ATT 



•noiih tlian any part of Wales; for Amm'aDus Marcellinus 

 rt-prefents them as allies ar.d coiifediratcs of the Scots and 

 I-'ic'\3, and tlierefoie they were probably their iKi^hbours. 

 Thtfc enemies, and afterwards the foldiers, of Valcntinian, 

 are acciifcd, by an eye-witnefs, of deligliting in thetafteof 

 human flcdi. W!ien they hunted the woods for prty, it is 

 fsid hy Jcrom (iibi fnpra), that they attacked the (liipherd, 

 rather than his flock ; and that they cnrionfly fclected the 

 molt del'cate and brawny parts botli of males and females, 

 (paftoniin nates et fajm.inarum papillas), which they prepared 

 for tlitir homd vepufts. 



ATTAGEK. Attagas, in Ornithology, names given 

 by BrifT. and Buff, to the red or moor-game, or red grous, 

 in Gmelin's arrangement the fourth variety a^ Idrao la''ot,us. 

 Linn. & Gmel. Biiir. a'fo calls tctrao umbellus of Gmclin 

 altagen Pennfyhvinir, 



ATTAIKDRR, in Laiu, is that flain or infamy wliich 

 is incurred by a man who has committed felony, treafon, or 

 other crime, and who is capitally convifted for the fame. 



This, by the common law, is the immediate infeparable 

 conftquence of the fentence of deatii that is pronounced. 

 The law, in this cafe, fets a note of infamy upon the cri- 

 minal, puts him out of its protection, and takes no farther 

 care of him than barely to fee him executed. He is then 

 called attaint, ai:iiidiis, ftaincd or blackened. He is no 

 longer of any cred t or reputation ; he cannot be a witnefs 

 in any court; neither is he capable of performing the 

 functions of another man : for, by an anticipation of his 

 punifnnent, he is already dead in law. This is after 

 " judgment;" for there is a great difference between a 

 man "convifted," and "attainted;" though they are fre- 

 q-iently, through inaccuracy, confounded together. After 

 conviclion only, a man is habit to none of thcfe difabilities; 

 for, in the contemplation of law, there is ilill a poffibility of 

 his innocence. Something may be'offered in arreft of judg- 

 ment; the indiftment may be cnoneous, which v/ill render 

 his guilt uncertain, and thereupon the prefent conviflion may 

 be quaflied ; he may obtain a pardon, or be allowed the 

 benefit of clergy; both which fuppofe fome latent Iparks 

 of merit, whici'i plead in extenuation of his fault. But 

 when judgment is once pronounced, both law and fad con- 

 fpire to prove him completely guilty ; and there is not the 

 j-emoteft poffibility left of .-my thmg to be faid in his favour. 

 Upon judgment, therefore, of death, and not before, the 

 " attainder" of a criminal commences ; or upon fuch cir- 

 cumftances as are equivalent to judg.ment of death; as judg- 

 ment of outlawry' on a capital crime, pronounced for ab- 

 fconding or fleeing from jullice, which tacitly confefles 

 the gnilt. And, therefore, upon judgment of outlawry, 

 or of death, for treafon or felony, a man (hall be faid to be 

 " attainted." 



A man is " attainted by appearance or hy proceft. " At- 

 tainder" on appearance is by confeffion, or verdift, S:c. : 

 by ccnfejfton, when the prifoner, upon his indiftment, being 

 alked whether guilty or not guilty, owns himfelf guilty, 

 without putting himfelf nuon his counti7 ; and formerly 

 confeffion was allowed b^fsre ths coroner in fani'tuary, 

 upon which the offender was to abjure the realm, and this 

 was called " attainder" by abjuralion. " Attainder" by 

 verdic}, is when the prifoner at the bar pleadeth not guilty, 

 and is found guilty by the verdict of the jury of lite a d 

 death. " Attainder" by procefs, othcrwife called " attain- 

 der" by ibfault or by ou'fLitvry, is when a party flies, and is 

 not found, until he hith been five times puLlicly called 

 or proclaimed in the county, and, at U'X, upon his default, 

 is pronounced or returned outlawed. Staundt. Pi. Co. 44. 

 122. 18:. Perfons may alfo be attainted by adl of parlia- 



A T T 



ment. Accordingly afts of attainder have been pafled la 

 feveral reigns, on the difcovrry of plots and rebellion", frutn 

 the reign of king ChaiJesII., when an aft was made for 

 the attainder of fevtral pafons guilty of the murder of 

 king Charles I., to this time. Among thefc, the moil 

 remarkable is that for attainting fir John Fenwick for 

 confpiring againll king William; this act having been made 

 for attainting and convifting him of high treafon on the 

 oath of one wit.nefs, jult after a law had been enacted, " that 

 no perfon fhould be tried or attainted of high treafon, whcie 

 corruption of blood is incurred, but by the oath of two 

 lawful witnefTes, unlefs the party conftfs, (land mute, &c." 

 Stat 7 and 8 W. III. c. 3. However, fir John Fenwick was 

 indiftcd of treafon, on the oaths of two wiineffes, though 

 only one appeared againll him on his trial; and it was al- 

 leged, that fir John had tampered with and prevailed CD one 

 of the witnefTcs to withdraw. 



The confequencesof " attainder" are forfeiture, and cor- 

 ruption of blood ; which latter cannot be regularly takca 

 out but by aft ot parliament. Sec thefe articles. 



" Attainders" may he revcrfed or fallificd by writ of error, 

 or by plea ; in the furmer cafe it mull be by the king's 

 leave, &c.; and in the latter it may be by denying the 

 treafon, pleading a pardon by aft of parhament, &c. 3 Infl. 

 232. 



By a king's taking the crown upon him, all attainders of 

 his perfon are " ipfo fafto" purged, without any reverfal. 

 I Inft. 26. Finch. L. 82. Wood. 17. This was the de- 

 claration of parliament, made in favour of Henry VH. 



Attainder, BUI of, is a bill brought into parliamenr 

 for attainting, condemning, and executing a perfon for high 

 treafon. See Attainder. 



ATTAINT, Attincta, in Law, a writ which lieth to 

 inquire, whether a jury of twelve men gave a falfc verdift, 

 that fo the judgment following thereupon maybe reverfed; 

 and this muil be brought in the life-time of him for whom the 

 verdift was given, and of two at leall of the jurors who pave 

 it. This lay, at the common law, only upon wnts of alTife; 

 and fetms to have been coeval with that in'.litution by king 

 Henry II. at the initance of his chief jullice Glanvil; bein^ 

 probably meant as a check upon the vail power then repofed 

 in the recognitors of alTife, of finding a verdift according to 

 their own perional knowledge, without the examination of 

 witne.Tes. And even here it extended no farther than to 

 fuch inftanccs, \*here the iffue was joined upon the very 

 point of affife (the heirlhip, difTeifin, Sac), and not on any 

 collateral matter, as vilhnage, bailardy, or any other dif- 

 puted faft. (See Assisa in jurjtam, &c.) It feems that no 

 attaint lay againft the inquelt or jury that determined fuch 

 collateral iiTue; nor did Inch a procefs obtain after the trial 

 by inquell or jury, in tlie old Norman or feudal aftions 

 profecated by a writ of entry : nor did any attaint lie 

 in trefpafs, debt, or other aftion pe'fonal, by the cla common 

 law; bccaufe thofe were always determined by common 

 inquelh or juries. At length the ftatute of Weilm. i. 

 (3 Edw. I. c. ^3.) allowed an attaint to be fued upon in- 

 queils, as well as affiles, which were taken upon any plea 

 of land or of freehold. But this was at the king's dil- 

 cretion, and fo it is undertlood by the author of Flcta, a 

 writer cotemporary with the ilatute; though fir Edward 

 Coke (2 Inft. 130. 237.) feems to hold a different opinion. 

 Other fubfcqucnt ftalutes ( i Edw. III. ll. i. c.6. 5 Edw.III. 

 C.7. 28 Edw. III. c. 8.) mtrocuocd the fame remedy in all 

 pleas of ticfpafs ; and the llatute 34 Edw. 111. c. 7. extended 

 it to all pleas whatfoevir, perfonal as well as real; ex- 

 cepting only the writ of right, in fuch cafes where the mife 

 or ilTue is joined on the mere r:ght, and not on aay collatcrai 



quellion. 



