Fr. It seems; it would appear. This expression is often used in the reports to preface a statement by the court upon a point of law which is not directly decided, when such statement is intended as an intimation of what the decision would be if the point were necessary to be passed upon. It is also used to introduce a sugges- tion by the reporter, or his understanding of the point decided when it is not free from obscurity. Semel civis semper civis. Once a citizen always a citizen. Tray. Lat. Max. 555. Semel mains semper prsesnmltur esse malus in eodem genere. Whoever is once bad Is presumed to be so always in the same kind of affairs. Cro. Car. 317.