Legal Term: PLEDGES

Definition: pleading. It was anciently necessary to find pledges or sureties to prosecute a suit, and the names of the pledges were added at the foot of the declaration; but in the course of time it became unnecessary to find such pledges because the plaintiff was no longer liable to be amerced, pro falsa clamora, and the pledges were merely nominal persons, and now John Doe and Richard Roe are the universal pledges; but they may be omitted altogether; 1 Tidd s. Pr. 455; Arch. Civ. Pl. 171; or inserted at any time before judgment. 4 John. 190.

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