Generally, the term advocate is applied to a lawyer authorized to plead the cause of his clients before a court of law. It is only in Scotland that this word seems to denote a distinct class belonging to the legal profession, the advocates of Scotland being the pleaders before the supreme courts, and corresponding to the barristers of England and Ireland. These advocates all belong to the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh, to whom the oral pleadings in the Court of Session is for the most part limited, while they are also competent to plead in all the inferior Scottish courts and in the House of Lords in cases of appeal from the Court of Session. The supreme judges in Scotland, as well as the sheriffs of the various counties, are always selected from among them. Candidates for admission must undergo two separate examinations, one in general scholarship and the other in law.
The Lord Advocate, called also the King's or Queen's Advocate, is the principal law officer of the crown in Scotland. He is the public prosecutor of crimes in the Supreme Court, and senior counsel for the crown in civil causes. Being appointed by the crown, he goes out of office with the administration to which he belongs. As public prosecutor he is assisted by the solicitor-general and by four junior counsel called advocates-depute. The lord-advocate and the solicitor-general, in addition to their official duties, accept of ordinary bar practice. Research Advocate
Anointing is the rubbing the body or some part of it with oil, often perfumed. From time immemorial the nations of the East have been in the habit of anointing themselves for the sake of health and beauty. The Greeks and Romans anointed themselves after the bath. Wrestlers anointed themselves in order to render it more difficult for their antagonists to get hold of them. In Egypt it seems to have been common to anoint the head of guests when they entered the house where they were to be entertained. In the Mosaic law a sacred character was attached to the anointing of the garments of the priests and things belonging to the ceremonial of worship. The Jewish priests and kings were anointed when inducted into office, and were called the anointed of the Lord, to show that their persons were sacred and their office from God. In the Old Testament also the prophecies respecting the Redeemer style him Messias, that is, the Anointed, which is also the meaning of his Greek name Christ. The custom of anointing still exists in the Roman Catholic Church in the ordination of priests and the confirmation of believers and the sacrament of extreme unction. The ceremony is also frequently a part of the coronation of kings. Research Anointing
Aristocracy (from the Greek meaning best rule) is a form of government in which the sovereign power is vested in a small number of citizens who are theoretically the best qualified to rule, as opposed to monarchy, in which the supreme authority is vested in one person, and to democracy, in which the ultimate authority is exercised by the entire body of citizens or their representatives. In an aristocracy, although the power of government is wielded by a few, theoretically the administration of government is carried on for the welfare of the many. Whenever the interests of the people as a whole are made subservient to the selfish interests of the rulers, aristocracy becomes a form of government known as oligarchy. Athens, before the period of the Persian wars of the 5th century BC, and Sparta, during practically its entirehistory, were aristocracies. The same was true of Rome during the period of the Republic, lasting from the 6th to the 1st century BC.
During the Middle Ages no true aristocracy existed, for although political power reposed in the hands of a few, each feudallord was sole master in his own domain. In England, the government from the accession of the house of Hanover in 1714 through the 19th century, although parliamentary in form, was in fact an aristocracy, since king and Parliament alike were under the control of a few great Whig families. Research Aristocracy
The Ashburton Treaty was a treaty negotiated between Great Britain and the USA by Alexander Baring (Lord Ashburton) and Daniel Webster at Washington in 1842. The Ashburton Treaty adjusted the boundary between the USA and the British possessions on the Northeast, the USA securing just over half of the disputed territory. The mutual extradition of criminals and arrangements for the suppression of the slave trade were stipulated by the treaty. Research Ashburton Treaty
The bandbox plot was an attempt to assassinate the lord-treasurer during the reign of Queen Anne. A bandbox containing three charged and cocked pistols was sent to the lord-treasurer, a thread tied to their triggers in such a way that when the box lid was lifted the pistols would discharge and shoot the person opening the box. Apparently deanSwift was present when the box was delivered, and seeing the thread cut it, thereby disarming the device. Research Bandbox Plot
The Barebones Parliament was the assembly summoned by Oliver Cromwell in July 1653, after he had dissolved the Rump Parliament. It consisted of 140 members chosen partly by the army leaders and partly by congregations of 'godly men'. Known initially as the Parliament of Saints, it was later nicknamed after 'Praise-God' Barbon, or Barebones, one of its excessively pious leaders. Its attacks on the Court of Chancery and on the Church of England alarmed both Cromwell and its more moderate members. The dissolution of this Parliament was followed by the Instrument of Government and the proclamation of Cromwell as LordProtector. Research Barebones Parliament
The Belper Committee was a five-man Home Office committee chaired by LordBelper which sat in 1900 to consider the relative merits of anthropometry and fingerprinting as means to identifying suspects and solving crimes. Edward Henry appeared before the committee and provided a practical demonstration of 7000 fingerprints that convinced the committee. Research Belper Committee
Blasphemy is the denying of the existence of God, assigning to him false attributes, or denying his true attributes; contumelious reproaches of Jesus; profane scoffing at the Holy Scriptures, or exposing them to ridicule and contempt. In Catholic countries it also includes the speaking contemptuously or disrespectfully of the Holy Virgin or the saints. By the former common law of England blasphemies of God, as denying his being and providence, all contumelious reproaches of Jesus Christ, etc, were punishable by fine and imprisonment, or corporal punishment. According to a celebrated judgment of LordHales, 'Christianity being parcel of the law of England, to reproach the Christian religion was to speak in subversion of the law;' but in a case decided in 1883 it was held that a person may attack the fundamentals of religion without being guilty of a blasphemous libel 'if the decencies of controversy are observed.' Research Blasphemy
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Abbot of Misrule
