Blacks Law Dict. 1st ed

FRiEFECTUS URBI

PR^SSCRIPTIONES

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applied to other heinous offenses. 4 Bl. Comm. 103-117; 4 Steph. Comm. 215-217. PR2ENOMEN. Lat. Forename, or first name. Thefirstof the three names by which the Romans were commonly distinguished. It marked the individual, and was commonly written with one letter; as "A." for "Au lus;" "C." for "Caius," etc Adams, Rom. Ant. 35. PR^POSITUS. In old English law. An officer next in authority to the alderman of a hundred, called "prcepositus regius;" or a steward or bailiff of an estate, answering to the "toicnere." Also the person from whom descents are traced under the old canons. PILffiPOSITUS ECCLESIiE. A church reeve, or warden. Spelman. PR.ZEPOSITUS VILLiE. A constable of a town, or petty constable. Prsepropera consilia raro sunt pros pera. 4Inst. 57. Hasty counsels are rarely prosperous. PR^ESCRIPTIO. Lat. In the civil law. That mode of acquisition whereby one be comes proprietor of a thing on the ground that he has for a long time possessed it as his own; prescription. Dig. 41, 3. It was an ciently distinguished from "usucapio," (q. ©.,) but was blended with it by Justinian. Prsescriptio est titulus ex usu et tern pore substantiam capiens ab auctori tate legis. Co. Litt. 113. Prescription is a title by authority of law, deriving its force from use and time. Prsescriptio et executio non pertinent ad valorem contractus, sed ad tempus et modum actionis instituendse. Pre scription and execution do not affect the va lidity of the contract, but the time and man ner of bringing an action. 3 Mass. 84; 3 Johns. Ch. 190, 219. PR^JSCRIPTIONES. In Roman law. Forms of words (of a qualifying character) inserted in the formula in which the claims in actions were expressed; and, as they occu pied an early place iu the formula, they were called by this name, i. «., qualifications pre ceding the claim. For example, in an action to recover the arrears of an annuity, the claim was preceded by the words "so far as the annuity is due and unpaid," or words to the like effect, ("cujus rei dies fuit."} Brown.

PR.EFECTUS URBI. Lat. In Roman law. The name of an officer who, from the time of Augustus, had the superintendence of the city and its police, with jurisdiction extending one hundred miles from the city, and power to decide both civil and criminal cases. As be was considered the direct rep resentative of the emperor, much that pre viously belonged to the praetor urbanus fell gradually into his hands. Colq. Rom. Civil Law, § 2395. PBJEFECTUS VIGILUM. Lat. In Roman law. The chief officer of the night watch. His jurisdiction extended to certain offenses affecting the public peace, and even to larcenies; but he could inflict only slight punishments. Colq. Bom. Civil Law, § 2395. PRJEFECTUS VIIiLM. The mayor of a town. PR2EFINE. The fee paid on suing out the writ of covenant, on levying fines, before the fine was passed. 2 Bl. Comm. 350. PRJEJURAMENTUM. In old English law. A preparatory oath. PB2EMIUM. Lat. Reward; compensa tion. Prcemium assecurationis, compensa tion for insurance; premium of insurance. Loce. de Jur. Mar. lib. 2, c 5, § 6. PBJEMIUM PUDICITIiE. The price of chastity; or compensation for loss of chas tity. A term applied to bonds and other en gagements given for the benefit of a seduced female. Sometimes called "prcemium pu doris." 2 Wils. 339, 340. PR^JMUNIRE. In English law. The pame of an offense against the king and his government, though not subject to capital punishment. So called from the words of the writ which issued preparatory to the prosecution: " Prcemunire facias A. B. quod tit coram nobis," etc.; "Cause A. B. to be forewarned that he appear before us to an swer the contempt with which be stands charged." The statutes establishing this of fense, the first of which was made in the thirty-first year of the reign of Edward I., were framed to encounter the papal usurpa tions in England; the original meaning of the offense called "prcemunire" being the in troduction of a foreign power into the king dom, and creating imperium in imperio, by paying that obedience to papal process which constitutionally belonged to the king alone. The penalties of prcemunire were afterwards

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