EXECUTION

that can be employed. In the accompanying en-graving we give a view of the guillotine, consisting

of a raised platform, on which is placed an uprightframe furnished with a sliding axe. At the bottomof the frame is a circular perforation intended to re-ceive the neck of the prisoner, and a bag beneath toreceive the head after decapitation. After the exe-cutioner has made the necessary arrangements, hedraws out a peg, and the axe falls, which ensures theinstant death of the criminal. Under the articleGuillotine, in the first division of this work, will befound a full account of the history and structure ofthis instrument.

Execution, in law, is a judicial writ, grounded ona judgment of the court, by which the execution isissued, and is granted for the purpose of carrying thejudgment into effect, being an order in the name ofthe supreme power of the state, or the executivebranch of the government, attested by the court, tothe sheriff, marshal, or other officer, to whom it isdirected, to cause the judgment of the court to beexecuted ; as that a debt shall he levied against oneparty in favour of another; or that a punishment shallbe inflicted, which has been awarded after due trialand conviction of the accused. Execution is grantedby a court only upon the judgments given by thesame court, not upon those pronounced by another ;for where satisfaction of a judgment given by onecourt is sought in another, a trial must be had in suchother, and a new judgment there given, on whichexecution issues. Executions are of various descrip-tions, according to the kind of satisfaction ordered, asa capias ad satisfaciendum, or an arrest for giving satis-faction, by which the sheriff, &c., is ordered to arrestand imprison the party against which it is issued,until he satisfies a certain debt declared by the judg-ment to be due, or is otherwise discharged by orderof law ; a fieri facias, by which it is ordered that theamount of the debt be made of the goods and chattelsof the party against which the execution is issued, forthe satisfaction of the same ; a levari facias, by whichthe officer is ordered to cause satisfaction of the judg-ment by a levy on the goods or lands of the debtor ;an elcgit, by which the judgment is ordered to be satis-fied by selling off all the goods and half the lands ofthe debtor, by appraisement, to the creditor, in satis-

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faction of his debt, whereas, by the levari facias, thegoods of the debtor are sold by the officer, ami theproceeds in money are paid over to the creditor; andthe statute merchant or staple, in this country, wherebyexecution issues upon an acknowledgment by thedebtor, with certain forms, before some magistrate,and a record thereof, that he is indebted in a certainamount to the creditor ; this is, in fact, obtaining ajudgment for the debt before it is due, so that, on itsbecoming due, execution issues immediately withouttrial. The order issuing to an officer to execute ajudgment given on an indictment, varies according tothe penalty inflicted by the law for the crime or delin-quency of which the party is convicted. In theUnited States of America, the same execution isusually issued in favour of creditors, against the lands,goods, apd effects of debtors, and also against theirbodies, it being ordered, that the officer should seizeand sell the goods of the debtor for money to satisfythe judgment, or seize and sell, in some states, or setoff at an appraised value in others, lands of thedebtor, to the amount of the judgment, and, for wantof goods, or of goods and lands, to imprison the debtoruntil he shall satisfy the debt, or be otherwise dis-charged by order of law, so that the same executionincludes the capias ad satisfaciendum and levari facias.Many of the American states make a distinction be-tween a satisfaction from the goods and the lands ofthe debtor, by ordering his goods to be sold by auction,and the proceeds to be paid over to the creditor ; butif the satisfaction is to be made out of the lands ofthe debtor, they are not sold for this purpose, but sptoff on an appraisement to the creditor.

Executor, in law, is one appointed by a man’slast will to carry its provisions into execution after thetestator’s death. The testator may, by the laws of thiscountry, which are adopted in many of the Americanstates, appoint any person of sound mind and discre-tion, though under some legal disabilities, as to con-tracting and transacting business in general, such as amarried woman or a minor. The duties of executors,and those of administrators, are, in general, the same,the difference of the two depending mostly on themode of appointment, the executor being nominatedby the testator, the administrator being appointed bythe judge of probate; and often an administrator isappointed to administer upon an estate under a will,as where the testator does not name an executor, orwhere the executor named declines, or where the exe-cutor or administrator first assuming the trust hasdied, or is discharged by the court; where administra-tion on the estate has once been granted and com-menced, and, before it is completed, a new appoint-ment is necessary, the person so appointed is calledan administrator de bonis non, “ with the will annexed,”if there be a will. The administrator, with the willannexed, assumes the duties that would have belongedto the executor, if one had been appointed, or if theone appointed had acted, or had continued to act.Though a testator is at liberty to appoint any personto be his executor, with some few exceptions, thejudge of probate is restricted, both in this country andthe United States of America, in the appointment ofan administrator, whether it be the one on an estateof a person dying intestate, or “with the will annexed.”and whether it be the one originally appointed, or theone appointed de bonis non; forthe widow and nearestof kin to the testator have a right to the appointment,unless they are under some legal disabilities. .The