SPONSALIA, or STIPULATIO SPONSALITIA. A promise lawfully1 made between persons capable of marrying each other, that at some future time they will marry. See Espousals; Ersk. Inst. B. 1, t. 6, n. 3.
SPONSIONS, international law. Agreements or engagements made by certain public officers, as generals or admirals, in time of war, either without author-ity, or by exceeding the limits of authority under which they purport3 to be made.
2. Before these conventions can have any binding4 authority on the state, they must be confirmed by express or tacit ratification5. The former is given in positive terms and in the usual forms; the latter is justly implied from the fact of acting6 under the agreement as if bound by it, and from any other circumstance from which an assent7 may be fairly presumed. Wheat. Intern2. Law, pt. 3, c. 2, 3; Grotius, de Jur. Bel. ac Pac. 1. 2, c. 15, 16; Id. 1. 3, c. 22, 1-3: Vattel, Law of Nat, B. 2, c. 14, 209 -212; Wolff, 1156.
SPONSOR, civil law. He who intervenes for another voluntarily and without being requested. The engagement which he enters into is only accessory to the principal. Vide Dig. 17, 1, 18; Nov. 4, ch. 1 Code de Com. art. 158, 159; Code Nap. 1236 Wolff, Inst. 1556.
SPRING. A fountain.
2. The owner of the soil has the exclusive right to use a spring arising on his grounds. When another has an ea百度竞价推广ent, or right to draw water from such a spring, acquired by grant or prescription8, if the spring fails the ea百度竞价推广ent ceases, but if it returns, the right revives.
3. The waters which flow from the spring give rise to a variety of diffi-culties, the principal of which are, 1st. The owner of the inheritance in which the spring arises turns their course. The owner of the inferior estate, whose, meadow they fertilized9, and who is deprived of them, claiming the right to them. 2d. The owner of the spring does not prevent the water from flowing on the inferior estate, but gives them a new direction injurious to it. 3d. The owner of the superior inheritance disposes of the water in such a way as to deprive the owner of the estate below him. The rights of these different owners will be separately considered.
4. - l. The owner of land on which there is a natural spring, has a right to use it for domestic and culinary purposes and for watering his cattle, and he may make an aqueduct to another part of his land, and use all the water required to keep the aqueduct in order, or to keep the water pure. 15 Conn. 366. He may also use it for irrigation, provided the volume be not materially decreased. Ang. W. C. 34. Vide Irrigation; and 1 Root, 535; 2 Watts10. 327; 2 Hill, S. C. 634; Coxe, 460; 2 Dev. Bat. 50; 9 Conn. 291; 3 Pick. 269; 13 Mass. 420; 8 Mass. 136; 8 Greenl. 253.
5. - 2. The owner of the spring cannot lawfully turn the current or give it a new direction. He is bound to let it enter the inferior estate on the same level it has been accustomed to, and at the same place; for every man is entitled to a stream of water flowing through his land, without diminution11 or alteration12. 6 East, 206; 2 Conn. 584. Vide 3 Rawle, 84 12 Wend. 330; 10 Conn. 213; 14 Verm. 239.
6. - 3. The owner of the superior inheritance, or of the land on which there is a spring, has no right to deprive the owner of the estate below him; 1 Yeates, 574; 5 Pick. 175; 3 Har. John. 231; 12 Verm. 178; 13 Conn. 303; 3 Scam. 492; nor can be detain the water unreasonably13. 17 John. 306; 2 B. C. 910. Vide Ham. N. P. 199; 1 Dall. 211; 3 Rawle's R. 256; Jus Aquaeductus; Pool; Stagnum; Back Water; lrrigation, Mill; Rain Water; Water Course.
