Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/754

742 ESTILL ESTREMADURA ESTILL, an E. county of Kentucky, intersect- ed by the Kentucky river ; area, about 300 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 9,198, of whom 599 were colored. It is well supplied with water pow- er, and rich in coal and iron. The surface is uneven or mountainous, and there are many extensive forests. The soil is moderately but not uniformly fertile. The chief productions in 1870 were 7,910 bushels of wheat, 376,792 of Indian corn, 25,642 of oats, 14,095 of potatoes, and 157,580 Ibs. of butter. There were 1,956 horses, 1,871 milch cows, 3,029 other cattle, 6,146 sheep, and 8,718 swine; 7 distilleries, 2 saw mills, and 3 manufactories of pig iron. Capital, Irvine. ESTOPPEL, an impediment or bar in law to a right of action or defence, arising from a man's own act or conduct. Estoppels are : 1, by record, which arise where judgment has been rendered by a court of competent juris- diction, whereby the parties thereto and their privies are for ever precluded from alleging matters which would be contradictory to the record ; 2, by deed, which being supposed an instrument of very solemn and deliberative nature, the party executing the same and his privies in law or in estate are not permitted to deny the facts which it evidences ; 3, by mat- ter in pais, as where a man stands by and sees his own property sold by a third person as the property of the seller, and fails to assert his title at the time, and another buys and pays for the property in good faith, he will be es- topped or precluded from alleging his title afterward. In general it may be said that where one by his silence, when good faith re- quired him to speak, has induced another to suppose that a certain state of facts exists, he shall not be allowed afterward to dispute such facts to the prejudice of the party thus de- ceived by his silence. (See EVIDENCE.) ESTOVERS, a Norman term, equivalent to ne- cessaries. The most ordinary use of it was in reference to the right of a tenant of lands to take wood necessary for domestic or farming purposes. In such case it was an exclusive right, and related to wood upon the leased premises. Estovers are also called ~botes, and are classified in the old books as hay or hedge bote (wood for repair of fences), plough bote (wood for ploughs and other farm implements), and house bote (wood for fuel and repair of buildings). There could be also common of estovers, that is to say, a right of taking wood from other lands, either in common with other persons, or as an exclusive privilege appendant to a particular tenement. The alimony of a wife who had obtained a divorce a mensa et thoro was formerly called estovers, and could be recovered by a writ de estoveriis Jidbendis. ESTRAYS, or Strays, domestic animals, usually designated as cattle, which are found wander- ing in enclosed lands, and whose owner is un- known. In England they belong to the pro- prietor of the manor on which they are found, provided that after proclamation in the church and two market towns the owner does not appear to claim them within a year and a day. In the old books estrays were described as pecus vagam, quod nullus petit, sequitur, vel advocat; therefore dogs and cats were not included ; a swan might be, but no other fowl. In the United States the regulation of estrays is by statute, and cattle at large in the public streets contrary to local regulations are in- cluded. They are allowed to be detained, and after a certain time and on proper notice, if not reclaimed, they are sold by public auction for the costs of keeping and sale. ESTREAT (Lat. extractum; mediaeval Fr. es- trete), a term still in use in criminal proceed- ings, by which is signified the extracting or taking out a record of a court for prosecution in another court, or it may be in the same court. To estreat a recognizance is to indorse it by order of the court for prosecution. The use of the term probably grew out of the custom in England of sending all recognizances to the court of exchequer to be prosecuted. ESTREES, Gabrielle d', mistress of Henry IV. of France, born in 1571, died April 10, 1599. Her father and mother were of noble birth. Ga- brielle, who possessed remarkable beauty, was but 16 years old when her mother introduced her to the notice of Henry III. ; but she re- tained his favor only a short time. She soon became well known for the number and rank of her lovers, among whom were the cardinal de Guise and the dukes de JBellegarde and Longue- ville. In 1590 she met Henry IV. for the first time at the chateau of Cceuvres, where she resided with her family. She inspired the monarch with a violent passion, which, how- ever, did not interrupt her relation with her oM lover, the duke de Bellegarde. The king caused her to take M. de Liancourt for her nominal husband, but subsequently divorced her, and raised her to the rank of marchioness of Monceaux, and in 1595 to that of duchess of Beaufort. He lavished riches upon her in great profusion, and at the time of her death she was the owner of more than a dozen es- tates, some of which are still pointed out in the vicinity of Paris. Her extravagance was un- bounded. Henry would have divorced him- self (as he afterward did) from Margaret of Valois, his legitimate wife, for the purpose of raising Gabrielle to the throne of France, if it had not been for his minister and friend Sully, who was the only person with whose influence she was unable to cope. Even this Henry &p- peared inclined to override, when the sudden death of Gabrielle, which many believed to have been caused by poison, ended the matter. She had three children by the king. ESTRELLA, Serra da. See POKTUGAL. ESTREDIADURA. I. A province of Portu- gal, on the W. side of the kingdom, between Beira, Alemtejo, and the Atlantic ocean; area, 6,872 sq. m. ; pop. in 1868, 837,451. It con- tains the cities of Lisbon and Leiria. It is mountainous, being traversed by the Serra da