KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

888

PER AND CUI

PENSION

clergymen in lieu of tithes. A spiritual person may sue in the spiritual court for a pension originally granted and confirmed by the ordina ry, but, where it is granted by a temporal per son to a clerk, he cannot; as, if one grant an annuity to a parson, he must sue for it in the temporal courts. Cro. Dliz. 675.—Pension writ. A peremptory order against a member of an inn of court who is in arrear for his pensions, (that is, for his periodical dues,) or for other duties. Cowell. PENSIONER. One who is supported by an allowance at the will of another; a de pendent. It is usually applied (in a pub lic sense) to those who receive pensions or annuities from government, who are chief ly such as have retired from places of honor and emolument Jacob. Persons making periodical payments are sometimes so called. Thus, resident under graduates of the university of Cambridge, who are not on the foundation of any col lege, are spoken of as "pensioners." Mozley & Whitley. PENT-ROAD. A road shut up or closed at its terminal points. Wolcott v. Whit comb, 40 Vt 41. PENTECOSTAIiS. In ecclesiastical law. Pious oblations made at the feast of Pente cost by parishioners to their priests, and sometimes by inferior churches or parishes to the principal mother churches. They are also called "Whitsun farthings." Whar ton. PEON. In Mexico. A debtor held by his creditor in a qualified servitude to work out the debt; a serf. Webster. In India. A footman; a soldier; an in ferior officer; a servant employed in the bus iness of the revenue, police, or judicature. PEONAGE. The state or condition of a peon as above defined; a condition of en forced servitude, by which the servitor is restrained of his liberty and compelled to labor in liquidation of some debt or obliga tion, real or pretended, against his will. Peonage Cases (D. C.) 123 Fed. 671; In re Lewis (C. C.) 114 Fed. 963; U. S. v. McClel lan (D. C.) 127 Fed. 971; Rev. St. U. S. § 5526 (U. S. Comp. St. 1901, p. 3715). PEONIA. In Spanish-American law. A lot of land of fifty feet front, and one hun dred feet deep. Originally the portion grant ed to foot-soldiers of spoils taken or lands conquered in war. PEOPLE. A state; as the people of the state of New York. A nation in its collect ive and political capacity. Nesbitt v. Lush ington, 4 Term R, 783; U. S. v. Quincy, 6 Pet. 467, 8 L. Ed. 458; U. S. v. Trumbull (D. C.) 48 Fed. 99. In a more restricted sense, and as generally used in constitution al law, the entire body of those citizens of

a state or nation who are invested with political power for political purposes, that is, the qualified voters or electors. See Koehler v. Hill, 60 Iowa, 543, 15 N. W. 609; Dred Scott v. Sandford, 19 How. 404, 15 II Ed. 691; Boyd v. Nebraska, 143 U. S. 135, 12 Sup. Ct. 375, 36 L. Ed. 103; Rogers v. Jacob, 88 Ky. 502, 11 S. W. 513; People y. Counts, 89 Cal. 15, 26 Pac. 612; Blair v. Ridgely, 41 Mo. 63, 97 Am. Dec. 248; Bev erly v. Sabin, 20 111. 357; In re Incurring of State Debts, 19 R. I. 610, 37 Atl. 14. # The word "people" may have various significa tions according to the connection in which it is used. When we speak of the rights of the peo ple, or of the government of the people by law, or of the people as a non-political aggregate, we mean all the inhabitants of the state or nation, without distinction as to sex, age, or otherwise. But when reference is made to the people as the repository of sovereignty, or as the source of governmental power, or to popular govern ment, we are in fact speaking of that selected and limited class of citizens to whom the con stitution accords the elective franchise and the right of participation in the offices of govern ment. Black, Const Law (3d Ed.) p. 30. PEPPERCORN. A dried berry of the black pepper. In English law, the reserva tion of a merely nominal rent, on a lease, is sometimes expressed by a stipulation for the payment of a peppercorn. PER. Lat By. When a writ of entry is sued out against the alienee of the orig inal intruder or disseisor, or against his heir to whom the land has descended, it is said to be brought "in the per," because the writ then states that the tenant had not % entry but by (per) the original wrong-doer. 3 BL Comm. 181. PER 2ES ET LIBRAM. Lat. In Roman law. The sale per ess et libram (with copper and scales) was a ceremony used in transfer ring res mancipi, in the emancipation of a son or slave, and in one of the forms of making a will. The parties having assem bled, with a number of witnesses, and. one who held a balance or scales, the purchaser struck the scales with a copper coin, repeat ing a formula by which he claimed the sub ject-matter of the transaction as his prop erty, and handed the coin to the vendor. PER AXLUVIONEM. Lat. In the civil law. By alluvion, or the gradual and im perceptible increase arising from deposit by water. Per alluvionem id videtur adjici quod ita paulatim adjicitnr nt intelligere non possunvus quantum quoquo momento temporis adjiciatur. That is said to be added by alluvion which is so added little by little that we cannot tell how much is added at any one moment of time. Dig. 41, 1, 7, 1; Fleta, 1. 3, c. 2, § 6. PER AND CTJI. When a writ of entry is brought against a second alienee or de-