Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/438

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DOMESTIC SERVICE. 376 DOMICILE. daras, "A Belated Imlustry," in American Jour- nal of Sociology, vol. i. (Chicago, 180G) : Walker, The Wagcx Question (Xcw York, 188(i) ; Schloss, ltc]iort on Profit aharinri (London, 1894). DOM'ETT, AuBEK (1811-87). An Enfilish poet and lolonial statesman, l)orn at Caniberwell (?rove. Surrey. He .studied at Saint .Tolin's Col- lefre. Cambridge, in 182n-.'!:i, and in 18.37-;iO con- tributed to lilackuood's several poems, of which the best known is "A Christmas Hynm." found in most antholofiies. Tn 1841 he was called to the bar, and in 1842 went to Xcw Zealand as one of the earliest settlers in that colony. There he held many public olfices. inchidinj; those of Civil Secretary (18,51). Commissioner of Crown Lands and Resident Ma<ristrate at llawke's Bav (1853-5(i). and Prime Minister (18()2-f)3). lii 1871 he returned to Enrrland. He was an inti- mate friend of Robert Browning, whose "War- infr" describes him and narrates the circumstances of his departure from London in 1842. Brown- ing's "The Guardian Angel" also addresses him. He was at one time a vice-president of the Browning .Society. His publications include: A'uiio//' and Amohia, a South-!f<ea Da;/ Dream (1872). and Flotsam and Jetsam (1877). Con- sult (.'jsbnrnc. .Vcio Zealand Rulers and Statesmen (Londun. 1S!I7). DOMETT, Sir Villi.m ( 17.i4-1828). An English admiral. He entered the navy in 1769. was made lieutenant in 1777, and during the American Revolution took part in various engage- ments with the French and Americans. He was appointed captain of the Baltic licet in 1801, and soon afterwards of the fleet o(T Brest, and was raised through the ranks of rear-admiral and vice-admiral to that of admiral in 1819. DOM ICEL'LA. Sei- Lory. DOMICILE (Lai. domicilium, from domiis, house). The legal residence of a person. Though used in common speech as synonymous with 'Jior.e' or 'place of abode,' in the strict legal sense 'domi- cile' denotes the place which the law will hold to be a man's residence: and this may or may not coincide with the place where he in fact usu- ally or habitually resides. It is a doctrine of modern law that every person shall have a defi- nite location in some jurisdiction, to which his legal rights and obligations may be referred, and by which his legal status, public and private, is det(*rmined. The name and the notion of domi- cile, as well as the necessity for it. are rom- pnratively recent, and arise from the modem cimcei)tion of law as being of territorial rather than of personal obligation. Formerly the im- portant question was that of nationality, it being conceived that every person was entitled to be judu'cd and to have his rights and obliga- tions determined by the law of his nation.al al- legiance, rather than by that of his actual domi. cile. But the complete triumph of the principle that the authority of a State extends to every one within its borders, irrespective of his na- tionality or citizenship, and that it is in the main confined to those limits, has given a new impor- tance to the question of domicile. As the private and local law by which a p<'r- Bon is governed, as well as his political status, now depends almost entirely on his domicile, the question of what fads of residence and intention shall determine the domicile has been exten- sivelv discussed bv the courts and law writers. The importance of the subject in international law has called for its especial consideration by the authorities in that field of jurisprudence. V'attel delines domicile as habitation lixed in any pla<c with an intention of uliiaiis staying there. This definition is now rcgar<led as too limited by most authorities on international law, certainly by the l)est writers on the subject in the I'nited States. It is held that in a newly settled country like the United States, absolute permanence of residence is rare, and it is suffi- cient to constitute a domicile that the habitation be fixed without any present intention of remov- ing therefrom. .Jistice Story says: "Two things nuist concur to constitute a domicile — first, a residence, and, second, the intention of making it the home of the party;" to which Or. Woolsey adds: "And when once a domicile is acquired it is not shaken ofT by occasional absences for the sake of business or pleasure, or even by visits to a fonner domicile or to one's native country." It follows that the same person may be a citizen of one country, possess a domicile in another (for the questions of domicile and citizcnshi]) are quite distinct), and temporarily reside in still a third. Another American authority. Wharton, distinguishes three kinds of domicile: domicile by birth, by choice, and by operation of the law: and this classification is now generally accepted. The first is determined by the place of nativity, the second is acquired by a man's own vedition. and an illustration of the third is llic domiciU' of a wife, being that of her hiisliand acquired by her at the time of marriage. . child, of course, has the domicile of his parents, and is considered in- capable of changing his domicile of his own ac- cord : but he follows any change in the ilomicile of the parents. 'hen the father of a family dies, the domicile of his children and widow continues to be that of his last residence until a new one is acquired in any of the ways already indicated. The question as to what amounts to a siidicient intention of permanent residence to cause an im- mediate change of domicile is one of no little diflTiculty, which must be determined by the spe- cial facts of each case. In its relation to privat<? rights and obligations the rule may be laid down in a general way that the law of the place of domicile governs in con- tracts relating to personal ])roperty and in the matter of wills and bankruptcy: while, on the contrary, in matters relating to real estate the law or the place of its situation (lex ret situs) lirevails. In England it was formerly lield that It was necessary to the validity of a will that it should be executed according to the law of the testator's domicile, no matter where the will was drawn; but statutes now provide that the will is valid if e^cecuted in accordance with the law of the country where it was made, even though it do not conform to the law of the place of per- manent and recognized ilomicile. Similar |>ro- visions exist in most or all of the States in this country. See Conflict of L.w,s. The question of domicile is often of imp<irtanee in delcrmining projierty rights in time of war. Thus it is hclil that the property of an alien domiciled in a country with which his own na- tion is at war is subject to seizure as that of an alien enemy. T'nder a strict construction of the common law. also, an alien cannot (regard- less of the existence of war or peace) hold land, either by purchase or inheritance; but in