Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

MATRIMONIA, ETC

MATTER OF SUBSTANCE

761

MATTER IN DEED. Such matter as may be proved or established by a deed or specialty. Matter of fact, in contradistinc tion to matter of law. Co. Litt. 320; Steph. PI. 197. MATTER IN ISSUE. That upon which the plaintiff proceeds in his action, and which the defendant controverts by his pleadings, not including facts offered in evidence to es tablish the matters in issue. 15 N. H. 9. That ultimate fact or state of facts in dis pute upon which the verdict or finding is predicated. 4 Fed. Rep. 386. See 2 Black, Judgm. § 614, and cases cited. Matter in ley ne serra mise in boutche del jurors. Jenk. Cent. 180. Matter of law shall not be put into the mouth of the jurors. MATTER IN FAIS. Matter of fact that is not in writing; thus distinguished from matter in deed and matter of record; matter that must be proved by parol evidence. MATTER OF COURSE. Anything done or taken in the course of routine or usual procedure, which is permissible and valid without being specially applied for and allowed. MATTER OF FACT. That which is to be ascertained by the senses, or by the testimony of witnesses describing what they have perceived. Distinguished from matter of law. MATTER OF FORM. Whatever be longs or relates merely to the form of a plead ing or other instrument, or to its language, arrangement, or technicality, without affect ing its substance, (i.e., its substantial valid ity or sufficiency,) is called "matter of form," as distinguished from "matter of substance." MATTER OF LAW. Whatever is to be ascertained or decided by the application of statutory rules or the principles and de terminations of the law, as distinguished from the investigation of particular facts, is called "matter of law." MATTER OF RECORD. Any judicial matter or proceeding entered on the records of a court, and to be proved by the produc tion of such record. It differs from matter in deed, which consists of facts which may be proved by specialty. MATTER OF SUBSTANCE. That which goes to the merits. The-opposite of matter of form.

Matrimonia debent esse libera. Mar riages ought to be free. A maxim of the civil law. 2 Kent, Comm. 102. MATRIMONIAL CAUSES. In En glish ecclesiastical law. Causes of action or injuries respecting the rights of marriage. One of the three divisions of causes or inju ries cognizable by the ecclesiastical courts, comprising suits for jactitation of marriage, and for restitution of conjugal rights, di vorces, and suits for alimony. 3 Bl. Comm. 92-94; SSteph. Comm. 712-714. MATRIMONIUM. Lat. In Roman law. A legal marriage, contracted in strict accord ance with the forms of the older Roman law, i. e., either with the farreum, the oo-emptio, or by usus. This was allowed only to Roman citizens and to those neighboring peoples to whom the right of connubium had been con ceded. The effect of such a marriage was to bring the wife into the manus, or marital power, of the husband, and to create the patria potestas over the children. Matrimonium subsequens tollit pec catum preecedens. Subsequent marriage cures preceding criminality. MATRIMONY. Marriage, (q. t>.,) in the sense of the relation or status, not of the cere mony. MATRIX. In the civil law. The proto col or first draft of a legal instrument, from which all copies must be taken. See (Tex.) 16 S. W. Rep. 53. MATRIX ECCLESIA. Lat. A mother church. This term was anciently applied to a cathedral, in relation to the other churches in the same see, or to a parochial church, in relation to the chapels or minor churches at tached to it or depending on it. Blount. MATRON. A married woman; an elder ly woman. The female superintendent of an establishment or institution, such as a hos pital, an orphan asylum, etc., is often so called. MATRONS, JURY OF. Such a jury is impaneled to try if a woman condemned to death be with child. MATTER. Facts; substance as distin guished from form; the merits of a case. MATTER IN CONTROVERSY, OR IN DISPUTE. The subject of litigation; the matter for which a suit is brought and upon which issue is joined. 1 Wall. 337.

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