Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

DILATIONES, ETC.

DIMISSORY LETTEES

negligence is the want of great diligence; and gross or more than ordinary negligence is the want of slight diligence. 5 Kan. 180. In Scotch law and practice. Process of law, by which persons, lands, or effects are seized in execution or in security for debt. Ersk. Inst. 2, 11, 1. Brande. Process for enforcing the attendance of witnesses, or the production of writings. Ersk. Inst. 4,1, 71. DILIGIATUS. (FT. De lege ejeetus, Lat.) Outlawed. DILLIGROUT. In old English law. Pottage formerly made for the king's table on the coronation day. There was a tenure in serjeantry, by which lands were held of the king by the service ©f finding this pottage at that solemnity. DIME. A silver coin of the United States, of the value of ten cents, or one-tenth of the dollar. DIMIDIA, DIMIDIUM, DIMIDIUS. Half; a half; the half. DIMIDIETAS. The moiety or half of a thing. DIMINUTIO. In the civil law. Dimi nution; a taking away; loss or deprivation. Diminutio capitis, loss of status or condition. See CAPITIS DIMINTJTIO. DIMINUTION. Incompleteness. A word signifying that the record sent up from an inferior to a superior court for review is incomplete, or not fully certified. In such case the party may suggest a "diminution of the record," which may be rectified by a cer~ tiorari. 2 Tidd, Pr. 1109. DIMISI. In old conveyancing. I have demised. Dimisi, concessi, et adftrmam tra didi, have demised, granted, and to farm let. The usual words of operation in a lease. 2 Bl. Comm. 317, 318. DIMISIT. In old conveyancing. [He] has demised. See DIMISI. DIMISSORLE! LITTERiE. In the civil law. Letters dimissory or dismissory, com monly called "apostles," (qua vulgo apostoli dicuntur.) Dig. 50,16,106. See APOSTOLI, APOSTLES. DIMISSORY LETTERS. Where a candidate for holy orders has a title of ordi nation in one diocese in England, and is to bt ordained in another, the bishop of the former diocese gives letters dimissory to the bishop of the latter to enable him to ordain th« can didate. Holthouse.

Dilationes in lege sunt odiosse. Delays in law are odious. Branch, Frinc DILATORY DEFENSE. In chancery practice. One the object of which is to dismiss, suspend, or obstruct the suit, with out touching the merits, until the impedi ment or obstacle insisted on shall be removed. S Bl. Comm. 301, 302. DILATORY PLEAS. A class of de fenses at common law, founded on some mat ter of fact not connected with the merits of the case, but such as might exist without impeaching the right of action itself. They were either pleas to the jurisdiction, show ing that, by reason of some matter therein stated, the case was not within the jurisdic tion of the court; or pleas in suspension, showing some matter of temporary incapac ity to proceed with the suit; or pleas in abatement, showing some matter for abate ment or quashing the declaration. 3 Steph. Ootnm. 576. DILIGENCE. Prudence; vigilant ac tivity; attentiveness; or care, of which there are infinite shades, from the slightest mo mentary thought to the most vigilant anxiety; but the law recognizes only three degrees of diligence: (1) Common or ordi nary, which men, in general, exert in respect of their own concerns; the standard is neces sarily variable with respect to the facts, al though it may be uniform with respect to the principle. (2) High or great, which is ex traordinary diligence, or that which very pru dent persons take of their own concerns. (3) Low or slight, which is that which peisons of less than common prudence, or indeed of no prudence at all, take of their own con cerns. The civil law is in perfect conformity with the common law. It lays down three degrees of diligence,—ordinary, (diligentia;) ex traordinary, (exactissima diligentia;) slight, (levissima diligentia.) Story, Bailm. 19. There may be a high degree of diligence, a com mon degree of diligence, and a slight degree of diligence, with their corresponding degrees of neg ligence, and these can be clearly enough defined for all practical purposes, and, with a view to the bus iness of life, seem to be all that are really neces sary. Common or ordinary diligence is that de gree of diligence which men in general exercise in respect to their own concerns; high or great dil igence is of course extraordinary diligence, or that which very prudent persons take of their own concerns; and low or slight diligence is that which persons of less than common prudence, or indeed of any prudence at all, take of their own concerns. Ordinary negligence is the want of ordinary diligence; slight, or less than ordinary,

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