Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/774

Rh 738 E V E E V I He resigned his seat, on the orders of his physician, and retired to what was called private life. But, as it proved, the remaining ten years of his life most widely established his reputation and influence throughout America. As early as 1820 he had established a reputa tion, such as few men in later days have enjoyed, as an orator. He was frequently invited, as other public men are invited in America, to deliver an &quot;oration&quot; on one or another public topic of historical or other interest. With him these &quot; orations,&quot; instead of being the ephemeral entertainments of an hour, became careful studies of some important theme, so that the collected edition of them is now one of the standard books of reference in an American s library. Eager to avert, if possible, the impending conflict of arms, Everett prepared an &quot;oration&quot; on Washington, which he delivered in every part of America. In a printed note accompanying the published edition of it, he names nearly one hundred and twenty-five occasions, in almost every State in the Union, in every section but the extreme south-west, where it was repeated. This exception was caused only by illness in his family, after he had received invitations to go to that quarter also. He travelled really as an ambassador of peace among irritated States. The eagerness to hear him was so great that, from the first, his hosts arranged, almost always, that tickets should be sold to all auditors ; and as he travelled wholly at his own charges, the audiences thus contributed more than one hundred thousand dollars for the purchase of the old home of Washington at Mount Vernon, and the securing it as a shrine for American patriotism. Everett s name, in direct violation to his wishes, was presented, with Mr Bell s, as a candidate of North and South jointly for vice-president in the election of 18GO, when Abraham Lincoln was elected. The civil war followed. Reconciliation was impossible, and he gave all his learning, zeal, and eloquence, to the support of the national govern ment. For four years he was the trusted adviser of every department ; he was called upon in every quarter to speak at public meetings. He delivered the last of his great ora tions at Gettysburg, after the battle, on the consecration of the national cemetery there, In February of 1865 the suc cess of the national arms was certain. He had the pleasure of speaking at a public meeting in Boston to raise funds for the Southern poor in Savannah, just taken by General Sherman. At that meeting he caught cold, which was followed by sudden illness, and by his death January 15, 1865. In Everett s life and career was a combination of the results of diligent training, unflinching industry, delicate literary tastes, and unequalled acquaintance with modern politics. This combination made him in America an en tirely exceptional person. He was never loved by the politi cal managers j he was always enthusiastically received by assemblies of the people. He would have said himself that the most eager wish of his life had been for the higher edu cation of his countrymen. His orations have been collected in four volumes. A work on public law, on which he was engaged at his death, was never finished. (E. E. H.) EVESHAM, a municipal and parliamentary borough and market town of Worcestershire, England, is situated in the vale of Evesham, 15 miles S.E. of Worcester, on the Mid land and Great Western Railways, and on the river Avon, over which there is an ancient stone bridge of eight arches, connecting it with Bengeworth parish, which forms part of the borough. It is a well-built town, and its two main streets are wide and clean. The surrounding land is of great fertility, and is occupied chiefly as market gardens. The^ inhabitants of the town are mostly employed in the rearing of garden produce, but there are also manufactories for agricultural implements, and for gloves and hosiery. The principal buildings are the old town-hall, the churches of All-Saints, St Lawrence, and St Peter s, and the grammar school. Evesham is a place of considerable antiquity, a monastery having been founded there as early as the begin ning of the 8th century. Of this building almost the only remnant is a magnificent tower, built not long before tha Reformation. This tower, which is considered the best extant specimen in England of the Pointed ecclesiastical style of the 16th century, is 110 feet high and 28 feet square at the base. At Evesham was fought, on the 14th August 1265, the famous battle between Prince Edward, afterwards Edward I., and Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, in which the latter was totally defeated, and he and his son slain. Previous to 1867 Evesham returned two members to parliament, but it now returns only one. The population in 1871 was 4888. EVIDENCE. It is necessary to distinguish two com mon meanings of the word evidence which are not unfrequently confused. Evidence sometimes means the ascertained facts from which we infer the existence of some other fact or principle. It also means the testimony of persons as to the existence of facts, from which testimony we infer that these or other facts do or do not exist. It is the latter sense alone which ia appropriate in speaking of judicial evidence, 1 The rules of the law of evidence are based chiefly on considerations relating to human testimony. Their fundamental purpose is to guard and test the truth fulness of statements as to matters of fact made in a court of justice. The further question, what conclusion is to be drawn from the facts, supposing them to be true, is the subject of few if any specific rules. The general theory o relevancy excludes testimony relating to facts from which no conclusion whatever could be drawn with reference to the facts in issue. On the other hand, in the case of what is called &quot; conclusive proof,&quot; the law directs that on certain evidence the judge must regard some fact as proved and reject any evidence offered against it. Between these two extremes the law leaves the relation between facts in evidence and facts in issue to the unaided logic or common sense of the tribunal. The theory of relevancy above alluded to lies at the root of the law of evidence, and requires some preliminary explanation. The phrase is not one of common use in English text books, and nothing like a statement of the general principle is to be found in them. Roscoe, for instance (Digest of the Laio of Evidence at Nisi 7 n ws), simply states that, &quot; as the object of pleading is to reduce the matters in difference between the parties to distinct and simple issues, so the rules of evidence require that no proof, oral or documentary, shall be received that is not referrible to those issues. All evidence of matters which the courts judicially notice, or of matters immaterial, superflu ous, or irrelevant, is therefore excluded.&quot; And again, &quot;In general, evidence of collateral facts, not pertinent to the issue, is not admissible,&quot; We are left to collect from the abundant wealth of decided cases what things are relevant and material, and what things are irrelevant and super fluous. . A statement of the general result of the cases will be found in Sir James F. Stephen s recently published Digest of the Law of Evidence. In the introduction to an edition of the Indian Evidence Act, by the same author, the theory of lelevancy thus deduced from the decided cases is fully explained, and its connexion with the general laws of experimental inquiry pointed out. 1 Sir James Stephen s definition is &quot;Evidence means (1) all state ments which the judge permits or requires to be made by witnesses in court in relation to matters of fact under inquiry; such statements are called oral evidence; and (2) all documents produced for the inspec tion of the Court or jndge; such documents are called documentary evi dence.&quot; Digest of ike Law of Evidence.