Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/585

Rh E S T E S T 563 of 1343, sold liis troublesome possession in 1347 to the Knights of the Sword for 19,000 marks ; and the history of Esthonia is in consequence practically the history of that order till the IGth century. The nobles and cities offered voluntary homage to Sweden in 1521, but the Swedish kings found it no easy task to maintain their claim against the Russian encroachments, which had begun as early as 1483. The foolish ambition of Charles XII. decided the matter against them ; and in 1721, by the peace of Nystadt, Esthonia was formally ceded to Peter the Great, who did what he could to conciliate the inhabitants, both Esthonians and Germans. Serfdom was abolished in 1817 by Alexander I., but the condition of the peasants continued so unsatisfactory that they rose in rebellion in 1859. The struggle between German and Russian influences is still going on, but it can hardly end in anything else than Russian domination. See, besides the works already mentioned, Hupel, Topoyra- phische NacJirichten, Riga, 1774-82; Petri, Estkland und die Esthen, 1802; Willigerod, Geschichte Esthlands, 1817; Merkel, Die frcicn Lctten und Esthen, 1820; Ewer, DCS Hcrzogthums JEsthlands Ritter- tind LandrccJitc, Dorpat, 1821 ; T. L. von Parrot, Liwcn, Lattcn, Eastcn, 1839; Job. Friedrich von Reck and Karl Eduard Napinsky, Allgemcincs Schriftstcllcr- und Gelehrte.:- Lexicon der Provinzcn Liv- land, Estland, &c. ; Kohl, Die Deiitsch-Rassisclun Ostsceprovinzen, 1S40; lligby, &quot; L Esthonie,&quot; in Revue Britannique, 1841; Letters from the Baltic, London, 1844; Possart, Statistik und Geographic, des Gouvernemcnts Esthlands, 1846; Kruse, Urgeschichte des Esth- nischen Volksstamms, 1846 ; Milner, The Baltic, 1854 ; Mag. Fr. Schmidt, &quot; Untersuchungen iiber die Erscheinungcn der Glacial- formation in Estland und auf Oesel, &quot; in Bull, de VAcad,. Imp. de St Pctersbourg, 1865 ; Von Ilichter, Geschichte der dcutschen Ostsce provinzen, 1857-1853; Etzel, Ostsce und Kiistenldndcr, 1859; (Jroger, Geschichte Liv- Est- und Kurlands, 1867 ; Eckardt, Die BaHischen Provinzcn Jlusslands, Leipsic, 1869 English translation (&quot;Modern Russia &quot;), 1870 ; F. Miiller, Bcitrdge zur Orographie iind Hydrographie von Estland, 1870 ; Hunfalvy, Eeisen in der Ostsee- provinzen Russlands, 1873; AVeske, Rcise durch das Estenland im Sommer 1875, St Petersburg, 1876; Fried. G. von Bunge, Das Hcrzogthum EsilandunlcrdcrJZerrschqftder Ko nigc von Diinemark, Gotha, 1877. ESTIEXXE, STEPHAXUS, or STEPHENS, a celebrated French family of printers. See STEPHENS. ESTOPPEL, in law, is where a party in litigation is not permitted to assert or deny something, when such assertion or denial would be inconsistent with his own previous state ments or conduct. Estoppel is said to arise in three ways (1) by record or judgment, (2) by deed, and (3) by matter in jxiis or conduct. (1.) AVhere a cause of action has been tried and final judgment has been pronounced, the judgment is conclusive either party attempting to renew the litiga tion by a new action would be estopped by the judgment. &quot; Every judgment is conclusive proof as against parties and privies, of facts directly in issue in the case, actually decided by the court, and appearing from the judgment itself to be the ground on which it was based.&quot; Stephen s Digests of the Law of Evidence, Art. 41. (2.) It is one of the privi leges of deeds as distinguished from simple contracts that they operate by way of estoppel. &quot; A man shall always be estopped by his own deed, or not permitted to aver or prove anything in contradiction to what he has once so solemnly and deliberately avowed &quot; (Blackstone, 2 Com., 295); e.g., where a bond recited that the defendants were authorized by Acts of Parliament to borrow money, and that under such authority they had borrowed money from a certain person, thsy were estopped from setting up as a d. fence that they did not in fact so borrow money,as stated by their deed. (3.) Estoppel in pais is the most important head. The rule practically comes to this that, when a person in hi.s dealings with others has acted so as to induce them to believe a thing to be true and to act on such belief, he may not in any proceeding between himself and them deny the thing to be true; e.g., a partner retiring from a firm without giving notice to the customers, cannot, as against a customer having no knowledge of his retire ment, deny that he is a partner. As between landlord and tenant the principle operates to prevent the denial by the tenant of the landlord s title. So if a person comes upon land by the licence of the person in possession, he cannot deny that the licenser had a title to the possession at the time the licence was given. Again, if a man accepts a bill of exchange he may not deny the signature or the capacity of the drawer. So a person receiving goods as baillee from another, cannot deny the title of that other to the goods at the time they were entrusted to him. ESTREMADURA (commonly derived from extrcma ora, compare Land s End, Fiuistere, &amp;lt;fcc.), a province of Portugal, bounded on the N. and N.E. by Beira, on the S. and S.E. by Alemtejo, and on the W. by the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between 38 6 and. 40 15 N. lat., and between 7 43 and 9 3 32 W. long., being about 140 miles in length from N. to S. by about 80 miles in breadth. The river Tagus divides it into two nearly equal parts, the northern being the more mountainous, but at the same time the more fertile, of the two. A chain of mountains extending from Beira traverses the northern portion from X.X.E. to S.S.W., and terminates on the coast between the estuary of the Tagus and the sea. This range sends off spurs in various directions. Between Torres Vedras and Lisbon is an extensive chain of points, some formed by nature and others by art, and stretching in a general direction from E. to W. Along these Lord Wellington constructed a series of defensive works called the &quot; Lines of Torres Yedras,&quot; by means of which he was able successfully to resist the advance of the French in vaders. This mountain chain attains a height of 2300 feet, and separates the streams which fall into the Tagus from those that flow directly into the sea. The part lying N.W. and between it and the sea is mostly flat and sandy towards the coast, and either barren or covered with forests of pines. For about 50 miles N. of the mouth of the Tagus, however, or as far as Peniche, the coast consists of rocky cliffs, some of which attain a great elevation. South-east of the ridge, and sloping towards the Tagus, the country is finer and better cultivated. The plains about Tomar and Santarem are very fertile, and abound with olive and other fruit trees. But the finest part of the province is that which lies S. of the lines of Torres Yedras towards Lisbon. Here the valleys are covered with villages, country seats, gardens, orchards, and vineyards. In Estremadura the general sys tem of land tenure was formerly that known as &quot;Ingadas,&quot; by which the farmer paid a rent in corn or produce for each yoke of oxen lent out to him by the landlord. A modifica tion of this tenure yet exists, and its results are seen in the bad and backward farming which prevails. South of the Tagus the country is mostly low and flat, and in several places unhealthy. The land rises towards Alemtejo, and several ranges of hills proceeding from that province enter Estremadura. The principal river is the Tagus, which falls into the sea below Lisbon. The Zezere is a large and rapid stream which rises in Beira, and flowing southward falls into the Tagus below Puuhete. The Zatas and Altnausor both rise in Alemtejo, and flow at a short distance from each other into the eastern of the two branches into which the Tagus is divided above Lisbon. The principal rivers flowing directly to the sea are in the northern portion, the Lis, Alcoa, Arnoya, and Zizambre, and in the southern the Maroteca and the Sado, the last being the largest. Estremadura is divided into the three districts of Lisbon, Santarem, and Leiria. The population of the pro vince in 1871 was 839,691. ESTREMADURA, an old province of Spain, divided in 1833 into the provinces of Badajoz and Caceres, lies between 37 58 and 40 32 N. lat., and between