Authentic

This term signifies
an original of which there is no doubt.

Authentic act, civil law , contracts ,
evidence. The authentic net is that
w hich has been executed before a no-
tary or other public officer authorised
to execute such functions, or which is
testified by a public seal, or has been
rendered public by the authority of n
competent magistrate, or w hieh is cer-
tified as being a copy of a public regis-
ter. Nov. 73, c. 2; Code, 7, 52, 6;
lb. 4, 21 ; Dig. 22, 4.

2. — In Louisiana, the authentic act,
as it relates to contracts, is that which
has been executed before a notary pub-
lic or other officer authorised to exe-
cute such functions, in presence of two
witnesses, free, male, and aged at least
fourteen years ; or of three witnesses,
if the party l>o blind. If the party
does not know how to sign, the notary
must cause him to affix his mark to the
instrument. Civil Code of Lo., art.
2231.

3. — The authentic act is full proof
of the agreement contained in it,
against the contracting parties and
their heirs or assigns, unless it be de-
clared and proved to be a forgery, lb.
art. 2233. Vide Merl. Rep. h. t.

AUTHENTICATION, practice , is
an attestation made by a proper officer,
by which he certifies that a record is
in due form of law, and that the person
who certifies it is the officer apjKiintcd
by law to do so.

2. — The constitution of the U. S.,
art. 4, s. 1, declares, “Full faith and

credit shall be given in each state to
the public acts, records and judicial
proceedings of every other state. And
Congress may by general laws pre-
scribe the manner in which such
acts, records and proceedings shall be
proved, and the effect thereof.” The
object of the authentication is to sup-
ply all other proof of the record. The
laws of the United Stutes have provid-
ed a mode of authentication of public
records and office papers these acts are
here transcribed.

3. — By the act of May 26, 1790, it
is provided, “ That the act of the* legis-
latures of the several states shall bo
authenticated by having the seal of
their respective states affixed thereto :
That the records and judicial proceed-
ings of the courts of any state shall !>e
proved or admitted, in any other court
within the United States, bv the attest-
ation of the clerk, and the seal of the
court annexed, if there be a seal, toge-
ther with a certificate of the judge,
chief justice or presiding magistrate, ns
the case may be, that the said attesta-
tion is in due form. And the said re-
cords and judicial proceedings, authen-
ticated as aforesaid, shall have such
faith ami credit given to them, in every
court within the United States, as they
have, by law or usage, in tin? courts of
the state? lYom whence the said records
are, or shall be taken.”

4. — The above act having provided
only for one species of record, it was
necessary to pass the act of March 27,
1604, to provide for other cases. By
this act it is enacted,

§ 1. “ That, from and after the pas-
sage* of this act, all records and exem-
plifications of office books, which are
or may be kept in any public office of
any state, not appertaining to a court,
shall be proved or admitted in any
other court or office in any other state,
by the attestation of the keejier of the
said records or books, and the seal of
his office thereto annexed, if there lies
seal, together with a certificate of the
presiding justice of the court of the
county or district, as the case may be,
in which such oflicc is or may be kept;

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or of tho governor, the secretary of
state, the chancellor or the keeper of
the great seal of the state, that the said
attestation is in due form, and by the
proper officer; and tho said certificate,
if given by the presiding justice of a
court, shall be further authenticated by
the clerk or prothonotory of the said
court, who shall certify, under his hand
and the seal of his office, that the said
presiding justice is duly commissioned
and qualified ; or if the said certificate
be given by the governor, the secretary
of state, the chancellor or keeper of
the great seal, it shall be under the
great seal of the state in which the said
certificate is made. And the said re-
cords and exemplifications, authenti-
cated ns aforesaid, shall have such
faith and credit given to them in every
court and office within the United
States, as they have by law or usage
in the courts or offices of the state
from whence the same arc or shall be
taken.”

5. — § 2. 14 That all the. provisions
of this act, and the act to which this is
a supplement, shall apply, ns well to
the public acts, records, office Itooks,
judicial proceedings, courts, and offices
of the respective territories of the Unit-
ed States, and countries subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States, as to
the public acts, records, office books,
judicial proceedings, courts and offices
of the several states.”

6. — The act of May 8, 1792, s. 12,
provides, 44 that all the records and

rocoedings of the court of nppeals,

erctoforc appointed, previous to the
adoption of tho present constitution,
shall be deposited in the office of the
clerk of the supreme court of the Unit-
ed States, who is hereby authorized
and directed to give copies of all such
records and proceedings, to any person
requiring and paying for tin* same, in
like manner as copies of the records
and other proceedings of the said court
are by law directed to lie given : which
copies shall have like faith and credit
as all other proceedings of the said
court.”

7. — By authentication is also under-

stood whatever act is done cither by
the party or some other person with a
view of causing an instrument to be
known and identified ; as for example
the acknowledgment of a deed by
the grantor; the attesting n deed by
witnesses. 2 Benth. on Ev. 449.

AUTI1ENTICS, civ. law. This is
the name given to a collection of the
Novels of Justinian, made by an ano-
nymous author. It is called authentic
on account of its authority.

2. — There is also another collection
which bears the name of authentic f.
It is composed of extracts made from
the Novels, by a lawyer named Irnier,
and which he inserted in the code at
such places as they refer ; these ex-
tracts have the reputation of not l>eing
correct. Merlin, Repertoire, mot Au-
thentique.

AUTHORITIES, practice. By this
word is understood the citations which
art; made of laws, acts of the legisla-
ture, and decided cases, and opinions
of elementary writers. In its more
confined sense, this word means, cases
decided upon solemn argument which
are said to lx; authorities for similar
judgments in like cases. 1 Lilly’s
Reg. 219. These latter are sometimes
culled precedents, (q. v.) Merlin, Re-
pertoire', mot Autorites.

2. — It has been remarked that when
we find an opinion inn text writer upon
any particular point, we must consider
it not merely as the opinion of the au-
thor, but ns tho supposed result of the
authorities to which he refers, 8 Bos. &
Tull. 301 ; but this is not always the
case, and frequently the opinion is ad-
vanced with th<* reasons which support
it, and it must stand or fall ns those arc
or are not well founded. A distinction
has been made between writers who
have, mid those who have not hnlden a
judicial station ; the former are consi-
dered authority, and the latter are not
so considered unless their works have
been judicially approved ns such.
Ram. on Judgments, 93. Rut this dis-
tinction appears not to lx; well founded:
some writers who have occupied a ju-
dicial station do not possess the talents

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or the learning of others who have not
been so elevated, and the works or
writings of the latter arc much more
deserving the character of an authority
than those of the former.

AUTHORITY, contracts, is the law-
ful delegation of power by one person
to another.

2. — We will consider, 1. The dele-
gation. 2. The nature of the authori-
ty. 3. The manner it is to be execut-
ed. 4. The effects of the authority.

3. — 1. The authority may be dele-
gated by deed, or by parol. 1. It may
be delegated by deed for any purpose
whatever, for whenever an authority
by parol would be sufficient, one by
deed will be equally so. When the
authority is to do something which
must be? performed through the medium
of a deed, then the authority must also
be by deed, and executed with all the
forms to render that instrument per-
fect; unless, indeed, the principal be
present, and verbally or impliedly au-
thorises the agent to fix his name to the
deed, 4 T. R. 313 ; W. Jones, R. 268 ;
as, if a man 1« authorised to convey a
tract of land, the letter of attorney
must be by deed. Buc. Ab. h. t. ; 7
T. II. 209; 2 Bos. Ac Pull. 338; 5
Binn. 613; 14 S. Ac R. 331 ; 0 S. &
R. 90; 2 Pick. II. 845 ; 5 Mass. R.
11 ; 1 Wend. 424; 9 Wend. R. 54,
68 ; 12 Wend. R. 525 ; Story, Ag.
§ 49 ; 3 Kent, Com. 013, 3d edit.; 3
Chit. Com. Law, 1 95. But it does not
require a written authority to sign an
unsealed pajxjr, or a contract in writing
not under seal. Paley on Ag. by
Lloyd, 161 ; Story, Ag. § 50.

4. — 2. For many purposes, how-
ever, the authority may be by parol,
either in writing not under seal, or ver-
bally, or by the mere employment of
the agent. Pal. on Agcn. 2. * The ex-
igencies of commercial affairs render
such an appointment indispensable;
business would be greatly embarrassed,
if a regular letter of attorney were re-
quired to sign or negotiate a promissory
note or bill of exchange, or sell or buy
goods, or write a letter, or procure a
policy for another. This rule of the

I common law has been adopted and fol-
j lowed from the civil law. Story, Ag.
1 § 47 ; Dig. 3, 3, 1, 1 ; Poth. Pond. 3,
3, 3 ; Doinat, liv. 1, tit. 15, §1, art. 5 ;
see also 3 Chit. Com. Law, 5, 195, 7
T. R. 350.

5. — 2. The authority given must
have been possessed by the person who
delegates it, or it will be void ; and it
must be of a thing lawful, or it will
not justify the person to whom it is
given. Dyer, 1 02 ; Kielw. 83. It is
a maxim that delegates non potest dele-
gare, so that an agent who has a mere
authority must exccuto it himself, and
cannot delegate his authority to a sub-
agent. Sec 5 Pet. 390 ; 3 Story, R.
411, 425; 11 GUI Ac John. 58; 26
Wend. 485; 15 Pick. 303, 307; 1
McMullan, 453; 4 Scamm. 127, 133,
See Delegation,

6. — Authorities arc divided into ge-
neral or special. A general aaihonty is
one which extends to all acts connected
with a particular employment ; a spe-
cial authority is one confined to “ an
individual instance.” 15 Fast, 408;
Id. 38.

7. — They arc also divided into limi-
ted and unlimited. When the agent is
bound by precise instructions, it is
limited, and unlimited when he is left
to pursue his own discretion. An
authority is cither express or implied.

8. — An express authority must be by
deed or by parol, that is in writing not
under seal, or verbally. The authority
must have been actually given.

9. — An implied authority is one
which, although no proof exists of its
buying been actually given, it may be
inferred from the conduct of the prin-
cipal, that it was given ; for example,
when a man leaves his wife without
support, the law presumes he author-
izes her to buy necessaries for her
maintenance ; or if a master, usually
send his servant to buy goods for him
ujwn credit, and the servant buy some
things without the master’s orders, yet
the latter will lx.* liable upon the implied
authority. Show. 95; Pal. on Ag
137 to 146.

10. — 3. In considering in what man-

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ncr the authority is to be executed, it
will be necessary to examine, 1. By
whom the authority must be executed ;
2. In what manner; 3. In what time.

11. — l. A delegated authority can
be executed only by the person to
whom it is given, lbr the confidence
being personal, cannot be assigned to
a stranger. 1 Roll. Ab. 330 ; 2 Roll.
Ab. 9 ; 9 Co. 77 b. ; 9 Vcs. 230, 251 ;
3 Mer. R. 237 ; 2 M. & S. 299, 301.

12. — An authority given to two can-

not be executed by one. Co. Litt. 112,
b, 181, b. And an authority given to
three jointly und separately , is not, in
general well executed by two. Co.
Litt. 181, b, sed vide 1 Roll. Abr. 329,
I. 5; Com. Dig. Attorney, C 8. 3

Tick. R. 232; 2 Pick. R. 315; 12
Mass. R. 185; 6 Pick. R. 198; G
John. R. 39 ; Story, Ag. § 42. These
rules apply to an authority of a private
nature, which must be executed by all
to whom it is given; and not to a
power of a public nature, which may
bo executed by a majority. 9 Watts,
R. 466. 2. When the authority is

particular, it must in general be strictly
pursued, or it will be void, unless the
variance lx; merely circumstantial. Co.
Litt. 49, b, 808, b; 6 T. R. 591 ; 2
H. BI. 623.

13. — 2. As to the form to be ob-
served in the execution of an authority,
it is u general rule that an act done
under a power of attorney must be
done in the name of the person who
gives a power, and not in the attor-
ney’s name. 9 Co. 76, 77. It has
been holden that the name of the attor-
ney is not requisite 1 W. & S. 328,
332; Moor, pi. 1106; Str. 705; 2
East, R. 142; Moor, 818. Pa ley on
Ag. by Lloyd, 175; Story on Ag. §
146 ; 9 Ves.' 236 ; 1 Y. & J. 387 ; 2
M. & S. 299; 4 Carnpb. R. 184; 2
Cox, R. 84; 9 Co. R. 75; 6 John. R.
94; 9 John. R. 334; 10 Wend. R.
67 ; 4 Mass. R. 595 ; 2 Kent, Com.
631, 3d ed. But it matters not in
what words this is done, if it sufli- |
cienlly appear to be in the name of the i
principal, as, for A R, (the principal,)
C D, (the attorney,) which has been I

held to be sufficient. Sec 15 Serg. &
It., 55 ; 1 1 Man. K. 97 ; 22 Pick. R.
156; 12 Mass. R. 237 ; 0 Maas* 885;
16 Mass. R. 461; 1 Co wen, 613; 3
Wend. 94; Story, Ag. §§ 154, 275,
278, 395; Story on P. N. § 69 ; 2
East, R. 142 ; 7 Watts’s R. 121 ; 0
John. R. 94. But sec contra, Bac. Ab.
Leases, S. 10; 9 Co. 77 ; 1 Hare &
Wall. Scl. Dec. 426.

14. — 3. The execution must take
place during the continuance of the
authority ; this is determined either by
revocation, or |>erforrnance of the com-
mission.

15. — In general, an authority is re-
vocable, unless it be given as a secu-
rity, or it be coupled with an interest.
2 Hap. Cas. 365 ; Bac. Ab. h. t. The
revocation (q. v.) is either express or
implied ; when it is express and made
known to the person authorized, the
authority is at an end ; the revocation
is implied when the principal dies, or,
if a female, marries ; or the subject of
the authority is destroyed, as if a man
have authority to sell my house, and
it is destroyed by fire; or to buy for
me a horse, and l>efore the execution
of the authority, the horse dies.

16. — When ouce the agent has ex-
ercised all the authority given to him,
the authority is at an end.

17. — 4. An authority is to 1x3 so
construed as to include all necessary
or usual means of executing it with
effect. 2 II. BI. 618 ; 1 Roll. R. 390;
Palm. 394; 10 Ves. 441 ; 6 Serg. &
R. 1 49 ; Com. I >ig. Attorney, C 15;
4 Cainpb. R. 163; Story on Ag. § 58
to 142; 1 J. J. Marsh. R. 293; 5
Johns. R. 58; l Liv. on Ag. 103, 4;
and when the agent acts, as such,
within his authority, he is not |x;rson-
ally responsible. Pal. on Ag. 4, 5.

Vide, generally, 3 Vin. Ab. 416;
Bac. Ab. h. t.; 1 Salk. 95; Com. Dig.
h. t., and the titles there referred to.
1 Roll. Ab. 330; 2 Roll. Ab. 9; and
the articles, Attorney; Agency; Agent;
Principal.

Authority, government I, is the right
and |H)wcr which an officer has in the
exercise of a public f unction to compel

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obedience to his lawful commands. A
judge, for example, has authority to
enforce obedience to his lawful orders.
Domat, Dr. Pub. lib. 1, tit. 9, s. 1,
n. IH.