Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/328

* DIS. 280 DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. DIS, or DIS PATER. Tlio Roiiinii name for tlio poil wluiiii till' (.irecks call Pluto (q.v.). DISABILITY. As a lofpil torni, the want of powor to (111 a particular net or class of acts. It may result from bodily or mental incapacity, or froin a rule of law. Of the first sort is the dis- ability referred to in accident insurance policies, which provide for ))ayn.ents to persons who, by reason of physical injuries, are unable to work; also in statutes which make provision for the sui)|iiirt of ])oor persons who are ])hysically or mentally incapable of procuring a livelihood. (Ither examples of this class are alforded by luna- tics and infants of tender years. Disabilities, originntin}; in a rule of law, are those attaching to aliens, to infants who have reached the ape of discretion, to married women under the common law, and to other special classes of persons. The reasons for imposing these legal disabilities upon persons who possess natural capacity for action are set forth in the articles treating of such per- sons, to which the reader is referred. Perhaps he should be reminded in this connection, however, that some disabilities are intended as a protection or benefit to their subject, while others are im- posed either by way of penalty or for the protec- tion of individuals or of society at large. An example of the first class is the legal incapacity of the minor who has not readied years of discre- tion. For his protection the law denies him the power of binding himself by contract. Yet the law does not sever him from responsibility for his torts or crimes. Ilis disability is allowed to operate as a shield, but not as a sword. To the second class belong the disabilities imposed upon criminals or upon aliens or upon those who are denied the exercise of the elective franchise or are disqualified for holding public oflice. For a more detailed account of the legal consequences of le7al disabilities, consult Advkrse Posses.ston : Ai.irx; Att.ixi)EH; Coxtr.^ct; Dked: Duress: Limit.- Tiox OF Actions: and N'KCiLicENCE. DISAPPOINTMENT, Cape. See Cape Dis- API'OI.N' IMLNT. DISBARMENT. The act of depriving an attorney, counselor at law, solicitor, or barrister of his rights and privileges as such. The power to do this rests with the courts, and they may take this action, upon sufficient cause, on com- plaint of any one. or of their own motion, where the cause comes to their knowledge directly. It may be exercised when an attorney has been guilty of gross contempt of court, dishonesty, extortion, or professional misconduct of a serious nature, and in some jurisdictions where he becomes a person of general bad <haiailer. so t1i:il he can- not be considered a fit person to be intrusted with the legal business of others. He must be given an opportunity to be heard in his own behalf, usually in open court, and may cross-examine any witness who may testify against him, and produce witnesses in his own favor, inueh as if he were under indictment for a crime. Tt is con- sidered a severe penalty, as it depri%'es the per- son from earning a livelihood by his profession, and is only impnsed in grave eases and after a thorough investigation and consideration. Where the conduct has been culpable, but there is rea- son to believe that it will not be repeated, the court will sometimes suspend the attorney from practice for a definite period, on the expiration of which he resumes his fonner rights and priv- ileges. The court may restore one who has been disbarred to practice, in its discretion, where proof is presented thai he will probably conduct himself properly in the future. See .ArroRNEY, and consult the authorities there referred to; see also Barrister; Coi'N'seloh; Solicitob; Coi'RT. DISCHARGE (OK. discharge, from dis- charger, i''r. dcvhurgvr. It. discaricare, scaricarc, from ML. discargan; discarricarc, to unload, from dis-, away -j- varricarc. to load, from Lat. carrus, car, from Gall, carrus. Ir.. Wel~h. OlSret. carr. car), JliLiTARV. At military law an en- listed man is, in general, entitled to his discharge from the service in writing when he has com- pleted his term of enlistment. He cannot be dis- charged before the expiration of his term except (1) by order of the President; (2) by sentence of a general court-martial: (.3) on a certificate of disability; (4) on a writ of habeas corpus. A discharge is either honorable, ilishonorable, or without honor, depending u|i(in the character of the service rendered and the circuiiistanees under which it is given. The President may. in his dis- cretion, permit a soldier to purchase his dis- charge. An officer failing on a reexamination is honorably discharged with one year's pay from the army. Consult Ihiilcd States Army liequln- tions (Washington, 1001). DISCHARGE OF ELECTRICITY THROUGH GASES. S.e Kij;ctricity. DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, or Christians. This religious lioily. sometimes ealled. w ithout its consent, •('aiiiplii'lliles,' represents a movement in the Church in the Interest of union by a return in faith and life to the Christianity of the Xew Testament. They arc distinctly American in their origin. Simultancousl.v in dilTerent sec- tions of the country arose teachers among the re- ligious denominations who pleaded for the Bible alone without addition in the form of creeds or formulas of faith, and for the union of Chris- tians of evcrj' name upon the basis of the Apos- tles' teaching. This movement assumed mo.st notable proportions in western Virginia and Pennsylvania, and in Kentuckv. Thomas Camp- bell and his .son .Mexander (q.v.). of Bethany, Va., renounced the Presbyterian system and were im- mersed in 1812. and with the congregations they had formed united with the Redstone Baptist .sBoeiation. and, ten years later, with the Ma- honing Associaticm. In 1S2.'! .Mexander Camp- bell began to set forth with great vigor and learning in a periodical entitled The f'hrislian Ho/ilixt a plea for the simple gospel order of things, as under the .postles. It was not a ref- ormation he urged, but 'a restoration'; not the organization of a ne>v sect, or the reformation of an old one, but a return to .Terusalem. the re- newal of the ancient landmarks of the Christian religion, the restoration of .Apostolic Christian- ity, it.s doctrines, ordinances, and fruits. His protest against human creeds as lumds of union, and plea for the all-sufi'ieieney of the sacrcl Scriptures, aroused ojiposition. and the views he advocated were in many quarters denounced as heterodox. Great numbers, however, accepted Iheni. anil upder the preaching of Campbell and Walter Scott, an evangelist of the ilahotiinu Association, many new churches were formed, until the Baptists began to declare non-fellow-