Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

1124 STEWABD OF SCOTLAND

STEALTH

STET BILLA. If the plaintiff in a plaint in the mayor's court of London has attached property belonging to the defendant and ob« tained execution against the garnishee, the defendant, if he wishes to contest the plain tiff's claim, and obtain restoration of his property, must issue a scire facias ad dU probandum debitum; if the only question to be tried is the plaintiff's debt, the plaintiff in appearing to the scire facias prays stet billa "that his bill original," i. e., his orig inal plaint, "may stand, and that the defend ant may plead thereto." The action then pro ceeds in the usual way as if the proceedings in attachment (which are founded on a ficti tious default of the defendant in appearing to the plaint) had not taken place. Brand, F. Attachm. 115; Sweet. STET PROCESSUS. Stet processus is an entry on the roll in the nature of a judg ment of a direction that all further proceed ings shall be stayed, (i. e., that the process may stand,) and it is one of the ways by which a suit may be terminated by an act of the party, as distinguished from a termi nation of it by judgment, which is the act of the court. It was used by the plaintiff when he wished to suspend the action with out suffering a nonsuit. Brown. STEVEDORE. A person employed in loading and unloading vessels. STEWARD. This word signifies a man appointed in the place or stead of another, and generally denotes a principal officer with in his jurisdiction. Brown. STEWARD OF A MANOR. An im portant officer who has the general manage ment of all forensic matters connected with the manor of which he is steward. He stands in much the same relation to the lord of the manor as an under-sheriff does to the sheriff. Cowell. STEWARD OF ALL ENGLAND. In old English law. An officer who was in vested with various powers; among others, to preside on the trial of peers. STEWARD OF SCOTLAND. An offi cer of the highest dignity and trust. He ad ministered the crown revenues, superintend ed the affairs of the household, and possessed the privilege of holding the first place in the army, next to the king, in the day of battle. From this office the royal house of Stuart took its name. But the office was sunk on their advancement to the throne, and baa never since been revived. Bell.

STEALTH. Theft is so called by some ancient writers. "Stealth is the wrongful taking of goods without pretense of title." Finch, Law, b. 3, c. 17. STEELBOW GOODS. In Scotch law. Corns, cattle, straw, and implements of hus bandry delivered by a landlord to his tenant, by which the tenant is enabled to stock and labor the farm; in consideration of which be becomes bound to return articles equal in quantity and quality, at the expiry of the lease. Bell. STELLIONATAIRE. In French law. A party who fraudulently mortgages proper ty to which he has no title. STELLIONATE. In Scotch law. The crime of aliening the same subject to differ ent persons. 2 Kames, Eq. 40. STELLIONATUS. Lat. In the civil law. A general name for any kind of fraud not falling under any specific class. But the term is chiefly applied to iraud practiced in the sale or pledging of property; as, selling the same property to two different persons, selling another's property as one's own, plac ing a second mortgage on property without disclosing the existence of the first, etc. STENOGRAPHER. One who is skilled in the art of short-hand writing; one whose business is to write in short-hand. STEP-DAUGHTER. The daughter of one's wife by a former husband, or of one's husband by a former wife. STEP-FATHER. The man who mar ries a widow, she having a child by her former marriage, is step-father to such child. STEP-MOTHER. The woman who mar ries a widower, he having a child by his former wife, becomes step-mother to such child. STEP-SON. The son of one's wife by a former husband, or of one's husband by a former wife. STERBRECHE, or STREBRICH. The breaking, obstructing, or straitening of a way. Termes de la Ley. STERE. A French measure of solidity, used in measuring wood. It is a cubic meter. STERILITY. Barrenness; incapacity to produce a child. STERLING. In English law. Current or standard coin, especially silver coin; a standard of coinage.

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