having once done so, they might, by an application to the prætor, be compelled to go through with it. Their authority was terminated by the death of either of the parties, unless his heirs were included in the submission; by the expiration of the time limited for the decision; by either party having broken the agreement, and so incurred the penalty; or by his becoming insolvent, and his property, in consequence of a cessio bonorum, being vested in his creditors. Their authority also ceased by what we should call an implied revocation, if the subject matter of the reference perished, or if the parties settled the dispute in some other way, referred it to other arbitrators, or proceeded with an action respecting it. Besides the cases in which his authority was thus at an end, an arbitrator could not be compelled to proceed with the reference if he could allege any sufficient excuse, as for instance, that the submission was void, that there had arisen a deadly enmity between him and one of the parties, or that he had been prevented by ill-health, or by an appointment to some public office. The extent of the arbitrator's authority depended upon the terms of the submission, which might be either special or general. The submission usually appointed a certain day for the making of the award, but power was generally given to the arbitrators to enlarge the time if necessary, and they could not give their award on an earlier day without the consent of the parties. On the day originally appointed, or on that subsequently fixed by the arbitrators, they formally pronounced their award, and (unless it had been agreed otherwise) the parties were required to be present, and if one of them failed to appear, the award was not binding, but the party who had thus prevented the arbitration being completed incurred the penalty specified in the submission. If there were several arbitrators, all were bound to attend, and the opinion of the majority prevailed; and if they were equally divided, it is said that they might of their own authority appoint an umpire, and in case of their refusing, the prætor had the power of compelling them to do so. When their award was pronounced, their authority expired, and they could neither retract nor alter their decision. The award when made had not the authority of the sentence of a court of justice, nor was there any direct method of enforcing the performance of it; but as the parties had bound themselves to abide by the arbitrator's decision, if either of them refused to perform it, or in any other way committed a breach of his engagement, he was liable to an action; and however unsatisfactory the award might appear, there was no appeal to any other court. If, indeed, the arbitrators had been guilty of corruption, fraud, or misconduct, or if they had not adhered to their authority, their award was not binding: there was, however, no direct method of setting it aside; but if an action was brought to enforce the award, such misconduct might be insisted on as an answer to it. (Heineccius, Elem. Jur. Civ. pars i. § 531-543; Voetius, Commentarius ad Pandect. vol. i. pp. 290-300.) The Roman law was, with some slight modifications, adopted in France (Domat, Civil Law, part i. book i. tit. 14; and Public Law, book ii. tit. 7; Pothier, Traite de Procedure Civile, part ii. chap. iv. art. 2), and notwithstanding the changes which have been introduced from time to time, it still forms the groundwork of the system. There are at present three kinds of arbitration; the first is voluntary arbitration, which is founded, as in the Roman law, upon an agreement of the parties. The mode of proceeding in this case is treated of at considerable length, and with minute attention to details, in the Code de Procédure Civile, art. 1003-1028. The ordinary courts exercise a much greater control over the proceedings in references than they do in England, but they have never had the power which the magistrates had at Rome-of compelling a person who had once undertaken the office of arbitrator to proceed with it; nevertheless, if he fail to do so, without a sufficient excuse, he is liable to an action for the damages occasioned by his neglect of duty. In order to understand clearly the peculiarities of the French system, it will be necessary to bear in mind that the proceedings before the brought under the consideration of a court in any of these ways, any final judgment which the court may have pronounced may be brought before the Court of Cassation, and there quashed if erroneous in point of law. The second kind, which is called "com arbitrators are much more nearly on the | same footing with the regular administration of justice than is the case with us, and that many of the details are merely adopted from the practice of the ordinary courts: for instance, there is a system of local judicature established in France, and as the judge is resident in the neigh-pulsory arbitration," is where the parties bourhood of the suitors, it has been found are by law required to submit to a renecessary, in order to guard against par- ference, and are precluded from having tiality or the suspicion of partiality, to recourse to any other mode of litigation. allow either party to refuse or challenge The ancient laws of France introduced a judge, as in England they would chal- this species of arbitration very extenlenge a juryman; and in the same manner sively for the settlement of disputes rean arbitrator may be challenged, but this specting either mercantile transactions or can only be in respect of some objection family arrangements; but by the law which has arisen since his appointment, now in force, it is admitted in one case for the very act of appointing him is an only, that of differences between partners. implied waiver of any objections which Over such differences the ordinary courts might have existed up to that time; but have no jurisdiction in the first instance, if there is no ground for challenge, the even with the consent of the parties; but arbitrator's authority cannot be revoked the commercial courts control the prowithout the consent of both parties. ceedings. Thus the arbitrators may An arbitrator's decision or award is either be appointed by the deed of partconsidered as a judgment, and all the nership or afterwards nominated by the formalities required for the validity of a partners; but if, when a dispute has judgment must therefore be observed; arisen, one of the partners refuses to but execution of it cannot be enforced nominate an arbitrator or nominates an until it has received the proper sanction: improper person, the commercial court this sanction is conferred by a warrant upon application made by the other partof execution granted by the president ner, will appoint one for him. The of the tribunal within the jurisdiction of authority of the person so appointed will which the cause of the action arose: the be superseded, if before he enters upon granting of this warrant is called the his functions an arbitrator is duly nomihomologation of the award. If the arbi-nated by the partner in delay: and when trator has not strictly pursued his authority, the warrant of execution may be superseded, and the award declared null by an application to the tribunal from which the warrant issued. Besides this, the same modes of obtaining relief may be resorted to in the case of an award, as in that of any other judgment. If any misconduct or irregularity has occurred, the award may be set aside by what is called a requête civile; and even where nothing can be alleged against the formal correctness of the proceedings, if one of the parties be dissatisfied with the judgment, he is at liberty (unless the right has been expressly renounced) to appeal to a superior court: when this happens, the whole case is re-opened before the tribunal of appeal, and the merits investigated anew; and when an award is the firm consists of several partners, upon an application being made by any one of them, the court, after taking into consideration how far their respective interests are identical and how far they are conflicting, will regulate accordingly the number of arbitrators to be appointed by each. The sentence of the arbitrators, howsoever appointed, is decided by the majority of votes. The authority of the arbitrators in this case partakes more of the judicial character than it does in voluntary arbitration; they are considered as substituted for the ordinary commercia! tribunal; their sentence is registered among the records of the court; and they stand upon the same footing with the court in the power of sentencing the parties to imprisonment; and unless the right has been renounced by the parties, there is an appeal from | deputies. All matters of civil litigation their decision. (Code de Commerce, art. 51-64.) Besides the compulsory arbitration in matters of partnership, the parties who enter into any engagement are at liberty to stipulate that all differences arising between them shall be submitted to arbitration. This stipulation is compulsory, and the court will, if requisite, appoint an arbitrator ex officio for the party who should refuse to do so; but it is not exclusive, so as to take away the jurisdiction of the ordinary tribunals; it may be rescinded by the consent of the parties, or waived by their acts. The third kind of arbitration is distinguished by the appellation of the persons to whom the reference is made; they are not called, as in the other cases, arbitres, but aimables compositeurs, or in the old law, arbitrateurs. The peculiar characteristics of this amicable composition are, that the referees are not, as in other cases, bound to adhere rigorously to the rules of law, but are authorized to decide according to the real merits of the case; that their decision is final, and without appeal to any other tribunal. In case of irregularity or misconduct, the award may be set aside by the judgment of a court, but this judgment cannot be further questioned in the Court of Cessation. This modification of the general law may be introduced into all arbitrations, whether voluntary or compulsory. (Pardessus, Cours de Droit Commercial, $1386-1419.) may be referred to these official arbitra- Courts of mutual agreement are constituted in every parish in Norway. Every third year the resident householders elect from among themselves a person to be the commissioner of mutual agreement, who must not practise law in any capacity. His appointment is subject to the approval of the amtman, In Denmark and its dependencies, or highest executive officer of the district.. Courts of Arbitration or Conciliation In towns, or large and populous parishes,. were established about the year 1795, there are one or more assessors or assistand are said to have been attended with ants to the commissioner, and he has. extremely beneficial effects. In Copen- always a clerk. He holds his court once hagen the court is composed of one of a month within the parish, and receives the judges of the higher courts of judica- a small fee of an ort (ninepence) on enterture, one of the magistrates of the city, ing each case. Every case or law-suit and one of the representatives of the whatever must pass through this prelicommonalty. In other towns, the chief minary court, where no lawyer or atmagistrate proposes five or six of the torney is allowed to practise. The parties more respectable citizens for arbitrators, must appear personally or by a person of whom the commonalty of the town not in the legal profession. The stateelect two. In the country, the bailiffs or ment of each party is entered fully and sheriffs are the arbitrators, and generally to his own satisfaction in writing by the act as such personally; but in extensive commissioner, who proposes some course districts they have authority to appoint | on which they may both agree. If both N parties acquiesce in his judgment, the case is taken to the local court of law, or Sorenskrivers' court, which is also held within each parish, to be sanctioned, revised as to rights of any third parties, and registered, when it has the validity of a final decision. If one party agrees and the other does not, the party not agreeing appeals to the local or Sorenskrivers' court, which sits once, at least, in every parish in every quarter of a year; but he will have the expenses of both parties to pay, if the terms of agreement proposed and rejected are judged not unreasonable. In this higher court, which is, properly speaking, the lowest legal court, the parties may appear, if they choose, by their law agents; but in this and all the subsequent higher courts no new matter, statements, or reference are received but what stand in the protocol of the commissioner of the court of mutual agreement. (Laing's Journal of a Residence in Norway, 1836.) V. Fergus, 7th July, 1796, M. 633.) The decree arbitral must be executed with the usual solemnities of written deeds in Scotland. A submission in which the arbiters are not named is not binding on the parties. If there be more than one arbiter, the decree is not valid unless they be unanimous. An oversman may be named in the submission, or the arbiters may be empowered to choose one. It is a com dition precedent to any reference to an oversman, that the arbiters are not ussnimous, and the proceedings of an oversman are null if there is no difference of opinion. The oversman's decree must bear that the arbiters differed in opinion. A time during which the submission is to be in force may be fixed with or without a power of prorogation. It has become a practice that when a blank space is left m the submission for the period of its eattinuance, that period is held to be s year. Where there is no such blank, it is presumed that the submission subsists for the period of what is called "the long prescription," viz. 40 years. ARCHBISHOP. [BISHOP.] ARCHDEACON. In contemplating the character and office of the bishop in the early ages of the church, we are not to regard him as a solitary person acting alone and without advice. He had species of clerical council around him, persons who lived a kind of collegiate life in buildings attached to the great cathedral church, each of whom, or at least several of whom, possessed distinct offices, such as those of chancellor, trea ARBITRATION. In Scotland the system of arbitration is a modification of that of the Roman law. The submission, by which the parties agree to abide by the decision of an arbiter, is a regularly executed contract, and it requires all the solemnities peculiar to the execution of deeds in Scotland. According to the practice by which, on the consent of the parties to that effect embodied in its substance, a contract may be registered for execution, the submission may contain a clause authorizing the decree to be pronounced on it to be registered for execution; and when so registered, the arbiter's decision is insurer, precentor, and the like. Ther the same position as the decree of a court. It was formerly usual to embody a clause of registration for execution against the arbiter if he failed to give a decision. This practice is now disused, but it is still held, according to the doctrine of the civilians, that an arbiter who has accepted the submission can be judicially compelled to decide. Where there were two arbiters, and action was raised against one of them, either to concur with the other or name an oversman (umpire), "the court, without entering on the question how far a sole arbiter is bound to decide, were clear that In the name there is no indication of against one of two arbiters the conclusions any peculiar employment. What now of the action were ill-founded."-(White | belongs to the archdeacon was anciently persons are now often called canons: buk the most general name by which they are known, as the institution existed in remote times, is that of deacon, a term of which dean is a contraction. Deacon appears to come from the Greek term diáconos (diákovos), the name of that officer in the church of whose appointment we have an account in Acts, vi. To one of these deacons precedence was given, and no doubt some species of superintendence or control, and to him the title of archdeacon was assigned. performed by the officer in the bishop's | until the creation of Manchester into a bishop's see, which will not occur until the next vacancy in the see of St. Asaph and Bangor. court called the chorepiscopus. The chorepiscopus (XwрeníσкOTOS) was the bishop's deputy or vicar in small towns and country places, in which he discharged the minor episcopal functions. He might be of episcopal rank or not. (Ducange, Glossarium). The chorepiscopus is mentioned in a Constitution of Justinian. (Cod. i. tit. 3, s. 41 (42).) The manner in which the archdeacon usurped upon this obsolete officer and attracted to himself the functions which belonged to him, is supposed to have been this:-being near the bishop and much trusted by him, the archdeacon was often employed by the bishop to visit distant parts of the diocese, especially when the bishop required particular and authentic information, and to report to the bishop the actual state of things. Hence deacons were spoken of by very early Christian writers as being the bishop's eye; and from this power of inspection and report the transition was easy to the delegation, to one of the deacons, of a portion of episcopal authority, and empowering him to proceed to reform and redress, as well as to observe and report. This distribution of the dioceses into archdeaconries cannot be assigned to any certain period, but the common opinion is that it was made some time after the Conquest. It is said that Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, was the first English bishop who established an archdeacon in his diocese, about A.D. 1075. The office of archdeacon is mentioned in a charter of William the Conqueror. (Phillimore.) The bishops had baronies, and were tied by the constitutions of Cla rendon to a strict attendance upon the king in his great council, and they were consequently obliged to delegate their episcopal powers. Each archidiaconal district was assigned to its own archdeacon, with the same precision as other and larger districts are assigned to the bishops and archbishops; and the archdeacons were entitled to certain annual payments, under the name of procurations, from the benefices within their archdeaconries. The act already cited (6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 97) directed a new arrangement of all existing deaneries and archdeaconries, so that every parish and extra-parochial place shall be within a rural deanery, and every deanery within an archdeaconry, and that no archdeaconry extend out of the diocese. If this is a just account of the origin of the archdeacon's power, it is manifest that originally the power would be extended over the whole of a diocese; but at present it is confined within certain limits. In England, according to the As the archdeacon in antient times Valor Ecclesiasticus of King Henry intruded upon the chorepiscopus, so in VIII, there are fifty-four archdeaconries, recent times he has extinguished the or districts through which the visitorial authority and destroyed almost the name and corrective power of an archdeacon of another officer of the church, namely, extends. Godolphin and Blackstone state the rural dean. The archdeaconries are that there were sixty archdeaconries: the still subdivided into deaneries, and it is number has since been increased, and there usual for the archdeacon, when he holds are now above sixty in England and Wales. his visitations, to summon the clergy Seven new archdeaconries were erected of each deanery to meet him at the chief by 6 & 7 Will. IV. c. 97. These are the town of the deanery. Formerly, over archdeaconries of Bristol, Maidstone, each of the deaneries a substantive officer, Monmouth, Westmoreland, Manchester, called a dean, presided, whose duty it Lancaster, and Craven; and archidia- was to observe and report, if he had not Conal power was given by the same act to even power to correct and reform; but the dean of Rochester in that part of Kent the office has been laid aside in some which is in the diocese of Rochester. The dioceses, though in others it has been reConstitution of some of these new arch- established. But where it has been superdeaconries is contingent; that of Man-seded, the duties are discharged by the chester, for instance, will not take place archdeacon. Though the office of rural |