Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/462

440 P A X P A Y bour. Towards the centre, on an eminence, stands Papandi, the residence of the bishop of Paxo, and throughout the island are scattered a large number of churches, whose belfries add greatly to the picturesqueness of the views. On the west and south-west coasts are some extensive and remarkable caverns, of which an account will be found in Davy s Ionian Islands, vol. i. pp. 66-71. Ancient writers Polybius, Pliny, itc. -do not mention Paxos by itself, but apply the plural form Paxi (Ila^ot) to Paxos and the smaller island which is now known as Antipaxo (the Propaxos of the Antonine Itinerary). Compare PAN, p. 208 above. PAXTON, SIR JOSEPH (1803-1865), architect and orna mental gardener, was born of humble parents at Milton Bryant, near Woburn, Bedfordshire, and was educated at the grammar-school of that town. Having served his apprenticeship as gardener, he obtained employment at Chiswick, the seat of the duke of Devonshire, and eventually became superintendent of the duke s gardens and grounds at Chatsworth, and manager of his Derbyshire estates. The design according to which he remodelled the gar dens and grounds has awakened the general admiration of landscape gardeners ; and he also built a grand con servatory, in which he introduced various improvements of great value in construction and arrangements. To this edifice there attaches a peculiar interest from the fact that it formed the model for the Great Exhibition building of 1851. The happy suggestion of Paxton solved a difficulty which threatened to render it impossible to hold the exhi bition, and in recognition of his great services he received the honour of knighthood. On the formation of the Crystal Palace Company he was invited to prepare the design for the building at Sydenham, and was also appointed director of the gardens and grounds. Subsequently he received several commissions as an architect, his most important design being that for the mansion of Baron James de Rothschild at Ferrieres in France. His versa tility of invention was also shown by his organization of the Army Work Corps which served in the Crimea. In 1854 he was chosen M.P. for Coventry, which he continued to represent till his death, which occurred at his residence near the Crystal Palace, 8th June 1865. Paxton was elected in 1826 a Fellow of the Horticultural Society, in 1833 a Fellow of the Linnean Society, and in 1844 he was made a knight of the order of St Vladimir by the em peror of Russia. He is the author of several contributions to the literature of horticulture, including a Practical Treatise on the Culture of the Dahlia (1838) and a Pocket Botanical Dictionary (1st ed., 1840). He also edited the Cottage Calendar, the Horticultural Register, and the Botanical Magazine. PAYMENT, in English law, is one of the modes of per formance of an obligation, and consists in the discharge of a sum due in money or the equivalent of money. In order that payment may extinguish the obligation it is necessary that it should be made at a proper time and place, in a proper manner, and by and to a proper person. If the sum due be not paid at the appointed time, the creditor is entitled to sue the debtor at once, in spite of the readiness of the latter to pay at a later date, subject, in the case of bills and notes, to the allowance of days of grace. In the common case of sale of goods for ready money, a right to the goods vests at once upon sale in the purchaser, a right to the price in the seller; but the seller need not part with the goods till payment of the price. Payment may be made at any time of the day upon which it falls due, except in the case of mercantile contracts, where the creditor is not bound to wait for payment beyond the usual hours of mercantile business. If no place be fixed for payment, the debtor is bound to find, or to use reasonable means to find, the creditor, unless the latter be abroad. Payment must be made in money which is a legal tender (see below), unless the creditor waive his right to payment in money by accepting some other mode of pay ment, as a negotiable instrument or a transfer of credit. If the payment be by negotiable instrument, the instrument may operate either as an absolute or as a conditional dis charge. In the ordinary case of payment by cheque the creditor accepts the cheque conditionally upon its being honoured ; if it be dishonoured, he is remitted to his original rights. The creditor has a right to payment in full, and is not bound to accept part payment unless by special agreement. Part payment is sufficient to take the debt out of the Statute of Limitations. It is a technical rule of English law that payment of a smaller sum, even though accepted by the creditor in full satisfaction, is no defence to a subsequent action for the debt. The reason of this rule seems to be that there is no consideration for the creditor foregoing his right to full payment. In order that payment of a smaller sum may satisfy the debt, it must be made by a person other than the person originally liable, or at an earlier date, or at another place, or in another manner than the date, place, or manner contracted for. Thus a bill or note may be satisfied by money to a less amount, or a money debt by a bill or note to a less amount ; a debt of 100 cannot be discharged by payment of 90 (unless the creditor execute a release under seal), though it may be discharged by payment of 10 before the day appointed, or by a bill for 10. Payment must in general be made by the debtor or his agent, or by a stranger to the contract with the assent of the debtor. If payment be made by a stranger without the assent of the debtor, it seems uncertain how far English law regards such payment as a satisfaction of the debt. If the debtor ratify the pay ment, it then undoubtedly becomes a satisfaction. Pay ment must be made to the creditor or his agent. A l>ona fide payment to an apparent agent may be good, though he has in fact no authority to receive it. Such payment will usually be good where the authority of the agent has been countermanded without notice to the debtor. The fact of payment may be presumed, as from lapse of time. Thus payment of a testator s debts is generally presumed after twenty years. A written receipt is only presumptive and not conclusive evidence of payment. If payment be made under a mistake of fact, it may be recovered, but it is otherwise if it be made under a mistake of law, for it is a maxim of law that ignorantia legis neminem excusat. Money paid under compulsion of law, even though not due, cannot generally be recovered where there has been no fraud or extortion. Appropriation of Payments. Where the creditor has two debts due to him from the same debtor on distinct accounts, the general law as to the appropriation of payments made by the debtor is that the debtor is entitled to apply the payments to such account as he thinks fit. Solvitur in modum solvcntis. In default of appropria tion by the debtor the creditor is entitled to determine the applica tion of the sums paid, and may appropriate them even to the dis charge of debts barred by the Statute of Limitations. In default of appropriation by either debtor or creditor, the law implies an appropriation of the earlier payments to the earlier debts. Payment into and out of Court. Money is generally paid into court to abide the result of pending litigation, as in interpleader proceedings, or where litigation has already begun, as security for costs or as a defence or partial defence to a claim. Payment into court does not necessarily (except in actions for libel and slander) operate as an admission of liability. Money may sometimes be paid into court where no litigation is pending, as under the Trustee Relief Act, 1847. Payment of money out of court is obtained by the order of the court upon petition or summons or otherwise, or simply on the request or the written authority of the person entitled to it. Payment of Wages. By the "Truck Act," 1 and 2 Will. IV. c. 37 (which applies to Great Britain), the payment of wages to most kinds of labourers and workmen otherwise than in coin is prohi bited. This Act does not apply to domestic or agricultural servants. The provisions of the Act are extended to the hosiery trade by 37