resident.-Brit. 151. Astipulation [fr. astipulor, Lat.], a mutual agreement, assent, and consent between parties; also a witness or record.

Astitrarius hæres [fr. astre, Fr., the hearth of a chimney], an heir apparent who has been placed, by conveyance, in possession of his ancestor's estate, during such ancestor's lifetime. Co. Litt. 8.

Astriction [fr. astrictio, Lat.] to a mill, a servitude by which grain growing on certain lands or brought within them, must be car- · ried to a certain mill to be ground, a certain multure or price being paid for the same.Jacob.

Astrihilibet, a forfeiture of double the damage.

Astrum, a house or place of habitation.Cowel.

A summo remedio ad inferiorem actionem, non habetur ingressus, neque auxilium. Fleta, 1. vi. (From the highest remedy to the lower action there is neither ingress nor assistance]. This maxim had reference to the law of real and mixed actions [now abolished by 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 27, s. 26, and 23 & 24 Vict. c. 126, s. 26), the rule having been that where a man resorted to the highest remedy, a writ of right, he could not afterwards avail himself of an inferior remedy.—3 Bl. Com. 193.

Asyle, a sanctuary or place of refuge for offenders to fly into.

Asylum [fr. "Aovλov, Gk., a place free from violence], a sanctuary of refuge. 2. A place set apart for the treatment and habitation of persons of unsound mind. See 16 & 17 Vict. cc. 96, 97; 18 & 19 Vict. c. 105; 19 & 20 Vict. c. 87; 25 & 26 Vict. cc. 54, 111; 27 & 28 Vict. c. 33; 28 & 29 Vict. c. 80; and 29 & 30 Vict. c. 51. See LUNATIC ASYLUM.

Atavia, a great grandmother's grandmother.

Atavus, the great grandfather's or great grandmother's grandfather; a fourth grandfather The ascending line of lineal ancestry runs thus -Pater, Avus, Proavus, Abavus, Atavus, Tritavus, the seventh generation in

Athe, or adda, a privilege of administering an oath in cases of right and property.Ibid.

Atheism, disbelief of a God. See OATHS. Atheling. See ÆTHELING.

Athesis fluvium, the ancient name of the river Tees, in Cumberland.

Atia, illwill. See DE ODIO ET ATIA. Atilia, utensils, or country implements. Blount.

Atonement, an agreement, union, or reconciliation. The word seems to be compounded of at and one, as it were a making at one, and thence to have acquired the meaning of suffering the pains of whatever sacrifice is necessary to bring about a reconciliation.

Atrium, a court before a house, or a churchyard.-Cowel.

Ats, an abbreviation denoting 'at the suit of.' It is used by a defendant in entitling the cause against him; thus C. D. (defendant), ats A. B. (plaintiff).

Attach [fr. attaccare, It., to fasten], to take or apprehend by commandment of a writ or precept. It differs from arrest, because it takes not only the body, but sometimes the goods, whereas an arrest is only against the person; besides, he who attaches keeps the party attached in order to produce him in Court on the day named, but he who arrests lodges the person arrested in the custody of a higher power, to be forthwith disposed of.-Fleta, lib. 5, c. xxiv. See ATTACHMENT.

Attaché, a person associated with a foreign legation.

Attachiamenta bonorum, a distress formerly taken upon goods and chattels, by the legal attachiators or bailiffs, as security to answer an action for personal estate or debt. -Blount.

Attachiementa de spinis et boscis, a privilege granted to the officers of a forest to take to their own use thorns, brush, and windfalls, within their precints.-Kenn. Par. Antig. 209.

Attachment, a process from a Court of Record, awarded by the judges at their dis

cretion on a bare suggestion, or on their own knowledge, against a person guilty of a contempt, who is punishable in a summary manner. Contempts may be thus classed: (1) Disobedience to the Queen's writs; (2) Contempts in the face of a Court; (3) Contemptuous words or writings concerning a Court; (4) Refusing to comply with the rules and awards of a Court; (5) Abuse of the process of a Court; and (6) Forgery of writs, or any other deceit tending to impose on a Court.-Leach's Hawk. P. Cr., c. xxii. s. 33. As to attachment in proceedings in the Supreme Court of Judicature, see Jud. Act, 1875, Ord. XLIV. As to the former practice, see (as to Chancery proceedings) Dan. Ch. Pr., 4th ed., 420 et seq., and (as to common law proceedings) 2 Ch. Arch. Pr.

Attachment of Debts. By the Judicature Act, 1875, Ord. XLV. replacing s. 60 of the C. L. P. Act, 1854, which it follows very closely, a judgment creditor may apply to the court or a judge to have a judgment debtor orally examined as to debts due to him (r. 1), and may either before or after such examination apply ex parte for an order attaching such debts 'owing or accruing' in the hands of the parties owing the same (garnishees), and by the same or any subsequent order the garnishee may be required to appear before the court or a judge or an officer of the court to show cause why he should not pay the judgment creditor the debt due from him, the garnishee, to the judgment debtor, or so much thereof as may be sufficient to satisfy the judgment debt (r. 2).

Attachment, foreign, a process under which the goods of foreigners found in some liberty are taken to satisfy creditors.-Com. Dig. tit.

Attachment, Foreign.' Also a judicial proceeding, by means of which a creditor may obtain the security of the moneys, goods, or other personal property of his debtor, in the hands of a third person, for the purpose, in the first instance, of enforcing the appearance of the debtor to answer an action; and afterwards, upon his continued default, of obtaining the goods or property in satisfaction of the demand. It is also called garnishment. As to the custom prevailing in the City of London, see FOREIGN ATTACHMENT, and consult Brandon on For. Attach.

Attachment of the forest, one of the three Courts formerly held in forests. The highest Court was called Justice in Eyre's seat; the middle, the Swainmote; and the lowest, the Attachment.-Manwood, 90, 99.

Attachment of privilege. When a person by virtue of his privilege, calls another into that court to which he himself belongs, to answer some action as an attorney, etc.

It

is also a power to apprehend a person in a privileged place.-Termes de la Ley, 59. The 2 Wm. IV. c. 39 (commonly called the Uniformity of Process Act), virtually abolished this proceeding, and the 1 & 2 Vict. c. 110, enacted that all personal actions in any of the Superior Courts of Common Law at Westminster should be commenced by writ of

summons.

Attainder [fr. attaindre, Fr. (attainder, O. Fr.-Roquef), attingo, Lat., which signify the apprehension of the object of a chase], the stain or corruption of the blood of a criminal capitally condemned: it is the immediate inseparable consequence by the Common Law, sentence of death being pronounced, or of outlawry for a capital offence. The criminal then becomes dead in law, technically called civiliter mortuus. It differs from conviction, in that it is after judgment, whereas conviction is upon the verdict of guilty, but before judgment pronounced, and may be quashed upon some point of law reserved, or judgment may be arrested. The consequences of attainder are forfeiture of property and corruption of blood.-4 Bl. Com. 380. Now abolished, see post.

A descendant may now trace through an attainted ancestor by virtue of 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 106, s. 10. The attainder of a trustee or mortgagee does not occasion the lands, etc., to escheat or be forfeited.-13 & 14 Vict. c. 60, s. 46.

By the 32 & 33 Vict. c. 23, it is now provided that no conviction for treason or felony shall cause attainder or forfeiture. See BILL OF ATTAINDer.

Attains du fet [Fr.], convicted of the fact, caught by it, having it brought home to one. -Roquef; Wedgw.

Attaint, writ of, issued to inquire whether a jury of twelve men gave a false verdict, that so the judgment following thereupon might be reversed. This writ was abolished by 4 Geo. IV. c. 50, ss. 60, 61. A corrupt juror is punishable by fine and imprisonment, upon an indictment or information.

Attaint d'une cause [Fr.], the gain of a

suit.

Attainture, legal censure.

Attal sarisin [i.e., the leavings of the Sarasins, Sassins, or Saxons], an old deserted mine, so called by the Cornish miners.Cowel.

Attagea, a little house.-Blount.

Attempt [fr. tentare, Lat.; tenter, temter, tempter, O. Fr., to try], an endeavour to commit a crime or unlawful act. Persons indicted for a felony or misdemeanour, may be found guilty only of an attempt to commit the same.-14 & 15 Vict. c. 100, s. 9.

Attendant, one who owes a duty or service to another, or depends upon another.-Termes de la Ley, 61.

Attendant term. Terms for years in real property are created for many purposes, e.g., to furnish money for the payment of debts, to secure rent charges or jointures, to raise portions for younger children, daughters, etc. Now, although the purpose for which the term was originally created has been satisfied or has failed, yet, not being surrendered, it continued to exist, the legal interest remaining in the trustees, to whom it was at its creation limited, or, if deceased, in their personal representatives, but the person entitled to the inheritance then became, according to equitable principle, entitled to the beneficial interest in such term, and the termor was held to be such person's trustee. This beneficial interest was subordinate to and merely attendant upon the higher estate possessed by the owner of the inheritance, and yet completely consolidated with it, following the inheritance in all the various modifications and changes to which it might be subjected by act of law or arrangements of the owner. The advantage of preserving these terms and assigning them to trustees (thus preventing the legal presumption of surrender), with an express declaration that they shall attend upon the inheritance, was this: If it had at any time appeared that prior to the purchase or mortgage, but posterior to the creation of the term, there had been an intermediate alienation or incumbrance of the fee in favour of another person, to which the then trustee of the term had not been a party, and of which the purchaser or mortgagee had had no notice when he paid the purchase or mortgage-money, he would be protected against it, through the medium of the term so assigned, which being the elder title would have taken the priority in point of legal effect. Hence the expression 'protecting against mesne (middle) in

cumbrances.'

For the authorities and arguments upon this subject, consult 3 Sugden's Vendors and Purchasers, tit. 'Assignment of Terms.'

The act 8 & 9 Vict. c. 112, renders the assignment of satisfied attendant terms unnecessary.

Attentates, proceedings in a court of judicature, pending suit, and after an inhibition is decreed and gone out. Those things which are done after an extra-judicial appeal may be styled Attentates.—Ayliffe.

Attermining, granting time for payment of a debt.-Blount; 27 Edw. I.

Attestation, testimony, evidence, justification, the execution of a deed or will in the