GUARDIANS¹ OF THE POOR. The name given to officers whose duties are very similar to those of overseers of the poor, (q. v.) that is, generally to relieve the distresses² of such poor persons who are unable to take care of themselves.

GUARDIANSHIP³, persons. The power or protective authority given by law, and imposed on an individual who is free and in the enjoyment⁴ of his rights, over one whose weakness on account of his age, renders him unable to protect himself. Vide Tutor.

GUBERNATOR, civil law. A pilot or steersman of a ship. 2 Pet. Adm. Dec. Appx. lxxxiii.

GUEST. A traveller who stays at an inn or tavern-with the consent of the keeper: Bac. Ab. Inns, C 5; 8 Co. 32. And if, after having taken lodgings⁵ at an inn, he leaves his horse there, and goes elsewhere to lodge⁶, he is still to be considered a guest. But not if he merely leaves goods for which the landlord receives no compensation. 1 Salk. 888; 2 Lord Raym. 866; Cro. Jac. 188. The length of time a man is at an inn makes no difference, whether he stays a day, or a week, or a month, or longer, so always, that, though not strictly⁷ transiens, he retains his character as a traveller. But if a person comes upon a special contract to board and sojourn⁹ at an inn, he is not in the sense of the law a guest, but a boarder. Bac. Ab. Inns, C. 5; Story, Bailm. §477.

2. Inkeepers are generally liable for all goods belonging to the guest, brought within the inn. It is not necessary that the goods should have been in the special keeping of the innkeeper to make him liable. This rule is founded on principles of public utility, to which all private considerations ought to yield. 2 Kent, Com. 459; 1 Hayw. N. C. Rep. 40; 14 John. R. 175; Dig. 4, 9, 1. Vide 8 Barb¹⁰. & Ald. 283; 4 Maule & Selw. 306; 1 Holt's N. P. 209; 1 Salk. 387; S. C. Carth. 417; 1 Bell's Com. 469 Dane's Ab. Index, h. t.; Yelv. 67, a; Smith's Leading Cases, 47; 8 Co. 32.

GUIDON DE LA MER, (LE). The name of a treatise¹¹ on maritime¹² law, written in Rouen, then Normandy, in 1671, as is supposed. it was received on the continent of Europe almost as equal in authority to one of the ancient codes of maritime law. The author of this work is unknown. This tract⁸ or treatise is contained in the Collection de Lois Maritimes," by J. M. Pardessus. vol. 2, p. 371, et seq.

GUILD¹³. A fraternity or company. Guild hall, the place of meeting of guilds¹⁴. Beame's, Glanville, 108 (n).

GUILT¹⁵, crim. law. That quality which renders criminal and liable to punishment; or it is that disposition¹⁶ to violate the law, which has manifested itself by some act already done. The opposite of innocence¹⁷. Vide Rutherf. Inst. B. 1, c. 18, s. 10.

2. In general everyone is presumed innocent until guilt has been proved; but in some cases the presumption¹⁸ of guilt overthrows¹⁹ that of innocence; as, for example, where a party destroys evidence to which the opposite party is entitled. The spoliation of papers, material to show the neutral character of a vessel²⁰, furnishes strong presumption against the neutrality of the ship. 2 Wheat. 227. Vide Spoliation.

GUILTY. The state or condition of a person who has committed a crime, misdemeanor or offence.

2. This word implies a malicious²¹ intent, and must be applied²² to something universally allowed to be a crime. Cowp. 275.

3. In pleading, it is a plea by which a defendant²³ who is charged with a crime, misdemeanor or tort, admits or confesses it. In criminal proceedings²⁴, when the accused is arraigned²⁵, the clerk asks him,: How say you, A B, are you guilty or not guilty?" His answer, which is given ore tenus, is called his plea; and when he admits the charge in the indictment²⁶ he answers or pleads guilty.