Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/62

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54 FACCIOLATO versions on the Catholic clergy, Cardinal Wol- sey is said to have caused the destruction of a portion of the first edition, perfect copies of which are now rare. FACCIOLATO, or Faedolati, Jacopo, an Italian philologist, born in Torreglia, near Padua, Jan. 4, 1682, died Aug. 26, 1769. Cardinal Bar- barigo sent him to the ecclesiastical seminary of Padua, where he took orders and rose to be professor of philosophy, and finally head of the institution. He afterward filled the chair of logic in the university of the same city, and was charged with continuing the history of that establishment which Papadopoli had be- gun. Besides several good editions of the classics and various works on grammar, ethics, theology, and some poetry, he published re- visions of the Lexicon of Schrevelius, the The- saurus Ciceronianus of Nizolius, and an edition in seven languages of Calepino's dictionary (2 vols. fol., 1731), in which he received much as- sistance from his pupil Forcellini and others. It was on the conclusion of the last named work that Facciolato and Forcellini began to compose the great Latin dictionary published after the death of both, under their joint names, but which was almost entirely the work of the latter. (See FOKOELLINI.) FACTOR (Lat., from facere, to do or make), one who conducts business for 'another. The word originally had almost the same meaning as agent (Lat. agere, to act). But while agent was used to represent every one who acted in any way in the stead of another, factor became limited to those who so act in mercantile trans- actions. Factor is then a mercantile agent, herein being like a broker ; but the difference between them is principally this : a broker acts for his principal in reference to mercantile property which the principal retains in his hands; while the factor has possession of the goods sent to him for sale, or takes possession of those which he buys for his principal. From this difference others have grown ; and the most important of these is, that the broker buys and sells as agent, while the factor may buy and sell in his own name, the person deal- ing with him not always knowing whether the factor or some one else owns the goods. In the United States, among merchants, the phrase commission merchant has taken the place of factor, and means much the same thing; but the word factor is retained as a law term, and the law of factors is the law of commission merchants. Besides regular commission mer- chants, any one intrusted with the possession of property belonging to another, and author- ized by the owner to dispose of it, may be a factor, as a supercargo. So a common carrier may be a factor ; and while he acts as such, he is responsible only as a factor, that is, only for injuries or losses caused by want of due care ; but when he has sold goods as factor, and has received the money which it is his duty to bring home as carrier, his obligations as carrier re- vive, and he is now liable for any loss not FACTOK caused by the act of God or the public enemy. A factor is a general agent, and as such binds his principal. The most general duty of a fac- tor, as of every agent, is to obey the instruc- tions he receives. But he is considered by the law merchant as an agent having much discre- tion, and an equal responsibility ; while there- fore he is bound to obey definite and positive instructions, he is not bound to pay such regard to mere intimations or wishes, because he may well believe that, whatever his principal might desire or consider expedient, if he did not give positive directions it was because he preferred leaving the decision to the discretion of his factor. And even if he have positive and pre- cise instructions, his departure from them will be justified if it was caused by an unforeseen emergency, and if he acted in good faith, and certainly for the actual advantage of his prin- cipal. If, however, a factor buys goods for his principal and sends them to him in distinct violation of an order, his principal may reject the same, and may return them to his factor ; or, if the nature of the goods and the circum- stances of the case render it certainly expedient, he may sell the goods for his factor, and remit to him or credit him with the proceeds. A factor generally acquires no right to his com- missions until the service by which he is to earn them is wholly rendered, unless prevented without his fault from completing his service, in which case he may have a reasonable com- pensation. ISTor has he any claim for compen- sation unless he conducts his business with proper care and skill, and he is liable in dam- ages for any loss his principal sustains by his want of care and skill ; nor can he claim any compensation for any illegal or immoral service. A factor cannot delegate his power and right, except so far as he is authorized to do so, either expressly, or by the established usage, or by the peculiar circumstances of the case. In the absence of positive instructions, it is the duty of the factor to obey and conform to the com- mon usage of that business, and he can, in general, bind his principal only within that usage. He has a considerable discretion, but is bound to use it with reasonable care, and with perfect good faith. Thus, if he hastens a sale improperly, and without reasonable cause or excuse, as, for example, if he hurries a sale, clearly against the interest of the principal, for the purpose of realizing at once his own ad- vances, such a sale would be considered a fraudulent sacrifice of his principal's property, and would render him liable in damages. The factor is bound to insure the property of his principal when instructed to do so, and also if a general, well established, and well known usage requires it of him, and particularly if there have been antecedent acts or usages be- tween him and his principal, from which his principal might reasonably have expected that he would effect insurance, and therefore omit doing this himself. In general, the principal has the right of revoking the authority he has