A brief written acknowledgment of a debt. It is not made payable to order, like a promissory note. … [Read more...]

Those lands which formerly belonged to the dukes of Lancaster, and now belong to the crown in right of the duchy. The duchy is distinct from the county palatine of Lancaster, and includes not only the county, but also much territory at a distance from it, especially the Savoy in London and some land near Westminster. 8 Bl. Comm. 78. Duchy court of Lancaster. A tribunal of … [Read more...]

A duel la any combat with deadly weapons, fought between two or more persons, by previous agreement or npon a previous quarrel. Pen. Code Cal. { 225; State y. Fritz, 133 N. C. 725, 45 S. E. 957; State y. Herriott, 1 McMul. (S. C.) 130; Bassett y. State, 44 Fla. 2, 33 South. 262; Davis v. Modern Woodmen, 98 Mo. App. 713, 73 S. W. 923. … [Read more...]

punishment. An instrument used, in dipping women in the water, as a punishment, on conviction of being common scolds. It is sometimes confounded with tumbrel. 2. This barbarous punishment was never in use in Pennsylvania. … [Read more...]

crim. law. The fighting of two persons, one against the other, at an appointed time and place, upon a precedent quarrel. It differs from an array in this, that the latter occurs on a sudden quarrel, while the former is always the result of design. 2. When one of the parties is killed, the survivor is guilty of murder. 1 Russ. on Cr. 443; 1 Yerger's R. 228. Fighting a duel, even … [Read more...]