her authority; we
speak of the _edict_ of an emperor, the _decree_ of a court. A _mandate_
is specific, for an occasion or a purpose; a superior court issues its
_mandate_ to an inferior court to send up its records. _Statute_ is the
recognized legal term for a specific _law_; _enactment_ is the more
vague and general expression. We speak of algebraic or chemical
_formulas_, municipal _ordinances_, military _orders_, army
_regulations_, ecclesiastical _canons_, the _rules_ of a business house.
_Law_ is often used, also, for a recognized _principle_, whose violation
is attended with injury or loss that acts like a penalty; as, the _laws_
of business; the _laws_ of nature. In more strictly scientific use, a
natural _law_ is simply a recognized system of sequences or relations;
as, Kepler's _laws_ of planetary distances. A _code_ is a system of
_laws_; _jurisprudence_ is the science of _law_, or a system of _laws_
scientifically considered, classed, and interpreted; _legislation_,
primarily the act of legislating, denotes also the body of _statutes_
enacted by a legislative body. An _economy_ (Gr. _oikonomia_, primarily
the management of a house) is any comprehensive system of
administration; as, domestic _economy_; but the word is extended to the
administration or government of a state or people, signifying a body of
_laws_ and _regulations_, with the entire system, political or
religious, especially the latter, of which they form a part; as, the
_code_ of Draco, Roman _jurisprudence_, British _legislation_, the
Mosaic _economy_. _Law_ is also used as a collective noun for a system
of _laws_ or recognized _rules_ or _regulations_, including not only all
special _laws_, but the _principles_ on which they are based. The Mosaic
_economy_ is known also as the Mosaic _law_, and we speak of the English
common _law_, or the _law_ of nations. _Polity_ (Gr. _politeia_, from
_polis_, a city) signifies the form, constitution, or method of
government of a nation, state, church, or other institution; in usage it
differs from _economy_ as applying rather to the system, while _economy_
applies especially to method, or to the system as administered; an
_economy_ might be termed a _polity_ considered with especial reference
to its practical administration, hence commonly with special reference
to details or particulars, while _polity_ has more reference to broad
_principles_.

* * * * *

LIBERTY.

Syno