(US 



DEPOSITION DERBY. 



ments (only capital punishment and consignment to 

 labour for life, together with trailing the ball, as it is 

 called, are ranked before it), and gives rise to civil 

 death. The person deported loses the control of his 

 property, is deprived of the power of making con- 

 tracts, and his heirs enter into possession of his 

 estate in the same manner as though he were actually 

 deceased ; yet the government can grant him in the 

 place of his banislunent, which is always assigned 

 without the main land of European France, the 

 ordinary civil privileges, or a portion of the same. If 

 a person deported return to France without the leave 

 of the government, he is immediately condemned to 

 the before-mentioned punishment of hard labour for 

 life. If he have fled to a foreign country and soil, 

 and ever comes ngain into the power of the French 

 government, he is again remitted to the place of his 

 banishment. Deportation, or transportation, is also 

 one of the legal punishments in England. See New 

 South /Pales, and Crime. 



DEPOSITION, in law ; testimony given in court 

 by a witness upon oath. It is also used to signify 

 the attested written testimony of a witness by way of 

 answer to interrogatories. These interrogatories are 

 usually put in writing, and must be short and perti- 

 nent, and not such as will lead the witness to give a 

 turn to his answer favourable to one of the parties. 

 The witnesses are examined before magistrates, hav- 

 ing a general authority given them by statute to take 

 depositions, by commissioners appointed by the court 

 which has cognizance of the case. If the witnesses 

 are foreigners, residing beyond sea, they are examined 

 upon oath, through skilful sworn interpreters. The 

 deposition of a heathen, who believes in the Supreme 

 Being, taken by commission according to the forms 

 used in his country in giving evidence, is admissible. 

 By the practice of some countries, the commissioners 

 are sworn to secrecy, and the deposition cannot be 

 made public till the papers containing it are opened 

 in court. After a witness is fully examined, the ex- 

 aminations are read over to him, and he is at liberty 

 to alter or annul anything ; and then the examina- 

 tions are complete. 



Depositions are frequently taken conditionally, or 

 de bene esse, as it is called ; for instance, when the 

 parties are sick, aged, or going abroad, depositions 

 are taken, to be read in court, in case of their death 

 or departure before the trial conies on. 



DEPTFORD; a town of England, county of 

 Kent, at the confluence of the Ravensbourne with the 

 Thames ; four miles east from London. It is very 

 irregularly built, and- contains two churches, besides 

 several places of worship for dissenters. There is a 

 royal dock-yard here, with fine wet docks, and nu- 

 merous buildings for the manufacture and preserva- 

 tion of naval stores. There are also several private 

 docks in the neighbourhood, for building and repair- 

 ing merchantmen. There are two hospitals belong- 

 ing to the society of the Trinity-house. This society 

 was founded in the reign of Henry VIII., by Sir 

 Thomas Spert, for the increase and encouragement 

 of navigation, and for the good government of the 

 seamen, and the better security of merchant ships on 

 the coasts. Population of the town, 19,795. 



DERBY, a town of England, and capital of the 

 county of the same name, is situated on the western 

 banks of the river Derwent, 126 miles from London. 

 It is conjectured that the name of the town, and that 

 of the river Derwent, have the same origin ; that 

 originally it was Dericentby, or the town by the Der- 

 weiit, and that in process of time, this name was cor- 

 rupted or abbreviated into Deorby or Derby. In the 

 ninth century, the Danes are said to have established 

 themselves Uere, until expelled by Ethelfleda, the 

 daughter of king Alfred. Subsequently, the town has 



been the scene of some historical events. One of the 

 latest of these was the hostile incursion into England 

 of Charles Edward Stuart, in Dec. 1745, when Derby 

 became the utmost limit of the expedition, as tin- in- 

 vaders, alarmed by the advance of the royal forces, 

 n-ireated northwards, and were finally defeated at 

 Culloden. 



Derby comprises many handsome houses of mo- 

 dern erection, as well as some good public build- 

 ings. The streets are spacious and well paved, and 

 through a considerable part of the town flows a 

 stream, called Markerton Brook, over which there 

 are five stone bridges. Among the principal public 

 edifices are the assembly room, the guildhall, the 

 county hall, the county jail, the theatre, the infir- 

 mary, and the ordnance depot, the two latter of which 

 are situated a short distance from the town. The 

 assembly room was erected by subscription about 

 1774. The guildhall, built by the corporation, about 

 1730, is a freestone structure, standing in the area of 

 the market-place. The county hall was erected in 

 the latter part of the seventeenth century ; and ad- 

 joining it is a house for the reception of the judges 

 during the county assizes, which are held here. The 

 county jail was built in 1756, and the theatre in 

 1773. The Derbyshire General Infirmary was com- 

 pleted for the reception of patients in 1810, at the 

 expense of 17,870, including the price paid for the 

 ground on which it stands. It aflbrds accommoda- 

 tion for eighty patients, besides a fever ward for those 

 labouring under contagious diseases ; and the whole 

 of the interior arrangements display neatness, con- 

 venience, and utility, much beyond what is usual in 

 such establishments. A philosophical society was 

 established at Derby in 1788, by Dr Darwin, who 

 spent the latter years of his life there. Another 

 society, of a similar description, was instituted ir 

 1808, under the title of the Derby 'Literary and 

 Philosophical Society. The town can boast also of 

 several good libraries. 



Derby was formerly a great wool-mart ; and the art 

 of dyeing woollen cloth was supposed to be practised 

 here with peculiar advantage, in consequence of the 

 water of the Derwent being especially adapted for that 

 purpose. Derby ale is mentioned by Camden, in the 

 reign of Elizabeth, and a century later the town main- 

 tained its reputation for making malt and malt liquor. 

 It has long been famous for its silk-works, the original 

 establishment of which was owing to the skill and en- 

 terprise of John Lombe, an ingenious artist, who in 

 the beginning of the last century went to Italy, and at 

 considerable personal risk obtained models and plans, 

 with which, returning to England, he was enabled 

 to erect a mill for making organzine, or thrown silk, 

 on an island in the river Derwent, which he purchased 

 from the corporation of Derby. In 1718, he pro- 

 cured a patent for fourteen years, to secure to him- 

 self the benefit of his ingenuity ; but dying a few 

 years afterwards, the property ultimately became 

 vested in his cousin, Sir Thomas Lombe, who, apply- 

 ing to parliament for a renewal of the patent, ob- 

 tained in lieu of it a grant of 14,000, on condition 

 of allowing a model to be taken of the works for the 

 public advantage. Since that time many other mills 

 have been erected. Here also are manufactories for 

 weaving silk and cotton goods ; silk stockings are 

 likewise made at Derby. The porcelain manufacture 

 was introduced about 1750, but great improvements 

 have since been effected, and the articles produced 

 are said to surpass the finest of foreign workman- 

 ship. Fluor spar, marble, and alabaster, chiefly the 

 produce of the mountains of Derbyshire, are here 

 manufactured into a variety of articles, useful and 

 ornamental ; here are also a patent shot manufactory, 

 iron founderies, colour manufactories, and bleaching 



