SOCIÉTÉ continued.

Generally, the modes and consequences of a dissolution of a société are the same as for that of a partnership in English Law. See title PARTNERSHIP. SODOMY.

The crime of having unnatural intercourse with a male human being, or, semble, a female person; or with a brute animal.

See also title BUGGERY.

SOLE CORPORATION: See title CORPORATION.

SOLE TENANT. He who holds lands in his own right without any other being joined. Kitchin, 134; Cowel.

SOLICITOR. A legal practitioner in the Court of Chancery. The words "solicitor" and "attorney" are commonly used indiscriminately, although they are not precisely the same; an attorney being a practitioner in the Courts of Common Law, a solicitor a practitioner in the Courts of Equity. Most attorneys take out a certificate to practise in the Courts of Chancery, and therefore become solicitors also ; and, on the other hand, most, if not all, solicitors take out a certificate to practise in the Courts of Common Law, and therefore become attorneys also; and hence it is that the two words are commonly used as synonymous (see title ATTORNEY-ATLAW). But under the Judicature Act, 1873, the common appellation or description of "Solicitor to the Supreme Court' is to be applied both to solicitors and to attorneys, the description will probably be abbreviated into "S. S. C."

SOLVIT AD DIEM (he paid on the day). A plea pleaded by a defendant in an action of debt, or bond, &c., to the effect that the money was paid at the day limited or appointed.

SON ASSAULT DEMESNE (his own assault). A plea which occurs in the actions of trespass and trespass on the case, by which the defendant alleges that it was the plaintiff's own original assault that occasioned the trespass for which he has brought the action, and that what the defendant did was merely in his own defence. Steph. Pl. 186, 187.

SOUGH. A drain or water course. The channels or watercourses used for the purpose of draining mines are so termed; and those mines which are near to and lie within the same level, and are benefited by any given sough, are technically said to lie within the title of that sough. See Arkwright v. Gell, 5 M. & W. 228, per Abinger, L.C.B.

SOUND IN DAMAGES. An action is technically said to sound in damages when it is brought, not for the specific recovery of lands, goods, or sums of money (as is the case in real and mixed actions, or in the personal actions of debt and detinue), but for recovery of damages only, as in actions of covenant, trespass, &c. Steph. Pl. 116.

SPEAKER OF THE COMMONS. The term "Speaker," as used in reference to either of the Houses of Parliament, signifies the functionary acting as chairman. In the Commons his duties are to put questions, to preserve order, and to see that the privileges of the House are not infringed; and in the event of the numbers being even on a division, he has the privilege of giving the casting vote.

The

SPEAKER OF THE LORDS. Speaker of the Lords is the Lord Chancellor or the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, or if he be absent the Lords may choose their own Speaker. "It is singular," says Mr. May, in his Treatise on the Privileges, &c., of Parliament, "that the president of this deliberative body is not necessarily a member. It has frequently happened that the Lord Keeper has officiated for years as Speaker without having been raised to the peerage; and on the 22nd of November, 1830, Mr. Brougham sat on the woolsack as Speaker, being at that time Lord Chancellor, although his patent of creation as a peer had not yet been made out." The duties of the Speaker of the Lords are principally confined to putting questions, and the Lord Chancellor has no more to do with preserving order than any other peer.

SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. Each House of Parliament has an officer termed a Speaker, who presides over and manages the formal parts of the business. The Speaker of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, or keeper of the King's Great Seal, or any other person appointed by the king's commission; and if none be so appointed, the House of Lords (it is said) can elect. The Speaker of the House of Commons is chosen by the House, but must be approved by the king. May's Parl. Prac.

SPECIAL ACCEPTANCE OF A BILL OF EXCHANGE. Where the acceptor makes the bill payable at a particular place, "and not elsewhere," it is so termed. This is also sometimes termed a restrictive special acceptance as distinguished from one payable generally or at a particular place only, without the addition of the words "and not elsewhere."

See titles ACCEPTANCE; BILL OF EX

CHANGE.

SPECIAL BAIL: See title BAIL.

SPECIAL CASE. When on a trial a difficulty in point of law arises, the jury may, instead of finding a special verdict, find a general verdict for the plaintiff, subject to the opinion of the judge or the Court above on what is termed a special case, that is, a written statement of all the facts of the case drawn up for the opinion of the Court in banc by the counsel and attorneys on either side, under correction of the judge at nisi prius. The party for whom the general verdict is so given is in such case not entitled to judgment till the Court in banc has decided on the special case; and according to the result of that decision the verdict is ultimately entered either for him or his adversary. It has also been provided by 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 42, 8. 25, that where the parties in an action on issue joined can agree on a statement of facts, they may, by order of a judge, draw up such statement in the form of a special case for the judgment of the Court without proceeding to trial. Steph. Pl. 102; 1 Arch. Prac. 452.

SPECIAL CONTRACT: See title SIMPLE CONTRACT.

are

SPECIAL DAMAGE. The damages which a plaintiff seeks to recover either general or special. General damages are such as the law implies or presumes to have resulted from the wrong complained of. Special damages are such as really and in fact resulted, but are not implied by law, and are either superadded to general damages arising from an act injurious in itself, as, where some particular loss arises from the uttering of slanderous words actionable in themselves; or are such as arise from an act indifferent and not actionable in itself, but injurious only in its consequences, as where words become actionable only by reason of some special or actual damage having resulted from the uttering them. Whenever the damages sustained by a party have not necessarily resulted from the act complained of, and consequently are not implied by law, the plaintiff must, in order to prevent surprise on the defendant which otherwise might ensue on the trial, state with particularity in his declaration the actual or special damage which he has sustained. 8 T. R. 133; 1 Ch. Pl. 395, 396, 6th ed.

SPECIAL DEMURRER. This has been abolished by the C. L. P. Act, 1852.

See title DEMURRER.

SPECIAL ISSUES. The issues produced upon special pleas, as being usually more specific and particular than those of not guilty, never indebted, &c., are sometimes described in the books as special issues by

SPECIAL ISSUES—continued. way of distinction from the others, which are called general issues, the latter term being also applied not only to the issues themselves, but to the pleas which tendered and produced them. Steph. Pl. 109, 5th ed.; Co. Litt. 126 a; Heath's Maxims, 53; Com. Dig. "Pleader," (R. 2).

SPECIAL JURY is a jury composed of individuals above the rank of ordinary freeholders, and is usually summoned to try questions of greater importance thau those usually submitted to common juries. See title JURY.

SPECIAL OCCUPANT: See titles PUR AUTRE VIE and ESTATES.

SPECIAL PAPER. A Court paper containing a list of special cases and demurrers set down therein for argument.

SPECIAL PLEADER: See title SPECIAL PLEADING.

SPECIAL PLEADING. When the allegations (or pleadings, as they are called) of the contending parties in an action are not of the general or ordinary form, but are of a more complex or special character, they are denominated special pleadings; and when a defendant pleads a plea of this description (i.e., a special plea) he is said to plead specially, in opposition to pleading the general issue. These terms have given rise to the popular denomination of that science which, though properly called pleading, is generally known by the name of special pleading. Hence, also, the denomination of "special pleader" as applied to those learned persons who are employed in drawing and framing special pleadings. These, it may be as well to observe, are mostly gentlemen who have studied for more than three years at one of the Inns of Court, and who may or may not intend, at some future period, to engage in the more complicated and important avocations of a barrister. Steph. Pl. 31, 186.

SPECIAL RULES. The grounds upon which certain rules are granted are subject to so little variation, and are so well understood, that in practice they are obtained from the proper officer of the Court upon application by the party or his attorney, and without any motion, actual or supposed. In other cases the motion need not be actually made in Court, but it is supposed to be made, and the proper officer draws up the rule on the production of a brief or motion paper signed by counsel; the rules granted without any motion in Court, or when the motion is only assumed to have been, and is not actually made, are called common rules, while the rules granted upon motion actually made to the

SPECIAL RULES-continued Court in term, or upon a judge's order in vacation, are termed special rules. Bagl. Prac. 279; 2 Arch. Pr. 1708.

See also title RULE NISI.

SPECIAL TRAVERSE is that peculiar form of traverse or denial in pleading by which the party traversing seeks to explain or qualify his denial instead of putting it, as by a common traverse he would, in a direct and absolute form. And this he is enabled to do by first alleging new affirmative matter, which is called the inducement, and then by adding a distinct and formal denial of such portions of the adverse pleading as support the adversary's case. This negative part is, in the language of pleading, termed the absque hoc (without this), those being the words with which this portion of the plea commences, and the whole is finished by a conclusion to the country. The inducement or introduction of new affirmative matter, is usually employed for the purpose of avoiding some rule of law which would prohibit a plain and simple denial of the adversary's allegation, or sometimes for the purpose of raising a question of law at once upon the pleadings, and the negative part, or absque hoc, is generally necessary by reason of the inducement, which by itself would constitute an indirect (or argumentative) denial of the preceding statement, and would be at variance with the rules of pleading against argumentativeness. This form of traverse

is now comparatively little employed. (Steph. Pl. 193-218, 5th ed.; 3 Chit. 908, 6th ed.; Brudnell v. Roberts, 2 Wils. 143; Palmer v. Ekyns, Lord Raym. 1550; Bac. Abr. Pleas, &c. (H. 1); Reg. Gen., Hil. Term, 4 Will. 4); and see an example of it in Taltarum's Case, 12 Edw. 4, Year Book, 19, translated in Tud. L. C. Conv. p. 605.

SPECIAL VERDICT: See title VERDICT. SPECIALTY: See title SIMPLE CONTRACT. SPECIE. As applied to a contract signifies specifically, strictly, or according to its specific terms. Thus, performing a contract in specie means performing it strictly, or according to its very terms. As applied to things it signifies individuality or identity. Thus, if I bequeath to A. a named or specific picture of Raffaelle's, such bequest would only be satisfied by delivery to A. of the specific picture named, and not by delivery to him of any work of that master, nor by giving him the value of the picture bequeathed; and in this case A. would be said to be entitled to the delivery of the picture in specie, i.e., in kind. Whether a thing is due in genere or in specie depends in each case on the will of the transacting

SPECIE continued.

parties. If a thing be designated only by its kind, as, e.g., any house whatever, or any of my houses, any cask of wine, or any cask of the vintage of 1834 in my cellar, it may be furnished in genere. But if the thing be designated individually, e.g., my house, No. 200, Waverley Place, or my five-year old bay saddle horse, it is not then generic, but must be furnished or returned in individuo. The practical distinction between the two is, that he who has a right or an obligation with respect to a thing specifically designated cannot require or furnish any other than the very thing itself; whereas, in the case of a thing which is designated generically, the party obliged has the choice of giving which of the species he will, as the other party has no right to any one in particular. Mackeldy's Civ. Law, by Kaufmann, 152; Brown's Sav. 70.

SPECIFIC LEGACIES.

Such legacies as

are specified or particularised by a testator in his will, as the bequest of a particular diamond ring, or a particular horse, &c. It is used in contradistinction to a general legacy, which is expressive of such as are pecuniary or merely of quantity, as a bequest of £100, &c.; for in this instance no particular or specific £100 is bequeathed, but only a sum of money to that amount; whereas, in the former instance, the diamond ring and the horse are specifically bequeathed and cannot be supplied by another article of equal value. Toll. Ex. 300, 301.

See also title LEGACIES.

SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE. When a party has sustained damage or injury from the breach or non-performance of, or from delay in performing, any contract, &c., he may either have re ourse to a Court of Common Law to obtain recompense in damages, or he may resort to a Court of Equity, which will compel the party to repair the injury by performing the terms of the contract in specie, as it is termed, ie., specifically, or according to the specifications it contains; and this performing the terms of a contract in specie is called specific performance."

66

The requisites which the Court of Chancery requires in order to its decreeing specific performance are the following:

(1.) That the act be both legal and moral;

(2.) That it be for value; (3.) That it be within the power of the Court to enforce, and so there is no specific performance of,(a.) Contracts requiring personal skill (Lumley v. Wagner, 5 De G. & Sm. 485);

Ꮓ

continued.

SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE (b.) Contracts for transfer of goodwill apart from lease of premises (Baxter v. Conolly, 1 Jac. & W. 576);

(c.) Contracts to build or repair (Moseley v. Virgin, 3 Ves. 184); and (d.) Contracts revocable in their nature (Hercy v. Birch, 9 Ves. 357);

(4.) That the contract be mutual (Adderley v. Dixon, 1 S. & S. 607); and

(5.) That damages at Law for breach of contract are not an adequate com

pensation.

Generally, therefore, the Court decrees specific performance of contracts regarding land, and not of contracts regarding personal estate. Yet in respect of personal estate, where the species of estate contracted for is (like land) limited in purchaseability, the Court decrees a specific performance of the contract,-e.g., regarding shares in a railway company (Duncroft v. Albrecht, 12 Sim. 199); debts proveable under a bankruptcy (Adderley v. Dixon, 1 S. & S. 607); articles of vertu (Falcker v. Gray, 4 Drew. 658); heir-looms (Somerset v. Cookson, 1 Wh. & Tud. L. C. Eq. 736); and such like. There appears to be no exception to the general rule that the Court will decree specific performance regarding land; indeed, the Court carries its principles so far in this respect that it will, in contravention of the Statute of Frauds, decree specific performance of an unwritten contract in special cases, being chiefly cases of part performance of the contract (Surcombe v. Pinniger, 3 De G. M. & G. 571), or of fraud. Foxcroft v. Lester, 1 Wh. & Tud. L. C. 693.

Also, in the case of a contract regarding lands which is put into writing, but which the defendant alleges was afterwards varied by parol, although such parol variation would be worthless at Law, yet in Equity the plaintiff shall only have specific performance upon condition of accepting the defendant's terms (Townshend V. Stangroom, 6 Ves. 328). Sometimes, also, specific performance is decreed with a compensation for any misdescription or deficiency of the land or estate contracted for, but the misdescription or deficiency must (where the vendor asks specific performance) be of a compensable character (M'Queen v. Farquhar, 11 Ves. 467); although that is not a requisite where the purchaser asks specific performance. Hill v. Buckley, 17 Ves. 401; and, quære, Thomas v. Dering, 1 Keen, 729.

SPECIFICATION. As used in patents and in building contracts is (what the

SPECIFICATION-continued.

name denotes) a particular or detailed statement of the various elements involved. See title PATENTS.

SPEEDY EXECUTION is an execution which, by the direction of the judge at nisi prius, issues forthwith, or on some early day fixed upon by the judge for that purpose after the trial of the action. By stat. 1 Will. 4, c. 7, s. 2, in all actions brought in the Courts of Law at Westminster "it shall be lawful for the judge before whom issue joined in any such action shall be tried, in case the plaintiff or demandant therein shall become nonsuit, or a verdict shall be given for the plaintiff or demandant, defendant or tenant, to certify under his hand on the back of the record, at any time before the end of the sittings or assizes, that in his opinion execution ought to issue in such action forthwith, or at some day to be named in such certificate," &c. This certificate is never granted where a material point has arisen at the trial, and upon which it is fair that the unsuccessful party should have an opportunity to take the opinion of the Court. And see now C. L. P. Act, 1852, s. 120; and r. 57, H. T. 1853; 1 Arch. Pract. 412. It seems that if the plaintiff will waive his costs he may also have speedy execution as a matter of course. 1 Arch. Pract. 525.

SPIRITUAL CORPORATIONS: See title CORPORATION.

SPIRITUAL COURTS: See title COURTS ECCLESIASTICAL.

SPIRITUALITIES OF A BISHOP. Those profits which a bishop receives in his ecclesiastical character, as the dues arising from his ordaining and instituting priests, presentation money, and such like, in contradistinction to those profits which he acquires in his temporal capacity as a baron and lord of parliament, and which are termed his temporalities, consisting of certain lands, revenues, and lay fees, &c. Staund. Pl. Cor. 132; Cowel.

SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS. These are inflammable liquids produced by distillation, and forming an article of commerce (Att.Gen. v. Bailey, 1 Ex. 281). Excise duties are payable by distillers; and by the stat. 9 & 10 Vict. c. 90, the use of stills by unlicensed persons was prohibited. Retailers of spirits have to pay licence duty. The most recent statutory regulations on the subject of the sale of all such liquors, including beer, are the Licensing Act, 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. 94), and the Amendment Act, 1874.

SPOLIATION. An injury done by one clerk or incumbent to another, in taking the fruits of his benefice without any right to them, but under a pretended title. It also seems to be used for a suit brought to recover the fruits of a church, or even the church itself, by one incumbent against another, when they both claim by one patron, and the right of patronage is not called in question; as if a patron first presents A. to a benefice, who is instituted and inducted thereto; and then, upon pretence of a vacancy, the same patron presents B. to the same living, and he also obtains institution and induction. Now, if the fact of the vacancy be disputed, then that clerk who is kept out of the profits of the living, whichever it be, may sue the other in the Spiritual Court for spoliation, or taking the profits of his benefice; and it shall there be tried whether the living were or were not vacant, upon which the validity of the second clerk's pretensions must depend. Les Termes de la Ley; F. N. B. 36.

SPOLIATOR. It is a maxim of law, bearing chiefly on evidence, but also upon the value generally of the thing destroyed, that everything most to his disadvantage is to be presumed against the destroyer (spoliator), contra spoliatorem omnia prasumuntur. Armory v. Delamirie, 1 Sm. L. C. 315.

STAKEHOLDER. Is the person with whom money is deposited upon a bet or wager to abide the event. Such money may be recovered before the event, but not afterwards. Manning v. Purcell, 7 De G. M. & G. 55.

See title WAger.

STALLAGE. A toll, or duty, payable for the liberty of erecting a stall in a fair or market. Palm. Rep. 77; Com. Dig tit. "Market" (F. 2); Brady Bor. App. p. 12.

STAMP DUTIES. A branch of the royal revenue, consisting of a tax imposed on all parchment and paper, whereon any legal proceedings, or private instruments of almost any nature whatsoever, are written. These duties are at present regulated by the Stamp Act, 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 97), and Appendix thereto.

STANDING ORDERS. The rules adopted by the Houses of Parliament for the permanent guidance and order of their proceedings are called "Standing Orders," and are contradistinguished from the sessional orders (see that title), by the fact, that the former, unless rescinded by a special vote of the House, continue in force, not only from one session to another, but from one parliament to another; while the latter

STANDING ORDERS-continued. are intended to last only during the session in which they are made. In the House of Lords every new standing order is added to" The Roll of Standing Orders," carefully preserved and published from time to time. In the Commons, there is no authorized collection of standing orders except in relation to private bills. May's Treatise on Parliament.

STANNARY COURTS. Courts in Devonshire and Cornwall for the administration of justice among the miners and tinners. These Courts are held before the Lord Warden and his deputies by virtue of a privilege granted to the workers of the tin mines there, to sue and be sued in their own Courts only, in order that they may not be drawn away from their business by having to attend law suits in distant Courts. Bac. Abr. tit. "Courts of the Stannaries."

STAR-CHAMBER. The Court called by this name is commonly regarded as being the Aula Regis sitting in the Star Chamber, a room at Westminster. The jurisdiction of the Court would, therefore, be all or some part of that residuary jurisdiction which remained after the severance of the Courts of Exchequer, Common Pleas, Queen's Bench, and Chancery.

By the stat. 3 Hen. 7, c. 1, the Court was remodelled, and its jurisdiction placed upon a lawful and permanent basis. That Act empowered the Chancellor, Treasurer, and Keeper of the Privy Seal, or any two of them, with one spiritual and one temporal peer, and the Chief Justices of the Courts of Queen's Bench and Common Pleas, or in their absence, two other justices, to call before them and to punish the following offenders and classes of offences:

(1.) Combinations of the nobility and gentry, supported by liveries, &c.; (2.) Partiality on the part of sheriff's in making up the panels of jurors, or in making untrue returns of members;

(3.) Bribery in jurors; and

(4.) Riots and unlawful assemblies. By a later statute 21 Hen. 8, c. 20, the President of the King's Council was added to the list of judges; and by the stat. 31 Hen. 8, c. 8, which gave to the king's proclamations in ecclesiastical matters the force of law, all persons offending against such proclamations were to be tried before the Star-Chamber and punished with fine and imprisonment.

The jurisdiction of the Court is defined by Lord Bacon as extending to "forces, frauds, crimes, various of stellionate, and the inchoations or middle acts towards