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lull meaning of a word should be ascertained at the outset, in order that the sense may not be lost by defect of expression, and that the law be not without reasons.

Lat. To the one first coining. An executor anclently paid debts as they were presented, whether the assets were sufficient to meet all debts or not. Slim. Law Gloss.

PRIMOGENITURE. 1. The state of being the ljrst-born among several children of the same parents; seniority by birth in [be same family.

2. The superior or exclusive right possessrd by the eldest son, and particularly, his rightto suct-eeii to the estate of his ancestor, in right of his seniority by birth, to the ex- clusion of younger sons.

PRIMOGENITUS. Lat. ln old English iziw. A first-born or eldest son. Bract. 1'01. 33.

PRIMUM DECRETUM. Lat. in the canon law. The first decree; a preliminary decree granted on the nowappearance of a defendant, by which the plaintiff was put in possession of his goods, or of the thing itself which was demanded. Giib. Forum Hum. 32, 33.

PRINCE. In a general sense, a sovereign; the ruler of a nation or state. More linrticularly, the son of a lung or emperor. or the issue of a royal family; as primes of the blood. The chief of any body of men. Web- stci‘.

--Prince of Wales. The eldest son of the English sovereign. He is the heirapparent to the croi\n_

PRINCEPS. Lat. In the civil law. The prince; the emperor.

Princeps et respllhlica. ex Junta canes. possunt rem mean: anferre. 12 Coke, 13. The prince and the republic, for a just cause, can mile away my property.

Pr-inceps legilms solntns eat. The emperor is released from the l.iws; is not bound by the laws. Dig. 1. 3, 31.

Prineeps mi-Lvult dmncsticos miljtes qnam stipendiarios hellicis opponere casilms. (Io. Litt. 69. A prince, 111 the chances of war, had better employ domestic than stipeudi-.ily troope

PRINCES OF THE ROYAL BLOOD. In English law. The younger sons and daughters of the sovereign, and other branches of the royal family who are not in the im- Luediiite line of succession.

PRINCESS ROYAL. In English law. The eldest daughter of the sovereign. 3 Stepli. Comm. 450.

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PRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL. Chief; leading; highest in ranii or degree; most important or consider- able; primary; original; the source of authority or right.

In the law relating to real and personal property, "princlpal" is nsed as the correlative of "accessory," and denotes the more important or valuable subject, with which others are connected in a relation of dependence or subservicnce, or to which they are inci- dent or appurtenant.

In criminal law. A diief actor or perpetrator, as distinguished from an "accessary." A principal in the first degree is he that is the actor or absolute perpetrator of Lhe crime; and. in the second degree. he who is present, aiding and ahetting the fact to be done. 4 Bl. Comm. 34. And see Be-an v. State, 17 Tex. App. 60; Mitchell v. Com.. 33 Grat. (Va.) 868; Cooney v. Burke, 11 Neh. 258. 9 N. W. 57; Red v. State. 39 Tex. Cr. 11. 667, 47 S. W. 1003, 73 Am. St. Rep. 965; State v. Phillips, 24 M0. 481; Travis v. Com., 96 Ky. 77. 27 S. W. 863.

All persons concerned in the commission of crime, whether it be felony or misdemeanor, and yihciher they directly commit the act constitut~ ing the oliense, or aid and abet in its commission, though not present, are principals. Pen. Code Dak. § 27.

A criminal oifender is either a principal or an accessory. A principal is either the actor (I. e., the actual perpetrator of the crime) or else is present, aiding and abetting the fact to_be done; an accessary is he who is not the chief actor in the offense, nor yet present at its performance, but is some way concerned therein, either before or after the fact committed. l Hale, P. C. 613, 618.

In the law of guaranty and surety- ship. The principal is the person primarily liable, and for whose performance of his ob- ligation the guarantor or surety has become bound.

In the law of agency. The employer or constitutor of an agent; the person who gives authority to an agent or attorney. to do some act for him. Adams v. Whittlesey, 3 Conn. 567.

One, who, being competent mi iuris to do any act for his oiin benefit or on his own account, confides it to another person to do for him. Domat, b. I. lit. 15.

The term also denotes the capital sum of a debt or obligatioii, as distinguished from interest or other Ei(lIlltlDlJS to it. Christian v. Superior -Court, 122 Cal. 117, 54 I‘ac. 518.

An heir-looni. mortuary, or corse-present Wharton.

—\Tice principal. In the law of master and servant. this term means one to whom ihe employer has confided the entire charge of the business or of a distinct branch of it, giving him authority to superintcnd, direct, and controi the workmen and make them obey his orders, the master himself exercising no particular oversight and giving no particular orders, or one to whom the master has delegated a duty of his own, which is a direct, personal, and ab- solute obligation. See urkin v. Kingston Coal Co.. 171 1'9. 193. 33 All. .337, 2‘ L. R. A. 808, 50 Am. St. Rep. 801; Moore v. Rail-