2. Pecuniary punishment, is one which imposes a fine on a convict; a pecuniary legacy is one which entitles the legatee to receive a sum of money, and not a specific chattel. In the ecclesiastical law, by pecuniary causes is understood such causes as arise either from the withholding ecclesiastical dues, or the doing or omitting such acts relating to the church, in consequence of which damage accrues to the plaintiff. In England these causes are cognizable in the ecclesiastical courts.