An instrument which, in cases of impeachment, is used, and performs the same office which an indictment does, in a common criminal case, is known by this name. These articles do not usually pursue the strict form and accuracy of an indictment., Wood. Lect. 40, p. 605; Foster, 389, 390; Com. Dig. Parliament, L 21. They are sometimes quite general in the form of the allegations, … [Read more...]

Burning in the hand. The punishment by burning or branding the left thumb of lay offenders who claimed and were allowed the benefit of clergy, so as to distinguish them in case they made a second claim of clergy. 5 Coke, 51; 4 Bl. Comm. 367. … [Read more...]

A document filed with state authorities (usually the Secretary of State or Corporations Commissioner, depending on the state) to form a limited liability company As required by the general incorporation law of the state, the Articles normally include the purpose of the company its principal place of business, the names of its initial directors who will control it, and the … [Read more...]

Arpent. A measure of land of uncertain quantity mentioned in Domesday and other old books; by some called an "acre," by others "half an acre," and by others a "furlong." Spelman; Cowell; Blount. A French measure of land, containing one hundred square perches, of eighteen feet each, or about an acre. But the quantity varied in different provinces. Spelman. In Louisiana, the … [Read more...]

In old English law. To let or demise at a fixed rent. Particularly used with reference to the public domain or crown lands; as where a license was granted to inclose land in a forest with a low hedge and a ditch, under a yearly rent, or where an encroachment, originally a purpresture, was allowed to remain on the fixing and payment of a suitable compensation to the public for … [Read more...]