at 



DEFAMATION. 



DEFILADING. 



A deed, to IM abMlato >nd invTooble, miut b founded on valiuhle 

 or good consideration, untainted by anything immoral, illegal, or fraudu- 

 lent, though gift or voluntary conveyance will be eflW-tual M between 

 the i*rtiw. and U only liable to be questioned in certain oases by 

 cmliu.ru or subsequent purrhiKiri ; and a voluntary deed may become 

 imrooabla by a subsequent tale by the grantee of the subject-matter 

 1 by it, 

 i 



Ancient deed* were ihort, and raited to the limplicity of the time.. 

 When transaction, became more onmplioated, it wa> customary to 

 divide deed* into Mrenl formal parts; but it U not absolutely neces- 

 sary tort deed ahould be to divided, provided there are sufficient 

 word* to ahow the meaning and intention of the parties. These 

 formal part* arc: 1. The premises ; that U, the date, the parties' names 

 and lUaniidiim. the recital*, the consideration and receipt thereof, the 

 grant, the description of the thing* granted, and the exception, if any. 

 a. The habendum, which defines the estate or interest to be granted. 

 3k The teaeodum, which was formerly used to express the tenure by 

 which the estate granted was to be held ; but since freehold tenures 

 have been converted into common aoeage, the tenendum has grown out 

 of use. 4. The reddendum, the reservation of some new thing, sa rent, 

 to the grantor. 5. The condition (if any) annexed to the grant. 6. The 

 warranty. 7. The covenants. The office of these two liwt, in modem 

 conveyances, is served by special covenants for the validity of the title, 

 and to do or abstain from doing certain specified acts. 8. The conclusion, 

 which mentions the execution, Ac. 



Previous to its execution, the deed should be read, if any of the 

 parties require it ; or, as' to that party, it may be avoided. The 

 modern mode of executing deeds is by signing, sealing, and delivering. 

 Signing is not essential to the validity of a deed, though it is required 

 as to less formal instruments by the statute of frauds, 29 Ch. II. c. 3 ; 

 but sealing is absolutely necessary, which is the most ancient mode of 

 authentication, and has been in use from the earliest times. At present 

 the seal afford* no real security against fraud, for any impression upon 

 wax or other substance employed is sufficient ; indeed, it is generally 

 affixed by the stationer who engrosses the deed, and it is not even 

 necessary that there should be a seal for each party : one ia sufficient 

 for all. In some of the American states the impression upon wax has 

 been disused, and a flourish with the pen at the end of the name, or a 

 circle of ink, or a scroll, is allowed to be a valid substitute for a seal 

 The last essential to the due execution of a deed is delivery, except in 

 the case of a corporation, where sealing by the common seal has the 

 effect of delivery. The usual manner of delivering a deed is for the 

 executing party to say, " I deliver this as my act and deed ; " but any 

 less formal mode by which the party signifies his intention to deliver 

 it will be effectual. A deed may also be delivered as an escrow, that 

 U, to a third person to keep tall something is done by the grantee : 

 when the condition is performed the deed becomes effectual. A deed 

 takes effect from the delivery, and not from the date ; and, therefore, if 

 it have no date, or a date impossible, the delivery ascertains the time 

 from which it U to take effect. Evidence ia admissible also of delivery 

 on a day different from the date written. The execution is usually 

 attested. Enrolment and registration are rendered necessary in some 

 nasns by statutory enactment, and the revenue laws have imposed 

 certain stamps upon every description of deeds, the absence of which 

 prevents them from being admissible in evidence. 



The principal rules for the interpretation of deeds are, that the 

 effect be fair and reasonable, and as near as possible to the apparent 

 intent of the parties as the rules of law will admit ; that the con- 

 struction be made upon the entire deed, and not upon disjointed parts; 

 that where the intention is clear, too minute a stress be not laid on the 

 strict and precise signification of the words ; and that if there be two 

 clauses totally repugnant to each other, the first shall be received, and 

 the Utter rejected. There are many other rules of construction, which 

 are exactly the same in courts of law and equity. Courts of equity 

 also rectify mistakes in deeds, and give relief in cases of fraud, and 

 where instrument* are lost, ftc. [EQUITY.] 



After execution, a deed may became void by erasure, interlineation, 

 or other alteration in any material part ; but, generally speaking, such 

 alterations will be presumed to have been made before the execution, 

 if nothing appear to the contrary, or there be no cause to suspect that 

 it has been done in a clandestine manner. A grantee may also disclaim 

 the grant or disagree thereto ; and a deed may be destroyed or can- 

 celled, but such destruction or cancellation will not revest the thing 

 granted hi the grantor, though all personal engagements established by 

 the deed between the parties will be put an end to. 



A confirmation is an assent to an estate or interest already 

 created, by which act the person assenting confirms and gives validity 

 to the estate or interest so far as he can. A confirmation can only 

 have this effect with respect to estates voidable or defeasible ; it has no 

 operation upon estates which are absolutely void. (Butl. n. Co. Lilt., 

 895 6.) 



(Shep., Toudrtmt; Dixon; Co. Litt. ; Cruise's Itigett.) 

 DEFAMATION ; the speaking slanderous words of another. The 

 injured party may bring an action to recover damages, but to enable 

 him to succeed, it is absolutely necessary that the words should con- 

 tain an express imputation of some crime or misdemeanor which would 

 make him liable to punishment; or, if the words are not actionable in 

 themselves, some special damage should be proved to have resulted 



rom them to the plaintiff. There are certain CUM, however, where 

 words are spoken of a tradesman or professional person in the way of 

 his trade or profession, as that a tradesman is insolvent, or that so 



Money deserve* to be struck off the roll, in which the plaintiff, by 



of the character be fills, may recover damages. Of the first clans 

 .he following case affords an illustration. A churchwarden was accused 

 >y the defendant of having stolen one of the church bell-ropes : it was 

 held that, as the property of the bell-ropes was vested in the church- 

 warden, the words did not impute a crime to the plaintiff for which he 

 was punishable, and consequently that the action could not be main- 

 tained. In former times, actions for alander were very rare; and 

 .hough it has been frequently said that actions for words spoken in 

 heat or anger, suddenly and without deliberation, ought not to be 

 encouraged, yet it has been truly observed (by Wray, Ch. Just) 

 that unless the party injured by false and malicious scandal had a 

 remedy at law, it would lead to personal violence, and the consequence* 

 might be fatal. In most cases, malice in law may be inferred, but in 

 actions for slander primA fade excusable on account of the cause of 

 mbUahing the slanderous matter, malice in fact must be proved ; it in 

 scarcely necessary to observe, that where special damage is proved, the 

 existence of malice is immaterial Defamation is also punishable in 

 certain cases by indictment and criminal information. Where the 

 slanderous matter is spoken of a peer, the offence is termed scandalum 

 magnatum, and is made punishable by various statutes : this mode of 

 proceeding however may be said to have become obsolete. 



The ecclesiastical courts formerly had power to punish for defama- 

 tion : but these courts could only inflict punishment by way of penance ; 

 they could not award damages ; and this useless but mischievous juris- 

 diction has consequently been abolished. An action may also be main- 

 tained for slander of title to an estate or property ; but in this case 

 the plaintiff must prove malice express or implied : it is not sufficient 

 that the defendant should allege title in himself, or make objections 

 to the title of the plaintiff if ho had reasonable grounds for so doing. 

 (Cowl; M-Culloch; Selwyn, N.P.). [LIBEL; SLAJJDEB.] 



DEFEASANCE (from the French verb dtfairt, to make void) is an 

 instrument which defeats the force or operation of some other deed, 

 estate, or interest, upon the performance of certain prescribed >n- 

 ditions. In this manner mortgages were formerly made, the mortgagor 

 enfcofnng the mortgagee, and at the same time executing a deed of 

 defeazance. Defeasances being discountenanced by the courts, a* 

 affording opportunities for fraud, have long ceased to be used as appli- 

 cable to titles, it being far better to make the conditions apparent on 

 the deed itself. 



Defeasances to bonds, recognizances, &c., merely state the conditions 

 on which the instrument U to be void. The defeasances to warrants 

 of attorney and cognovits must be written upon the same paper or 

 parchment as the instruments themselves. 



DEFENCE OF FORTRESSES. [SIEOK.] 



DEFERENT, a circle or oval curve on which the centre of another 

 oval moves, while a planet is supposed to move round the latter. The 

 term ia one of the PTOLEMAIC HYPOTHESIS. Thus the earth's orbit, to 

 choose an example out of the modern system, is a deferent on which 

 the moon's orbit ia carried. 



DEFILADING U that part of the art of fortification the object of 

 which is to determine (when the intended work would be commanded 

 by eminences within the range of fire-arms) the directions or 

 heights of the lines of rampart or parapet, ao that the interior of 

 the work may not be incommoded by a fire directed to it from such 

 eminences. 



If it be required, with a given height of parapet, to approach 

 obliquely as near as possible to an eminence, the following process ia 

 adopted, the situation of the rampart or parapet at that extremity of 

 the intended line which is farthest from the eminence being also given. 

 A line is supposed to be drawn from the commanding eminence, or 

 rather from a point about eight feet above it, through another point 

 which represents the crest or summit of the intended parapet at the 

 given place, and to be continued till it intersects the natural ground in 

 rear of that part of the line of parapet. This crest ia considered as the 

 vertex of a cone whose base is a circle, on the ground, having i 

 radius a line equal to the distance from the parapet to the rear ex- 

 tremity of the ground to be protected (which distance, however, must 

 always be less than that of the intersection above mentioned). Then a 

 line being drawn on the plan, from the point vertically under the given 

 crest, parallel to a line drawn from the said intersection and touching 

 the circle, will be the direction of the intended rampart or parapet, 

 whose height must be everywhere equal to that which was given. Hy 

 this construction all the lines of fire from the commanding eminence, 

 and passing closely over the crest of the parapet, will be in a plane 

 meeting the ground on that eminence, and touching the convex surface 

 of the cone. 



Again, if it be required, when the plan of the work is determined, 

 to ascertain the height* of a rampart or parapet in different places, so 

 that the interior may be protected from the fire of the enemy on a 

 commanding eminence beyond, the relative heights of the principal 

 inequalities of the ground with respect to some horizontal plane, 

 technically called the plane of comparison (which generally passes 

 through the highest or the lowest point), must be found by the spirit 

 level. An oblique plan, technically called the plane of site, must be 



