BOARD. This word is used to designate all the magistrates of a city or borough, or all the managers or directors of any institution; as, the board of aldermen; the board of directors of the Bank of North America. The majority of the board have in general the power to perform the acts of the whole board, but sometimes they are restrained by their charters, and it requires a greater number to perform certain acts.
BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY. A used in Vermont. This board is composed of the selectmen and justices of the peace of their respective towns. They are authorized to abate taxes, and the like.
BOCKLAND, Eng. law. The name of an ancient allodial tenure, which was exempt from feudal services. Bac. Ab. Gavelkind, A Spelman's English Works, vol. 2, 233.
BODY. A person.
2. In practice, when the sheriff returns cepi corpus to a capias, the plaintiff may obtain a rule, before special bail has been entered, to bring in the body and this must be done either by committing the defendant or entering special bail. See Dead Body.
BODY POLITIC, government, corporations. When applied to the government this phrase signifies the state.
2. As to the persons who compose the body politic, they take collectively the name, of people, or nation; and individually they are citizens, when considered in relation to their political rights, and subjects as being submitted to the laws of the state.
3. When it refers to corporations, the term body politic means that the members of such corporations shall be considered as an artificial person.
BOILARY. A term used to denote the water which arises from a salt well, belonging to one who has no right to the soil. Ejectment may be maintained for it. 2 Hill, Ab. c. 14, 5; Co. Litt. 4 b.
BONA, goods and chattels. In the Roman law, it signifies every kind of property, real, personal, and mixed, but chiefly it was applied to real estates; chattels being chiefly distinguished by the words, effects, movables, &c. Bona were, however, divided into bona mobilia, and bona immobilia. It is taken in the civil law in nearly the sense of biens (q. v.) in the French law.
BONA FIDE. In or with good faith.
2. The law requires all persons in their transactions to act with good faith and a contract where the parties have not acted bonafide is void at the pleasure of the innocent party. 8 John. R. 446; 12 John. R. 320; 2 John. Ch. R. 35. If a contract be made with good faith, subsequent fraudulent acts will not vitiate it; although such acts may raise a presumption of antecedent fraud, and thus become a means of proving the want of good faith in making the contract. 2 Miles' Rep. 229; and see also, Rob. Fraud. Conv. 33, 34; Inst. 2, 6 Dig. 41, 3, 10 and 44; Id. 41, 1, 48; Code, 7, 31; 9 Co. 11; Wingate's Maxims, max. 37; Lane, 47; Plowd. 473; 9 Pick. R. 265; 12 Pick. R. 545; 8 Conn. R. 336; 10 Conn. R. 30; 3 Watts, R. 25; 5 Wend. R. 20, 566. In the civil law these actions are called (actiones) bonae fidei, in which the judge has a. more unrestrained power (liberior potestas) of estamating how much one person ought to give to or do, for another; whereas, those actions are said to be stricti juris, in which the power of the judge is confined to the agreement of the parties. Examples of the foraier are the actions empti-venditi, locati-conducti, negitiorum gestorum, &c.; of the latter, the actions ex mutus, ex chirographo, ex stipilatu, ex indebito, actions proescriptis verbis, &c.
BONA GESTURA. Good behaviour.
BONA MOBILIA. Movable goods, personal property.
BONA NOTABILIA Engl. ecclesiastical law. Notable goods. When a person dies having at the time of his death, goods in any other diocese, beside's the goods in the diocese where he dies, amounting to the value of five pounds in the whole, he is said to have bona notabilia; in which case proof of his will, or granting letters of administration, belongs to the archbishop of the province. 1 Roll. Ab. 908; Toll. Ex. 51 Williams on Ex. Index, h. t.
BONA PERITURA. Perishable goods.
2. An executor, administrator, or trustee, is bound to use due diligence in disposing of perishable goods, such as fattened cattle, grain, fruit, or any other article which may be worse for keeping. Bac. Ab. Executors, &c. D; 11 Vin. Ab. 102; 1 Roll. Ab. 910; 5 Cro. Eliz.518; Godb.104; 3 Munf. R. 288; 1 Beat. R. 5,14; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.
3. In Pennsylvania, when goods are attached, they may be sold by order of court, when they are of a perishable nature. Vide Wesk. on Ins. 390; Serg. on Attachm. Index.
BONA VACANTIA. Goods to which no one claims a property, as, shipwrecks, treasure trove, &c.; vacant goods.
BONA WAVIATA. Goods waived or thrown away by a thief, in his flight, for fear of being apprehended.
BOND, contract. An obligation or bond is a deed whereby the obligor, obliges himself, his heirs, executors and administrators, to pay a certain sum of money to another at a day appointed. But see 2 Shepl. 185. If this be all, the bond is called a single one, simplex obligatio; but there is generally a condition added, that if the obligor pays a smaller sum, or does, or omits to do some particular act, the obligation shall be void. 2 Bl. Com. 840. The word bond ex vi termini imports a sealed instrument. 2 S. & R. 502; 1 Bald. R. 129; 2 Porter, R. 19; 1 Blackf. R. 241; Harp. R. 434; 6 Verm. R. 40. See Condition; Interest of money; Penalty. It is proposed to consider: 1. The form of a bond, namely, the words by which it may be made, and the ceremonies required. 2. The condition. 3. The performance or discharge.
2.-I. 1. There must be parties to a bond, an obligor and obligee : for where a bond was made with condition that the obligor should pay twenty pounds to such person or persons; as E. H. should, by her last will and testament in writing, name and appoint the same to be paid, and E. H. did not appoint any person to, whom the same should be paid, it was held that the money was not payable to the executors of E. H. Hob. 9. No particular form of words are essential to create an obligation, but any words which declare the intention of the parties, and denote that one is bound to the other, will be sufficient, provided the ceremonies mentioned below have been observed. Shep. Touch. 367-8; Bac. Abr. Obligations, B; Com. Dig. Obligations, B 1.
3. - 2. It must be in writing, on paper or parchment, and if it be made on other materials it is void. Bac. Abr. Obligations, A.
4. - 3. It must be sealed, though it is not necessary that it should be mentioned in the writing that it is sealed. As to what is a sufficient sealing, see the above case, and the word Seal.
5. - 4. It must be delivered by the party whose bond it is, to the other. Bac. Abr. Obligations, C. But the delivery and acceptance may be by attorney. The date is not considered of the substance of a deed, and therefore a bond which either has no date or an impossible one is still good, provided the real day of its being dated or given, that is, delivered, can be proved. 2 Bl. Com. 304; Com. Dig. Fait, B 3; 3 Call, 309. See Date.
6. - II. The condition is either for the payment of money, or for the performance of something else. In the latter case, if the condition be against some rule of law merely, positively impossible at the time of making it, uncertain or insensible, the condition alone is void, and the bond shall stand single and unconditional; for it is the folly of the obligor to enter into such an obligation, from which he can never be released. If it be to do a thing malum in se, the obligation itself is void, the whole contract being unlawful. 2 Bl. Com. 340; Bac. Abr. Conditions, K, L; Com. Dig. Conditions, D 1, D 2, D 3, D 7, D 8.
7. - III. 1. When, by the condition of an obligation, the act to be done to the obligee is of its own nature transitory, as payment of money, delivery of charters, or the like, and no time is limited, it ought to be performed in convenient time. 6 Co. 31 Co. Lit. 208; Roll. Abr. 436.
8. - 2. A payment before the day is good; Co. Lit. 212, a; or before action brought. 10 Mass. 419; 11 Mass. 217.
9.-3. If the condition be to do a thing within a certain time, it may be performed the last da of the time appointed. Bac. Abr. Conditions, P 3.
10. - 4. If the condition be to do an act, without limiting any time, he who has the benefit may do it at what time he pleases. Com. Dig. Conditions, G 3.
11. - 5. When the place where the act to be performed is agreed upon, the party who is to perform it, is not obliged to seek the opposite party elsewhere; nor is he to whom it is to be performed bound to accept of the performance in another place. Roll. 445, 446 Com. Dig. Conditions, G 9 Bac. Abr. Conditions, P 4. See Performance.
12. - 6. For what amounts to a breach of a condition in a bond see Bac. Abr. Conditions, 0; Com. Dig. Conditions, M; and this Dict. tit. Breach.
BOND TENANT, Eng. law. Copyholders and customary tenants are sometimes so called. Calth. on Copyh. 51, 54.
BONDAGE. Slavery.
BONIS NON AMOVENDIS. The name of a writ addressed to the sheriff, when a writ of error has been brought, commanding that the person against whom judgment has been obtained, be not suffered to remove his goods till the error be tried and determined. Reg. Orig. 131.
BONO ET MALO. The name of a special writ of jail delivery, which formerly issued of course for each particular prisoner. 4 Bl. Com. 270.
BONUS, contrads. A premium paid to a grantor or vendor; as, e. g. the bank paid a bonus to the state for its charter. A consideration given for what is received.
BOOK. A general name given to every literary composition which is printed; but appropriately to a printed composition bound in a volume.
2. The copyright, (q. v.) or exclusive right to print and publish a book, may be secured to the author and his assigns for the term of twenty-eight years; and, if the author be living, and a citizen of the United States, or resident therein, the same right shall be continued to him for the further term of fourteen years, by complying with the conditions of the act of Congress; one of which is, that he shall, within three months after publication, deliver, or cause to be delivered, a copy of the same to the clerk of the said district. Act of February 3, 1831. 4 Sharsw. cont. of Story's L. U. S. 2223.
BOOK-LAND, English law. Land, also called charter-land, which was held by deed under certain rents and fee services, and differed in nothing from free socage land. 2 Bl. Com. 90. See 2 Spelman's English Works, 233, tit. Of Ancient Deeds and Charters.
BOOKS, commerce, accounts. Merchants, traders, and other persons, who are desirous of understanding their affairs, and of explaining them when necessary, keep, 1. a day book; 2. a journal; 3. a ledger; 4. a letter book; 5. an invoice book; 6. a cash book; 7. a bill book; 8. a bank book; and 9. a cheek book. The reader is referred to these several articles. Commercial books are kept by single or by double entry.
BOOTY, war. The capture of personal property by a public enemy on land, in contradistinction to prize, which is a capture of such property by such an enemy, on the sea.
2. After booty has been in complete possession of the enemy for twenty-four hours, it becomes absolutely his, without any right of postliminy in favor of the original owner, particularly when it has passed, bona fide, into the hands of a neutral. 1 Kent, Com. 110.
3. The right to the booty, Pothier says, belongs to the sovereign but sometimes the right of the sovereign, or the public, is transferred to the soldiers, to encourage them. Tr. du Droit de Propriete, part 1, c. 2, art. 1, 2; Burl. Nat. and Pol. Law, vol. ii. part 4, o. 7, n. 12.
BOROUGH. An incorporated town; so called in the charter. It is less than a city. 1 Mann. & Gran. 1; 39 E. C. L. R. 323.
BOROUGH ENGLISH, English law. This, as the name imports, relates exclusively to the English law.
2. It is a custom, in many ancient boroughs, by which the youngest son succeeds to the burgage tenement on the death of the father. 2 Bl. Com. 83.
3. In some parts of France, there was a custom by which the youngest son was entitled to an advantage over the other children in the estate of their father. iller. Rep. mot Mainete.
BORROWER, contracts. He to whom a thing is lent at his request.
2. The contract of loan confers rights, and imposes duties on the borrower' 1. In general, he has the right to use the thing borrowed, during the time and for the purpose intended between the parties; the right of using the thing bailed, is strictly confined to the use, expressed or implied, in the particular transaction, and by any excess, the borrower will make himself responsible. Jones' Bailment, 58 6 Mass. R. 104; Cro. Jac. 244; 2 Ld. Raym. 909; Ayl. Pand. B. 4, t. 16, p. 517; Domat, B. 1, t. 5, 2, n. 10, 11, 12; Dio. 13, 6, 18 Poth. Pret a Usage, c. 2, 1, n. 22; 2 Bulst. 306; Ersk. Pr. Laws of ScotI. B. 3, t. 1, 9; 1 Const. Rep. So. Car. 121 Bracton, Lib. 3, c. 2, l, p. 99. The loan is considered strietly personal, unless, from other circumstances, a different intention may be presumed. 1 Mod. Rep. 210; S. C. 3 Salk. 271.
3. - 2. The borrower is bound to take extraordinary care of the thing borrowed; to use it according to the intention of the lender, to restore it in proper time; to restore it in a proper condition. Of these, in their order.
4. - 1. The loan being gratuitous, the borrower is bound to extraordinary diligence, and is responsible for slight neglect in relation to the thing loaned. 2 Ld. Raym. 909, 916 Jones on Bailm. 65; 1 Dane's Abr. c. 17, art. 12; Dig. 44, 73 1, 4; Poth. Pret. a Usage, c. 2, 2, art. 21, n. 48.
5. - 2. The use is to be according to the condition of the loan; if there is an excess in the nature, time, manner, or quantity of the use, beyond what may be inferred to be within the intention of the parties, the borrower will be responsible, not only for any damages occasioned by the excess, but even for losses by accidents, which could not be foreseen or guarded against. 2 Ld. Raym. 909; Jones on Bailm. 68, 69.
6. - 3. The borrower is bound to make a return of the thing loaned, at the time, in the place, and in the manner contemplated by the contract.. Domat, Liv. 1, t. 5, 1, n. 11; Dig. 13, 6, 5, 17. If tho borrower does not return the thing at the proper time, he is deemed to be in default, and is geneally responsible for all injuries, even for accidents. Jones on Bailm. 70; Pothier, Pret a Usage , ch. 2, 3, art. 2, n. 60; Civil Code Of Louis. art. 2870; Code Civil, art. 1881; Ersk. Inst. B. 3, t. 1, 22 Ersk. Pr. Laws of Scotl. B. 3, t. 1, 9.
7. - 4. As to the condition in which the thing is to be restored. The borrower not being liable for any loss or deterioration of the thing, unless caused by his own neglect of duty, it follows, that it is sufficient if he returns it in the proper manner, and at the proper time, however much it may be deteriorated from accidental or other causes, not connected with any such neglect. Story on Bailm. eh. 4, 268. See, generally, Story on Bailm. oh. 4; Poth. Pret A Usage; 2 Kent, Com. 446-449; Vin. Abr. Bailment, B 6; Bac. Abr. Bailment; Civil Code of Louis. art. 2869-2876; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 1078-1090. Vide Lender.
BOSCAGE, Eng. law. That food which wood and trees yield to cattle.
BOTE, contracts A recompense, satisfaction, amends, profit or advantage : hence came the word man-bote, denoting a compensation for a man slain; house-bote, cart-bote, plough-bote, signify that a tenant is privileged to cut wood for these uses. 2 Bl. Com. 35; Woodf. L. & T. 232.
BOTELESS, or bootless. Without recompense, reward or satisfaction made unprofitable or without success.
BOTTOMRY, maritime law. A contract, in nature of a mortgage of a ship, on which the owner borrows money to enable him to fit out the ship, or to purchase a cargo, for a voyage proposed: and he pledges the keel or bottom of the ship, pars pro toto, as a security for the repayment; and it is stipulated that if the ship should be lost in the course of the voyage, by any of the perils enumerated in the contract, the lender also shall lose his money but if the ship should arrive in safety, then he shall receive back his principal, and also the interest agreed upon, which is generally called marine interest, however this may exceed the legal rate of interest. Not only the ship and tackle, if they arrive safe, but also the person of the borrower, is liable for the money lent and the marine interest. See 2 Bl. Com. 458; Marsh. Ins. B. 21 c. 1; Ord. Louis XIV. B. 3, tit. 5; Laws of Wishuy, art. 45 Code de Com. B. 2, tit. 9.
2. The contract of bottomry should specify the principal lent, and the rate of marine interest agreed upon; the subject on which the loan is effected the names of the vessel and of the master those of the lender and borrower whether the loan be for an entire voyage; for what voyage and for what space of time; and the period of re-payment. Code de Com. art. 311 Marsh. Ins. B. 2.
3. Bottomry differs materially from a simple loan. In a loan, the money is at the risk of the borrower, and must be paid at all events. But in bottomry, the money is at the risk of the lender during the voyage. Upon a loan, only legal interest can be received; but upon bottomry, any interest may be legally reserved which the parties agree upon. See, generally, Metc. & Perk. Dig. h. t.; Marsh. lnst. B. 2; Bac. Abr. Merchant, K; Com. Dig. Merchant. E 4; 3 Mass. 443; 8 Mass. 340; 4 Binn. 244; 4 Cranch, 328; 3 John. R. 352 2 Johns. Cas. 250; 1 Binn. 405; 8 Cranch, 41 8; 1 Wheat. 96; 2 Dall. 194. See also this Dict. tit. Respondentia; Vin. Abr. Bottomry Bonds 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 1246-57.