Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

POSTHUMUS PRO NATO, ETC. 918

POTESTAS

against a designated person, and prayed the authority of the magistrate therefor. In old English ecclesiastical law. A species of petition for transfer of a bishop. POSTULATIO ACTIONIS. In Roman law. The demand of an action; the request made to the praetor by an actor or plaintiff for an action or formula of suit; correspond ing with the application for a writ in old English practice. Or, as otherwise explained, the actor's asking of leave to institute his action, on appearance of the parties before the praetor. Hallifax, Civil Law, b. 3, c. 9, no. 12. POT-DE-VTN. In French law. A sum of money frequently paid, at the moment of entering into a contract, beyond the price agreed upon. It differs from arrha, in this: that it is no part of the price of the thing sold, and that the person who has received it cannot, by returning double the amount, or the other party by losing what he has paid, rescind the contract. 18 Toullier, no. 52. POTENTATE. A person who possesses great power or sway; a prinee, sovereign, or monarch. By the naturalization law of the United States, an alien is required to renounce all al legiance to any foreign "prince,potentate, or sovereign whatever." POTENTIA. Lat. Possibility; power. Potentia debet sequi justitiam, non antecedere. 3 Bulst. 199. Power ought to follow justice, not go before it. _ Potentia est duplex, remota et propin qua; et potentia remotissima et vana est qu© nunquam venit in actum. 11 Coke, 51. Possibility is of two kinds, remote and near; that which never comes into action ii a power the most remote and vain. Fotentia inutilis frustra est. Useless power is to no purpose. Branch, Princ. POTENTIA PROPINQUA. Common possibility. See POSSIBILITY. Potest quis renunciare pro se et suia juri quod pro se introductum est. Bract. 20. One may relinquish for himself and his heirs a right which was introduced for his own benefit. POTESTAS.. Lat. In the civil law. Power; authority; domination; empire. Im periumi or the jurisdiction of magistrates. The power of the father over his children, patria potestas. The authority of masters

Posthumus pro nato habetur. A post humous child is considered as though born, [at the parent's death.] 15 Pick. 258. POSTLIMINIUM. In the civil law. A doctrine orfictionof the law by which the res toration of a person to any status or right formerly possessed by him was considered as relating back to the time of his original loss i>r deprivation; particularly in the case of one who, having been taken prisoner in war, and having escaped and returned to Rome, was regarded, by the aid of this fiction, as having never been abroad, and was thereby rein stated in all his rights. Inst. 1, 12, 5. The term is also applied, in international law, to the recapture of property taken by an enemy, and its consequent restoration to its original owner. Postliminium flngit eum qui captus est in civitate semper fuisse. Postliminy feigns that he who has been captured has never left the state. Inst. 1, 12, 5; Dig. 49, 51. POSTLIMINY. See POSTLIMINIUM. POSTMAN. A senior barrister Jn the court of exchequer, who has precedence in motions; so called from the place where he sits. 2 Bl. Comm. 28. A letter-carrier. POSTMASTER. An officer of the United States, appointed to take charge of a local post-office and transact the business of re ceiving and forwarding the mails at that point, and such other business as is commit ted to him under the postal laws. POSTMASTER GENERAL. The head of the post-office department. He is one of the president's cabinet. POSTNATI. Those born after. See POST NATUS. POSTPONE. To put off; defer; delay; continue; adjourn; as when a hearing is postponed. Also to place after; to set be low something else; as when an earlier lien is for some reason postponed to a later lien. POSTREMO-GENITURE. Borough English, ($. «.) POSTULATIO. Lat. In Roman law. A request or petition. This was the name of the first step in a criminal prosecution, corresponding somewhat to "swearing out a warrant" in modern criminal law. The ac cuser appeared before the prsetor, and stated his desire to institute criminal proceedings

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