Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/200

188 I N T I N T INTERDICT (interdidum sc. ojjidorum divinorum), in its full technical sense as an ecclesiastical term, means a sentence by a competent ecclesiastical authority (popes, councils, bishops with chapters) forbidding all administra tion of the sacraments, celebration of public worship, and use of the burial service. An interdict may be either local, personal, or mixed, according as it applies to a locality, to a particular person or class of persons, or to a particular locality as long as it shall be the residence of a particular person or class of persons. Local interdicts again may be either general or particular; in the latter instance they refer only to particular buildings set apart for religious services. In the writings of Augustine (Kpp., 250) there is an indication that something of the nature of an interdict had been attempted in his diocese by a certain bishop Auxilius ; the attempt is strongly condemned by Augustine, who disapproved of the plan, as making the innocent suffer along with the guilty. In 869 Hincmar of Laon laid his entire diocese under an interdict, a proceeding for which lie was severely censured by Hincmar of Illieims. In the Chronicle of Ademar of Limoges (ad ami. 994) it is stated that Bishop Alduin introduced there "a new plan for punishing the wickedness of his people ; he ordered the churches and monasteries to cease from divine worship and the people to abstain from divine praise, and this he called excommunication " (see Gieseler, Kirchengesch. iii. 342, where also the text is given of a proposal to a similar effect made by Odolric, abbot of St Martial, at the council of Limoges in 1031). It was not until the llth century that the use of the interdict obtained a recognized place among the means of discipline at the disposal of the Roman hierarchy. Important historical instances of the use of the interdict occur, in the cases of Scotland under Pope Alexander III. in 1181, of France under Innocent III. in 1200, and of England under the same pope in 1209. So far as the interdict is " personal," that is to say, applied to a particular individual, it may be regarded as synonymous with EXCOMMUNICATION (q.v.), an ecclesiastical punishment known in one form or another in all churches ; the local interdict is quite peculiar to the Church of Rome. It is removed by what is termed " reconciliation." INTERDICT, in Scotch law, is an order of court pro nounced on cause shown for stopping any proceedings com plained of as illegal or wrongful. It may be resorted to as a remedy against all encroachments either on property or possession. For th-o analogous English practice see INJUNCTION. INTERDICTION, in Scotch law, is a process of restraint applied to prodigals and others who, "from weakness, facility, or profusion, are liable to imposition." It is either voluntary or judicial. Voluntary interdiction is effected by the act of the prodigal himself, who executes a bond oblig- Environs of Interlaken. ing himself to do no deed which may affect his estate with out the assent of certain persons called the "interdictors." This may be removed by the court of session, by the joint act of the interdictors and the interdicted, and by the number of interdictors being reduced below the number constituting a quorum. Judicial interdiction is imposed by order of the court itself, either moved by an interested party or acting in the exercise of its nobile officium, and can only be removed by a similar order. After interdiction duly completed according to law, all deeds done by the interdicted person, so far as they affect or purport to affect his heritable estate, are reducible, unless they have been done with the consent of the interdictors. Interdiction lias no effect, however, on movable property. INTEREST. At English common law an agreement to pay interest is not implied unless in the case of negotiable instruments, when it is supported by mercantile usage. As a general rule therefore debts certain, payable at a specified time, do not carry interest from that time unless there has been an express agreement that they should do so. But when it has been the constant practice of a trade or business to charge interest, or where as between the parties interest has been always charged and paid, a con tract to pay interest is implied. It is now provided by 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 42 that, " upon all debts or sums certain payable at a certain time or otherwise, the jury on the trial of any issue or in any inquisition of damages may if they shall think fit allow interest to the creditor at a rate not exceeding the current rate of interest, from the time when such debts or sums certain were payable, if such debts or sums be payable by virtue of some written instru ment at a certain time ; or if payable otherwise, then from the time when demand of payment shall have been made in writing, so as such demand shall give notice to the debtor that interest will be claimed from the date of such demand until the term of payment : provided that interest shall be payable in all cases in which it is now payable by law." Since the abolition of the usury laws by the 17 & 18 Viet. c. 90, a contract stipulating for higher interest than the legal rate of 5 per cent, is no longer illegal. This Act, however, does not affect contracts with pawnbrokers. Compound interest requires to be supported by positive proof that it was agreed to by the parties ; an established practice to account in this manner will bo evidence of such an agreement. In short, under the present law, any con tract that the parties choose to make as to the amount of interest, or the time or manner of payment, will be enforced like any other agreement. When interest is awarded by a court it is generally at the rate of 4 per cent.; under special circumstances 5 per cent, has been allowed. INTERLAKEN, or INTEELACHEN, a Swiss village in the canton and 26 miles south-east of the town of Bern, is situated on the left bank of the Aare in the low-lying district named the Px ideli, between the lakes of Thun and