KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

197

CHILD

CHIROGRAPH

CHILDWIT. In Saxon law. The right which a lord had of taking a fine of his bond woman gotten with child without his license. Termes de la Ley; Cowell. CHILTERN HUNDREDS. In English law. The stewardship of the Chiltern Hun dreds is a nominal office in the gift of the crown, usually accepted by members of the house of commons desirous of vacating their seats. By law a member once duly elected to parliament is compelled to discharge the duties of the trust conferred upon him, and Is not enabled at will to resign it But by statute, if any member accepts any office of profit from the crown, (except officers in the army or navy accepting a new commission,) his seat is vacated. If, therefore, any mem ber wishes to retire from the representation of the county or borough by which he was sent to parliament, he applies to the lords of the treasury for the stewardship of one of the Chiltern Hundreds, which having receiv ed, and thereby accomplished his purpose, he again resigns the office. Brown. CHIMIN. In old English law. A road, way, highway. It is either the king's high way (chiminus regis) or a private way. The first is that over which the subjects of the realm, and all others under the pro tection of the crown, have free liberty to pass, though the property in the soil itself belong to some private individual; the last is that in which one person or more have lib erty to pass over the land of another, by pre scription or charter. Wharton. CHIMINAGE. A toll for passing on a way through a forest; called in the civil law "pedagium." Cowell. CHIMINUS. The way by which the king and all his subjects and all under his protec tion have a right to pass, though the property of the soil of each side where the way lieth may belong to a private man. Cowell. CHIMNEY MONEY, or HEARTH MON EY. A tax upon chimneys or hearths; an ancient tax or duty upon houses in England, now repealed. CHIPPINGAVEL. In old English law. A tax upon trade; a .toll imposed upon trathc, or upon goods brought to a place to be sold. CHIRGEMOT, CHIRCHGEMOT. In Saxon law. An ecclesiastical assembly or court. Spelman. A synod or meeting in a church or vestry. 4 Inst 321. CHIROGRAPH. In old English law. A deed or indenture; also the last part of a fine of land. An instrument of gift or conveyance at tested by the subscription and crosses of the witnesses, which was in Saxon times called

opposite of "adult," and means the young of the human species, (generally under the age of puberty,) without any reference to parent age and without distinction of sex. Miller v. Finegan, 26 Fla. 29, 7 South. 140, 6 L i A. 813. —Child's part. A "child's part," which a wid ow, by statute in some states, is entitled to take in lieu of dower or the provisioa made for her by will, is a full share to which a child of the decedent would be entitled, subject to the debts of the estate and the cost of administration up to and including distribution. Benedict v. Wil marth, 46 Fla. 536, 35 South. 84.— Natural child. A bastard; a child born out of lawful wedlock. But in a statute declaring that adopt ed shall have all the rights of "natural" chil dren, the word "natural" was used in the sense of "legitimate." Barns v. Allen, 9 Am. Law Reg. (O. S.) 747. In Louisiana. Illegitimate children who have been adopted by the father. Civ. Code La, art. 220. In the civil law. A child by natural relation or procreation; a child by birth, as distinguished from a child by adop tion. Inst. 1, 11, pr.; Id. 3, 1, 2; Id. 3, 8, pr. A child by concubinage, in contradistinction to a child by marriage. Cod. 5, 27.— Quasi post humous child. In the civil law. One who, born during the life of his grandfather or other male ascendant, was not his heir at the time he made his testament, but who by the death of his father became his heir in his life-time. Inst. 2, 13, 2; Dig. 28, 3, 13. Offspring; progeny. Legit imate offspring; children born in wedlock. Bell v. Phyn, 7 Ves. 458. The general rule is that "children," in a be quest or devise, means legitimate children. Un der a devise or bequest to children, as a class, natural children are not included, unless the testator's intention to include them is manifest, either by express designation or necessary impli cation. Heater v. Van Auken, 14 N. J. Eq. 159; Gardner v. Heyer, 2 Paige (N. Y.) 11. In deeds, the word "children" signifies the im mediate descendants of a person, in the ordinary sense of the word, as contradistinguished from issue • unless there be some accompanying ex pressions, evidencing that the word is used in an enlarged sense. Lewis, Perp. 196. In wills, where greater latitude of construc tion is allowed, in order to effect the obvious in tention of the testator, the meaning of the word has sometimes been extended, so as to include grandchildren, and it has been held to be synon ymous with issue. Lewis, Perp. 195, 196; 2 Crabb, Real Prop. pp. 38, 39, §§ 988, 989; 4 Kent, Comm. 345, 346, note. The word "heirs," in its natural signification, is a word of limitation; and it is presumed to be used in that sense, unless a contrary inten tion appears.. But the term "children," in its natural sense, is a word of purchase, and is to be taken to have been used as such, unless there are other expressions in the will showing that the testator intended to use it as a word of lim itation only. Sanders, Matter of, 4 Paige (N. Y.) 293; Rogers v. Rogers, 3 Wend. (N. Y.) 503, 20 Am. Dec. 716. In the natural and primary sense of the word "children," it implies immediate offspring, and, in its legal acceptation, is not a word of limi tation, unless it is absolutely necessary so to construe it in order to give effect to the testa tor's intention. Echols v. Jordan, 39 Ala. 24. "Children" is ordinarily a word of description, limited to persons standing in the same relation, and has the same effect as if all the names were given; but heirs, in the absence of controlling or explanatory words, includes more remote de scendants, and is to be applied per stirpes. Bal com y. Haynes, 14 Allen (Mass.) 204. CHILDREN.