230 USHANT son capable in law of taking it ; 2, a person capable in law of being seized of the property to the use of the other ; 3, an express declara- tion of use, or a consideration and a transfer or contract from which the court will imply a use; and 4, sufficient estate or property or in- terest to sustain a use. Then, if a use exists which the courts can recognize, it is descendi- ble, or heritable, or devisable, or transferable according to the rules of law or equity, in con- formity with the provisions in the instrument creating the use. If the cestuy que use of land be married, his widow has no dower, and the husband of a cestuy que use has no tenancy by courtesy, because the cestuy que use has no sei- sin, nor can he bring an action at law respect- ing it. The seisin is in the feoffee-to-use, and while his legal estate is subject to all legal inci- dents at law, equity will subject all these legal incidents to the equitable requirements of the use. Trusts and uses are often spoken of to- gether, and from the article on TRUSTS their similarity or analogy will be seen. They dif- fer however in important particulars. USHANT (Fr. Ouestant), the chief of seven islands known as Ues d? Ouessant, belonging to the department of Finistere, about lira, from the nearest coast of France, and 25 m. W. N. W. of Brest ; extreme length nearly 5 m., breadth 3 m. ; pop. about 2,400. The shores are bold and rocky, and the landing places few. The formation is mainly granitic, and the soil is fertile, with excellent meadows and pasture lands, and many horses and sheep are reared. The inhabitants are principally occupied in fishing. The lighthouse is in lat. 48 28' N., Ion. 5 3' W. Off Ushant the British fleet under Sir Edward Ilawke gained a victory over the French under Admiral Conflans on Nov. 20, 1759 ; and there was an indecisive action between the English under Admiral Keppel and the French under Count d'Orvil- liers on July 27, 1778. USHER, James, an Irish prelate, born in Dublin, Jan. 4, 1580, died in Reigate, Surrey, March 21, 1656. He was educated at Trinity college, Dublin, was ordained priest in 1601, and soon after was appointed " Sunday after- noon preacher before the state" in Christ church, Dublin. In 1603 and 1606 he visited England and became acquainted with Sir Thom- as Bodley, Sir Robert Cotton, and other dis- tinguished persons; and from this time he of- ten visited the English libraries. In 1607 he was chosen professor of divinity in his college, and became chancellor of the cathedral of St. Patrick. In 1620 King James nominated him to the see of Heath; in 1623 he was made a member of the Irish privy council; and in January, 1624, he was raised to the archbish- opric of Armagh and the primacy of the Irish church. While he was visiting England in 1641, his house was destroyed by the rebels, with nearly all he possessed, and he did not re- turn. Charles I. conferred upon him the bish- opric of Carlisle, to be held in commendam. USURY In 1647 he was chosen preacher to the soci- ety of Lincoln's Inn, and served in term time for nearly eight years. He published Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti (2 vols. fol., 1650- '54), in which he set forth the system of sacred chronology which has been largely adopted, and is printed in the margin of the English Bible. He also wrote works on the incarna- tion, British ecclesiastical antiquities, varia- tions of the Hebrew text, &c. A complete edi- tion of his works has been published by the Dublin university in 17 vols. (1841-'64). I sm S1MA RIVER. See GUATEMALA. USURTt Originally this word meant any ta- king of money for the use of money ; and he was therefore a usurer who, lending money, required in payment anything more than the amount which he lent. This was once consid- ered a great moral wrong, but it is no longer deemed more wrong to take pay for the use of money than for the use of a house, or a horse, or any other property. But the linger- ing influence of the former opinion, together with the fact that the nature of money makes it easier for the lender to oppress the borrow- er, has caused nearly all Christian nations to fix by law the rate of compensation for the use of money. If compensation be taken within this limitation of law, it is called interest ; but if more be taken than the law allows, this in the present meaning of the word is usury. The opinion that money should be borrowed and repaid, or bought and sold, upon whatever terms the parties should agree to, like any oth- er property, has of late years gained ground almost everywhere ; and where usury laws are in force, this opinion has perhaps exerted some influence upon adjudication. In England, in the reign of Henry VIII., interest at 10 per cent, was made lawful ; in the time of James I. it was reduced to 8 per cent. ; during the com- monwealth it was 6 per cent., and this was again enacted by 12 Charles II. ; the statute of 12 Anno reduced it to 5 per cent. The act 8 and 4 William IV. exempted from the opera- tion of the usury laws bills having more than three mouths to run. After several modifica- tions in the reign of Victoria, the act 17 and 18 Victoria, ch. 90, repealed all laws then in force relating to usury, providing only that the rights and remedies of persons in respect to acts previously done should not be affected by the statute. In the United States, the usury laws differ in different states, and are not per- haps precisely the same in any two. In Loui- siana 5 per cent, is the legal rate ; in Connecti- cut, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Wisconsin it is 7; in Alabama, Florida, and Texas it is 8 ; in California, Nebraska, Nevada, and Oregon it is 10 ; in all the others it is 6. But the statutes vary exceedingly as to the legal effects of usury. In California, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, South Carolina, and Texas, the parties may agree on what rate they will, and the legal rate takes effect only
