MOTION, practice. An application to a court by one of the parties in a cause, or his counsel, in order to obtain some rule or order of court, which he thinks becomes necessary in the progress of the cause, or to get relieved in a summary manner, from some matter which would work injustice.

2. When the motion. is made on some matter of fact, it must be supported by an affidavit that such facts are true; and for this purpose, the party's affidavit will be received, though, it cannot be read on the hearing. 1 Binn. R. 145; S. P. 2 Yeates' R. 546. Vide 3 Bl. Com. 304; 2 Sell. Pr. 356; 15 Vin. Ab. 495; Grah. Pr. 542; Smith's Ch. Pr. Index, h. t.

MOTIVE. The inducement, cause or reason why a thing is done.

2. When there is such a mistake in the motive, that had the truth been known, the contract would pot have been made, it is generally void., For example, if a man should, after the death of Titius, of which he was ignorant, insure his life, the error of the motive would avoid the contract. Toull. Dr. Civ. Fr. liv. 3, c. 2, art. 1. Or, if Titius should sell to Livius his horse, which both parties supposed to be living at some distance from the place where the contract was made, when in fact, the horse was then dead, the contract would be void. Poth. Vente, n. 4; 2 Kent, Com. 367. When the contract is entered into under circumstances of clear mistake or surprise, it will not be enforced. See the following authorities on this subject. 1 Russ. & M. 527; 1 Ves. jr. 221; 4 Price, 135; 1 Ves. jr. 210; Atkinson on Titl. 144. Vide Cause; Consideration.

3. The motive of prosecutions is frequently an object of inquiry, particularly when the prosecutor is a witness, and in his case, as that of any other witness, when the motion is ascertained to be bad, as a desire of revenge for a real or supposed injury, the credibility of the witness will be much weakened, though this will not alone render him incompetent. See Evidence; Witness.

MOURNING. This word has several significations. 1. It is the apparel worn at funerals, and for a time afterwards, in order to manifest grief for the death of some one, and to honor his memory. 2. The expenses paid for such apparel.

2. It has been held in England, that a demand for mourning furnished to the widow and family of the testator, is not a funeral expense. 2 Carr. & P. 207. Vide 14 Ves. 346; 1 Ves. & Bea. 364. See 2 Bell's Comm. 156.

MOVABLES, estates. Such subjects of property as attend a man's person wherever he goes, in contradistinction to things immovable. (q. v.)

2. Things movable by their nature are such as may be carried from one place to another, whether they move themselves, as cattle, or cannot be removed without an extraneous power, as inanimate things. Movables are further distinguished into such as are in possession, or which are in the power of the owner, as, a horse in actual use, a piece of furniture in a man's own house; or such as are in the possession of another, and can only be recovered by action, which are therefore said to be in action, as a debt. Vide art. Personal Property, and Fonbl. Eq. Index, h. t.; Pow. Mortg. Index, h. t.; 2 Bl. Com. 884; Civ. Code of Lo. art. 464 to 472; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 462.

MULATTO. A person born of one white and one black parent. 7 Mass. R. 88; 2 Bailey, 558.

MULCT, punishment. A fine imposed on the conviction of an offence.

MULCT, commerce. An imposition laid on ships or goods by a company of trade, for the maintenance of consuls and the like. Obsolete.

MULIER. A woman, a wife; sometimes it is used to designate a marriageable virgin, and in other cases the word mulier is employed in opposition to virgo. Poth. Pand. tom. 22, h. t. In its most proper signification, it means a wife.

2. A son or a daughter, born of a lawful wife, is called filius mulieratus or filia mulierata, a son mulier, or a daughter mulier. The term is used always in contradistinction to a bastard; mulier being always legitimate. Co. Litt. 243.

3. When a man has a bastard son, and afterwards marries the mother, and has by her another son, the latter is called the mulier puisne. 2 Bl. Com. 248.

MULTIFARIOUSNESS, equity pleading. By multifariousness in a bill, is understood the improperly joining in one bill distinct matters, and thereby confounding them; as, for example, the uniting in one bill, several matters, perfectly distinct and unconnected, against one defendant; or the demand of several matters of distinct natures, against several defendants in the same bill. Coop. Eq. Pl. 182; Mitf. by Jeremy, 181; 2 Mason's R. 201; 18 Ves. 80; Hardr. R. 337; 4 Cowen's R. 682; 4 Bouv. Inst. n. 4165.

2. In order to prevent confusion in its pleadings and decrees, a court of equity will anxiously discountenance this multifariousness. The following case will illustrate this doctrine; suppose an estate should be sold in lots to different persons, the purchasers could not join in exhibiting one bill against the vendor for a specific performance; for each party's case would be distinct, and would depend upon its own peculiar circumstances, and therefore there should be a distinct bill upon each contract; on the other hand, the vendor in the like case, would not be allowed to file one bill for a specific performance against all the purchasers of the estate, for the same reason. Coop. Eq. Pl. 182; 2 Dick. Rep. 677; 1 Madd. Rep. 88; Story's Eq . PI. 271 to 286. It is extremely difficult to say what constitutes multifariousness as an abstract proposition. Story, Eq. Pl. 530, 539; 4 Blackf. 249; 2 How. S. C. Rep. 619, 642; 4 Bouv. Inst. n. 4243.

MULTITUDE. The meaning of this word is not very certain. By some it is said that to make a multitude there must be ten persons at least, while others contend that the law has not fixed any number. Co. Litt. 257.

MULTURE, Scotch law. The quantity of grain or meal payable to the proprietor of the mill, or to the multurer, his tacksman, for manufacturing the corns. Ersk. Prin. Laws of Scotl. B. 2 t. 9, n. 19.

MUNERA. The name given to grants made in the early feudal ages, which were mere tenancies at will, or during the pleasure of the grantor. Dalr. Feud. 198, 199; Wright on Ten. 19.

MUNICIPAL. Strictly, this word applies only to what belongs to a city. Among the Romans, cities were called municipia; these cities voluntarily joined the Roman republic in relation to their sovereignty only, retaining, their laws, their liberties, and their magistrates, who were thence called municipal magistrates. With us this word has a more extensive meaning; for example, we call municipal law, not the law of a city only, but the law of the state. 1 Bl. Com. Municipal is used in contradistinction to international; thus we say an offence against the law of nations is an international offence, but one committed against a particular state or separate community, is a municipal offence.

MUNICIPALITY. The body of officers, taken collectively, belonging to a city, who are appointed to manage its affairs and defend its interests.

MUNIMENTS. The instruments of writing and written evidences which the owner of lands, possessions, or inheritances has, by which he is enabled to defend the title of his estate. Termes de la Ley, h. t.; 3 Inst. 170.

MURAGE. A toll formerly levied in England for repairing or building public walls.

MURAL MONUMENTS. Monuments made in walls.

2. Owing to the difficulty or impossibility of removing them, secondary evidence may be given of inscriptions on walls, fixed tables, gravestones, and the like. 2 Stark. Rep. 274.

MURDER, crim. law. This, one of the most important crimes that can be committed against individuals, has been variously defined. Hawkins defines it to be the wilful killing of any subject whatever, with malice aforethought, whether the person slain shall be an Englishman or a foreigner. B. 1, c. 13, s. 3. Russell says, murder is the killing of any person under the king's peace, with malice prepense or aforethought, either express or implied by law. 1 Rus. Cr. 421. And Sir Edward Coke, 3 Inst. 47, defines or rather describes this offence to be, " when a person of sound mind and discretion, unlawfully killeth any reasonable creature in being, and under the king's peace, with malice aforethought either express or implied."

2. This defnition, which has been adopted by Blackstone, 4 Com. 195; Chitty, 2 Cr. Law, 724; and others, has been severely and perhaps justly criticised. What, it has been asked, are sound memory and understanding? What has soundness of memory to do with the act; be it ever so imperfect, how does it affect the guilt? If discretion is necessary, can the crime ever be committed, for, is it not the highest indiscretion in a man to take the life of another, and thereby expose his own? If the person killed be an idiot or a new born infant, is he a reasonable creature? Who is in the king's peace? What is malice aforethought? Can there be any malice afterthought? Livingst. Syst. of Pen. Law; 186.

3. According to Coke's definition there must be, lst. Sound mind and memory in the agent. By this is understood there must be a will, (q. v.) and legal discretion. (q. v.) 2. An actual killing, but it is not necessary that it should be caused by direct violence; it is sufficient if the acts done apparently endanger. life, and eventually fatal. Hawk. b. 1, c. 31, s. 4; 1 Hale, P. C. 431; 1 Ashm. R. 289; 9 Car. & Payne, 356; S. C. 38 E. C. L. R. 152; 2 Palm. 545. 3. The party killed must have been a reasonable being, alive and in the king's peace. To constitute a birth, so as to make the killing of a child murder, the whole body must be detached from that of the mother; but if it has come wholly forth, but is still connected by the umbilical chord, such killing will be murder. 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1722, note. Foeticide (q. v.) would not be such a killing; he must have been in rerum natura. 4. Malice, either express or implied. It is this circumstance which distiuguishes murder from every description of homicide. Vide art. Malice.

4. In some of the states, by legislative enactments, murder has been divided into degrees. In Pennsylvania, the act of April 22, 1794, 3 Smith's Laws, 186, makes "all murder which shall be perpetrated by means of poison, or by lying in wait, or by any other kind of wilful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate, any arson, rape, robbery, or burglary, shall be deemed murder of the first degree; and all other kinds of murder shall be deemed murder of the second degree; and the jury before whom any person indicted for murder shall be tried, shall, if they find the person guilty thereof, ascertain in their verdict, whether it be murder of the first or second degree; but if such person shall be convicted by confession, the court shall proceed by examination of witnesses, to determine the degree of the crime, and give sentence accordingly. Many decisions have been made under this act to which the reader is referred: see Whart. Dig. Criminal Law, h. t.

5. The legislature of Tennessee has adopted the same distinction in the very words of the act of Pennsylvania just cited. Act of 1829, 1 Term. Laws, Dig. 244. Vide 3 Yerg. R. 283; 5 Yerg. R. 340.

6. Virginia has adopted the same distinction. 6 Rand. R. 721. Vide, generally, Bac. Ab. h. t.; 15 Vin. Ab. 500; Com. Dig. Justices, M 1, 2; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.; Hawk. Index, h. t.; 1 Russ. Cr. b. 3, c. 1; Rosc. Cr. Ev. h. t. Hale, P. C. Index, h. t.; 4 Bl. Com. 195; 2 Swift's Syst. Index, h. t.; 2 Swift's Dig. Index, h. t.; American Digests, h. t.; Wheeler's C. C. Index, h. t.; Stark. Ev. Index, h. t.; Chit. Cr. Law, Index, h. t.; New York Rev. Stat. part 4, c. 1, t. 1 and 2.

MURDER, pleadings. In an indictment for murder, it must be charged that the prisoner "did kill and murder" the deceased, and unless the word murder be introduced into the charge, the indictment will be taken to charge manslaughter only. Foster, 424; Yelv. 205; 1 Chit. Cr. Law, *243, and the authorities and cases there cited.

MURDRUM, old Engl. law. During the times of the Danes, and afterwards till the reign of Edward III, murdrum was the killing of a man in a secret manner, and in that it differed from simple homicide.

2. When a man was thus killed, and he was unknown, by the laws of Canute he was presumed to be a Dane, and the vill was compelled to pay forty marks for his death. After tlie conquest, a similar law was made in favor of Frenchmen, which was abolished by 3 Edw. III.

3. By murdrum was also understood the fine formerly imposed in England upon a person who had committed homicide perinfortunium or se defendendo. Prin. Pen. 219, note r.

MUSICAL COMPOSITION. The act of congress of February 3, 1831, authorizes the granting of a copyright for a musical composition. A question was formerly agitated whether a composition published on a single sheet of paper, was to be considered a book, and it was decided in the affirmative. 2 Campb. 28, n.; 11 East, 244. See Copyright.

TO MUSTER, mar. law. By this term is understood to collect together and exhibit soldiers and their arms; it also signifies to employ recruits and put their names down in a book to enrol them.

MUSTER-ROLL, maritime law; A written document containing the name's, ages, quality, place of residence, and, above all, place of birth, of every person of the ship's company. It is of great use in ascertaining the ship's; neutrality. Marsh. Ins. B. 1, c. 9, s. 6, p. 407; Jacobs. Sea Laws, 161; 2 Wash. C. C. R. 201.

MUSTIRO. This name is given to the issue of an Indian and a negro. Dudl. S. Car. R. 174.

MUTATION, French law. This term is synonymous with change, and is particularly applied to designate the change which takes place in the property of a thing in its transmission from one person to another; permutation therefore happens when, the owner of the thing sells, exchanges or gives it. It is nearly synonymous with transfer. (q. v.) Merl. Repert. h. t.

MUTATION OF LIBEL, practice. An amendment allowed to a libel, by which there is an alteration of the substance of the libel, as by propounding a new cause of action, or asking one thing instead of another. Dunl. Adm. Pr. 213; Law's Eccl. Law, 165-167; 1 Paine's R. 435; 1 Gall. R. 123; 1 Wheat. R. 26l.

MUTATIS MUTANDIS. The necessary changes. This is a phrase of frequent practical occurrence, meaning that matters or things are generally the same, but to be altered, when necessary, as to names, offices, and the like.

MUTE, persons. One who is dumb. Vide Deaf and Dumb.

MUTE, STANDING MUTE, practice, crim. law. When a prisoner upon his arraignment totally refuses to answer, insists upon mere frivolous pretences, or refuses to put himself upon the country, after pleading not guilty, he is said to stand mute. 2. In the case of the United States v. Hare, et al., Circuit Court, Maryland Dist. May sess. 1818, the prisoner standing mute was considered as if he had pleaded not guilty.

3. The act of congress of March 3, 1825, 3 Story's L . U. S. 2002, has since provided as follows; 14, That if any person, upon his or her arraignment upon any indictment before any court of the United States for any offence, not capital, shall stand mute, or will not answer or plead to such indictment, the court shall, notwithstanding, proceed to the trial of the person, so standing mute, or refusing to answer or pleas, as if he or she had pleaded not guilty; and upon a verdict being returned by the jury, may proceed to render judgment accordingly. A similar provision is to be found in the laws of Pennsylvania.

4. The barbarous punishment of peine forte et dure which till lately disgraced the criminal code of England, was never known in the United States. Vide Dumb; 15 Vin. Ab. 527.

5. When a prisoner stands mute, the laws of England arrive at the forced conclusion that he is guilty, and punish him accordingly. 1 Chit. Cr. Law, 428.

6. By the old French law, when a person accused was mute, or stood mute, it was the duty of the judge to appoint him a curator, whose duty it was to defend him, in the best manner he could; and for this purpose, he was allowed to communicate with him privately. Poth. Proced. Crim. s. 4, art. 2, 1.

MUTILATION, crim. law. The depriving a man of the use of any of those limbs, which may be useful to him in fight, the loss of which amounts to mayhem. 1 Bl. Com. 130.

MUTINY, crimes. The unlawful resistance of a superior officer, or the raising of commotions and disturbances on board of a ship against the authority of its commander, or in the army in opposition to the authority of the officers; a sedition; (q. v.) a revolt. (q. v.)

2. By the act for establishing rules and articles for the government of the armies of the United States, it is enacted as follows: Article 7. Any officer or soldier, who shall begin, excite, or cause, or join in, any mutiny or sedition in any troop or company in the service of the United States, or in any party, post, detachment or guard, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as by a court martial shall be inflicted. Article 8. Any officer, non-commissioned officer, or soldier, who being present at any mutiny or sedition, does not use his utmost endeavors to suppress the same, or coming to the knowledge of any intended mutiny, does not without delay give information thereof to his commanding officer, shall be punished by the sentence of a court martial, with death, or otherwise, according to the nature of his offence.

3. And by the act for the better government of the navy of the United States, it is enacted as follows,: Article 13. If any person in the navy shall make or attempt to make any mutinous assembly, he shall, on conviction thereof by, a court martial, suffer death; and if any person as aforesaid, shall utter any seditious or mutinous words, or shall conceal or connive at any mutinous or seditious practices, or shall treat with contempt his superior, being in the execution of his office, or being witness to any mutiny or sedition, shall not do his utmost to suppress it, he shall be punished at the discretion of a court martial. Vide 2 Stra. R. 1264.

MUTUAL. Reciprocal.

2. In contracts there must always be a consideration in order to make them valid. This is sometimes mutual, as when one man promises to pay a sum of money to another in consideration that he shall deliver him a horse, and the latter promises to deliver him the horse in consideration of being paid the price agreed upon. When a man and a woman promise to marry each other, the promise is mutual. It is one of the qualities of an award, that it be mutual; but this doctrine is not as strict now as formerly. 3 Rand. 94; see 3 Caines 254; 4 Day, 422; 1 Dall. 364, 365; 6 Greenl. 247; 8 Greenl. 315; 6 Pick. 148.

3. To entitle a contracting party to a specific performance of an agreement, it must be mutual, for otherwise it will not be compelled. 1 Sch. & Lef. 18; Bunb. 111; Newl. Contr. 152. See Rose. Civ. Ev. 261.

4. A distinction has been made between mutual debts and mutual credits. The former term is more limited in its signification than the latter. In bankrupt cases where a person was indebted to the bankrupt in a sum payable at a future day, and the bankrupt owed him a smaller sum which was then due; this, though in strictness, not a mutual debt, was holden to be a mutual credit. 1 Atk. 228, 230; 7 T. R. 378; Burge on Sur. 455, 457.

MUTUARY, contracts. A person who borrows personal chattels to be consumed by him, and returned to the lender in kind; the person who receives the benefit arising from the contract of mutuum. Story, Bailm. 47.

MUTUUM, or loan for consumption, contracts. A loan of personal chattels to be consumed by the borrower, and to be returned to the lender in kind and quantity; as a loan of corn, wine, or money, which are to be used or consumed, and are to be replaced by other corn, wine, or money. Story on Bailm. 228; Louis. Code, tit. 12, c. 2; Ayliffe's Pand. 481; Poth. Pand. tom. 22, h. t.; Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.; 1 Bouv. Inst. logo.

2. It is of the essence of this contract, 1st. That there be either a certain sum of money, or a certain quantity of other things, which is to be consumed by use which is to be the subject-matter of the contract, and which is loaned to be consumed. 2d. That the thing be delivered to the borrower. 3d. That the property in the thing be transferred to him. 4th. That he obligates himself to return as much. 5th. That the parties agree on all these points. Poth. Prāt. de Consomption, n. 1; 1 Bouv. Inst. n. 1091-6.

MYSTERY or MISTERY. This word is said to be derived from the French mestier now written mātier, a trade. In law it signifies a trade, art, or occupation. 2 Inst. 668.

2. Masters frequently bind themselves in the indentures with their apprentices to teach them their art, trade, and mystery. Vide 2 Hawk. c. 23, s. 11.

MYSTIC. In a secret manner; concealed; as mystic testament, for a secret testament. Vide 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 3138; Testament Mystic.