ADVOCATES JEACUS. 



officer, the government of the United States lias in 

 ia<h ot' tin- 'suites rwhioh, in judicial proceedings ore 

 M\lid districts) a district attorney, as he is called, 

 \\IIIIM- duty it is, within his particular state, to pro- 

 secute on behalf of tin- United States, all delin- 

 quents fur mines and offences cognizable under the 

 authority of Uie United States' law's, ami all civil ac- 

 tions iii which the United States sliall be concern t l, 

 except Uiose which come before the supreme court, 

 in the tli-triri iii \\hirh that court shall be holden. 

 Besides these law officers of the general government 

 of the United States, each of the states of the union 

 has its attorney-general and subordinate public pro- 

 secutors, or attorneys, for its territorial subdivision- 

 or districts ; and i heir duties are, to prosecute and 

 defend in all causes, criminal and civil, arising under 

 the local laws of their respective states, and in which 

 their own state is concerned. 



ADVOCATRS. This profession has played a con- 

 spicuous part in almost every civilized country. 

 Among the Romans, the greatest statesmen and 

 orators belonged to this class, devoting themselves 

 especially totne defence of criminal causes of impor- 

 tance. Those of less consequence and of a civil 

 character were committed to procurators. The ad- 

 vocates of England and France are often men of high 

 rank, enjoying an ample income and the prospect of 

 attaining to the highest dignities of the state. Men 

 of the oest talents, therefore, are found in their 

 ranks. In Germany and some of the other countries 

 of Europe, the advocates occupy a comparatively sub- 

 ordinate station in the courts. The profession is there 

 considered only as a preparatory step to public em- 

 ployments, and these frequently of an humble de- 

 scription. This is the cause of the inferiority of the 

 German lawyers in general to those of England and 

 France ; and the whole administration of justice 

 there suffers from the same, cause. There are ex- 

 ceptions, however, in some of the German states, par- 

 ticularly in Prussia. In the French revolution, the 

 lawyers acted the most important part in public af- 

 fairs. Adrocati ecclesiarum, superintendents of the 

 property of the church, divided, according to their 

 several offices, into defensores, causidici, actores, pas- 

 tores laid, &c., were first appointed under the consul- 

 ship of Stilicho. The pope, at the same time, i net! 

 orders, that the bishops, abbots, and churches, should 

 have good advocates. These offices were first in- 

 trusted to canons, but afterwards were held even by 

 monarchs ; e. g. the German emperor, the king of 

 France, &c. became advocati of the Roman church. 

 The advocates set over single churches administered 

 justice in secular afiairs in the name of the bishops 

 and the rbbots, and had jurisdiction over their whole 

 dioceses. In case of necessity, they defended the 

 property of the clergy by force of arms. In the 

 courts of justice, they pleaded the causes of the 

 churches with which they were connected. They 

 superintended the collection of the tithes and the 

 other revenues of the church, and enjoyed, on the 

 part of the convents, many benefices and consider- 

 able revenues. After a time, these advocates and 

 their assistants becoming a burden to the clergy and 

 the people under their charge, who began to suffer 

 severely from their avarice, the churches attempted 

 to get rid of them. Urban III. laboured to deliver 

 the church from these oppressors, but was astonished 

 to find, A. D. 1486, the German prelates, in con- 

 nexion with the emperor Frederic I., opposed to it. 

 Under the emperor Frederic II. most of the German 

 churches succeeded, however, in abolishing these of- 

 fices by the grant of large sums of money and of va- 

 rious immunities. In the United States, the profes- 

 ion of the law possesses an extensive influence upon 

 society. It embraces, as it does in England, various 



classes of lawyers, such as proctors, conveyancer*, 

 xutiriturt, attorneys, and lastly, and above all, coun- 

 sellors, or advocates. In the United States, the dif- 

 ferent branches of the profession are often carried on 

 by the same person, though this practice is not uni- 

 versal, es|ierially in large eities. The higher ranks 

 of lawyer* in tin \ nil ed 'states enjoy great public and 

 private confidence. Many of them are selected for 

 the first public employments in the state, e.g. for the 

 presidency, for the office of senators and representa- 

 tives in the national and state legislatures, tor gover- 

 nors, for secretaries of the great detriments, and for 

 foreign embassies. From this class of men are also 

 taken, almost as a matter of course, the judges of the 

 various courts in the union. The constitutions and 

 laws of the -several states entitle every person, in civil 

 as well as criminal cases, to the assistance of counsel, 

 and generally two are admitted on each side. All 

 trials are public, and forensic eloquence is eagerly 

 heard. The profession of the law is very numerous 

 in the United States, on account both of its emolu- 

 ments, and its free access to public favour and patron- 

 age. There is no difficulty in gaining admission to the 

 courts, as an advocate, after three or four years of 

 preparatory studies ; and, after admission, success is 

 generally in proportion to talents and industry, and 

 devotion to juridical studies. Of the seven presi- 

 dents of the United States, six were bred to the law. 



ADVOCATES' LIBRARY. In 1660, the faculty of 

 advocates in Edinburgh founded a library upon an 

 extensive plan, suggested by Sir George M'Kenzie, 

 of Rosehaugh, advocate to Charles II. and James 

 II., who enriched it with many valuable books. It has 

 been daily increasing since that time. It contains, 

 besides law books, works on all subjects, many original 

 manuscripts, and a great variety of coins and medals. 



ADVOWSON (from advoco) ; in English law, a right 

 of presentation to a vacant benefice, or, in other 

 words, a right of nominating a person to officiate in 

 a vacant church. The name is derived from advo- 

 catio, because the right was first obtained by such as 

 were founders, benefactors, or strenuous defenders 

 (advocates) of the church. Those who have this right 

 are styled patrons. Advowsons are of three kind- 

 presentalive, collative, and donative : presentatin; 

 when the patron presents his clerk to the bishop of 

 the diocese to be instituted ; collative, when the bishop 

 is the patron, and institutes or collates his clerk by a 

 single act ; donative, when a church is founded by 

 the king, and assigned to the patron without being 

 subject to the ordinary, so that the patron confers the 

 benefice on his clerk without presentation, instil u 

 tion, or induction. 



ADY ; the palm-tree of the island of St Thomas. 

 Its juice supplies the place of wine among the In- 

 dians. The fruit, called abanga, is of the shape and 

 size of a lemon, and is eaten roasted. An oil, pre- 

 pared from this fruit, answers the purpose of butter. 



ADYTUM (from et, not, and Sua, to enter) ; the most 

 retired and sacred place in the ancient temples, into 

 which priests only were allowed to enter. It corres- 

 ponded to the Jewish holy of holies. 



^EACUS ; son of Jupiter and the nymph JEeina, 

 daughter of the river god Asopus. He acquired the 

 government of the island called after his mother, and 

 became, by his uprightness, a favourite with the 1 

 gods. In compliance with his prayers, his father 

 peopled anew the island, which had been depopu- 

 lated by the plague. The new inhabitants sprang 

 from ants, and were termed, on that account, Myr- 

 midons. Greece, too, was delivered, at his entreaty, 

 from a great drought and famine. The name of his 

 wife was Endeis, and Peleus and Telamon were his 

 children. JE., on account of his love of justice, was 

 joined with Minos and Rhadamanthus in the office 



