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Rh

An arbitrnnient or award.

In old Scotch luw. Sentence or judgment; dome or doom. 1 Pitc. Crim. Tr. pt 2. p. 8.

Iat.

LAIJGIIE. Fninlz-pledge. 2 Reeve, Eng.

law, 17.

LAUNGEGAY. A kind of oliensive weapon. now disused, and prohibited by 7 Rich. II. c. 13.

LAUNCH. 1. The act of launching a. vessel; the moveuient of a vessel froui the land into the water. especially the elichng on ways from the stocks on which it is hiiilt. Homer v. The Lady of the Occiin, 70 Me. 352.

2. A host of the largest size belonging to a ship of war; an open heat of large size used in any service; a lighter.

LAUREATE. In English law. An officer of the household of the sovereign, whose business formerly consisted only in composing an ode annually, on the sovercigirs bii'tli- div, and on the new year: sometimes also, though rarely, on occasion of any remark- able victory.

LAURELS. Pieces of gold, coined in 1619, with the king's head lanreated; hence the name.

LAUS DEO. Lat. Praise be to God. An old heading to bills of exchange.

LAVATORIUM. A laundry or place to wash in; a place in the porch or entrance of cathedral churches. Where the priest and other officiating ministers were obliged to wash their hands before they proceeded to divine service.

I-AVOR NIJEVA. In Spanish luw. A new work. Ins Partidzis, pt 3. tit 32. l. 1.

LAW. 1. That which is laid down, ordained, or estalilisheci. A rule or method according to which phenomena or actions co- eflst or follow each other.

2. A system or principles and rules of hu- man colliinct. being the aggregate of those commandments and principles which are elther pi-esciihcd or recognized by the governing power in an organized jural society as its will in reirition to the conduct of the members of such society, and which it undertakes to maintain and sanction and to use as the c1'i‘tcri'u, of the actions of such memlieis.

_"[Jl\\"' is a solemn expression of legislative will. It orders and permits and forbids. It announces rewards and punishments. Its pro- visions generally relate not to solitary or sing- ular cases, but to what passes in the ordinary couise of aifaiis. Civ. Code _ arts. 1..

"Law," without an arm-_ie__properiy linplies I wzcncs or :1/Item of principles or rules of

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human conduct, answering to the Latin "iiia:" as when it is spoken of as a subject of study or practice. In th' sense, it lncinrles the decisions of courts of j '('e_ ns well as acts of the legislature. The jmlgment of a coinprmit court. until reversed or otherwise siipersedeil. is low, as much as any statute. iE|(il'I:d. it ninv happen that I1 statute Inil) he pnswd in violation of hue. that is, of the fundamental lair or constitution of a state; that it is tbs p'l'('['I\!ntive of courts in such case: to declare it v--id. or, in other words. ho declare it not to be law. BurriLl.

3. A rule of civil conduct prescribed by the siltireme power in a State. 1 Flt.-ph. Cnium. 25: Civ. Code Diik. 5 2; Poi. (‘ode Cal. 5 4466.

A "law," in the proper sense of the term. is a general rule of human action. taking cognizance only of external acts, (3l]f0l‘\|v'fl hy a (lcteruiiiiate authority, which aIIi'iIuiit_\' ll human, and among human authorities is unit which is paramount in a politic.-ii society. Hoii. Jur. 30.

A "1nw," properly so called. is a command which obliges a person or persons; and, as distinguished from a psrticuiar or occasional coininaiid, obliges genelally to acts or for- benraiices of a class. Aust. Jur.

A rule or enactment promulgated by the legislative authority of a state; a long-esI1ib- lished local custom which has the force of such an eniictnicnt. Dnbois v. Hepburn. 10 Pet. 18, 9 L. Ed. 325.

4. In another sense the word signifies an enactment; a distinct and complete act of positive law; a statute, as opposed to rules of civil conduct deduced from the customs of the people or judicial precedents.

When the term "law" is used to denote enactments of the legislative power. it is frequently confined, especially I7)’ English writers, to permanent rules of civil conduct, as distin- guished from other acts, such as a divorce not.

an appropriation hill, on estates act. Ben. Eng. St. L. Com. Mar. 1356.

For other definitions and descriptions, see State v. McCann. 4 Lea (Tenn.) 9; Stats v. Hockett, 70 Iowa, 454, 30 N. W. 744: I)iin~ can v. Magette, 25 Tex. 253; Baldwin v. Phiindelphiii, 99 Pa. 170; State v. Fry, 4 Mo. 139; I-‘orepangh v. Railinnd 00.. 128 Pa. 217. 18 Atl. 503. 5 L. R. A. 508, 15 Am. St. Rep. 6'‘’' State v. Swan, 1 N. D. 5. -1-! N. W. 492; §mith v. U. S., 22 Fed. C45. 696; Swift v. Tyson. 16 Pet. 1, 10 L. Ed. 1'15; Miller v. Dunn. 72 Cal. 462, 14 Pnc. 27, 1 Am. St. Rep. 67; Bier v. Mcti‘-ehee. 1-18 U. S. 137, 13 Sup. Ct. 530. 37 L. Ed. 397.

Historically considered. With reference to its origin. "law" is derived either from judicial precedents. from legislation, or from custom. That part of the law which is de rived from judicial precedents is called "common law." "equity." or ":i(liiiii-;iity.' "pi'oliate," or "ecclesiastical law," according to the nature of the L(lill'i1S by which it was oiiginally enforced (See the respective tities.) That part of the law which is derived from legislation is called the "statute law."