in a general sense, denotes any active power or cause. Agents are either natural or moral. Natural agents are such inanimate bodies as have a power to act upon other bodies in a certain and determinate manner; as, gravity, fire, &c. Moral agents, on the contrary, are rational creatures, capable of regulating their actions by a certain rule.

Agent, is also used to denote a person intrusted with the management of an affair, whether belonging to a society, company, or private person.