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is due from an alien, while resident in the United States, for the protection which the government affords him. 1 Bl. Com. 366, 372; Com. Dig. h. t.; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.; 1 East, P. C. 49 to 57.

ALLIANCE, relationship, is the union or connexion of two persons or families by marriage, which is also called affinity. This word is derived from the Latin preposition ad and ligare, to bind. Vide Inst. 1, 10, 6; Dig. 38. 10, 4, 3; and Affinity.

ALLIANCE, international law, is a contract, treaty, or league, between two sovereigns or states, made to insure their safety and common defence. Alliances made for warlike purposes are divided in general into defensive and offensive; in the former the nation only engages to defend her ally in case he be attacked; in the latter, she unites with him for the purpose of making an attack, or jointly waging the war against another nation. Some alliances are both of fensive and defensive; and there seldom is an offensive alliance which is not also a defensive one. Vattel, B. 3, c. 6, § 79.

ALLOCATIONE FACIENDA, Eng. law. A writ commanding that an allowance be made to an accountant, for such moneys as he has lawfully expended in his office. It is directed to the lord treasurer and barons of the exchequer.

ALLOCATUR, practice, is the allowance of a writ; e. g. when a writ of habeas corpus is prayed for, the judge directs it to be done, by writing the word allowed, and signing his name, this is called the allocatur. In the English courts this word is used to indicate the master or prothonotary's allowance of a sum referred for his consideration, whether touching costs, damages, or matter of account. Lee's Dict. h. t. ALLODIUM, estates, signifies an

absolute estate of inheritance in contradistinction to a feud. In this country the title to land is essentially allodial, and every tenant in fee simple has an absolute and perfect title, yet in technical language his estate is called an estate in fee simple, and the tenure free and common socage. 3 Kent. Com. 390. Vide Cruise, Prel. Dis. c. 1, § 13; 2 Bl. Com. 45. For the etymology of this word vide 3 Kent, Com. 398, note.

ALLOTMENT. Distribution by lot; partition; Merl. Rép. h. t.

ALLOWANCE TO A PRISON. ER. By the insolvent laws of, it is believed, all the states, when a poor debtor is in arrest in a civil suit, the plaintiff is compelled to pay an allowance regulated by law, for his maintenance and support, and in default of such payment, at a time required, the prisoner is discharged. It is scarcely possible to ascertain what sum is allowed in each state, and it will not, therefore, be attempted to state it; in the city and county of Philadelphia, the plaintiff is bound to pay to the gaoler one dollar and twenty-six cents on the Monday of every week. Notice must be given the plaintiff before the defendant can be discharged.・・・・・

ALLOY, is an inferior metal used with gold and silver in making coin or public money. The act of con gress of 2d of April, 1792, sect. 12, directs that the standard for all gold coins of the United States, shall be eleven parts fine to one part of alloy; and sect. 13, that the standard for all silver coins of the United States, shall be one thousand four hundred and eighty-five parts fine, to one hun. dred and seventy-nine parts alloy. 1 Story's L. U. S. 230.

ALLUVIAL, belonging to a del. uge or alluvion; as alluvial soil, i. e. soil that has been brought to other lands by means of floods.

ALLUVION is the additions made

to land by the washing of the sea or | dence (A b, 4.) In dating instrurivers. The characteristic of alluvion ments some sects, the Quakers, for is its imperceptible increase, so that example, instead of writing January, it cannot be perceived how much is February, March, &c., use use the added in each moment of time. What terms, First month, Second month, is taken from one side is usually car- Third month, &c., and these are ried on the opposite bank; in cases equally valid in such writings. Vide where the change is so gradual as 1 Smith's Laws of Pennsylvania, 217. not to be perceived in any one moment of time, the proprietor whose bank on the river is increased is entitled to the addition. Alluvion differs from avulsion, (q. v.) in the latter the change is sudden and perceptible. See 2 Bl. Com. 262, and note by Chitty; 1 Swift's Dig. 111; Coop. Just. lib. 2, t. 1; Angell on Water Courses, 219; 3 Mass. R. 352; 1 Gill & Johns. R. 249; Schultes on Aq. Rights, 116; 2 Amer. Law Journ. 282, 393; Angell on Tide Waters, 213; Inst. 2, 1, 20; Dig. 41, 1, 7; Dig. 39, 2, 9; Dig. 6, 1, 23; 41, 1, 5.

ALMS. In its most extensive sense this term comprehends every species of relief bestowed upon the poor, and, therefore, including all charities. In a more limited sense it signifies what is given by public authority for the relief of the poor. Shelford on Mortmain, 802, note (x); 1 Dougl. Election Cas. 370; 2 Id. 107; Heywood on Elections, 263.

TO ALTER. To change. Alterations are made either in the contract itself, or the instrument which is evidence of it. The contract may at any time be altered with the consent of the parties, and the alteration may be either in writing or not in writing. It is a general rule that the terms of a contract under seal, cannot be changed by a parol agreement. Cooke, 500; 3 Blackf. R. 353; 4 Bibb, 1. But it has been decided that an alteration of a contract by specialty, made by parol, makes it all parol. 2 Watts, 451; 1 Wash. R. 170; 4 Cowen, 564; 3 Harr. & John. 438; 9 Pick. 298; 1 East, R.

ALLY, international law, is a power which has entered into an alliance with another power. A citizen or subject of one of the powers in alliance is sometimes called an ally; for example, the rule which renders it unlawful. for a citizen of the United States to trade or tarry on commerce with an enemy, also precludes an ally from similar intercourse. 4 Rob. Rep. 251; 6 Rob. Rep. 405; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t. ALMANAC. A table or calen-619; but see 3 S. & R. 579. When

dar, in which are set down the revolutions of the seasons, the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, the most remarkable conjunctions, positions and phenomena of the heavenly bodies, the month of the year, the days of the month and week, and a variety of other matter. The courts will take judiIcial notice of the almanac, for example, whether a certain day of the month was on a Sunday or not. Vin. Ab. h. t.; 6 Mod. 41; Cro. Eliz. 227, pl. 12; 12 Vin. Ab. Evi

the contract is in writing, but not under seal, it may be varied by parol, and the whole will make but one agreement. 9 Cowen, 115; 5 N. H. Rep. 99; 6 Harr. & John. 38; 18 John. 420; 1 John. Cas. 22; 5 Cowen, 506; Pet. C. C. R. 221; 1 Fairf. 414. For alteration of instruments see Erasure; Interlineation. See, generally, 7 Greenl. 76, 121, 394; 15 John. 200; 2 Penna. R. 454.

ALTERNAT, the name of a usage among diplomatists by which the rank and places of different powers,

who have the same rights and pretentions to precedence, are changed, from time to time, either in a certain regular order, or one determined by lot. In drawing up treaties and conventions, for example, it is the usage of certain powers to alternate, both in the preamble and the signatures, so that each power occupies, in the copy intended to be delivered to it, the first place. Wheat. Intern. Law, pt. 2, c. 3, § 4.

ALTERNATIVE. Vide Election; Obligation; Alternative.

ALTIUS NON TOLLENDI, civil law, is the name of a servitude due by the owner of a house, by which he is restrained from building beyond a certain height. Dig. 8, 2, 4, and l. 12, 17, 25.

ALTIUS TOLLENDI, civil law. The name of a servitude which consists in the right, to him who is entitled to it, to build his house as high as he may think proper. In general, however, every one enjoys this privilege, unless he is restrained by some contrary title.

ALTO ET BASSO, high and low. This phrase is applied to an agreement made between two contending parties to submit all matters in dispute, alto et basso, to arbitration.

ALUMNUS, civil law. A child which one has nursed; a foster child. Dig. 40, 2, 14.

AMBASSADOR, international law, is a public minister sent abroad by some sovereign state or prince, with a legal commission and authority to transact business on behalf of his country with the government to which he is sent. He is a minister of the highest rank, and represents the person of his sovereign. The United States have always been represented by ministers plenipotentiary, never having sent a person of the rank of an ambassador in the diplomatic sense, 1 Kent's Com. 39, n. Ambassadors, when acknowledged

as such, are exempted absolutely from all allegiance, and from all responsibility to the laws. If, however, they should be so regardless of their duty, and of the object of their pri vilege, as to insult or openly to attack the laws of the government, their functions may be suspended by a refusal to treat with them, or application can be made to their own sovereign for their recall, or they may be dismissed, and required to depart within a reasonable time. By fiction of law, an ambassador is considered as if he were out of the territory of the foreign power; and it is an implied agreement among nations, that the ambassador, while he resides in the foreign state, shall be considered as a member of his own country, and the government he represents has exclusive cognizance of his conduct and control of his person. The attendants of the ambassador are attached to his person, and the effects in his use are under his protection and privilege, and, generally, equally exempt from foreign jurisdiction.

Ambassadors are ordinary or extraordinary. The former designation is exclusively applied to those sent on permanent missions, the latter to those employed on particular or extraordinary occasions, or residing at a foreign court for an indeterminate period. Vattel, Droit des Gens, 1. 4, c. 6, §§ 70-79.

The act of Congress of April 30th, 1790, s. 25, makes void any writ or process sued forth or prosecuted against any ambassador authorised and received by the president of the United States, or any domestic servant of such ambassador; and the 25th section of the same act punishes any person who shall sue forth or prosecute such writ or process, and all attorneys and solicitors prosecut ing or soliciting in such case, and all officers executing such writ or process with an imprisonment not ex

intention of the party. In such case evidence of the declaration of the party cannot be admitted to explain his intention, and the clause will be void for its uncertainty. In Pennsylvania this rule is somewhat qualified. 3 Binn. 587; 4 Binn. 482. Vide generally, Baç. Max. Reg. 23; 1 Phil. Ev. 410 to 420; 3 Stark. Ev. 1021; 1 Com. Dig. 575; Sugd. Vend. 113. The civil law on this subject will be found in Dig. lib. 50, t. 17, l. 67; lib. 45, t. 1, 1. 8; and lib. 22, t. 1, l. 4.

ceeding three years, and a fine at the has to put a construction on the indiscretion of the court. The act pro-strument, is unable to collect the vides that citizens or inhabitants of the United States who were indebted when they went into the service of an ambassador, shall not be protected as to such debt; and it requires also that the names of such servants shall be registered in the office of the secretary of state. The 16th section imposes the like punishment on any person offering violence to the person of an ambassador or other minister. Vide 1 Kent, Com. 14, 38, 182; Rutherf. Inst. b. 2, c. 9; Vatt. b. 4, c. 8, s. 113; 2 Wash. C. C. R. 435; Ayl. Pand. 245; 1 Bl. Com. 253; AMBULATORIA VOLUNTAS, Bac. Ab. h. t.; 2 Vin. Ab. 286; a phrase used to designate that a man Grot. lib. 2, c. 8, 1, 3; 1 Whart. has the power to alter his will or tesDig. 382; 2 Id. 314; Dig. 1. 50, t.tament as long as he lives. 7; Code, l. 10, t. 63, l. 4.

AMBIDEXTER. It is intended by this Latin word to designate one who plays on both sides; in a legal sense it is taken for a juror or embraceor who takes money from the parties for giving his verdict. This is seldom or never done in the United States.

AMBIGUITY, contracts, construction. When an expression has been used in an instrument of writing which may be understood in more than one sense, it is said there is an ambiguity. There are two sorts of ambiguities of words, ambiguitas latens and ambiguitas patens. The first occurs where the deed or instrument is sufficiently certain and free from ambiguity, but the ambiguity is produced by something extrinsic, or some collateral matter out of the instrument; for example, if a man devise property to his cousin A B, and he has two cousins of that name, in such case parol evidence will be received to explain the ambiguity. The second or patent ambiguity occurs when a clause in a deed, will, or other instrument, is so defectively expressed, that a court of law, which

AMENABLE. Responsible; subject to answer in a court of justice; liable to punishment.

AMENDE HONOURABLE, in the old English law. A penalty imposed upon a person by way of disgrace or infamy, as a punishment for any offence, or for the purpose of making reparation for any injury done to another, as the walking into church in a white sheet, with a rope about the neck, and a torch in the hand, and begging the pardon of God or the king, or any private indi vidual for some delinquency. A punishment somewhat similar to this, and which bore the same name, was common in France; it was abolished by the law of the 25th of September, 1791. Merlin, Rép. de Jur. h. t.

AMENDMENT, legislation, is an alteration or change of something proposed in a bill. Either house of the legislature has a right to make amendments; but, when so made, they must be sanctioned by the other house before they can become a law. The senate has no power to originate any money bills, (q. v.) but may propose and make amendments to such as have passed the house of re

presentatives. Vide Congress; Se- | cases, allowable at the discretion of

nate.

The constitution of the United States, art. 5, and the constitutions of some of the states, provide for their amendment. The provisions contained in the constitution of the United States are as follows:-"Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states, shall call a Convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as part of this constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by Congress: Provided, that no amendment, which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, shall, in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no state, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate."

the court, under certain statutes passed for allowing amendments of the record; and in late times the judges have been much more liberal than formerly, in the exercise of this discretion. Amendments are, however, always limited by due consideration of the rights of the opposite party; and, when by the amendment he would be prejudiced or exposed to unreasonable delay, it is not allowed. Vide Bac. Ab. h. t.; Com. Dig. h. t. ; Viner's Ab. h. t.; 2 Arch. Pr. 230; Grah. Pr. 524; Steph. Pl. 97; 2 Sell. Pr. 453; 3 Bl. Com. 406.

AMENDS is a satisfaction given by a wrong doer to the party injured for a wrong committed. í Lilly's Reg. 81. Upon being notified of an intended suit against them, justices of the peace, and some other officers, may make a tender of amends, and if the plaintiff recover no more than the amount tendered, he shall pay the costs.

AMERCEMENT, in practice. A pecuniary penalty imposed upon a person who is in misericordia; as, for example, when the demandant or plaintiff, tenant or defendant se reAMENDMENT, practice, is the traxit, or recessit in contemptum cucorrection by the court of an error ria. 8 Co. 58; Bar. Ab. Fines and committed in the progress of a cause. Amercements. Formerly if the sheriff Amendments at common law, inde- failed in obeying the writs, rules, or pendently of any statutory provision orders of the court, he might be on the subject, are in all cases in the amerced; that is, a penalty might be discretion of the court, for the fur-imposed upon him; but this practice therance of justice; they may be has been superseded by attachment. made while the proceedings are in In New Jersey and Ohio, the sheriff paper, that is, until judgment is sign-may, by statutory provision, be amerced, and during the term in which it ed for making a return contrary to is signed; for until at the end of the the provision of the statute. Coxe, term the proceedings are considered 136, 169; 6 Halst. 334; 3 Halst. only in fieri, and consequently sub- 270, 271; 5 Halst. 319; 1 Green, ject to the control of the court; 2 159, 341; 2 Green, 350; 2 South. Burr. 756; 3 Bl. Com. 407; 1 Salk. 433; 1 Ham. 275; 2 Ham. 503; 6 47; 2 Salk. 566; 3 Salk. 31; Co. Ham. 452; Wright, 720. Litt. 260; and even after judgment is signed, and up to the latest period of the action, amendment is, in most

AMERCIAMENT, or AMERCEMENT, in the English law. A pecuniary punishment arbitrarily im

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