PROVOCATION1. The act of inciting2 another to do something.
2. Provocation simply, unaccompanied by a crime or misdemeanor, does not justify3 the person provoked to commit an assault and battery. In cases of homicide, it may reduce the offence from murder to manslaughter. But when the provocation is given for the purpose of justifying4 or excusing an intended murder, and the party provoked is killed, it is no justification5. 2 Gilb. Ev. by Lofft, 753.
3. The unjust provocation by a wife of her hushand, in consequence of which she suffers from his ill usage, will not entitle her to a divorce on the ground of cruelty; her remedy, in such cases, is by changing her manners. 2 Lee,, R. 172; 1 Hagg. Cons6. Rep. 155. Vide Cruelty; To Persuade; 1 Russ. on Cr. B. 3, c. 1, s. 1, page 434, and B. 3, c. 3, s. 1, pa e 486; 1 East, P. C. 232 to 241.
PROVOST. A title given to the chief of some corporations or societies. In France, this title was formerly7 given to some presiding judges. The word is derived8 from the Latin praepositus.
PROXENETAE, civil law. Among the Romans these were persons whose functions somewhat resembled the brokers9 of modern commercial nations. Dig. 50, 14, 3; Domat, 1. 1, t. 17, 1, art. 1.
PROXIMITY10. Kindred between two persons. Dig. 38, 16, 8.
PROXY11. A person, appointed in the place of another, to represent him.
2. In the ecclesiastical law, a judicial12 proctor, or one who is appointed to manage another man's law concerns, is called a proxy. Ayl. Parerg.
3. The instrument by which a person is appointed so to act, is likewise called a proxy.
4. Proxies13 are also annual payments made by the parochial clergy14 to the bishop15, &c., on visitations. Tom. Law Dictionary, h. t. Vide Rutherf. Inst. 253; Hall's Pr. 14.
5. The right of voting at an election of an incorporated company by proxy is not a general right, and the party claiming it must show a special authority for that purpose. Ang. on Corp. 67-69; 1 Paige's Ch. Rep. 590; 5 Day's Rep. 329; 5 Cowen, Rep. 426.
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