entered by husband and wife; but a warrant to a feme covert is utterly void. If the warrant of attorney be obtained by fraud, duress, or misrepresentation, or upon illegal consideration, the Court will order it to be delivered up to be cancelled, and will set aside all proceed ings upon it, and so, if a material alteration be made in it. If the warrant is good in part and bad in part, the Court will sustain it quoad the good part. If the fact of the consideration be doubtful, the Court may direct an issue to try it. Warrantee, a person to whom a warranty is made. Warrantia chartæ, a writ, where one was enfeoffed of lands with warranty, and then he was sued or impleaded in assize or other action in which he could not vouch or call to warranty.-F. N. B. 134. Abolished by 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 27. Warrantia diei, an ancient writ, where one having a day assigned personally to appear in court to any action, is in the meantime employed in the royal service, so that he cannot come on the day appointed; it was addressed to the justices to this end, that they neither take nor record him in default for that time.-F. N. B. 17. Warrantizare est defendere et acquietare tenentem qui warrantum vocavit, in seisinâ sud; et tenens de re warranti excambium habebit ad valentiam. Co. Litt. 365.—(To warrant is to defend and insure in peace the tenant, who calls for warranty, in his seisin; and the tenant in warranty will have an exchange in proportion to its value.) Warranty of lands is abolished.-3 & 4 Wm. IV. cc. 27, 74. Warrantor, a person who warrants; the heir of one's husband. Warrantor potest excipere quod querens non tenet terram de quâ petit warrantiam, et quod donum fuit insufficiens. Hob. 21. (A warrantor may object, that the complainant does not hold the land of which he seeks the warranty, and that the gift was insufficient.) Warranty, a guarantee or security; also a promise or covenant by deed by the bargainer for himself and his heirs to warrant and secure the bargainee and his heirs against all persons for the enjoying of the thing granted. -3 Br. & Had Com. 174-176. Warranty of lands is altogether superseded in practice by 3 & 4 Wm. IV. cc. 27, 74. The general rule of law applicable to all sales of goods is, that the buyer buys at his own risk; caveat emptor; unless the vendor give an express warranty, or unless the law imply a warranty from the nature of the thing sold, and the circumstances of the sale; or unless the vendor have been guilty of a fraudulent representation or concealment in regard to the thing sold. Express Warranty.-Every affirmation made by the vendor at the time of the sale in relation to the goods, amounts to a warranty, provided it be so intended. Where an express warranty is couched in technical terms, it is to be interpreted according to their technical signification, unless they be manifestly used in a different sense, and differently understood by the buyer. A general warranty does not extend to patent defects which are apparent upon due inspection, or to defects which are at the time known to the buyer. Implied Warranty.-A warranty is implied in five cases :-(1) A warranty of title will be presumed when the goods sold are, at the time of the sale, in the possession of the vendor or of a third person, unless the contrary be then expressed; (2) when an examination of goods is, from their nature or situation at the time of the sale, impracticable, a warranty will be implied that they are merchantable; (3) upon an executory contract of sale, where goods are to be manufactured, or to be procured for a particular use or purpose, a warranty will be implied that they are reasonably fit for such purpose or use; as far as goods of such a kind can be; (4) a warranty will be implied against all latent defects in two cases: 1st, when the seller knew that the buyer did not rely on his own judgment, but on that of the seller, who knew at the time, or might have known, the existence of the defects; 2nd, where from the situation of the parties (as in the case of a manufacturer or producer), the seller might have provided against the existence of defects; or where a warranty may be presumed from the very nature of the transaction; (5) where goods are sold by sample, a warranty is implied that the bulk corresponds to the sample in nature and quality.-Consult Story's Contracts, 329; and Addison on Contracts. Warren [fr. waerande, Dut.; guerennea Fr.], a franchise or place privileged by prescription or grant from the Crown, for the keeping of beasts or fowls of warren.--1 Inst. 233. See Earl Beauchamp v. Wines, L. R. 6 H. L. 238; and Robinson v. Duleep Singh, 11 Ch. D. 798. Warscott, a contribution usually made towards armour in the time of the Saxons. Warth, a customary payment for castle guard.-Cowel. Wash, a shallow part of a river or arm of the sea. Washhouses, Public. See Public Baths. Washing-horn [fr. corner l'eau, Fr.], the sounding of a horn for washing before dinner. The custom was formerly observed in the Temple. Washington, Treaty of. A treaty signed on May 8th, 1871, between the Queen and the United States of America, with reference to certain differences arising out of the war between the Northern and Southern States of the Union, the Canadian Fisheries, and other matters. See 35 & 36 Vict. c. 45. Waste [fr. rastum, Lat.], any spoil or destruction in houses, gardens, trees, etc., by a tenant, to the prejudice of the expectant in fee. It is either (1) legal, subdivided into (a) voluntary or commissive, as where the tenant pulls down a house or a part thereof, or ploughs up ancient meadow, and (b) permissive or omissive, as where a tenant suffers a house to fall out of repair; and (2) equitable, which comprehends acts not deemed waste at the common law. Both for voluntary and permissive waste an action lies against a tenant, whether for life or years, by virtue of the Statute of Gloucester, 6 Edw. I. c. 5. A tenant from year to year is liable for voluntary waste only. An injunction will be granted to restrain voluntary waste, as by ploughing up ancient meadow. See Woodfall L. & T., 14th ed., Ch. XVI., s. 5. A mortgagor in possession will be restrained from cutting down timber; for as the whole estate is the security for the money advanced, the mortgagor ought not to be suffered to diminish it; but he may cut underwood of a proper growth at seasonable times. Trustees to preserve contingent remainders must enjoin a tenant for life from waste to the prejudice of the cestui que trust in remainder. Equitable waste (which is voluntary only) is an unconscientious abuse of the privilege of non-impeachability for waste at common law, whereby a tenant for life without impeachment of waste, will be restrained from committing wilful, destructive, malicious, or extravagant waste, such as pulling down houses, cutting timber of too young a growth, or trees planted for ornament, or for shelter of premises; for, though in some cases fortior est dispositio legis quam hominis, yet that shall not extend to encumber or spoil estates.-Vane v. Lord Barnard, 2 Vern. 738 (1716); Baker v. Sebright, 13 Ch. D. 179. By the Judicature Act, 1873, s. 25 (3), it is provided that an estate for life, without impeachment of waste, shall not confer upon the tenant for life any legal right to commit waste of the kind known as equitable waste, unless an intention to confer such right shall expressly appear by the instrument vesting such estate. Wastors, thieves.—Cowel. Watch, the, a body of constables on duty on any particular night. Watch, and Ward. Ward [custodia, Lat.] is chiefly applied to the daytime, in order to apprehend rioters and robbers on the highways. Watch [fr. wacht, or wacta, Teut.] is applicable to the night only, and begins at the time when ward ends.-1 Bl. Com. 356. Watch Committee, a committee of the town council of a municipal borough, not exceeding one-third of the council in number, having the appointment and control of the borough constables.-Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, 45 & 46 Vict. c. 50, ss. 5, 190, 191. Prior to this act, it was a common custom for a town council to constitute the whole of their number the watch committee. Watching and Lighting. See 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 90, and the Public Health Act, 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55), s. 163. Watch Rate, a rate leviable in many municipal boroughs by order of the council. It is carried to the borough fund, and must not exceed 8d. in the pound.--Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, 45 & 46 Vict. c. 50, ss. 197-200. Water. In the language of the law the term land includes water.-2 Bl. Com. 18. An action cannot be brought to recover possession of a pool or other piece of water by the name of water only, but it must be brought for the land that lies at the bottom, e.g., 'twenty acres of land covered with water.'-Brownl. 142. See POOL. granting a certain water, though the right of fishing passes, yet the soil does not. Water being a movable, wandering thing, there can only be a temporary transient usufructuary property therein. Consult Gale By on Easements and Angell on Watercourses. 'Water' does not include the land on which it stands; unless perhaps in the case of salt pits or springs, where the interest of each owner is measured by ballaries or buckets of brine.-Burt. Comp. pl. (550). As to the supply of water to their districts by local authorities, see the Public Health Act, 1875 (38 & 39 Vict. c. 55), ss. 51-68, and as to obligation of owners of houses to provide water supply, see Public Health (Water) Act, 1878, 40 & 41 Vict. c. 25. See WATER WORKS. Water and Gas Works Facilities Act, 1870, 33 & 34 Vict. c. 70 (amended by 36 & 37 Vict. c. 89). Water-bailiff, an officer in port-towns, whose duty is to search ships; also an officer appointed under the Salmon Fishery Acts to enforce the provisions of those acts by search ing for illegal engines, etc. See 24 & 25 Vict c. 109, s. 34; 28 & 29 Vict. c. 121, s. 27 (appointment); 36 & 37 Vict. c. 71, s. 36 (general powers). Watercourse, a species of incorporeal hereditament, being a right which a man has to the benefit of the flow of a river or stream, such right commonly referring to a stream passing through a man's own land, and the banks of which belong either to himself on both sides, or to himself on one side, and to his neighbour on the other, in which latter case (unless the stream be navigable, for then the bed of it, so far at least as the tide of the sea flows, presumably belongs to the Crown) the proprietor of each bank is considered as prima facie the proprietor also of half the land covered by the stream, i.e., usque ad medium filum aquæ. A prescriptive prima facie right to watercourses and ways is gained by twenty years' uninterrupted enjoyment, and an indefeasible right after forty years; and when the land over which such rights as these are claimed has been held for term of life, or a term exceeding three years, such term shall be excluded from the computation of the forty years, in the event of the person who may be entitled in reversion resisting the claim within three years after the term determines.-2 & 3 Wm. IV. c. 71. See Gale on Easements, and Angell on Watercourses. Water-gage, a sea-wall or bank to restrain the current and overflowing of the water; also an instrument to measure water.-Cowel. Water-gang, a trench or course to carry a stream of water.-Cowel. Water-gavil, a rent paid for fishing in, or other benefit received from, some river.Cowel. Water-measure, a greater measure than the Winchester, formerly used for selling coals in the pool, etc.-22 Car II. c. 11. Watermen. See THAMES WATERMEN. Water-Ordeal. See COLD-WATER-ORDEAL, and HOT-WATER-ORDEAL. Waterscape, an aqueduct or passage for water. Water supply to metropolis. See 15 & 16 Vict. c. 84; and 34 & 35 Vict. c. 113. Waterworks Clauses Acts, 1847 and 1863, 10 & 11 Vict. c. 17; 26 & 27 Vict. c. 93. By the Gas and Waterworks Facilities Act, 1870 (33 & 34 Vict. c. 70, amended by 36 & 37 Vict. c. 89), provision is made whereby such undertakings may be sanctioned by Provisional Orders. Waveson, goods swimming upon the waves after a shipwreck.-Cowel. Wax scot [fr. cerarium, Lat.], duty anciently paid twice a year towards the charge of wax candles in churches.-Spelm. Way [fr. wag, Sax.; weigh, Dut.; vig or wig, M. Goth.], road made for passengers. There are three kinds of ways:-1st, a footway (iter); 2nd, a pack and prime way, which is both a horse and footway (actus); 3rd, a cart way (via or aditus), which is called via regia, if it be common to all men; and communis strata, if it belong to only some town or private person.-Co. Litt. 56 a. All ways are divided into highways and private ways. A right of way strictly means a private way, i.e., a privilege which an individual or a particular description of persons may have of going over another's ground. Such a right is an incorporeal hereditament. A highway is a public passage for the Sovereign and all her subjects, and it is commonly called the Queen's public highway. Besides the ordinary highways, turnpike roads have been created, and regulated by specific Acts of Parliament. See TURNPIKEROADS. Highways generally become so by what is called a dedication of them to the public by the owner of the soil, but the public may also acquire the use of a highway by Act of Parliament. As highways are for public service, if they are so out of repair that the usual track is impassable, people may pass, by going out of the track, upon the land of the owners of the adjoining closes; but this privilege is confined to highways; for as private ways are presumed to have originated in grants from the owner of the soil, the want of repair, amounting to a foundrous state, does not authorise passengers to go out of the way upon the adjacent land. The inhabitants of a parish are prima facie bound to repair a highway of common right; unless by prescription they can throw the burden on particular persons by reason of their tenure and if the inhabitants of a township, bound by prescription to repair, be expressly exempted by an Act of Parliament from repairing the roads to be made within the township, it falls on the rest of the parish. By the General Highway Act, 5 & 6 Wm. IV. c. 50, power is given to stop up and divert highways, and the mode of proceeding to effect this object is pointed out. Parties grieved have a right of appeal to the sessions. Bridges are public highways. See BRIDGE. A navigable river is esteemed to be a highway; and if the water, which is the highway, change its course and flow upon the land of another, the highway extends over the place where the water newly flows, in like manner as it existed over the ancient course, so that the owner may not disturb it. With respect to navigable rivers there is this difference, however, between them and highways, that the right to the soil of a navigable river is not, by presumption of law, in the owners of the adjoining lands. Ferries may be said to be common highways, as they are a common passage over rivers. They differ, however, in some measure, as they are the private property of individuals, who may maintain an action for the disturbance of their rights. A private right of way may be claimed by prescription and immemorial usage; thus, where the inhabitants of a particular hamlet, or the owners or occupiers of a particular close or farm, have immemorially been used to cross a particular piece of land, a right of way is created by the immemorial usage, which supposes a grant. By 2 & 3 Wm. IV. c. 71, s. 2, it is enacted, that no claim by custom, prescription, or grant to any way or other easement, or to any watercourse, or the use of any water which has been enjoyed twenty years without interruption, shall be defeated by showing the commencement of the right within the time of legal memory; and where the right shall have existed forty years, it shall be absolute and indefeasible, unless it appears to have been enjoyed by license, by deed, or writing. The right must be proved by user down to the time of the commencement of the action; and therefore, if there be no proof of user for the last four or five years, it is insufficient. Unity of possession operates as an extinguishment of a right of way by prescription. A private right of way may also be grounded on a special permission; as when the owner of lands grants to another a liberty of passing over his grounds, to go to church, market, or the like, in which case the gift or grant is particular and confined to the grantee alone; it dies with the person; the grantee cannot assign it, or justify taking another person in his company. : A right of way may also arise by act and operation of law for if a man grant a piece of ground in the middle of his field, he at the same time tacitly and impliedly gives a way to come at it, and the grantee may cross the grantor's land without being a trespasser. A way of necessity is limited by the necessity which created it; and when such necessity ceases, the right of way also ceases. Disturbance of way happens when a person, who has a right of way over another's grounds, by grant or prescription, is obstructed by inclosures or other obstacles, or by ploughing across it, by which means he cannot enjoy the right of way, or at least not in so commodious a manner as he might have done. The remedy is usually by action on the case for damages. A right of way is often contested in an action of trespass. The remedy for the want of repair or obstruction to public highways is by indictment.-Consult Gale on Easements. Way-bill, a writing in which is set down the names of passengers who are carried in a public conveyance, or the description of goods sent with a common carrier by land. Way-going crops. See AWAY-GOING CROPS. Waynagium, implements of husbandry.1 Reeves, c. v., 268. Weald, Wald, Walt [Sax.], a wood or grove.--Cowel. Wealreaf, the robbing of a dead man in his grave. Wealth, all useful or agreeable things which possess exchange-value, or, in other words, all useful or agreeable things except those which can be obtained in the quantity desired without labour or sacrifice.-1 Mill's Pol. Eco. 10. Wear, or Weir, a great dam or fence made across a river, or against water, formed of stakes interlaced by twigs of osier, and accommodated for the taking of fish, or to convey a stream to a mill.-Cowel. Prohibited by Magna Charta and other early statutes in navigable rivers.-Lord Leconfield v. Earl of Lonsdale, L. R. 5 C. P. 657. Prohibited for the purpose of catching salmon, by the Salmon Fishery Act, 1861, 24 & 25 Vict. c. 109, unless lawfully in use at the time of the passing of that act by virtue of a grant or charter or immemorial usage.' Wed [Sax.], a covenant or agreement.— Cowel. Wedbedrip, the customary service which inferior tenants paid to their lords in cutting down their corn, or doing other harvest duties. Cowel. Wedding-rings. As to the assaying and marking of gold wedding-rings, see 18 & 19 Vict. c. 60, s. 1. Weighage, a toll or duty paid for weighing merchandise. Weight of evidence, such superiority in the evidence for one side over that for the other as calls for a verdict for the first. When a new trial is asked for on the ground that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, the judge who tried the cause is consulted, and it does not very often happen that a new trial is ordered if he reports that he is satisfied with the verdict. When the sum in dispute is under 207., in an action ex contractu, a new trial is not granted on this ground, and the Court is generally indisposed to take this step unless the amount at issue is considerable or the moral interest great. The adjustment of weights and measures Weights of auncel. See AUNcel Weight. Wend, a certain quantity or circuit of Were [capitis æstimatio], a pecuniary com- See WITE. Werelada, a purging from a crime by the Wergild, Weregild, Weregildum [fr. wer, Wesleyan (Primitive) Methodist Society of Ireland Act, 1871. See 34 & 35 Vict. West African Settlements. See AFRICA, West India Colonies. See WEST INDIES. West Indies. As to the relief of certain As Westminster, a city by express creation It is provided by many Acts of Parlia- Westminster Confession, a document Westminster the First, 3 Edw. I. A.D. |