DEMISE

demise, an anglo-french legal term (from the fr. _demettre_, lat. _dimittere_, to send away) for a transfer of an estate, especially by lease. the word has an operative effect in a lease implying a covenant for "quiet enjoyment" (see landlord and tenant). the phrase "demise of the crown" is used in english law to signify the immediate transfer of the sovereignty, with all its attributes and prerogatives, to the successor without any interregnum in accordance with the maxim "the king never dies." at common law the death of the sovereign _eo facto_ dissolved parliament, but this was abolished by the representation of the people act 1867, § 51. similarly the common law doctrine that all offices held under the crown determined at its demise has been negatived by the demise of the crown act 1901. "demise" is thus often used loosely for death or decease. demiurge (gr. [greek: demiourgos], from [greek: demios], of or for the people, and [greek: ergon], work), a handicraftsman or artisan. in homer the word has a wide application, including not only hand-workers but even heralds and physicians. in attica the demiurgi formed one of the three classes (with the eupatridae and the geomori, georgi or agroeci) into which the early population was divided (cf. arist. _ath. pol._ xiii. 2). they represented either a class of the whole population, or, according to busolt, a commercial nobility (see eupatridae). in the sense of "worker for the people" the word was used throughout the peloponnese, with the exception of sparta, and in many parts of greece, for a higher magistrate. the demiurgi among other officials represent elis and mantineia at the treaty of peace between athens, argos, elis and mantineia in 420 b.c. (thuc. v. 47). in the achaean league (q.v.) the name is given to ten elective officers who presided over the assembly, and corinth sent "epidemiurgi" every year to potidaea, officials who apparently answered to the spartan harmosts. in plato [greek: demiourgos] is the name given to the "creator of the world" (_timaeus_, 40) and the word was so adopted by the gnostics (see gnosticism).