rected. In defence of life or limb a man may, if necessary, destroy life. To prevent or resist certain felonious attacks upon his property he may also, if necessary, take life. In defence of his body against ordinary assault or battery, or of his property against a trespass or a misdemeanor, he has no right to take life or do serious injury to limb. And whenever the force used in defence is unnecessary or excessive, the person using it becomes himself a wrong-doer, and is liable for the injuries, which such excess occasions.) Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 3, 4. 1 Hill. Torts, Ch. v, §§ 11-15. 2 Addison Torts, §§ 792-797. Cooley Torts, pp. 45, 49, 50, 165–169. § 245. Of Recaption. Recaption is the act of a party, whose wife, child, ser、 vant, or goods have been unlawfully taken or detained from him, whereby he retakes possession of the same. This he may do wherever he can find them, provided he does not thereby endanger the public peace, or trespass on the lands of any person who is not privy to the unlawful detainer. Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 4, 5. 1 Addison Torts, § 523. § 246. Of Entry. Entry is the act of a party, entitled to the immediate possession of lands, whereby he takes possession of the same. Any act, which assumes in the doer thereof a dominion over the land, is a sufficient entry. Entry may be made either by a landlord upon lands held by his tenant at will or tenant by sufferance, or by any person who has been ousted by the wrongful entry of an abator, intruder, or disseisor. Where the original entry of the present possessor was lawful, as in discontinuance and deforcement, or where the right of entry has been tolled, or taken away from the owner of the land by the death of the disseisor and the vesting of his apparent estate in his heir, entry cannot be made, and the remedy is by action or suit at law. Entry cannot be made when it will endanger the public peace. Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 5, 174–179. 1 Hill. Torts, Ch. xviii, §§ 18, 35. § 247. Of Abatement. Abatement is the act of a party, who is suffering from the wrongs called nuisance, whereby he removes the cause of his injury. This remedy must also be so pursued as not to endanger the public peace. Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 5, 6. 1 Hill. Torts, Ch. xix, §§ 18, 18a; Ch. xx, § 24. 1 Addison Torts, §§ 266-272. Cooley Torts, pp. 46-49. § 248. Of Distress. Distress is the act of a party, who has sustained some legal wrong, whereby he seizes the goods of the wrongdoer, and retains them until satisfaction be made. This remedy may be applied in two cases: (1) By landlords, who may distrain the goods or cattle of their tenants for nonpayment of rent; (2) By possessors of land, who may distrain cattle found damage feasant, or doing damage, in their land. This remedy was anciently guarded by strict rules, and, in this country, is now generally regulated by statute. Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 6-15. Bac. Abr., Distress. 1 Hill. Torts, Ch. xvii, §§ 21-26. § 249. Of Accord and Satisfaction. The remedies, which are applied by the joint act of the injured and the injurer, are two: Accord and Satisfaction, and Arbitration. Accord and satisfaction is the agreement of the injurer to give, and of the injured to receive, some valuable thing as a satisfaction for the wrong done, followed by the actual giving and receiving of such valuable thing. Read 3 Bl. Comm., p. 16. Bac. Abr., Accord and Satisfaction. 2 Addison Torts, § 1353. 2 Pars. Cont., Part ii, Ch. iii, Sec. 4. 2 Greenleaf Ev., §§ 28-33. § 250. Of Arbitration. Arbitration is the agreement of the injurer and injured to submit, to the decision of a third person, all questions as to the wrong alleged to have been done, followed by the decision of such third person, and the compliance of both parties therewith. The agreement to submit is called the submission, and the decision of the third person is called the award. The award must be conformable to the terms of the submission, must specify without ambiguity what is to be done by the parties, must be possible and reasonable, and leave no point, that is contained in the submission, open to further controversy or discussion. When such an award has been performed by the parties, the remedy of the injured party is complete. Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 16, 17. Bac. Abr., Arbitrament and Award. 2 Pars. Cont., Part ii, Ch. iii, Sec. 5. § 251. Of Retainer. The remedies, which are applied by the act of the law alone, are two: Retainer and Remitter. Retainer is the remedy which the law gives to a creditor, who has been appointed executor or administrator upon the estate of his deceased debtor, whereby he retains out of the estate a sum sufficient for the payment of his debt, in preference to other creditors of the same degree. This remedy is usually now applied only where the estate of the deceased debtor is solvent. Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 18, 19. Bac. Abr., Executors and Administrators A, 9. $ 252. Of Remitter. Remitter is the remedy which the law gives to the rightful owner of a freehold estate in real property, who has been ousted of possession, but afterwards has another freehold estate and the possession cast upon him under a defective title, whereby he is presumed to hold both his estate and his possession under his former and perfect title. This remedy is applied only where the defective estate is cast upon the disseisee by operation of law. he purchases such an estate, no remitter takes place. Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 19-21. If § 253. Of Actions at Law. The remedies, which are applied by the joint act of the parties and the law, are called actions, or suits at law. An action is the pursuit of a legal remedy in a court of justice. The person pursuing the remedy is called the plaintiff; the person, against whom the remedy is sought, is called the defendant. The mode, by which the defendant is brought into court to answer to the claim of the plaintiff, is called the process. The mutual formal allegations of the parties in court, in affirmance or denial of the cause of action, are called the pleadings. The decision of the court is called the judgment. The proceeding, by which the judgment is enforced, is called the execution. Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 23-25, 272, 279, 293, 395, 412. § 254. Of Real Actions. Actions at common law are of three classes: Real Actions; Mixed Actions; and Personal Actions. A real action is an action brought to recover the possession of a freehold estate in real property, from which the plaintiff has been ousted. These actions were formerly numerous, and constituted a large portion of the business of the courts of common law. In later times, they have given place to mixed actions. Read 3 Bl. Comm., pp. 117, 118. 1 Chitty Pl., p. 97. 2 Greenleaf Ev., §§ 547-559. § 255. Of Mixed Actions. Ejectment. A mixed action is an action brought to recover the possession of real property, from which the plaintiff has been ousted, together with damages for such ouster. The only mixed action, now of practical importance, is the action of |