knight at common law, and also by act of parliament Wharton.
DEGRADATIONS. A term for waste In the French law.
DEGRADING. Revlllng: holding one up to public obioquy; Ion ering a person in the estimation of the public.
DEGE]-IE. In the law of descent and family relations. A step or grade, ti. 6., the distance, or number of removes, which separates two persons who are related by consanguinity. Thus we speak of cousins in the "second degree"
In criminal law. The term "degree" denotes a dluslon or classification of one specific crime Into several grades or studio of guilt, atcoullng to the circumstances attending its commission. Thus, in some states, there may be "murder in the second degree."
DEHORS. L Fr. Out of: without; be yond; fouign to: unconnected with. Dchors the record; foreign to the record. 3 Bl. Comm. 387.
DE! GRATIA. Lat. By the grace of God. A phrase used in the formal title of :1 king or qnecn, Importing a claim of sovereignty by the favor or comnnsslon of God. in ancient times it was incorporated in the lines of Inferior officers, (especially ecclesiastical.) but in later use was reserved as an assertion of "the divine right of kings."
DEI .fl1I.\ICl'll'iVI. The judgment of God. The old Saxon trial by ordeal, so called because it was thought to be an appeal to God fnr the justice or a cause, and it was believed that the decision was according to the will and pleasure of Divine Providence. Wharton.
DEJACION. In Spanish law. Surrender; release; abnmlomuent: 6. g., the act or an insolvent in surrendering his property for the benefit of his creditors, of an heir In re- nounclng the succession, the ahamloument of Insured property to the underwriters.
DEJERATION. oath.
A taking of a solemn
DEL BI]-IN ESTRE. L. Fr. In old English practice Of well heiu_-1; of form. The same as do Ilene ease. Britt c. 39.
DEL CREDEEE. In mercantile law. A phrase bouowed from the Italians, equiva- lent to our word "guarant_v" or "warranty," or the Scotch term "warraudice;" an agreemcnt by which a factor, when he sells goods on credit, for an additional commission, (called a "dot crcdcre commission") guaranties the solvency of the purchaser and his
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performance of the contract. Such a factor is called a "dcl credcre agent." He is a mere surety, Iiable only to his principal in case the purchaser makes default. Story, Ag. 28; Loeh v. Hellman, 83 N. Y. 603; Le" is v Brchme, 33 Md. 42-}, 3 Am. Rep. 190 :_ Leverick v. Mclgs. 1 (low. (N. Y.) 063; Ruffuer v. Hewitt, 7 W. Va. 604.
DELAISSEMENT. In French marine law. Abandonment. Emenig. 'l‘r. des Ass ch. 17.
DELATE. In Scotch law. To accuse Dciated, accused. Dclaiit of)’ tide and panic. accused of being accessary to. 3 How. St. Tr. 425, 440.
DELATIO.}} In the civil law. sation or information.
I) ELATOR. a sycophant.
An accu-
An accuser; an lnformcr:
DELATURA. reward of an informer.
In old English law. The
Whlsbaw.
DELAY. To retard; obstruct: put off; hinder; interpose ohstncles; as, when it is said that a conveyance was marle to "hinder and delay creditors." Mercantile Co. v. Arnold, 108 Ga. 449. 34 S. E. 176; Ellis v. Val- entine, 65 Tex. 532.
DELECTUS PERSONZE. Lat Choice of the person. By this term is undeistnod the right of a partner to exercise his choice and preference as to the admission of any new members to the firm, and as to the persons to be so admitted, it any.
In Scotch law. The personal preference which is su-pposeu to have been exercised by a landlord in selecting his tenant, by the members of a firm in making choice or part- ners, in the appointment or persons to office, and other cases. Nearly equixnlent to personal trust, as a doctrine in law. Bell.
Delegata pntestns non potent delegari. 2 Inst. 507. A delegated poner cannot be delegated.
DELEGATE. A person who is delegated or commissioned to act In the stead of an- other; a person to Whom affairs are committed by another: an attorney.
A person elected or appointed to be a member of 11 representative assembly. Usu- ally spoken or one sent to :1 special or occasional usscmhiy or convention. hianston v. l\-iclntosh, 58 Minn. 5325, 60 N. W. 672. 28 L. R. A. 603.
The representative in congress of one of
the organized territories of the United States. —Dele::ntes, the high court of. In English law. Formerly the court of appeal from the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts. Almlislwd upon the judicial committee of the pri\y coucnil being constituted the court of appeal in such cases.
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