tiJ 



AGATHOTES CHIKAYTA 





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exprandy forbidden by Uw 25th auxin uf Uie council of Uodioea, in 

 A.U. 304; Although the enactment for a considerable time wax not 

 quit"' effectual, since we find it repeatedly renewed by subsequent 

 council*. Indeed the practice under improved regulations ap|xnrs to 

 lure been continued in certain circumstances by the head* of the 

 church. In the 6th century, as we are informed by Bede, Po]>e 

 Gregory, in hia instructions to Austin when he Mint him to Britain to 

 convert the Saxons, advised him to allow the new converts to feast 

 together on mint*' day*, and the anniversaries of the dedication of the 

 i-hurcheis not in the churches themselves, but in sheds fashioned with 

 green boughs clone by them, to the glory, he nays, of God, as they had 

 formerly done to the honour of the devil. A great deal of ingenious 

 speculation has been expended in the attempt to discover traces of the 

 Chri-tian agnpuc, both among the Jews and pagans before the institution 

 of our religion, and in the latter times of the Church. But the only 

 thing in modem times corresponding to the primitive love-feasts, is the 

 practice which has been introduced under the same name by certain 

 sect*, especially the Moravians and the Sandemanians. The Methodists 

 also have ' love-feasts,' but they Iwar very little resemblance to the 

 ancient agapee. (Augusti's Antii/uitir* of the Vkririian Church, Ward ; 

 Giesler's Clmrrk II atari/ ; N candor.) 



AGATHOTES CHIKAYTA. [CtaBATlA.1 



AGE. In legal acceptation, a person is said to be ' of age ' when he 

 has passed that period of life at which he is supposed to have acquired 

 sufficient discretion to enable him to perform acts and enter into con- 

 tract*, of which, before that period has arrived, he is presumed to be 

 incapable, by reason of immaturity of understanding. The common 

 law appoints certain specific times in the life of a man or woman before 

 either is permitted to form contracts or incur obligations. Thus a 

 male of the age of twelve years may take the oath of allegiance ; and 

 at fourteen, which for many purposes is considered the age of discretion, 

 a person of either sex may choose a guardian, and be a witness, though 

 children under twelve are frequently permitted to give evidence, after 

 it has been ascertained by examination that they understand the 

 nature of an oath. Formerly a female of twelve or a male of fourteen 

 years, might validly bequeath personal estate ; now by 1 Viet. c. 26, no 

 will made by any person in England under the age of twenty-one years 

 i- valid. The law of Scotland in this respect resembles the former 

 law of England. A person cannot act as executor till he is twenty-one. 



A woman may consent to marriage at twelve, and a man at fourteen 

 years of age ; though jiarties under the age of twenty -one years cannot 

 marry without the consent of their parent's or guardians. [MARRIAGE.] 

 The age of twenty-one years is, for most civil purposes in this country, 

 the full age both of a man and woman, at which period they may enter 

 into possession of their real and personal estates, may manage and 

 disjwsu of them at their discretion, and make contracts and engage- 

 ments. All [wrsons under the age of twenty-one are legally called 

 infants. A man cannot be ordained a priest till twenty-four, nor be a 

 bishop till thirty years of age. A man cannot be a member of the 

 House of Common* before the age of twenty-one. In the United 

 States of America, a senator must not be under thirty, and to be 

 eligible to a seat in the House of Representatives he must have attained 

 the age of twenty-five. In France the age of twenty-five was formerly 

 required in both electors and elected. 



With respect to crimes, the law of England regards the age of 

 fourteen years as the age at which a person is competent to distinguish 

 between right and wrong. Under the age of seven years a child is not 

 punishable for an offence ; but above that age, and under the age of 

 fourteen years, if it clearly appears that a child is conscious of the 

 nature of the crime which he commits, he may be tried ami punished 

 for it. See Foster's 'Crown Cases,' p. 72, where a boy of nine was 

 found guilty and executed for murder. 



By 9 Geo. IV. c. 81, us. 17, 18, and 4 A fl Viet. c. 66, s. 8, carnal 

 knowledge of a female under ten years of age is a felony punishable by 

 tranfljMirtation for life; the carnal knowledge of a female above ten 

 and under twelve is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment :md 

 li.'i.l labour; as is also now an attempt to commit the offence, 14 & 15 

 Viet. c. 100, s. 9. 



By 9 Oeo. IV. c. 31, x. 2'>. the abduction of a girl under xixtecii is 

 punixhable by fine or imprisonment ; nnil by 12 & 13 Viet. c. 76, s. 1, 

 procuring the defilement f a girl under the age of twenty-one. is 

 misdemeanor punishable by two years' imprisonment with hard labour. 

 Apprentices and servant* are protected against ill-usage from the 

 master or mistress, by 14 Viet. c. 11, s. 1 ; and wives against the 

 brutality of hiixhandx, and children apiinxt that of |nrent, by 16 & 17 

 Viet. c. 80. (Blackstone' ' Comm.,' Mr. KBIT'S ed., v. iv., pp. 61, 235, 

 241, 245.) 



The Koinaus made three periods of age with reference to legal 

 '\: 1. Infantia. or the period from birth to the completion of 

 leiitli year; 2. from the termination of infantia to the attain- 

 ment of puberty, when persons were called Puberes ; 3. from the 

 attainment of puberty to the twenty-fifth year, during which time 

 males were called Adolescenten, or Minorca. From the attainment of 

 the twenty-fifth year they were called Majorca. An Infans could do 

 no legal act A person under the age of puberty could do the neccs- 

 mnr legal ct in respect of hi* probity with the sanction <,i >//>) 

 of bin tutx>r, who was the guardian of his property. It was somewhat 

 uiuettlcd what waa the age at which a male attained puberty, but the 



best opinions fixed it at fourteen. A woman attained pi 



age of twelve. Males who were puberes could manage their property. 



contract marriage, and make a will. Roman women of all age 



under some legal incapacities. Male persons between the age of 



puberty and twenty live were protected to a 



dealings by a Lex I'nctoria, and the rules of the Pitrtorian i 



which were founded U|>n it. Under the Emperor Man 



all persons under twenty-five were required to have a curator. wh"-e 



function* and lowers were somewhat similar to those of the tutor up 



to the age of puberty. 



(Savigny, I -/,/'/: ilir Min<!trj<tl'c- 



(iachichUiche JleehtitcinoitfliaJI, vol. x.. and tyrfrui tltt Htut 

 Rtrlttt, iii. 21, Ac.) 



AGENT (from the French Ai/rxt, and that from the l^itin Agaii), 

 An agent is a person authorised by another to do act* for him or 

 ngagements in his name; and the person who authorises 

 him is called the jirlnn/ial. 



An agent cannot be appointed to bind his principal by deed oth, 

 than by deed ; nor can an agent be appointed by a cor)ration aggregate 

 (unless for certain ordinary and inferior purposes! otherwise th.ui by 

 deed : and for certain purposes specified in the first, second, and third 

 sections of the Statute of Frauds, the authority of the agent mu-t 

 be in writing. In all other cases no particular form is necessary : i'i 

 commercial ^affairs agents are usually commissioned by a lett.-i of 

 orders, or by a retainer, but a verbal appointment is sufficient; ami 

 the mere fact of one person's being employed to do any bu-ine-- 

 for another creates between the parties the relation of principal .<[ 

 agent. 



An agent's authority (unless it is an authority joined with an 

 interest, such as a power of attorney granted as a security for a deM) 

 may, in general, be revoked by the principal at any time. It cease* 

 upon the death or bankruptcy of the princijKtl. 



There are many kinds of agents, such as bailiffs, factor*, 1 ' 

 &c. This article contains the general principles of law, which arc 

 applicable to all. 



The general rule is that a man may make any contract by an aj;ent 

 which he can make himself, and do any act with respect to his own 

 property by an agent which he may do himself. Any |-er.-.m may ! 

 an agent who would be competent to do the act for hr 



When an agent's authority is limited, he must adhere strictly t*> his 

 iustructions. If instructed to sell, he must not barter; nor if in- 

 structed to sell at a certain price, ia he authorised to take less. 



When the agent's authority is not precisely determined, hi* dm. 

 act in conformity with what may reasonably be presumed to be the 

 intentions of the principal. In the absence of all other mean* of ascer- 

 taining what these intentions are, he must act for his principal like a 

 prudent man in the management of his own business. If he is 

 authorised to sell, and no price is limited by his instructions, h. 

 endeavour to obtain the best price for the goods. If there have 

 been other transactions of the same nature between the pat tic*, it 

 is presumed tliat the principal intend* that the same mode of dealing 

 should be pursued, which ill former cases he had prescribed or 

 approved. 



In mercantile transactions, when the agent has no particular 

 instructions, he should follow the common usage of the business in 

 which he is employed ; and he will be justified in doing s< 

 though, under the ]>articular circumstances, he might have acted 

 wise to the advantage of hi* principal. 



The general authority to act as agent includes all necc-- 

 ineans of executing it An agent is therefore authoi ised to ,io all sueli 

 subordinate acts as are either requisite by law, in order to the due 

 performance of the principal object of the instructions, or are necessary 

 to effect it in the best and most convenient manner, or are usually 

 incidental to it in the ordinary coiii.-e of business, Tims it the duty 

 of an agent employed in the receipt or despatch of goods, to take care 

 that the custom-house duties are satisfied, and the proper entries 

 made ; and he is authorised in making advances, as well for Mich 

 incidental charges, as for any other expense necessarily incurred t..i 

 the preservation of the pro]<erty. 



The next duty of an agent is to exercise a pn>|~'i derec of dii 

 and skill. If he dooi an act which i* not wan-anted l.y his authority, 

 either expicsx or implied, or if he doe* an act within his authority, 

 but with such gross negligence or unskilfiilnexs that no benefit can 

 accrue from it, the princi]>al may lejccf what he has done, if he 

 it as soon ax he i* informed, anil gives notice to his agent within a 

 reasonable time. If an agent puts out hix empl v at interest 



without hix authority, of if a factor, employed to purchase, d. 

 from hi* instructions ill price, quality, or kind, the princiiKil may 

 disavow tin 1 transaction. 



If tin- principal does not either expressly or iniplieilly adopt the 

 agent's act, the hazard of it lies with the ajjent. even though he did it 

 in good faith, and for the interest of his employer. Any pro! 

 may acenie from it he must account for to his principal ; and if loss 

 ensues, he is bound to make it good to him. An agent is likewise 

 answerable to his principal for all damage occasioned by his negligence 

 or unskilfiilncx*. Hi* res|K>nsibility extend* to the whole amount of 

 the damage suffen-d by the princi|d. either l.y damage done to hi" 

 own property, or by his being obliged to make reparation to othcre. 



