of Tudor, the deer park began to fall into decay. By Queen Elizabeth’s time a considerable proportion of the ancestral acres of the great houses had passed into the possession of rich merchants and wealthy wool-staplers, and it had become more profitable to breed bullocks than to find pasture for deer, and even where the new men retained, and even in some cases created, deer parks, they reduced their area in order that more land might be available for grazing or for corn. Thus began that decadence of the deer park which has continued down to the present time. More than anything, however, the strife between Charles I. and parliament contributed to reduce both the number and size of English parks containing deer. By the Restoration the majority of the parks in England had for the time being been destroyed, the palings pulled down, the trees felled, and the deer stolen. Of the duke of Newcastle’s eight parks seven were ruined, that at Welbeck alone remaining intact. Not a tree was left in Clipston Park, although the timber had been valued at £20,000. One of the results of the Restoration was to empty the parks of the Roundhead squires to replenish those of the Royalists, but this measure helped little, and great numbers of deer had to be brought from Germany to replenish the depleted stocks. A gentleman of the Isle of Ely was indeed given a baronetcy in return for a large present of deer which he made to Charles II. The largest existing deer park in England is that at Savernake (4000 acres), next comes Windsor, which contains about 2600 acres in addition to the 1450 acres of Windsor Forest. Lord Egerton of Tatton’s park at Tatton in Cheshire, and Lord Abergavenny’s at Eridge, each contain about 2500 acres. Other parks which are much about the same size are those of Blenheim, Richmond, Eastwell, Duncombe, Grimsthorpe, Thoresby and Knowsley. All these parks are famous either for their size, their beauty, or the number and long descent of the deer which inhabit them. The size of English parks devoted to deer varies from that of these historic examples down to a very few acres. A small proportion of the older enclosures contains red- as well as fallow-deer. In some of the larger ones many hundreds of head browse, whereas those of the smallest size may have only a dozen or two. Although many enclosures were disparked in very recent times, the 19th century saw the making of a considerable number of new ones, usually of small dimensions. The tendency, however, is still towards diminution both in number and extent, cattle taking the place of deer.
DEFAMATION (from the classical Lat. diffamare, to spread
abroad an evil report—the English form in de is taken from the
Late Lat. defamare), the saying or writing something of another,
calculated to injure his reputation or expose him to public hatred,
contempt and ridicule. (See Libel and Slander.)
DEFAULT (Fr. défaut, from défailler, to fail, Lat. fallere), in
English law, a failure to do some act required by law either as a
regular step in procedure or as being a duty imposed. Parties
in an action may be in default as to procedure by failure to appear
to the writ, or to take some other step, within the prescribed time.
In such cases the opposing party gains some advantage by being
allowed to sign judgment or otherwise. But as a rule, unless the
party is much in default and is under a peremptory order to
proceed, the penalty for default is by order to pay the costs
occasioned. When there is default in complying with the terms
of a judgment the remedy is by executing it by one of the
processes admitted by the law. (See Execution.) In the case
of judgments in criminal or quasi-criminal cases, where a fine
is imposed, it is in most cases legal and usual to order imprisonment
if the fine is not paid or if the property of the
defendant is insufficient to realize its amount. Default in
compliance with a statute renders the defaulter liable to action
by the person aggrieved or to indictment if the matter of
command is of public concern, subject in either case to the
qualification that the statute may limit the remedy for the
default to some particular proceeding specifically indicated;
and in some instances, e.g. in the case of local authorities,
default in the execution of their public duties is dealt with
administratively by a department of the government, and only
in the last resort, if at all, by recourse to judicial tribunals.
DEFEASANCE, or Defeazance (Fr. défaire, to undo), in law,
an instrument which defeats the force or operation of some other
deed or estate; as distinguished from condition, that which in the
same deed is called a condition is a defeasance in another deed.
A defeasance should recite the deed to be defeated and its date,
and it must be made between the same parties as are interested
in the deed to which it is collateral. It must be of a thing
defeasible, and all the conditions must be strictly carried out
before the defeasance can be consummated. Defeasance in a
bill of sale is the putting an end to the security by realizing
the goods for the benefit of the mortgagee. It is not strictly a
defeasance, because the stipulation is in the same deed; it is
really a condition in the nature of a defeasance.
DEFENCE (Lat. defendere, to defend), in general, a keeping
off or defending, a justification, protection or guard. Physical
defence of self is the right of every man, even to the employment
of force, in warding off an attack. A person attacked may use
such force as he believes to be necessary for the warding off an
attack, even to the extent of killing an assailant. The same right
of reciprocal defence extends not only to defence of one’s own
person, but also to the defence of a husband or wife, parent or
child, master or servant. (See Assault; Homicide.) As a legal
term in English pleading, “defence” means the denial by the
party proceeded against of the validity of a charge, or the steps
taken by an accused person or his legal advisers for defending
himself. In civil actions, a statement of defence is the second
step in proceedings, being the answer of the defendant to the
plaintiff’s statement of claim. In the statement of defence must
be set out every material fact upon which the defendant intends
to rely at the trial. Every fact alleged in the statement of claim
must be dealt with, and either admitted or denied; further facts
may be pleaded in answer to those admitted; the whole pleading
of the plaintiff may be objected to as insufficient in law, or a set-off
or counter-claim may be advanced. A statement of defence
must be delivered within ten days from the delivery of the
statement of claim, or appearance if no statement of claim be
delivered.
By the Poor Prisoners’ Defence Act 1903, where it appears, having regard to the nature of the defence set up by any poor prisoner, as disclosed in the evidence given or statement made by him before the committing justices, that it is desirable in the interests of justice that he should have legal aid in the preparation and conduct of his defence, and that his means are insufficient to enable him to obtain such aid, it may be ordered either (1) on committal for trial by the committing justices, or (2) after reading the depositions by the judge or quarter sessions chairman. The defence includes the services of solicitor and counsel and the expenses of witnesses, the cost being payable in the same manner as the expenses of a prosecution for felony. Briefly, the object of the act is, not to give a prisoner legal assistance to find out if he has got a defence, but in order that a prisoner who has a defence may have every inducement to tell the truth about it at the earliest opportunity. Legal assistance under the act is only given where both (1) the nature of the defence as disclosed is such that in the interests of justice the prisoner should have legal aid to make his defence clear, and (2) where also his means are insufficient for that end (Lord Alverstone, C. J., at Warwick Summer Assizes, The Times, July 26, 1904).
DEFENDANT, in law, a person against whom proceedings
are instituted or directed; one who is called upon to answer in
any suit. At one time the term “defendant” had a narrower
meaning, that of a person sued in a personal action only, the
corresponding term in a real action being “tenant,” but the
distinction is now practically disregarded, except in a few states
of the United States.
DEFENDER OF THE FAITH (Fidei Defensor), a title belonging
to the sovereign of England in the same way as Christianissimus
belonged to the king of France, and Catholicus belongs to the ruler
of Spain. It seems to have been suggested in 1516, and although
certain charters have been appealed to in proof of an earlier use
of the title, it was first conferred by Pope Leo X. on Henry VIII.
The Bull granting the title is dated the 11th of October 1521,
