Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/51

* REPIN. 35 REPOUSSE. Kvcning" (1881) and "Country Life in the CiiiMca" (1888). The Tretiakoff Gallery in !Moscow preserves more than lifty of his |)aint- iiigs. Consult the uionugrapli by Xorden ('ienua, 1S!)4); IIaii;ooil, "A Russian National Artist," in Tlic CciilKri/ Magazine, xxiii. (New York, 181)2) ; and Shither, A History of Modern Painliii;i. iii. (ib., 18i)G). REPLEVIN (OF. replevin, from replcvir, from ilL. replirire, to warrant, pledge, from re-, back again, anew -(- plevire, plegiare, to pledge). An action brought to recover the possession of goods and chattels unlawfully taken, or wrong- fully detained. Under the old common law prac- tice it was only employed to recover back goods which had been unlawfully taken from the owner, as by the ancient proceeding of distress for rent, .and detinue was used for the recovery of chattels unlawfully detained. To-day in most jurisdic- tions replevin, or some action of like nature, is em|)loyed for the recovery of chattels wrongfully wilhheld. In the action a writ is issued for the seizure of the goods, and the plaintill is required to file a sutlicieut bond to cover damages which may result to the defendant. The defendant may by statute in some States give a bond and retain possession mitil the action is determined. Any person ^■ho is entitled to the possession of property may maintain the action, and the de- fendant must rely on the strength of his own rights rather than on the weakness of the plain- tilV's title. The plaintiff should allege in his com- plaint or declaration the value of the chattels, and what damage he has sustained, and in such case is entitled to an alternative verdict and judgment commanding the return of the goods, and if that is not possible, the payment of their value, and in each ease damages for their detention. The defendant must return the goods if possible, and he does not have the option of paying their assessed value instead. If the defendant is successful he is entitled to recover such damages as he has sustained, and may sue on the jilaintiir's bond. Replevin is a possessory action and corresponds to ejectment (q.v. ) as to real estate. See Chattel; Detinue; Tro-er; Pkoperty. REPLICA. See Copy. REPORT. A written or printed account of a case which has been judicially determined. Such an account, in the most complete and accurate reports, is usually composed of a brief statement of the facts of the ease prepared by the editor or the reporter, a brief summary of the argu- ments of coun.sel, including a statement of the authorities cited by them on the argument or in their briefs, and the opinion of the court. The opinion also frequently contains a statement of the facts, a statement of the court's decision of the case, and the reasoning and the authorities upon which the decision is based. The report of the case may also include dissenting opinions. The value and use of precedents in the English common law (see Precedent) ni.ake the careful preparation and jireservation of reports of de- cided cases of the highest impoi'tance. Beginning with the reports of cases contained in the Ypar Books (Fdw. 11. to Henry VIII.) there is a com- plete series of reports of cases decided in the higher English courts down to the present time. In each of the United States there are published reports of nil cnses decided by the courts having appellate jurisdiction, going back to the date of their organization; and there are also com- plete reports of the eases decided in the Unit<'d States Supreme Court and the inferior l''e(lei-al courts having appellate jurisdiction .since their ere;i1ion under the United Slates Constitution. The Year Hooks were prepared at public ex- pense by scribes of court or re|>ortcrs who were appointed to that duty, a function which unfor- tunately was abandoned at the close of the reign of Henry VI 11. After . that time the reports were the work of private lawyers, and they sometimes bear evidences of hasty and inaccurate preparation. Some of them, however, prei)ared by lawyers of great learning, are of the highest value as authorities. The various edit<jrs of English reports number in all about one hundred. The following are a few of the more important early law reports following the Year Books: Dyer (1513-82), Coke (1572-1618), Hobart (1603-25), Croke ( li582-1641 ), Yelverton (1603- 13), Saunders (1678-84), Vaughan (1665-74), Raymond (1604-1734), Salkehl ( 168'.)-1712), Strange (171(i-49), East (1800-12), The first chancery reports were published after the Restoration, although West's tiymboleoyraphy, published in the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth, contained some precedents of process, bills, and answers in chancery. The first chan- cery reports, entitled "Reports of Cases Taken and Adjudged in Chancery in the Reign of Charles I., Charles II., .Janies II., William III., and Queen Anne," were inaccui'ate and of little value. Of the other early chancery reports the following are the more important: Vernon (1680-1719), Peer Williamson (1700-35), Vesey, Sr. (1740-1856), Vesey, Jr. (1789-1817), aiid Atkyns (1736-54). In the United States generally, reports of cases are now published by public ollicials ap- pointed for that purpose by the court, and in those States in which the law and equity s^'stems have been merged, law and equity cases are jniblished together. The increase in volume of litigation has resulted in recent years in an enormous increase in the number of reports, and has led to the consideration of various plans for curtailing their number. Consult: Wallace, The Reporters Chronolo- gically Arranged with Occasional Remarks on Their Respective Merits: Daniel, History and Origin of Law Reports (London, 1884) ; Wam- baugh, Stndy of Cases (Boston, 1884). For a complete list of repoi'ts. see Soule, Lateycrs' Ref- erence Manual of Law Books and Citations (Boston, 1884), REPOUSSE CFr,, beaten back). A process of ornamenting thin metal by jnndueing a jiattern or design with a hammer. The finest e.isting specimens of this work are those of Benvenuto Cellini (q.v.), made in the sixteenth century. The art was extensively practiced by the early Egyptians and Etruscans. In repousse work a hammer with an elastic handle is used, which is screwed to a permanent support. Many adjustable heads are proviiled to suit the different parts of the work. .Vfti'r the pattern is roughly hammered up from the inside the design is perfected on the outside with chasing tools. In order to make this possible, a bed of some soft but resisting m.aterial is used to furnish a support for the thin, pliant met:il. If the work is a hollow vessel it may be filled with melted pitch, which is permitted to harden.