A T T 



77 



ATT 



Attock, of his innumerable wives, the marriage was celebrated 

 Attorney. w ; t jj barbaric pomp, at his wooden palace beyond the 

 *" "" / ~ " ' Danube. The monarch retired, at a late hour, to 

 the nuptial bed, oppressed with wine. His attend- 

 ants continued to respect his pleasures, or his repose, 

 the greatest part of the ensuing day ; till the unusual 

 silence alarmed their fears and their suspicions ; and 

 after attempting to awake Attila, by loud and re- 

 peated cries, they at length broke into the royal 

 apartment. They found the trembling bride sitting 

 by the bedside, hiding her face with her veil, and la- 

 menting her own danger and the death of the king, 

 who had expired during the night. An artery had 

 suddenly burst ; and as Attila lay in a supine posture, 

 he was suffocated by a torrent of blood. It was re- 

 ported at Constantinople, that on the fortunate night, 

 which he expired, Marcian beheld in a dream the 

 bow of Attila broken asunder : and the report, says 

 Gibbon, may be allowed to prove, how seldom the 

 image of that formidable barbarian was absent from 

 the mind of a Roman emperor. 



The authentic materials for the history of Attila 

 may be found in Jomandes, (de Rebus Geticis), and 

 Priscus, {Excerpta de Legationibus.) See these ma- 

 terials collected by Gibbon in the last volume of his 

 History-, (g) 



ATTOCK, a city and fortress of Hindostan, built 

 on the site of the ancient Taxila, by Acbar, in 1581. 

 It stands on the eastern bank of the Indus, and com- 

 mands the narrow pass from Cabul to Lahore. E. 

 Long. 71 12', N. Lat. 33 6'. (j ) 



ATTORNEY, (Attornatus,) signifies one who is 

 appointed by another to transact any business for him 

 in his absence. An attorney is either public, as 

 those in the courts of record, and is constituted by 

 warrant from his client ; or private, to perform any 

 particular act or piece of business, who is usually 

 appointed by latter of attorney, (z) 



ATTORNEY at Law, is a person who manages 

 the law business of another, by whom he is retained ; 

 the term being analogous to the procurator, or proc- 

 tor, of the civilians and canonists. 



Anciently, (according to the old Gothic constitu- 

 tion,) every suitor was obliged to appear and prose- 

 cute or defend his suit in person, unless by special 

 license from the king ; and this still continues to be 

 the rule in criminal cases. But by sundry old sta- 

 tutes, from that of Westm. 2. c. 10., permission was 

 granted for attornies to prosecute or defend any civil 

 suit in the absence of the parties. An idiot, how- 

 ever, cannot, at this day, prosecute or defend by at- 

 torney, but must appear in person. 



Attornies are admitted to the execution of their 

 office by the superior courts of Westminster-hall. 

 They are considered as officers of the respective 

 courts in which they are admitted ; on which account 

 they enjoy many privileges ; and are, on the other 

 hand, peculiarly subject to the censure and animad- 

 version of the judges. In order to enable one to 

 practise as an attorney in any of these courts, he must 

 be admitted and sworn an attorney of that particular 

 court ; and an attorney in the King's Bench cannot 

 practise in the Common Pleas, nor vice versa. To 

 practise in the Court of Chancery, it is ako necessary 

 to be admitted a solicitor therein. 



At!r:iC'ion. 



There are divers statutes which regulate the admis- Attorney 

 sion, &c. of attornies; as, 3 Jac. 1. c. 7 ; 12 Geo. I. 

 c. 29 ; 2 Geo. II. c. 23 ; 22 Geo. II. c. 46 ; 23 Geo. 

 II. c. 26, &c. 



Besides the obligation of fidelity to his client, the 

 attorney owes him diligence and secrecy ; and, in 

 certain cases, action lies at the suit of the client, 

 against his attorney, for neglect of duty. Blackst. 

 Comment, b. iii. ch. 2. Jacob's Law Diet. 



In Scotland there is no class of law practitioners 

 who take the name of attornies. The office there is 

 not public, as in England, but private ; and it is con- 

 stituted by letters of attorney. The person who re- 

 ceives infeftment for another is also called the attor- 

 ney. See Bell's Diet, of the Law of Scotland, (z) 



ATTORNEY General, is the name given to a 

 great law officer, and principal counsel for the crown, 

 who is constituted such by the king's letters patent. 

 His duty is to exhibit informations, and prosecute for 

 the crown in matters criminal ; and to file bills in the 

 exchequer, for any thing which concerns the king 

 in inheritance and profits. See Jacob's Law Diet, (z) 



ATTORNMENT, or Attournment, (Attor- 

 namentum, from the Fr. Tourner,) in the law of 

 England, signifies the tenant's acknowledgment of a 

 new lord, in the sale of lands, &c. 



This practice derives its origin from the nature of 

 feudal tenures, and from the spirit of the feudal cus- 

 toms. For, as by that system it was held to be nei- 

 ther reasonable nor proper, that a feudatory should 

 transfer his lord's gift to another, and substitute a 

 new tenant, without the consent of the lord ; neither, 

 on the other hand, was it deemed allowable for a lord 

 to alienate his seignory without the consent of his te- 

 nant, which consent was called an attornment. And 

 the doctrine of attornment was afterwards extended 

 to all lessees for life or years. 



In the course of time, however, the necessity of 

 attornment was modified and restricted by the statute 

 Quia emptores terrarum, (18 Edw. I. st. 1.) ; the 

 statute of uses (27 Hen. VIII. c. 10.), and by the 

 statute of wills (34 & 35 Hen. VIII. c. 5.) At 

 length, both the necessity and efficacy of attornments 

 were almost entirely taken away by the statute 4 and 

 5 Ann. c. 16, which enacts, that all grants and con- 

 veyances of manors, lands, rents, and reversions, &c. 

 by fine or otherwise, shall be good, without the at- 

 tornment of the tenants. And by the statute 1 1 Geo. 

 II. c. 19. attornments of lands, &c. made by tenants 

 to strangers claiming title to the estate of their land- 

 lords shall be null and void, and shall not affect their 

 landlord's possession. This, however, shall not extend 

 to annul any attornment made pursuant to a judg- 

 ment at law, or with consent of the landlord ; or to a 

 mortgagee on a forfeited mortgage. 



Since the passing of these statutes, the doctrine of 

 attornment, which formerly was one of the most 

 copious and abstruse in the law, may be considered 

 as almost entirely obsolete and useless. See Jacob's 

 Law Diet, (z) 



ATTRACTION, Chemical, usually called Af- 

 finity, an attraction which exists between the mi- 

 nute particles of matter, which urges them together, 

 and which keeps them united. It acts only at insen- 

 sible distances, and becomes imperceptible when the 



