A D V E N T A D VOC AT ES. 



41 



Jiil not choose to receive her again by the expiration 

 of this time, her hair was shaven, she took the habit 

 of the convent, and remained there for life. Where 

 the parties were poor, the wife might be shut up in 

 an hospital instead of a convent. The Code Napo- 

 leon does not allow the husband to proceed against 

 his wife for adultery, if he has been condemned for 

 the same offence. The wife can bring an action 

 against the husband only if he has introduced his 

 paramour into the house where she resides. An 

 adulteress can be imprisoned from three months to 

 two years. The husband can prevent the execution 

 of the sentence, if he sees fit to take her back. Her 

 partner in guilt is liable to the same punishment. 

 In the United States, the punishment of adultery 

 has varied materially at different tunes. In the state 

 -of Massachusetts, an adulterer or adulteress may be 

 set on the gallows for one hour, be publicly whipped, 

 be imprisoned, or fined. All or any of these punish- 

 ments may be inflicted, according to the degree of 

 the offence. Corporal punishment and exposure, 

 however, are in that state always commuted into im- 

 prisonment and labour. Moreover, adultery is very 

 seldom punished criminally in the United States. 



ADVENT (from the Latin adventus, i. e. adventus 

 Redemptoris) signifies the coming of our Saviour. The 

 name is applied to the holy season which occupies the 

 four or six weeks preceding Christmas. The Roman 

 catholics spend this season in fasting, humiliation, 

 and prayer, as if preparing for the reception of the 

 Saviour of the world. This holy season is first men- 

 tioned by Maximus Laurinensis, a divine, in one of 

 his homilies, written in the middle of the 5th cen- 

 tury, but is supposed to have been instituted by St 

 1'eter. No nuptials could be celebrated in Advent, 

 since the council held at Lerida, in the 6th century, 

 in order that Christians might more frequently par- 

 take in the Lord's Supper. 



ADVENTURE, bill of; in commerce, a writing 

 signed by a merchant, to testify that the goods ship- 

 ped on board a certain vessel belong to another 

 person, who is to take the hazard, the subscriber 

 signing- only to oblige himself to account to him for 

 tlie produce. 



ADVENTURE ISLAND; a small island in the S. 

 Pacific ocean; Ion. J44 9 18' W. ; lat. 17 5' S. 

 There is also an Adventure Bay, on the S. E. coast 

 of New Holland; Ion. 14.7 29' E. ; lat. 43 21' S. 



ADVENTURERS, the society of; an ancient com- 

 pany of merchants, erected for the discovery of un- 

 known regions, opening new channels of trade, &c. 

 It originated in Burgundy, and was established by 

 John, duke of Brabant, in 1248, for the encourage- 

 ment of English and other merchants at Antwerp. 

 It was afterwards confirmed in England by Edward 

 III. and IV., Richard III., Henry IV., V., VI., 

 and Vn.; and by patent of the last-mentioned 

 monarch, in 1505, they received the title merchant 

 adventurers. The influence of the English merchant 

 adventurers at Antwerp was, in 1550, so great, that 

 they were able to resist successfully the establish- 

 ment of the inquisition in that city. 



ADVOCATE OF THE CROWN ; STATE ADVOCATE. The 

 institution of crown advocates or public attorneys 

 (ministere public), which is found in almost all mo- 

 dern systems of government, has been no where 

 so well regulated as in France. The separation of 

 the office of judge from every other lias been there 

 completed, which is not only indispensable on prin- 

 ciples of general constitutional law, but also desir- 

 able, tliat the people may see, in the judiciary, judges 

 only, and not men who, by virtue of their office, are 

 obliged to take care of the interests of the state and 

 the government, and who, when these interests are 

 in question, must be necessarily, at the same time. 



both party and judge. It is not sufficient tliat the 

 judge be personally conscious of impartiality ; he 

 should be so situated, that no particular effort should 

 be required to attain it. Those who appear before 

 the judge should have no occasion to doubt it. It 

 must be considered as a particular defect in criminal 

 proceeding's, if the judge is obliged, by his office, to 

 occupy the place of accuser, as he must necessarily 

 appear to be the adversary of the accused persons. 

 To avoid these inconveniences, the office of public 

 advocate was established in France in early times, 

 and constituted an essential part of the establish- 

 ment for the administration of justice. In France, 

 of late, however, the state advocates are charged 

 with being influenced too much by political difter- 

 ences of opinion. Some of them, in particular, 

 have drawn upon themselves thereby very severe 

 animadversions. It is said that, in the trials of gen- 

 eral Barton, of Caron and Roger, at Colmar, and 

 others, on account of political offences, they sought 

 to implicate persons against whom nothing could be 

 proved but a justifiable opposition to the ministry, in 

 accordance with the charter and the nature of a re- 

 presentative government. It is well known how se- 

 verely Benjamin Constant expressed himself on tin's 

 point, with regard to the procureur general of Sau- 

 mur. Certainly the dependence of the crown advo- 

 cates on the government has a tendency to give a 

 certain bias to their official conduct. But this bias 

 is not very pernicious, because it is a notorious and 

 natural consequence of their official situation, and 

 the judge is required, as well as empowered to re- 

 sist it. England has also her superior state advo- 

 cates, the attorney general and solicitor general ; 

 but, in conformity with the English judiciary system, 

 their sphere of action is much more limited, and is 

 not to be compared with that of the French minis- 

 tere public. In criminal causes, the prosecution is 

 conducted, indeed, in the name and by the advocates 

 of the crown ; but a great deal depends on the in- 

 jured party, and the police magistrates that is the 

 justices of the peace. The former have it in their 

 power, by avoiding to appear at the trial (although 

 liable to punishment for so doing), to defeat the 

 whole proceeding; and, in every session of tl.e 

 courts, a large number of accused persons are set 

 free, because, after a public summons or proclama- 

 tion in court, no person appears against them. In 

 Scotland, the king's advocate, or lord advocate, is 

 an officer of great power and dignity, and is em- 

 powered to commence prosecutions without com- 

 plaint presented by an injured party. In crimes of a 

 capital nature, he has also the power of restricting 

 the sentence to an arbitrary punishment ; or a pun- 

 ishment at the discretion of the judge, which does not 

 extend to death. So, in other countries, there exist 

 officers under the names of fiscal, advocatus fisci, ad- 

 vocatus paints, Sf-c. In the United States, the attor- 

 ney general is an officer under the federal constitu- 

 tion, corresponding substantially to the English lav? 

 officer of that name. His duty, as defined by the 

 law of congress, is, to prosecute and conduct all suits 

 in the supreme court of the union, in which the 

 United States shall be concerned, and to give his 

 advice and opinion upon questions of law, when re- 

 quired by the president of the United States, or when 

 requested of the officers at the head of any of the 

 departments, touching any matters that may concern 

 their departments. He is also required to examine 

 all letters patent for useful inventions, and to certify 

 to the secretary of state whether they are conform- 

 able to the law on that subject, previous to the 

 public seal beingaffixed to them. The attorney gen- 

 eral of the United States is also a member of th-; 

 president's cabinet council. In addition to this luw 



