DEE 115 DEF
them. They were afterwards introduced to Stephen, king ofPoland , but with no better success. Soon after this they wereinvited by a rich Bohemian nobleman, to his castle of Tre-bona, where they continued for some time in great affluence; ow-ing, as they asserted, to their art of transmutation by means of acertain powder in the possession of Kelley. Dee now quarrellingwith his companion in iniquity, quitted Bohemia , and returned toEngland, wnere he was once more graciously received by thequeen; who, in 1595, made him warden of Kir,nchester college,in which town he redded several years. In 1604, lie returned tohis n- use at Mortlake, where he died in 1608, aged SI, leaving alarge fai.blv, and many works, behind him. The black stone intowlncb Dee used to call his spirits, was in the colleclieu of the earlsof Peterborough, whence it came to Lady Elizabeth Germaine.It was next the properly of the late duke of Argyle, and is nowMr. Walpole’ •• It has been found upon examination lobe nothingbut a polished piece of canned coal. The celebrated Dr. Hook,many years after Dee’s death, has endeavoured to prove thathis journal, published by Casaubon, was entirely cryptographical,concealing his political transactions, and that under the mask ofpursuing the occult sciences, he was employed by queen Llizabethas a say. Lie is said to have been created LI.. D. at Louvain .
DP.LD, an instrument written on paper or parchment, whichrelates print ipally to the conveyance, or transferring of property,and the validity of which consists in the following essential parti-culars: I. Proper parfie to contract with one another, and a pro-per subject matter to be contracted for; 2. A good and sufficientconsideration; 3. Writing on parchment, or paper, duly stamped;4. Sufficient and legal words, properly disposed; 5. Reading (if itbe desired) before execution; 6. fiystat. 29 Car. 2. c. 3, in manycases signing also; and, lastly, delivery which must be done eitherby the party himself, or by his attorney, lawfully authorized, andexpressed in the attestation. If any of these requisites he wauling,the deed is absolutely void, from the beginning. The preserva-tion of deeds is an object that has ever engaged the attention ofthe lawyer and the antiquary: it is of still greater importance tothoke who hold estates or other tenements, in order to enable themto peruse such papers as have been kept for a series of years, andw hich from moisture, or other causes, are almost illegible. To fa-cilitate this desirable object, we select the following, as being themost simple ol the many recipes which have been recommended :immerse the parchment obliterated by time, into a vessel of coldwater, fresh drawn from a well: in the space of a minute, it shouldbe taken out, and pressed between two blotting papers, to preventit from shrivelling, while it is drying. As soon as it is moderatelydry (if the characters be not legible,) the operation should be re-peated two or three limes, d ims, the skin will resume its pristinecolour, and appear throughout alike. In construction of law, thefirst deed and the last will stand in force; and where a deed is byindenture between parties, none can have an action upon suchdeed, but the person who is a party to it. In a deed-poll, how-ever, one person may covenant with another, who is not a partv,to do certain acts; lor the non-performance of which he may bringhis action. Where a man justifies title under any deed, he oughtto produce that deed; if it be alleged in pleading, it must he pro-duced to the court, that it may determine whether the deed con-tain sufficient words to make a valid contract.
DEEMSTERS, or DEMSTERS, [from tlcma, Sax. a judgecr umpire,] all controversies in the Isle of Man are decided with-out process, writings, or any charges, by certain judges, chosenyearly from among themselves, called deemsters; there being twofor each division'of the island: they sit judges in all courts, eitherfor life or property; and with the advice of 24 keys, declare whatis law in uncommon emergencies.
DEEP SEA-LINE, or DIP SEA-LINE, in the sea-languagea small line to sound with: some a hundred and fifty fathoms long,with a hollow plummet at the head, and tallow put into it, toBring up stones, gravel, sand, shells, and the like, from the bot-tom, in order to know the differences of the ground; which beingentered from time to time in their books, by comparing of obser-vations, they guess bv their soundings, &c. what coasts they areon, though they cannot see land.
Df.kr, an island of the LLdted States, in Penobscot Ray, onthe coast of Hancock county, in the district of Maine , 13 miles incircumference.
animals which is lnmled for venison, containing many subordinatespecies; as the slag, or red deer, the buck, or fallow deer, theroebuck, and others. SceCiinvus.
DEER LI ELD, a town of New Hampshire 35 miles N. IV. ofPortsmouth .
Deerfield, or Pocomtic, a river of Vermont , which receiv-ing many streams, enters MassaduiseE, thence fails into the Con-necticut .
DL FACTO, [L;\t.] something actually in fact, or existing; incontradistinction to dejure, where a thing is only so in justice, butnot in fact: as a king de facto is a person who is actually in pos-session of a crown, but lias no legal right to the same; and a kingde jure is the person who lias a just right to the crown, though In-is not possessed of it.
DEFAMATION , the offence of speaking slanderous words ofanother; and where any person circulates any report injurious tothe credit or character of another, the party injured may bring anaction to recover damages proportioned to the injury he has sus-tained ; but it is incumbent upon the party to prove that he hassustained an injury, to entitle him to damages, in some cases,however, as for words spoken which, by law, are in themselvesactionable, as calling a tradesman a bankrupt, a cheat, or swindler,Arc. there is no occasion to prove any particular damage, but theplaintiff must be particularly attentive to state words precisely asthey were spoken, otherwise he will be nonsuited.
DEFAULT, is commonly taken for non-appearance in court ata day assigned. It a plaintiff make default in appearance in a trialat law, he will be nonsuited ; and where a defendant makes a de-fault, judgement shall be hail against him by default.
Default in Criminal Cases. If an offender, being indicted,appeai-s at (he capias, and pleads to issue, and is let to bail to at-tend his trial, and then makes delault; here the inquest, in ease offelony, shall never be taken by default; but a capias ad audien-dum juratum shall issue, and if the party is not taken, an exigent;and it he appear on that writ, and then makes default, an exigifacias de novo maybe granted: but where, upon the capias onexigent, the sheriff returns cepi corpus, and at the day has not hisbody, the sheriff shall he punished; hut no new exigent awardedbecause in custody of record. ? II. H, 202.
Default of Jurors. If jurors make default in their appear-ance for trying of causes, fhey shall forfeit their issues, unless theynave any reasonable excuse proved by witnesses, in which easethe justices may discharge the issues for default. Slat. 35 11.VIII. c. 6.
DEFEASANCE, or DEFEISANCE, the difference betweena common condition and a defeasance is, that the condition is an-nexed to, or inserted in, the deed;.and a defeasance is a deed byitself, concluded and agreed on between the parties, and havingrelation to another deed.
DEEECAI E, or DEILECATE, in chemistry, a term appliedto a body freed and purged from faces and impurities, bee thearticle Clarification, &c.
DEFECTION, the deserting, abandoning, orfaliing off from, aparty, or interest, a person had been engaged in.
DEFECTIVE, in general, an appellation given tofhingswhichwant some of the properties that naturally they ought to have.Thus,
Defective Nouns are those which want one of the numbers,or one or more cases. See Noun .
DEFENCE, in forth;cation, all sorts of works that cover anddefend the opposite - posts, as flanks, casemates, parapets, andfaussebrays. See Fortification .
Defence, to be in a Posture of, is to be in a condition toresist or oppose an enemy.
Defence, Line of, a supposed line drawn from the angle ofthe curtin, or from any other part in the cnrlin, to the llunkedangle of the opposite bastion, bee Fortification.
Defence, in law, signifies a plea, or what the defendant oughtto make after the plaintiff’s count, or declaration, viz. that he de-fends all the wrong, force, and damages, where and when lieought, &c. If the rlefendant would plead to the jurisdiction, hemust omit the words, where and when he ought; and if he wouldshew any disability in the plaintiff, and- demand judgement, if theplaint iff shall be answered unto, then he ought to omit the defenceoi the damage. There is a full defence usually in personal ac-tions.
Defences,