Page:Black's Law Dictionary (Second Edition).djvu/58

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AGE
50
AGENT

AGE. Signifies those periods in the lives of persons of both sexes which enable them to do certain acts which, before they had arrived at those periods, they were prohibited from doing,

The length of time during which a person has lived or a thing has existed.

In the old hooks. "age" is commonly used to signify "full age;" that is, the age of twenty-one years. Litt. § 259.

—Legal age. The age at which the person no ‘ins full capacity to make his own can- it‘ - » and deeds and transact business general- I_v i l v- uf majority) or to enter into some par- Iicilair contract or relation, as, the "legal age of r-mist-ui" to marriage. See Capuell v. Cap- weil. 21 ii. i. 101. 4-1 Ati. I005: illontoya ile Antonio v. Miller, 7 N. M. 289. 34 Pac. 40, 21 L. R. A. 699.

AGE, Awe, Aive. ham.

L I<‘r. W'atel‘. Kel-

AGE PRAYER. A suggestion of nonage, iilllde by an infant pai't_v to a real action, uith a prayer that the proceedings may be deferred nntil his full age. It is now abnllslied St. 11 Geo. [V.; 1 Wm. IV. c. 37, § 10: I Lil. Reg. 54; 3 Bl. Comm. 300.

AGENCY. A relation, created either by express or implied contract or by law, Where- by one party (called the principal or constituent) delegates the transaction of some lawful hrislncss or the lii1tlJDi'iLV to do cc - taln acts for him or in relation to his rights or property, with more or less discretionary power. to another person (called the agent, attorney, proxy, or delegate) who uiidcrtnkes to manaze the atfnir and render him an account thereof. State v Hubbard. 58 Ken. 797. 51 Pac. 290, 39 L. R. A. S60; Steriianinn v. Insurance Co.. 170 N. Y. 13,

62 N. E 703, 57 L. R. A. 313, 88 Am. St Rep. 6:. Wynegar v. State, 157 Ind. 577, 62 N. E. 38.

The contract of agency may be dc-fined to be a contract by which one of the contracting parties confides the management of some affair, to be transacted on his account. to the other party, who undertakes to do the business and render an account of it I ‘Verna. Piiu. & Ag. 2.

A contract by which one pei'.~'on, with greater or less discretionary power, undertakes to rep- resent auother in certain business relations.

art. A5. I.

A relation between two or more persons, by

which one party. usually called the agent or attornev. is authorized to do certain acts for. or in relation to the rights or propert_y of the other, who is denominated the principal, constltucnt, or employer. Bouvier. —Agency, deed of. A revocable and voluntary triisl; for payment of debts. Wharton.— A ency of necessity. A term sometimes applied to the kind of implied agency which enabir-s a wife to procure what is reasonably necessary for her nialutcniince and support on her husband's credit and at his expense, when he fails to make proper provi ‘on for her necessities. Bnstrvick v. Brewer, 22 Misc. Rep. 709, 49 N. Y. Supp. 1046.

AGENESIA. in medical jurisprudence. impoteutla generandi; sexual impotence;

incapacity for reproduction, existing in either sex, and whether arising from structural or other causes.

AGENFRIDA. Sax. The true master or owner at a thing. Spelman.

AGEITHINA. in Saxon law. A guest at an inn, who, having stayed there for three nights, was then accounted one or the family. Cowcll.

AGENS. Lat An agent, a conductor. or manager of atfairs. Distinguished from

factor. a workman. A plaintiff. Fleta, lily. 4, c. 15, § 8. AGENT. One who represents and acts

for another under the contract or relation of agency. q. 1:.

Classification. Agents are either gcmrmi. or E1_JEl.‘»tIJl. _A general agent is one employed in his capacity as a professional man or ID1Stl"I' of an art or trmle, or one to whom the '[ll'll:|(ip'll confides his whole business or all transactions or functions of a desiccated class; or be is :1 person who is authorized by his principal to execute all deeds, sign all contracls, or pur- chase all goods. required in a particular trade. business, or employment. See Story, Ag. § 17 Butirr v. 1\L'm1es, 9 Wall. 760. 19 L. Ed. 822; Janucs v._ Todd, 3 Wenti. (N. Y.) 90: Spring-

'3.

fioi-I EiIl,','llIE Co. v. Kennedy. 7 Ind. App. 34 '\i. I9. S56‘ Cruznn v. Smith 4] Inil

Goiishaw v. track. 109 Ky , 58 S. . T81. 51 L. R. A. 668 A speci.-1 agent is one employed to conduct 8. particni-ir transaction or piece of business for his principal or auil1oriz- ed to perform I1 specified act. Brvaut v. Moore. 26 Me. 87. 45 Am. Dec. ‘)6: Gibson 1.’. Snow Hardware Co.. 94 Ala. 3-16. 10 nutli. 301: (‘colt-v v. Periine, 4.1 N. J. Law, 32 Am Rep. 210.

Agents employed for the sale of goods or iner- chandise are called "mercantile rrzents." and are of two princiwil es,—lJrnkcrs and factors, (q. i:.;) a factor s sometimes mills-d a "commission agent," or "commission merchant." Russ. Mere. A2. I.

Synonyms. The term "agent" is to be disfin isbed from its synonyms "serrant," . ntative," and "trustee." A servant acts in behalf of his master and under the lritbei's direction and authority, but is regarded as a more instrument, and not as the s ' proxy of the ma er. Tiirncr v. C1 218. ]8 S. W. . L. R. A. ‘ J v. Treadwcll. 89 Cal. 226, 10 Pac. representative (such as an executor or an assiirriee in bankruptcy) owes his power and autborlty to the law, which puts him in the place of the person represented. although the latter‘ may have designated or chosen the represents live. A trustee acts in the interest and for the benefit of one person, brit by an authority de- rived from another person.

E.


In international law. A diplomatic agent is a person employed by a sovereign to manage his prii ate afifairs, or those of his suhjects in his name, at the court of a foreign government. Woilif. Inst. Nat. § 1237.

In the practice of the house of lords and privy council. in appeals. solicitors and other persons admitted to practise in those courts in a similar capacity to that of