le it is also
h and west
> intercourse
s on a large
orn, timber,
spect of the
ount of the
It, whence it
Black Town.
ed in history
Goths, con-
n life, being
founded on
yuntries. In
twenty-one
wncy, a term
on in those
| law. But
), which is
» and female
A male, at
“allegiance ;
nd therefore
y choose his
1 he cannot
at his own
ands, goods,
rears of age,
at fourteen,
)y choose a
cutrix ; and
d her lands.
twenty-one
y preceding
ho, till that
w. —(Kerr’s
divided into
d majority.
ge of legal
and twelve
respectively
eriod from
attainment
the age of
ird includes
ority, how-
lod anterior
to infancy
cotland can
eaning; but
sense of the
from birth
h a child,
is intrusted
f tutory cor-
of curatory
r the Roman
| to modify
her periods ;
- the law of
it a day of
s if he were
. 13 eighteen
Jjode Civile,
nore reason-
ed from the
it may have
r have been
y. Twenty-
e eligible for
elect, and be
nan must be
1 to priests’
bishop. 1In
- AGEN—AGES.
America, a member of the Senate must be thirty, and
a member of the House of Representatives, twenty-
five; this latter was also the period of majority by
the civil law. The legal disabilities attaching to
the different stages of minority, or, to speak more
correctly, the privileges which the law confers on
minors for their protection, will be treated of
under the different subjects to which they relate.
See GuarpIANsHIP, CoNSENT, CoNTRACT, CRIME,
MARRIAGE, &c.
AGE'N, the chief town of the department of
Lot-et-Garonne in France, is situated in a fertile
region on the right bank of the Garonne. The
town is old and gloomy in appearance ; but carries
on an active trade in woollen and linen fabrics,
leather, coloured paper, colours, cordage, and sail-
cloth. It forms the connecting-link of the inter-
course between Toulouse and Bordeaux, and exports
plums, brandy, hemp, flax, and poultry. Close by it
is the old-fashioned house in which Joseph Scaliger,
the prince of scholiasts, was born. In ancient
times A.was the scene of many a fierce martyrdom
of the Christians, when it was under the rule of
Roman preetors. Afterwards it suffered the miseries
of war, during the barbaric irruptions from Ger-
many, to a most incredible extent, having been taken
and plundered by Goths, Vandals, and Huns, in their
turn. Next it came under the thraldom of the
English, in their early French wars, and, at a later
period, was twice taken by the Huguenots, in the
religious contests of the 16th ¢. Pop., 16,000.
A'GENT (Lat. agens). An A. is one who is
authorised, or delegated to transact business for
another (who in this relation is called his Principal
or constituent) in whose place he comes, and who
is bound by his acts in the business to which the
agency extends. The appointment of an A. may
etther be general, having reference to all the princi-
pal’s affairs, or special, concerning some particular
object. It may further be lumited by instructions
as to the conduct he is to pursue, or unlimited, in
which case his conduct is left to his own discretion.
Even in the last case, however, the A. is not
freed from all responsibility for his conduct; he is
bound. to do his best for his employer, and he ought
not to accept or retain the agency unless he is com-
petent to its performance. 'The mutual relations of
principals and agents, and their respective responsi-
bilities to the public in mercantile transactions, will
be treated under PRINCIPAL AND AGENT. See also
Facror, BROKER, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION-
AGENT.
AGENT Axp CLIENT. The employer of a law-
agent is entitled to presume that he is possessed of
competent professional knowledge, and the A. is
consequently responsible to his C. for the conse-
quences of gross professional ignorance, or flagrant
negligence in the conduct of the business intrusted
to him. It is not enough to entitle the C. to
damages that the A.s proceedings have not had
the effect which was expected, or which he himself
predicted from them. It has been observed in the
House of Lords, that it is of the very essence of an
action against a professional man by his employer,
that there shall be gross tgnorance (Purves w.
Landell, 4 Bell, 46). See ATTORNEY, SOLICITOR,
WRITER TO THE SIGNET.
AGENT, Army. A person authorised by the
government to manage the monetary affairs of regi-
ments in the army, as a kind of military banker.
Formerly, persons were employed to effect the pur-
chase and sale of commissions in the British army
(the only army in which this strange system of pur-
chase exists), without much reference to honesty or
one is now permitted to manage these transactions
except the authorised Army Agents, under a heavy
penalty. The Army Agents are also bound down by
restrictions, in relation to any pecuniary advantage
derivable by themselves from the sale and purchase.
Their business, however, is more intimately connected
with the regular expenditure of government money.
Every regiment has an agent, selected by the
colonel, and empowered by him to be his representa-
tive in the monetary arrangements of the corps. The
colonelis responsible to the Crown for the honesty
of the Army A.; but the agent is in many ways
regarded as a servant of the public. When money
is wanted for the regular expenses of the regiment,
the agent applies to the War-office; whereupon
the Secretary of State for War issues an order to the
Paymaster of the Forces to advance the requisite
sum; the Paymaster does so, and takes a receipt
from the agent. There iy an annual settlement of
accounts between the Paymaster and the agent, each
one paying or receiving, according to the side on
which excess or deficiency may appear. The agent
then distributes the pay and other charges of the
regiment. The percentage allowed to Army Agents
for their trouble in paying the full-pay of officers, is
allowed for by the state, and is included among the
annual army estimates; but the officer generally bears
this charge in relation to half-pay and allowances.
The Army Agents conduct all correspondence, and
send all the requisite notices concerning pay and pay-
ment; the colonel of the regiment takes no part in the
matter. The details of the system have varied con-
siderably at different times, and in different portions
of the British dominions. Sometimes the agent re-
ceives twopence in the pound on the amount of pay;
sometimes three-halfpence in the pound, with an addi-
tion varying from sixpence to one shilling per day for
each company of infantry or troop of cavalry ; some-
times (in Ireland, and in the colonies) a fixed annual
salary. The amount paid for this agency is about
£40,000 a year. Many experienced government-
officers have recommended the abandonment of the
system, and the paying of all moneys by the War-
office direct, as a measure of simplification and
economy; but there is not a unanimity of opinion
on this point. When the colonels of regiments pro-
vided the men’s clothing, under a system now aban-
doned, the Army Agents were very intimately mixed
up with the transactions; but at present, the duties
of those agents are limited to the following : applying
monthly to the War-office for the money required
for each regiment; receiving that money; applying
part of it to the payment of officers; disbursing the
regimental paymasters’ bills for the cost of the
expenditure; paying soldiers’ remittances for the
benefit of their families; settling the effects and
credits of soldiers; distributing prize-money ; and
managing the sale and purchase of commissions.
AGENT, NAvy, a naval banker, who bhears
some such relation to Admiralty expenditure as
the Army A. (q. v.) to War-office expenditure.
His employment consists in managing the pecuniary
matters of naval officers and seamen, in all that
concerns pay, prize-money, &c. All such agents
must be sanctioned by the government, and must
conduct their operations according to certain pre-
scribed rules. The Nawy List for 1858 contained
the names of 17 navy and prize agents for officers
of the royal navy, resident in London; 1 agent for
officers of the Royal Marines; and 16 licensed
Navy Agents for petty officers and seamen, of whom
four had their offices in London, and the rest
at Portsea, Liverpool, Chatham, Plymouth, and
Birmingham,
fitness; but to prevent pernicious trafficking, no
AGES, a term employed to designate the epochs
7
