EVERYMAN 



3O28 



EVIDENCE 



Everyman. English morality 

 play of the late 15th century, pro- 

 bably translated from its Dutch 

 counterpart, Elckerlijk (printed c. 

 1495). The earliest known editions 

 of Everyman were printed by 

 Richard Pynson (undated, but ap- 

 parently before 1531). The play, 

 which " comprises the whole pitiful 

 pathos of human life and death," is 

 one of the finest examples of the 

 moralities. The story of God's 

 summoning of Everyman (all man- 

 kind represented as an individual) 

 by Death on that journey which none 

 may escape, and of Everyman's at- 

 tempts to find a willing companion, 

 is based on an earlier parable told in 

 the religious romance of Barlaam 

 and Josaphat (q.v.). 



Bibliography, Select Collection of 

 Old Plays, R. Dodsley, ed. W. C. 

 Hazlitt, vol. 1, 1874; Everyman, 

 introd. by F. Sidgwick, 1902; The 

 Summoning of Everyman, ed. J. S. 

 Farmer, 1906. 



Everyman Theatre. Theatre 

 at Hampstead, London, N.W. A 

 drill-hall close to the Tube station 

 at Hampstead was acquired and 

 fitted up as a small theatre with 

 a seating capacity of about 300. 

 This was opened as a repertory 

 theatre on Sept. 15, 1920, with 

 Bonds of Interest, a Spanish com- 

 edy by Jacinto Benevente, and 

 other high-class plays followed in 

 quick succession. Norman Mac- 

 Dermott was the first manager. 



Evesham. Mun. bor. and mar- 

 ket town of Worcestershire, Eng- 

 land It stands on the Avon, 15 m. 

 E.S.E. of Wor- 

 cester, on the 

 G.W. and Mid. 

 Rlys. S. Egwin 

 founded a Bene- 

 dictine monas- 

 tery here in the 

 8th century, of 

 which a bell 

 tower and gate- 

 The town hall k 



an Elizabethan structure, and the 

 grammar school was founded by 

 Abbot Lichfield in 1536. The 

 battle of Evesham was fought at 

 Green Hill. The site is marked by 

 an obelisk. Fruit growing and mar- 

 ket gardening are actively engaged 

 in. There is excellent boating on 

 the Avon. Market day, Mon. The 

 town lends its name to a co. div. 

 returning one member to Parlia- 

 ment. Pop. 8,340. 



Evesham, BATTLE OF. Fought 

 Aug. 4. 1265, between the royalists 

 under Edward, afterwards Edward 

 I, and the baronial party under 

 Simon de Montfort. Defections had 

 broken Montfort' s power, and in 

 the summer of 1265 he was retreat- 

 ing before his foes. The force 

 which his son Simon was bringing 



Evesham arms 

 way still remain. 



from the S. to join him was de- 

 stroyed by Edward at Kenilworth, 

 Aug. 1, and the elder Simon, fall- 

 ing back into Wales, halted at 

 Evesham, Aug. 3. Prince Edward 

 hastened up and cut off all chances 

 of escape. His plans were so 

 cleverly laid that Earl Simon ex- 

 claimed : " God have mercy on 

 our souls, for our bodies are theirs." 

 The royalists attacked in two 

 divisions, and the battle was soon 

 over. Numbers told, both Simon's 

 horse and foot gave way, the 

 former only after a stubborn re- 

 sistance, and Montfort and his son 

 Henry were killed. 



Eviction (Lat. evincere, to over- 

 come). Name given to the process 

 of ejecting a tenant from a house or 

 land. In the United Kingdom, as 

 the law stood before 1914, an evic- 

 tion order could be obtained from 

 a magistrate by the landlord, pro- 

 vided he had given due notice to 

 the tenant. The legislation occa- 

 sioned by the Great War made evic- 

 tions more difficult, and by the 

 Courts (Emergency Powers) and 

 other Acts, tenants could only be 

 evicted if the landlord required the 

 premises for his own use. The 

 word is chiefly known in connexion 

 with the evictions of Irish tenants 

 for refusing to pay their rent, which 

 was a marked feature of the land 

 trouble between 1880 and 1900. 

 In 1907 an Act for the benefit of 

 the evicted tenants was passed ; 

 it gives powers to commissioners 

 to secure land for them. See 

 Distraint ; Ireland ; History ; Rent 

 Restriction. 



Evesham. Bell tower of the old 

 Benedictine monastery 



From a sketch by C. O. Harper 



Evidence (Lat. evidentia). Word 

 used for the legal method of prov- 

 ing facts in a court of law. The 

 law of evidence is one of the chief 

 points of difference in the adminis- 

 tration of justice between English- 

 speaking countries and others. 

 English courts are very strict in 

 their admission of evidence, or 

 rather in their exclusion of certain 

 matters of evidence and modes of 

 proof. The chief rules of evidence 

 are : (1 ) That all evidence must be 

 relevant to the issue ; (2) that 



such relevant matters must be 

 proved by the " best " evidence. 



Relevancy is really a matter of 

 logic. How far any given fact 

 offered to be proved tends to prove 

 any matter in issue is for the judge 

 to decide. One or two things may 

 be borne in mind. A witness's 

 opinion (e.g. "I think the driver 

 of the car was to blame") is no 

 evidence. It is never relevant, 

 except where technical matters are 

 in dispute, and then the opinion of 

 skilled experts is admitted because 

 there is no other way of arriving at 

 the facts. The character of the 

 parties is not relevant ; and, there- 

 fore, if I sue a man for damages 

 for fraud I arn not allowed to 

 call 50 witnesses to show that he 

 is a man who has committed 

 other frauds. All I am allowed 

 to do is to cross-examine him as 

 to his character, and try to drive 

 him to admit that his record is 

 bad. But even this is not evidence 

 that he defrauded me. 



The only time a plaintiff, or 

 prosecutor, can call evidence of the 

 kind above described is where the 

 evidence shows a system of wrong- 

 doing, and the act in issue is a part 

 of the system long firm frauds for 

 example. On the other hand, a 

 man accused of crime may always 

 bring evidence of his good charac- 

 ter. A plaintiff's character can be 

 attacked to reduce the damages in 

 an action for slander or libel ; be- 

 cause, obviously, a man of bad 

 character does not suffer so much 

 from an attack on his reputation 

 as a man of good character does. 



The rule of best evidence is a rule 

 of exclusion, It excludes hearsay. 

 If you wish to prove something 

 seen or heard, you must put in the 

 box the man who saw or heard it, 

 and not a man who heard that 

 another man saw or heard it. This 

 is English law. The contents of a 

 document must be proved by pro- 

 ducing the document itself. If 

 the document is, or has been, in 

 the possession of the other side, 

 who does not produce it after no- 

 tice to do so, secondary evidence 

 may be given. Again, if the judge 

 is satisfied that it has been lost, 

 stolen, or destroyed, secondary 

 evidence is admissible. Bankers are 

 allowed, instead of producing their 

 books in court, to send a certified 

 copy. And there are whole classes 

 of public documents, such as en- 

 tries in marriage, birth and death 

 registers, wills, or bills of sale, 

 which can be proved by officially 

 certified copies. 



A statement made by one of the 

 parties (admission or confession) is 

 always evidence against him, but 

 not in his favour. Thus, a trades- 

 man cannot put in his books to 



