that he has sustained. The damages in any action in which compensation for a wrong may be got are assessed by a jury, and when judgment is given, the plaintiff is entitled to get these damages from the defendant.

The plural word "damages" in this sense appears to be a technical use of the word "damage," damnum in the Law Latin, which means the loss that one man sustains by the act of another. The loss may be either a loss that affects his property or it may arise from an act which affects only his person, as assault, and imprisonment. There is a legal maxim that a man cannot recover damages when there is a "damnum absque injuria," a loss without an injury, that is, when one person sustains a loss by the act of another, but the act is not an illegal act. The word "injury" is here used in the proper sense of the Latin word "injuria," from which it comes: "injuria" signifies that which is "non jure factum," or done contrary to law. Damages then may be got when the act which causes the damage is an "injury" or 'legal wrong," but not otherwise, however great may be the loss caused by the act of another. If one comes and sets up a shop by the side of another and takes away all his custom, he has caused him loss enough, but the sufferer can have no compensation, for it is legal for a man to set up a shop, even if he thereby ruins all other shopkeepers.

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The kind of acts which are considered injuries is fixed by law; but sometimes cases arise in which it is difficult to determine how far the act which causes loss is an act which is permitted, or should be permitted, for the administrators of the law sometimes determine what shall be law by an appeal to what should be.

The word "damnum," damage, is used in the Roman Law. There might be "damnum sine injuriâ facientis," which was called Pauperies, a term which signified some damage caused by a quadruped, for which the owner was liable. The word "injuria" implied that the doer must be a rational agent; and therefore in the case of an animal, the mischief was said to be done without "injuria." When the loss or damage was caused by the act

of a human being, it was "damnum injuria." (Dig. 9, tit. 1 and 2.)

cases for

A man may receive great loss from the wrongful act of another, and have no compensation by the law of England. He may have damages for loss to his property caused by an illegal act; and he may have compensation in some damage to his body caused by the wrongful act of another. But as wrongs in the English law are distributed into private and public, and private wrongs are called civil injuries, and public wrongs are called crimes and misdemeanors, so there is a private, that is, an individual compensation in case of a private wrong, and a public compensation (if we may use the term) in the case of a public wrong. A man cannot recover compensation in respect of being robbed, for robbery is a public wrong, and the punishment that is inflicted is not inflicted with a view to compensate the injured person. A man may recover compensation if he is beaten by another, when the case is an assault; but if he should be half killed by a man who intended to kill him outright, this is a public wrong, and the sufferer gets no private compensation. says Blackstone, "Robbery is an injury to private property, but were that all, a civil satisfaction in damages might atone for it: the public mischief is the thing for the prevention of which our laws make it a capital offence. In these gross and atrocious injuries the private wrong is swallowed up in the public: we seldom hear of any mention made of satisfaction to the individual; the satisfaction to the community being so very great." It seems that the amount of satisfaction to the community, that is, to all the members of the state, is so great that the inIdividual who sustains the loss may be well satisfied to go without anything except his share of the public satisfaction.

Thus,

The extension of the principle of recovering damages, that is, pecuniary compensation, to other cases than those in which they may now be had, is a subject that deserves the attention of legal reformers.

Blackstone (iv. c. 1) has stated generally the cases in which a man may get damages and may not: but, as usual, he is

DAMNUM. [DAMAGES.]

DEACON, an ecclesiastical term of Greek origin, from Aiákovos (Diáconus, literally, a servant), introduced into the Saxon vocabulary, and continued in use to the present time.

It designates one of the orders in the Christian priesthood, the lowest of the three-bishops, priests, and deacons.

The first institution of the order is particularly set forth in the sixth chapter of the Book of Acts. The administration of charities in the Church of Jerusalem was complained of as partial by the Grecian converts. The apostles, in whom the administration had been vested, thought it expedient to divest themselves of this duty, and to devolve it on other persons, that they might devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Seven persons were selected for the office, and by prayer and the imposition of hands ordained deacons.

It appears by the First Epistle of St. Paul to Timothy, that there were deacons in other Christian churches, and probably in all where such an officer was needed. He gives instructions (chap. iii. 8-13) respecting the character which became persons who should be admitted into the office. See also Phil. i. 1. There were also deaconesses in the primitive church, one of whom, Phoebe, is mentioned, Rom. xvi. 1. This female officer may be traced to the eleventh or twelfth century.

The peculiar office of both deacons and deaconesses was to attend to works of mercy, to be the administrators of the alms of the more opulent members of the

church.

In the English church the name continues, and the peculiar form of ordination, but the peculiar duties of the office seem to be lost sight of. In fact the Poor Laws, by creating certain civil officers whose duty it is to attend to the poor, have perhaps rendered the services of the deacon in this his characteristic capacity less necessary.

In some dissenting communities there are deacons who still discharge the duties

collect the alms of the people at the sacrament, and distribute them among the poor. But they are always laymen, or persons who have not gone through the forms, generally few and slight, of ordination as practised among the dis

senters.

There is a form for the ordination of deacons in the English church: some clergymen never take priests' orders. It appears by the Rubric that a person in deacon's orders is empowered to read publicly the Scriptures and homilies, to catechise, to preach when licensed to do so by the bishop, and to assist a priest in divine service, and especially in the communion. When contemplated in the light in which this form places him, he appears as an assistant to a priest, for he is to seek out the sick and poor, and report them to the priest, and in the absence of the priest to baptize. This latter permission has led to the introduction of the performance of other ecclesiastical duties, namely, the celebration of matrimony and the burial of the dead. In fact the deacon performs all the ordinary offices of the Christian priesthood, except consecrating the elements at the administration of the Lord's Supper and pronouncing the absolution.

A person may be ordained deacon at twenty-three. He may then become a chaplain in a private family; he may be a curate to a beneficed clergyman, or lecturer in a parish church, but he cannot hold any benefice, or take any ecclesiastical promotion. For this it is requisite that he take priest's orders.

DEADWEIGHT. [NATIONAL DEBT.] DEAN (French Doyen, and in Latin Decanus), a word which, at first sight, would appear to be allied to DEACON, but which has probably a different origin. Etymologists seem not to be agreed concerning the origin of the word; but the most usual origin assigned to it is the word decem, ten, as if a dean were a person who presided over collective bodies of men or things, in number ten. The word Dean is generally used as an ecclesiastical term. The French word Doyen is applied both to ecclesiastical and lay personages. Richelet (Dict., art. Doien)

elected. In the bishoprics of St. David's and Llandaff the office of bishop and dean is united in the same person.

3. Deans in Peculiars.-There are in England certain ecclesiastical promotions, in which the person holding them is called by the name of dean, and they seem to have all had anciently, as some of them have now, capitular bodies connected with them, and in all there is something peculiar in reference to their spiritual superiors, and in the jurisdiction exercised by them. The principal of them are the dean of Westminster; the dean of the chapel of St. George, of Windsor; the dean of Christ Church, Oxford; the dean of the Arches; the dean of the King's Chapel; the dean of Battel; the dean of Bocking; the dean of Middleham, &c. If the history of these foundations were traced to their origin, it would be seen that they were ecclesiastical establishments, mostly of royal foundation, possessing peculiar privileges and a peculiar jurisdiction, which escaped | dissolution when the framework of the ecclesiastical institutions of England underwent some alteration at the time of the Reformation. There are also Honorary Deans, as the dean of the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace. The Bishop of London is dean of the province of Canterbury, and the Archbishop of Canterbury sends to him his mandate for summoning the bishops of his province in Convocation.

DEBENTURE (Latin, debentur, from debeo, to owe), formerly written debentur, is a kind of certificate used at the Customhouse, which entitles a merchant who exports goods upon which a drawback or bounty is allowed to receive payment. Goods on which drawback or bounty is allowed are called Debenture goods (3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 58, §§ 86, 87, 88, &c.). The forging of a Custom-house debenture is simple felony (41 Geo. III. c. 75, § 7). | The 7 & 8 Geo. IV. c. 29, § 5, makes it felony to steal any debenture or other security for money.

The word has been used in some acts of parliament to denote a bond or bill, by which the government is charged to pay a creditor or his assigns the money due on auditing his account. Debentures were

DECLARATION. [OATH.] DECLARATION [BILL OF RIGHTS.] DECREE, DECRETAL. Law, p. 445; CATHOLIC CHURCH, p. 459.]

DECREE [EQUITY.]

[CANON

DEED, an instrument in writing or print, upon paper or parchment, comprehending the terms of an agreement between parties able to contract, duly sealed and delivered. The name for a deed in the Law French of Littleton and others is fait, that is, factum, a thing done; of which deed is the translation. Deeds are of two kinds, indented and poll: a deed indented is called an indenture, and has a waving line cut teeth-fashion on one of the edges of the material upon which it is written, usually the top edge; and when the deed consists of more sheets than one, on the first sheet only. The term indenture implies that the deed is of two parts, that is, two parts or copies exactly alike, and that the two parts were divided by the line in order to afford additional means of authentication; but, except in the cases of leases, marriage settlements, partnership deeds, and some few others, there are seldom more parts than

one.

The expense of stamps on deeds is so heavy, that frequently, where two or more parties are equally interested in a deed, it is deposited with some person for their joint use. Hence the term indenture, in common acceptation, now implies little more than that the deed is made by and between two or more parties. Anciently some word, as for instance "chirographum" (whence "chirograph"), was written in capital letters upon the

part where the parchment or paper was to be divided, and afterwards cut in an indented or, in some cases, a straight line. A deed poll is cut even, or polled at the edges, and is usually of one part only, that is, the deed of one party, or of several parties of the same part. The form commences in the mode of a declaration, "Know all men by these presents, that," &c.: the form appropriated to an indenture or a deed among several parties is "This indenture, made, &c. between, (here the parties to the deed are named), &c. Witnesseth," &c. A deed between several persons is not necessarily indented, except in those cases where an indenture is required by statute, and except in the working of what is called an estoppel. The indenting is not essential, even though the instrument should commence "This indenture," &c. It has been said that the indenting may be supplied after the deed is executed, and even in court; but in all cases where the indenting is essential to the validity of the deed, it seems clear that this must be a mistake. Since the passing of the act 7 & 8 Vict. c. 76, § 11, entitled 'An Act to simplify the Transfer of Property,' it is not necessary to indent a deed.

A deed, to be absolute and irrevocable, must be founded on a valuable or good consideration, untainted by anything immoral, illegal, or fraudulent, though a gift or voluntary conveyance will be effectual as between the parties, and is only liable to be questioned in certain cases by creditors or subsequent purchasers; and a voluntary deed may become irrevocable by a subsequent sale by the grantee of the subject-matter conveyed by it. [CONSIDERATION.]

Ancient deeds were short, and suited to the simplicity of the times. When transactions became more complicated, it was customary to divide deeds into several formal parts; but it is not necessary that a deed should be so divided: it may be a good deed, if there are sufficient words to show the meaning and intention of the parties to it.

Previous to its execution, the deed should be read, if any of the parties to the deed require it. The modern mode of executing deeds is by signing, sealing,

and delivery. 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 is 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 is 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. The delivery means that the person whose deed (act) the instrument is to be, and who is to be bound by it, delivers it to the person who is to receive some benefit from this deed, or to some person acting for him, and thereby declares that the act is complete. All the parties whose deed (act) the instrument is to be, must deliver it as their deed. A deed may also be delivered as an escrow, i. e. to a third person to keep till 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 has no date, or a date impossible, the delivery ascertains the time from which it is to take effect. Evidence is 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 cases 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.