833 
 C37 
 
(SorttrU Cam ^rfjnol library 
 
THE 
 
 GREAT LAND QUESTION 
 
 'BEING A- 
 
 VEEBATIM TBANS.CB-IPT 
 
 OF THE 
 IN 
 
 D OE versus R OE, 
 
 BY 
 
 CHRISTOPHER CAVANAGH, B.A.,LL.B. (lond.) 
 
 XO. 'AAV to fieyaXai M.olpat, Aiodev 
 TrjBe tzKevtclv, 
 17 ro iijcaio v. fierafiaivEt. 
 'Avti /xev i^dpag y\i>trarje i\8pa 
 yk&otja. jeKciadh) {to v(f>ci\6fj.evov 
 
 irpaireovoa.&iKr) pey' avTtT), 
 'AvtI <Se Tt\rjy.rje (poviag <j>oviav 
 vXr]yfiv.TtveTta. Apaaavrt iradeii', 
 Tplyepwv fxvQoQ to.Se (puivei. 
 
 Msoh. Choep. 298— 3fi'6. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 STEVENS AND HAYNES, 
 
 BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 1875. 
 
( iv ) 
 
 Eighth Answer. page 
 
 The Land Transfer Bill breaks down— Its Promoters in the Dock . . • • 175 
 
 Ninth Letter. 
 John Doe sneaks away from the open Ground of Law to the hidden Ambushes 
 
 of Political Economy .. 18 ° 
 
 Ninth Answer. 
 Richard Roe beats up the Ambushes . . . . . . • • • • • • 193 
 
 Tenth Letter. 
 Mr. Doe gets into a Huff and declines further Correspondence . ■ • • 197 
 
 Tenth Answer. 
 Mr. Roe puts the Matter in the Hands of his Solicitors . . • • • • 206 
 
 Eleventh Letter. 
 John Doe, Esq. spits upon the Law Courts and shakes the Dewdrops . . 206 
 
 Eleventh Answer. 
 Richard Roe, Esq. brushes away the Dewdrops . . . . • - • • '207 
 
 CAUTION. 
 
 Ivoiv irapovTOiv rj/itave Xoyoe irapa. 
 
 jEsch. Bum. 406. 
 
 The Communicator warns the Public against being too 
 hastily carried away by either the sophisms of Doe or the 
 fallacies of Roe. 
 
 Let them both have their say before judgment is pronounced. 
 
 Audi alteram partem. 
 
 5, Essex Court, Temple, 
 May \hth, 1875. 
 
Doe t. Roe. 
 
 (Correspondence.) 
 
 "Whiteacre, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 It is with no small satisfaction I am at length able to 
 address you in terms of friendship and esteem. During the 
 interval of three and twenty years, which has elapsed since 
 our correspondence was so rudely, though I trust so happily, 
 interrupted, I have learned to admire an opponent with whom 
 I have fought battles so many and of such renown. Heretofore 
 our long-standing acquaintance extending over a period of some 
 two hundred and twenty years has unfortunately been but that 
 of adversaries; now and from henceforth let it be that of 
 friends.* 
 
 We have now no cause for division — no bone of contention. 
 Our politics are the same ; for in this age of progress and 
 advancement can any thinking being belong to other than the 
 party of movement and enlightenment ? In matters of religion 
 we accept universal toleration as one of the axioms of modern 
 thought. What remains ? Social existence in general ; and 
 surely, sir, we are at one on all the great points, which form 
 the pivots upon which society turns. The constitution of the 
 family — individual ownership of property — the almost infinite 
 range of contract — the principle of competition — representative 
 institutions — above all, the inviolable sacredness of liberty ! 
 We are neither communists nor socialists. We recognize an 
 established frame of social life, wherein a graduation of classes 
 is effected by a natural or acquired superiority; it being a 
 
 * The writ de ejectione firms was invented in the reign of Edward III., but 
 this did not become the general mode of trying rights to land till the time of 
 Henry VII. or Henry VIII. Durjng the Protectorate Chief Justice Eolle re- 
 modelled the ancient proceedings by substituting the fictitious plaintiff and 
 defendant John Doe v. Richard Roe. The Common Law Procedure Act, 1852, 
 sw«'pt away these worthy gentlemen in the present form of ejectment. 
 
 B 
 
( 2 ) 
 
 fundamental maxim that every one is to have fair play, so that 
 talent, genius, and industry may find their proper level, unim- 
 peded by artificial obstacles of any kind, save those only which 
 the public weal render absolutely and imperatively necessary. 
 
 But, sir, whilst our theories thus happily harmonize, there 
 are but too many instances in which their obvious dictates are 
 disregarded. How often is the march of civilization suddenly 
 and ruthlessly arrested ! How numerous and multiform the 
 attacks upon religious freedom ! With what strange and 
 pestilent diseases is the social organism ever and anon smitten ! 
 Yet, pray, do not misunderstand me. It is not to occasional 
 and casual ills I allude, for the best systems will now and again 
 get out of order, and it would be_ as idle to grieve over such 
 temporary misfortunes as to find fault with the finest piece of 
 mechanism, because like all things human it sometimes goes 
 wrong. The grounds of my complaint are certain standing 
 and permanent obstructions to that continuous advance, which 
 is the sine qu& non of our common improvement. And most 
 conspicuous amongst such obstructions is that antiquated, and, 
 I venture to think, at present absurd system of land tenure and 
 land transfer which still obtain in England, Of all men living 
 you, sir, I deem the most qualified both by nature and experience 
 to handle with me in a sensible and statesmanlike manner the 
 settlement of this intricate and most important question : and 
 hence the liberty I have taken in addressing you in this letter. 
 
 It needs no profound or learned course of argument to show 
 how supremely foolish, not to say ridiculous, is the mode, in 
 which the tenure of immoveables is in these days regulated. 
 Only fancy if we were some fine morning to wake up and find 
 our countrymen arrayed in the skins of wild beasts, with all the 
 trappings of the savage — in a word in the very pink of Druidical 
 fashion ! Or what should we think of a class of persons calling 
 themselves rational, who insisted the only means of transit 
 should be the four roads of Roman times ? In these instances 
 the voice of convenience and common sense is too loud to be 
 inaudible, even to the most obtuse. But when it comes to the 
 maintenance or abolition of a system, adjusted to the necessities 
 of a bygone age, hampered with a thousand rules having no 
 application to an altered state of circumstances, and working 
 an amount of annoyance, expense and injustice not easy to 
 realize, the nation seems stupefied and deaf to alL remon- 
 strance. 
 
 Why, you will ask, are we drowned in such a lethargy? 
 I reply ; first, because of the inherent laziness of human nature ; 
 and, secondly, because, having been so long habituated to a state 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 of discomfort, we have like the bed-ridden patient grown callous 
 to our misfortune. 
 
 There is, no doubt, trouble involved in sweeping away the 
 existing manner of holding lands, whilst, in individual causes 
 of disgust, the spur to selfishness is too intermittent and remote 
 to call forth general action. 
 
 Then again our endurance has been lightened not only by 
 custom, but also by a large amount of patchwork legislation, 
 though it may be truly observed, in the words of a great thinker 
 when speaking of usury, that in this case also " the law was 
 reformed as a person reforms a tight shoe, who cuts a hole in it 
 where it pinches hardest, and continues to wear it."* 
 
 Now, sir, I have a very simple remedy for the canker our 
 land laws breed in the interests of private persons and those of 
 the community generally : —excision, simple and thorough, by 
 one comprehensive statute which shall declare that all property 
 of what kind soever is to be henceforth held and treated in all 
 respects as personal property, so far as the different natures of 
 moveable and immoveable will permit. 
 
 Like a skilled surgeon I amputate a limb past cure — per- 
 suaded the operation now proposed will be the means of 
 saving from decay the healthy members of the social body. 
 
 For the present I shall say no more, but relying on your 
 hearty co-operation and anxiously expecting the favour of an 
 early expression of your views 
 
 1 beg to subscribe myself 
 
 Your obedient Servant, 
 
 Richard Roe, Esq. John Doe. 
 
 Blackacre, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 Allow me in primis most cordially to reciprocate those 
 sentiments of respect and goodwill your note has so kindly 
 conveyed. I can assure you that my breast also had during 
 our many years of inimical intercourse become at length 
 animated with a deep feeling of reverence and affection for a 
 foe, in whom I could discern the qualities one would most wish 
 to find in a friend. With gladness, therefore, do I seize the 
 
 * J. S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy, bk. v. c. 10. 
 e2 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 hand of fellowship you have extended — well assured It is the 
 token of an amicable relationship to cease only with death. 
 
 I would fain on this joyful occasion of mutual reconciliation 
 pass unchallenged the character with which you have credited 
 me, so that no variance might exist between us. But, sir, the 
 behests of truth are imperative, and with me frankness and 
 open dealing are synonymous with genuine politeness. I must, 
 therefore, claim leave to repudiate any connection with a party 
 which pretends to be ever on the move. Such a pretension, 
 when closely looked at, amounts to nothing less than a self- 
 contradiction — it is utterly suicidal. For — not to mention the 
 psychological and metaphysical difficulty, that, if such a 
 phenomenon did in fact exist, we should be so conscious of it 
 as you seem to imagine, — inasmuch as the differential element 
 requisite for discrimination would then be absent, — I shall 
 merely point out that a party of this description would according 
 to its own programme have on each successive year or day to 
 undo what it had done on the year or day preceding. There is 
 no such flux and reflux possible in human affairs. But even to 
 the possible, yet withal revolutionary, advancement advocated 
 by one great political faction, I am happy to reckon myself the 
 steady but determined enemy. Innovation in any of our 
 established principles or institutions is a flinging to the winds 
 of the experience and traditions of past ages. It is no better 
 than the ruthless squandering by the profligate in an instant of 
 the treasures heaped up by his ancestor's years of toil and 
 sacrifice. Nay, as the loss is more irreparable and the gift 
 more invaluable, so capriciously to dissipate the heritage of 
 posterity is more culpable and calamitous. 
 
 Change indeed there may and must be, but let there be no 
 further alteration than is necessary to oil and grease as it were 
 the springs and wheels of our glorious constitution. But do 
 not take the mighty fabric itself to pieces, for to disrupt it is to 
 disrupt the State; 
 
 I rejoice to be able to enrol myself with you under the 
 banner of religious toleration. Of course, you understand, we 
 do not in the general indulgence include those sects, which, 
 under the name of religion, adopt practices prohibited by the 
 law without respect to religion. It is no persecution to insist 
 that vaccination shall be enforced or that dancing in the open 
 streets, so as to prove a nuisance, shall be put down, although 
 the religious scruples of some persons might prompt them to 
 do the acts forbidden ; for here the reason of the command is 
 aliunde apart altogether from creed. Again, you will join with 
 me in upholding the Established Church; for leaving its benefits 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 out of view and regarding the matter in a merely constitutional 
 way, what injustice can there be in specially supporting the 
 doctrines of the majority? Nothing can be more in accord 
 with the spirit of our whole government, the one rule of which 
 is* that the vote of the many shall prevail against that of the 
 few. 
 
 To come now, sir, to the particular object of your letter (for 
 we are agreed on other social matters), I am astounded beyond 
 measure that a man of your attainments and knowledge should 
 speak of our land system in a tone befitting the speculating 
 ambition of the penniless radical or the haughty ignorance of 
 the raving visionary. 
 
 But what of the illustrations you furnish? Is any one so 
 grossly stupid as not to perceive that the produce of the loom 
 and the use of the railway have superseded the employment of 
 the raw hide and unbeaten track for this very reason that they 
 possess such incomparable advantages : and, on the other hand, 
 the law of immoveables has stood its ground, because its 
 foundations are so solid, its structure so magnificent, that 
 neither the enterprise of genius nor the wisdom of successive 
 generations, nor the ever-expanding skill of time, could devise 
 ought to rival or surpass it. Like the kingly oak, every cycle 
 has added to its stability as every attack has tested its strength. 
 
 Paul was a benefactor not of litigants only but of all dis- 
 putants when he laid down the maxim: — Ei incumbit probatio 
 qui dicit non qui negat. For, had I to show our land system 
 ought not to be swept away, I should be in much the same 
 predicament as if I were asked to prove that red is red or loud 
 loud, so self-evident is the proposition. 
 
 But, sir, whilst I shall carefully peruse any answer you may 
 forward in support of the opinion you before expressed, I should 
 wish first to hear what you have to say on a simple analogy. 
 The literature of ancient Greece and Borne is for style matchless. 
 So, considered as mere language, the treatment of definitions, 
 names, propositions, and syllogisms in the logic of the . schools 
 has never been approached for precision and exhaustiveness. 
 So the architectural monuments presented in our cathedrals are 
 masterpieces. Now, why is all this ? Simply because, at the 
 respective eras at which these various things were accomplished, 
 the mind of man devoted itself almost exclusively to the one 
 particular subject in that age highest in popular estimation. 
 And do you imagine now that knight service is abolished, and 
 there is no longer the importance and attributes, which formerly 
 attached to landowners, nor the same reason for tracing out all 
 the minutiae of their rights, — do you imagine, I say, you could 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 ever obtain the ability or, if the ability, the devotedness, that 
 could build up anything the least worthy to stand in place of 
 that venerable edifice of the land law you would so recklessly 
 overthrow. A satisfactory reply to this will much surprise 
 Your humble and faithful servant, 
 
 Richakd Roe. 
 John Doe, Esq. 
 
 Whitkacke, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 Dear Roe, 
 
 My best thanks for your despatch and favour just re- 
 ceived. I greatly regret there should be so many chasms 
 between our modes of thought — chasms indeed so wide and 
 deep as to render the prospect of union on several important 
 topics remote to the last degree. More especially, however, 
 am I concerned at the broad divergence, that is now proved to 
 exist on the all-vital question mooted -in my former letter. 
 
 You urge a powerful argumentum ad hominem when you 
 remind me of the stately origin and developed grandeur of that 
 land law, which once formed the corpus juris of English juris- 
 prudence. No one can be insensible to an appeal which causes 
 the mind to travel over the distant past and behold the lord 
 and his vassals gathered together in the baronial hall or mar- 
 shalled in the field of battle by that one grand scheme of mutual 
 service and protection, whereby most hereditaments were an- 
 ciently holden. Nor can I deny the marvellous ingenuity or 
 the dialectical acumen with which the principles of the only 
 kind of property, that then existed or was thought worthy of 
 attention, were elaborated. Nor should I refuse to concede 
 that to this feudal regime is to be traced the greatness and 
 majesty of England in subsequent periods. For if there had 
 been no feudal system, there would have been no powerful 
 barons; and if no powerful barons, then no Magna Charta — 
 no Crusades — no Crecy or Poitiers — no Agincourt — therefore 
 no immediate development of foreign commerce, the pedestal 
 upon which all our fortunes repose. 
 
 But, sir, excuse me for saying you are guilty, no doubt 
 unintentionally, of a palpable ignoratio elenchi. The pro- 
 bandum is, not whether a beautiful and well-attuned system 
 was once evolved and in action, but whether we are to retain 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 the tatters and shreds of a garment long out of fashion, ill- 
 fitting, and tripping us at every step; for such in fact is the 
 residue of feudal law come down to our day. When military 
 tenures vanished by force of 12 Chas. 2, c. 24, the raison d'etre 
 of their incidents and adjuncts also vanished, and the inter- 
 preters and makers of the law must have strangely forgotten 
 the maxim — Omne accessorium cedit principali — to have re- 
 tained such fragments as primogeniture, feoffment and livery 
 of seisin, entails, &c. Tell me not that these attributes equally 
 belonged to that tenure of free and common socage, into which 
 the holding by homage auncestrel, castleguard, grand serjeanty, 
 and the other varieties of knights' service, were transmitted. 
 Yes, I admit it to have been so, but then those attributes were 
 derived from the more honourable tenures and appertained to 
 them in a peculiar manner, and with their extinction such 
 attributes ought also to have been extinguished — cessante 
 ratione legis cessat et lex. Thanks to gradual legislation and 
 common sense many of the most monstrous and puerile of 
 these half-scholastic, half-juridical technicalities were done away 
 with. 
 
 But mark, how fortuitous and tardy was the amelioration ! 
 The bounty of Henry VIII. would have been a dead letter 
 if the grantees of confiscated lands of religious houses were 
 debarred from availing themselves of the covenants and condi- 
 tions, which had been entered into between lessor and lessee; 
 therefore the 32 Hen. 8, c. 34, empowered the assignees of 
 reversioners to take the same advantage of, and in every way 
 to stand in the same position with respect to, the agreed stipu- 
 lations as the original lessors themselves. 
 
 The Statute of Uses having annexed the seisin to the use 
 or trust, disposition by mode of feoffment to the uses of a last 
 will became impossible : hence the 32 and the 34 Hen. 8, which 
 allowed of freehold fee simples, all socage lands and two-thirds 
 of lands in chivalry to be directly devised, though we must 
 come down to 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 26, to find a complete 
 ability of disposition over all lands without distinction acquired 
 or after-acquired. Then it was only in the 4 & 5 Anne the 
 stubborn rule of attornment was for ever destroyed. And it 
 was not until 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 74, those farcical performances 
 fines and recoveries had their fate sealed, the same session 
 having witnessed in the 27th chapter a great improvement in 
 the law of limitations, and a clean and clear riddance of all that 
 cumbrous panoply of real actions (with the exception of dower, 
 writ of right of dower, and quare impedit) with which litigious 
 warfare was carried on, with about as much success and reason 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 as our military commanders would enjoy, were they to employ 
 the testudo and aries in place of the shell and cannon. 
 
 These various reforms, piecemeal and incoherent as they 
 necessarily are, cannot Mbut be utterly insufficient. What we 
 needed and what we need is to pluck up the entire feudal growth 
 root and branch that it may no longer cumber the ground, but 
 give place to a sapling fresh and vigorous, acclimatized to 
 modern ideas and modern requirements. Again, sir, I advocate 
 a fundamental and sweeping measure ; nor can renewed leisure 
 and increased thought suggest anything more beneficial than a 
 universal assimilation of the law of realty to that of personalty, 
 with the reservation already mentioned. I shall pause and 
 like Brutus pause I believe in vain for a reply from you or 
 from any man, which shall shake the strength of this convic- 
 tion. Still do not suppose I am inexorable. Only make out 
 your case and you will find the door is not barred against 
 persuasion by 
 
 Your obliged servant, 
 
 Eichard Eoe, Esq. John Doe. 
 
 Blackaceb, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 Dear Doe, 
 
 Have you ever heard of the historical method of treating 
 jurisprudence ? Surely you must be aware there is a successive 
 evolution in the naturally-developed law of every country ; and 
 one particular stage differs from another, much as the youthful 
 stripling differs from the staid man ; and each is perfect in its 
 own degree, just as the child is in its capacity in no way inferior 
 to the adult in his. Away then with that banter about real 
 actions and what you are pleased to term those farcical per- 
 formances fines.and recoveries ! 
 
 Have you so utterly forgotten the Roman Law — that, so 
 deservedly styled " "Written Reason" — the most splendid monu- 
 ment and model of a polished and perfected jurisprudence ever 
 presented to human consideration ? Can you help remembering 
 the most famous of the Legis Actiones — the Actio Sacramenti — 
 which as it was the first to arise so it was the last to disappear, 
 surviving in the Judicia Centumviralia even to the days of 
 Justinian ? What was this proceeding whether in the Manci- 
 patio, the In jure cessio, or the Testamentum per ass et libram, 
 but a spiritualized fiction of what was once a materialized fact ? 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 — a fiction unconsciously recording a transition and as useful 
 for and indispensable as an instrument of improvement as the 
 subsequent equity of the praetors or direct legislation of the 
 comitia or imperial constitutions ? 
 
 The Legis Actiones and our own real actions had this much 
 of similarity — that they were both highly technical, extremely 
 prolix, and brimful of fictions. But are these common pecu- 
 liarities to be the subject of reproach and mockery ? Or ought 
 we not rather to laugh at the shallowness of the scoffer, who is 
 so profoundly regardless of consistency as to be blind to the 
 advantages, which accrued from the very things he condemns. 
 Had there been no technicality, there would have been no end 
 of litigation ; for in that rude stage of pleading there was no 
 more effective means of raising distinct issues, and interest 
 reipublicas ut sit finis litium. Had there been no prolixity, 
 there would have been no sufficient media of evidence ; for in 
 those times reliance had to be placed exclusively on oral wit- 
 nesses. Had there been no fictions, there would have been no 
 possibility of dealing with any but the simplest state of facts ; 
 for at those epochs of infant procedure it was requisite that 
 every act in the contest should be gone through by the parties 
 either really or feignedly. 
 
 Those venerable institutions — fines and recoveries — hoary 
 with age and embedded in learning — one might have thought 
 secure from jeers, even from the flippant and unreflecting. 
 That you, sir, should have been betrayed into so offensive and 
 ill-merited a censure, I am ready to attribute to that excessive 
 warmth the advocates of a bad cause are sometimes heated 
 with. You will not I presume call in question the expediency 
 of avoiding the statute De donis. You object not to the 
 object but to the manner of carrying it into effect. Yet con- 
 sider how admirable and satisfactory was the resource furnished 
 by Taltarum's case and later on by the statute of Henry VIII. 
 The problem was to unfetter the estate and to prevent it from 
 descending for ever per formam doni. On the one hand, a 
 repeal of 13 Edw. I. was not desired at least by those in power 
 and all attempts at that object proved unavailing. On the other, 
 it was not for the interest of commerce that lands should be 
 tied up incapable of alienation. How then was the statute to 
 remain and its evil consequences to be avoided ? The solution 
 of this question by a fictitious suit, in which the recoveree or 
 cognizor allowed his right to be barred by judgment of a court 
 of record, must be pronounced to be a triumph of ingenious' skill 
 as creditable to our lawyers as was the fiction by which the 
 formulary system obtained to the Roman jurisconsults. Thus 
 
( io ) 
 
 the statute remained but the issue in tail were estopped from 
 claiming the benefit of its provisions. Not one flaw in the 
 iron-like reasoning and process of deduction — all in keeping 
 with clear and unmistakable principles. 
 
 And this reminds me of another instance in which the logic 
 of the law stands forth conspicuously. For what can more 
 extort praise than the history of conveyance by lease and release? 
 For when the Statute of Enrolments had made the conveyance of 
 freeholds practically inoperative by bargain and sale, recourse 
 was had to an ordinary lease and then the intended grantee 
 being once in possession the grantor could release the rest of his 
 estate. But how was the trouble of an actual entry avoided ? 
 I need not recal the shrewd construction put upon the word 
 " seised " in the Statute of Enrolments, and how, the convey- 
 ance of terms by bargain and sale being thus rendered feasible, 
 possession was acquired without entry and the release then 
 made. So the whole transaction took place off the lands 
 through the instrumentality of a couple of deeds. And if you 
 press me I certainly own the legislature did no harm when in 
 1841 it made a release in all respects as effectual for transfer as 
 a lease and release; or when again in 1845 it awarded to a 
 simple deed of grant the same potency as a conveyance by 
 feoffment and livery of seisin. 
 
 Rather, is not this magic power of adjustment to new wants, 
 whether by juristic astuteness or legislative interference, one of 
 the grandest proofs of the expansiveness of those sterling prin- 
 ciples, which were cast in a mould of knowledge and forethought 
 now unhappily for ever irreparably destroyed ? You can graft 
 and regraft on a parent stock so noble and matured ; but once 
 fell the old tree itself and nothing is left upon which to fasten 
 an offshoot. 
 
 Well, sir, to return to a point you particularly mentioned, I 
 allude to primogeniture. What rational charge can be brought 
 against an institution so excellent and beneficial baffles conjec- 
 ture ? Is it because it has given us the greatest nobility and 
 gentry of any country in the world ? Or because it has saved 
 us so many wars of succession to the Crown ? Or is it rather 
 because it is a pre-eminently English custom, and therefore at 
 variance with the aspirations of this cosmopolitan age? I 
 entreat an explicit answer, not indeed expecting you mean 
 seriously to hold to your previous statement, but if such be 
 your intention giving you fair warning your temerity will meet 
 with little quarter from 
 
 Your devoted servant, 
 
 John Doe, Esq. Richard Roe. 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 Whiteacee, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 My dear Roe, 
 
 You have asked me a plain question and I shall endeavour 
 to give you a plain and straightforward answer. That answer 
 must needs be drawn out to considerable length, for, I perceive 
 from the tone in which you talk of primogeniture, I am about 
 to attack a favourite idol from whose worship you will not be 
 driven, save by arguments the clearest and most conclusive. 
 
 It is lamentable to think the superstition under which you 
 labour should be of that vulgar type, which lands its votaries in 
 the most monstrous paradoxes, endowing them at the same 
 time with a sovereign and supercilious air of contempt, which 
 becomes the more despotic in proportion as their fanaticism 
 departs further and further from the standard of common sense 
 and common reason. 
 
 Really, sir, one would suppose you must be joking when you 
 pretend to father the splendour of our nobility or the tranquillity 
 of our kingly succession on that antiquated and abnormal 
 custom — primogeniture. I cannot persuade myself you are so 
 entirely ignorant of the causal nexus as to assign a single, 
 perhaps unimportant, circumstance, as the sum of that indefi- 
 nite and countless number of conditions, upon which the pro- 
 duction of any given social or political phenomenon depends. 
 Neither can I believe you would stoop to the wretched clap- 
 trap, .which, by insisting on a particular fact having a temporary 
 and fictitious importance, is calculated to catch the ear of a 
 hustings-gathering, but which, when addressed to a sane man, 
 is nothing less than an- insult to his understanding. 
 
 Shall I have to inform you, then, how it comes that our 
 upper ten are the uppermost in the world, and the descent of 
 our crown the most orderly and peaceful ? The reply must in 
 the first place be similar to that which is equally true whenever 
 we would trace the genealogy of an event of complex origin. 
 And that reply is that the event in question must be the result 
 of the action and reaction of all the agencies, which have 
 directly or remotely contributed to its happening. Hence it 
 seems at first sight impossible ever to arrive at the true cause 
 of an effect of such complicated sequence as a social or political 
 phenomenon. Hence also the iinscientific character of those 
 popular parallels between different countries and different epochs, 
 which as some of the antecedents are always different can at 
 best be but accidental though remarkable coincidences. Now 
 you need not fear I am going to inflict on you a dissertation on 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 sociology. Suffice it that I have pointed out the grossness of 
 your assertions concerning primogeniture, which is but one 
 circumstance collateral with our political constitution — our 
 insular position — our mental character — our escape from a 
 noblesse — which latter a learned writer* deems a most im- 
 portant element in raising the English above the continental 
 nobility — our law and its maxims as, Rex nunquam moritur &c. 
 — and those other innumerable circumstances all of which and 
 the laws of their operation must be taken into account ; and 
 thus by an application of the concrete deductive and historical 
 methods we shall be able to obtain data for at least approximate 
 calculation. But enough — the enumeration of a few prominent 
 jointly-working agencies shows the irrationality of relying upon 
 any single one for the generation of a result manifestly arising 
 from all. 
 
 There are some combatants whose prowess does not transcend 
 that of the pettiest pigmy coward, against whom, however, 
 their own weapons are turned with greatest effect. Such, sir, 
 I deem an ample justification for taking a shaft from that 
 armoury of carping scorn upon which you so eagerly draw. 
 You ask me, am I opposed to primogeniture because it is a 
 pre-eminently English custom ? Let me ask you in return do 
 you uphold drunkenness and wife-kicking because so congenial 
 to the British temperament? It is thus no arduous task to 
 parry one extravagance with another, and, if you are so minded, 
 I shall be the last to decline your fencing-match. But, for the 
 sake of our common dignity and self-respect, let us not descend 
 to this unwholesome Billingsgate ; but if we are to argue, let 
 us argue like gentlemen and intelligent beings. 
 
 Now I feel fully confident a patient perusal of the following 
 considerations will disabuse your mind for ever of that unhappy 
 delusion you entertain concerning a most mischievous rule of 
 law. I shall first call your attention to the historical bearing 
 of our theme, from which you will see that primogeniture is in 
 truth the offspring of -a fortuitous state of circumstances, out 
 of all harmony with the world of the nineteenth century, and 
 having no claim to a respite of that sentence of death so long 
 ago pronounced by the judgment of all thoughtful persons. 
 Without entering upon the disputed question as to the precise 
 time when the feudal system was introduced into England, it 
 is at any rate clear that in the early Anglo-Saxon period there 
 was no favour shown to the eldest born male. This might be 
 partially inferred from that elective mode by which the crown 
 
 * Hallam, Mid. Ages, ch. viii. pt. iii. 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 was obtained, but it will be enough to rely upon the following 
 law of Canute (No. 68): — " Sive quis incuria sive morte re- 
 pentina fuerit intestato mortuus, dominus tamen nullam rerum 
 suarum partem (prseter earn quae jure debetur hasreoti nomine) 
 sibi assumito; verum eas judicio suo uxori, liberis, et cogna- 
 tione proximis, juste pro suo cuique jure distribuito." So ,jn 
 the 75th law the lord was to make similar distribution and 
 take no heriot when his retainer fell fighting for him in his 
 presence. 
 
 With military tenures the descent is first limited to the eldest 
 male line ; for it is not till the reign of John we can confidently 
 assert that socage lands were subjected to the same restriction 
 and even then that restriction was only sub modo. At the 
 time of the Conquest as before socage lands were divided on 
 the death of the ancestor amongst all the children male and 
 female equally, who thus held in a sort of gavelkind or copar- 
 cenary whichever you please. This is evident from Lex 36 of 
 the Conqueror (Lamb. Sax. L. fol. 167): — " Si quis intestatus 
 obierit liberi ejus hereditatem asqualiter dividant." By the reign 
 of Henry I. females began to be excluded, the male children 
 inheriting equally, preference being so far shown the eldest 
 that he was allowed the best of his father's possessions — the 
 capital messuage according to Glanville or le chief de heritage 
 in the language of the Grand Costumier of Normandy, as ap- 
 pears by Lex 70 of Henry I. " Primum patris feodum primo- 
 genitus Alius habeat." The next step was to restrict the whole 
 inheritance to the eldest male, unless there was proof of an 
 ancient custom for the males to inherit jointly : — " Si fuerit so- 
 cagium antiquitus divisum" as Glanville puts it, or " si hereditas 
 partibilis sit et ab antiquo divisa" as Bracton has it. Here are 
 the passages in full : " Si plures reliquerit filios tunc distinguitur 
 utrum ille fuerit miles seu per feodum militare tenens, an liber 
 sookmannus. Quia si miles fuerit vel per militiam tenens, tunc 
 secundum jus regni Anglise primogenitus filius patri succedit 
 in totum, ita quod nullus fratrum suorum partem inde de jure 
 petere potest. Si vero fuerit liber sockmannus tunc quidem 
 dividetur hereditas inter omnes filios quotquot sunt, per partes 
 asquales, si fuerit socagium et id antiquitus divisum ; salvo 
 tamen capitali messuagio primogenito filio pro dignitate 
 sesnecise suse, ita tamen quod in aliis rebus satisfaciat aliis ad 
 valentiam. Si vero non fuerit antiquitus divisum, tunc primo- 
 genitus secundum quorundam consuetudinem totam heredita- 
 tem obtinebit; secundum autem quorundam consuetudinem 
 postnatus filius heres est." (Glanv. lib. 7, c. 3.) 
 
 " Si liber sockmannus moriatur pluribus relictis heredibns et 
 
( 14 ) 
 
 particibus si hereditas partibilis sit et ab antiquo divisa qiiotquot 
 erunt habeant partes suas sequales ; et si unicum fuerit mes- 
 suagium, illud integre remaneat primogenito, ita tamen quod 
 alii habeant ad valetudinem de communi. Si autem hereditas 
 non foerit divisa ab antiquo, tunc tota remaneat primogenito. 
 Si autem socagium fuerit villanum, tunc consuetudo loci est 
 observanda ; est enim consuetudo in quibusdam partibus quod 
 postnatus prseferatur primogenito et e contrario." (Bract, lib. xi. 
 fol. 76.) 
 
 And again : " Sciendum autem quod si quis liberum habens 
 socagium plures reliquerit filios, qui omnes ad hereditatem 
 aequaliter pro sequalibus proportionibus sunt admittendi, tunc 
 indistincte verum est quod pater eorum nihil de hereditate, vel 
 de qusestu, si nullam habuerit hereditatem, alicui filiorum, quod 
 excedat rationabilem partem suam, quse ei contingit de tota 
 hereditate paterna, donare poteiit. Sed tantum donare poterit 
 de hereditate sua pater cuilibet filiorum suorum de libero so- 
 cagio in vita sua, quantum jure successionis post mortem patris 
 idem consecutus esset de eadem hereditate." (Glanv. lib. 7, c. 1.) 
 
 These extracts seem to leave little doubt as to how socage 
 lands descended in the reigns of Henry II. and Henry III. 
 Still there are portions of Glanville which throw some uncer- 
 tainty over the matter. Thus in lib. 13, c. 12, we- find the 
 following — " Plurimum item heredum conjunctio ; mulierum 
 scilicet in feodo militari, vel masculorum vel foeminarum in 
 libero socagio " — so that it would seem there was equal division 
 amongst daughters in default of sons and their issue in fees 
 held by knight service, and the Anglo-Saxon gavelkind in 
 lands held by common socage. However in the reign of John 
 we have an unequivocal entry — " for in Mich. Ter. 2 John 
 (rot. 7 in dorso) Gilbert de Bevill brought a writ of right de 
 rationabili parte against William his elder brother for lands in 
 Gunthorpe in Rutlandshire quas eum contingunt de socagio 
 quod fuit patris eorum in eadem villa. William pleaded quod 
 socagium illud nunquam partitum fuit nee debet partiri, et hoc 
 offert defendere. And because Gilbert the demandant pro- 
 duced no proof of .the partibility, consideratum est quod 
 Will'us eat sine die &c." (Robinson's Gavelkind, c. 2.) 
 
 Not long afterwards the eldest male and his descendants 
 shut out the other issue in all cases and in all places save Kent 
 and perhaps one or two other localities including Wales, whose 
 ancient custom of partible division is expressly reserved by the 
 Statutum WalliaB, 12 Edw. ] . " Dominus rex non vult quod 
 consuetudo ilia abrogetur . . . fiat parti tio sicut fieri con- 
 sue vit." Thus was there uniformity in the canons of descent 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 for freehold lands of whatsoever kind. And for what reason 
 was this senseless innovation made? Littleton formulates a 
 general maxim — " Item, si soient trois freres, et le mulnes frere 
 purchace terres en fee-simple et devie sauns issue, leigne frere 
 avera la terre per discent et nemy le puisne. Et auxi si soient 
 trois freres et le puisne purchace terres en fee-simple et devie 
 sans issue, leigne frere avera la terre per discent et nemy le 
 mulnes, pur ceo que leigne est pluis digne de sank." (Lib. i. 
 s. 5.) 
 
 " Also, if there be three brethren, and the middle brother 
 purchaseth lands in fee simple, and die without issue, the elder 
 brother shall have the land by descent and not the younger, &c. 
 And also if there be three brethren, and the youngest purchase 
 lands in fee simple, and die without issue, the eldest brother 
 shall have the land by descent, and not the middle, for that 
 the eldest is most worthy of blood." Upon which the comment 
 runs — " The eldest is most worthy of blood." " It is a maxim 
 • in law, that the next of the worthiest blood shall ever inherit, 
 as the male and all descendants from him before the female, 
 and the female of the part of the father before the male or 
 female of the part of the mother, &c, because the female of the 
 part of the father is of the worthiest blood. And therefore 
 among the males the eldest brother and his posterity shall 
 inherit lands in fee simple as heire before any younger brother, 
 or any descending from him, because (as Littleton saith) he 
 is most worthy of blood. Quod prius est dignius est, and qui 
 prior est tempore potior est jure. Si quis plures filios habuerit, 
 jus proprietatis primo descendit ad primogenitum, eo quod 
 inventus est primo in rerum natura." Turning from these 
 assertions we shall probably agree with Sir Matthew Hale, 
 that the real reasons for departing from the ancient equal 
 divisions were — 1, because socage tenants wished to ape the 
 customs of the more honourable freeholders ; 2, because by 
 constant division patrimonies became indefinitely split up and 
 the greatness of families diminished. Thus on the worst moral 
 and social pretexts did that unjust preference to the eldest born 
 strike root, the evil fruits of which we have for so many gene- 
 rations been reaping. 
 
 I might well stop here and rest th/j abolition of primogeni- 
 ture on that accidental origin, which has now been pointed out. 
 But to show how hopeless is the cause you sustain I shall 
 proceed to adduce other considerations equally damaging and 
 destructive. 
 
 Was then primogeniture an essential ingredient of the feudal 
 polity? Here is the reply — "It is observable that a total 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 exclusion of the younger sons is perhaps peculiar to England. 
 In other countries some portion of the fief or some charge upon 
 it is in many cases at least secured by law to the younger sons. 
 In some places this is secured to them for their lives only ; in 
 others their descendants succeed to it. Still the eldest son in 
 the eye of the law represents the fee. In Spain the_ patrimony 
 is divided into fifteen shares. Three shares, that is a fifth of 
 the whole, are first subtracted; afterwards four shares or a third 
 of the remaining twelve shares. This fifth and third as they 
 •are called, are termed a majoratus and are at the free dispo- 
 sition of the parents ; the remaining shares are appropriated 
 to the children. The majoratus may be and generally^ is 
 entailed upon the eldest son of the family, but a greater portion 
 of the patrimony cannot be settled on him without leave from 
 the Crown." (Mr. Butler's note vi. 4, 191 a, Co. Litt.) So 
 that primogeniture as it obtains in England was not an original 
 part of the feudal system. Hence any argument you may 
 advance based upon the genius of that system falls to the ground. < 
 
 Let me now turn to that pattern of juristic perfection the 
 Roman law. The representative of a deceased person was 
 either heres ab intestato or heres ex testamento. We have to 
 do with the former alone. The order and nature of succession 
 is thus described by Gaius, Insts. iii. 1. " Intestatorum here- 
 ditates lege XII tabularum primum ad suos heredes pertinent. 
 Sui autem heredes existimantur liberi qui in potestate morientis 
 fuerunt." The widow " quae in manu morientis fuit" would also 
 share equally with the children, " quia filise loco est." In default 
 of sui heredes the inheritance passed to the agnati. " Si nullus 
 sit suorum heredum, tunc hereditas pertinet ex eadem lege XII 
 tabularum ad adgnatos. Vocantur autem adgnati qui legitima 
 cognatione juncti sunt; legitima autem cognatio est ea, quje 
 per virilis sexus personas conjungitur." Thus brothers of the 
 whole or half blood, if in the latter case they were related 
 through the father, were agnati. So the uncle and nephew, 
 child of the uncle's brother, but not' the nephew or niece by the 
 uncle's sister. In default of agnates recourse was next had 
 to the gentiles. " Si nullus adgnatus sit, eadem lex tabularum 
 gentiles ad hereditatem vocat." This latter kind of succession 
 only applied in early times before the fusion of clients and 
 patrons rendered the two classes of ingenui and non ingenui 
 indistinguishable. In all cases ceteris paribus representatives 
 stood in the place of their deceased ancestor — the devolution 
 being per stirpes in the case of the sui heredes, per capita in that 
 of the legitimi. 
 
 Such were the ancient canons of descent making no absurd 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 distinction between moveable and immoveable property and 
 dealing out, compared with the English system even at the 
 present day, far more real justice, for all unemancipated children 
 were capable of taking in the first instance. It is true the 
 recognition of merely civil and not natural relationship worked 
 a certain amount of wrong ; but this as well as other drawbacks 
 were made good by the praetorian edict and by the direct legis- 
 lation of the emperors. By the prsetorian edict emancipated 
 children and children given in adoption, who were sent from 
 the adoptive family during the life of their natural father, were 
 called (unde liberi) equally with the sui heredes properly so 
 styled. So (unde cognati) all blood relations in the ascending, 
 descending, or transverse line within the sixth degree. And 
 after these (unde vir et uxor) husband and wife, for the latter 
 of course only when there had been no in manum conventio. 
 The prastor did not indeed make these various classes heirs but 
 he gave them the possession of goods, quite as beneficial as 
 the civil inheritance. By direct legislation : a constitution of 
 Valentinian, Theodosius, and Arcadius, as amended by Justinian, 
 admitted the descendants of daughters to the class of sui heredes 
 with an abatement of one-third from what their mother would 
 have taken and in full equality in the class of agnati. So the 
 Senatusconsultum Tertullianum in the reign of Adrian admitted 
 the mother to the succession of her children as the Senatus- 
 consultum Orphitianum in that of Marcus Aurelius admitted 
 children to succeed their mother. Thus did the civilians arrive 
 at a course of distribution marked by fairness and a desire to 
 respect natural ties. How well if we had but copied this noble 
 exemplar ! how well even now at the eleventh hour were we to 
 appropriate the result of their labours ! 
 
 You will perhaps urge that the limited operation of intestacy, 
 the rarity of its occurrence, the universality of settlements 
 extending beyond the life of the immediate owner render 
 primogeniture harmless. But what a limping apology! If 
 harmless then why not abolish a useless regulation ; and how 
 shallow not to perceive the ua-rspov wporspov involved in such 
 a position ; for the very reason the enormous expense of settle- 
 ments is incurred is to prevent the wrong the law would inflict 
 if left to itself. The law should in the first instance be agree- 
 able to the provisions every good husband or parent would 
 insist on in his marriage settlement or will. 
 
 There is however an outrageous affront offered to morality 
 
 when a, thing wrong in itself is allowed to exist simply because 
 
 it is innocuous. Is then the sacred cause of justice to be of no 
 
 ) account? May the eternal principles of right and wrong be 
 
( 18 ) 
 
 utterly set at naught ? Are we come to this that honesty, fair 
 play, integrity, and upright dealing have no title of their own 
 irrespective of their results to have their interests consulted for ? 
 
 Yes, sir, you may tear up as waste paper all I have before 
 written. On the score of justice alone there are more than 
 enough reasons for sweeping away once and for ever that 
 baneful and odious abuse, which, at the expense of the rest, 
 favours one child, so improperly, so cruelly, so undeservedly. 
 
 Believe me an indignant protester against an unrighteous 
 custom, 
 
 Your trusty friend, 
 
 Eichard Roe, Esq. John Doe. 
 
 Blackacre, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 My dear Doe, 
 
 That pedantic and rhetorical peroration you wound up 
 with in your last epistle is not the less amusing because so 
 entirely unexpected. You will perhaps be gratified if I take 
 up the strain ; and this I shall so far do as like all orators to 
 begin at the close of your remarks : and thus, by undermining 
 what is freshest and no doubt uppermost in the minds of the 
 audience, I shall prepare, for whatever I may have to say, an 
 attentive and gracious hearing. 
 
 With what an artillery of high-flown words and fine -sound- 
 ing phrases have you stormed against the iniquity and injustice 
 of that time-honoured institution primogeniture ! With what 
 a lavish hand have your denunciations been scattered ! And 
 yet it all comes to this — that John Doe, Esq., of Whiteacre, 
 Manor of Dale, is out of humour with the salutary rule his 
 ancestors have acted on for hundreds of years to the great profit 
 of themselves and of the country they are proud to call theirs. 
 Surely you do not mean to declare that primogeniture is legally 
 unjust ! — so glaring a contradiction in terms could never meet 
 with assent but from a demented idiot. But, admitting that 
 whatever the law ordains is ex vi termini legally just, you refer, 
 I presume, to a standard not of what is but of what ought to 
 be? Well then what is moral justice? — Justitia est constans 
 et perpetua voluntas jus suum cuique tribuendi. This definition 
 of the Roman lawyers will fit either legal or moral right-doing, 
 for you recollect they got this as well as the definition of Jus — ■ 
 Ars boni et tequi — and their Jus Gentium — from the ethical 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 stores of the Greek philosophers. That being so, do pray be 
 kind enough to point out how primogeniture conflicts with the 
 above statement, for I am at a sore loss to perceive the repug- 
 nance. 
 
 However, I do not lay much stress upon that point : I am 
 quite willing to try the justice or injustice of primogeniture on 
 the argument you have so gratuitously put into my mouth. I 
 am perfectly ready to hold that settlements afford a complete 
 and obvious way of getting rid of any inconvenience that 
 might arise from permitting the law to take its own course in 
 the disposition of property, and rest assured I can well afford 
 to smile at that victory you have so easily won by the slaying 
 of a giant born, bred and reared no where else than in the 
 crannies of your own fertile brain. The " harmlessness" of 
 primogeniture and the " preposterous " remedy of settlements 
 are simply of your own creation ; for, so far from maintain- 
 ing the custom to be harmless or merely indifferent, I mo'st 
 strenuously contend it is in the highest degree useful or posi- 
 tively serviceable ; and, instead of deeming the rule a pro- 
 ducing, I am full well aware it is an actively-preventing, agency 
 in the multiplication of settlements. For why else I should 
 inquire is there such frequent apparent carelessness about mar- 
 riage articles or settlements or wills? Is it not because the 
 owner of property does not care to be out of pocket in committing 
 to parchment or paper that mode of devolution already traced 
 out by the law of the land? And for what other reason is 
 personalty so often made to follow realty as far as the different 
 natures of freeholds and chattels will allow, but that primo- 
 geniture has an intrinsic excellence valued by Englishmen at 
 a great price ? Nay, if primogeniture were abolished to-morrow, 
 you would have John Bull by the ears, for like a sensible being 
 as he is he has no ambition to pay for what he already enjoys 
 free of cost. 
 
 But look at the thing from another aspect. Most settlements 
 and devises are drawn to accomplish some peculiar objects. Do 
 you mean to affirm that the provisions which may be inserted 
 to prevent land descending to the eldest son are responsible for 
 the principal portion of the outlay ? Impossible ! for every 
 one knows the stamp duty and other fees vary with the amount 
 not with the intricacy of the dispositions of estates ; and so what 
 becomes of that extra expenditure necessitated by primogeniture, 
 since the same money would under all circumstances be spent 
 in carrying out the particular wishes of grantors or testators ? 
 . These observations, I apprehend, have somewhat quenched 
 that consuming fire of eloquent passion and indignant remon- 
 
 C2 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 strance with which your last despatch concluded. Were I to 
 take you at your own request I should pass unheeded the 
 remainder of your rather prolix communication. But I disdain 
 an advantage that might be open to the least cavil and I shall 
 accordingly examine the strength — I should rather say the 
 extraordinary weakness — of the grounds from which you assume 
 to draw a most disastrous conclusion. 
 
 That meretricious show of learning wherewith you attempt to 
 dress up a deformed course of reasoning had better be exposed 
 to others. To me those glassy ornaments and flaring colours 
 are nothing but an unmitigated abomination. With what horror 
 and anguish do I see the revered Glanville and the astute 
 Bracton prostituted to the low purpose of upholding one long 
 wearying fallacy, every advancing step in which becomes more 
 egregiously false ! Then again how inexcusable to debase the 
 Eoman jurisprudence to the vile end of bearing out a whim- 
 sical notion, when in fact there is and can be no real relation 
 between the glorious civil law and that fancied paragon of suc- 
 cession you desire to establish in these kingdoms ! It is with 
 much reluctance I bring myself to refute the strange anachronisms 
 into which you have headlong fallen, for your own reflexion 
 ought to be a sufficient refutation. 
 
 Let us however ponder for a moment on the contention that 
 primogeniture was but of accidental origin, and that that cus- 
 tom, resulting from knight service, ought with its fall to have 
 simultaneously fallen. I waive such interrogatories as, whether 
 every institution that has had a fortuitous beginning is therefore 
 worthy of condemnation ? and whether on such an assumption 
 trial by one's peers — the twelve good men and true — the liberi 
 et legales homines — aye, or whether parliament itself would not 
 be placed under ban ? You must not, my dear sir, seek to 
 qualify the chance character of primogeniture by holding that 
 when the casual circumstances, which gave it birth, had passed 
 away, it became ipso facto an evil ; for that is a petitio principii 
 which can but serve to entangle you still more hopelessly in the 
 meshes of an untenable supposition. 
 
 Dismissing then such introductory matters, I proceed to the 
 grand fallacy which underlies the first portion of your remarks. 
 In the first place then I can discover no object in all those 
 citations from our ancient writers save and except to prove that 
 primogeniture did not obtain in Anglo-Saxon times and should 
 therefore find no special favour with the ardent lover of anti- 
 quity I profess myself to be. And I venture to believe you 
 would boldly declare, as you seem tacitly to avow, that this 
 custom was no part of the ancient common law. The ancient 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 common law ! well and what do you understand by that ? Not, 
 I hope, the heirloom, the genuineness of the transmission of 
 which direct from the Trojans through Brute, who came from 
 the ruins of Ilium, to give us the name of Britains, Sir 
 Edward Coke declined to examine in a quo warranto ;* nor 
 that shadowy stream, whose sources Sir M. Hale affirms to be 
 as undiscoverable as those of the Nile ! 
 
 You would not identify parliament with the Witenagemot ! 
 nor trial by jury with an irregular tribunal of witnessing 
 Teutons ! for, as certainly as there was no English nation 
 before the reign of John, there was no common law before the 
 reign of Henry II. A little research will show the innumerable 
 discrepancies between the customs prior and subsequent to that 
 period, and it is with reason Mr. Hallam has assigned the 
 compilation of Glanville as the true date for the origin of our 
 actual jurisprudence. Thus primogeniture, though not yet 
 having the universal sway it afterwards so justly acquired, was 
 coeval with that common law, which has enabled one civilized 
 country of modern Europe — and about one alone — to exist 
 without becoming a helpless dependant on the labours of the 
 Roman jurisconsults. 
 
 In point of age, then, the devolution of freehold property 
 claims as high a rank as any other of our rightly-esteemed 
 municipal customs ; but still as that devolution is at the present 
 day injurious — (the untruth I admit for the sake of argument) 
 — it must, you urge, be supplanted. Can you then supplant it 
 without also supplanting the common law itself, of which it 
 forms so integral a portion ? When once at maturity you can- 
 not set straight the bent elm : so do not hope to lop off an 
 excrescence, which has grown with, and become welded into, 
 the inmost structure of our legal organization. Do not mangle 
 or eviscerate a part, unless your object be, not the cure, but the 
 decay and speedy dissolution of the whole system. 
 
 A very few more words before I conclude. You have gone 
 to some pains to let me know how the Romans distributed the 
 property of intestates, forgetting unfortunately that on your 
 own showing, no longer ago than in the opening of this very 
 letter, such a comparison could have no valid application ; and 
 I perfectly agree with the correctness of your theory in this 
 instance. For what can be more dissimilar than the ante- 
 cedents and surroundings of Englishmen and Romans in the 
 matter of land ? Why, even in the outline you yourself have 
 sketched, there is the confession of altogether local, isolated, 
 
 * Reps. Pt. III., Pref. 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 and gradually-moulding rules having their cause and justi- 
 fication in the requirements and circumstances of a people quite ■ 
 alien to ours ! But how much more plain this becomes when 
 we go back to the cunabula of the law of succession to deceased 
 persons. What has the patria potestas to do with English law ? 
 Yet it was from that principle flowed the descent to the sui 
 heredes as indeed their designation implies — quia domestici 
 heredes sunt et vivo quoque parente quodammodo domini existi- 
 mantur, unde etiam si quis intestatus mortuus sit prima causa 
 est in successione liberorum. And upon the same principle 
 agnatio or civil relationship depended. 
 
 How irrelevant then were those numerous quotations ! Under 
 what a hallucination have you been labouring to introduce a 
 subject so utterly beside the expediency or inexpediency of 
 abolishing primogeniture ! May your next effort to overthrow 
 an excellent institution be attended with as little, though, I 
 trust for your own reputation, with less inglorious, success. 
 I am, with all respect, 
 
 Yours, &c, 
 
 John Doe, Esq. Richard Roe. 
 
 P. S. — Let me have a line withdrawing the insulting allusion 
 to entails. 
 
 Whiteacke, 
 
 Manor -of Dale. 
 Dear Richard, 
 
 A thousand thanks for the trouble you have saved me ; 
 for in the feebleness of its defence, you offer so splendid an 
 argument for the abolition of a barbarous custom, that further 
 effort on my part becomes superfluous. 
 
 With a consummation so devoutly to be wished, I shall 
 approach the kindred question mentioned in your postscript 
 with re-assured confidence. 
 
 I am grateful you have told me to what period you refer the 
 formation of the common law and from that time alone do 
 you begin to recognize our institutions as impressed with (one 
 would gather from the style of your observations) an almost 
 sacred character. Entails or gifts in the nature thereof are 
 thus happily even in your eyes on a worse footing than 
 primogeniture, since they certainly were not in existence in 
 the time of Henry II. Notwithstanding the impropriety of 
 quotation from me and its fruitlessness. with you I shall take 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 leave to make good, the above assertion with the kindly aid of 
 the illustrious Glanville — "Potest itaque quilibet liber homo 
 terram habens quandam partem terrse suas cum filia sua vel 
 cum aliqua alia qualibet muliere, dare in maritagium sive 
 habuerit heredem sive non, velit heres vel non, imo eo et con- 
 tradicente et reclamante. Quilibet etiam cuicunque voluerit 
 potest dare quandam partem sui liberi tenementi, in remunera- 
 tionem servitii sui vel loco religioso in eleemosinam ita quod si 
 donationem illam seisina fuerit secuta, perpetuo remanebit illi 
 cui donata fuerit terra ilia et heredibus suis, si jure hereditario 
 fuerit eis concessa." (Glanv. lib. vii. ch. i.) It is hence of 
 no avail to inquire what might have been the ancient feudal 
 law and the following passage would be cited by you to no 
 purpose : — ■" Jus feudale non solum talliis non adversari, sed 
 maxime eis favere constat non solum quod nullas foeminas ad 
 successionem admittet sed multo majus, quod tenorem con- 
 cessionis semper servandum jubeat, hereditatemque secundum 
 earn deferendam." (Craig, De Jure Feudali.) 
 
 Let us however trace the history of restraint on alienation 
 both before and after Westminster 2, by which entails properly 
 so called were created. A glance at that history will show 
 with what odious and despicable motives the freedom of an 
 owner's power of disposition was interfered with. 
 
 " The establishment of the feudal law by the Normans was 
 immediately attended with that general restraint on alienation 
 which was a striking part of that singular policy. During the 
 reign of William the Conqueror and his sons the doctrine of 
 non-alienation was for various reasons very strictly enforced. 
 The greater part of the landed property of the kingdom had 
 been distributed amongst the Norman barons as strict and 
 proper feuds and a considerable jealousy prevailed against all 
 those of Saxon origin, lest they should attempt to reinstate 
 themselves in their ancient possessions ; great care was therefore 
 taken during that period that all the vassals of the Crown who 
 could alone be depended on in case of any insurrection should 
 be constantly ready and able to perform their military services." 
 Thus a paltry jealousy first played a conspicuous part in fettering 
 estates. When the bonds were burst — by the policy of the Crown 
 in allowing the superior lords power of disposition so that 
 thereby their independence and strength might be diminished — 
 by the rage for the Crusades, the outfit for which would have 
 to be purchased from the proceeds of a sale of lands — and by 
 the increase of agriculture and commerce — observe how again 
 new chains were forged and with what commendable zeal the 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 interpreters of the law sought to unloose those fatal fastenings 
 so obnoxious to the welfare and progress of the country. 
 
 " But in consequence of that passion so natural, to all men 
 of perpetuating their possessions in their own families, a, new 
 restraint on alienation was invented by the introduction of 
 conditional fees, which were estates restrained to some particular 
 heirs, exclusive of others; they were called conditional fees 
 on account of the condition expressed or implied in the donation 
 that if the donee died without such particular heirs the land 
 should revert back to the donor. 
 
 " The general propensity which seems to have prevailed at 
 that time towards a liberty of alienation, and probably a fore- 
 sight of the good consequences which would thereby accrue to 
 the community, induced the judges to construe these conditional 
 fees in a very liberal manner : instead of declaring that estates 
 of this kind must inevitably descend to those heirs who were 
 particularly described in the grant according to the strict prin- 
 ciples of the feudal law, and that no person seised of such an 
 estate should be enabled by his alienation to defeat the succession 
 of those who were mentioned in the gift or the lord's right of 
 reverter ; they had recourse to an ingenious device taken from 
 the nature of a condition. It is a maxim of the common law that 
 when a condition is once performed it is henceforth entirely gone, 
 and the thing to which it was before annexed becomes absolute and 
 wholly unconditional ; upon this ground the judges determined 
 that as soon as the grantee of a conditional estate had issue 
 born his estate becomes absolute by the performance of the 
 condition ; so that it might then be aliened, charged with debts, 
 or any other incumbrances, and forfeited for treason." 
 
 " This mode of construing conditional fees directly contra- 
 vened the purposes for which they were created, and therefore 
 the nobility, whose constant object it was to perpetuate their 
 possessions in their own families, made a more successful 
 attempt to obtain this end, by procuring the statute De donis 
 conditionalibus, which enacted that when lands were given to 
 a man and the heirs of his body, he should not have a power of 
 alienating them, nor of defeating the succession of his own issue 
 or of the reversioner." (Cruise, Recovs. ch. 1.) 
 
 What was the effect of this unfortunate enactment, and with 
 what sentiments has it been regarded by the luminaries of the 
 law ? " By the statute De donis the haughty pride and here- 
 ditary independence of the nobles were established by the sacri- 
 fice of natural justice, natural affection and natural allegiance ; 
 for by this statute the tenant in tail could neither alienate his 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 estate nor charge it "with the payment of his debts or with 
 portions for his younger children ; and by a very extraordinary 
 construction it was even held that he could not forfeit it for 
 high treason." (Cruise, Recovs. ch. 1) " The true policy of 
 the common law was overturned by the statute De donis 
 condition alibus, 13 Edward 1, which established a general 
 perpetuity by act of parliament for all those who had or would 
 have it, by force whereof all the possessions in England in 
 effect were entailed accordingly, which was the occasion and 
 cause of the said and divers other mischiefs ; and the same was 
 attempted and endeavoured to be remedied at divers parliaments 
 and divers bills were exhibited accordingly, (which I have seen,) 
 but they were always, on one pretence or another, rejected. 
 But the truth was, that the lords and commons knowing that 
 their estates tail were not to be forfeited by fealony or 
 treason, as their. estates of inheritance were before the said act 
 (and chiefly in the time of Henry III., in the barons' war), and 
 finding that they were not answerable for the debts or incum- 
 brances of their ancestors, nor did the sales, alienations or leases 
 of their ancestors bind them for the lands which were entailed 
 to their ancestors ; they always rejected such bills, and the same 
 continued in the residue of the reign of Edward I., and of the 
 reigns of Edward II., Edward III., Richard II., Henry IV., 
 Henry V., Henry VI., and till about the twelfth year of 
 Edward IV., when the judges on consultation had among them- 
 selves resolved that an estate tail might be docked and barred 
 by a common recovery, and that by reason of the intended 
 recompense the common recovery was not within the restraint 
 of the said perpetuity made by the said act of 13 Edward 1." 
 (6 Rep. 40.b, Sir A. Mildmay's Case.) 
 
 Of the' petitions presented by the commons here is an 
 example in 17 Edward III. (Rolls of Pari. Vol. II. p. 142, 
 No. 25). " Item que l'estatut de Westminster second soit 
 declarer en quel degree le issue en la taille poit alienez ;" to 
 which the answer of the king was — " La ley en ce cas decea 
 en arrere soit tenue desore." One of the great recommendations 
 of entails was the facility they afforded for defrauding creditors 
 and making dishonest bargains. " When all estates were fee 
 simple, then were purchasers sure of their purchases, farmers of 
 their leases, creditors of their debts, the king and lords had 
 their escheats, forfeitures, wardships and other profits of their 
 seigniories : and for these and other like cases, by the wisdome 
 of the common law, all estates of inheritance were fee simple ; 
 and what contentions and mischiefs have crept into the quiet of 
 the law by these fettered inheritances, dailie experience teacheth 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 us." (Co. Litt. 19 b.) Thus were entails more unjust_ in 
 their operation than even primogeniture ; and, were anything 
 wanting to make them more detestable, the selfishness which 
 produced and preserved them was amply sufficient. Their 
 enormous abuses have been in some measure rectified by 33 
 Hen. 8, c. 39 ; 21 Jac. 1, c. 19, and the Bankruptcy Acts 
 generally. 
 
 The iniquity connected with the origin of entails ought with 
 right-thinking men to be ground enough for their immediate and 
 utter annihilation, but there are other and more cogent con- 
 siderations. In the first place a fee tail is repugnant to the 
 genius of the law — the law, which is founded on common sense 
 and expediency, rejecting perpetuities. We all know that 
 theoretically no estate can be tied up for a longer period than 
 any life or number of lives in being and twenty-one years 
 afterwards, and a few months more under circumstances ; but 
 then in point of fact, if no disentailing assurance be executed, 
 or if the usual expedient of re-settlement on the majority or 
 marriage of tenant in tail be resorted to, there is all the mischief 
 of a perpetuity. And to make the evil more complete, the 
 most remote limitations, when remainders over on an originally 
 well-created entail, are excepted out of the above general rule 
 as to time of vesting ; because, forsooth, any tenant in tail in 
 possession may by a disentailing deed avoid all subsequent 
 estates. Again, is the genius of the law set ruthlessly at nought 
 by the statutory provision, that there shall be no merger when 
 the fee tail and the remainder or reversion in fee meet in the 
 same person. Thus a natural remedy so opportunely supplied 
 is prevented from affording even its partial mitigation. 
 
 There are yet graver charges against descent per formam 
 doni. So abtruse and technical is the learning on the subject 
 that it is impossible for a layman to deal with entails without 
 almost infallibly falling into some serious error. If he wishes to 
 create a fee tail and says so in his deed in the most positive 
 manner he will fail to effect his purpose, unless by good luck he 
 happens to use the words of procreation "heirs of the body" 
 after the donee's name. Nay, until the 7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. 
 c. 26, notwithstanding the favour shown to intention in wills, if 
 a testator left an estate to A. and in case A. should die without 
 issue then to B., A. was construed to have an estate tail, inas- 
 much as dying without issue was interpreted to mean an 
 indefinite failure of issue. Could there be generally a more 
 scandalous violation of the wishes of a deceased ? 
 
 Suppose lands are given to a married man and to a married 
 woman and the heirs of their two bodies : or to two husbands 
 
( 27 ) 
 
 and their wives and to the heirs of their bodies : or to a man 
 and two women and the heirs of their bodies : — how shall these 
 several limitations be understood ? Surely no one but a lawyer 
 could answer and yet the whole subject of entails is permeated 
 with such intricacies. 
 
 Expense is another most serious objection to entails. All 
 your sophistry cannot dispute that ; for settlements are mostly 
 drawn for no other purpose than to create such gifts and there 
 is here no general law of the realm, as in the case of primo- 
 geniture, which will dispense with private instruments. Besides 
 the expense of creating, there is also that of disentailing, the 
 estate once created — no insignificant item. 
 
 That a system of property disposition, so pernicious on these 
 manifold grounds, should be permitted to exist may well dumb- 
 found the impartial stranger who examines our institutions, 
 even though there were no other means whereby the selfish 
 aggrandizement of a few families might be ministered to. But 
 that such a system should continue when through the medium 
 of the Statute of Uses or by the creation of trusts all the legiti- 
 mate desires of owners might be sufficiently gratified ought 
 certainly to astound ourselves. There might indeed have been 
 some faint pretext for an "upright person supporting entails 
 when the utmost range in carving out the devolution of free- 
 holds extended only to the creation of contingent remainders ; 
 but when by the 27 Hen. 8 the seisin was annexed to all the 
 varied estates that might be limited through springing or shifts 
 ing uses there was and is no longer any honest excuse for 
 retaining the ill-omened statute of Westminster 2. How easy 
 it would be to multiply ad nauseam the arguments against the 
 outrageous mischiefs of entailed inheritances ! for what a multi- 
 tude of wrongs and inconveniences rise up in judgment against 
 them. 
 
 Sir, I shall not offend you by appearing so to undervalue 
 your mental capacity as to suppose you need further exhortation 
 to join with me in the determination to efface the 13 Edw. 1 from 
 the Statute Book. Apologizing then for so far trespassing and 
 for so long detaining you, 
 
 Believe me 
 
 Your sincere well-wisher, 
 
 Richard Eoe, Esq. John Doe. 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 Blackacee, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 Dear Doe, 
 
 The views you advance on the subject of entail put me 
 under a deep obligation ; for, through their welcome advent, 
 I am enabled adequately to return the compliment paid in the 
 beginning of your note. I might go farther and say- — more 
 than adequately — since the incredible weakness of your objec- 
 tions has thrown a fortress round those who uphold gifts per 
 formam doni as impregnable as Gibraltar. 
 
 It is remarkable with what anxiety you have striven to load 
 the subject of your distaste with reproach and contumely and 
 to dub it with all sorts of hard and disagreeable names, hoping 
 I presume for the proverbial consequence that of the mass of 
 dirt thrown some must necessarily stick. What a pity you do 
 not sometimes reflect you are corresponding with a man of 
 phlegmatic temperament, who with cross-grained unimaginative- 
 ness eschews fiction and demands fact. Fact, observe, and 
 nothing but fact. My complaint is you have not stated the 
 whole facts but have been guilty of a suppressio veri and still 
 worse of a suggestio falsi. You have been very careful to 
 insist on the sordid motives by which the brave barons of old 
 were actuated — those disinterested heroes, who at Runnymede 
 established the liberties and rights of the lowest impartially and 
 equally with the highest ; but you have studiously passed in 
 silence the selfish policy of both the Norman and Plantagenet 
 kings, who in favouring freedom of alienation were secretly 
 diminishing the strength of those who alone could call a tyrant 
 to account or curb the intolerable exactions and wild excesses 
 of royal perfidy. Do you attempt to gloss over those thirty- 
 six confirmations of the great Charter — those awful imprecations 
 on the head of him who should violate its enactments — or that 
 protracted struggle which saw the first summoning of the 
 Commons under the glorious auspices of Simon de Montfort ? 
 And are you so innocent, as to credit the judges of the Middle 
 Ages with an economical wisdom which the combined labours- 
 of Adam Smith, M. Say, Sismondi, Malthus, Chalmers, 
 Ricardo, and the Mills have not even yet succeeded in thoroughly 
 disseminating ? Or so blind, as not to recognize in that specious 
 judicial foresight honour bartered for place and beliefs surren- 
 dered for reward ? Or so foolish, as to set the isolated opinions 
 of a few stray writers against that current of authority and 
 popular tradition, which attributes the Statute of Fines to the 
 cunning and cupidity of Henry VII. ; for common recoveries 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 being only available when the donee in tail was in possession 
 or when the immediate tenant of the freehold joined in the 
 transaction were not enough to satisfy that greedy rapacity, 
 which must needs cut off all expectancies in remainder. Thus 
 by the magnanimous exertions of pliable judges, by the folly of 
 parliament, and by the simplicity of the people, the safeguard 
 against usurpation so sagaciously provided by Westminster 2 was 
 gradually weakened until by the slaughter for treason of the 
 few remaining nobles, who survived the Wars of the Roses and 
 who had never unfettered their estates, no bulwark was left 
 and the Tudors towered in barbaric majesty over a nation of 
 slaves. 
 
 Nothing daunted you have again, I perceive, indulged in 
 extensive quotation, which I am very pleased to find is, so far 
 as relevant, suggestive of some of the very best arguments for 
 entails. It is most true as you observe that restriction on 
 alienation prevailed amongst the feudists; nor should I show 
 myself so poor a disciple as to philosophize on the benefits, 
 which arose from a particular cause amongst a single or a few 
 alien peoples. But when that cause is a custom adopted not 
 by one but by an innumerable number of nations having no 
 connexion with each other there must be some singular advan- 
 tage attending its observance; and that this is the case with 
 restriction on alienation in some form or another the following 
 extracts will sufficiently demonstrate : 
 
 " And first, touching the laws of succession, as well of 
 descent of inheritances of lands, as also of goods and chattels ; 
 which, among the Jews, was the same in both. 
 
 " Mr. Selden, in his book De Successionibus apud Hebrseos, 
 has given us an excellent account, as well out of the holy texts, as 
 out of the comments of the rabbins, or Jewish lawyers, touching 
 the same ; which you may see at large in the fifth, sixth, seventh, 
 twelfth and thirteenth chapters of that book ; and which, for so 
 much thereof as concerns my present purpose, I shall briefly 
 comprise under the eight following heads, viz. : 
 
 " First, that in the descending line, the descent or succession, 
 was to all the sons ; only the eldest son had a double portion to 
 any one of the rest ; if there were three sons, the estate was to 
 be divided into four parts, of which the eldest was to have two 
 fourth parts, and the other two sons were to have one fourth 
 part each. 
 
 " Secondly, if the son died in his father's lifetime, then the 
 grandson, and so in infinitum, succeeded in the portion of his 
 father, as if his father had been in possession of it, according to 
 the jus representationis now in use here. 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 " Thirdly, the daughter did not succeed in the inheritance of 
 the father, as long as there were sons, or any descendants from 
 sons in being ; hut if any of the sons died in the lifetime of 
 his father having daughters, but without sons, the daughters 
 succeeded in his part, as if he himself had been possessed. 
 
 " Fourthly, and in case the father left only daughters and no 
 sons, the daughters equally succeed to their father, as in co- 
 partnership, without any prelation, or preference, of the eldest 
 daughter, to two parts, or a double portion. 
 
 " Fifthly, but if the son had purchased an inheritance, and died 
 without issue, leaving a father and brothers, the inheritance of 
 such son so dying, did not descend to the brothers ; — unless in 
 case of the next brother taking to wife the deceased's widow, to 
 raise up children to his deceased brother ; — but in such case, 
 the father inherited to such son entirely. 
 
 " Sixthly, but if the father in that case was dead, then it came 
 to the brothers, as it were, as heirs to the father, in the same 
 manner as if the father had been actually possessed thereof; 
 and therefore the father's other sons, and their descendants in 
 infinitum, succeeded; but yet especially, and without any 
 double portion to the eldest: because though in truth the 
 brothers succeeded, as it were in right of representation from 
 the father, yet if the father died before the son, the descent was 
 de facto immediately from the brother deceased, to the other 
 brothers, in which case their law gave not a double portion : 
 and in case the father had no sons, or descendants from them, 
 then it descended to all the sisters. 
 
 " Seventhly, if the son died without issue, and his* father, 
 or any descendants from him, were extant, it went not 
 to the grandfather or his other descendants. But if the 
 father was dead without issue, then it descended to the grand- 
 father. And if he were dead, then it went to his sons and their 
 descendants ; and for want of them, then to his daughters or 
 their descendants; — as if the grandfather himself had been 
 actually possessed, and had died, and so mutatis mutandis to 
 the proavus, abavus, atavus, &c. and their descendants. 
 
 " Eighthly, but the inheritance of the son never resorted to the 
 mother, or to any of her ancestors ; but both she and they were 
 totally excluded from the succession. 
 
 " The double portion, therefore, that was jus primogeniturae, 
 never took place but in that person that was the primogenitus 
 of him from whom the inheritance immediately descended, or 
 him that represented him. As if A. had two sons, B. and C. 
 — and B. the eldest had two sons, D. and E. — and then B. 
 died ; — whereas B. should have had a double portion, viz. two 
 
( 31 ) 
 
 thirds in case he had survived his father, — but now this double 
 portion shall be equally divided between D. and E. — and D. 
 shall not have two thirds of the two thirds that descended from 
 A. to them." (Sir M. Hale, Common Law.) 
 
 The Hebrew course of descent being thus explained, let us 
 see how far alienation could interrupt the devolution. And first 
 as to wills and testaments. An express declaration to that 
 effect was not of itself sufficient to disinherit the legal represen- 
 tative or representatives in the succession. 
 
 "Ita ex lege sacra liberi heredes erant„ut nuda exhasreda- 
 tionis formula hasreditas eis prsecludi nequiret. Si igitur pater 
 pronunciarat sive verbo, sive scriptis, Filius meus exhasres N. 
 esto inter fratres suos, plane irritum erat. Quod itidem dicendum 
 de ejusmodi pronunciato de filiabus, fratribus, duplici primogeniti 
 sorte. . . . 
 
 The institution of any but a legal heir was invalid. Quin 
 si quis alius prEeter aliquem ex eis, qui ex lege heredes sunt, 
 instituatur heres, irrita est hujusmodi institutio. Atque hue 
 trahunt illud Proverb, xi. 17, Qui turbat propinquum suum 
 est crudelis. 
 
 A disinheriting clause was operative if one of the legal heirs 
 was at the same time instituted — but this only when the testator 
 was on the point of death or sick. At si exheredationis formula 
 ejusmodi sit, ut simul accedat institutio heredis qui ex eis fuerit 
 qui ex lege heredes sunt, earn valere volunt si fiat a moribundo 
 
 seu agroto ; minime vero si ab eo qui corpore est sano 
 
 Veluti si cui tres sint filii, Simeon, Reuben, Levi, is moribundus 
 
 seu asgrotus testamento instituat heredem hac 
 
 verborum formula, Reuben filius meus heres mihi esto ante 
 omnes filios meos, aut succedat mihi solus : casteri hac institu- 
 tione rite satis exheredes fiunt. Nam fas esse heredes pro libitu 
 ita instituere, ex eis qui ex lege coheredes forent, eliciunt ex 
 illo Deut. xxi. 16. " Adveneritque dies, quo divisurus est 
 hereditatem filiis suis," ac si heredum, modo ex filiis illis seu 
 liberis sumpti sint, institutio libera patri permitteretur. Quod 
 
 etiam ad fratres extendunt Nemo potest alium 
 
 instituere, praster eum qui ex eis est, ad quos hereditas jure 
 communi spectat ; nee hereditatem ab herede funditus tollere. 
 Nempe ad eum, qui heres omnino non est, transferre. Id quod 
 intelligendum est nomine hereditatis. 
 
 Disinheritance might be indirectly effected by alienation 
 by way of gift — only that if the gift were to one of the sons he 
 would be a trustee for the shares of his brethren, becoming an 
 absolute owner for his own proportionate share alone. Atqui 
 nomine donationis licitum habebatur domino, sive sano corpore, 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 sive segroto, libere patrimonium quodcunque alienare, atque ita 
 per consequens etiam liberos exhaeredare. Nimirum unicuique 
 facultas est substantiam suam donatione transferee, cuicunque 
 voluerit .... Verum si filiorum alicui non institutione (ut 
 dictum est) sed donationis instrumento donaverat pater totam 
 substantiam suam, donatio ea non aliter valuerat, quam ut is 
 caeterorum partes possideret velut curator, tutor seu kirlrpinto$, 
 suam tantum ut dominus. 
 
 The freedom of alienation, however, by way of gift was but 
 very partial, inasmuch as by the law of redemption and the 
 effect of the jubilee property so passed reverted to the donor or 
 his heirs. Thus if the gift were of indefinite duration the 
 donee or his privies could at most enjoy but for fifty years — ■ 
 and the same rule applied where brethren held in common 
 according to agreement. But if the gift were for a given 
 number of years the enjoyment would be for that period 
 unaffected by the jubilee. Quae vero dicta sunt de libera ali- 
 enatione, temperantur et modum recipiunt tunc ex lege redi- 
 mendi tunc ex Jubilasorum, seu anni quinquagesimi, lege lata 
 Levitic. xxv. 10, atque aliis eodem capite. Atque inde intelli- 
 gendus Diodorus Siculus, lib. xl, ubi nefas apud Judaeos fuisse 
 ait row; lllou; yjhfyous wwXslv, seu hereditates suas vendere. 
 Scilicet vendere fundum in excisionem, id est, ut a venditore 
 ejusque posteris perpetuo excidatur, seu elg fisfialuxnv, ut Hel- 
 lenistse, sive alienatione nunquam rescindenda, fas non erat ex 
 lege dicto Levitici capite, comm. 23. Adeo ut Jubilaso quo- 
 libet redire deberent alienati fundi ad primos dominos seu 
 heredes eorum, idque quotcunque intervenirent alienationes 
 mediae. Quod item de donationibus intelligunt, et de heredi- 
 tatibus in solidum ex pacto a fratribus aliisve coheredibus 
 possessis. Integrum nempe erat Jubiaslo familise erciscundae 
 actione denuo uti. Consule item Ezech. xlvi. 17. Ad suc- 
 cessionibus autem transmissa lex ista non spectat. Atque de 
 alienationibus simpliciter tantum, nullo tempore adjecto, factis 
 haec capienda. Etenim si in sexaginta, verbi gratia, annos 
 (sine dolo malo) quis fundum emisset, Jubilseo, qui citra tem- 
 poris adjecti fmern interveniret, restitutio venditori aut heredi- 
 bus ejus non fiebat." — Selden. 
 
 The only remaining mode in which heirs could be disin- 
 herited was by a consecration of the patrimony to sacred 
 purposes. 
 
 Turning now to the ancient Greeks, Sir M. Hale thus cites 
 Petit's Leges Atticae, cap. vii. tit. 6. " Omnes legitimi nlii 
 hereditatem paternam ex asquo inter se hasriscunto, si quis intes- 
 tatus moritur relictis filiabus qui eas in uxores ducunt heredes 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 sunto, si nulls supersint, hi ab intestato hsereditatem cernunto : 
 et primo quidem fratres defuncti Germani, et legitimi fratrum 
 filii hasreditatem simul adeunto; si nulli fratres aut fratrum 
 filii supersint, iis geniti eadem lege hsereditatem cernunto ; mas- 
 cuh autem iis geniti etiam si remotiori cognationis sint gradu, 
 prseferuntor, si nulli supersint, paterni proximi, ad sobrinorum 
 usque filios, materni defuncti propinqui simili lege hsereditatem 
 adeunto ; et e neutra cognatione supersint intra definitum 
 gradum proximus cognatus paternus, addito notho nothave ; 
 superstite legitima filia nothus hsereditatem patris ne addito." 
 
 " This law is very obscure. The sense thereof seems to be 
 briefly this ; that all the sons equally shall inherit to the father ; 
 but if he have no sons, then the husbands of the daughters ; 
 and if he have no children, then his brothers and their children; 
 and if none, then his next kindred on the part of his father, 
 preferring the males before the females ; and if none of the 
 father's line, ad sobrinorum usque filios, then to descend to the 
 mother's line." 
 
 The obscurity and defects both of the quotation and the 
 comment " induced Sir William Jones, the ablest linguist of 
 his age and nation, to publish a translation of the ' Speeches of 
 Isseus, in Causes concerning the Law of Succession to Pro- 
 perty at Athens.' " From this ingenious work I have selected 
 the following Attic laws: — 
 
 " All genuine, unadopted citizens may devise their estates as 
 they think fit, provided that they have no legitimate children 
 and be not disabled by lunacy, or age, or poison, or disease ; 
 nor influenced by women, so as to have lost their reason from 
 any of these causes ; nor be under any duress or confinement. 
 
 " The wills of such as have legitimate sons shall stand good, 
 if those sons die before their age of sixteen years. 
 
 "If a man have legitimate daughters, he may devise his 
 estate as he pleases, on the condition that the devisees take 
 them in marriage. 
 
 "Adopted sons shall not devise the property acquired by 
 adoption ; but if they have legitimate sons, they may return to 
 their natural family. If they do not return, the estates shall 
 go to the heirs of the persons who adopted them. 
 
 " The adopted son and the after-born sons of the person who 
 adopted him, shall be coheirs of the estate ; but no adoption 
 by a man who has legitimate sons then born, shall be valid. 
 
 " If a citizen die intestate and leave daughters, the nearest 
 kinsmen who marry them shall inherit the estate ; but if he die 
 childless, his brothers by the same father shall be his heirs, and 
 the legitimate sons of those brothers shall succeed to the share 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 of their fathers. If there be no brothers, the sisters on the 
 father's side, and their children shall inherit. On failure of 
 sisters and nephews, the cousins on the father's side shall be 
 heirs in the same manner; but males and the children of males 
 shall be preferred, although in a remoter degree, provided they 
 belong to the same branch. If there be no kinsman on the 
 father's side so near as the second cousin, then let those on the 
 mother's side succeed to the estate in the same order. Should 
 there be no maternal kinsmen, Within the degree above limited, 
 the next paternal kinsmen shall be the heirs. 
 
 " No male or female bastard, born after the archonship of 
 Euclid, shall succeed either to sacred or civil rights." 
 
 The Athenians made no difference between the transmission 
 of real and personal property. In these laws, therefore, the 
 words devise, heir, inheritance, and the like, are applied both to 
 lands and to goods, without being restrained to the peculiar 
 sense in which we use them. 
 
 To the above description it may be added, " That the owner 
 had power to alienate his property during his lifetime, and that 
 such alienation was valid in point of law, both against the heir 
 and all the rest of the world, is beyond a doubt. There was, 
 however, an ancient law, which punished with degradation 
 (cm/xia) a man who had wasted his patrimony (i-a ■wa.Tfwa. xaTsSij- 
 
 " The bulk of the estate being left to the son, legacies might 
 be given to friends and relations, especially to those who per- 
 formed the office of our executor or testamentary guardian." . . . 
 " It was only when a man had no issue that he was at full 
 liberty to appoint an heir. His house and heritage were then 
 considered desolate (s'fij/xoj xai ava>mp.o$), a great misfortune in 
 the eyes of an Athenian ; for every head of a family was anxious 
 to transmit his name and religious usages to posterity. The 
 same feeling prevailed among the Greeks in more ancient times. 
 We learn from Hesychius and the Etymol. Mag. that distant 
 relations were called j^axn-si, because when they inherited, the 
 house was p^ijpsuaw xa) eprjiLo;. (See Horn. II. v. 158; jj es - 
 Theog. 607.) To obviate this misfortune, an Athenian had 
 two courses open to him. Either he might bequeath his pro- 
 perty by will, or he might adopt a son in his lifetime." (Smith's 
 Greek and Roman Antiquities, title " Heres.") 
 
 " With respect to the Roman law, we have already had occa- 
 sion to notice its simplicity, in the inheritance of property, aa 
 it was settled by the Trebellian and Pegasian decrees, and its 
 alteration, in this respect, by the introduction of the fidei- 
 commissa. These gave rise to successive fidei-commissary 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 substitutions. By multiplying these, and by prohibiting each 
 substitute from aliening the inheritance, property was absolutely 
 taken out of commerce, and fixed, in a settled and invariable 
 course of devolution, in particular families. There is reason to 
 suppose this mode of settling property was never common, and 
 the policy of Justinian soon interfered to check it. By the 
 159th Novel, he restrained fidei-commissary substitutions to four 
 degrees, including the party himself, who instituted the substi- 
 tution. With the third substitute, therefore, the power of the 
 testator expired, the absolute dominion vesting absolutely in 
 him. This in some measure restored the law to its primitive 
 simplicity. A similar progress is discoverable in the history 
 of French substitutions. The law of France appears to have 
 generally admitted perpetual substitutions. The ordonnance 
 of- Orleans, in 1560, restrained them to two degrees, exclusive 
 of the instituant. That ordonnance not having a retrospective 
 operation, and the.inconvenience arising from prior substitutions 
 being greatly felt, the ordonnance of Moulins, in 1 566, restrained 
 all substitutions, anterior to the ordonnance of Orleans, to the 
 fourth degree of the instituant. The ordonnance of 1747 fixed 
 the law on this important branch of real property. It was, 
 framed with great deliberation by the chancellor d'Aguessau, 
 after taking the sentiments of every parliament in the kingdom, 
 upon forty-five different questions proposed to them on the 
 subject. These questions, and the answers of the parliaments, 
 have been published under the Questions concernant les Substi- 
 tutions, Toulouse, 1770. The ordonnance of 1747 confined 
 substitutions, with some exceptions, to two degrees, and directed 
 the degrees to be computed, by the individuals, in whom the 
 substitution vested. Upon this, it was held, that if the testator 
 appointed several persons, jointly, to the inheritance, they formed, 
 together, but one degree ; if he appointed it to several persons 
 successively, though in the same degree of kindred, as brothers 
 or sisters, each person in whom the succession vested, formed 
 one degree. The mode of settlement used in Spain, by what 
 is termed a majoratus, has been already noticed. 
 
 " In Germany, the restraints imposed by the feudal law, on 
 the alienation of property confined by the original investiture, 
 to a particular channel of descent, still prevail; so that the same 
 intricate entails subsist with them, as with us; without those 
 modes of eluding them which the laws of England have sanc- 
 tioned. 
 
 " The tailzies or entails of Scotland appear still more intri- 
 cate. The least restrictive of these is called a simple destination. 
 
 "D 2 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 It is defeasible and attachable by creditors, so that it amounts to 
 no more than a designation who is to succeed to the estate, in 
 case the temporary possessor neither disposes of it, nor charges 
 it. The next degree of tailzie, is a tailzie with prohibitory 
 clauses. The proprietor of an estate of this nature cannot 
 convey it gratuitously, but he may dispose of it for onerous 
 causes, and it may be attached by creditoi-s. The substitutes, 
 however, as creditors by virtue of the prohibitory clause, may 
 by a process in Scotland, termed an inhibition, secure them- 
 selves against future debts or contracts. The third and strictest 
 degree of tailzie, is a tailzie guarded with irritant and resolutive 
 clauses. This is a complete bar to every species of alienation, 
 voluntary or involuntary. The efficacy of these clauses, both 
 against the heir, and the creditors of the tenant in tail, aliening, 
 was established in 1662 ; by a solemn decision of the judges of 
 Scotland, in the case of the Viscount Stormont against the 
 creditors of the Earl of Annandale ; and that decision was 
 sanctioned by a statute of the Scottish parliament in 1685. 
 This mode of entail appears to be greatly discouraged by the 
 judicature of the country ; and the modes of eluding it have 
 been discovered, and allowed in their courts of justice." (Co. 
 Litt. 191 a, Mr. Butler's note vi. 7.) 
 
 As to the Roman law it may be observed there were two 
 modes by which a testator might tie up property. These 
 were : I. Pupillar and quasi-pupillar substitutions. II. Fidei- 
 commissary dispositions, of which the following passages give 
 an account : — " Liberis suis impuberibus quosin potestate quis 
 habet, non solum ita ut supra diximus substituere potest, id est, 
 ut si heredes ei non extiterint alius ei sit heres ; sed eo amplius, 
 ut et si heredes ei extiterint et adhuc impuberes mortui fuerint, 
 sit eis aliquis heres : veluti si quis dicat hoc modo : Titius filius 
 meus heres mihi esto ; et si filius meus heres mihi non erit, 
 sive heres mihi erit et prius moriatur quam in suam tutelam 
 venerit (id est, pubes factus sit), tunc Seius heres esto. Quo 
 casu siquidem non extiterit heres filius, tunc substitutus patri 
 fit heres ; si vero extiterit heres filius et ante pubertatem de- 
 cesserit, ipsi filio fit heres substitutus. Nam moribus institutum 
 est ut, cum ejus setatis filii sint, in qua ipsi sibi testamentum 
 facere non possunt, parentes eis faciant. 
 
 " Qua ratione excitati, etiam constitutionem posuimus in 
 nostro codice, qua prospectum est ut, si mente captos habeant 
 filios vel nepotes vel prqnepotes cujuscumque sexus vel gradus, 
 liceat eis, et si puberes sint, ad exemplum pupillaris substitu- 
 tionis certas personas substituere : sin autem resipuerint, : 
 eamdem substitutionem infirmari', et hoc ad exemplum pupil- 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 laris substitutionis, quse postquam pupillus adoleverit, infir- 
 matur (Insts. ii. tit. 16). ' 
 
 " Sciendum itaque est omnia fideicommissa primis temporibus 
 infirma esse, quia nemo invitus cogebatur prsestare id de quo 
 rogatus erat. Quibus enim non poterant hereditatem vel legata 
 relinquere, si relinquebant, fidei committebant eorum qui capere 
 ex testamento poterant. Et ideo fideicommissa appellata sunt, 
 quia nullo vinculo juris, sed tantum pudore eorum qui rogebantur, 
 continebantur. Postea divus Augustus semel iterumque, gratia 
 personarum motus, vel quia per ipsius salutem rogatus quis 
 diceretur, aut ob insignem quorundam perfidiam, jussit con- 
 sulibus auctoritatem suam interponere. Quod, quia justum 
 videbatur et populare erat, paulatim conversum est in assiduam 
 jurisdictionem ; tantusque eorum favor factus est, ut paidatim 
 etiam praetor proprius crearetur, qui de fideicommissis jus 
 diceret, quem fideicommissarium appellabant. 
 
 " In primis igitur sciendum est, opus esse ut aliquis recto jure 
 testamento heres instituatur, ej usque fidei committatur ut earn 
 hereditatem alii restituat : alioquin inutile est testamentum, in 
 quo nemo heres instituitur. Cum igitur aliquis scripserit: 
 Lucius Titius heres esto, poterit adjicere : Rogo te, Luci Titi, 
 ut cum primum possis hereditatem meam adire, earn Gaio Seio 
 reddas, restituas. Potest autem quis et de parte restituenda 
 heredem rogare, et liberum est vel pure vel sub conditione 
 relinquere fideicommissum, vel ex certo die. 
 
 " Eum quoque cui aliquid restituitur potest rogare ut id rursum 
 alii, aut totum aut pro parte, vel etiam aliquid aliud restituat." 
 (Insts. Lib. ii. tit. 23.) 
 
 Besides the restriction imposed by the voluntary act of an 
 .owner, the free alienation of property was also restrained by the 
 law which prohibited inofficious wills. The following passage 
 contains provisions upon this subject: — " Quia plerumque paren- 
 tes sine causa liberos suos exheredant vel omittunt inductum est 
 ut de inofficioso agere possint liberi, qui queruntur aut inique 
 se exheredatos, aut inique prseteritos: hoc colore, quasi non 
 Sanaa mentis fuerint cum testamentum ordinarint. Sed hoc 
 dicitur non quasi vere furiosus sit, sed recte quidem fecerit 
 testamentum, non autem ex officio pietatis" (Insts. ii. tit. 18). 
 
 As to France : — " Gifts inter vivos or by will must not, 
 when there . is only one legitimate child at the death, exceed 
 one-half of the owner's property; they must not exceed a third 
 when there are two children ; nor more than a fourth, when 
 there are three or more. This rule applies to descendants in 
 whatever degree, who only take the place of the person they 
 represent in the succession of the donor or testator. 
 
( 38 ) 
 
 " Gifts inter vivos or by will must not exceed the half of the 
 owner's property if, having no children, he leaves one or more 
 ascendants in both the paternal and maternal lines ; three- 
 fourths, if he leaves ascendants only in one line. In default of 
 ascendants and descendants, an owner may dispose of the 
 whole of his property by gift or by will." (The Civil Laws of 
 France, by D. M. Aird, Esq., ch. iv., bk. iii.) 
 
 In Germany the restrictions on alienation are by (1) Fidei- 
 commissa; (2) By other institutions; (3) By influence of 
 indefeasible heritages. Under the second of these categories 
 i dncluded restrictions : (l c ) From hereditary estates (" Stamm- 
 giiter) which descend in infinitum lineally, though the custom- 
 ary entail may be barred by agreement of the occupant with 
 the next heir or by sale when the occupant is hard pressed, an 
 offer to sell being first made to the next heir. So the last 
 descendant of an exhausted stock may dispose of the property 
 as he pleases; (2°) From fiefs; (3°)*From common rights in 
 property (" Gutteremgeinschaft "), which come " into operation 
 on the occurrence of marriage in various forms and shapes 
 according to the province." It includes the right of the hus- 
 band to a share in the wife's lands, and the right of the wife to 
 a share in the husband's lands, and is correspondent, therefore, 
 as to the rights of dower and of curtesy respectively in the 
 English law ; but is by no means correspondent as to the 
 shares to those rights of the English law ; (4°) From customs 
 of the estate which have the force of law. 
 
 3. As to indefeasible heritages. " The common law re- 
 quires that parents should leave their children, and that chil- 
 dren who die without descendants should likewise leave then- 
 parents a fixed quota of their property." (Rep. Roy. Comm. 
 on Land Tenures, 1869.) 
 
 " In Portugal, the law regiriating the descent and division 
 of landed property on the death of the owner is as follows :— 
 
 (a.) Where the owner dies intestate, or where, having made 
 a will, the will is annulled or becomes void, the 
 estates descend to his lawful heirs in the following 
 order : — 
 
 1. Lineal descendants. 
 
 2. Lineal ancestors. 
 
 3. Brothers and sisters and their issue. 
 
 4. Surviving husband or wife. 
 
 5. Collaterals not included in No. 3 to the tenth 
 
 degree. 
 
 6. The state. 
 
 Relatives in the same degree take equal share's of the 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 inheritance without respect of sexes ; and a relative 
 in a nearer degree excludes a relative in a more 
 remote degree, 
 (b.) Where the owner dies having made a will, and leaving 
 lineal descendants or lineal ancestors, two-thirds of 
 the estate descend absolutely to his lawful heirs,, as 
 the whole would have done if he had died intestate* 
 and in the same order; as does also such portion of 
 the remaining third as may not have been disposed of 
 by will of the owner, in accordance with his legal 
 right to dispose of this third, 
 (c.) Where the owner is married, and the marriage has 
 been entered into without a settlement, the law gives 
 one r half of the estate to the survivor of the marriage 
 for life, and the other half goes to the lawful heirs ; 
 and husband and wife have each the power of dis- 
 posing by will of one-third of their real property. 
 But on the death of the survivor, the children or other 
 lawful heirs are absolutely entitled to take per capita 
 or per stirpes, as the case may be, the other two-thirds • 
 which they take in equal shares. 
 ™ Danish estates of the old type bear an apparent like- 
 ness to the manors of our Domesday Book. Whereas the 
 Norman and (under other names) the Saxon, manor, was 
 divided into (1) demesne and (2) tenemental lands, the Danish 
 ' sasdegaard,' or family seat, consists of (1) ' hovedgaard,' or 
 demesne round the mansion, and (2) the 'bonder gods,' or por- 
 tion occupied by small farmers. Between the demesne or tene- 
 mental land the law has drawn a fast line, keeping the two 
 species of property rigorously apart by ascribing to each sepa- 
 rate rights and obligations. The 'iord-drot,' or lord of an 
 unentailed estate, may sell his lease or demesne as he thinks fit. 
 But his proprietary rights over the tenemental lands are so 
 conditioned as to give the occupants a kind of joint ownership 
 in the surface of the soil. According to the Code 1&83 of 
 Christian V., the Danish Justinian, a family seat should lie 
 near or amid tenemental farms rated in all at 200 ' tonder ' of 
 
 ' hard corn,' say 2,000 acres A ' ssedegaard ' may 
 
 be a freehold in fee-simple (I use this expression as the 
 nearest English equivalent), or an .estate in tail. If entailed, 
 it may belong to the ' stamhuse,' or to the fiefs. The ' stam- 
 huse' correspond in part with our own entailed estates. As 
 the Danish law knows no 'fine and recovery ' the entail cannot 
 be legally barred. But the Crown has in some cases allowed 
 the conversion of such estates into money trusts and in others 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 removed the entail. The lands, as well as any personal property 
 tied up with them by the fidei-commissary band, must descend 
 in perpetuity as a family possession, to be enjoyed after the 
 manner indicated by the founder's deed. The usufruct com- 
 monly follows the rule of primogeniture. The fiefs (2), or 
 estates of the counts and barons (thirty-two in number), have 
 all been created since the establishment of the absolute govern- 
 ment in 1660. They enjoy certain privileges, legal and other, 
 and descend by primogeniture. On failure of the line they 
 revert to the Crown. 
 
 " The Constitution of 1849 forbids the erection of fresh 
 'entails, and promises that estates of this class shall be converted 
 into free property. No bill has yet been passed in such a sense. 
 The government exercises a certain control over entailed estates, 
 taking care that the usufruct is held according to the founder's 
 intentions. By a recent law the tenemental lands of entailed 
 estates may, in a way prescribed, be converted into trust moneys. 
 
 " No estate in Denmark, large or small, can be parcelled 
 without permission from the minister of the interior. The 
 strict rule is, that when a ' gaard ' is broken up there must be 
 reserved one lot of at least twenty-five acres of first-class land. 
 Farms of less than twenty-five acres may not be subdivided, 
 except under very special circumstances ; one lot of ten to 
 twelve acres must always be reserved. When demesne is sub- 
 divided, there must be told off for separate sale or occupation, 
 as many lots of eighty acres as the feudal owner owed knight- 
 horses for military service. For building, lots of two acres 
 may be detached from an estate, and any lot, however small, 
 may be cut from a farm when the intention is to cede it to the 
 owner of a contiguous property, or to annex it to a house which 
 has no land. Before a motion for the so-called ' udstykning ' 
 can be lodged at all, a number of formalities have to be gone 
 through, amongst which I may notice the preparation of a map 
 of the ground to show the exact nature of the division proposed. 
 This is insisted on as a precaution against the parcelling being 
 done in strips, and to ensure a division into squares or other 
 suitable shapes of ground. 
 
 " It should be unnecessary to remark that these rules do not 
 bear on the life-leasehold farm. Neither do they apply to the 
 'housemen,' whose small lots may, in a general way, be sub- 
 divided ad libitum. 
 
 " As the requisite formalities are rather expensive, their 
 existence acts as a slight check on sub-division. The right 
 of accumulation is at present so free that it may be described 
 as unlimited. 
 
( 41 ) 
 
 " A testator may, in general, dispose of one-third of his entire 
 property, real or personal, the remainder being of necessity 
 distributed in equal portions, to the heirs, male and female, of 
 his body. This rule secures to each heir two-thirds, for certain, 
 of the lot due to him as ab intestate, the division where there is 
 no will, being in equal shares. 
 
 " If the Danish law has done so much for the creation of 
 peasant freeholds, it has also recognized as a desirable object 
 that large estates be kept in single hands, and in the families of 
 their original possessors. The owner of an unentailed ' ssede- 
 gaard' may leave half his property to any of his heirs, in which 
 case he can freely dispose of one-fourth (indeed, of one-third) 
 of the rest of his estate, the remaining three-fourths following 
 the common rule of inheritance. But the favoured heir must, 
 nevertheless, give the other claimants compensation reckoned 
 on the usual foot. Again, if the proprietor of a ' sasdegaard' 
 die intestate, the sons may reserve his real estate, on condition 
 that they give their sisters, if any, full money compensation for 
 the lands of which the brothers have deprived them. In the 
 island of Bornholm a singular customary law of inheritance 
 prevails. The youngest son, on compensating the other children, 
 may take the estate. 
 
 " The owner of a freehold ' bondergaard,' be he of the 
 peasant class or not, may leave his property according to a 
 special set of rules, from which I am content to extract the 
 chief circumstances. These are — 
 
 1. If a 'bonde' have no heirs of his body he may leave his 
 
 estate (animals, tools, &c. inclusive) away as he pleases. 
 
 2. He may leave all to any one of his heirs without restric- 
 
 tion as to sex. 
 
 3. He may fix the compensation to be given by the favoured 
 
 individual to the defined heirs. 
 
 4. A testator who favours a single heir (rule 2) can only 
 
 bequeath ad libitum, one-eighth of his entire property, 
 real estate included. 
 
 5. The owner of two or more farms may not make a cumu- 
 
 lative bequest. 
 
 " These provisions are crossed by checks and counter-checks 
 connected with the wife's right to control her husband's testa- 
 mentary dispositions in cases of communion of property." 
 
 I might easily multiply instances of restriction on alienation 
 from other countries ; but the foregoing enumeration sufficiently 
 proves the universality of permitting property to be fettered. 
 In that universality recognize the justification of our entails, 
 
( 42 ) 
 
 which possess so many advantages over most of the methods of 
 restriction elsewhere in vogue. 
 
 Let me next pass to some of those trivialities which even your 
 diffuseness could not dilate upon. You stand up for the genius 
 of the law, -which is opposed to perpetuities, and which it also 
 appears merges a less in a greater estate when they centre in 
 the same individual in the same right. Good ! but are entails 
 perpetuities or have been for the last four centuries? Why 
 have you not given in the same breath, when you speak of 
 disentailing assurances, the strongest demonstration to the con- 
 trary? Yet to put the matter beyond controversy let- us 
 consider the example of a perpetuity given by Littleton. 
 
 " Item, jeo ay oye dit, que en temps le Roy Eichard le 
 Second, il y fuist un Justice de le Comen Banc, demurrant en 
 Kent, appele Bykill, qui avoit issue divers fitz, et son entent 
 fuist, que son eisne fitz averoit certeyn terres et tenementes a 
 luy et a les heires de son corps engendres, et pur defaute dissue, 
 le remeyndre a le second fitz, &c, et issint a le tierce fitz, &c, 
 et pur ceo quil voille que nul de- ses fitz alieneroit ou ferroit 
 garrauntie pur barrer ou leder les autres queux serront en le 
 remeyndre, &c, il fist faire tiel endenture a tiel effecte, scil. que 
 les terres et tenementes furent dones a son eisne fitz sur tiel 
 condicion, que si leisne fitz alienast en fee, ou en fee-taille, &c, 
 ou si ascun de ses fitz alienast, &c, que adonques lour estate 
 cessera et serroit voyde, et que adonques mesmes les terres et 
 tenementes immediate remeyndront a le second fitz, et a les 
 heires de son corps engendres, &c, sur mesme la condicion, scil. 
 que si le ij. fitz alienast, &c, que adonques son estate cessera, et 
 que adonques mesmes les terres et tenementes immediat remeyn- 
 dront al tierce fitz et a les heires de son corps engendres, et 
 sic ultra, le remeyndre as autres de ses fitz, et lyvere de seisin 
 fuist fait accordant. 
 
 " Mes il semble per reason, que toutes tielx remeyndres en la 
 fourme avauntdit faitez, sount voides et de nul value, et ceo pur 
 trois causes. Une cause est, pur ceo que chescun remeyndre 
 que commence per un fait, il covient que le remeyndre soit 
 en luy a qui le remeyndre est taille per force de mesme le 
 fait, quant le lyvere de seisin est fait a luy qui avera le franke- 
 tenement, qar en tiel cas le nessance et le estre de le remeyndre 
 est per le lyvere de seisin a celuy qui avera le franktenement, 
 et tiel remeyndre ne fuist al second fitz al temps de lyvere de 
 seisin en le cas avauntdit, &c. 
 
 " La seconde cause est, si le premier fitz alienastles tenementes 
 en fee, donques est le franktenement et le fee-simple en laliene, 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 et en xral autre ; et si le donour avoit ascun revercion per tiel 
 alienacion, la revercion est discontinue: donqiies coment per 
 ascun reason poet estre, que tiel remeyndre commencera son 
 estre et sa nessance immediate apres tiel alienacion fait a un 
 estraunge, qui ad per mesme lalienacion franktenement et fee- 
 simple ? et auxi si tiel remeyndre serroit bon, adonques purroit 
 il entrer sur laliene, lou il navoit ascun manere de droit avant 
 lalienacion, que serroit inconvenient. 
 
 " La tierce cause est, quant la condicion est tiel, que si leisne 
 .fits alienast, &c, que son estate cessera ou serroit voyde, &c, 
 donques apres tiel alienacion, &c, poet le donour entrer per 
 force de tiel condicion, &c, come il semble, et issint le donour 
 et ses heires en tiel cas doient pluis tost aver la terre que le 
 second fitz, qui navoit ascun droit devant tiel alienacion, &c, et 
 issint il setnble que tielx remeyndres en le cas avauntdit sont 
 voydes, &c." 
 
 "Also, I have heard say, that in the time of King Richard 
 the Second, there was a justice of the common place, dwelling 
 in Kent, called Richel, who had issue divers sonnes, and his 
 intent was, that his eldest sonne should have certaine lands and 
 tenements to him, and to the heires of his bodie begotten ; and 
 for default of issue, the remainder to the second sonne, &c, and 
 so to the third sonne, &c, and because he would that none of 
 his sons should alien, or make warrantie to bar or hurt the 
 others that should be in the remainder, &c. he causeth an 
 indenture to be made to this effect, viz. that the lands and tene- 
 ments were given to his eldest son upon such condition, that if 
 the eldest son alien in fee, or in fee taile, &c. or if any of his 
 sons alien, &c, that then their estate should cease and be void, 
 and that then the same lands and tenements immediately should 
 remain to the second son, and to the heires of his body begotten, 
 et sic ultra, the remainder to his other sonnes, and livery of 
 seisin was made accordingly. 
 
 " But it seemeth by reason, that all such remainders in the 
 forme aforesaid are void and of no value, and that for three 
 causes. One cause is, for that every remainder which beginneth 
 by a deed, it behoveth that the remainder be in him to whom 
 the remainder is entailed by force of the same deed, before the 
 livery of seisin is made to him which shall have the freehold ; 
 for in such case the growing and the being of the remainder is 
 by the livery of seisin to him that shall have the freehold, and 
 such remainder was not to the second sonne at the time of the 
 livery of seisin in the case aforesaid, &c. 
 
 " The second cause is, if the first son alien the tenements in 
 fee, then is the freehold and the fee simple in the alienee, and in 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 none other ; and if the donor had any reversion, "by such 
 alienation the reversion is discontinued : then how by any 
 reason may it be that such remainder shall commence his being 
 and his growing immediately after such alienation made to a 
 stranger, that hath by the same alienation a freehold and fee 
 simple, &c. ? And also if such remainder should bee good,- 
 then might hee enter upon the alienee, where he had no manner 
 of right before the alienation, which should bee inconvenient. 
 
 " The third cause is, when the condition is such, that if the 
 elder sonne alien, &c. that his estate shall cease or bee void, &c. 
 then after such alienation, &c. may the donor enter by force of 
 such condition, as it seemeth, and so the donor or his heires in 
 such case ought sooner to have the land than the second sonne, 
 that had not any right before such alienation ; and so it seemeth 
 that such remainders in the case aforesayd are void." (Lib. iii. 
 c. 13, ss. 720—723.) 
 
 I do not ask how far entails are subject to the objections 
 pointed out in the foregoing sections, which treat of a very 
 particular case ; but I do ask how far entails conflict with the 
 general principles of the law, which is so repugnant to per- 
 petuities that the attempt even of a learned judge to tie up his 
 property indefinitely resulted in a series of blunders that have 
 called down so severe a criticism from the respectful Littleton, 
 and the still severer reprimands of his commentator. So much 
 for the charge that an entail is in the nature of a perpetuity. 
 
 Then with what propriety the ordinary rule of merger is pre- 
 vented from sinking a fee tail in the fee simple expectant ! By 
 this wholesome exception resettlement is sometimes rendered 
 unnecessary, testamentary disposition becomes optional, and the 
 wishes of the original donor are carried out. 
 
 You have again harped upon expense. Niggardly things to 
 the niggardly mind ! Do you begrudge paying a high rent for 
 the broad fields of Whiteacre ? or for a box at the opera ? Do 
 you vainly fumble for your purse when a work of art or other 
 esteemed production is brought to the hammer ? So you cannot 
 expect so valuable a treasure as devolution by entail to be had 
 for nothing. 
 
 I regret you should have committed so great a blunder as to 
 propose to substitute the instrumentality of the Statute of Uses 
 for that of the De donis. In making this proposal you have acted 
 against your better knowledge, for you are full well informed 
 that it is the attribute of intelligence never to use complex when 
 simple means are adequate to the accomplishment of the object 
 intended. But lest you should labour under any confusion on 
 this subject let me extract for you the history of settlements. 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 " The first attempt at a settlement appears to be the creation 
 of an estate in fee simple conditional. This had two effects, 
 that of suspending the absolute power of alienation, till the 
 birth of issue, and that of preserving the inheritance in a par- 
 ticular line of succession, so as to make it devolve through a 
 particular line of heirs, in exclusion of others. Bracton men- 
 tions, lib. 18, that, by this mode of limitation, the estate might 
 be settled by a person, on his eldest son and the heirs of his 
 body, and if he had no heirs, or having heirs, if they afterwards 
 failed, then to his second son and the heirs of his body, with 
 like limitations to his other sons successively and their respective 
 issue ; and in default of all these, to the party himself and his 
 heirs. This appears the most extended and complicated plan 
 of settlement, which could be effected through the medium of 
 this mode of limitation. 
 
 " Then came the statute De donis conditionalibus, that statute 
 took away the power of alienation of the tenants in fee simple 
 conditional, and thereby preserved the fee to the issue, and the 
 reversion to the donor. This naturally gave rise to the complex 
 modification of property, to which the reversion of an estate, 
 out of which an estate tail is first carved, is now subject. By 
 this mode of settlement land was at once completely taken out 
 of commerce and involved in the intricate fetters of multiplied 
 •entails. This may be considered as the second stage of 
 settlements. 
 
 " But entails were again subjected to the alienation of the 
 tenant in tail by the introduction of common recoveries, about 
 the reign of Edw. IV. and the introduction of fines by the 
 statute of 4 Hen. 7. To prevent this, in some measure, women 
 seised of estates tail of the gift of their husbands, were pro- 
 hibited by the 11 Hen. 7, c. 20, from alienating these estates. 
 To bring their estates within the protection of this statute, it 
 became usual to limit the husband's estates, to the husband and 
 wife, and the heirs of the body of the wife by the husband. 
 The consequence of thk was, that the estate was secured to the 
 parents during their lives, and was secured to the issue against 
 the act of either parent. Nothing short of the concurrent act 
 of both parents could deprive the issue of the estate. A more 
 rational system of settlement (particularly after the statute of 
 the 32 Hen. 8, c. 27, had enabled tenants in tail to lease) could 
 not perhaps be devised. The estate might be limited to the 
 male or the female line, at the pleasure of the parties. It was 
 protected against the caprice or extravagance of one of the 
 parties, so long as the other refused to co-operate in unfettering 
 the entail, while there was a provision for unforeseen events, by 
 
( 4G ) 
 
 their co-operation during their joint lives ; and, during the life 
 of the surviving parent, the same effects might be produced 
 by the co-operation of that parent and the issue, and after the 
 decease of both parents the estate was restored to the issue, 
 with a complete power of alienating it. It may be a question 
 whether, even now, this mode of settlement be not the most 
 proper for all those cases, where, by reason of the smallness of 
 the property, or any other circumstance, the intricate system of 
 settlement, now in use, is not proper. This may be described 
 as the third stage of settlements. 
 
 " A fourth was effected by limiting life estates to the parents, 
 with remainders to their unborn children by purchase. This 
 was introduced, soon after it was discovered how completely 
 estates tail of every description were subject to the alienation 
 of the tenant in tail by fine or recovery. But it did not soon 
 become general. It was obvious, that, in every case, where the 
 parent was himself the immediate reversioner, and in every 
 case, where the parent not being the immediate reversioner, 
 could procure the concurrence of the immediate reversioner, the 
 unborn children were at the mercy of the parent. This gave 
 rise to the introduction of trustees for preserving contingent 
 remainders. This limitation is supposed to have been first 
 discovered and introduced into practice by Sir Orlando Bridg- 
 man, during the time of the usurpation. Whatever doubts may 
 formerly have been entertained on this head, it is now settled 
 beyond the reach of controversy, that, under a limitation of 
 this description, the trustees take a vested estate of freehold. 
 The interposition of this estate prevents the tenant for life from 
 surrendering to him in the reversion, and if he aliens his estate 
 by any of those modes of conveyance, which would otherwise 
 destroy the contingent remainders, and by a necessary conse- 
 quence, be a forfeiture of the estate, it authorizes the trustees 
 to enter for the forfeiture. This, to use one of the explanatory 
 expressions inserted in these limitations, ' prevents the con- 
 tingent remainders from being defeated or destroyed.' Such 
 are the circumstances which appear to have given rise to this 
 most frequent and important limitation, and the effects it pro- 
 duced ; and thus it stands with respect to the alienation of the 
 tenant for life without the concurrence or co-operation of the 
 trustees. With respect to those cases, where the trustees co- 
 operate in the alienation, it is obvious the estate of these trustees 
 is that which we have before mentioned, of a person seised of a 
 life estate in trust for another; and conformably to what we 
 have before observed upon the alienation of a person so seised, 
 his fine, feoffment, or common recovery acquires him an estate 
 
( -±7 ) 
 
 by disseisin, and vests the estate so acquired by him in the 
 purchaser. Here then the privity of estate fails : but courts of 
 equity again interfere. This alienation of the trustees is evi- 
 dently a breach of their trust. If, therefore, the conveyance 
 be without consideration, and without express notice, the court 
 implies notice. If it be with notice, then, whether with or 
 without consideration, the courts make the purchaser hold the 
 lands upon the trusts to which they were subject in the hands 
 of the trustees. But if the conveyance is for a valuable con- 
 sideration, and without notice, then the courts punish the breach 
 of trust, by decreeing them to purchase lands of equal value to 
 those, of which, by their breach of trust, they have deprived 
 the parties, and to settle them to the uses and upon the trusts 
 of the lands conveyed. 
 
 " The fifth and ultimate stage of settlements appears to have 
 been effected, by the introduction of powers under the Statute 
 of Uses. By these, as complete a dominion over the property 
 which is the subject of the settlement is given, to the party and 
 his trustees, as if it were not the subject of settlement; at the 
 same time that the property or its value is completely secured 
 to the parties, to their issue, and to all other claimants. Con- 
 sidered in this point of view, the plan and effects of a marriage 
 settlement, as such settlements are now usually framed in Eng- 
 land, are very striking ; and will bear a comparison with the 
 marriage contracts of any other country. These, generally 
 speaking, either fetter the property so much as to take it 
 entirely out of commerce, as is done by the tailzies of Scotland 
 with irritant and resolutive clauses, or, like their settlements 
 of what is called, simple destination, leave it so much under 
 the control and direction of the parents, as to give little security 
 for its safe transmission to the issue." (Mr. Butler's note, v. 
 290 b. Co. Litt.) 
 
 From this review we perceive that entails are at the founda- 
 tion of settlements ; that they and the Statute of Uses form two 
 integral portions of one magnificent system : and that one of 
 these cannot be substituted for the other without an overthrow 
 of that system. We have too in the foregoing sketch a vivid 
 picture of that gradual progress towards perfection, so charac- 
 teristic of legal institutions when allowed to mature under the 
 fostering care of the custodians and practitioners of the law. 
 Nor can we help asking ourselves whether if entails were 
 abolished the ingenuity of the profession would not very soon 
 elude the effect of the change by the drafting of newly-devised 
 instruments which would as effectually restrict alienation. You 
 remember, sir, how fruitless all those attempts to confine the 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 jurisdiction of the respective courts of common law proved: 
 how personal actions in general were brought within the cogni- 
 zance of the King's Bench by the fiction of a trespass and of a 
 trespass with the ac etiam clause or of the defendant being in 
 custody of an officer of the court — as suits between subjects 
 were brought within the cognizance of the Exchequer by the 
 fiction that the plaintiff was a debtor to the Crown and by the 
 defendant's wrong he was less able to pay asexpressed in the 
 quominus clause. And again with what subtle skill the eccle- 
 siastical lawyers had successively devised common recoveries, 
 feoffments to uses, and long terms of years, to evade the Statutes 
 of Mortmain, the pertinacious enforcement of which by parlia- 
 ment would no doubt have been baulked by some new juridical 
 stratagem, had not the churchmen gradually declined in legal 
 acumen and the temper of the courts been so decidedly hostile 
 to the absorption of land by religious houses. Then in more 
 modern times see how the Statute of Frauds has been broken 
 in upon in the case of equitable mortgages by the doctrine that 
 the agreement does not remain in fieri but is executed. Thus 
 is professional sagacity ever a match for the retrogressive or 
 prohibitory measures of the legislature, when the wishes of a 
 client, not conflicting with the sound interests of the state, call 
 forth the display of talent and draw upon the stored-up lore 
 of a lifetime. In vain then would you seek to destroy the law 
 of entail. The desires of owners and the resources of counsel 
 will assuredly nullify all your legislation ; and the only result 
 would be some temporary confusion and probably more cum- 
 brous and complicated conveyances. 
 
 There is but one other topic in your letter I have not touched 
 upon, viz. the unfounded tirade into which you have launched 
 against the abstruseness and technicality of the law of entail. 
 Had we not already exchanged some unreserved correspondence 
 I should set down so thoughtless an assertion to a lapsus calami. 
 But now from the insight I have gained into your character I 
 should not wonder if you were really in earnest. If so, my dear 
 Doe, by all means post back the effusions of a diseased though 
 eminently prolific brain to 
 
 Your amused friend, 
 
 John Doe, Esq. Riohakd Eoe. 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 WlIITEACRE, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 My deai- Eoe, 
 
 Let me congratulate you on the keenness of your eth- 
 nological perception. You have actually found out that I 
 possess a character resembling that of most persons enjoying 
 the blessing of mental sanity. Let a discovery so prodigious 
 and a stretch of genius so boundless be handed down " unto 
 the last syllable of recorded time." 
 
 I have not yet so lost my senses as to be cajoled by jargon, 
 however familiar ; nor charmed by casuistry, however ingeni- 
 ous. And, when I enter my protest against the barbarous 
 dialect and the insidious snares of the technicality and endless 
 ■windings of the law, I am but the mouthpiece of all whose 
 natural instincts for truth and straightforwardness have not 
 been dulled or altogether crushed out by the long apprentice- 
 ship deemed necessary to turn out adepts in the art of making 
 the worse cause seem the better. Would you have a true 
 description of the manner in which justice is administered 
 principally through the assistance of a hoodwinking phrase- 
 ology? listen to a great master of satire's account: — " There 
 was a society of men among us, bred up from their youth in 
 the art of proving, by words multiplied for the purpose, that 
 white is black, and black is white, according as they are paid. 
 To this society all the rest of the people are slaves. For 
 example, if my neighbour has a mind to my cow, he has a 
 lawyer to prove that he ought to have my cow from me. 
 I must then hire another to defend my right, it being against 
 all rules of law that any man should be allowed to speak for 
 himself. Now, in this case, I, who am the right owner, lie 
 under two great disadvantages ; first, my lawyer, being prac- 
 tised almost from his cradle in defending falsehood, is quite out 
 of his element when he would be an advocate for justice, which 
 is an unnatural office he always attempts with great awkward- 
 ness, if not with ill-will. The second disadvantage is, that my 
 lawyer must proceed with great caution, or else he will be 
 reprimanded by the judges and abhorred by his brethren, as 
 one that would lessen the practice of the law. And therefore 
 I have but two methods to preserve my cow. The first is, to 
 gain over my adversary's lawyer with a double fee, who will 
 then betray his client, by insinuating that he has justice on his 
 side. The second way is, for my lawyer to make my cause 
 appear as unjust as he can, by allowing the cow to belong to 
 my adversary : and this, if it be skilfully done, will certainly 
 
( 50 ) 
 
 bespeak the favour of the bench. Now, your honour is to 
 know, that these judges are persons appointed to decide all 
 controversies of property, as well as for the trial of criminals, and 
 picked out from the most dexterous lawyers, who are grown 
 old or lazy; and having been biassed all their lives against 
 truth and equity, lie under such a fatal necessity of favouring 
 fraud, perjury and oppression, that I have known some of them 
 refuse a large bribe from the side where justice lay, rather than 
 injure the faculty, by doing anything unbecoming their nature 
 or office. 
 
 " It is a maxim amongst these lawyers, that whatever has 
 been done before may legally be done again ; and therefore 
 they take special care to record all the decisions formerly made 
 against common justice and the general reason of mankind. 
 These, under the name of precedents, they produce as autho- 
 rities to justify the most iniquitous opinions; and the judges 
 never fail of directing accordingly. 
 
 " In pleading, they studiously avoid entering into the merits 
 of the cause, but are loud, violent, and tedious in dwelling 
 upon all circumstances which are not to the purpose. For 
 instance, in the case already mentioned, they never desire to 
 know what claim or title my adversary has to my cow ; but 
 whether the said cow was red or black; her horns long or 
 short ; whether the field I graze her in be round or square ; 
 whether she was milked at home or abroad ; what diseases she 
 is subject to, and the like ; after which they consult precedents, 
 adjourn the cause from time to time, and. in ten, twenty, or 
 thirty years come to an issue. 
 
 "It is likewise to be observed, that this society has a peculiar 
 cant and jargon of their own, that no other mortal can under- 
 stand, and wherein all their laws are written, which they take 
 special care to multiply ; whereby they have wholly confounded 
 the very essence of truth and falsehood, of right and wrong, so 
 that it will take thirty years to decide whether the field left me 
 by my ancestors for six generations, belongs to me, or to a 
 stranger three hundred miles off. 
 
 " In the trial of persons accused for crimes against the state, 
 the method is much more short and commendable : the judge 
 first sends to sound the disposition of those in power, after which 
 he can easily hang or save a criminal, strictly preserving all 
 due forms of law." (Swift's Voyage to the Houyhnhnms, 
 ch. v.) 
 
 How comes it the administration of justice is turned to such 
 mockery ? I reply, because of the unintelligible and repulsive 
 phraseology, and the needless intricacy, of the law. That there 
 
( 51 ) 
 
 - should be technical terms at all is bad enough : that those 
 terms should be in a foreign language is still worse : but that 
 they should be in a variety of tongues is past all endurance. 
 Can it be believed that the estates and rights of Englishmen 
 are bandied to and fro by means of words Anglo-Saxon, old 
 and modern English, old and modern French, Greek, and 
 Latin, classical and doggrel ? No wonder with such a formid- 
 able barricade the law is inaccessible to laymen, and well may 
 its professors batten and fatten on the splendid monopoly they 
 have so strategically entrenched. Such is the utter defiance 
 their security begets, that it seems almost a presumption for 
 people not of their order to attempt to construe for themselves 
 those laws, which they are bound to know at their peril ; for, 
 the moment a man gets into a scrape through ignorance of the 
 law, the courts take very good care to din into his ears with 
 befitting pomp and solemnity the unwelcome adage — Ignorantia 
 juris quod unusquisque scire tenetur neminem excusat. And, 
 if he would know why ignorance of law is not as excusable as 
 ignorance of fact, he will perhaps be referred to Blackstone, 
 who will assure him " a mistake in point of law, which every 
 person of discretion, not only may, but is bound and presumed 
 to know is in (criminal cases) no sort of defence," — " a pretiosa 
 ratio," as Mr. Austin observes, " flavoured with a spice of that 
 circular argumentation wherein he delights " — an argument too 
 that, we might remark in the words of the same writer, the 
 great commentator "borrows with much complacency, grate- 
 fully enhancing its original absurdity by adding nonsense of 
 his own." 
 
 To what a pitch of idiotic affectation have our legal instructors 
 gone when they are unable to call a house a house or water 
 water ! Are not the unsophisticated rightly shocked when 
 they find the so-styled learned gentlemen incompetent to name 
 a dwelling-place without designating it a messuage or to speak 
 of a lake or pond except as so much land covered with water ? 
 Ordinary persons when they would inform you a woman is 
 single or wedded tell you so in a plain manner by saying she is 
 unmarried or married ; but such homely speech would never 
 do for the dignity of wig and gown — oh, dear no ! and with the 
 appellations feme sole and feme covert the requisite air of 
 erudition is put on. It is somewhat hard those who are in the 
 enjoyment of or have a right to acquire personal property should 
 not know how to express themselves correctly on the subject ; 
 still with their usual benevolence the lawyers have judiciously 
 provided for that undesirable result, by making it juristic heresy 
 to wander from the consecrated and unintelligible phrases — 
 
 E 2 
 
( 52 ) 
 
 choses in possession and choses in action. Do the terms 
 "wrongful executor," "beneficiary," "for another's life," deserve 
 to be tabbooed? Yet they are ostracised to make way for 
 such grating gibberish as " executor de son tort," " cestui que 
 trust," " pur auter vie !" 
 
 You are aware with what commendable solicitude the Court 
 of Chancery in the case of charities and all the courts both of 
 law and equity in the case of agreements, settlements and wills 
 reform an instrument, the literal performance of which becomes 
 impossible by matter of fact, as the failure of the charity, or by 
 matter of law, as by violating the rule against perpetuities — so 
 reform it, I say, that it may as nearly as possible carry out the 
 intentions of the donor, grantor or testator. We might well 
 offer up a libation for so gracious an interference, but our 
 English Themis sends us no unmingled joy, for as if the per- 
 mitted rectification were not already sufficiently difficult of 
 itself, it must needs be couched in the obsolete terminolog " cy 
 pres." 
 
 You might perhaps suppose I had now displayed the most 
 revolting contents of the Pandora's box of evils our legal diction 
 supplies — " Lay not that flattering unction to your soul." There 
 are barbarisms more barbarous than any I have yet mentioned ; 
 but, not to weary you, let two examples teach the nature of all 
 the black catalogue. You are sufficiently conversant with the 
 relation of trustee and cestui que trust, and you know a similar 
 relation subsisted before the 27 Hen. 8 between feoffee 
 to uses and cestui que use. Just like the ancient feoffee to 
 uses, the modern trustee is the legal owner of the estate and 
 can make an indefeasible disposition thereof to a bona fide pur- 
 chaser for valuable consideration without notice ; but if there 
 be fraud or no consideration or on the part of the purchaser no 
 notice, then the latter is fixed by a court of equity as a trustee 
 and is burdened with the execution of the original trust in all 
 respects as his vendor would have been had there been no sale. 
 So if the estate descends to the heir of the trustee, that heir 
 will be bound by the trust as his ancestor was. Now the pur- 
 chaser and heir are said to be the parties and privies of the 
 trustee and to come to the estate through him. If however the 
 trustee were ousted by a trespasser such trespasser would not 
 be his party or privy and would formerly have held the land 
 discharged of the trust as would also his heir on descent cast. 
 So formerly also would the lord, who came in by escheat or the 
 husband or wife of the trustee who became tenant by the 
 curtesy or in dower — : all these parties as well as a disseisor 
 being said to come in by title paramount. Now how do you 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 suppose the distinction between obtaining through the feoffee 
 to uses and by title paramount was expressed ? By the glorious 
 and bewildering brevity which declared, that those who acquired 
 in the former mode were said to come in in the per, those who 
 acquired in the latter, to come in in the post! Only think 
 of the forty-shilling freeholder or the blockhead baron being 
 enlightened by the pregnant significance of two Latin pre- 
 positions, which their innate profundity would probably turn to 
 unmentionable interjections ! 
 
 But for my second sample. You have often no doubt paused 
 in admiration over that quaint old phrase — " time whereof 
 memorie of man runneth not to the contrary." There is a 
 sweet cadence about it which can never be forgotten. Will it 
 be credited that this musical harmony has its dulcet melody 
 generally marred by being allied with that most discordant 
 bathos — " prescribing in a que estate." Better were it there 
 should be no prescription for such things as lie not in grant and 
 may pass without deed or writing than that a claimant should 
 be so driven to murder the Queen's English or rather the Re- 
 public's French ! 
 
 I find it no easy task to keep my promise of giving only two 
 instances of that phraseology, which is the backbone of legal 
 chicanery. What an acervus acervorum of hoodwinking 
 terms — possessio fratris— nolle prosequi — interesse termini — 
 voire dire — paraphernalia — hotchpot — laches — qui tams— la- 
 titats — demurrers — traverses — pleas puis darrein continuance — 
 and the whole farrago of pleading. It is a serious enough 
 crime to introduce and pass in this country the wretched money 
 of foreign states, but how much more serious to clip and debase 
 the current coin of the realm. As utterers of the incoherent 
 language of foreigners our lawyers are under a grave charge ; 
 but as emasculating that of their fellow-citizens, they are in- 
 famous. And this is the head and front of their offending, that, 
 when they do condescend to speak in common English, they 
 twist and torture our words out of all rational meaning. What 
 would you imagine they intended by " obligation," " month," 
 " parol contract " — but stay, ab uno disce omnes. Get me the 
 man who out of his own head can guess what they understand 
 by the term " purchase " — get me one to solve that riddle and I 
 shall rank him with Maskelyne and Dr. Lynn. Can there be 
 a more outrageous perversion than to call the most gratuitous 
 gift a purchase ? and, on the other hand, to say that Fairfield, 
 for the fee simple of which John Styles' father gave a mint of 
 money, was not obtained through purchase by John Styles, 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 who happened to be the eldest son of his intestate parent de- 
 ceased ? 
 
 A praiseworthy zeal has carried me too far in this letter to 
 allow of an exposure of the innumerable pitfalls dug on every 
 side of the unwary suitor by the sedulous technicality of our 
 legal tyrants. In one word, however, they have laid so many 
 traps that no one can help being caught, who does not submit 
 himself to their uncontrolled guidance. 
 
 Can such a desperate state of things be suffered to continue ? 
 Can you, Kichard Roe, uphold the well-earned reputation of an 
 honoured name without raising a hand against the Juggernaut, 
 which tramples to death the virtue and honesty as well as the 
 prosperity of a naturally-conscientious and truth-loving race ? 
 On, then ! and let us hand in hand do battle against the knavish 
 technicality, no less than against the beguiling slang, of the 
 law, is the fervid exhortation of your much obliged servant, 
 
 Eichard Roe, Esq. John Doe. 
 
 Blackacre, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 My dear Doe, 
 
 I dare say you have read or heard of the opinion enter- 
 tained by certain physicists that all matter is solid, liquid or 
 asriform, according as the temperature to which it is submitted 
 is made to fall, rise, or rise still higher. How fortunate could 
 we delude ourselves with a similar hypothesis as regards the 
 nature of mental products. But, alas ! there is here no elasticity 
 or compressibility, or, if any, none such as changes the character 
 of the original phenomenon presented to our contemplation. 
 Come, I shall be plain spoken : look ye, if an atmosphere of a 
 million degrees below zero could be brought to freeze into a 
 mass the gaseous explosion of rarefied trash contained in your 
 last letter, there would not be a minimum visible of congealed 
 reason as the result. If the most powerful Bramah press ever 
 yet constructed, or that ever shall be constructed, were capable 
 of being utilized in agglomerating that diffused inanity, there 
 would not be squeezed together as much as a molecular atom of 
 condensed argument or sound common sense ! 
 
 I pass over the barefaced charge you made against the terms 
 used to carve out an estate tail — a charge you have not dared 
 to substantiate in the least particular. I am content to confine 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 myself to that rigmarole of execration you have showered down 
 on that splendid creation of intellectual power — the phraseology 
 of the law. "Well, indeed, might I allow our juristic language 
 to take care of itself, so overmastering has been the recoil of 
 every reproach you have been hardy enough to hurl against it. 
 For has not each stroke you aimed been sent back with twofold 
 force by the wind-breaking periphrasis you have been compelled 
 to adopt, whenever you sought to translate the brief but apt 
 diction of the law. And then like all destroyers you have given 
 us no specimens of the constructiveness which is to repair your 
 work of demolition. Bear it in mind and lay it to heart, it is 
 only out of friendship and by reason of the respect I entertain 
 for John Doe that I deign to notice the frivolities he has thrust 
 in such oppressive multitudes upon me ; and that my subse- 
 quent observations are a generous explanation, not an enforced 
 defence. 
 
 In undertaking the office of kindness thus proposed, I am 
 burthening myself with a load of no inconsiderable weight ; 
 for, the truth is, your statements manifest so much confusion 
 and, pardon me for adding, so much ignorance, that I fear I 
 shall have to begin with those rudimentary facts of knowledge 
 possessed by any average schoolboy. There is a strange haze 
 dimming your mental vision, when you make the multitude of 
 languages from which our terminology is drawn a subject of 
 reproach. As well might you condemn the iron-clad that rides 
 gaily at anchor, because her masts come from America, her 
 engines from Birmingham, her bars and rivets from Sheffield, 
 her sails from Leeds or Manchester, her signals from France 
 or Germany. What matters it whence these various fittings are 
 obtained, provided they best serve their purpose ; and so why 
 should we inquire in what tongue our jurists are pleased to 
 speak, if only the words they employ are the most suitable to 
 express their meaning. 
 
 It would seem, however, you lay an accusation against our 
 jurisprudence for having technical terms of any kind. The 
 fasciculus of absurdities bound up in this notion is so huge and 
 at the same time so diversified, that I shudder at the herculean 
 labour it would be to unravel even a small portion of the in- 
 volved complexity. . I shall not attempt to untie a Gordian 
 knot so baffling, but, with the sharp sword of inductive illus- 
 tration, I shall proceed with a few well-directed slashes to 
 sunder to pieces the network of error. 
 
 Let me in starting demand as a postulate that law is or 
 should be treated as a science. That granted (and who can 
 refuse the concession ?) it will follow that any universal method 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 or practice obtaining in all other sciences and obtaining neces- 
 sarily from the very fact that they are sciences must also obtain 
 in the science of jurisprudence. Now there is no science ex- 
 clusive of jurisprudence which has not its peculiar and technical 
 phrases ; nor indeed could those branches of knowledge be de- 
 signated scientific in the absence of such phrases. Therefore 
 neither could law aspire to the rank of a science without a tech- 
 nical language. Next to prove my minor— (for the major 
 premiss is self-evident) — let us review the sciences successively 
 from complex to simple. 
 
 To avoid dangerous ground I shall not touch upon sociology, 
 as you may dispute the existence or possibility of an aggregate 
 social science, and I shall therefore begin with political economy. 
 Well what are we met with on the very threshold of the subject ? 
 — the term money and its signification. On the threshold, I 
 repeat, for is it not natural to ask in the first instance what is 
 the origin of the inquiry about to be pursued ? and the answer to 
 that initiatory question informs us that it was to dispel the fatal 
 illusion, which confounded money with wealth and thereby en- 
 gendered and maintained the so-called mercantile theory, Adam 
 Smith was induced to compose the " Wealth of Nations." 
 
 Open now the part that treats of production. "Land" — 
 " labour" and " capital." " Productive and unproductive la- 
 bour" — " fixed and circulating capital "• — all so many technical 
 terms needing definition and explanation. Proceed next to 
 distribution — " rent" — " wages" — " profits" — " ground and 
 agricultural rent" — " money and real wages" — " gross and net 
 profits " — all again consecrated phrases. Then turn to exchange 
 and you have " values," " prices," " instruments of credit," &c. 
 — but it is needless to amplify examples of those abounding terms 
 of art without which economical science would be an impossi- 
 bility. Say not that this terminology being in our own tongue is 
 more comprehensible and excusable. That it is in our own tongue 
 is a matter of accident, because this particular science, at least 
 in its infancy, was most cultivated in our own country. Yet 
 are there many exotic phrases, as for instance, grande and petite 
 culture — l'impot progressif — metayers, &c. — and in the course 
 of time there can hardly be a doubt that such importations will 
 increase, inasmuch as, by the more general study of the subject, 
 each respective nation will be able to furnish some peculiar 
 idiom of its own, that will most exactly and best hit the idea 
 intended to be conveyed. It is however no advantage to draw 
 upon our common speech for technical language, since it is so 
 difficult to separate the ordinary from the artificial signification 
 — but of this more hereafter. 
 
( o7 ) 
 
 Descending to the next lower science we find in psychology 
 the terms " subject" — " object" — " sensation" — " emotion" — 
 " volition" — " thought" — " perception" — " consciousness." And 
 if we go hence to metaphysics we have " phenomenon" — " nou- 
 menon" — " substance" — " attribute" — " cause" — but why pro- 
 ceed beyond the name of the subject itself? for hardly is there 
 in the history of literature anything which shows to greater 
 advantage how a useful techincal phrase may be coined out of 
 mere accident than the word metaphysics, which arose from 
 the fortuitous circumstance of Aristotle having treated of things 
 in themselves next after his t« Quaixa or natural philosophy. 
 How futile it would be to deal with the matter of psychological 
 or metaphysical science without technical language, let the 
 dialogues of Plato and the common reproach that those pursuits 
 are but a quarrel about words bear witness. 
 
 I may dismiss physiology in a line. The laws of life could 
 not be discoursed upon without the use of the terms — " tissues" — 
 " cells" — " corpuscles" — " functions" — or fixed phrases of equal 
 scientific value. 
 
 Chemistry affords the most splendid instance of an elaborate 
 and perfected nomenclature. Take the expression — tribasic 
 phosphate of lime — which designates the mode of composition, 
 wherein lime and phosphorus are found in the bones of man 
 and other animals. With what compactness and precision this 
 single name points out a salt, and the exact way in which by 
 the union of acid and base its formation is accomplished ! Take 
 again the phrase — sesqui-oxide of iron ; here too we have the 
 exact proportion in which oxygen combines with iron to pro- 
 duce rust, told to us in a breath. Is not the chemist's admirably- 
 chosen set of phrases something like the shelves of a well-ar- 
 ranged geologist's cabinet, where you have only to glance at 
 the outside labels and straightway you have specimens of any 
 particular period to hand ? How this organized machinery of 
 language has rendered feasible and then advanced the science 
 of chemistry, it is unnecessary to dilate upon. 
 
 I pass next to physical optics and acoustics — the very first 
 step in either of which is, to master the meaning of the word 
 undulation, which expresses a different fact when applied to 
 luminiferous ether, vibrating air, and disturbed water. Then 
 what is understood by plane, circular, and elliptical polari- 
 zation of light ? an instance I cite to show how apparently 
 misleading are the best technical terms ; for would anyone sup- 
 pose it was but the unseen inferred cause, not the palpable 
 effect, which was the ground of these designations, which pro- 
 ceed upon the conclusion that one of the axes of vibrating 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 molecules vanishes — or is equal to the other — or varies be- 
 tween these extremes ? 
 
 I need not dwell on those common phrases "reflection" — 
 "refraction"— "focus"— "prism," &c. &c— every student feels 
 it would be vain to devote himself to an investigation con- 
 cerning the nature of light or sound without such or similar 
 assistance. 
 
 We need not delay over mechanics — ■" force" — " resultant" 
 — " component" — "velocity" — " momentum" — " mass" — who 
 does not remember the trouble of mastering these and a host of 
 other terms — which once mastered so abridged future labour. 
 Let us, however, dwell for a moment on the next successive 
 science — mathematics — for, here, whether we deal with geo- 
 metry or algebra or arithmetic, we are at every moment con- 
 fronted with the most technical of language. The definitions 
 of Euclid — the factors and functions that enter into a consi- 
 deration of number — assail us at every step. Then is not the 
 whole differential calculus an expansion of the single definition 
 of a differential co-efficient ? Nay, why is it there has been 
 such a prodigious development of mathematical science in 
 modern times ? Because without dispute the abbreviated 
 notation of logarithms, and the calculus, and the happy appli- 
 cation by Descartes of algebra to geometry, have enabled us to 
 deal by a new formalism with quantities and magnitudes here- 
 tofore utterly beyond the scope of language ordinary or tech- 
 nical. There are moreover several very remarkable peculiarities 
 about the technical terms in mathematics. First, they appear 
 arbitrary. Secondly, they are mostly of foreign derivation 
 though now with English inflexion. Thirdly, they are not 
 always used in the same sense — e.g. tangent is defined by 
 Euclid : " A right line which meets a circle and being pro- 
 duced does not cut it." (Book iii. def. 2.) "Tangent is de- 
 fined in conic sections ; the secant to a curve in its limiting 
 position, which is formed by taking two points on the curve 
 and drawing a line through them and supposing one of the 
 points fixed and the other to move up to it. I commend these 
 peculiarities to your earnest attention, for they dispose of several 
 objections you might be inclined to urge against our legal 
 phraseology. And I commend them all the more since mathe- 
 matics is the best type we have of science, and since the progress 
 of all physical research tends to become mathematical, the tran- 
 sition being as it has been nicely stated " from qualitative to 
 quantitative prevision." (Herbert Spencer.) 
 
 At length we arrive at the foot of the scientific pyramid. 
 We have reached the scientia scientiarum — the ars artium 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 logic, which, presupposed in every other branch of scientific 
 knowledge, is, in its symbolism and technical devices, at least 
 in the syllogistic or deductive portion, surpassed only by ma- 
 thematics. Nor will you dispute the advantages that arise 
 from the parallelogram of propositional opposition or from 
 those artificial hexameters by which we so easily retain the 
 several legitimate moods and figures. 
 
 What then is the fruit of this hurried survey of the field of 
 science ? That technical terms are found in every science : 
 that their utility is obvious, their necessity inevitable. So 
 much truth is there in the aphorism of Condillac, " La Science 
 est, une langue bien faite," and in the assertion that " many of 
 the controversies which have had an important share in the for- 
 mation of the existing body of science ' have assumed the form 
 of a battle of definitions.' " (Mills, Logic, vol. ii., bk. iv., 
 c. 4, quoting Whewell, Phil. Ind. Sc. ii. 177.) 
 
 Were I addressing myself to a less redoubtable antagonist I 
 might lay down my pen with the demonstration now given of 
 the universal prevalence of technical terms in the various 
 sciences as an ample apology for their introduction into that of 
 the law. But I feel I may cry out — ■ 
 
 " Quo teneam vultus mutantem Protea nodo !" 
 
 and you will wriggle round with the hollow objection — Oh ! I 
 never denied that artificial language was right and necessary in 
 science ; nor do I deny that jurisprudence is or may be a 
 science ; only if it be it has no need of those terms, or at any 
 rate the English law has no need or right to bamboozle us with 
 an incomprehensible form of speech. 
 
 Well, my good sir, I am ready to meet you even here : and 
 I shall show from the Roman jurisprudence, of which you are 
 so much enamoured, that technical phrases are no reproach to 
 our lawyers in particular, and I shall then prove the intrinsic, 
 though universally-underrated, excellence of our own legal 
 dialect. 
 
 You will have to own that the following are not classical 
 words except when used in an actual or metaphorical legal 
 sense : hercisco, sonticus, noxa, and that the word for cheating, 
 " stellionatus," is in much the same predicament, whilst distrahere 
 — to sell by retail, and insula — a detached house, rarely have 
 these peculiar significations except amongst the jurisconsults. 
 Of these various forms some are as old as the Roman law 
 itself, being found in the Twelve Tables. Thus, Morbus 
 sonticus . . , status dies cum hoste . . . quid horum fuit 
 
( 60 ) 
 
 unum, judici, arbitrove, reove, dies diffisus esto. Tab. II. 2. 
 Si servus furtum faxit iioxiamve nocuit. . . . Tab. XII. 2. And 
 Gaius observes, Hasc actio (families herciscunda) proficiscitur 
 a lege XII. Tabularum (Dig. x. 2), but the exact text has not 
 been found or reconstructed. 
 
 Many more examples I might adduce of obsolete words, 
 which, when no longer suitable for the common drudgery of 
 speech, were like faithful old retainers eased of the vulgar toil 
 and allowed to do honourable duty for the law ; but for further 
 information I refer you to the 50th Book of the Digest, tit. 16, 
 De Significatione Verborum, and to the work of Festus. I 
 cannot however in alluding to antiquated terms omit to tran- 
 scribe the language used by the emptor familise when a will 
 was executed per ses et libram : — 
 
 " Familiam pecuniamque tuam endo mandatela tutela custo- 
 delaquemea ex jure Quiritium aio,eaquequo tu juretestamentum 
 facere possis secundum legem publicam hoc sere seneaque libra 
 esto mihi empta." Here indeed is a fardeau de richesses ; and 
 though gradually supplanted by the praetorian form about the 
 middle of the second or the beginning of the third century, 
 the praetorian form being in its turn superseded in the first half 
 of the fifth century by the Jus Tripertitum (Insts. ii. tit. x. 
 2, 3), under Valentinian III. in the East, and Theodosius II. 
 in the West ; yet have the labours of Savigny proved that the 
 will per ass et libram was maintained in Europe even in the 
 Middle Ages. So that the rugged style you so much deprecate 
 in our law has warrant by the example of Roman jurisprudence, 
 where it was consecrated in a formula which beheld the rise 
 and fall of the Republic — the invasions of barbarians — the 
 launch and wreck of empires ! 
 
 I have already observed that your petition for the substitution 
 of ordinary language in place of obsolete and foreign terms is 
 an exhibition of the wildest folly. Indeed were I a special 
 pleader I should hold you to your own admission by which 
 you are estopped from disputing the misfortune that would 
 attend the adoption of your proposal. For the ovation, on 
 which you appear most to plume yourself in your last letter, is 
 gained when you tap the reservoir of ridicule and bedrench 
 the ill-fated term "purchase." Here is a word of common 
 speech, and so inaptly does it serve the purposes of the law 
 that you open the flood-gates and rain down a torrent of jeers 
 enough to submerge St. Paul's. 
 
 Let me supply more matter for your merriment. Just 
 consider the ambiguity which attaches to that phrase of 
 
( 61 ) 
 
 ordinary parlance — "property." Let an able anatomist of 
 language dissect some of its principal meanings : — 
 
 "1. Taken with its strict sense, it denotes a right — indefinite 
 in point of user — unrestricted in point of disposition — and 
 unlimited in point of duration— over a determinate thing. 
 In this sense, it does not include servitus, nor any right of 
 limited duration. Sometimes it is taken in a loose and vulgar 
 acceptation, to denote not the right of property or dominion, 
 but the subject of such a right; as when a horse or piece of 
 land is called my property. 
 
 " 2. Sometimes it is applied to a right indefinite in point 
 of user, but limited in duration : for instance, in common 
 parlance, a life interest in an immoveable is a property. 
 
 " 3. Sometimes the term ' right of property ' or ' dominion ' 
 is opposed to a right of possession (which will be analyzed 
 hereafter) ; that is, to a right over and in a determinate thing, 
 which arises from the fact of an adverse possession. As 
 opposed to this, the term 'right of property' almost com- 
 prises servitus ; for it means, not a right distinguished by 
 indefiniteness of user, but a right (either property or servitude ) 
 which is not a right of possession : a complete right as against 
 the world as distinguished from a right against all the world 
 except a determinate person or party who has properly the 
 right in the subject ; as when we say, that the right of posses- 
 sion ripens by prescription into dominium or property : and 
 we say so even when the right acquired is a servitus. 
 
 " 4. In the language of the classical Roman jurists, the term 
 proprietas, or in • re potestas or dominium, has two principal 
 meanings. It is either a right indefinite in point of user, over 
 a determinate thing : or, generally, jus in rem. In the first 
 sense, it is opposed to servitus ; and these form the two divi- 
 sions of rights availing generally against the world. In the 
 second or larger and vaguer sense, it includes all to which in 
 the first sense it is opposed ; all rights not coming within the 
 description of obligatio. 
 
 "5. I think in English law, unless used vaguely and popu- 
 larly, the term is not applied to rights in immoveables. We 
 talk of property in a moveable thing. By absolute property in 
 a moveable thing we mean what the Roman lawyers called 
 dominium or proprietas, they having no distinction between 
 real and personal property. But, in strict law language, the 
 term is not applied to a right or interest in immoveables. An 
 estate in fee simple, an estate in tail, an estate for life and so 
 on, but never a property, speaking strictly. An estate in fee 
 
( 62 ) 
 
 simple corresponds as nearly as may be to absolute property in 
 a personal chattel. 
 
 " 6. Another strange caprice of language is the following. 
 The term property is applied to some rights in rem over or in 
 persons but not to others. For example, the right of the 
 master in the slave is called dominium in the Roman law and 
 property in the English. The former word seems to have 
 originally been applied exclusively to that right ; to have been 
 co-extensive with dominus, and to have extended only by 
 analogy to things strictly so called. But in neither the Roman 
 nor the English law is the analogous right of the father in his 
 son included under the same name. So a man's right in his 
 own person ; it has been called a right of personal security, but 
 never a property in his own person. This is analogous to the 
 capricious application of the term thing. A slave in the Roman 
 law was styled a thing, because he was the subject of a right 
 residing in his master and availing against third parties, and 
 was so far in a position analogous to that of a thing strictly so 
 called. But the Roman lawyers did not call a son (though also 
 in the power of his father and almost as completely subject to 
 him as a slave) a thing: nor did they call the action by which 
 the father might have recovered the son a vindication; which 
 is the name peculiarly applicable to cases in which a right of 
 property or dominium has been violated. 
 
 " 7. Another meaning of the word property is the aggregate 
 of a man's faculties, rights, or means ; called in the Roman law 
 a man's patrimony : at least that name is given to such part of 
 the aggregate, as descends to his general representatives on his 
 decease, or is applicable to the discharge of his obligations if he 
 be insolvent. It is tantamount to the term estate and effects, 
 or perhaps to the term assets. In this sense it implies rights 
 in personam, or obligations as well as rights of every other 
 class. It is evident that a man's rights as against determinate 
 persons are just as much applicable to the discharge of his 
 debts, and devolve just as much to his general representatives, 
 as his jura in rem. 
 
 " 8. A still more remarkable acceptation is the following. 
 In the largest possible meaning, property means legal rights or 
 faculties of any kind; as when we talk of the institution of 
 property ; or security to property as arising from such and such 
 a form of government or the like. It is commonly said that 
 government exists or should exist to institute and protect pro- 
 perty. I have demonstrated in a note to my published Lectures, 
 the absurdity of this doctrine. But the property here spoken 
 
( 63 ) 
 
 of must mean legal rights in the largest sense. It cannot be 
 meant that government exists or ought to exist for the purpose 
 of creating and protecting rights of dominion in the narrower 
 sense, else it would be implied that it ought not to exist for the 
 purpose of protecting rights arising from contracts and quasi- 
 contracts. 
 
 " When we speak of a man of property, meaning a wealthy- 
 man, we seem chiefly to contemplate the value of his rights in 
 external things, or of the debts due to him; the most con- 
 spicuous portion of his rights. Blaclcstone uses the term in 
 that vague, vulgar, and unscientific sense, in the part of his 
 work where he announces the arrangement of his second book. 
 He there says that the law of things is conversant about rights 
 of property or dominium, which he explains to mean the rights 
 which a man may acquire in and to such external things as are 
 connected with his person. He here manifestly means by pro- 
 perty and dominium, not property and dominium in their strict, 
 nor in any of their narrower senses, but in this large sense. 
 For, lower down, he includes in the law of things, or the law 
 of property or dominium, not only property in possession, abso- 
 lute and qualified, or absolute and qualified property divested 
 of possession by wrong, but also whole classes of rights arising 
 directly from contracts or quasi-contracts, which are not rights 
 over things at all, but rights to acts and forbearances to be done 
 and observed by determinate persons. Thus if you contract to 
 sell me a determinate quantity of corn, I have no property or 
 dominion in the thing, but a right to force you to deliver com 
 according to the terms of the contract. If you have disposed 
 of the subject of the right in the meanwhile to a third party, 
 the property vests in the buyer, not in me. 
 
 " If the property vests in me before delivery, the transaction 
 is not a contract, but compounded of a conveyance and a con- 
 tract. Blackstone, therefore, must here use the word in a 
 totally different sense from that in which he' employs it after- 
 wards. In fact, he here means by it a man's legal rights gene- 
 rally, or his faculties generally. 
 
 " The same may be said of what, under the head of the rights 
 which he styles absolute rights, he terms the right of private 
 property. What this might be, I could not for a long time 
 make out : but, by comparing it with a corresponding passage 
 in his third volume, it was cleared up. I could not persuade 
 myself that it meant nothing. I now find that it does. It is 
 merely a collective name for all those various rights which, 
 either as property in the strict sense, or as rights derived from 
 
( G4 ) 
 
 contracts or quasi-contracts, are the subject of his whole Com- 
 mentaries, and does not stand for a particular right at all. 
 
 " These are only some of the meanings of this most ambiguous 
 word. It is most difficult to get on with it intelligibly and 
 without endless circumlocution. For the present I mean by 
 property or dominion, every right in and over a thing, which is 
 indefinite in user, as distinguished from servitus. The various 
 modes of dominion or property as thus understood, I shall show 
 as I proceed." (Austin on Jurisprudence, Lect. xlvii. vol. ii. 
 3rd ed.) 
 
 I shall not insist further on the serious evils that would spring 
 from attempting an abolition of technical language, but, before 
 I conclude, I deem it a sacred duty to vindicate from four loath- 
 some aspersions some of the most esteemed and trusty agents of 
 legal expression. You shall not garble and misrepresent without 
 retort. The oracle shall be invoked, and let his deliverances 
 cover the scoffer with shame : — 
 
 " Item, si feoffement soit fait sur tiel condicion, que le feoffe 
 donera la terre al feoffour, et a la feme del feoffour, a aver et 
 tener a eux, et a les heires de lour deux corps engendres, et 
 pur defaut de tiel issue, le remeyndre as droit heires le feoffour: 
 en ceo cas si le baron devie vivaunt la feme devant ascun estate en 
 le taille fait a eux, donques doit le feoffe per la ley faire estate a 
 la feme, cy pres la condicion, et cy pres lentent de la condicion 
 que il poet faire ; scil. de lesser la terre al feme pur terme de 
 vie sans empeschement de wast, le remeyndre apres son decesse, 
 a les heires de les corps de son baron et luy engendres, et pur 
 defaut de tiel issue, le remeyndre as droit heires le baron. Et 
 la cause pur que la lees serra en ceo cas a la feme sole sans 
 empeschement de wast, est, pur ceo que la condicion est, que 
 lestate serroit fait a le baron et a sa feme en le taille : et si tiel 
 estate ust este fait en le vie le baron, donques apres la mort le 
 baron el ad ewe estate sole en le taille ; quel estate est sauns 
 empeschement de'wast. Et issint il est reason, que cy pres que 
 home poet faire estate a lentent de la condicion, &c, que il 
 ferroit, &c., coment quel ne poet aver estate en taille sicome 
 ele puissoit aver si le done en le taille ust este fait a son baron 
 et luy en la vie son baron." 
 
 " Also, if a_ feoffment be made upon such condition, that the 
 feoffee shall give the land* to the feoffor, and to the wife of the 
 feoffor, to have and to hold to them and to the heirs of their two 
 bodyes engendered, and for default of such issue, the remainder 
 to the right heirs of the feoffor. In this case if the husband 
 dyeth, living the wife, before any estate in tail made unto them, 
 
( 65 ) 
 
 &c., then ought the feoffee by the law to make an estate to the 
 wife as near the condition, and also as near to the extent of the 
 condition as he may make it, that is to say, to let the land to the 
 wife for term of life without impeachment of waste, the remainder 
 after her decease to the heirs of the body of her husband on her 
 begotten, and for default of such issue, the remainder to the right 
 heirs of the husband. And the cause why the lease shall be in 
 this case to the wife alone without impeachment of waste is, for 
 that the condition is, that the estate shall be made to the hus- 
 band and to his wife in tail. And if such estate had been made 
 in the life of the husband, then after the death of the husband 
 she should have had an estate in tail, which estate is without 
 impeachment of waste. And so it is reason, that as near as a 
 man can make the estate to the intent of the condition, &c, that 
 it should be made, &c, albeit she cannot have estate in tail, as 
 she might have had if the gift in tail had been made to her hus- 
 band and to her in the life of her husband, &c." (Lib. hi. s. 352.) 
 
 So much for the antiquity and excellence of cy pres, and next 
 for the term hotchpot: — 
 
 "En eel cas le baron et la feme naverount riens pur lour pur- 
 partie de le dit remenaunt, sinon quils voillent metter lour terres 
 donez en frankmariage en hochepot ovesque le remenaunt de la 
 terre ovesque sa soeur. Et si issint ils ne voillent faire, donques 
 la puisne poet tener et occupier mesme le remenaunt et perner 
 a luy les profites tantsolement. Et il semble que cest parole 
 hochepot est en English a puddyng, qar en tiel puddyng nest 
 commenement mys un chose tantsolement mes un chose ovesque 
 autres choses : Et pur ceo il covient en tiel cas de mettre les terrez 
 donez en frankmariage, ovesque les autres terres en hochepot, 
 si le baron et sa feme voillent aver riens en les autres terres ; 
 
 "Et cest terme hochepot, est forsque un terme similitudinarie, 
 et est a tant adire, cestassavoir, de mettre les terres donez en frank- 
 mariage et les autres terres en fee-simple ensemble, et ceo est a 
 tiel entent conustre le value de toutz les terres, scil. lez terrez 
 donez en frankmariage, et de le remenaunt que ne furent dones, 
 et donques particion serra fait en la fourme que ensuyt: Sicome 
 mettomus que home seisi de xxx. acres de terre en fee-simple, 
 chescun acre del value de xiid. per an, quel ad issue deux files, 
 et lun est covert de baron, et le pere dona x. acres de les xxx. 
 acres a le baron, ovesque sa file en frankmariage, et morust seisi 
 de le remenaunt, donques lautre soer entrera en la remenaunt, 
 scil. en les xx. acres, et ceo occupiera a son use demesne, sinon 
 que le baron et sa feme voille metter les x. acres dones en frank- 
 mariage ovesque les xx. acres en hochepot, cestassavoir, ensemble; 
 et donques quant le value de chescun acre est conus, scil. que 
 
 F 
 
( 66 ) 
 
 chescun acre vault per an et est assesse, ou entre eux agree, qu< 
 chescun acre vault per an xiid. ; donques la particion serra fai 
 en tiel fourme, scil. le baron et la feme averont oustre les x. acre 
 donez a eux en frankmariage v. acres de severalte de les xx 
 acres, et lautre soer avera le remenaunt, scil. xv. acres de les xx 
 acres pur sa purpartie : issint que accomptant les x. acres que 1< 
 baron et la feme ount per le done en frankmariage, et les autre; 
 v. acres de les xx. acres, le baron et la feme ount ataunt ei 
 annuel value, que lautre soer ad." 
 
 " In this case, neither the husband, nor wife, shall have any- 
 thing for their purpartie of the said remnant, unless they wil 
 put their lands given in frankmarriage in hotchpot, with th< 
 remnant of the land with her sister. And if they will not d( 
 so, then the youngest may hold and occupie the same remnant 
 and take the profits onely to herselfe. And it seemeth, thai 
 this word (hotchpot) is in English a pudding; for in this 
 pudding is not commonly put one thing alone, but one thing 
 with other things together. And therefore it behooveth in this 
 case to put the lands given in frankmarriage with the othei 
 lands in hotchpot, if the husband and wife will have any pari 
 in the other lands. 
 
 " And this tearme (hotchpot) is but a tearme similitudinary, 
 and is as much to say, as to put the lands in frankmarriage 
 and the other lands in fee simple together ; and this is for this 
 intent, to know the value of all the lands, scil. of the lands 
 given in frankmarriage, and of the remnant which were nol 
 given, and then partition shall be made in form following. As 
 put the case that a man be seised of thirty acres of land it 
 fee simple, every acre of the value of twelve pence by the yeare, 
 and that he hath issue two daughters, and the one is coverl 
 baron, and the father gives ten acres of the thirty acres to th< 
 husband with his daughter in frankmarriage, and dyeth seisec 
 of the remnant, then the other sister shall enter into tk< 
 remnant, viz. into the twenty acres, and shall occupie then 
 to her owne use, unlesse the husband and his wife wil 
 put the ten acres given in frankmarriage with the twentj 
 acres in hotchpot, that is to say, together; and ther 
 when the value of everie acre is known, to wit, what every acre 
 valueth by the year, and it is assessed or agreed between them 
 that every acre is worth by the yeare twelve pence, then th< 
 partition shall be made in this manner, viz. the husband anc 
 wife shall have besides the ten acres given to them in frank 
 marriage five acres in severaltie of the twenty acres, and tin 
 other sister shall have the remnant, scil. fifteen acres of th< 
 twenty acres for her purpartie, so as accounting the ten acrei 
 
( 67 ) 
 
 which the baron and feme hare by the gift in frankniarriage, 
 and the other five acres of the twenty acres, the husband and 
 wife have as much in yearly value as the other sister." (Lib. iii. 
 ss. 267, 268.) 
 
 Thus because those phrases have a well-ascertained and fixed 
 connotation ; because they are pre-eminently fitted by their 
 brevity and singleness of meaning to become terms of art, 
 because they are a history in themselves — like that other at- 
 tacked expression " a plea puis darrein continuance," which 
 indelibly records that all our pleading was originally oral — 
 your taunts cannot be levelled with sufficient venom and 
 malice. 
 
 You have indeed made a great mistake if you for one 
 moment think brave old Norman French or forgotten English 
 are hurtful to my ears, or to the ears of any one of good taste. 
 I spurn the upstart politeness which spells " favour" " favor" or 
 " honour" " honor." Nor are our resources of etymology so 
 plentiful, that we can afford to dispense with those orthographic 
 media through which we discern the peerage and passage of a 
 word to English from Latin through French ; and a fortiori I 
 repudiate the endeavour to make our legal phraseology a bald 
 and lifeless formula. 
 
 I have far exceeded the limits a correspondent may fairly 
 claim ; and I hesitate to affix the double stamp which plays the 
 naughty tell-tale of the excess to which these sheets have run. 
 Still you would prefer, would you not ? the full and sincere 
 outpouring of my thoughts which I take leave to back up with 
 the following admirable observations : — 
 
 " And true it is, that our books of reports and statutes in 
 ancient times were written in such French as in those times 
 was commonly spoken and written by the French themselves. 
 But this kind of French our author hath used is most com- 
 monly written and read, and very rarely spoken, and therefore 
 cannot be either pure or well pronounced. Yet the change 
 thereof (having been so long customed) should be without any 
 profit, but not without great danger and difficulty ; for so many 
 ancient terms and words drawn from that legal French are 
 grown to be vocabula artis, vocables of art, so apt and signi- 
 ficant to express the true sense of the laws, and are so woven 
 in the laws themselves, as it is in a manner impossible to 
 change them, neither ought legal terms to be changed. 
 
 "In school divinity, and amongst the glossographers and 
 interpreters of the civil and canon laws, in logick, and in other 
 liberal sciences, you shall meet with a whole army of words, 
 which cannot defend themselves in bello grammaticali, in the 
 
 F 2 
 
( 68 ) 
 
 grammatical war, and yet are more significant, compendious, 
 and effectual to express the true sense of the matter, than if 
 they were expressed in pure Latin." (Coke's Preface, Co. 
 Litt.) 
 
 There — you must be now pretty well proved, I rather calculate, 
 and in this desirable situation may you long live and learn, 
 receiving the warm felicitations of 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 John Doe, Esq. Richard Roe. 
 
 Whiteacre, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 My dear Roe, 
 
 Double postage and twopence to pay ! Would that it 
 had been twenty times twopence, if at that small premium the 
 lucubrations of your last could have been drawn to greater 
 length ! Only think of honest Dick Roe turning lecturer on 
 science ! Why, I suppose you will soon be quite a don amongst 
 the savans— with a warehouse of rectorial chairs blocking your 
 movements. You won't mind, will you ? asking some of the 
 medical guns if they have an antidote for spasmodic laughter ; 
 and please enclose prescription when next sending so powerful 
 a dose of the ludicrous. 
 
 For fear I should spoil the fun, I shall not utter one syllable 
 in answer to your discursive meanderings through technical 
 language. But leaving to your meditation the Horatian advice 
 — Ne sutor ultra crepidam — I proceed to examine some of that 
 abstruseness and subtlety, which render our real property law 
 (for, having borne the brunt of your wrath in going beyond 
 entails, I may as well now make the most of my transgression), 
 a parody on the common dictates of justice and integrity. 
 
 There are occasions when upright men wish they were 
 scoundrels, that they might share in the booty so easily carried 
 off by the unscrupulous rascal. Not unlike is the desire I now 
 experience ; for I feel incompetent to dive to the depths of our 
 legal decoy ponds, unaccoutred with the obliquity and demorali- 
 zation of a lawyer's mind. You must remember, therefore, 
 
 I am but sounding with a fathoming line — not exploring the 
 
 bottomless regions of juristic chicanery. 
 
 Suppose now we have weighed anchor and are gaily on our 
 voyage, if you scan the horizon you will observe at no great 
 distance two frowning rocks, round whose jagged sides sweep 
 
( 69 ) 
 
 seething eddies and angry whirlpools. These are the famous 
 Scylla and Charybdis of the law, through which it is impossible 
 to steer, save at the risk or rather certainty of instant destruc- 
 tion, without the aid of an experienced pilot. You notice that 
 one rock is sharp and pointed — that is the rock of technicality ; 
 and you perceive the number of unfortunates, who, impaled on 
 those piercing projections, atone in anguish for their hardihood ; 
 whilst, to intensify their sufferings, they are compelled to wit- 
 ness the agile grace and comfortable bearing of the men with 
 the tasselled heads and white cravats, who are here in their 
 native element. The other is called the rock of simplicity; 
 and, though crowded with all sorts of people, there is a strange 
 and conspicuous absence of the persons with the queer hair and 
 flat- faced neckties. This spot does not appear such a bad place, 
 only there are no beaten tracks, and, if you want to go to any 
 given position, you must make the shortest cut you can, expect- 
 ing in consequence of the prevailing confusion to be knocked 
 down several times on the w^ay. 
 
 But your attention must have been already arrested by the 
 forlorn condition of those unhappy beings, who in a moment of 
 madness leaped with ropes attached to them from the rock of 
 simplicity, and whilst still swimming towards the rock of 
 technicality were seized by the sharks, and are now torn in two 
 between them and the efforts of their friends to haul them back 
 to shore. There is poor Tom Cheappenny, who, having several 
 parcels of leasehold and freehold, drew his own settlement from 
 a precedent he bought in Chancery Lane for five shillings. 
 You see what he is enduring! Poor fool! he thought by a 
 judicious distribution of the terms " seised " and "possessed" 
 to make all square. But the matter was brought before the 
 courts, and the judges declared they must give technical terms 
 their due meaning ; and, since he had not used the ordinary 
 language of laymen, they could not give him a layman's 
 privilege. 
 
 You have your gaze fixed on that pitiable band of beings 
 chained together in a row at whom the monster of the deep 
 makes those relentless bites. Alas! theirs is a sad story. 
 They are the next of kin of the late William Knowall, who 
 was seised in fee of the Marsh Gas Coal Mine— a highly valu- 
 able property though a most disagreeable place — and possessed 
 of a magnificent mansion in the West End for a term of 999 
 years, and of chattels personal of considerable worth. This 
 gentleman was not a jurist, but his erudition was of the most 
 extensive character. His only relatives apparently were his 
 nephews and nieces, the persons you see before you, who always 
 
( 70 ) 
 
 lived with him, and to whom he would invariably rejoin when 
 pressed to make a will : — " Well, my dears, isn't it better I 
 should leave matters to take their own course, since then you 
 will come in for everything equally, except the old Coal Hole, 
 and I have already disposed of that ? " The truth was, his 
 liabilities amounted to within a farthing of the total his per- 
 sonalty would fetch if realized as assets ; but he had sought to 
 render things agreeable to all parties by charging his debts on 
 the mine and bequeathing his chattels in equal shares amongst 
 his nearest of kin. The will was drawn in his own hand, and 
 he used inwardly to chuckle over the thought of not having 
 been in vain so frequently an executor. 
 
 "There," he would secretly exclaim, "let Bedford Row or 
 Lincoln's Inn beat that if they can for neat and ship-shape 
 work ! I have not plodded, but I natter myself I have not 
 taken out probate a hundred times over without having learnt, 
 all that was to be learned." 
 
 But to be brief: What was the astoundment of the executors 
 on the decease of Knowall to have, in response to their notice 
 for all who had claims against the estate to come in and prove, 
 a communication from the grandson of the testator's eldest 
 brother, who had years before gone beyond the seas and never 
 been heard of. The intimation was merely to the effect that 
 as heir-at-law the writer was entitled to the freehold, which 
 could not be touched until the leasehold and goods were ex- 
 hausted in paying off the creditors. An administration suit of 
 course followed, which was speedily brought to a termination 
 by a decree declaring there was not a sufficiently-manifested 
 intention to exonerate the personalty; and there you behold in 
 those beggared relatives the fruits of — " Every man his own 
 lawyer." 
 
 But you are peering towards the rock of technicality, and 
 you evidently desire to ascertain something about its occupants. 
 The object held fast by that pitch-fork projection has met with 
 a deserved fate. Being a man full of conceit, he had the mea- 
 sureless audacity to ridicule the notion of the scintilla juris in 
 the presence of a learned Serjeant ; and, so far did he carry his 
 insolence, that he insisted an instrument should there and then 
 be drawn up, by which all his property became instantly con- 
 verted into inheritable freeholds and vested in trustees— the 
 trust being in favour of the serjeant or himself according as the 
 Serjeant or he _ should succeed in convincing the court that the 
 doctrine of scintilla juris was tenable or not. The trust deed 
 was purposely worded ambiguously, so as to necessitate a refer- 
 ence to the judicial tribunal and to raise the disputed point and 
 
( 71 ) 
 
 call forth a pronounced opinion. On the day of hearing in 
 strutted the supercilious and ill-starred layman, and, with a 
 haughty air, began with a long string of consecrated terms. 
 At length he commenced to talk of the seisin being in nubibus or. 
 in gremio legis, and wasproceeding to argue from the absurdity 
 of that idea to the point in question, when the chancellor, 
 losing his grievously and long-tried patience, called him to 
 order, and, putting the whole matter in a nutshell, asked him, 
 had he a single authority for his wild assertions? Receiving no 
 answer, he told the Serjeant he would not call upon him, but 
 ordered the trust to be executed in his favour. 
 
 Do you observe that quivering wretch, who is stuck so hope- 
 lessly on _ the needles, with which the rock of technicality is 
 covered like a field of stubble ? His case ought to be an awful 
 example and warning. After a suit had been pending in 
 chancery for forty years he at length fell out with his solicitor, 
 Mr. Quicktitle, who thereupon returned all documents in his 
 possession, having had his costs first duly taxed and paid. 
 The papers were of enormous bulk, weighing several tons ; and 
 it took his client seven years' continuous reading to wade 
 through their voluminous contents. When his mind had thus 
 been thoroughly saturated with confusion, he bethought him it 
 might not be a bad step to apply to the courts of common law 
 and see what they could do for him. He accordingly in- 
 structed Messrs. Plausible to act as his attorneys, never men- 
 tioning the former litigation. The record, however, had hardly 
 been made up, when an injunction issued out of chancery stay- 
 ing further proceedings. The attorneys now refused to con- 
 tinue the action, upon which their client fell out with them, as 
 he had previously done with his former legal adviser. He then 
 proceeded to sue in person, and would undoubtedly have been 
 " run in " to Whitecross Street Prison for contempt, had not 
 a respectable clerk of the Plausible firm given him a friendly 
 caution of the tipstaff's dangerous proximity just at the right 
 moment, by which he was fortunately enabled to elude 
 capture. 
 
 His property, however, was sequestrated, and, though he 
 afterwards purged his offence, he has found it ever since im- 
 possible either to have it back or to have his rights in general 
 determined. That is the result of falling out with that most 
 excellent body of men — the unjustly-abused attorneys and 
 solicitors. 
 
 No wonder you so anxiously scrutinize that acrobatic-looking 
 object — the man who lies horizontally poised in mid-air on top 
 of the carriage-pole of flint, which rises like an obelisk towards 
 
( 72 ) 
 
 the heavens. That was once, perhaps, the greatest civilian the 
 world ever saw. Imagine a musical-box capable of playing an 
 indefinite number of airs with entrancing richness and variation 
 — never requiring to be wound up, unable to be stopped, unless 
 by its own spontaneousness, and liable to be set going byalmost 
 any conceivable circumstance — and you will have an idea of 
 the acrobat so unpleasantly supported. Be the subject what it 
 might, you had only to speak in his presence, and you would 
 unconsciously touch an electric bell, that would straightway set 
 him ringing the changes for hours together on what Papinian 
 decreed — how Paul resolved — and why Ulpian differed. Then 
 he would go to the Glossators, and for a time pretend Irnerius 
 was the greatest of commentators ; from him he would deftly 
 pass to Accursius, Bartolus, and Alciatus, and praise them still 
 higher — but all that was a mere foil to bring out the tran- 
 scendant merits of Cujas — just as those comparisons and a 
 running fire from the Italian, French, and German schools, — 
 with his favourite dodge of starting some impossible point, that 
 had never occurred to the Roman jurists, and throwing himself 
 into their various characters to fight with himself over it, as if 
 the balancing of the spheres depended upon the result— was but 
 a foil to extol his own absolute supremacy — 
 
 " Quantum lenta solent inter yiburna cupressi." 
 
 This mighty genius, having for many years roamed through 
 the earth seeking in vain for some abstruseness he could not 
 solve and wearying himself out in lamentation, like a second 
 Alexander, that he had no more new worlds to conquer, at 
 length perceived the compass needle of his destinies pointing 
 towards Albion's shores. Hither then he came and very soon 
 heard of the famous pedant, who had challenged the whole 
 human species to propound a question he could not answer and 
 who was bowled out by the law student, who requested a reply 
 to the query — " Whether goods taken in withernam are irreple- 
 visable ? " Thereupon his soul kindled with a noble ambition ' 
 to brave a similar test ; and, taking a small farm, he prepared 
 to demonstrate how preposterously simple the law of distress - 
 really is. His first care was — not to pay his rent : his next — 
 to fetch the money due and spread it as gravel over the soil, in 
 order both to show his own information and to irritate the land- 
 lord, who knew full well he dare not touch a farthing : his third 
 care was — to pay no poor-rate, and, just as he had the plough 
 in hand when the landlord called, so he would have the beasts 
 unyoked and grazing when the collector appeared. This went 
 on for some time, until at length a new collector was appointed 
 
( 73 ) 
 
 in the person of a quondam lord chancellor's coachman. On 
 his first visit the new official said nothing more than that he 
 must have the amount on the next occasion he presented him- 
 self. At this the civilian took an immoderate fit of laughing ; 
 and, arming himself with an umbrella, marched before the col- 
 lector proclaiming himself his mace-bearer. The second visit 
 was not long deferred; and, the rate not yet being forthcoming, 
 the honest coachman coolly went up to the first of the loose 
 beasts of draught, and seizing it by the forelock led it away. 
 Here was the long-coveted opportunity; now would the learning 
 of the intellectual giant be distilled as the honey of Hybla ! In 
 due time an action was brought for wrongful distress, to which 
 the defendant put in a simple demurrer. When the case came 
 on the court was so crowded that many of the reporters had to 
 sit on the table — the witness and jury boxes — not to speak of 
 the ordinary forms — being taken possession of as coigns of 
 vantage by a clique of provident individuals, who had been 
 concealed within the four walls since the preceding night — 
 whilst the judges themselves were wedged in, like a closely- 
 guarded body of malefactors, by the numbers of foreign ambas- 
 sadors and other illustrious personages who were accommodated 
 with seats on the bench. It is needless to record the utter dis- 
 comfiture of our unfortunate acrobat, who with all his responsa, 
 distinguos, pounds overt, and pounds covert, could never get 
 over the single contention of the coachman that " distress " 
 under 43 Eliz. and other such statutes is in effect " execution," 
 and that therefore the seizure was perfectly valid. . . . That's 
 what is called driving a coach and four through an act of 
 parliament. 
 
 You are straining your eyes at the thing distended on what 
 one might take for a monster forceps. The story of this hero 
 is remarkable. Few surgeons ever enjoyed larger practice ; 
 and, though in his time railways were only recently introduced,, 
 it is no exaggeration to say they with his other business 
 supplied quite as many subjects for amputation as any one man 
 could well get through. At length an appalling collision brought 
 him, amongst the injured, one poor being, whose life he prolonged 
 for three weeks, by taking off both legs and arms. The helpless 
 cripple was not without gratitude ; and, as a slight mark of his 
 esteem, devised his estate of Koptoskelea to his benefactor for 
 life, remainder to his wife for life and the heirs of her body by 
 her present husband begotten, successively in tail male. Then 
 followed the usual limitations of a strict settlement, which in 
 this case, however, were more than ordinarily complicated by 
 the immense number of shifting clauses, which made the 
 
( 74 ) 
 
 devolution of the estate conditional on the devisee being or 
 immediately becoming a surgeon ; and in default of all the 
 male dispositees adopting that profession, then the estate was to 
 go to the male beneficiary who took to anatomy, physiology, or 
 medicine ; and lastly, in default of any and every such person 
 doing so, the preference was to be given in order to the female 
 heirs who became practising physicians. There was also a 
 direction, that at no future time should a recovery be suffered 
 or fine levied ; and to Neuter, who had no interest of any kind 
 in the lands, was given a power of selling to that one of the 
 surgeon's sons who should perform most operations in one year 
 from his father's death. 
 
 When they returned from the funeral and the poor cripple's 
 will was read out, the surgeon could hardly keep his countenance 
 - — "just as if "—he cried — " I who have cut off a thousand limbs 
 don't know how to cut off an entail. The knife will make short 
 work of this ! And then the absurd restriction on barring the 
 issue, which every one knows to be as impossible as the main- 
 tenance of life on carbonic acid !" 
 
 With what unerring skill the first incision was made may be 
 gathered from the amputator himself levying a fine and getting 
 his wife to suffer a common recovery. Fortunately his page, 
 whose last situation was errand-boy at a conveyancer's, over- 
 heard the braggart-talk of his master at dinner ; and, when the 
 guests were gone, in the most polite manner possible, pointed 
 out the absurd mistake, which the master rectified by suffering 
 a recovery himself and getting his wife to levy a fine. The 
 page had modestly asked to see the will, thinking there might 
 still be something in the background, which would render all 
 this expense of no avail, but this was too much of a humiliation, 
 and Chirurgus without further consultation obtained a release 
 from Neuter, who let the fool go on in his folly, and who now 
 holds over the surgeon the threat of exercising his power of 
 sale with as much cause for alarm as the sword was held over 
 the head of Damocles. 
 
 There's the tragedy — as you object to the comedy — of Fines 
 and Recoveries ! 
 
 Do you observe the creature with the check tweed — the 
 squares of which are alternately impressed " sold note " — 
 " bought note ? " He is reclining on what seems to be a bed of 
 coal, though from his fixed look of panic you might think it 
 was a layer of volcanic lava. Not long since this expert 
 financier happened to meet, in one of his job-stocking transac- 
 tions, with a surveyor who gave him to understand there was 
 a valuable seam of Silkstone in a retired part of the countrv 
 
( 7o ) 
 
 and that any one might make his fortune by purchasing a piece 
 of ground before the secret got wind. The Cornhill bird had 
 only to assure himself there was no " salting," and his resolution 
 was forthwith taken. It was impossible, however, to" obtain 
 even the smallest parcel of land for love or money, so well 
 contented were all the proprietors with their little farms and 
 rural happiness. Necessity is the mother of invention. The 
 stockbroker hit on the bold expedient of building a tempting 
 " public " not far outside the enchanted ring — the only spot he 
 was able to obtain. This is duly furnished with the various 
 poisons of Mark Lane ; and now the satanic plot is ripe for 
 execution. It was no reproach to surrender to so dreadful an 
 assault at discretion, and Bibosus delivered up the land — bought 
 seven years ago from his wages savings, hoarded up during a 
 long and faithful service with the Master of the Rolls. " Ex- 
 change is no robbery," said the man of the city, as the retired 
 butler put him into possession of his two acres fee simple and 
 received the leasehold in return. 
 
 In a few months shafts were sunk — gear in order — and tons 
 of coal hourly thrown up from the newly-discovered mine. 
 Meantime the vintner had been several times heavily fined for 
 selling adulterated liquors, his only excuse on each charge 
 being that he was " improving the coalheaver out of his estate " 
 — an answer and analogy which, as the magistrates did not 
 know much about equity, justified them in directing the parish 
 doctor to inquire into the prisoner's state of mind. At length 
 the supposed lunatic gave an unmistakeable indication of his 
 insanity by proving that it was only when his former acres 
 were being disembowelled, he found out that the " public " was 
 not the largest of freeholds, and that he had cheerfully sub- 
 mitted to the fines in order to give the shop a good name, so 
 that, on the re-transfer which must then take place, the broker 
 might rejoice as much in the wines as he hoped to do in the 
 coals. 
 
 That's what may be named "going on legal 'Change." 
 You cannot but be struck by that pallid and stiffened form 
 for all the world like the corpse of a person recently drowned. 
 Those are the remains of Captator juvenum, who used to oblige 
 young men and expectant heirs on their simple note of hand, 
 bond or post-obit. Cursorius, who had been much addicted 
 to horse-racing, had recourse in his early days to the generosity 
 of this gentleman, who as time went on was wont to force the 
 pleasure of his company on his friends with an importunity 
 as unseasonable and undesirable as that of the character in 
 Horace, cutting off, however, at the same time by a rampart of 
 
( 76 ) 
 
 terror all retreat to so welcome an asylum as that described by 
 the poet in — " licet te antestari." Longaevus would persist in 
 living on ; and so atl ength his unhappy nephew Cursorius, 
 all of wliose engagements were to have been discharged out of 
 what it was hoped the old boy would cut up for, was at length 
 driven by the pressing attentions of Captator juvenum to part 
 with the paternal estate that had descended to him and his 
 fathers' fathers time out of mind. 
 
 Captator amongst his other accomplishments had, as he him- 
 self expressed it, " a marvellous aptitude for ' fishing ; ' " and, 
 during a momentary absence of its owner, he cast his line into the 
 private desk of Cursorius and tackled, amongst a heap of love 
 letters, one in which Cursoria said papa would be quite satisfied 
 if she were to have a freehold, and that as " her dearest" agreed 
 to that " the happy event " might come off immediately. On 
 his return Cursorius could not for the life of him make out 
 why Captator had so suddenly veered round from his original 
 demand for a conveyance to himself of the fee out and out. 
 " You see I don't want to be hard on you," said Captator, who 
 only insisted on a term to himself not of 99 or 999 but 99,999 
 years, remainder to trustees during the life of Cursorius to 
 preserve contingent remainders, remainder to Cursoria during 
 her widowhood, remainder in fee to his own right heirs. 
 
 A few weeks . after, Cursorius broke his neck at a steeple- 
 chase, surviving the accident but two minutes and a half, during 
 which interval, however, he was able to scribble on the back of 
 a correct card for the races — " I leave all I have or ever shall 
 have to my darling wife Cursoria " — then followed a big blot, a 
 bludgeon, and a riding whip — the rapid approach of death not 
 allowing the testator, and their ignorance of the second of the 
 "three It's " preventing his witnesses — a policeman and jockey — 
 from otherwise subscribing. 
 
 The widow, who was left almost destitute (for her unfortunate 
 husband, though on his decease he owed a shilling to no man, 
 had been pretty well cleared out by Captator juvenum), was 
 long inconsolable at her bereavement, until indeed her comely 
 beauty and attractive manners won the inflammable heart of a 
 young solicitor only just admitted. There was but one obstacle 
 to the union — the want of that plebeian convenience termed 
 " tin " in ordinary slang. Whilst they were one day exchanging 
 professions of eternal devotion with more than usual ardour, 
 and regretting that the patrician qualities of uncalculating 
 magnanimity and benevolence were not the circulating media 
 of wealth, Cursoria pulled out the correct card hitherto worn 
 next her bosom and was on the point of tearing it up, when 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 there fell from her pocket one of the many whining epistles of 
 Captator juvenum, who, possessed with a phrensy for being 
 able to call himself a freeholder, besieged the starving relict 
 with the mean offers of a shilling, then half-a-crown, and so on 
 to a sovereign, and eventually a five-pound note, for the assign- 
 ment of her estate. Cursoria, as she had been spited, had 
 hitherto spited the spiter by refusing to gratify his vanity, and 
 now she was to have the triumph of honourable pride. Her 
 true-love solicitor, whose quick eye ran through both documents 
 with eagle glance, took in the situation as the great Napoleon 
 would have hastily taken in a field of battle. " Forward ! 
 March ! " roared he, with Bonapartist determination ; " lose 
 not a moment: go straight to Captator juvenum and tell him 
 50Z. and the assignment, or an emigrant's free passage, will, in 
 twenty-four hours — during your life at least — blast all his fond 
 expectations ! " 
 
 The only delay was to pass through the enormous number of 
 bankruptcy officials and huge piles of cheques — all marked "no 
 account" — which blocked the doors and approaches of Captator's 
 residence ; for Cursoria flew on the wings of love, and Captator 
 seeing her decision instantly gave her the ten fivers required. 
 This sum barely defrayed the telegrams to the invited friends, 
 the expenses of the wedding breakfast and the fees of the clergy- 
 man who next morning performed the marriage ceremony. 
 
 It was certainly a curious honeymoon — stranger, perhaps, 
 for the late Cursoria to be back once more in the old place than 
 for the enraptured bridegroom, who might as well for several 
 weeks have been at the office in Bedford Bow, so much of his 
 time was engrossed in raising money on the estate and in con- 
 vincing the professional advisers (who, in truth, needed no 
 conviction but had to submit to the headlong stubbornness and 
 dictation of their client in fighting on) of Captator juvenum 
 that the widow's mite had put an extinguisher on the remainder 
 no less than on his 99,999 years. 
 
 You have heard of a — "baptism of fire" — now you can 
 describe a — " baptism of law ! " 
 
 One parting look at the three conspicuous figures in a group, 
 like, from their symmetric arrangement and proportions, the 
 balls over a pawnbroker's shop ! The tattered ermine that 
 flutters in the breeze and the vulture pecks on the two ill-fated 
 Prometheus' by the men with the baggy heads and blanc-manger 
 neckcloths disclose at once the names Reichel and Thirning, 
 whose collar discovers the rank of chief justice ; whilst hard by 
 the other member of the trio, the quenching of whose thirst for 
 accumulations is ever cruelly prevented by a pitiless act of par- 
 
( 78 ) 
 
 liament, is the wretched Tantalus Thellusson, whose similar 
 propensities have located him with the lovers of perpetuities. 
 
 And now to a pleasanter task. Those flitting figures, that 
 so marvellously tread unscathed the bristling spurs and keen- 
 edged ridges of the rock of technicality have devoted their lives 
 like rope-dancers to this one pursuit. Those balanced evolutions, 
 those wing-footed strides, are engrained into their very nature 
 by long practice and training. Here, a performer speeds light- 
 ning-like over the dangerous ground of lineal and collateral 
 warranties ; there, he scuds along the thorny paths of remitter 
 and conditions. Now, a mighty plunge into the dark abysses 
 of abatements and intrusions ; now, a dread header over the 
 yawning precipices of disseisins and discontinuances ; anon, a 
 Hengler-like somersault across the duplicated rows of possi- 
 bilities and expectancies. 
 
 But enough ! we have had a glimpse of Scylla and Charybdis, 
 and I shall now tell you how they came to exist. Originally 
 the ocean of human intercourse was a smooth expanse — un- 
 ehequered with a single sandbank or cliff to break its flow or 
 disturb its peaceful course. In an evil hour a portion of its 
 waters were, by wrangling contention, separated from the rest 
 into a wheel-like mass of rapidly-rotating froth. At certain 
 intervals, the concentric rings, which all moved in different 
 directions, would break from their orbits and a stupendous 
 cataclysm ensue — and then a new set of motions be gradually 
 restored. The last of these cataclysms, being of such magni- 
 tude as to determine for ever the directions in which the froth 
 should revolve, was ^ie nidus of the rock of technicality, which 
 by Successive deposits at length assumed its present enormous 
 dimensions. Concurrently with it and as its consequence arose 
 the rock of simplicity, which is a crystallized compound of the 
 previously-diffused free and open dealings of men, which were 
 welded together into one fabric by the disturbing influence of 
 the first formation. Thus from its fell bosom did the legal 
 Scylla draw the legal Charybdis, that both might for ever beset 
 with menacing aspect life's unwary traveller. 
 
 It is next incumbent to point out the character and consti- 
 tution of the rock of technicality. In pursuit of this object 
 time and Space require that I should cut short the geologic 
 record and, skipping the primary and secondary, limit myself 
 to the tertiary period. 
 
 Perhaps the most prominent element in this stage is that 
 interlaced seam, which grows more and more complicated as 
 you descend, but on the surface juts out into a number of terrible 
 spikes, known as the " Range of the Rule in Shelley's Case." 
 
( 79 ) 
 
 "When- 1 have stated something of its nature, you will cease to 
 wonder at the myriads who have been dashed to pieces in the 
 foolhardy attempt to scale its perilous peaks. 
 
 John Goodright, being a large owner in fee simple, gives an 
 estate in Whitefield for life to James Wellvesting, remainder 
 for life to Jacob Hopeful, remainder in fee to the heirs of 
 Wellvesting. This is the smoothest point. The heirs take 
 nothing ; and Wellvesting has a vested estate for life in posses- 
 sion with a vested remainder in fee expectant on Hopeful's 
 vested remainder for life. 
 
 Goodright gives Blackfield to Wellvesting for ninety-nine 
 years, remainder for life to Hopeful, remainder in fee to the 
 heirs of Wellvesting. This point is also very smooth. Well- 
 vesting has the chattel term in possession; Hopeful the im- 
 mediate freehold to come into possession on the expiration of 
 the term ; and the remainder in fee will go to the person who 
 shall answer the description of Wellvesting's heir on the deter- 
 mination of Hopeful's estate, which is supposed to take effect 
 in possession. 
 
 Goodright gives Redfield to Wellvesting for ninety-nine 
 years, remainder to his heirs. This point is only smooth. 
 Wellvesting takes the term ; but neither he nor his heirs get 
 anything more. And the heirs would be equally disappointed 
 in the case of Blackfield if Hopeful were so disagreeable as to 
 die during the ninety-nine years, Wellvesting still living ; but, 
 only let Wellvesting depart this life during that interval, or let 
 Hopeful enter upon the hundredth year and before his demise 
 let Wellvesting die, and then lo and behold you ! the grant 
 turns up a trump for the family of Wellvesting, which obtains 
 the chattel term to begin with, and in the long run the freehold 
 inheritance. 
 
 Goodright gives Greenfield to Wellvesting for life, and on a 
 day following he gives the remainder to the heirs of Wellvesting 
 and the heirs of those heirs — the gifts being by separate instru- 
 ments. This point is a little sharp. Wellvesting has the free- 
 hold in possession for his life, and there is a remainder in fee 
 in the person who shall answer the description of Wellvesting's 
 heir on his death — but the heir of that heir takes nothing. 
 
 Goodright gives Bluefield to Wellvesting for life, remainder 
 to his next heir and the heirs male of the body of such next 
 heir. This point is decidedly sharp. Wellvesting has an 
 estate for life; and there is a remainder in tail male in the 
 person who shall answer the description of Wellvesting's heir 
 on his death — the reversion over being in Goodright. 
 
 Goodright gives Purplefield to Wellvesting and the heirs of 
 
( 80 ) 
 
 the bodies of himself and his wife. This point is still sharper. 
 Wellvesting has the immediate freehold for life, and there is a 
 remainder in tail special to the issue of his present marriage — 
 the reversion over remaining in Goodright. 
 
 Goodright gives Wellvesting Gavel Hill in Kent for life, 
 remainder to his heirs in fee. He also gives him Gavel 
 Valley in the same county for ninety-nine years, remainder to 
 Hopeful for life, remainder in fee to Wellvesting's heirs. 
 Wellvesting died a hundred years after intestate without 
 meddling in any way with the disposition of the properties, 
 leaving him surviving his two sons John and Thomas — his 
 only descendants — and Hopeful. This point is unpleasantly 
 sharp. John (the elder of the brothers) has a vested remainder 
 in fee expectant on Hopeful's life estate in Gavel Valley ; and 
 he and Thomas have a moiety each in the fee in Gavel Hill. 
 
 Goodright did not forget the ladies ; for he gave Wellvesting 
 Brownfield and Greyfield during his life, remainder to the 
 heirs female of his body. And he further gave to the said 
 heirs female of Wellvesting's. body Rosefield and Daisyfield in 
 remainder expectant on a life estate in these same lands to 
 Hopeful. Wellvesting we know died intestate, and, besides 
 his sons, he left an only daughter to bemourn his loss. This 
 point is piercingly sharp. Wellvesting takes an immediate 
 estate in tail female in the first lot, which descends to his 
 daughter — but neither she nor any of her family get a rood in 
 the second lot. And so with this last " diversitie," let izs take 
 leave of the Shelley Range, and that in haste for fear of being 
 ourselves transfixed — observing that its diversified structures 
 may all eventually be resolved into the components, (1) a free- 
 hold in the ancestor, (2) a subsequent limitation in the same 
 instrument to his heirs or the heirs of his body, which in 
 combination always yield one or two estates vested in that 
 ancestor. 
 
 Not far from this historic spot we notice two pronglike pro- 
 jections, having no connexion, but standing apart, conspicuous 
 ■by their isolation. In final analysis they both prove to be of 
 construction soil ; and receive the common name Charts testa- 
 mentaque, which denotes in one instance, that a limitation to a 
 man and his heirs male gives him a fee simple in a deed but a 
 fee tail in a will ; and in the other instance, that a power of 
 appointment raised by a conveyance to the uses of a last will 
 speaks from the execution of the will, but, when raised by a 
 conveyance to such uses as shall be appointed by a last will, 
 speaks from the execution of the conveyance. 
 
 The next objects that meet the eye are those lines of dagger 
 
( 81 ) 
 
 stakes, which from their general regularity, one might take for 
 the bayonets of a regiment of soldiers, though here and there 
 are stragglers, which it is impossible to reduce to order. All 
 this region is styled Deusibus ; and it is my intention to allude 
 only to a few of the aberrant members of the various groups, 
 as the composition of the ranks in line is sufficiently obvious. 
 On the left there is a curious speck, which apparently sways 
 to and fro at every brush of the men with the strange heads 
 and starched chokers. Minute as it is there are several in- 
 gredients in its construction. First, is a conveyance by A. to 
 B. and his heirs to the use of A. during life, remainder to B. 
 and his heirs during the life of A., in trust to preserve con- 
 tingent remainders, remainder to the first and other sons of A. 
 successively in tail male, and in default of such issue to the 
 right heirs of A. There is then a conveyance by A. and B., 
 before any son of A. is born, for valuable consideration by 
 bargain and sale enrolled to C. and his heirs, who has notice 
 of the settlement. From the union of these factors statutory 
 seisin is of course produced ; but the odd thing is the ease 
 with which the rapidly-moving figures incline that seisin now 
 to A. and his sons — now to C. and his heirs. 
 
 There is a similar oscillation about the seisin conferred by a 
 devise to A. and his heirs to the use of B. and his heirs, for, 
 although the seisin is no doubt executed in B., those amusing 
 figures seem to govern it by statute or intention quite at their 
 pleasure. They are equally arbitrary as to where they locate 
 the seisin, when a conveyance is made to A. and the heirs of 
 his body to the use of B. and his heirs — whether to A. in tail 
 or to B. in base fee. 
 
 On the right of the locality we are considering there are two 
 small promontories, the bluntest perhaps over the whole rock 
 of technicality ; though, as you shall presently see, a fall upon 
 one at least may entail some very black bruises. The mode in 
 which they are built up is extremely simple. In the first we 
 have a conveyance of 1,000 acres to A. and his heirs to such 
 uses as B. or C. shall appoint amongst D.'s (a person then 
 living) descendants ; and also, another conveyance of 1,000 acres 
 to A. and his heirs to such uses as B. or C. shall appoint ; and 
 in both instances in default of appointment to the use of the 
 right heirs of D. For B. put fellow of the Royal Society — 
 for C, barrister's clerk — and you will have the circumstances 
 which occurred in actual life. The association may appear 
 somewhat strange ; and still stranger will it be thought a pro- 
 posal should have come from the savant to toss up for the choice 
 of exercising the authority, which they agreed should belong to 
 
( 82 ) 
 
 only one of them in each instance. But fact is often stranger 
 than fiction. On hearing, the proposal the barrister's clerk was 
 thrown into a strange state of wonder and excitement ; then 
 suddenly the explanation of so apparently strange a piece of 
 conduct flashed across his mind with striking vividness. He 
 had frequently listened with rapt attention to the glowing pane- 
 gyrics delivered with such power and fluency over our system 
 of trial by jury. Indeed, one of the very things which had 
 most contributed to impress him with a profound sense of the 
 ability of his master was the admirable manner in which, no 
 matter what had been said on the other side by way of praise 
 or compliment concerning that institution and more particularly 
 concerning those who actually on the occasion happened to be 
 sitting in judgment, his master had always some greater praise 
 and compliments in reserve to answer with. The clerk had 
 also observed that if any commendation were left unspoken by 
 counsel, and, in general, whether so or no, the judge made up 
 the deficit or paid twice over with compound interest. Trial 
 by jury and the summum bonum became under these circum- 
 stances convertible ; and as the Royal Society was known to 
 be A 1 in the established order of affairs, the deduction was 
 natural that its whole office and functions must necessarily 
 consist in the sitting of juries and development of the system to 
 its highest perfection. With such a train of sequence it was 
 easy to make allowance for habit, which we all know becomes 
 a second nature ; and the clerk, suffering the man of science to 
 remain in his imaginary jury-box, immediately complied with 
 his request; and spinning a halfpenny high in air won the 
 toss. Thereupon the clerk selected the second of the foregoing 
 powers, and appointed to the infant great-grandson of D. (born 
 only half-an-hour previously) for life, remainder to trustees and 
 their heirs during the life of such grandson for preserving con- 
 tingent remainders, remainder to the sons of such grandson 
 successively in tail male, remainder to his daughters and the 
 heirs of their bodies as tenants in common, with cross remainders 
 between them ; and in default of such issue, remainder to the 
 great-granddaughter of D. (twin-sister to the great-grandson) 
 for life, remainder to trustees and their heirs during the life of 
 such great-granddaughter for preserving contingent remainders 
 — with remainders over to her issue similar in all respects to 
 the remainders limited to the issue of her brother — remainder 
 to. F. and his heirs, provided F. or his heir, if F. were dead, 
 should adopt the name and arms of D. within twenty-one years 
 from the vesting in possession of his remainder ; and, in default of 
 F. or his heir doing so, or if F. should die within those twenty-one 
 
( 83 ) 
 
 years without having done so and without heirs, then remainder 
 to the right heirs of D. The man of science exercised his 
 power in the first estate by appointing to a grandson of D. 
 (who was the child of a son of D.'s, born twenty years before, 
 just after D. had executed the deed creating the powers) and 
 his heirs; but, if such grandson should die within one year 
 and one day from that time, then the estate was to shift and 
 go over to the right heirs of D. who had died a few months 
 previously. 
 
 The worst of this affair was that the E.R.S. was a very big 
 man indeed in the scientific world and was recognized all over 
 Europe for the reach and profundity of his extraordinary genius; 
 but, being human, the combined efforts at the club of all the 
 judges in the kingdom, English, Irish and Scotch — both legal 
 and equitable — were utterly unavailing to convince him of the 
 error of his ways; and so incensed was he at having the correct- 
 ness of an inferior of the Temple compared with his blunder, 
 that he could not endure the mere sight of a place so painfully 
 associated, but used always, when coming from the academy to 
 Ludgate Hill, to tell the driver to turn up at St. Mary's Church 
 and go round by Holborn. 
 
 The second promontory above alluded to hardly claims 
 attention. Here's its nature : the eldest son of a deceased 
 widow conveys, of the lands he has inherited from his mother, 
 the highlands unto and to the use of A. and his heirs — the 
 lowlands to A. and his heirs to the use of himself (the eldest 
 son) and his heirs. A. reconveys the highlands unto and to 
 the, use of his grantor (the eldest son; and his heirs. The son 
 then dies intestate without issue, ancestors or relatives of any 
 kind save his uncle on the father's side and his aunt on the 
 mother's side. The highlands go to the uncle, the lowlands to 
 the aunt. 
 
 It would be improper not to bestow a passing glance at that 
 dwarfish hillock — conveyance to Jones and Robinson, habendum 
 to the use of them and the heirs of their two bodies ; for a flip- 
 .pant writer in one of the dailies wanted to make out the donees 
 were not joint tenants for life with several inheritances in tail, 
 but that the statute operated and consequently the gift would 
 not extend beyond the life of the longest liver, in whom the 
 whole became vested by survivorship ! 
 
 There is just one more object we shall examine before 
 quitting the territory Deusibus — limitation to A. and his heirs 
 to such uses as B. shall appoint, and until and in default of 
 appointment to the use of B. and his heirs — the grantor enter- 
 ing into covenants for title with B. You will perceive from the 
 
 G 2 
 
( 84 ) 
 
 following narrative how much truth is contained in the saying; 
 " handsome is that handsome does ; " and it is in consequence 
 of its application to that doctrine, and as furnishing in this 
 instance an exception to the general rule of hardship that is its 
 ■usual concomitant, I notice the pillar of Subtlety, the outlines 
 of which are above chalked out. Philofamilias, who was a 
 widower with three grown-up daughters on his hands, purchased 
 the following estates from Polyaulax-Vaintitle, Pleasanttitle 
 and Agreeabletitle, which were severally limited to Outis and 
 his heirs to such uses as Philofamilias should appoint, and until 
 and in default of such appointment to the use of Philofamilias 
 and his heirs. Negotiations for the marriage of Superbia — 
 the most unamiable of the children of Philofamilias — with 
 Mr. Skinflint having been entered into, the intended husband, 
 who was a great old screw, insisted upon having Vaintitle 
 settled upon himself and the heirs of his body ; then followed 
 a long string of selfish provisions, by which not only the hus- 
 band's relatives but even his bowing acquaintances were to take 
 in default of his issue and in total exclusion of the wife and all 
 her kindred, and, for a wind-up to the most exhaustive contin- 
 gencies a miserly spirit could devise, there was a limitation to 
 his own right heirs. Poor Philofamilias, to whom this alliance 
 was neck or nothing, had no option, and accordingly appointed 
 Vaintitle in the manner required. But what was the joy of 
 everyone to find Skinflint hardly in, when he was hopelessly 
 ousted from, the possession — his father-in-law being reduced to 
 his last legs by the loss of three ships which had gone down in 
 quick and almost clockwork succession — whilst Bigheart and 
 Goodsoul, the husbands of Philofamilias' two other daughters, 
 who had acted in the nuptial agreements in the most generous 
 manner, being also ousted, had their remedies over against 
 Polyaulax, who had covenanted for title with Philofamilias and 
 his heirs in the case of Vaintitle and Pleasanttitle — but with 
 Outis and his heirs in the case of Agreeabletitle, which latter 
 as well as Vaintitle was appointed instead of being conveyed 
 as Pleasanttitle by Philofamilias ! When these results became 
 known it was universally observed by the neighbours of Skin- 
 flint " Serve him right ! " 
 
 As we sweep towards the last tract I propose to analyze on 
 the rock of technicality, you can hardly help being struck with 
 the mode in which the powdered denizens shake that fossil-like 
 splinter— a devise that executors shall sell lands. For on the 
 death of all the executors but one — the devise, if then unexe- 
 cuted, is sometimes made to approach to a devise that lands 
 shall be sold by executors, sometimes to a trust that the trustees 
 may in their discretion sell. 
 
85 ) 
 
 Now at length we have reached that extensive area so 
 rugged and impassable that not even the most veteran of the 
 rock of technicality's inhabitants durst venture thither alone. 
 Fortunately there is always a guide at hand, or else the most 
 fearful catastrophes must constantly ensue or the ground become 
 untraversable. This guide may fairly be ranked as a magician. 
 In the shape of a goodly octavo he bears the magic wand ; 
 with this he but smites, and instantly the crags and clefts of 
 contingent remainders, conditional limitations, and executory 
 devises are levelled to one uniform surface. In this local 
 genius you behold the wizard Fearne, some of whose feats we 
 shall now witness. Limitation to A. for ninety-nine years, 
 remainder in fee to A.'s eldest son if he should outlive A. We 
 can do without the magician here, for we all know the son can 
 take nothing. But what if the limitation be to A. for ninety- 
 nine years if he should so long live, or to A. for twenty-one 
 years if he should so long live, remainder in fee to A.'s eldest 
 son if he should outlive A. ? The wand is brandished, and in 
 a moment the apparent chattel, in the first instance is resolved 
 into a virtual life estate, but in the second instance retains its 
 original character ; and so the eldest son in the former case has 
 a contingent remainder, because it is supposed his father will 
 be good enough to die during the ninety-nine years ; but in the 
 latter case if the father could die five times over during the 
 twenty-one years, and actually did do so, that multiple mortality 
 would not cure the absence of a particular freehold, for the 
 raising of which by implication there is in this instance no 
 reasonable supposition that the father will die at all during the 
 term. 
 
 Devise to A. in perpetuum paying 20/. per annum to X. and 
 his heirs, and if A. should die without issue during the life of 
 his brother B., then the estate to go to B. and his heirs. 
 
 Devise to A. and the heirs of his body, and if A. should die in 
 the life of B. then the estate to go to B. and his heirs. A. suffers 
 a common recovery in both cases, dying in the life of B. The 
 sprite slaps his sword and lo ! B. has an executory indefeasible 
 devise in the first case, a defeasible remainder in the second. 
 
 And now, sir, with your leave we shall disembark from 
 the ship of metaphor and alight on the dry land of ordinary 
 language. I ask is the rock of technicality an overdrawn 
 picture ? are the colours too strong ? the canvas too bright ? 
 On the contrary, will you not rather have to acknowledge that 
 in confining myself to the law of realty as it now exists, and in 
 furnishing the examples a layman's ignorance might suggest, I 
 have come into court with the strongest facts unpleaded and 
 
( 86 ) 
 
 without one tithe of my witnesses prepared ? Lend me but a 
 small portion of that legal lore and acumen you have squandered 
 so many years in accumulating, and then perhaps I shall be in 
 some sort of position to unmask the gigantic evils our land law 
 entails with such profusion upon the country. 
 
 Well may it be asked why we should so tamely submit to the 
 dictation and tyranny of the lawj^ers ? why we should not take 
 up the matter into our own hands and fashion a rational code 
 for ourselves ? Let all disinterested persons enter into a mutual 
 pact that they shall draw their own instruments and deal with 
 their immoveables apart from professional aid ; and let them 
 bind themselves to refer all disputes to boards of arbitration 
 consisting exclusively of ordinary laymen. Thus, as in time 
 past, we made the law merchant ; so now let us make a land 
 law — the administration of which by our voluntary boards need 
 not be prolonged beyond the period requisite for shaming the 
 courts into the adoption of the new principles — an era it is to 
 be hoped not coeval with the Greek kalends. Such is the 
 course we shall be driven to, if parliament is unable to read 
 and act upon the signs of the times. 
 
 I cannot conclude without obviating the only objections which 
 can justify by an answer from you the continuance of a corre- 
 spondence which, I humbly conceive, has already satisfactorily 
 shown the absolute necessity and supreme advantage of adopting 
 the scheme thrown out in my first letter. As in long arid 
 complex litigation it is the custom when beaten in West- 
 minster Hall to fly to Lincoln's Inn Fields, so I presume you 
 will dart towards equity now that law can no longer afford you 
 protection. You will enlarge no doubt on the many mitiga- 
 tions — on the humane spirit — on the flexible character — on the 
 remedial powers which Chancery flings as an segis over the 
 helpless suitor. You will remind me of those fundamental 
 principles " Equality is equity" — " Equity considers as done 
 what is agreed to be done " — " Equity never wants a trustee " — 
 " Once a mortgage always a mortgage " — " He who seeks equity 
 must do equity." You will then hold up to admiration — Wife's 
 equity to a settlement — Vendor's lien for purchase-money — 
 Mortgagor's equity of redemption — Equality of contribution 
 amongst joint sureties — Administration of assets by equal dis- 
 tribution subject to the maxim Qui prior est tempore potior est 
 jure — Defective execution of powers supplied — above all — the 
 supremacy assigned to conscience ! and then you will perhaps 
 exultingly cry out : " Here indeed is true equity, a hundred 
 times more than all the jus praetorium Romanum introduced 
 adjuvandi vel supplendi vel corrigendi juris civilis gratia." 
 
( 87 ) _ 
 
 Yet how lamed and maimed is this boasted equity jurispru- 
 dence ! One of its primary maxims is — -ZEquitas sequitur legem 
 — and I can give you no better instance of" the harshness with 
 which this principle works than the unflinching adherence the 
 creation and devolution of trusts have to those of legal estates. 
 The dreadful range of the rule in Shelley's case re-appears ; and 
 if you were minutely to examine the rock of technicality you 
 would find the spikes in the trust department almost exactly 
 answering to those in the legal, except in the matter of executory 
 trusts, where " heirs" and " heirs of the body" cease to be words 
 of limitation, though if you have the misfortune to " make your- 
 self your own conveyancer," up jump the spikes again with all 
 their horrors, even in executory trusts — as if the lawyers 
 must thus needs avenge the nominal invasion of their province ! 
 
 Another maxim — " the equities being equal the law shall 
 prevail;" and so down to the year of grace 1874 the third 
 mortgagee without notice could, by buying in from the first, 
 diamond cut diamond in between the second ! And well were 
 it if all similar injustice received a statutory coup d'etat like to 
 that of tacking. Then as to the nature of trust estates : recol- 
 lect the anomaly and unfairness with which the he-chancellors 
 helped themselves and their sex to tenancies by the curtesy, 
 whilst they left the ladies to starve, without a morsel, until at 
 length the legislature, without giving them " women's rights," 
 at least gave them women's estates in the shape of equitable 
 dower. (3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 105.) And for the vendor's lien. 
 Is it just the taking of. other securities should not ipso facto 
 displace the right ? What an extravagant rule in satisfaction 
 that the legitimate should be in a worse position than the ille- 
 gitimate child! This is surely leaning against the common 
 dictates of humanity as well as " leaning against double por- 
 tions." With what uxorious and filial solicitude have those 
 children of iniquity — the equity judges — supplied the defective 
 execution of powers I for whilst they are ever ready to assist 
 the appointment of husband to wife, father to child, they never 
 raise a finger to aid the appointment of wife to husband, child 
 to parent ! 
 
 Of the worship paid to conscience the less said the better — 
 in one word, however, the whole race of hypocrites are left 
 miles behind by the colossal impostures prescribed in the 
 chancery creed. It was said by Selden the chancery conscience 
 varies with the size of the chancellor's foot. " One chancellor 
 has a long foot, another a short foot, a third an indifferent foot. 
 'Tis the same in the chancellor's ■ conscience " (Table Talk). 
 Well that was bad enough ; but it is ten times worse to have 
 
( 88 ) 
 
 a conscience that hardly varies at all, compounded out of all 
 the chancellor's feet that have ever reposed beneath the wool- 
 sack ! 
 
 I might adduce other facts which would easily prove that all 
 the good is counterbalanced by the evil of equity ; nay, that 
 in some instances as in that of terms attendant upon the 
 inheritance, where the pure form of chattels has been immersed 
 in the foul laver of freeholds, equity has outstripped the absur- 
 dities and monstrosities of law. 
 
 My previous observations are strong enough to cut off the 
 retreat you would beat to equity jurisprudence — and I can 
 think of but one other defence you will rely upon for the 
 maintenance of the law of immoveables and its villanous tech- 
 nicalities — and a very weak defence it is. You will perhaps 
 urge that, though the million are in a trackless country, the 
 " profession " can tread all its mazes with ease and rapidity ; 
 that therefore our land law is not beyond rescue. A pretty 
 consolation indeed ! and a very humble demand that we should 
 forsooth bind ourselves hands and feet in order to supply a 
 lucrative avocation to those who get their living by guarding 
 and leading the captives. But, may I inquire, what is the 
 superlative necessity for this gratuitous captivity, even sup- 
 posing our gaolers are able and willing to discharge their 
 duties in the most efficient manner ? Yet such a supposition 
 will not hold water for a moment. There is not, nor has been, 
 nor, if things remain as they are, shall there ever be such a 
 prodigy as a lawyer who knows the whole law. Do not start 
 nor be incredulous. I am not come like the unfortunate scoffer 
 at the scintilla juris without authority. " The most perfect 
 and absolute work that ever was written in any human science " 
 - — is the mode in which Sir Edward Coke (Co. Litt. preface) 
 characterizes the Tenures of Littleton; but such hyperbolic 
 eulogia must not blind us to the equal or rather superior merits 
 of the great commentator himself — for you will doubtless admit 
 his lordship is incomparably the greatest master of English 
 jurisprudence that has ever appeared. Now let me relate a 
 little anecdote I am sure you have often before heard. On 
 his second marriage with the relict of Sir William Hatton, 
 the sister of Thomas Lord Burleigh, Coke had the ceremony 
 performed in a private house without banns or licence. A 
 prosecution was in consequence commenced at the instigation 
 of Archbishop Whitgift against him and the family of his 
 wife in the ecclesiastical court. In answer to the charge the 
 learned accused pleaded ignorance of the laws ! 
 
 There ! I have redeemed my promise and you are as much 
 
( 89 ) 
 
 out of court as the Serjeant would have been could an authority 
 of equal weight have been advanced against the doctrine of 
 scintilla juris. 
 
 Hoping with this last spark the darkness of your mind may 
 be illumined, believe me 
 
 Your obedient and faithful Servant, 
 
 John Doe. 
 Richard Roe, Esq. 
 
 Blackacre. 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 Dear Doe, 
 
 Nil admirari prope res est una, Numici, 
 Solaque, quae possit facere et servare beatnm. 
 
 Hor. Ep. 6, Lib. I. 
 
 Your acquaintance with Horace permits — and my 
 unwonted discomposure obtrudes — the quotation. Obtrudes, 
 I say, for never before did any fact bring home the truth laid 
 down by the satirist with such force as the undreamed event of 
 good Jack Doe turning .ZEsop or Phsedrus ! 
 
 Why, if ever there was — surely you are a born — " Our own 
 special foreign correspondent ! " After your last note I would 
 
 back you against all the world for telling a thumping good 
 
 well no matter ; and having always a large and varied stock 
 upon hand. And the beauty of your lying acquirements is 
 the artistic manner in which you interweave truth with false- 
 hood, so that it becomes as difficult to discern the genuine 
 character of the embroidery as it is to distinguish first-class 
 imitation, from real, lace. Unfortunately mine is a practised 
 eye ; and at a glance I recognize, in the circumstantial details 
 of lie anecdotes you have narrated, the press-mark and stamp 
 of veracity ; whilst in those diluted haerangues against the 
 abstruseness and technicality of the fundamental principles of 
 the law, I perceive but the unsubstantial effusions of the fabulist 
 and fiction-writer. 
 
 Science is a forbidden theme : but you will still allow me, I 
 trust, to possess some small remnant of those primary rules 
 of literary composition I was taught in my childhood. This 
 indulgence conceded, I shall beg leave to repudiate the out- 
 rageous liberties you have taken with every figure of speech — ■ 
 liberties, you are to understand, which, if you are a member of 
 the republic of letters, would inevitably, if brought under 
 
( 90 ) 
 
 notice, denude you of citizenship. Beef we all are glad enough 
 to have : but we want no such Irish bulls as diving to the 
 depths of the law, which after all proves to be rugged and 
 stupendous rock. 
 
 Yet I could forgive so glaring an anachronism, but mis- 
 representation I cannot forgive. How dare you, sir, metamor- 
 phose the haven of order into the rock of technicality and the 
 sea of confusion into the rock of simplicity? But see your 
 inconsistency ! The rock of technicality it appears is covered 
 with ravines and mountains as unscalable as the Alps; and 
 because death and danger wait on every footstep, therefore 
 must all manner of abuse be heaped upon those excellent 
 guides, who at great risk to themselves have by dint of bravery 
 and perseverance, made themselves acquainted with every nooly 
 and pass, by which a safe transit may be accomplished. And 
 then, ypu have given us a very mutilated rock of technicalitv ; 
 for, if you will so transform the haven of order, you must add 
 on several snow-capt summits for the intricacies of personal 
 property, criminal jurisprudence, and other branches of the 
 law. 
 
 Take a few of the simple distinctions between the ownership, 
 right of possession, and possession of goods: — The owner of 
 Pheasant View starts a grouse in his own land and shoots it 
 whilst flying over Partridge Lawn, his neighbour's ground, 
 where it drops dead: — A poacher starts a hare in Partridge 
 Lawn and kills it in Pheasant View: — A trespasser starts a 
 rabbit in Pheasant View and there destroys it. 
 
 Is it so very easy to determine in these respective cases that 
 the property in the grouse is in the owner of Partridge Lawn ; 
 of the hare in the poacher; of the rabbit in the owner of 
 Pheasant View? 
 
 Then you have heard of a " loose fish ;" but it is no child's 
 play to distinguish it from a "fast fish." Kateios is the first to 
 strike, but his harpoon breaks, and, whale number 1 being almost 
 dead, Belosus is easily able to hurl his harpoon and secure the 
 prize. Kateios strikes at whale number 2, which breaks away 
 almost uninjured, leaving Kateios' line and harpoon safe. 
 Belosus with great difficulty effects a capture owing partly to 
 the wound inflicted by Kateios and to the animal being some- 
 what entangled in his gear. In the first case the fish is "loose" 
 and the property vests in Belosus ; in the second case the fish 
 is " fast" and the property vests in Kateios. 
 
 Perhaps you would be glad to be told how a man may make 
 himself a present of venison. Suppose then there are deer 
 which go as appurtenant to a park. So long as attached thereto 
 
( 91 ) 
 
 they are of course chattels savouring of the freehold, and will 
 devolve upon the tenant for years, for life, in tail, or in fee, for 
 periods corresponding with their respective estates. Our venison 
 aspirant then comes and chases away or kills one of the herd ; 
 and in consequence the property in this animal vests in the 
 first freeholder, who has an estate of inheritance in the park, 
 just as timber wasted by felling would do. The venison gentle- 
 man, however, labours under a peculiar inability accurately to 
 discriminate between the opposed members meum and tuum and 
 accordingly retains the booty. Thereupon the inheritor brings 
 trover and recovers but never receives a farthing damages. 
 With that recovery the venison is at last secured to the indi- 
 vidual of peculiar inability.* 
 
 Let us glance for a moment at the simplicity of a bargain 
 and sale of chattels. Equinus agrees with Hippios to buy three 
 horses on the following terms, viz. : Bucephalus for 1000/. 
 down: the brother of Bucephalus for 10,000/. at one month's 
 credit : the sister of Bucephalus, when she is broken in and 
 taught all the graces of the turf, for 50,000/. The Bucephali 
 were left in possession of Hippios, but unfortunately the brother 
 of Bucephalus died immediately after the sale, and the sister 
 just as Hippios had her in trim order for delivery after great 
 outlay in training. Hippios refused to part with the remaining 
 member of the family, though he made Equinus shell out the 
 10,000/. at the expiration of the month— so far consoling him- 
 self for the disappointment of losing the 50,000/. 
 
 This is the easiest example that could be given ; but I am 
 inclined to think it shows — without referring to sales by bulk or 
 from warehouses or wharfs— that the passing of property in 
 chattels personal is not one of those things generally known by 
 direct intuition — a further confirmation of which opinion may 
 be noticed in the impossibility of making a gift inter vivos, 
 except by deed, of a moveable already in and remaining in the 
 possession of the intended donee. 
 
 Then as to other portions of the law : Lucifer brandishes a 
 fiery sword within the millioneth of an inch of Michael's nose ; 
 and is guilty of an assault. Iris touches but the outside nap of 
 Milo's outermost of outside coats, and is guilty of assault and 
 battery. 
 
 Paul pleads payment of 4/. 19s. life/, in satisfaction of 51. 
 due on the day of payment ; Moses pleads payment of \d. 
 
 * Oar venison friend must be supposed to have ceased living at her gracious 
 Majesty's expense— the larceny suspending the civil remedy until that necessary 
 sojourn was accomplished. We might assume he was mad and dispense with the 
 former supposition, though apparently there would be method in hisjnaduess. ■ 
 
( 92 ) 
 
 obtained by creditors' request from the pawnbrokers round the 
 corner in satisfaction of 10,00()Z. due the same day. On de- 
 murrer judgment is given against Paul for Moses. 
 
 Housemaid receives parcel of new plate from the silver-smith 
 and without hesitation appropriates spoons, forks, tea, coffee 
 and dessert services, in fact, every single thing except a small 
 salt spoon, which fell out by accident, and which the butler 
 found and appropriated. They were subsequently duly indicted 
 for larceny ; and on true bills being found the housemaid was 
 ordered to be discharged, but the butler was tried, convicted and 
 sentenced to seven years transportation.* 
 
 William Swindlum, observing a clerk hastening through 
 Lombard Street towards the Bank, adroitly relieved him of 
 bills and notes to the value of half a million. Richard Pick- 
 pocket, having witnessed the feat and being fired with emulous 
 zeal, made an instant swoop on a likely-looking old gentleman, 
 who happened to be passing towards Broad Street, obtaining 
 for his trouble a huge roll of pink and blue printed forms of 
 cheques, bills, notes, &c. — all of which, however, turned out to 
 be either unstamped or unindorsed and worthless except for 
 what the rag-dealer would give for that or any similar amount 
 of ordinary waste paper. It was not long after the acuteness 
 of detectives and the vigilance of police had been polished up 
 by the offer of a princely reward for the apprehension, when 
 the two culprits stood in the dock of the Old Bailey. They 
 were arraigned at the same time, and each pleaded Not guilty. 
 The judge was a man of a stern disposition, and when he had 
 to pass sentence he could do so with a will : yet could nothing 
 on earth ever induce him to forego the smallest formality — no, 
 not if the prisoner's guilt were clearer than the noon-day sun ; 
 the slightest flaw in the evidence would with him ensure an 
 acquittal ; for, he would .ever rejoin to the prosecution, — Non 
 refert quid notum sit judici si notum non sit in forma judicii. 
 On the present occasion the crown, as became the dignity of 
 the Bank of England, was represented by a tremendous bar. 
 The Attorney-General — the Solicitor-General — one of the late 
 government's law officers — several Q.C.'s — and the most dis- 
 tinguished of criminal juniors — were all retained ; for the Trea- 
 sury had taken the matter up with such warmth, that no 
 counsel of any great name in this line of business was left for 
 the defence. Under these circumstances Swindlum, who could 
 well afford to pay for the best professional assistance still to be 
 had, thought he might as well fight for himself ; whereas Pick- 
 
 * Under 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, s. 72, the housemaid would now be convicted of 
 embezzlement. 
 
( 93 ) 
 
 pocket's fortunes were committed to an eminent " counsellor " 
 (who by the way had stood sixteen times for parliament without 
 getting in), whose fee, though in all conscience moderate enough, 
 had been squeezed together by a general impoverishment of the 
 accused's relations and friends. The judge, seeing the prin- 
 cipal prisoner undefended and believing the cause to be poverty, 
 requested a hitherto briefless and unfledged barrister to afford 
 his services gratuitously. Swindlum did not much care for 
 this interference ; but, his mode of life having rendered his 
 perceptions singularly quick, he saw in a twinkling his lordship 
 was anxious to bring forward a favourite ; and thereupon with 
 the most becoming of bows acknowledged the kindness so un- 
 expectedly received. The stuff-gownsman now rose and re- 
 quested the indictment might be again read over — which was 
 forthwith done. Upon that he asked leave for the prisoner 
 to be allowed to withdraw his plea of Not guilty. When this 
 proposal was heard a general hubbub of disappointment ran 
 through the crowded court, which was filled to overflowing by 
 merchants, tradesmen, gouty old noblemen, and frights of hideous 
 dowagers, who, all in turn victimized by the wild animal at 
 length apparently at bay, had assembled with savage glee to 
 hear the majesty of the law, and, still more, their own respective 
 wrongs vindicated by the combined eloquence and indignant 
 denunciations of the leaders of the bar. Nor was the expected 
 confession more agreeable with the big whigs, most of whom 
 had gloated over the thought of having each syllable of their 
 elaborated addresses or interrogatories flashed on the electric 
 wires to the utmost corners of the globe. But what was the 
 consternation of the law officers of the crown ! Proh Dii im- 
 mortales ! burst out the Attorney-General, who, besides the 
 Catiline Orations, had so pounded over the speech against 
 Verres that he absolutely believed himself, not a second, but 
 the real actual Cicero, once again in the flesh, and was firmly 
 persuaded that, as the last word of his peroration still sounded, 
 the audience would rise up to a man and hail him " Father of 
 his Country." " Each scabbard would have leaped from its 
 sword," muttered the Solicitor-General, who had so often men- 
 tally impeached Warren Hastings as at length to have become 
 somewhat regardless of the order of language Burke observed 
 in that or any other speech. Then whispered the big wigs, 
 loud enough to be heard by everyone, " Nothing to be gained ; 
 seven and ten years previous transportations ; this time pretty 
 -safe for life !" The young barrister, however, persisted in his 
 demand ; and the judge reluctantly but eventually with his usual 
 courtesy granted his consent. Thereupon this junior of juniors 
 
( 94 ) 
 
 turning to the bench said : " I believe, my lord, I can save your 
 lordship and the jury a great waste of time by putting in a 
 demurrer on the prisoner's behalf. This indictment is bad upon 
 the face of it, for there can be no larceny of a security, and there- 
 fore I submit with confidence the prisoner must be discharged."* 
 The judge looked at the Attorney-General; the Attorney- 
 General at the Solicitor-General ; the Solicitor-General at the 
 law officer of the late government ; this latter at his immediate 
 subordinate, — until at length the look was passed to the lowest 
 junior, from whom it was duly transmitted to the solicitor of 
 the treasury, who devolved it to his head clerk, and this last 
 was so petrified as to be unable to get rid of the burden. The 
 fact was, everybody had relied on everybody else for the law of 
 the case — each counsel (they had all had a hand in drawing the 
 accusation) being absorbed in marshalling the facts he would 
 most likely have to examine and cross-examine upon. 
 
 The silence produced by the surprise was at length broken 
 by the judge. " Mr. Attorney," said he, addressing the chief 
 law officer, " do you maintain the sufficiency of this indictment? " 
 " No, my lord," was the brief and emphatic response. " Then," 
 resumed the court, " let the prisoner be discharged." 
 
 On his liberation, Swindlum, instead of departing with all 
 convenient speed from the scene of his recent jeopardy, in a few 
 minutes appeared amongst the body of spectators, twirling his 
 cane in the most unconcerned manner imaginable ; thinking, as 
 the day was now too far spent for serious application to business, 
 he might as well wait and see what would be the fate of Pick- 
 pocket. The case of this hero was already proceeding, and the 
 old gentleman had just appeared in his shirtsleeves in the 
 witness box to show the jury where the young ruffian had so 
 cleverly ripped open his pocket. With this the evidence for 
 the prosecution closed. There was and could be no real defence, 
 so clearly was the offence brought home ; and after a tedious 
 oration from the " counsellor," and a brief summing-up from 
 the judge, the jury without retiring immediately found a verdict 
 of guilty. 
 
 It then appeared the prisoner had commenced his career at 
 nine years old and been convicted of purloining a valuable silk 
 pocket handkerchief from a flushed-looking alderman, when 
 with delicious prospect entering his carriage en route for a 
 sumptuous dinner, at one of the worshipful city companv's. At 
 the expiration of his month, nothing daunted, he betook" himself 
 to his old ways and for two years carried on a most lucrative 
 
 • By 24 & 25 Vict. c. 96, a. 27, securities are now the subject of larcenv. 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 trade in marauding about the Exchange and Cornhill. He 
 would probably have long flourished in that line, had he not 
 unfortunately levied black mail on the Lord Mayor himself, 
 just as that worthy was leaving the Mansion-house, when he 
 succeeded in niching what appeared an extremely elegant piece 
 of bonnet ribbon, but which in fact was an order, received from 
 one of the Indian princes, whom the civic dignitary was to 
 entertain at a grand banquet in the Guildhall during the fol- 
 lowing week. The Lord Mayor, who had fully intended to 
 sport his rank on the occasion in question, was in the most 
 dreadful state. All the power at his command was put in 
 motion to discover the thief and recover the stolen property. 
 His efforts were rewarded with success. Pickpocket was sent 
 to a reformatory for five years ; and so delighted was the Lord 
 Mayor at getting back his order, that, besides telling his guest 
 some fifty times over of the happy termination of the mishap, 
 he was within an ace at three or four different periods of pro- 
 posing and drinking the health of — " Our worthy force — the 
 police ! " 
 
 The reformatory had been left only a few months ; yet in so 
 many places was Pickpocket " wanted," that, were all those 
 seeking him to be satisfied, something of the same contention as 
 has taken place in past ages for the corpse of a saint or other 
 illustrious personage might well have been apprehended. Under 
 all these circumstances the justice of the case was met by a 
 sentence of ten years' penal servitude, with five years' police 
 supervision — the judge observing it was not the prisoner's fault 
 he had not obtained actual securities and got off like Swindlum, 
 who thereupon made a gracious obeisance and wended his way 
 homewards. 
 
 John Keech, Esq., in shooting at his fowl on his own ground, 
 missed aim and killed Moribundus. He got off on a plea of 
 excusable homicide. Mr. Keech, in shooting at his fowl just 
 beside the highway, missed aim and killed Moribunda. He 
 was convicted of manslaughter. 
 
 Jack Keech, in shooting at Hangum's fowl in a lonely part 
 of his own ground, missed aim and killed Moriturus. He was 
 found guilty of murder ! 
 
 I might give endless examples from other portions of the law 
 which would demonstrate how shorn and misleading is your 
 rock of technicality, when restricted to real property. Nor is 
 English jurisprudence peculiar in possessing artificial and 
 difficult distinctions. The same fact is and must be true of all 
 jurisprudence, which, in laying down general rules, opens a 
 boundless field for judicial interpretation. So self-evident a 
 
( 96 ) 
 
 proposition stands in need of no general confirmation, and I 
 shall therefore adduce some very trite instances from Roman 
 law— not as proofs but as illustrations. 
 
 The intricacy of the ancient legis actiones may be gathered 
 from the rigid adherence which had to be paid to the sacra- 
 mental forms and words. " Unde cum qui de vitibus succisis 
 ita egisset, ut in actione vites nominaret, responsum est, eum 
 rem perdidisse, quia debuisset arbores nominare, eo quod lex 
 XII. tabularum, ex qua de vitibus succisis actio competeret, 
 
 feneraliter de arboribus succisis loqueretur." (Gaii Insts. iv.) 
 lay not the nicety of the variance between trees and vines in 
 the ancient Roman system be well matched against the nicety 
 our law recognizes between direct and consequential damage in 
 trespass and case respectively ? 
 
 (1) Titius hominem Stichum capito. — (2) Titius hominem 
 Stichum prascipito. Here is the legacy of a slave bequeathed 
 • — per vindicationem in the first instance — per prasceptionem in 
 the second. Such was the doctrine of Sabinus, Cassius, and 
 the other members of the school to which Gaius belonged, who 
 held that none but a co-heir could take per prasceptionem ; 
 whilst a stranger to the will could take per vindicationem. On 
 the other hand Nerva, Proculus, and the rest of the opposite 
 school, rejected the prefix prse and considered both forms as 
 bequests per vindicationem. 
 
 Again, there were various forms of the verbal contract : — 
 Dari spondes? spondeo. — Dabis ? dabo — promittis? promitto, 
 &c, and generally these forms might be expressed in Greek if 
 the parties understood that language ; as, dwasi;; Scocrco' fywAoysTf; 
 o^oKayui, &c, and contracts thus formed were valid, whether 
 amongst citizens or peregrini. But the form — Dari spondes ? 
 spondeo — was so peculiar to Roman citzens, that it was binding 
 only, when both parties were citizens and had employed these 
 identical words — "At ilia verborum obligatio dari spondes? 
 spondeo, adeo propria civium Romanorum est ut ne quidem in 
 Grsecum sermonem per interpretationem proprie transferri 
 possit, quamvis dicatur a Grasca voce figurata esse." (Gaii Insts. 
 iii. 93.) 
 
 The construction of the phrases — " after my death " — " on 
 my death" — and "the day before my death" — is worthy of 
 regard. Thus a promise to make a conveyance on one's death 
 was good ; but a promise to convey after one's death or the 
 day before one's death was bad ; because, in the first instance, 
 the obligation was considered to be merely deferred to the last 
 ■moment of the promisor's life and to attach to him, whereas, in 
 the second, the obligation would attach only to the heir of the 
 
 J J J 
 
( 97 ) 
 
 deceased — to allow which the jurisconsults thought would have 
 violated the genius of their system. To convey on the day 
 before one's death was virtually for the heir to convey after 
 one's death, since it was impossible to ascertain the day pre- 
 ceding a man's death until he had died. " Denique inutilis est 
 talis stipulatio, si quis ita dari stipuletur : Post mortem meam 
 dari spondes ? vel ita : Post mortem tuam dari spondes ? valet 
 autem, si quis ita dari stipuletur : Cum moriar, dari spondes ? 
 vel ita : Cum morieris, dari spondes ? id est, ut in novissimum 
 vitse tempus stipulatoris aut promissoris obligatio conferatur : 
 nam inelegans esse visum est, ex heredis persona incipere obli- 
 gationem. Rursus ita stipulari non possumus: Pridie quam 
 moriar, aut Pridie quam morieris, dari spondes ? quia non 
 potest aliter intelligi pridie quam aliquis morietur, quam si 
 mors secuta sit ; rursus morte secuta in prseteritum redducitur 
 stipulatio et quodammodo talis est. Heredi meo dari spondes ? 
 quas sane inutilis est." (Gaii Insts. iii. 100 et seq.) 
 
 When shall a thing be deemed "principal" when "acces- 
 sory ? " Is there no technicality here ? If you write even in 
 letters of gold upon my parchment, the parchment will still 
 remain mine ; but if you paint a picture on my canvas, the 
 canvas becomes yours — it being understood in both cases you 
 act bond fide, believing the parchment and canvas to belong to 
 yourself : " Probatum est, quod in chartulis sive membranis meis 
 aliquis scripserit, licet aureis litteris, meum esse, quia litteras 
 chartulis sive membranis cedunt. Sed si in tabula mea aliquis 
 pinxerit velut imaginem, contra probetur magis enim dicitur, 
 tabulam picturas cedere ; cujus diversitatis vix idonea ratio red- 
 ditur." (Gaii Insts. ii. 77.) 
 
 Again, to distinguish — between purchase and sale on the one 
 hand and hiring and letting on the other — turns sometimes on 
 very subtle considerations : " Si cum aurifice mihi convenerit, ut 
 is ex auro suo anulos mihi faceret certi ponderis certa?que 
 formse et acceperit verbi gratia trecenta, utrum emptio et 
 venditio sit an locatio et conductio ? Sed placet unum esse 
 negotium et magis emptionem et venditionem esse. Quod si 
 ego aurum dedero mercede pro opera constituta, dubium non 
 est, quin locatio et conductio sit." (Dig. xix. ii. 2.) In a case 
 exactly similar to this, Cassius considered the transaction 
 divisible, i. e., that there was purchase and sale of the material 
 — hiring and letting of the services — but the general current of 
 authority was that above stated. (Gaii Insts. iii. 47.) So an 
 agreement, that, of the gladiators I deliver to you, I am to 
 receive so much for each that is slain and so much for each that 
 escapes intact, was construed to be a case of purchase and sale 
 
 H 
 
( 98 ) 
 
 in the instance of the former and of hiring and letting in that 
 of the latter. " Si gladiatores ea lege tradiderim, ut in singulos, 
 qui integri exierint, pro sudore denarii xx mihi darentur, in 
 eos vero singulos, qui occisi aut debilitati fuerint, denarii mille, 
 quseritur, utrum emptio et venditio an locatio et conductio con- 
 trahatur: et magis placuit, eorum, qui integri exierint, loca- 
 tionem et conductionem contractam videri, at eorum qui occisi 
 aut debilitati sunt, emptionem et venditionem esse ; idque ex 
 accidentibus apparere, tamquam sub condicione facta cujusque 
 venditione an locatione ; jam enim non dubitatur, quin sub 
 condicione res veniri aut locari possint." (Gaii Insts. iii. 146.) 
 
 Thus Roman as well as English law — as well as the law of 
 every country — has its technicalities ; and, if you attack our 
 real property on this score, you must be prepared to show that 
 it involves needless or baneful intricacies. 
 
 I presume those various rules you have alluded to as enter- 
 ing into the composition of your rock of technicality are 
 brought forward in order to meet with animadversion — the 
 strongest and most relentless; and that, if I point out how 
 undeserved and misplaced such animadversions would be, I 
 shall have done all to rescue you from a forlorn frame of 
 thought, the office of a friend requires. 
 
 How hard it is to say : — " I was wrong " — and what sacrifices 
 some people undergo rather than make the admission ! Would 
 it not have been better to own like a man that your ribald 
 attack upon technical terms was without ftrandation, and that 
 you withdrew the opprobrious observations you had given 
 utterance to. By so simple an expedient you could have 
 become reconciled with the word " purchase," and so rendered 
 yourself intelligible. But, rather than stoop to an honourable 
 confession, you have worn and wearied yourself in the hopeless 
 endeavour to express by lengthy circumlocution an antithesis, 
 cut with chisel edge by the consecrated and concise phraseology 
 of the law. " Heirs," or " heirs of the body," are either words 
 of purchase or words of limitation — speak in that language, 
 and, though the range of the rule in Shelley's case were ex- 
 tended over a whole continent, we should have little to fear 
 from what would then be its cork-stopped spikes. 
 
 I shall not deign to defend the sublime rule in Shelley's case 
 by giving you the sentiments of the pillars of the law, to whom 
 I refer you, especially the authority on contingent remainders. 
 But hoping you may become one of those who " came to scoff, 
 remained to pray," I shall cite an early case : " John Abel 
 having two sons, Walter and John, purchased the manor of 
 Fortysgray in Kent ; to hold to himself and Matilda his wife, 
 
( 99 ) 
 
 and Walter Abel his eldest son, and to the heirs of the body of 
 Walter begotten ; and, if Walter died without heir of his body, 
 the manor should remain to the right heirs of John the father. 
 Matilda the wife died ; and Walter the son also died without 
 heir of his body. John the father became bound in a statute 
 merchant to pay 100/. to B. at a day certain ; and died leaving 
 his younger son John his heir. After the day of payment was 
 elapsed, the creditor sued out a writ to the sheriff of Kent, to 
 extend and deliver to him all the lands which John Abel the 
 father had, on the day of acknowledging the statute. The 
 sheriff returns, that he had delivered to other creditors upon 
 recognizances all the lands which John Abel had in fee, except 
 the manor of Fortysgray, in which he had only an estate for 
 term of life. Upon this return it was argued that John the 
 father had only the freehold for term of life, the fee simple 
 being limited to his heirs, who therefore took by purchase and 
 not by descent, but the court held the contrary ; for which this 
 reason (among others) is given by Stonor, J., viz. because 
 otherwise the fee and the right, after the death of Walter the 
 eldest son, would have been in nobody. And therefore Beres- 
 ford gave the rule, that execution should be awarded upon this 
 manor of Fortysgray." (Maynard's Year Books, M. 18 Edw. II. 
 fol. 577, Mr. Hargrave's Law Tracts, case of Perrin v. Blake.) 
 So superexcellent indeed has this principle proved itself, that 
 it has been eagerly adopted into your favourite system of 
 personalty, where a limitation by way of trust or executory 
 . devise of chattels to a man for his life, followed by a subsequent 
 limitation in the same instrument to his executors, administrators 
 and assigns, gives him the whole vested interest or interests — 
 the words his executors, administrators and assigns being con- 
 strued words of limitation. 
 I do not know if I need comment on the other districts of 
 \ the rock of technicality you have shown me over. Across all 
 of them I behold the straight roads of logic and consistency, 
 I along which the horsehair heads and snowy scarfs glide with 
 ' the ease and nimbleness of the velocipede. You have evidently 
 ' never been in a crowded building, when a cry of fire was raised, 
 and, the doors opening the wrong way, there was no means of 
 * exit, until, just as the hungry flames were about to seize on the 
 ' unhappy victims, a vent was opportunely burst through the 
 { Moody-and-Sankey-like confinement that hemmed in the plea- 
 { sure-seekers to destruction. Even such was the vent afforded 
 " by the exhilarating doctrine of scintilla juris. — " Uses are 
 ' frequently limited in contingency, to serve which, as they come 
 'in esse, it is necessary there should be a seisin somewhere. 
 
( ioo ) 
 
 When this case was first considered by the lawyers, it was 
 found difficult, to discover any mode of reasoning, consistent 
 with the system generally received on the doctrine of uses, by 
 which that seisin could be supposed to exist anywhere, or what 
 the precise nature of it was. This was the great difficulty in 
 Chudleigh's case. There, the following case was put. Suppose 
 a feoffment is made to the use of A. during his life, remainder 
 to the use of his sons successively in tail, and, for want of such 
 issue, to the use of B. in fee ; is there any, and what seisin, to 
 serve the uses limited to the sons of A. ? — In whom does that 
 seisin exist ? — and how does it operate ? Upon this point the 
 judges seem, by the accounts which have come to us of that 
 case, particularly Sir Edward Coke's and Lord Chief Justice 
 Popham's, to have held very different opinions. All agreed, 
 that, to the execution of an use under the statute, it was 
 indispensably necessary, that there should be a person seised to 
 the use; an use in possession, reversion, or remainder; and 
 cestuy que use in esse. From these positions, some of the 
 judges in that case inferred, that the whole use was executed in 
 A. and B. in a manner that left nothing of the ancient use in 
 the feoffees ; and that the contingent use, when it came in 
 esse, was executed out of the first livery, and the original estate 
 of the feoffees. Others held, that an actual estate in remainder 
 was vested in the feoffees, to serve the contingent uses as they 
 arose. But both these systems were found to be open to 
 unanswerable objections. For, with respect to the first, one of 
 the requisites indispensably necessary to the execution of an 
 use, under the statute, is, that there must be a person seised to , 
 the use, at the time of the execution of it. Now, if the whole , 
 original seisin was divested out of the feoffees, there would not, 
 when the son of A. was born, be any person seised to his use ; 
 — or, in other words, there would be no seisin to that use. This 
 would make the estates limited to the sons of A., and all other 
 contingent remainders, void in their creation for want of a 
 seisin to feed them, when they come in esse. With respect to , 
 the latter system, — it is to be observed, that, under the limita» I 
 tions upon which the case arose, A. took an estate for life in | 
 possession, and B. took an estate in remainder in fee; — and , 
 that previously to the birth of A.'s children, there was no use 
 vested in any person, which separated those two estates. Those 
 uses, therefore, were commensurate to the whole fee, and 
 admitted no opening for any intermediate vested use. Besides, 
 the feoffor neither limited, nor intended to limit, any such 
 intermediate use to the feoffees. Thus, on the one hand, the 
 objection to the supposition, that nothing of the old seism 
 
( ioi ) 
 
 remained in the feoffees, on the other, the objection to the sup- 
 position, that any use or legal estate remained in them, made it 
 difficult to conceive what estate or seisin could be in them, to 
 serve the contingent use. To clear up this difficulty it was 
 observed, that the possession was not executed by the statute, 
 but in the manner, and to the extent, in which the use was 
 limited. Now, in the case we have mentioned the use was 
 limited, and consequently the possession executed to A. during 
 his life, remainder to B. in fee, but subject to the possibility of 
 A.'s having sons, and their becoming entitled to the use, and 
 consequently to the possession for an estate or estates in tail. 
 Thus, during the suspense of the contingent use, the feoffees 
 had a possibility of possession, untouched and unaffected by the 
 statute, as there was no use in esse to which it could be executed. 
 The moment the use came in esse the feoffees would be entitled 
 at common law to the possession, to the use, or, as we should 
 now call it, in trust for the cestuy que use ; but by the opera- 
 tion of the statute, the possession is instantaneously divested 
 from the feoffees, and executed in the cestuy que use. Thus, 
 by supposing a possibility of seisin, but no actual seisin or use 
 to remain in the feoffees, during the suspense of the contingent 
 use, a sufficient seisin is provided to serve the contingent use 
 when it comes in esse, without interfering with, or breaking in 
 upon, the legal fee." (Co. Litt. Mr. Butler's note iv. 271 b.) 
 
 The "possibility of seisin" spoken of is otherwise called 
 scintilla juris. " Not to cherish the scintilla," observes Popham, 
 C. J., " would be to cast the whole commonwealth into a sea 
 of troubles and endanger it with utter confusion and drowning." 
 And then listen to C B. Periam, who " conceived that these 
 future uses before their births are not preserved in the bowels 
 and belly of the land, but that they are in nubibus and in the 
 preservation of the law." 
 
 You have alluded to a devise by way of use; and I am 
 somewhat at a loss to understand how you would bring the 
 32 and the 34 Hen. 8 within the 27 Hen. 8, so as to throw a 
 doubt upon the operation by intention. 
 
 Then the case of your friend Skinflint is extremely clear, 
 being but an ordinary application of the statute, the uses under 
 which are always served out of the seisin destined to feed them 
 — a principle, from which no such hybrid as an estate created 
 under appointment and clothed with the covenants entered into 
 with the donee of the power could be bred. 
 
 With your magician Fearne I have no quarrel, only I am 
 surprised you had not the frankness to admit that the terra 
 periculosa of contingent remainders, conditional limitations, 
 
( 102 ) 
 
 and executory devises was thrown up entirely in the attempt to 
 satisfy the peculiar idiosyncracies of owners in the disposition 
 of their property. 
 
 I entertain no commiseration whatever for the surgeon, 
 stockbroker, F.R.S., and other persons who reaped the fruits 
 of their folly. Is it to be tolerated that any and every upstart 
 and quack may with impunity meddle in the most recondite of 
 sciences; whilst a special diploma is requisite to kill a patient, 
 to do a capitalist, to humbug the world ? " Familiarity breeds 
 contempt," and, probably, on that account we have our amateur 
 jurisconsults and our amateur divines. It is not every day we 
 have a limb amputated or a planet discovered ; and yet what 
 poor philosophy to suppose the uninitiated know more of the 
 candle flame than of the stellar beam! as if the art of the 
 chemist was so simple compared with that of the spectro- 
 analyst. The very fact that the lawyer's is not the common 
 knowledge ranks jurisprudence with the profession of the sur- 
 geon, and the adoption of all these technical terms and technical 
 modes of reasoning show how far the law has been developed 
 and what an irreparable loss would ensue, if so many abbrevia- 
 tions and short-cuts and, yet withal, such unbending coupling 
 irons were destroyed. 
 
 With what patience then can I listen to that preposterous 
 scheme — that laymen should evolve a code for themselves. 
 Such a proposal is no less sagacious than would be the propo- 
 sition to burn our locomotives and steam-vessels, in order that 
 we might return to horse-power and galleys ! Indeed, those 
 mechanisms are far less potent in the economy of material, 
 than are the instruments of the jurisconsult in the economy of 
 mental, labour. Nor can you undertake to furnish a better set 
 of tools than those we already possess. Never was an act of 
 parliament drawn with greater care and rarely by abler hands 
 than those of Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Keeper Guildford, and 
 Sir Leoline Jenkins. " Yet every line of the Statute of Frauds 
 may with truth be said to have cost as well as in the words of 
 the great Earl of Nottingham to have been worth a subsidy" 
 (Smith's Contracts). Take but the 4th and 17th sections and 
 see the enormous bulk to which the determination of their 
 provisions has swelled. Nay, in the 17th section what endless 
 interpretation of the terms "accept" and "receive" in the 
 clause — " unless the buyer shall accept part of the goods so 
 sold and actually receive the same" ! How vain, then, to attempt 
 a reconstruction of the language and law of real property ! 
 
 There is, moreover, a very palpable fallacy in deriving an 
 analogy from the success that attended the establishment of the 
 
( 103 ) 
 
 law merchant. Here the layman was successful because he 
 was opening up entirely new ground. The earliest reported 
 case on a bill of" exchange is Martin v. Boure, 6 James 1, and 
 it was not till 3 & 4 Anne, c. 9, the negotiability of notes was put 
 beyond question, though these latter had been in circulation 
 ever since the appropriation, by Charles I., of the deposits at 
 the Mint, had driven the merchants to confide their treasures 
 to the goldsmiths in Lombard Street, who devised the pro- 
 missory instrument of credit. Indeed I need scarcely remind 
 you that the law merchant dates from Lords Holt and Mans- 
 field, and had its foundation laid by those eminent judges, 
 sanctioning in their decisions the usages already prevailing 
 amongst traders. Now there are many portions of that law 
 which might be improved. Even the whole might be sup- 
 planted by a new and better system ; but is it not manifest 
 such a change would be wrought with infinitely more detriment 
 than advantage, owing to the uncertainty that would arise, and 
 from having to begin all over again and by a long series of 
 precedents fix the meaning of the new rules on a steady basis ? 
 Yet the experiment in the case of the law merchant could 
 hardly be so disastrous as in that of the law of realty ; for trade 
 is now in as high estimation as ever, and our lawyers, of the 
 nineteenth, would devote quite as much pains to elaborate new 
 rules of commerce as their predecessors did in the eighteenth, 
 century ; whereas land loses every age some of its original pre- 
 rogative right to superiority, and the profession could never 
 now bestow that undivided attention, by which during a long 
 course of generations the law of immoveables was so grandly 
 founded and so accurately ascertained. 
 
 " A little learning is a dangerous thing " — how noxious 
 small draughts from the Pierian spring of eqiuty may prove let 
 no one hereafter be in doubt about ! Who was it primed you 
 up in the maxims and doctrines of the Court of Chancery, 
 with that true-blue-grinder-touch-of-paper-and-ink statement 
 unsupported by a single thought of depth or reflexion? No 
 wonder you seem so much to approve of — when it is so evident 
 you were born, or ought to have been, and lived every year of 
 your life or ought to have done so — in your rock of simplicity. 
 Very evil indeed is the maxim .ZEquitas sequitur legem, con- 
 fining as it does with such effect the broad sea of confusion ! 
 Without doubt the devolution, quantity and quality of trust 
 estates, has been fashioned after the pattern furnished by legal 
 estates to the unfortunate diminution of obscurity and endless 
 litigation ! Did your grinder so far whet the obnoxious dull- 
 ness of his disciple as, by explaining the limits of the maxim, 
 
( 104 ) 
 
 to afford a microscopic chance of comprehending some infi- 
 nitesimal fraction of the sound principles upon which the chan- 
 cellors have proceeded? You have stated like a parrot that 
 the courts of equity insist on a strict settlement when the trusts 
 are executory — not a single syllable on the reasonableness of 
 making the children purchasers as being within the consideration 
 of marriage, in the case of antenuptial articles, or of carrying 
 out the intention of the testator in the case of devises ! Then, 
 we are not told where the maxim stops, so that for aught that 
 appears to the contrary one might suppose an abeyance of the 
 freehold or the want of livery of seisin would be as fatal to trust 
 as to legal estates. 
 
 The interference of the legislature, I presume, has given you 
 confidence in that ridiculous attack upon the honoured maxim — 
 " The equities being equal the law shall prevail." " Would 
 you be surprised to hear," that the interference was so pro- 
 foundly wise that the legislature is at this present moment 
 puffing and panting for the repeal of its eight months' old 
 enactment.* 
 
 But let that pass. If you have ever read any constitutional 
 history you ought to have known the wisdom of this principle, 
 for the famous collision of the Courts of Chancery and King's 
 Bench in James I. is not easily forgotten. Coke and Egerton, 
 it is true, were personal enemies ; but, without a circumstance 
 of that kind, there would inevitably at some time or other have 
 been a clashing of the common law and equity courts. Why 
 should not the chancellors supplement the courtesy, which 
 never pretends to enjoin the courts but only the parties, by 
 allowing the law to avail when equitably both petitioner and 
 respondent were on the same footing? There was a great 
 saving of expense by this rule, inasmuch as a suitor who had 
 both law and equity on his side had only to file a bill without 
 also bringing an action — so common a necessity until the 
 recent acts enlarging the modes of trial in chancery. Again, 
 this rule was in perfect accord with the doctrines of equity 
 which never carries the development of its creature farther 
 than the object of its creation requires — a principle so well 
 exemplified in the resulting trust to the heir or personal repre- 
 sentative of the undisposed residue of real or personal property 
 respectively ordered to be converted by a testator. 
 
 It is amusing to listen to those blatant denunciations against 
 
 the favour shown to the illegitimate child, as if that did not 
 
 result from the soundest doctrines. Perhaps you would like to 
 
 hear what Glanville has to say upon the subject: " Sed nunquid 
 
 * Land Transfer Bill. 
 
( 105 ) 
 
 filio suo bastardo potest quis filium et heredem habere de here- 
 ditate sua donare ? quod si verum est, tunc melioris conditio.nis 
 est in hoc bastardus filius quam mulieratus postnatus, quod 
 tamen verum est. " (Book vii. ch. 1.*) 
 
 Nothing can be more rational than the supposition that a 
 parent is bound to provide for his child ; and is there anything 
 monstrous in holding he is not bound to provide twice over? 
 The court then gives effect • to the presumable intention and 
 carries out the duty but does not superadd generosity. That 
 other case you have cited — defective execution of a power not 
 aided in favour of a parent — is grounded on the converse of the 
 foregoing reason — viz. that there is no prima facie duty on 
 a child to provide for its parent. As a further example of these 
 doctrines, I may instance a purchase by father or husband in 
 name of child or wife where the nature of the transaction gives 
 the nominee the benefit of the trust, that would otherwise result 
 in favour of the person from whom the consideration moved, 
 being thus rebutted. 
 
 " Thus conscience does make cowards of us all 1" 
 
 a suitor might well exclaim, if your views, or rather the hints 
 thereat (for you dare not speak plainly), were carried into 
 operation. You do not suppose it is the business of a civil tri- 
 bunal to judge as a moralist would — in foro conscientias ? nor 
 would it be desirable that the rationes decidendi should be con- 
 stantly changing, for, optima est lex quas minimum relinquit 
 arbitrio judicis. Then, what is the meaning of assailing and 
 bawling out at that healthy conscience of chancery, which has 
 been so long reaching its normal stature ! One reason and one 
 reason only suggests itself. Conscience has not the same sig- 
 nification in equity as in morals — to the puenlity of which I 
 answer: Neither does the " charity" of the Christian correspond 
 with the " charity" of 43 Eliz. 
 
 I congratulate you on the lesson you have learned from the 
 discussion of the scintilla juris; but I fear had I been the 
 Serjeant your authority would have been of little use. 
 
 That no lawyer ever knew the whole law, I am quite ready 
 to grant, just as no medical man ever knew the whole of phy- 
 siology — anatomy — surgery and medicine ; as no natural phi- 
 losopher ever knew the whole of mathematics — astronomy — 
 
 * Glanville said, a line above, that an owner of inheritable land could not 
 dispose even of a part thereof to younger children — because parents having 
 stronger affection for their latest born would be induced to cut out altogether 
 the eldest son. Bastards are incapable in Regiam Majestatem, L. ii. c. 19, 
 and Grand Costumier of Normandy, c. 36. 
 
( 106 ) 
 
 acoustics— optics, &c. ! Why this very objection is a singular 
 praise, showing how our lawyers have specialized their subject 
 and therefore brought it to a forward stage ! 
 
 Moreover it is the glory of the law to have a wealth of dis- 
 tinctions the veriest miser could never count or estimate, for 
 through their multiple instrumentality may a nearer approach be 
 made to distributive justice. Besides, it would be a great mis- 
 fortune if the law were thoroughly known ; for then you would 
 have forgers, thieves and the evil-disposed in general cutting 
 their cloth accordingly and marauding with impunity. Why 
 have the courts in the matter of fraud and contempt, and the 
 houses of parliament in the matter of privilege, abstained from 
 laying down any hard and fast definitions ? Why, but because 
 in so doing they would be binding themselves hands and feet in 
 enabling wrongdoers to steer clear of punishment, so long as 
 they took care to keep beyond the reach of the inextensible and 
 visible fangs of the law. 
 
 " Semel emissum Tolat irrevocabile verbum.'' 
 
 Recall the truth and be wise. Persist not in chronicling your 
 own folly by the continuance of a correspondence, which each 
 post proves to be so futile. Acknowledge the grossness of your 
 errors and no one shall know (for I shall keep it secret) all the 
 nonsense you have been talking to 
 
 Your interested and much-concerned friend, 
 John Doe, Esq. Richard Roe. 
 
 P. S. — It has j ust occurred to me it might be a useful mental 
 tonic if you were to sit down and try your hand at drawing a 
 conveyance without technical terms or rules. The abortiveness 
 of the attempt will confirm you in the belief of the absurdity 
 of your past proposals. 
 
 N.B. — You know you need not send me an account of your 
 discomfiture. I shall understand that without the painful 
 admission. 
 
( 107 ) 
 
 Whiteacre, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 Dear Roe, 
 
 Did you ever give the tinker a leaky kettle or porous 
 saucepan to mend ? If such has been your happy lot, just be 
 good enough to recal the result of the manipulation. For every 
 old hole stopped up, I'll go bail you had two brand-new ones 
 knocked in; and fortunate was your penny-wise-pound-foolish 
 economy, if it did not prove a burning sore in a literal, as well 
 as metaphorical, sense. Now, Richard Roe, learn I am no 
 tinker and shall take no tinkering job from any man — be ht, 
 high or low — rich or poor. My business is to furnish articles 
 of the newest and most approved style ; and, if the customer 
 does not ".hoose to have them as they are, he is at liberty to 
 leave them. Therefore dream not that I shall meddle with 
 that rickety concern — the law as you would have it. Of my 
 merchandise — all or none ! — Aut Caesar aut nullus ! You shall 
 not inveigle me into dishonourable compromise, and if, in 
 answer to your compassionate exhortation, I show how simple 
 the transfer of land might be made, you are to bear in mind I 
 am exhibiting, of a larger parcel of wares, a specimen — not to 
 be sold apart from the general bulk. 
 
 Nothing can be more proper in striking a bargain for re- 
 placing an antiquated and worn-out piece of goods than to 
 estimate the value and necessity of the investment by the in- 
 efficiency and discomfort of the thing replaced. To this 
 normal let us reduce the necessity of substituting the present 
 system of conveyancing, and we shall have to admit that no 
 cost could be too much — no urgency so pressing. If you have 
 ever seen a ruinous and tumble-down building being taken to 
 bits, you must have observed the caution with which the work- 
 men proceeded, first, to examine the whole structure and, then, 
 slowly to pick out, jot by jot, stone, brick, and mortar. In 
 self-protection, I must adopt a similar course in overthrowing 
 the present system of land transfer; for, unless I make a pre- 
 liminary survey of the whole subject and go gradually to work, 
 I shall pull the entire edifice about my ears — such is its cohesive 
 rottenness. 
 
 There is one feature in our conveyancing which, by its 
 disfigurement and prominence, forces itself on our first notice. 
 I of course allude to the general necessity of employing a deed, 
 when any dealing with immoveables takes place inter vivos. 
 The ancient rule of the common law was, that all heredita- 
 ments — as corporeal or incorporeal — lay either in livery or in 
 
( 108 ) 
 
 grant, respectively; but, since the passing of the 8 & 9 Vict. 
 c. 106, a lease for any term not exceeding three years from the 
 making thereof, whereon two-thirds of the full improved value 
 shall be reserved as rent, is about the only interest in land, that 
 can be created or aliened without a specialty. Perhaps in the 
 retention of deeds in the nineteenth century, the buffoonery of 
 the law has gone the utmost length the tether of extravagance 
 will admit. To think that the ancient barons were unable to 
 write their own names is anything but pleasing : to read that they 
 gloried in their own illiterate barbarism is indeed humiliating; 
 but to say that we should canonize that barbarous ignorance, 
 by enlarging the sphere and operation of sealed instruments, is 
 almost too monstrous for rational belief! Do the descendants 
 of a burglar raise up a monument to their ancestor with the 
 sculptured effigy of crowbars and jemmies ? Or are a halter 
 and gallows assumed as coat of arms by the offspring of an 
 executed progenitor ? It is without precedent then — and prece- 
 dent I have been always told has much weight in the law — we 
 hand down, in the seal affixed to documents, the disgraceful 
 emblem and proof, that those who have gone before us were 
 incapable of subscribing in their own hands. 
 
 You remember how that form of theft mentioned in the 
 Twelve Tables — Furtum lance licioque conceptum — meets with 
 the deserved ridicule of the jurisconsult and became obsolete: — 
 " Quare lex tota ridicula est ; nam qui vestitum queerere prohibet, 
 is et nudum quasrere prohibiturus est, eo magis quod ita quesita 
 res inventa maiori poenas subjiciatur. Deinde quod lancem sive 
 ideo haberi jubeat, ut manibus occupantis nihil subjiciatur, sive 
 ideo, ut quod invenerit, ibi imponat, neutrum eorum procedit, 
 si id quod quasratur, ejus magnitudinis aut naturse sit, ut neque 
 subjici neque ibi imponi possit." (Gaii Insts. iii. 193.) Yet 
 there was assuredly in the time of the Decemvirs sensible 
 ground for this peculiar formality, not stupidity, pure and 
 simple, like that of our ancient landowners. And what renders 
 the use of sealed instruments still more nonsensical is, that 
 their general introduction as to the matter of land is due to 
 that very statute, which, in sweeping away the necessity of 
 actually indenting paper or parchment where there were several 
 parties to a transaction, appeared to be emancipating us from 
 the slavery of ancient forms. Thus in the formality of our 
 deeds a foul blot already bespatters the garb of our convey- 
 ancing ; but now let us rapidly inspect the entire system. 
 
 All conveyances are either — 
 
 I. Conveyances inter vivos, or — 
 II. Conveyances ex testamento. 
 
( 109 ) 
 
 I. Conveyances inter vivos fall under — 
 
 1. Conveyances at common law. 2. Conveyances under the 
 Statute of Uses. 3. Conveyances through the joint operation of 
 the common law and the Statute of Uses. 4. Conveyances 
 through the Court of Chancery. 5. Conveyances by judgment 
 and decree. 6. Conveyances under general acts of parliament. 
 7. Conveyances under special acts of parliament and royal 
 charters and letters patent. 8. Conveyance through Landed 
 Estates Court (Ireland). 9. Conveyance by means of regis- 
 tration. 
 
 1. Conveyances at common law are — 
 
 (A.) Ordinary assurances or assurances in pais. 
 (B.) Extraordinary assurances or assurances by matter 
 of record. 
 
 (A.) Ordinary assurances transfer (a) Freeholds and lease- 
 holds — (b) Copyholds. 
 
 Ordinary assurances for transfer of freeholds and leaseholds 
 were — 1° Feoffment with livery of seisin. 2° Exchange. 
 3° Partition. 4° Lease. 5° Release. 6° Surrender. 7° Con- 
 firmation. 8° Grant. 9° Assignment. 10° Disseisin, abate- 
 ment, intrusion, deforciament, usurpation, purpresture. 1 1° Dis- 
 continuance. 12° Disclaimer. 13° Defeasance. 
 
 Of these in order ; and first, Of feoffment With livery of seisin : 
 " For if a man purchase lands by these words, To have and to 
 hold to him for ever ; or by these words, To have and to hold 
 to him and his assignes for ever : in these two cases, he hath but 
 an estate for term of life, for that there lacke these words (his 
 heires), which words onely make an estate of inheritance in all 
 feoffments and grants." (Litt. Tens. L. 1, c. 1, s. 1.) 
 
 "In all feoffments and grants." 'Feoffment is derived of 
 the word of art feodum, quia est donatio feodi ; for the ancient 
 writers of the law called a feoffment donatio, of the verb do or 
 dedi, which is the aptest word of feoffment. And that word 
 Ephron used (Genesis xxiii.), when he enfeoffed Abraham, say- 
 ing, I give thee the field of Machpelah over against Mamre, 
 and the cave therein I give thee, and all the trees in the field 
 and the borders round about; all which were made sure unto 
 Abraham for a possession, in the presence of many witnesses. 
 
 ' By a feoffement the corporeate fee is conveyed, and it pro- 
 perly betokeneth a conveiance in fee, as our author himselfe 
 hereafter saith (s. 57), in his chapter of Tenant for Life. And 
 yet sometime improperly it is called a feoffment when an estate 
 of freehold onely doth passe : done est nosme generall plus que 
 
( no ) 
 
 n'est feoffment, car done est generall a touts choses moebles et 
 nient moebles, feoffment est riens forsque del soyle (Britton, 
 cap. 34)." (Co. Litt. 9 a.) 
 
 " And it is to be understood, that in a lease for yeares, by 
 deed or without deed, there needs no livery of seisin to be made 
 to the lessee, but he may enter when he will by force of the 
 same lease. But of feoffements made in the country, or gifts 
 in taile, or lease for terme of life ; in such cases where a free- 
 hold shall passe, if it be by deed or without deed, it behoveth 
 to have livery of seisin." (Litt. Tens. L. 1, c. 1, s. 59.) 
 
 " Livery of Seisin. Traditio, or deliberatio seisinse, is a 
 solemnitie, that the law requireth for the passing of a freehold 
 of lands or tenements by deliverie of seisin thereof. — Intervenire 
 debet solemnitas in mutatione liberi tenementi, ne contingat 
 donationem deficere pro defectu probationis. And there be two 
 kinds of livery of seisin, viz. a liverie in deed, and a livery in 
 law. A livery in deed is when the feoffor taketh the ring of 
 the doore, or turfe or twigge of the land, and delivereth the 
 same upon the land to the feoffee in name of seisin of the land, 
 &c. per hostium, et per haspam et annulum vel per fustem vel 
 baculum, &c. 
 
 " A. seised of an house in fee, and being in the house, saith to 
 B. I demise to you this house for terme of my life : this is a 
 good beginning to limit the state, but here wanteth livery. A 
 livery of deed may be done two manner of wayes. By a 
 solemne act and words ; as by delivery of the ring or haspe of 
 the doore, or by a branch or twigge of a tree, or by a turfe of 
 the land, and with these or the like words, the feoffor and feoffee 
 both ^holding the deed of feoffment, and the ring of the doore, 
 haspe, branch, twigge, or turfe ; and the feoffor saying, Here I 
 deliver you seisin and possession of this house, in the name of 
 all the lands and tenements contained in this deed, according to 
 the forme and effect of this deed ; or by words without any 
 eeremony or act; as, the feoffor being at the house doore, or 
 within the house, Here I deliver you seisin and possession of 
 this house, in the name of seisin and possession of all the lands 
 and tenements contained in this deed ; et sic de similibus : or, 
 Enter you into this house or land, and have and enjoy it accord- 
 ing to the deed ; or, Enter into the house or land, and God give 
 you joy : or, I am content you shall enjoy this land according 
 to the deed or the like. For if words may amount to a liverie 
 within the view, much more it shall upon the land. But if a 
 man deliver the deed of feoffment upon the land, this amounts 
 to no livery of the land, for it hath another operation to take 
 effect as a deed ; but if he deliver the deed upon the land in 
 
( in ) 
 
 name of seisin of all the lands contained in the deed, this is a 
 good livery ; and so are other books intended that treat hereof, 
 that the deed was delivered in name of seisin of that land. 
 Hereby, it appeareth, that the delivery of anything upon the 
 land in name of seisin of that land, though it be nothing con- 
 cerning the land, as a ring of gold, is good, and so hath it 
 beene resolved by all the judges and so of the like. 
 
 " A livery in law is, when the feoffor saith to the feoffee, being 
 in view of the house or land (I give you yonder land to you and 
 your heires, and goe enter into the same, and take possession 
 thereof accordingly), and the feoffee doth accordingly in the 
 life of the feoffor enter, this is a good feoffment, for signatio pro 
 traditione habetur. And herewith agreeth Br acton : Item dici 
 poterit et assignari quando res vendita vel donata sit in con- 
 spectu, quam venditor et donator dicit se tradere ; and in 
 another place he saith, in seisina per effectum et per aspectum. 
 But if either feoffor or the feoffee die before entry the livery 
 is voyd. And livery within the view is good where there is 
 ho deed of feoffment. And such a liverie is good albeit the land 
 he in another county." (Co. Litt. 48 a, b.) 
 
 " But if a man letteth lands or tenements by deed or without 
 deed for terme of yeares, the remainder over to another for life, 
 or in taile, or in fee ; in this case it behooveth, that the lessor 
 maketh livery of seisin to the lessee for yeares, otherwise 
 nothing passeth to them in the remainder, although that the 
 lessee enter into the tenements." (Litt. Tens. L. i. c. 7, s. 60.) 
 
 " Maketh livery of seisin. Note, there is a diversity 
 between livery of seisin of land, and the delivery of a deed ; 
 for if a man deliver a deed without saying of anything, it is a 
 good delivery, but to a livery of seisin of land words are neces- 
 sary When the kinsman of Elimelech gave unto Boas 
 
 the parcell of land that was Elimelech's, he tooke off his shoe, 
 and gave it unto Boas in the name of seisin of the land (after 
 the manner in Israel) in the presence and with the testimony 
 of many witnesses. Ruth, c. iv. v. 7, 8 ; Deut. c. xxv. v. 9, 10." 
 (Co. Litt. 49 b.) 
 
 Next of Exchange : — 
 
 " And in some case a man shall have by the grant of 
 another a fee simple, fee tail, or freehold without livery of 
 seisin. As if there be two men, and each of them is seised 
 of one quantitie of land in one countie, and the one granteth 
 his land to the other in exchange for the land which the other 
 hath, and in like maner the other granteth his land to the first 
 grantor in exchange for the land which the first grantor hath ; 
 in this case each may enter into the other's land, so put in ex- 
 
( 112 ) 
 
 change, without any livery of seisin ; and such exchange made by 
 paroll of tenements within the same county without^ writing is 
 good enough. And if the lands or tenements be in divers coun- 
 ties, viz., that which the one hath in one county, and that which 
 the other hath in another county, there it behoveth to have a 
 deed indented made betweene them of this exchange. And note, 
 that in exchanges it behooveth, that the estates which both 
 parties have in the lands so exchanged, be equall ; for if the 
 one willeth and grant that the other shall have his land in fee 
 taile for the land which he hath of the grant of the other in fee 
 simple, although that the other agree to this, yet this exchange 
 is voyde, because the estates be not equall. In the same manner 
 it is, where it is granted and agreed betweene them, that the 
 one shall have in the one land fee taile, and the other in the 
 other land but for terme of life ; or if the one shall have in 
 the one land fee taile generall, and the other in the other land 
 fee taile especiall, &c. So alwaies it behoveth that in exchange 
 the estates of both parties be equall, viz., if the one hath a fee 
 simple in the one land, that the other shall have like estate in 
 the other land ; and if the one hath fee taile in the one land, 
 the other ought to have the like estate in the other land, &c, 
 and so of other estates. But it is nothing to charge of the 
 equal value of the lands ; for albeit that the land of the one be 
 of a farre greater value than the land of the other, this is 
 nothing to the purpose, so as the estates made by the exchange 
 be equall. And so in an exchange there be two grants, for 
 each party granteth his land to the other in exchange, &c, and 
 in each of these grants mention shall be made of the exchange." 
 (Litt. L. 1, c. 7, ss. 62, 63, 64, 65.) 
 
 " In exchanges it behooveth, that the estates be equal," &c. 
 c Equality in lands is threefold, viz. : First, equality in value ; 
 secondly, equality in quantity of estate given and taken; thirdly, 
 equality in quantity or manner of the estate given and taken. 
 But, as Littleton after saith, equality in value of lands in 
 exchange is not requisite ; neither equality in the quality or 
 
 manner of the estate To shut up this point, there be 
 
 five things necessary to the perfection of an exchange. 1. That 
 the estates given be equall. 2. That this word (excambium, 
 exchange) be used, which is so individually requisite, as it 
 cannot be supplied by any other word, or described by any 
 circumlocution: and herewith agreeth Littleton afterwards in 
 this section. In the booke of Domesday I finde, Hanc terram 
 cambiavit Hugo Briccuino quod modd tenet comes Meriton, et 
 ipsum scambium valet duplum. Hugo de Belcamp pro escambio 
 de Warres. 3. That there be an execution by entry or claime 
 
( 113 ) 
 
 inthe life of the parties, as hath bin said. 4. That if it be of 
 things that lye in grant, it must be by deed. 5. If the lands be 
 inseverall counties, there ought to be a deed indented, or if the 
 thing lye in grant, albeit they be in one county." (Co. Litt. 
 51a, 51b.) 
 
 Next of Partition : — 
 ^ "And it is to be understood, that partition may be made in 
 divers maners. One is, when they agree to make partition, and 
 do make partition of the tenements; as if there be two parceners 
 to divide between them the tenements in two parts, each pait 
 by it selfe in severalty and of equall value ; and if there be 
 three parceners, to divide the tenements in three parts by it 
 selfe in severalty, &c. 
 
 "Another partition there is, viz. to choose, by agreement 
 betweene themselves, certaine of their friends, to make partition 
 of the lands or tenements aforesaid. And in these cases, after 
 such partition, the eldest daughter shall choose first one of the 
 parts so divided, which she will have for her part, and then the 
 second daughter next after her another part, and then the third 
 sister another part, then the fourth sister another part, &c. if so 
 be that there be more sisters, &c. unlesse it be otherwise agreed 
 between them. For it may be agreed between them, that one 
 shall have such tenements, and another such tenements, &c. 
 without any primer election. And the part which the eldest 
 sister hath, is called in Latine enitia pars. But if the parceners 
 agree that the eldest sister shall make partition of the tenements 
 in manner aforesaid, and if she do this, then it is said, that the 
 eldest sister shall choose last for her part, and after every one 
 of her sisters, &c. 
 
 "Another partition or allotment is, as if there be four parceners, 
 and after partition of the lands be made, every part of the land 
 by itself is written in a little scrowle and is covered all in waxe 
 in manner of a little ball, so as none may see the scrowle and 
 then the 4 balls of waxe are put in a hat to be kept in the 
 hands of an indifferent man, and then the eldest daughter shall 
 first put her hand into the hat, and take a ball of waxe with the 
 scrowle within the same ball for her part, and then the second 
 sister shall put her hand into the hat and take another, the 3 
 sister the 3 ball, and the 4 sister the 4 ball, &c. and in this case 
 every one of them ought to stand to their chance and allotment. 
 
 "Also, there is another partition. As if there be four parceners, 
 and they will not agree to a partition to be made between them, 
 then the one may have a writ of partitione facienda against the 
 other three, or two of them may have a writ of partitione facienda 
 against the other two, or three of them may have a writ of par- 
 
 I 
 
( 114 ) 
 
 titione facienda against the fourth, at their election. And when 
 judgement shall be given upon this writ, the judgment shall be 
 thus: that partition shall be made betweene the parties, and 
 that the sherife in his proper person shall go to the lands and 
 tenements, &c. and that he by the oath of 12 lawful men of his 
 bailiwick, &c. shall make partition between the parties, and 
 that one part of the lands and tenements shall be assigned to 
 the plaintif or to one of the plaintifs, and another part to another 
 parcener, &c. not making mention in the judgement of the eldest- 
 sister more than of the youngest. 
 
 "And of the partition which the sherife hath so made, he 
 shall give notice to the justices under his seale, and the seales 
 of every of the 12, &c. And so in this case you may see, that 
 the eldest sister shall not have the first election, but the sherife 
 shall assigne to her her part which she shall have, &c. And it 
 may be that the sherife will assigne first one part to the youngest, 
 &c. and last to the eldest, &c. 
 
 "And note, that partition by agreement between parceners 
 may be made by law betweene them, as well by parofl without 
 deed, as by deed." (Litt. L. 3, c. 1, ss. 243-250.) 
 
 " ' And it is to be understood ' . . . . (&c.) ' By this section, 
 and the (&c.) in the end of it, it is to be understood, that there 
 are two kinds of partitions betweene coparceners; the one in 
 deed or expresse, and the other in law or implicite. Of partitions' 
 in deed or expresse, some be voluntary, whereof Littleton 
 enumerates four manners ; and one compulsory, that is, by writ 
 of partition. 
 
 " ' The first partition in deed betweene coparceners, is that 
 which Littleton here speaketh of, viz. When they agree and 
 make partition of the tenements, &c, each part by itselfe in 
 severalty and of equall value, &c. If coparceners make partition, 
 at full age and unmarried, and of sane memorie, of lands in fee 
 simple, it is good and firme for ever, albeit the values be unequall; 
 but if it be of lands entailed, or if any of the parceners be of 
 non sane memorie, it shall binde the parties themselves, but not 
 their issues unlesse it be equall ; or if any be covert, it shall bind 
 the husband, but not the wife or her heires, or if any be within 
 age, it shall bind the infant ; as shall be said more fully here- 
 after. The second partition followeth in the next section. And 
 here the (&c.) implyeth further, that if there be four parceners,' 
 then four parts, if five, five parts, and so forth. It further im- •■, 
 plyeth, that all this must be in severalty; whereof, and with 
 what limitations, this is to be understood, it hath been declared^ 
 before. 
 
 " 'But there be other partitions in deed than here have beem 
 
( 115 ) 
 
 mentioned. For a partition made between two coparceners, 
 that the one shall have and occupy the land from Easter untill 
 the first of August only in severalty by himselfe, and that the 
 other shall have and occupie the land from the first of August 
 untill the feast of Easter yearely to them and their heires, this 
 is a good partition. Also if two coparceners have two mannors 
 by descent, and they make partition, that the one shall have the 
 one manor for one yeare, and the other the other manor for this 
 year, and so alternis vicibus to them and their heires, this is a , 
 good partition. The same law is, if the partition be made in 
 forme aforesaid, for two or more yeares, and each coparcener 
 have an 'estate of inheritance, and no chattell, albeit either of 
 them alternis vicibus have the occupation but for a certain terme 
 of yeares. 
 
 " ' Of partitions in law, some be by act in law without judge- 
 ment, and some be by judgement and not in a writ de partitione 
 facienda. And of these in order 
 
 " ' If two coparceners be, and each of them taketh husband 
 and have issue, the wives die, the coparcenary is divided, and 
 here is a partition in law. 
 
 " ' If two coparceners be, and one disseise the other, and the 
 disseisee bringeth an assise, and recover, it hath beene said, that 
 she shall have judgement to hold her moiety in severalty. And 
 this seemeth (say they) verie ancient, and thereupon vouch 
 Bracton, Si res fuerit communis, locum habere poterit communi 
 dividendo judicium. (Lib. 4, ib. 216 b.). And so (say they) 
 if the one coparcener recover against another in a nuper obiit, 
 or a rationabili parte, the judgement shall be, that the demandant 
 shall recover and hold in severalty. But Britton is to the con- 
 trary; for he saith, Et si ascun des parceners soit enget ou 
 disturbe de la seisin per ses auters parceners, un, ou plusors, al 
 disseisee viendra assise per several! pleint sur les parceners et 
 recovera, mes nemy a tener en severaltie, mes en common 
 solonque ceo que avant le fist, &c. And this seemeth reason- 
 able; for he must have this judgement according to his plaint, 
 and that was of a moitie, and not of anything in severaltie, 
 and the sherife cannot have any warrant to make any partition 
 in severalty or by metes and bounds.' " (Co. Litt. 165 b, 166 a, 
 187b.) 
 
 Next of Leases : — 
 
 " Tenant for terme of yeares is where a man letteth lands or 
 tenements to another for terme of certaine yeares, after the 
 number of yeares that is accorded between the lessor and the 
 lessee. And when the lessee entreth by force of the lease, then 
 is he tenant for tearme of yeares ; and if the lessor in such case 
 
 I 2 
 
( 116 ) 
 
 reserve to him a yearely rent upon such lease, he may chuse for 
 to distraine for the rent in the tenements letten, or' else he may 
 have an action of debt for the arrerages against the lessee. But 
 in such case it behooveth, that the lessor be seised in the same 
 tenements at the time of his lease ; for it is a good plee for the 
 lessee to say, that the lessor had nothing in the tenements at the 
 time of the lease, except the lease be made by deed indented, 
 in which case such plee lieth not for the lessee to plead." 
 (Litt. s. 58.) 
 
 " Where a man letteth (lou home lessa) lands, &c. ' Lessa 
 and lease is derived of the Saxon word leapum, or leasum, for 
 that the lessee commeth in by lawfull meanes ; and dimittere is 
 in French laysser, to depart with or forgoe.' 
 
 " A man letteth." ' Leases for lives or yeares are of three 
 natures.' Some be good in law ; some be voydable by entry, 
 and some void without entry. Of such as be good in law, some 
 be good at the common law as made by tenant in fee, whereof 
 Littleton here putteth his case : some by act of parliament ; as 
 tenant in taile, a bishop seised in fee in the right of his church 
 alone without his chapter, a man seised in fee simple or fee taile 
 in the right of his wife together with his wife (as hath beene 
 said) may by deed indented make leases for twenty-one yeares 
 or three lives in such manner and forme as hath been said and 
 by the statute is limited, all which were voydable by the common 
 law when Littleton wrote, and now are made good by parlia- 
 ment Some voide in prsesenti; as if one make a lease 
 
 for so many yeares as he shall live, this is voide in praesenti for 
 the uncertainty. Et sic in similibus, whereof Littleton himselfe 
 will teach you next and immediately, and I know you would 
 now gladly hear him. 
 
 " For terme." . . . . " "Words to make a lease be, demise, 
 grant, to fearme let, betake ; and whatsoever word amounteth 
 to a grant may serve to make a lease." (Co. Litt. 43 b, 45 b.) 
 
 . . . . " And the lessor is properly where a man letteth to 
 another lands or tenements for terme of life, or for terme of 
 years, or to hold at will, he which maketh the lease is called 
 lessor, and he to whom the lease is made is called lessee. And 
 every one which hath an estate in any lands or tenements for 
 term of his owne or another man's life is called tenant of free- 
 hold, and none other of a lesser estate can have a freehold." 
 (Litt. s. 57.) 
 
 " Freehold." " Here it appeareth that tenant in fee, tenant 
 in taile, and tenant for life are said to have a frank tenement, or 
 freehold, so called because it doth distinguish it from termes of 
 yeares, chattels upon uncertaine interests, lands in villenage, or 
 customary or copyhold lands." (Co. Litt. 43 b.) 
 
( 117 ) 
 
 ' Next of Releases : — 
 
 " Releases are in divers manners, viz. releases of all the right 
 which a man hath in lands or tenements, and releases of actions 
 personalis and realls, and other things. Releases of all the 
 right which men have in lands and tenements, &c. are com- 
 monly made in this forme or to this effect : Know all men by these 
 presents, that I, A. of B. have remised, released, and altogether 
 from me and my heires quiet claimed (me A. de JB. remisisse, 
 relaxasse, et omnino de me et hseredibus meis quietum clamasse): 
 or thus, for mee and my heires quiet claimed to C. of D. all the 
 right, title, and claim (totum jus, titulum, et clameum) which I 
 have, or by any meanes may have, of and in one messuage with 
 the appurtenances in F. &c. And it is to be understood, that 
 these words, remisisse, et quietum clamasse, are of the same 
 effect as these words, relaxasse." (Litt. ss. 444, 445.) 
 
 " And it is to be understood, that a release may enure four 
 manner of wayes. First, by way of mitter Testate " .... (as 
 if a joynt estate be made to the husband and wife, and to a 
 third person, and the third person release all his rights which 
 he hath to the husband, then hath the husband the moitie which 
 the third had, and the wife hath nothing of this. (L. 3, c. 4. 
 s. 305).) " Secondly, by way of mitter le droit." . . (. . As 
 if a man seised of certaine tenements is disseised by two dis- 
 seisors, if the disseisee by his deed release all his right, &c. to 
 one of the disseisors, then he to whom the release is made, 
 shall have and hold all the tenements to him alone, and shall 
 oust his companion of every occupation of this. (L. 3, c. 4, s. 
 306).) " Thirdly, by way of extinguishment." . . (. . As if a 
 man be disseised, and the disseisor makes a feoffment to two 
 men in fee, if the disseisee release by his deed to one of the 
 feoffees, this release shall enure to both the feoffees, for that the 
 feoffees have an estate by the law, scilicet, by feoffment, and 
 not by wrong done to any, &c. (L. 3, c. 4, s. 307).) "Fourthly, 
 by way of creation or inlargement of an estate." . . (. . For 
 if I let land to a man for terme of his life, and after I release 
 to him all my right without more saying in the release, his 
 estate is not enlarged. But if I release to him and to his 
 heires then he hath a fee simple ; and if I release to him and 
 to his heires of his bodie begotten, then hee hath a fee taile, &c. 
 And so it behoveth to specifie in the deed what estate hee to 
 whom the release is made shall have." (Litt. s. 465. Co. Litt. 
 193 b, 273 b.) ) 
 
 Next of Surrender : — 
 
 " Also, if a woman inheritrix taketh husband, and they have 
 issue a son, and the husband dieth, and she takes another 
 
( US ) 
 
 husband, and the second husband letteth the land which 'he 
 hath in right of his wife to another for terme of his life, and 
 after the wife dieth, and after the tenant for life surrendereth 
 his estate to the second husband, &c. quaere, if the sonne of 
 the wife may enter in this case upon the second husband during 
 the life of tenant for life, &c. But it is cleere law, that after 
 the death of the tenant for life, the son of the wife may enter ; 
 because the discontinuance, which was only for terme of life, 
 is determined, &c. by the death of the same tenant for life." 
 (Litt. s. 636.) 
 
 " Surrender, ' sursum redditio, properly is a yeelding up an 
 estate for life or yeares to him that hath an immediate estate in 
 reversion or remainder, wherein the estate for life or yeares may 
 drowne by mutual! agreement betweene them.' 
 
 " Note, there be three kinde of surrenders, viz. a surrender 
 properly taken at the common law, which is here before de- 
 scribed, and whereof Littleton speaketh. Secondly, a surrender 
 by custome of lands holden by copy, or of customary estates, 
 whereof you have read before, sect. 74, and a surrender im- 
 properly taken (as appears before, sect. 550), of a deed. And 
 so of a surrender of a patent, and of a rent newly created, and 
 of a fee simple to the king. 
 
 " A surrender properly taken is of two sorts, viz. a surrender 
 in deed, or by expresse words (whereof Littleton here putteth 
 an- example), and a surrender in law wrought by consequent by 
 operation of law 
 
 " Also there is a surrender without deed, whereof Littleton 
 putteth here an example of an estate for life of lands, which 
 may be surrendered without deed, and without livery of seisin ; 
 because it is but a yeelding, or a restoring of, the state againe 
 to him in the immediate reversion or remainder; which are 
 alwayes favoured in law. And there is also a surrender by 
 deed ; and that is of things that lie in grant, whereof a par- 
 ticular estate cannot commence without deed, and by consequent 
 the estate cannot be surrendered without deed." (Co. Litt. 
 337 b, 338 a.) 
 
 Next of Confirmation : — 
 
 " A deede of confirmation is commonly in this forme, or to 
 this effect : Know all men, &c, that I, A. of B. have ratified, 
 approved, and confirmed to C. of D. the estate and possession 
 which I have, of, and in one messuage, &c. with the appur- 
 tenances in F., &c. (Novernt universi, &c. me A. de B. ratifi- 
 casse, approbasse, et confirmasse C. de D. statum & posses- 
 sionem, quos habeo, de, & in uno messuagio, &c. cum perti- 
 nentibus in F., &c.)." (Litt. s. 515.) 
 
( 119 ) 
 
 " Here first our author shewes what a confirmation is :" 
 
 " Confirmation. ' Confirmatio commeth of the verbe con- 
 firmare, quod est firmum facere : and therefore it is said, that 
 confirmatio omnes supplet defectus, licet id quod actum est ab 
 initio, non valuit.' A confirmation is a conveyance of an estate 
 or right in esse, whereby a voidable estate is made sure and 
 unavoidable, or whereby a particular estate is encreased. 
 
 "A confirmation doth not strengthen a voide estate." (Co. 
 Litt. 295 b.) 
 
 "And in some case a deede of confirmation is good and 
 available, where in the same case a deede of release is not good 
 nor availeable " (Litt. s. 516.) 
 
 " ' Littleton, in this chapter, putteth eight diversities betweene 
 a confirmation and a release.' 296 a. [1. Confirmation by 
 reversioner of lease for years made by his freeholder for life — 
 good— release — void. Ss.516,517. 2. Confirmation by disseisee 
 of disseisor's termor for years — good — release — void. S. 518. 
 3. Confirmation by disseisee of disseisor's tenant for life void 
 as to remainder over in fee ; release — good as to both estates. 
 S. 521. 4. Confirmation to one of two joint disseisors avails 
 to both — release — avails to one only. 5. Confirmation by dis- 
 seisee of rent charge granted by devisee rehearsing the grant, 
 query, if land be discharged of rent or no; but release to 
 grantee clearly void. S. 527. 6. Confirmation of a seigniory, 
 rent charge, or common void ; release thereof good. Ss. 535,536, 
 537. 7. Confirmation to one's own tenant for years without more 
 words void; release to the same confers freehold. Ss. 545, 546. 
 8. Confirmation by minor on his majority of underlease made 
 by his termor to whom he let whilst an infant— good ; release — 
 void — but release available if lessee has assigned his whole estate. 
 S. 547.] 
 
 " And it is to be understood, that when it is said, that males 
 or females be of full age, this shall be intended of the age of 
 21 yeares; for if before such age any deed, or feoffment, grant, 
 
 . . . . be made by any of them, &c all serve for 
 
 nothing and may be avoided." (Litt. s. 259.) 
 
 " Also, in releases of all the right which a man hath in cer- 
 taine lands, &c. it behoveth him to whom the release is made 
 in any case, that he hath the freehold in the lands in deed, or 
 in law, at the time of the release made, &c." (Litt. s. 447.) 
 
 " Grant, concessio, is in the common law a conveyance of a 
 thing that lies in grant and not in livery, which cannot passe 
 without deed; as advowsons, services, rents, commons, rever- 
 sions, and such like." (Co. Litt. 172 a.) 
 
 " Of all the right." ' And it is to be observed, that by the 
 
( 120 ) 
 
 ancient maxime of the common law, a right of entrie, or a chose 
 in action, cannot be granted or transferred to a stranger, and 
 thereby is avoyded great oppression, injurie and injustice. Nul 
 charter, nul vende, ne nul done vault perpetualment si le donor 
 n'est seisie al temps de contracts de 2 droits, si del droit de pos- 
 session, et del droit del propertied " (Mirror, cap. 2.) (Co. 
 Litt. 266 a.) 
 
 Next of Assignment : — 
 
 " An assignment of land or real estate is properly a transfer, 
 or making over to another, of a person's whole interest therein, 
 whatever interest that may be ; but it is more particularly 
 applied to express the transfer of an estate for life or years. 
 And an assignment for life or years differs from a lease only in 
 this, that by a lease a man grants a lease less than his own, re- 
 serving to himself a reversion ; by an assignment he parts with 
 the whole property, and the assignee consequently stands in the 
 place of the assignor. Thus where a lease is assigned, the 
 assignee becomes liable, to the landlord or reversioner, for the 
 future performance of the covenants made by the lessee: and 
 he remains so until the assignee assigns over in his turn to 
 another person. And this liability attaches to him even without 
 entry. Yet he is not liable by force of the assignment, except 
 on such covenants as run with the land. . . . And on the other 
 hand, he is entitled, during the same period, to enforce against 
 the reversioner any covenants running with the land, which the 
 lease contains in favour of the lessee; and in case the rever- 
 sioner conveys his interest to another, then to enforce them also 
 for the future against the grantee of the reversion. It is to be 
 observed, however, that if the transfer of the term be for a single 
 day short of the residue of the term, no liability or claim on 
 the original covenants can arise between these parties. . . No 
 deed or other writing was necessary at common law, to the 
 validity of an assignment." (Stephen's Commentaries, vol. i.) 
 
 Next of Disseisin, Abatement, Intrusion, Deforciament, 
 Usurpation and Purpresture: — 
 
 " Also, if a man be disseised, who hath a sonne within age 
 and dieth, and the sonne being within age the disseisor dieth 
 seised, and the land descend to his heire, and a stranger abate, 
 and after the sonne of the disseisee, when he commeth to his full 
 age, releaseth all his right to the abator ; in this case the heire 
 of the disseisor shall not have an assise of mor-d'ancester against 
 the abator; but shall be barred, because the abator hath the 
 right of the sonne of the disseisee by his release, and the entry 
 of the sonne was congeable, for that he was within age at the 
 time of the discent," &c. (Litt. s. 475.) 
 
( 121 ) 
 
 ' " Abate." . . '. 'A disseisin is a wrongfull putting out of him 
 that is actually seised of a freehold. And abatement is when a 
 man died seised of an estate of an inheritance, and betweene the 
 death and the entry of the heire, an estranger doth interpose 
 himselfe, and abate.' 
 
 " Intrusion first properly is, when the ancestor died seised of 
 any estate of inheritance expectant upon an estate for life, and 
 then tenant for life dieth, and between the death and the entry 
 of the heire an estranger doth interpose himselfe and intrude. 
 
 " Secondly, he that entereth upon any of the King's demesnes, 
 and taketh the profits, is said to intrude upon the king's pos- 
 session. 
 
 " Thirdly, when the heire in ward entreth at his full age 
 without satisfaction for his mariage, the writ saith, quod intrusit. 
 
 " Deforciamentum comprehendeth not only these aforenamed, 
 but any man that holdeth land whereunto another man hath 
 right, be it by discent or purchase, is said to be a deforceor. 
 
 " Usurpation hath two significations in the common law : one, 
 when an estranger that no right hath presenteth to a church, 
 and his clerke is admitted and instituted, hee is said to bee an 
 usurper, and the wrongfull act that he hath done is called an 
 usurpation. 
 
 " Secondly, when any subject doth use, without lawfull 
 warrant, royal franchises, he is said to usurpe upon the king 
 those franchises. 
 
 " Purprestura, or pourprestura, a purpresture. Purprestura 
 est, &c. generaliter quoties aliquid fit ad nocumentum regii 
 tenementi, vel regias vise (vel aliquarum publicarum) vel 
 civitatis, &c. (Glanv. L. 9, c. 11.) And because it is properly 
 when there is a house builded, or an enclosure made of any part 
 of the king's demesnes, or of an highway, or a common street 
 or publike water, or such like publike things, it is derived of 
 the French word pourpris, which signifieth an enclosure, but 
 specially applied, as is aforesaid, by the common law." (Co. 
 Litt. 277 a, b.) 
 
 Next of Discontinuance: — 
 
 "Discontinuance is an ancient word in the law, and hath 
 divers significations, &c. But as to one intent it hath this sig- 
 nification, viz., where a man hath aliened to another certaine 
 lands or tenements and dieth, and another hath right to have 
 the same lands or tenements, but hee may not enter into them 
 because of such an alienation, &c." (Litt. s. 592.) 
 
 "Discontinuance''' .... 'A discontinuance of estates in 
 lands or tenements is properly (in legall understanding) an 
 alienation made or suffered by tenant in taile, or by any that is 
 
( 122 ) 
 
 seised in auter droit, whereby the issue in taile; or the heire or 
 successor, or those in reversion or remainder, are driven to their 
 action and cannot enter.' 
 
 " Significations. Here (as in many other places) it appear- 
 eth how necessary it is to know the signification of words. And 
 in this chapter it appeareth, that when Littleton wrote, the 
 estate in lands and tenements might have beene discontinued 
 five manner of wayes, viz., by feoffment, by fine, by release, with 
 warrantie, confirmation with warrantie, and by suffering of a 
 recovery in a praecipe quod reddat. And this was to the 
 prejudice of five kinds of persons, viz., of wives, of heires, of 
 successors, of those in reversion, and of those in remainder. 
 But for wives, and their heires, and for successors, the law is 
 altered by acts of parliament since Littleton wrote, as in this 
 chapter in their proper places shall appeare." ( Co. Litt. 325 a,b.) 
 
 Next of Disclaimer : — 
 
 "And it is said, that if such tenant (holding by homage 
 auncestrel) be impleaded by a praecipe quod reddat, &c. and 
 vouch to warrantie his lord, who commeth in by process, and 
 demands of the tenant what he hath to binde him to warranty, 
 and he sheweth, how he and his ancestors, whose heire he is, 
 have holden their land of the vouchee and of his ancestors time 
 out of minde of man ; and if the lord which is vouched, hath 
 not received homage of the tenant nor of any of his ancestors, 
 the lord (if he will) may disclaime in the seigniory, and so ouste 
 the tenant of his warranty." (Litt. s. 145.) 
 
 " The lord (if he will) may disclaime in the seigniory. 
 Disclaime, disclamare, is compounded of de and clamo, and 
 signifieth utterly to renounce the seigniorie. 
 
 " Note, there be divers kinds of disclaymer, that is to say, a 
 disclaimer in the tenancie ; a disclaymer in the bloud ; and a 
 disclaymer in the seigniorie ; whereof Littleton here putteth 
 his case." (Co. Litt. 102 a.) 
 
 Next of Defeazance : — 
 
 "And many other things there are of estates upon condition 
 in law, and in such cases he needed not to have shewed any 
 deed, rehearsing the condition, for that the law it selfe purporteth 
 the condition, &c. 
 
 "Ex paucis dictis intendere plurima possis." 
 
 " More shall be said of conditions in the next chapter, in the 
 chapter. of Releases, and in the chapter of Discontinuance." 
 (Litt. s. 384.) 
 
 " Littleton having spoken at large of conditions in deed and 
 in law, somewhat seemeth necessary to bee said of defeasances, 
 
( 123 ) 
 
 whereby the state or right of freehold and inheritance may be 
 defeated and avoyded. 
 
 . " \ Defeasance,' deifeisantia, is fetched from the French word 
 defaire, i. e. to defeat or undoe, infectum reddere quod factum 
 est. There is a diversitie between inheritances executed, and 
 inheritances executorie ; as lands executed by livery, &c. cannot 
 by indenture of defeasance be defeated afterwards. And so if a 
 disseisee release a disseisor, it cannot bee defeated by indentures 
 of defeasance made afterwards ; but at the time of the release 
 or feoffment, &c. the same may be defeated by indentures of 
 defeasance, for it is a maxime in law, Queb incontinenti hunt in 
 esse videntur. 
 
 " But rents, annuities, conditions, warranties, and such like, 
 
 that be inheritances executorie, may be defeated by defeasances 
 
 made, either at that time, or any time after : and so the law of 
 
 statutes, recognizances, obligations, and other things executorie. 
 
 " Ex paucis dictis intendere plurima possis." 
 
 " Verses at the first were invented for the helpe of memorie, 
 and it standeth well with the gravitie of our lawyer to cite them. 
 By this verse of our author, inferences and conclusions in like 
 cases are warrantable." (Co. Litt. 236 b, 237 a.) 
 
 Now of the foregoing modes of transfer which were not 
 required to be by deed, most were required by the Statute of 
 Frauds to be evidenced by writing — an exception to which was 
 the creation by lease of a term not exceeding three years from 
 the making thereof, whereon two-thirds of the full improved 
 annual value was reserved as rent, and now by sect. 3, 8 & 9 Vict. 
 c. 106, it is enacted — " That a feoffment, made after the first day 
 of October, 1845, other than a feoffment made under a custom 
 by an infant, shall be void at law, unless evidenced by deed ; 
 and that a partition, and an exchange, of any tenements or 
 hereditaments, not being copyhold, and a lease, required by 
 law to be in writing, of any tenements or hereditaments, and 
 an assignment of a chattel interest, not being copyhold, in any 
 tenements or hereditaments, and a surrender in writing of an 
 interest in any tenements or hereditaments, not being a copy- 
 hold interest, and not being an interest which might by law 
 have been created without writing, made after the said first day 
 of October, 1845, shall also be void at law, unless made by deed: 
 Provided always, that the said enactment so far as the same 
 relates to a release or a surrender shall not extend to Ireland." 
 
 Next of extraordinary Assurances which were by Fine or 
 Recovery : — 
 
 " Fines were so called, because they put an end, not only to 
 
( 124 ) 
 
 the suit then commenced, but also to all other suits and contro- 
 versies concerning the same matter. They are assurances of 
 equal antiquity with the first rudiments of the law itself ; are 
 spoken of by Glanvil and Bracton, in the reigns of Henry the 
 second and Henry the third, as things then well known and 
 long established ; and instances are produced of them even 
 prior to the Norman invasion. So that the statute 18 Edw. 1, 
 called modus levandi fines, did not give them original, but only 
 declared and regulated the manner in which they should be 
 levied or carried on. And that was as follows : — 
 
 " 1. The party to whom the land was to be conveyed, or 
 assured, commenced an action or suit at law against the 
 intended vendor (generally an action of covenant), by suing 
 out a writ denominated, from its initial words, a writ of praecipe 
 quod teneat conventionem ; the foundation of which was a sup- 
 posed agreement or covenant that the defendant should convey 
 the lands to the plaintiff: on the breach of which agreement 
 the action was brought. . . . Then followed, 2. The been tia 
 concordandi, or leave to agree the suit. For as soon as the 
 action was brought, the defendant, knowing himself to be in 
 the wrong, was supposed to make overtures of peace and 
 accommodation to the plaintiff, by whom they were accordingly 
 accepted ; but having, upon suing out the writ, given pledges 
 to prosecute his suit, which he endangered, if he now deserted 
 it without licence, he therefore applied to the court for leave to 
 make the matter up. This leave was "readily granted. . . . 
 3. Next came the concord, or agreement itself, after leave 
 obtained from the court ; and this was usually an acknowledg- 
 ment from the deforciants (or those who kept the other out of 
 possession) that the lands in question were the right of the 
 complainant. And from this acknowledgment or recognition 
 of right, the party levying the fine was called the cognizor, and 
 he to whom it was levied the cognizee. The acknowledgment 
 was to be made either openly in the Court of Common Pleas, 
 or else before one of the judges of that court, or before two or 
 more commissioners (in the county) empowered by a special 
 authority, called a writ of dedimus potestatem, and these judges 
 and commissioners were bound, by statute 18 Edw. 1, st. 4, to 
 take care that the cognizors were of full age, sound memory, 
 and out of prison. And if there were any feme covert among 
 the cognizors, she was privately examined, whether she did it 
 willingly and freely, or by compulsion of her husband. By these 
 acts, all the essential parts of a fine were completed ; and if the 
 cognizor died the next moment after the fine was acknowledged, 
 provided it were subsequent to the day on whivh the writ was 
 
C 125 ) 
 
 made returnable, still the fine was to be carried on in all its' 
 remaining parts. Of these the next was, 4. The note of the 
 fine, which was only an abstract of the writ of covenant, and of 
 the concord ; naming the parties, the parcels of land, and the 
 agreement : and this was to be enrolled of record in the proper 
 office, by direction of the statute 5 Hen. 4, c. 14. 5. The 
 fifth and last part was the foot of the fine, or conclusion of it: 
 which included the whole matter, and recited the parties, and 
 the day, year and place when, where and before whom it was 
 acknowledged or levied. Of this conclusion, there were in- 
 dentures made and engrossed at the chirographer's office, and 
 delivered to the cognizor and the cognizee ; usually beginning 
 thus : ' Hcec est Jinalis concordia, this is the final agreement,' 
 and then reciting the whole proceedings at length. And thus 
 the fine was completely levied at common law. 
 
 " To render the fine more universally public, and less liable to 
 be levied by fraud or covin, it was directed by 4 Hen. 7, c. 24 
 (in confirmation of a previous statute), that a fine, after 
 engrossing, should be openly and solemnly read and proclaimed 
 in court (during which all pleas should cease) sixteen times ; 
 viz., four times in the term in which it was made, and four 
 times in each of the three succeeding terms ; and these procla- 
 mations were indorsed on the back of the record. 
 
 " Fines thus levied were of four kinds : — 1. What in our law 
 French was called a fine sur cognizance de droit come ceo que 
 il ad de son don ; that is, a fine upon acknowledgment of the 
 right of the cognizee, as that which he hath of the cognizor. 
 . . . 2. A fine sur cognizance de droit tantum, or upon 
 acknowledgment of the right merely, not with the circumstance 
 of a preceding gift from the cognizor. ... 3. A fine sur 
 concessit was where the cognizor, in order to make an end of 
 disputes, though he acknowledged no precedent right, yet 
 granted to the cognizee an estate de novo, usually for life or 
 years, by way of supposed composition. . . . 4. A fine sur 
 don, grant et render was a double fine, comprehending the fine 
 sur cognizance de droit come ceo, &c, and the fine sur concessit, 
 and might be used to create particular limitations of estate, 
 whereas the fine sur cognizance de droit come ceo, &c. conveyed 
 nothing but an absolute estate. . . . 
 
 " We are next to consider the force and effects of a fine, and 
 these were principally as follows. 
 
 1. Like all other conveyances, it bound the parties thereto, 
 and also all ' privies,' that is, persons deriving title under 
 the parties ; and this whether levied with proclamations 
 or not. . 
 
( 126 ) 
 
 2. A fine with proclamations bound not only parties and 
 
 privies but even strangers (that is, persons not parties or 
 privies), if they failed to put in their claims within the 
 time allowed by law ; and if during all that period they 
 were subject to no legal disability sufficient to excuse 
 their acquiescence. . . . 
 
 3. A fine levied by tenant in tail with proclamations barred 
 
 the issue in tail. It had indeed been expressly provided 
 by the statute De donis, that a fine should have no such 
 effect ; but by 32 Hen. 8, c. 36, it was at length enacted, 
 that when levied with proclamations according to 4 
 Hen. 7, c. 24, by any person of full age, it should be a 
 sufficient bar and discharge for ever against the tenant 
 and his heirs, claiming only by force of the entail'. . . . 
 
 4. If a tenant in tail of a corporeal hereditament in possession 
 
 levied a fine 'sur cognizance come ceo, &c.,' with or 
 without proclamations, it was a discontinuance of the 
 entail ; the effect of which was, that the issue in tail, 
 and those in remainder, or reversion, lost that right of 
 entry, which, upon the death of the tenant in tail, would 
 otherwise have accrued to them respectively ; but those 
 in remainder or reversion had nevertheless a remedy in 
 a particular form of action called a formedon ; and so 
 had the issue in tail, unless the fine was levied with 
 proclamations 
 
 5. A fine ' sur cognizance come ceo, &c.,' levied by a tenant 
 
 for life in possession, worked a forfeiture, if for a greater 
 estate than the law entitled him to make ; and conse- 
 quently destroyed the contingent remainders (if any) 
 expectant on his life interest. The same result as 
 regards forfeiture also followed, where such fine was 
 levied by a tenant for a term of years. 
 " A recovery — or a common recovery as it was also called, to 
 distinguish it from a real adjudication in an action — differed 
 from a fine, in this general point of view, that it supposed a 
 suit not immediately compromised, but carried on through 
 every regular stage of proceeding. Its nature and progress 
 were as follows. 
 
 " Let us in the first place suppose Daniel Edwards to have 
 been tenant of the freehold, for example, tenant in tail in pos- 
 session ; and desirous to suffer a common recovery, in .order to 
 bar all entails, remainders and reversions, and to convey the 
 same in fee simple to Francis Golding. To effect this, Golding 
 was to bring an action against him for the lands; and he accord- 
 ingly sued out a writ called a praecipe quod reddat. In this 
 
C 127 ) 
 
 writ, the demandant Golding alleged that the defendant Edwards 
 (here called the tenant) had no legal title to the land, but that 
 he came into possession of it after one Hugh Hunt had turned 
 the demandant out of it. The subsequent proceedings were 
 made up into a record or recovery roll, in which the writ and 
 complaint of the demandant were first recited ; whereupon the 
 tenant appeared and called upon Jacob Morland, who was 
 supposed, at the original purchase, to have warranted the title 
 to the tenant. And thereupon he prayed that the said Jacob 
 Morland might be called in to defend the title which he so 
 warranted. This was called the voucher (vocatio, or calling of 
 Jacob Morland) to warranty, and Morland was called the vouchee. 
 Upon this, Jacob Morland, the vouchee, appeared, was impleaded, 
 and defended the title. Whereupon Golding, the demandant, 
 desired leave of the court to imparl, or confer with the vouchee 
 in private, which was usually allowed him as a matter of course. 
 •And soon afterwards the demandant Golding returned to 
 court, but Morland, the vouchee, disappeared or made default. 
 Whereupon judgment was given for the demandant Golding 
 (thenceforth called the recov'eror) to recover the land in ques- 
 tion against the tenant Edwards, who was then the recoveree, 
 and Edwards had judgment to recover of Jacob Morland land 
 of equal value, in recompense for the land so warranted by him 
 and lost by his default ; which was agreeable to the doctrine 
 we have before mentioned. This was called the recompense, 
 or recovery in value. But Jacob Morland having no lands of 
 his own, being usually the crier of the court (who from being 
 thus frequently vouched was called the common vouchee), it 
 was plain that Edwards had only a nominal recompense for the 
 land so recovered against him by Golding, which lands were 
 then absolutely vested in the said recoveror by judgment of law, 
 and seisin thereof was delivered to him by the sheriff of the 
 county. So that this collusive recovery operated merely in the 
 nature of a conveyance in fee simple from Edwards, the tenant 
 in tail, to Golding, the purchaser. 
 
 " The recovery above described was with a single voucher only, 
 but sometimes it was with double, treble or further voucher, as 
 the exigency of the case might require. And indeed, in modern 
 times, it was usual always to have a recovery with double 
 voucher at the least, by first conveying, where the person whose 
 estate tail was intended to be barred was immediate tenant in 
 tail, an estate of freehold to any indifferent person against whom 
 the prcecipe was brought (which was called making a tenant to 
 the pracipe); and then the tenant to the prcecipe vouched the 
 tenant in tail, who vouched over the common vouchee. For if 
 
( 1548 ) 
 
 a recovery was had immediately against a tenant in tail, it 
 barred only such estate in the premises of which he was then 
 actually seised ; whereas, if the recovery were had against 
 another person, and the tenant in tail were vouchee, it barred 
 every latent right and interest which he might have in the lands 
 recovered* But where there was already a tenant for life in 
 possession, with remainder over in tail, no other tenant to the 
 praecipe (of course) was required to be made, in order to effect 
 a voucher of the tenant in tail. If Edwards, therefore, were 
 tenant of the freehold in possession, and John Barker were 
 tenant in tail in remainder; here Edwards first vouched Barker, 
 and then Barker vouched Jacob Morland, the common vouchee, 
 who was always the last person vouched, and always made 
 default : whereby the demandant Golding recovered the land 
 against the tenant Edwards, and Edwards recovered a recom- 
 pense of equal value against Barker, the first vouchee, who 
 recovered the like against Morland, the common vouchee, 
 against whom such ideal recovery in value was always ultimately 
 
 awarded 
 
 " As to the force and effect of recoveries, supposing them to 
 be suffered in due form^ they operated, 
 
 " 1 . To pass to the recoveror an estate in fee simple absolute; 
 and thereby not only the estate tail itself, but all re- 
 mainders and reversions expectant thereon, and all exe- 
 cutory limitations and conditions whatever, to which it 
 
 had been subject 
 
 " 2. A recovery, like a fine, would bind a married woman 
 when she became a party to it with her husband's con- 
 currence, and, as in the case of a fine, she was privately 
 examined by the court in such cases, to ascertain that 
 she acted without compulsion. 
 " 3. And lastly, if a recovery was suffered by a tenant for life, 
 it would work a forfeiture of the particular estate, and 
 by consequence destroy all contingent remainders expec- 
 tant thereon. 
 "It was, however, expressly provided by 14 Eliz. c. 8, that a 
 recovery so suffered, without consent of the persons in reversion 
 or vested remainder, should as against such persons be utterly 
 void." (Stephen's Commentaries, vol. i. pp. 576 — 591 (6th ed.) ) 
 But now, by the 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 74, fines and recoveries 
 are abolished and all estates tail save those — 1, after possibility 
 of issue extinct ; 2, those restrained by 34 & 35 Hen. 8, c. 20, 
 or other statute, may be barred by deed inrolled in the High 
 Court of Chancery within six calendar months after the exe- 
 cution — such disentailing assurance creating a fee simple abso- 
 
( 129 ) 
 
 lute where the protector of the settlement gives his consent— a 
 base fee simple where that consent is withheld. 
 
 By the same statute married women are enabled to dispose 
 of lands of any tenure by deed in which husband concurs, 
 duly acknowledged after separate examination before one of the 
 judges at Westminster, one of the commissioners for taking 
 acknowledgments under the act, or before a county court 
 judge. 
 
 Next of Conveyance of Copyholds : — 
 
 " And such a tenant may not alien his land by deed, for then 
 the lord may enter as into a thing forfeited unto him. But if 
 he will alien his land to another, it behoveth him after the 
 custome to surrender the tenements in court, &c. into the 
 hands of the lord, to the use of him that shall have the estate, 
 in this forme, or to this effect. 
 
 "A. of B. commeth into this court, and surrendreth in the 
 same court a mease, &c. into the hands of the lord, to the use 
 of C. of D. and his heires, or the heires issuing of his body, 
 or for terme of life, &c. And upon that commeth the afore- 
 said C. of D. and taketh of the lord in the same court the 
 aforesaid mease, &c. To have and to 'hold to him and his 
 heires, or to him and to his heires issuing of his body, or to 
 him for terme of life, at the lord's will, after the custome of the 
 manor, to do and yeeld therefore the rents, services and cus- 
 tomes thereof before due and accustomed, &c. and giveth the 
 lord for a fine, &c. and maketh unto the lord his fealty," &c. 
 (Litt. s. 74.) 
 
 " ' In court.' This is the generall custome of the realme, 
 that every copiholder may surrender in court, and need not 
 alleage any custome therefore. . . . 
 
 " Bracton, lib. 4, fol. 209, speaking of these kind of customary 
 tenants, saith, Dare autem non possunt tenementa sua, nee ex 
 causa donationis ad alios transferre non magis quam villani 
 puri ; et unde si transferre debeant, restituant ea domino vel 
 ballivo, et ipsi ea tradant aliis in villenagium tenenda. 
 
 "'A. B. commeth into this court, and surrendreth, &c.' 
 Here Littleton putteth an example of a surrender in court, 
 and in this example three things are to be observed : — 
 
 First, that the surrender to the lord be generall without 
 expressing of any estate, for that he is but an instrument 
 to admit cesty a que use, for no more passeth to the lord, 
 but to serve the limitation of the use ; and Ce' que use, 
 when he is admitted, shall be in by him that made the 
 surrender, and not by the lord. 
 
 Secondly, if the limitation of the use be generall, then Ce' 
 
 k 
 
( 130 ) 
 
 que use taketh but an estate for life, and therefore here 
 Littleton expresseth upon the declaration of the use, the 
 limitation of the estate, viz. in fee simple, fee taile, &c. 
 
 Thirdly, the lord cannot grant a larger estate than is 
 expressed in the limitation of the use." (Co. Litt. 59 b.) 
 
 An estate tail in copyholds was formerly barrable by sur- 
 render, customary recovery, — or otherwise according to the 
 custom of the manor. But now by the Fines and Recoveries 
 Act all legal entails are barrable by surrender and so are 
 equitable entails, which, however, may also be barred by deed 
 entered on the court rolls and not inrolled in chancery. 
 
 Next of Conveyance under the Statute of Uses : — 
 
 By sect. 1, 27 Hen. 8, c. 10, it is enacted: — " That where any 
 person or persons stand or be seized, or at any time hereafter 
 shall happen to be seized, of and in any honours . . . lands, tene- 
 ments, remainders or other hereditaments to the use, confidence, 
 or trust of any other person or persons, or of any body politick, 
 by reason of any bargain, sale, feoffinent, fine, recovery, cove- 
 nant, contract, agreement, will, or otherwise, by any manner 
 means whatsoever it be ; that in every such case all and every 
 such person and persons, and bodies politick that have any 
 such use, confidence, or trust in fee-simple ... or for years 
 or otherwise, or any use, confidence, or trust in remainder or 
 reverter shall from thenceforth stand and be seized, deemed 
 and adjudged in lawful seisin, estate and possession of and in 
 the same honours . . . and hereditaments, with their appurte- 
 nances ... of and in such like estates as they had or shall 
 have in use, trust or confidence of or in the same " . . . . the 
 effect of which is to give the seisin to the person in whose 
 favour the first use is declared or implied (e. g. bargain and sale) 
 in all cases, except where the uses are — 1. Of copyholds. 
 2. Of leaseholds. 3. Active, in other words, — uses for the 
 execution of which the person in whom the common law seisin 
 is vested has some office to perform, e. g. to pay over rents. 
 I shall not trouble you with commenting on the mode by which 
 through these exceptions and that of the construction, that no 
 use upon a use was executed by the statute, equitable estates 
 under the name of trusts were again revived. Nor is it 
 requisite to mention how by this enactment modifications of 
 estates previously unknown were introduced in springing and' 
 shifting uses, except to observe that the common law so far 
 controls these dispositions as — 1° That fractions of estates 
 cannot be created thereunder — as limitation to A. and his 
 heirs to the use of B. every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednes- 
 day, and to the use of C. every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 
 
( 131 ) 
 
 and Sunday. 2° That, where the seisin to serve and the uses 
 declared are co-extensive and in the same person, that person 
 does not take under the statute but is in by the common law. 
 3° That in such last-mentioned case no modification of estates 
 prohibited by the common law is in general allowable, though, 
 in the particular case of a power of appointment, given to the 
 person in whom the feeding seisin is vested, with a limitation 
 of the uses in fee, until and in default of appointment, to such 
 person, there is a departure from principle — it being now held 
 that the uses until appointment are executed in the donee sub 
 modo, so as to let in the power if duly exercised. Sir Edward 
 Cleere's case, upon which this doctrine is based, is rather irrele- 
 vant, inasmuch as there the feoffee to uses and cestuy que use 
 were different persons. 
 
 The statute operates either by — I. Transmutation of posses- 
 sion — where the seisin to serve uses is divested from the original 
 owner — as where A. limits an estate to B. and his heirs — to the 
 use of C. and his heirs — or, without declaring for whose benefit, 
 the use results to himself. II. Without transmutation of pos- 
 session—where the seisin to serve uses remains in the original 
 owner, which is only possible where thereis (a) good considera- 
 tion — i. e. of blood — as in. a covenant to stand seised — (b) valu- 
 able consideration — i. e. money or money's worth — as in a 
 bargain and sale. Thus in the foregoing cases the statute vests 
 the seisin in C, in the original owner (A.), in the covenantee, 
 and in the bargainee respectively. It is worthy of notice that 
 the fee passes to the bargainee on a bargain and sale, if no 
 estate be limited — though in a covenant to stand seised, as in 
 a conveyance operating by transmutation of possession, no 
 greater interest passes to the covenantee or grantee than is 
 expressly limited — the residue of the use resulting to the cove- 
 nantor or grantor. 
 
 I might here introduce the ordinary method of conveyance at 
 the present day — a deed of grant — which is framed by the joint 
 aid of the common law and the Statute of Uses, but it will be 
 more convenient to give you a coup d'ceil of the remaining 
 methods of transfer, reserving that to the last. I proceed there- 
 fore to conveyance throuyh the Court of Chancery. 
 
 As to form, the mode of transfer is that in ordinary use, but 
 there are several doctrines and practices in equity, which justify 
 a separate consideration of this subject. First, as to specific 
 performance and conversion. From the moment there is an 
 agreement for a sale of lands, the subject of sale and price pass ; 
 in other words the parties instantly become reciprocal trustees — 
 the vendor, of the hereditament — the vendee, of the purchase- 
 
 k2 
 
( 132 ) 
 
 money, so that, strictly speaking, once the bargain is struck, 
 the transaction ceases to be a contract — the equitable property 
 in the thing sold and in the price being so absolutely conveyed 
 that the commodum and damnum of merx and pretium now 
 absolutely attach to vendee and vendor respectively, subject, 
 however, to the latter's lien for the purchase-money. Thus, 
 if the subject of sale — as a contingent or reversionary interest — 
 should happen to be destroyed before the completion of the 
 legal transfer, the purchase-money will nevertheless be due; 
 and, on the other hand, if the property should rise enormously 
 in value —as by the building of an Alexandra Palace or other 
 speculation — still the vendor must execute a legal transfer on 
 payment of the sum originally agreed upon. So the vendor 
 must account for all the rents and profits and the vendee for 
 the interest of the purchase-money. Equity again does not in 
 general consider time to be of the essence of the contract ; and 
 thus a pa,rty may obtain a specific performance in the Court of 
 Chancery, when by his own laches he would be debarred from 
 recovering damages for breach of agreement in a court of law. 
 
 As to sales by auction — if the conditions state the sale to be 
 unreserved the employment of a puffer vitiates the transaction ; 
 but until a recent act of parliament the employment of a puffer 
 was allowable where nothing was said about the sale being un- 
 reserved. Another peculiarity as to sales by auction was what 
 is called " Opening the biddings" — i. e. if before a certain stage 
 of the proceedings was reached an advance (generally of ten 
 per cent, of the purchase-money) was offered by a new bidder, 
 the property would be again put up to auction ; but this rule 
 is now abolished (30 & 31 Vict. c. 48). 
 
 Next as to conveyance by judgment or decree with execution 
 — this calls for no comment. (I told you in one of my first 
 letters that ejectment — as constituted under the Common Law 
 Procedure Act, 1852 — supersedes all real actions except, 1. 
 Dower unde nihil habet ; 2. Writ of right of dower ; 3. Quare 
 impedit.) Of Conveyances under general Acts of Parliament — 
 the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act — the Leases and Sales of 
 Settled Estates Act and the Bankruptcy Act — furnish instances. 
 Conveyances by special Act of Parliament and by royal charter 
 and letters patent — of these it is sufficient to observe that the 
 former. are " privilegia," as the settlement of Blenheim House 
 on the Marlboroughs in the reign of Anne,* and are now of 
 very rare occurrence, the latter — as to the crown lands — are 
 now restrained by several acts of parliament, but the sovereign 
 
 * 5 & 6 Anne, c. 3. 
 
( 133 ) 
 
 is not prevented from disposing of lands purchased from the 
 royal income.* 
 
 Next as to conveyances through the Landed Estates Court, 
 Ireland : — 
 
 " All proceedings are commenced by petition, of which there 
 are the following classes : — 
 
 I. For sale of incumbered estates. 
 II. For sale of unincumbered estates. 
 
 III. For sale of settled estates. 
 
 IV. For partition and sale. 
 
 V. For partition by consent of all the parties entitled 
 to the undivided shares. 
 VI. For exchange. 
 
 VII. For statutable conveyance or specific performance. 
 VIII. For declaration of title. 
 IX. To sanction building leases. 
 X. For appointment of new trustees. 
 
 XI. For apportionment of landlord's rent." (Landed Es- 
 tates Court Act, by Dodson Madden, Esq., Bar- 
 rister-at-Law.) 
 The petition sets forth ; that the petitioner is owner or 
 incumbrancer of the lands described in the annexed schedules : 
 that the premises are not subject to any leases, tenancies, rents, 
 easements, or incumbrances, except those mentioned in the 
 schedule : that no person interested in the said hereditaments 
 is an infant, idiot, lunatic, or married woman, save and except — 
 naming the various parties, if any : that there is not any suit 
 or matter depending in any court of equity in relation to the 
 premises or any part thereof, or in relation to the receipt 
 of the rents and profits thereof — and concludes with the 
 prayer that the premises or such part as the court shall direct 
 may be sold, statutably conveyed, partitioned, exchanged, &c, 
 according to the nature of the petition, and that the petitioner 
 may have such further relief as to the court shall seem meet. 
 
 Then follow the schedules and the petition is verified by 
 affidavit of the petitioner. 
 
 The petition is deposited with the clerk of the records, who 
 transmits the "court copy" to the examiner of the judge. 
 There are then three principal steps. 1 . The conditional order 
 for sale, declaration of title, &e. 2. The absolute order. 
 3. The conveyance. Before the conditional order there must 
 be a full abstract of title lodged, and due publication by ad- 
 vertisement of the application. On the conditional order being 
 made and no person appearing to show catise or being unsuc- 
 
 * 25 & 26 Vict. c. 37. 
 
( 134 ) 
 
 cessful in showing cause against it, the party having carriage 
 of the proceedings attends at the registrar's office to prove the 
 services of the conditional order and that no cause has been 
 shown or that the cause has been disallowed, and thereupon 
 the registrar makes out the absolute order and transmits to the 
 judge's examiner a certificate that such order has been made 
 absolute and issued from his office. The order being thus ■ 
 made absolute, the petition, supposing it be for a sale, is regis- 
 tered now, if not previously, as a lis. pendens. Deeds, muni- 
 ments of title, and papers relating to the title of the land are 
 brought in and lodged on oath with the keeper of the deeds, or 
 produced to the examiner. The examiner settles the general 
 notice to claimants from a draft furnished by the solicitor 
 having carriage of the proceedings — such notice being pub- 
 lished in at least one Dublin and one local newspaper, and in 
 such other newspapers as may be directed. There is another 
 notice served on tenants and occupiers on the lands, and on the 
 principal occupiers of the adjoining lands. The solicitor having 
 carriage prepares and lodges with the examiner a draft rental 
 of the lands, which the judge approves of, having disposed of 
 all the disputed questions relating thereto. The examiner 
 settles the conditions of sale and division into lots, and the sale 
 may be by private contract or by public auction. The pur- 
 chaser is declared by the judge, and a draft of the conveyance 
 is prepared according to directions issued by the court and sent 
 to the solicitor having carriage. The draft is returned by the 
 solicitor with his objections or comments annexed and lodged 
 together with a certificate showing payment of the purchase- 
 money, or of credit, in the examiner's office. The examiner or 
 chief clerk settles the draft, of which, being approved by the 
 judge, the purchaser obtains an attested copy from which he 
 prepares the engrossment. The engrossment after comparison 
 by the examiner is transmitted to the registrar, who causes a 
 perfect copy thereof to be retained in his office, and, having 
 had the engrossment executed by the several parties and sealed, 
 causes it to be presented with the vouchers to the judge for 
 execution". 
 
 Here is the precedent of a conveyance in fee simple : — 
 " I, A. B., one of the judges of the Landed Estates Court, 
 Ireland, under the authority of an act passed in the twenty- 
 second year of the reign of Queen Victoria, intituled ' An Act 
 to facilitate the Sale and Transfer of Land in Ireland,' in con- 
 sideration of the sum of 1,000/., by William Hoskins, of New- 
 port, in the county of Mayo, banker, paid into the bank of 
 Ireland, to the account of the said court, and to the credit of 
 
( 135 ) 
 
 the estate of Anthony Foster, owner, ex parte John Stubbs, 
 petitioner, do grant unto the said William Hoskins the town 
 and lands of Kilbeggan, in the barony of Ardee, and county 
 of Louth, containing 209 acres statute measure, or thereabouts, 
 and described in the annexed map, with the appurtenances, 
 To hold the same unto the said William Hoskins, his heirs and 
 assigns for ever, subject to the leases and tenancies referred to 
 in the schedule hereunto annexed. In witness whereof I, the 
 said A. B., have hereunto set my hand and the seal of the said 
 court this day of , in the year of our Lord ." 
 
 (Madden's Landed Estates Court Act, 1854.) 
 
 The draft of a declaration of title is prepared in the same 
 manner and lodged with the examiner. When settled by that 
 functionary and approved of by the judge, an order for declara- 
 tion of title may be made, which is to be published in at least 
 two Dublin and two local, and in such other, newspapers as 
 the judge may direct, and one month must elapse between the 
 latest of such publications and the signature of the declaration 
 (which is previously engrossed) by the judge. 
 
 The effect of the conveyance, and, when registered in the 
 registry of deeds, of a declaration of title, is to confer an inde- 
 feasible title. Unless the purchaser puts in a special requi- 
 sition to the contrary his title is recorded under the Record of 
 Title Act, 1865. A declaration of title may also be recorded, 
 but if so, the registration in the registry of deeds must be re- 
 moved. 
 
 Only 2,000,000/. of property has so far been recorded under 
 the Act of 1 865 — a fact attributed to the registration being 
 voluntary and open only to indefeasible titles found through 
 the Landed Estates Court. 
 
 The Landed Estates Court superseded in 1858 the Incum- 
 bered Estates Court created in 1849 for the sale of incumbered 
 estates alone. This latter court sold property to the value of 
 20,000,000/. or an extent of land equal to about one-seventh 
 the area of Ireland, and so beneficial was its working and so 
 coveted the parliamentary title that fictitious incumbrances 
 were resorted to in order to obtain that benefit. It was fore- 
 seen that fictitious sales would be resorted to with the view of 
 obtaining through the court an absolute title (Hans. 150, 
 p. 24) — hence the general power of selling unincumbered as 
 well as incumbered estates, and of giving a declaration of title 
 introduced into the Landed Estates Court Act. The joint 
 amount of property sold between the two courts reaches 
 50,000,000/., or land equal to about one-third the area of 
 Ireland. 
 
 I have been thus minute in dealing with conveyance through 
 
( 136 ) 
 
 the Landed Estates Court because that tribunal has been 
 signally successful, and because, whenever a proposal is made 
 in England to simplify the transfer of real property, the court 
 in Ireland is referred to as a model for legislation upon this 
 subject. The truth of this remark may be verified by a glance 
 at Hansard, vol. 152, and in last year's parliamentary debates 
 on the Land Transfer Bill. 
 
 I now proceed to conveyance by means of registration. In 
 order to make this subject more clear I shall transcribe some 
 passages from the report of the Royal Commissioners on Regis- 
 tration of Title, 1857. 
 
 " Various systems and methods of registration are found 
 actually existing in practice, for the protection of the title to 
 landed and other property. The peculiarities and incidents 
 of these different systems we think it necessary to bear in mind 
 in the investigation of the subject before us. 
 
 " The various kinds of registry, or modes of registration, to 
 which we refer, differ materially in their objects and their 
 extent, and may be distinguished as follows :- — 
 
 1. A register of incumbrances and securities for debt ; as, 
 
 the registers of judgments,* grants of annuities, f war- 
 rants of attorney,! crown debts and recognizances, § 
 and cases of lis pendens. || 
 
 2. A register or enrolment of particular classes of deeds, or 
 
 deeds having particular objects; as, the inrolment of 
 deeds of bargain and sale, IT disentailing assurances, 
 or deeds executed for barring estates tail,** and bills 
 of sale of personal chattels capable of delivery, ft 
 
 3. A register of memorials, or brief abstracts of deeds and 
 
 instruments; as, the registers of memorials of deeds 
 and wills affecting lands in Ireland, J| and in the 
 counties of Middlesex, § § and York.|||| 
 
 • Established in 1692 by the 4 & 5 Will. & Mary, v. 20, and since varied 
 and extended by the 1 & 2 Vict. c. 110, and 2 & 3 Vict. c. 11, and 18 & 19 Vict. 
 c. 15. 
 
 t Established in 1777 by the 17 Geo. 3, c. 26, and varlod and improved by the 
 53 Geo. 3, c. 141; subsequently repealed by the act abolishing the laws relating 
 to usury, 17 & 18 Vict. c. 90, but restored in an amended form by the 18 & 19 
 Vict. c. 15, s. 12. 
 
 t Established in 1822 by the 3 Geo. 4, c. 39, extended by 6 & 7 Vict. c. 66. 
 
 § Established in 1839 by the 2 & 3 Vict. c. 11, ss. 8, 9. 
 
 || Established in 1839 by the 2 & 3 Vict. c. 11, s. 7. 
 
 f Established in 1535 by the statute 27 Hen. 8, c. 16. 
 
 ** Established in 1833 by the 3 & 4 Will. 4, c. 74, s. 41. 
 
 ft Established in 1854 by the 17 & 18 Vict. c. 36. 
 
 II Established in 1707 by the Irish Statute, 6 Anne, c. 2. 
 
 §§ Established as to the several Ridings in the years 1703, 1707, and 1735 by 
 the statutes 2 & 3 Anne, c. 4, 6 Anne, c. 35, and 8 Geo. 2, c. 6. 
 
 Illl Established in the year 1708 by the statute 7 Anne, c. 20. 
 
( 137 ) 
 
 4. An inrolment of the deeds themselves, or full copies 
 
 of them, and extending to all deeds ; as, the inrolment 
 of deeds affecting lands in the Bedford Level. * 
 
 5. A register of the title or actual ownership, independently 
 
 and irrespectively of the past transactions or deeds by 
 
 which it has been acquired. Such is the register in the 
 
 books of the Bank of England of the public stocks and 
 
 funds." 
 
 Under class 5 falls the Record of Title Act (Ireland) 1865 ; 
 
 and a sixth class must be added for Lord Westbury's Act, 
 
 24 & 25 Vict. c. 53, which is at once a register both of title 
 
 and of assurances. 
 
 " If the 4th of the above-mentioned systems were made to 
 extend to the whole country, it would be what is termed a 
 general register of assurances, and would supersede the 2nd 
 and 3rd. 
 
 " If the 5th of these systems were extended to land, or if a 
 register upon similar principles were applied to the ownership 
 of land, it would exclude, or at all events might be made to 
 render superfluous, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th systems, and (with 
 the addition of suitable provisions) the 1st also." (pp. 4, 5.) 
 
 The commissioners then point out that security of title and 
 of transactions by means of notoriety and the perpetuation of 
 evidence has been the specific object upon which the policy of 
 registration is founded; that owing to the numerous evils 
 attaching to the present state of the law, the sale and transfer 
 of land are impeded and dealings in it discouraged, and that 
 the objects aimed at in the reform of this branch of the law 
 should be: — 1. Security of title. 2. Simplification of title. 
 3. A record of the actual ownership. 4. Simplification of the 
 forms of conveyance and general facility of transfer. 
 
 From the paragraph already cited, it appears there are a great 
 many kinds of registration; but we have only to deal with 
 classes 3, 5 and 6, vi'z. : registration of assurances — of titles— 
 of both titles and assurances. It cannot be too well borne in 
 mind that — " a register of titles has nothing on earth in com- 
 mon with a register of deeds" (Sp. of Sir Hugh Cairns, 1859, 
 Hans. 152), and that by a registration of assurances, security, 
 but not facility or cheapness of transfer, may be obtained. The 
 security purchased by a registry of deeds is now generally con- 
 sidered to be bought at too dear a price. Here are some of the 
 objections to such a system : — 
 
 First Objection. — " The vast bulk and increasing quantity of 
 deeds and instruments which would have to be kept, and, on 
 
 * Established in 1663 by the Act for draining the Bedford Level, 15 Car. 2, 
 c. 17, s. 8. 
 
( 138 ; 
 
 transfers, to be searched and examined. It is calculated by- 
 solicitors that these instruments would accumulate at the rate 
 of 300,000 annually, requiring a registry of about 1,000 a day 
 for every working day. The inconvenience of this as well as 
 the cost would be so great, and it struck so forcibly the com- 
 missioners who reported in 1850, that they endeavoured to get 
 rid of the objection by allowing protection in a variety of 
 instances to unregistered assurances." 
 
 Second Objection. — " In the second place, the registration of 
 assurances would involve a specific addition to the existing 
 burdens on the transfer of land, without diminishing, as we 
 think, except remotely and casually, any of the existing causes 
 of expense, tardiness and difficulty in such transfer." 
 
 Third Objection. — " Increased complication. If any of the 
 instruments affecting the title are withheld from the register, 
 then the system becomes imperfect. If memorials only are 
 registered, the original instruments, of which the memorials 
 are given, must be searched for and copied or abstracted ; and 
 if the instruments are once registered they must remain on the 
 register." 
 
 Fourth Objection. — " The fear of unnecessary and uncalled- 
 for disclosures. The only legitimate object of making public 
 or giving notoriety to any title-deeds is to prevent frauds in the 
 transfer of property by ensuring notice to future contractors of 
 all transactions which are to affect them. For that purpose, 
 however, there can be no need of disclosing the whole internal 
 history of the title for an indefinite period." 
 
 Fifth Objection. — "The enhanced difficulty of obtaining 
 loans by a deposit of deeds. The transactions of this kind are 
 very numerous. At present a respectable man in possession of 
 title-deeds may and does obtain relief in sudden emergencies 
 confidentially, easily, and at a few hours' notice. But if a 
 registry of assurances were the only means of establishing title, 
 and if this title could no longer be evidenced, even prima facie, 
 by the possession of deeds, transactions by deposit of deeds 
 would be seriously impeded." 
 
 Sixth Objection. — " Possessory titles would be rendered less 
 secure. These titles, namely, which depend more upon the 
 fact of quiet and long-continued enjoyment than the technical 
 sufficiency and accuracy of the various deeds which may have 
 contributed to form the stages and steps of the title. The 
 evidence of defects and slips in limitations and conveyances 
 would by the register _ be perpetuated; and that possession, 
 which might have continued undisturbed if the possessor had 
 been allowed to keep his deeds in his box, would be made to 
 invite criticism and attack by presenting a public record of some 
 
( 139 ) 
 
 frailty by which, or notwithstanding which, historically, the 
 possession might have been acquired." 
 
 Seventh Objection. — " We are not satisfied that any mode of 
 , classification of deeds or of titles, for the purpose of furnishing 
 the requisite indexes to a register of deeds, and affording the 
 necessary facilities for search, has been or can he devised so as 
 to be sufficiently free from complication. Without the means 
 of ready, accurate, and complete searches, a system of register- 
 ing deeds would only be a snare to purchasers." (Rep. Eoy. 
 Corns, pp. 10—14.) 
 
 The enumeration of the foregoing objections is sufficient to 
 discourage any proposal for a registration of assurances. Next, 
 therefore, of registry of title — understanding thereby a record 
 of the actual owners of property, apart from any entry of the 
 muniments of title, by which their rights to that property were 
 conferred or ascertained. The following are some of the plans 
 put forward to accomplish this object: — 
 
 First Plan.- — The first of these plans (Mr. Scully's) pro- 
 poses the establishment of a land tribunal, to which owners of 
 land (including tenants for life and in tail, as well as in fee) 
 may apply to have the land placed upon a public register, and 
 declared to be registered land. The tribunal is to inquire into 
 the nature of the applicant's title to the land and its existing 
 circumstances, so as to decide upon the expediency of simply 
 admitting it upon the register. When the land has thus 
 become registered no subsequent act is to create any new estate 
 less than a fee simple, except registered leases or easements ; 
 nor any new incumbrance, except registered debentures to a 
 limited amount. 
 
 The plan also proposes that the owner of such registered 
 land may further apply for a full investigation of title, and for 
 an order declaring, in a conclusive form, all existing estates 
 and incumbrances ; and that, after the making of such order, 
 the tribunal may give to each person, so found to be interested, 
 a certificate of his title. It is also suggested, that, in order to 
 obviate all chance of any injustice to third parties, the state 
 may guarantee the title, upon payment of such small fees or 
 premiums of insurance as will provide an indemnity fund to 
 compensate persons whose prior rights might be superseded ; 
 but this guarantee is not an essential portion of the plan. 
 
 The privileges considered to be incident to this plan are: — 
 
 1. A parliamentary or indefeasible title, when conclusively 
 
 declared by the tribunal ; 
 
 2. A power to transfer by simple entry the registered land ; 
 
 3. A further power to obtain on its credit terminable land 
 
( 140 ) 
 
 debentures, transferable either by simple entry iue 
 
 government stock, or by simple delivery like bank notes 
 
 or bills of exchange. 
 
 The leading object of these debentures is to avoid the existing . 
 
 complexity of incumbrances, and gradually to supersede all 
 
 other kinds of charge, such as mortgages, legacies, family 
 
 portions, quit rents, tithe rent-charges, annuities, judgments, 
 
 recognizances, crown bonds, decrees, orders, and rules of court. 
 
 The objections to this plan are: — 1. A land tribunal with 
 
 judicial powers to decide conclusively upon all titles to land 
 
 cannot be established advantageously unless where, owing to 
 
 encumbrance or otherwise, the object and effect would be to 
 
 obtain a new proprietary. 2. The absence of provisions for 
 
 protecting beneficial and equitable interests. 3. As to Land 
 
 Debentures — the absence in England of any adequate machinery 
 
 for ascertaining judicially the value of land through a public 
 
 map or general valuation. 
 
 Second Plan (Mr. Wilson's). — The second plan is described 
 in a word, as registration of the freehold. This plan proceeds 
 on the hypothesis that possession is the root of title ; bearing in 
 mind that by possession the possession of the freehold is meant, 
 and by freehold a presumptive fee simple. Credit, therefore, is 
 given to possession until it is shown to be wrongful. The fact, 
 that the property is held by the person who is seen to hold it, is 
 presumed to be coincident with the right of property, until the 
 contrary appears. Acting on this hypothesis, the freeholder as 
 thus defined is always to be entitled to have his property regis- 
 tered. But since there may be other rights besides the free- 
 holder's, these rights are to be dealt with as qualifications of the 
 freeholder's presumptive title ; for the possession is not neces- 
 sarily the whole of the evidence upon which the title rests ; it 
 should rather be considered as the basis of the evidence, or, as 
 it were, the starting-point of the inquiry. When, therefore, 
 other rights exist, protection is to be given to them, and they 
 are to be capable of registration under the heads of " Charges 
 and Notices." Registration of charges and notices is to con- 
 sist, in effect, of the registration of written instruments or 
 assurances ; . . . The registration of the freehold is to be pro- 
 visional in the first instance, that time may be allowed to inter- 
 pose the registration of existing incumbrances or adverse titles. 
 It is further proposed that a map of all the land in the kingdom, 
 divided into parishes or districts, should be made by authority, 
 on which each field or other materials-defined portion of the 
 surface of the country should be distinguished by a numerical 
 symbol. This map is to be made the basis of a book of 
 
( 141 ) 
 
 reference containing the same numbers as those on the map, 
 with the description and contents of each division, and the 
 names and addresses of the different freeholders. The register 
 at the outset would be formed on the spot by an assistant 
 registrar or commissioner, sent down to the different parishes 
 for the purpose of receiving claims ; and the assistant registrar 
 would in substance follow the practice prescribed by the 
 General Inclosure Act, 8 & 9 Vict. c. 118, a limited time being 
 allowed for appeals, with an extension of time in favour of 
 persons under disabilities. 
 
 The objections to this plan are — 1. The necessity of the 
 commission. 2. The consequent compulsory registration of 
 title. 3. The consequent stirring up of dormant claims. 
 4. The introduction of a mass of documents. 5. Impediment 
 to the sale of land during provisional registration. 6. The 
 expense, delay, and difficulty of mapping the whole country, 
 settling disputed questions of boundaries, and of revising map 
 from time to time. 
 
 Third Plan (Mr. Cookson's). — This plan is founded on the 
 belief that the transfer of land may for many purposes be 
 assimilated to a transfer of stock. Every person, who, in 
 respect of power or interest, has the absolute right of disposing 
 of the fee simple of property in land, would, according to this 
 plan, be entitled to put the estate on the register, and to 
 transfer the ownership thereof to any other person, subject to 
 such rights and interests as were created before and existed at 
 the time when the registration of the property was effected. 
 .... Registrar is to be empowered to warrant a title found 
 to be perfectly marketable against all claims that might be 
 brought against it. Persons having limited interests are to be 
 enabled to protect themselves by distringases, to operate in the 
 same way as stop orders on the disposition of stock in the funds. 
 A similar mode of registration is likewise provided, by means 
 of a subordinate register, for leaseholders. This plan does not 
 provide for the registry of anything beyond the simple transfer 
 of the ostensible ownership in fee and leases. Dealings which 
 concern partial estates or equitable interests only will not be 
 assisted or protected by the registrar, except when (as against 
 an improper disposition by the registered owner) a distringas is 
 put on. In fact, the purpose of this plan is, to attach to each 
 landed estate a formal and ostensible proprietorship, to which 
 the right of sale and transfer may be incident, in cases where 
 the whole fee simple is intended to be disposed of, and to remit 
 those who in any case may have right to restrain the sale or 
 transfer, or to complain of it, or are interested in its proceeds, 
 
( 142 ) 
 
 to the protection of the distringas, or to their personal claim 
 against the individual. 
 
 The objections to this plan are — 1 . Transfers by the regis- 
 tered owner are prevented by mortgages protected by distringas, 
 and mortgagees must either be placed on register as owners in 
 lieu of their mortgagors or be content with the protection of a 
 distringas. 2. The complication and litigation that would arise 
 from general liberty of entering distringases on oath of parties 
 stating that they had an interest in the land and on an ex parte 
 order of the Court of Chancery. 
 
 Fourth Plan. — This plan is that suggested by the Royal 
 Commission itself. A land register and transfer office for 
 England and Wales to be established in London under the 
 management of a registrar general; and branch offices to be 
 also established in different districts throughout the kingdom, 
 subject' to the orders and regulated by the authority of the 
 registrar general. The registration to extend to all corporeal 
 hereditaments, except copyholds. 
 
 All owners or proprietors of land, who have the right of 
 
 f>ossessing or the power of disposing of it in fee simple, to be at 
 iberty to apply for the registration of the ownership ; so that 
 such ownership, or the title to the land which is the subject of 
 the same, may thenceforth be manifested by the register alone. 
 
 Registration of title to be twofold — one enabling the registered 
 owner at once to transfer the estate with a present or immediate 
 statutory title ; the other registration of actual ownership, without 
 the power to transfer an immediate statutory title. 
 
 A certificate of warranted or unwarranted ownership to be 
 delivered to the party applying and to be duly authenticated by 
 seal of the office, bearing on its face the name of the registered 
 owner, the lands registered, the incumbrances (if any) to which 
 they are subject, and a reference to the indexes relating to the 
 entry in the books of the registry. 
 
 The general effect of the registration — that for the purposes 
 of transfer, the registered ownership will at all times represent 
 the fee simple of the property, subject to the charges and leases 
 admitted on the register. Unwarranted ownership to be free 
 from all subsequent incumbrances not registered after registra- 
 tion — but to be subject to prior incumbrances. 
 
 Registered ownership, whether warranted or unwarranted, to 
 be subject to easements, general taxes, and short leases at rack 
 rent, where the lessee is in possession. 
 
 Unregistered interests to be protected by inhibitions and 
 caveats. 
 
 The registered ownership to be transferred by a short deed 
 
( 143 ) 
 
 and an entry of the transferee's name in place of the transferor's 
 — the old certificate being cancelled and a fresh one delivered. 
 
 There is then provision for the registration of incumbrances 
 and of leases for twenty-one years or upwards — the mode of 
 transferring these latter being in all respects similar to that of 
 passing the ownership in fee. The advantages of the system 
 will consist in giving facilities to the sale and transfer of land 
 in the following respects : — 
 
 1. It will secure the principal benefits and advantages sought 
 
 to be attained in a registration of deeds. 
 
 2. The system will render unnecessary retrospective investi- 
 
 gation of title, as to all dealings subsequent to the 
 commencement of the registration, and will gradually 
 operate to dispense with the investigation altogether. 
 
 3. It will simplify the title to real property for the future 
 
 (though it will not, except where warranty is obtained, 
 confer at the outset a parliamentary title as against 
 interests existing anterior to the registry), and it will 
 have this effect, even though no concurrent improvements 
 are effected in the general law of real property. 
 
 4. It will make purchasers ■ of the fee and leases perfectly 
 
 secure. 
 
 5. It will simplify to the utmost extent the forms of transfer 
 
 and the modes of conveyance. 
 
 6. It will tend to increase the saleable value of land. 
 Acting upon the suggestions of the Royal Commission of 
 
 1857, the present Lord Chancellor — then Sir Hugh Cairns 
 (Solicitor-General) brought two bills into the House of Com- 
 mons substantially embodying the plan they recommended ; 
 the important points of difference being that the bills of 1859, 
 (1) established a new tribunal for passing judgment on titles to 
 land, without which no one could register: (2) restricted the 
 class of titles to be placed on the register. 
 
 A change of government, however, occurred, and so the bills, 
 which had been read a second time, were at an end. 
 
 In the year 1862 the subject was resumed, and the act was 
 passed of which we have now to examine the working (Lord 
 Westbury's Act). By this act there is established a registry 
 of estates of freehold tenure, and leasehold estates in freehold 
 lands. The proceedings commence in the manner described 
 by the 5th, 6th, and 7th sections as follows : — 
 
 Sect. 5. On application for the registration of a title as 
 indefeasible, the title shall be examined by the registrar and 
 examiners of title hereinafter mentioned, in such manner as 
 general orders shall direct. No title shall be accepted for 
 
( 144 ) 
 
 registration as indefeasible, unless it shall appear to be such as; 
 a court of equity would hold to be a valid marketable title. 
 
 Sect. 6. Disputes on matters of title to be referred to a judge 
 of the Court of Chancery. 
 
 Sect. 7. If the title shall appear to be good and marketable, 
 the applicant shall furnish to the registrar, and he shall examine 
 and settle for the purposes of registration: — 
 
 First, an exact description of the lands to be registered. 
 Secondly, a statement of the persons, or classes or descriptions 
 of persons, that are or may become entitled to such lands, 
 and of the estates, powers, and interests that exist, or may 
 arise or become vested in such persons respectively. 
 Thirdly, a statement of the mortgages, charges, and incum- 
 brances affecting such lands, or any part thereof, and of 
 the persons entitled thereto, both at law and in equity. 
 To identify the lands maps are required. Then notices are 
 to be published and served on adjoining proprietors and persons 
 having any interest or claim in the lands. Supposing all 
 objections disposed of, registration is to be made in the manner 
 prescribed by section 14 : — 
 
 First, the registrar shall enter in a book — to be called " The 
 Register of Estates with an indefeasible Title" — such 
 description of the estate as shall be finally approved of, 
 and shall annex thereto any map or plan, which shall be 
 deemed necessary, and shall distinguish the estate so 
 entered by a particular number or numbers, and the entry 
 shall refer to another book to be entitled — " The Record of 
 Title to Lands on the Registry." 
 Secondly, in the last-mentioned book under the same number 
 or numbers shall be entered, in concise terms, an exact 
 record of the existing estates, powers, and interests in the 
 land so registered as aforesaid, and the names and de- 
 scriptions of the persons, or classes of persons, that are or 
 may become entitled thereto respectively. 
 Thirdly, in a book to be entitled " The Register of Mortgages 
 and Incumbrances," shall be entered, under the same 
 number or numbers, an account of all the charges and 
 incumbrances affecting the lands or any part thereof, or the 
 estate or interest therein of any person named in the 
 record of title. 
 The nature of the title conferred by the registration is de- 
 scribed in sect. 20. 
 
 " Subject to any exception . . . mentioned in such record of 
 title, and to any right or interest thereby reserved, and to any 
 registered charges or incumbrances . . . the persons originally and 
 
( 145 ) 
 
 .from time to time named and described in such record of title 
 as aforesaid shall, for the purposes of any sale, mortgage, or 
 contract for valuable consideration by such persons respectively, 
 be and be deemed to be, as from the date of registering such 
 record by the registrar, or from such time as shall be fixed by 
 him therein, absolutely and indefeasibly possessed of and en- 
 titled to such estates, rights, powers, and interests, as shall be 
 defined and expressed in such record, against all persons, and 
 free from all rights, interests, claims, and demands whatsoever, 
 including any estate, claim, or interest of her Majesty, her heirs 
 and successors." 
 
 There' are also provisions for registration without an inde- 
 feasible title. By sect. 32, it is provided : — 
 
 " From and after the registration of any land, every estate 
 or interest, use, trust, mortgage, charge, lien, right, or title 
 granted, declared, arising, becoming vested, or in any manner 
 created, or coming into existence in, to, upon, out of, or affect- 
 ing such land or any part thereof (except as herein excepted), 
 shall be entered, described or noticed in the record of title or 
 register of incumbrances, to be so kept as aforesaid." 
 
 Cautions and injunctions protect unregistered interests. 
 When registered, land may be transferred in the modes pre- 
 scribed by the 63rd section : — 
 
 " All registered land and every part thereof may be con- 
 veyed, changed, settled, dealt with, or affected in or by any of 
 the following modes or dispositions, that is to say, 
 
 First, by a statutory disposition in any of the forms de- 
 scribed in this act. 
 
 Secondly, by endorsement on the land certificate. 
 
 Thirdly, by deposit of the land certificate. 
 
 Fourthly, by any deed, will, judgment, decree, or instrument, 
 by which such land, if not registered, might now, according 
 to law, be conveyed, charged, settled, devised, dealt with, 
 or affected. 
 
 " But no equitable mortgage or lien on registered land shall 
 be created by a deposit of title deeds." 
 
 The contents of the land certificate are specified in sect. 68. 
 
 " The certificate shall contain, first, a copy of the description 
 of the same lands as appearing in the registry of estates, with 
 all the entries relating thereto ; and secondly, a copy of the 
 entries relating to the same lands appearing in the record of 
 title ; and thirdly, a copy of the entries in the registry of incum- 
 brances of the mortgages, charges, claims, and liens on, or 
 affecting, the estate and interest of such owner ; and such 
 certificate shall certify whether such lands are registered with 
 
 L 
 
( 146 ) 
 
 or without an indefeasible title, and shall be distinguished by 
 the number under which the lands are registered in the 
 ' Register of Estates,' and shall contain all such other parti- 
 culars as are material or useful for the purpose of manifesting 
 the exact nature of such owner's estate and interest." 
 
 The total number of applications for registration made 
 between the 15th October, 1862, and the 10th January, 1868, 
 was 507. 
 
 The causes of the act's failure are thus summed up — 
 
 1 . The delay, trouble, and expense of registering titles. 
 
 2. The fear of litigation during the process. 
 
 3. The sense that a registration of all interests in the lands 
 
 will neither protect owners nor facilitate transfers, but 
 will prove a hindrance and burden. 
 These causes are inherent in the structure of the act 
 itself— 
 
 (a.) Because it requires all titles to be without blemish, 
 whereas purchasers are content to overlook small 
 blemishes, 
 (b.) Because it requires all titles to be of 60 years' length, 
 whereas purchasers are content with less, and mort- 
 gagees also, purchasers rarely, if ever, suffering from 
 taking short title, 
 (c.) Because it requires that the description of the land shall 
 bind strangers, whereas purchasers are content to 
 make their own inquiries on such matters, 
 (d.) Because there is no benefit in transferring the estate' in 
 the registry. 
 (Rep. Roy. Comms. appointed to inquire into operation of 
 Land Transfer Act, 1870.) 
 
 The Commission then submitted as the result of their deli- 
 berations, that, collateral with Lord AYestbury's Act, a new 
 measure should be passed carrying out the plan advocated by 
 the Commission of 1857. Accordingly, Lord Selborne brought 
 in a bill adopting to a great degree their proposals ; and this 
 bill and the materials from which it was framed were put into 
 the hands of the present Lord Chancellor, when the Conserva- 
 tives came into power last year. With such assistance, Lord 
 Cairns introduced a Land Transfer Bill during the last session, 
 which bill, after having passed the Lords and been read a 
 second time in the House of Commons, was eventually with- 
 drawn. In the present session the Lord Chancellor introduced 
 the Land Transfer Bill now before the country — which differs 
 in some few respects from its predecessor — the most important 
 divergence being that under the present scheme registration is 
 
( 147 ) 
 
 not made compulsory. I shall now endeavour to give you 
 some account of this measure, which is set forth in one hundred 
 and twenty-eight sections arranged under five parts. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Entry of Land on Register of Title. 
 
 (1.) Freehold Land. 
 
 Sect. 5. " A land registry shall be established, and on and 
 after the commencement of this act, the following persons (that 
 is to say) : — 
 
 (1.) Any person who has contracted to buy for his own 
 benefit an estate in fee simple in land, whether subject 
 or not to incumbrances ; and 
 (2.) Any person entitled for his own benefit at law or in 
 equity to an estate in fee simple in land, whether sub- 
 ject or not to incumbrances ; and 
 (3.) Any person capable of disposing for his own benefit by 
 way of sale of an estate in fee simple in land, whether 
 subject or not to incumbrances, 
 may apply to the registrar, under this act, to be registered, 
 or to have registered in his stead any nominee or nominees, 
 not exceeding the prescribed number, as proprietor or pro- 
 prietors of such freehold land with an absolute title or with a 
 possessory title only : Provided, that in the case of land con- 
 tracted to be bought, the vendor consents to the application." 
 
 An absolute title shall not be registered unless approved of 
 by the registrar, a possessory title, on giving the evidence and 
 serving the notices prescribed. Sect. 6. 
 
 Sect. 7. "The first registration of any person as proprietor 
 of freehold land (in this act referred to as first registered pro- 
 prietor) with an absolute title, shall vest in the person so 
 registered an estate in fee simple in such land, together with 
 all rights, privileges, and appurtenances enjoyed or reputed as 
 belonging or appurtenant thereto, subject as follows : — 
 
 (1.) To the incumbrances, if any, entered on the register ; 
 
 and 
 (2.) Unless the contrary is expressed on the register, to 
 such liabilities, rights, and interests, if any, as are by 
 this act declared not to be incumbrances ; and 
 (3. )Where such first proprietor is not entitled for his own 
 benefit to the land registered as between himself and 
 any persons claiming under him, to any unregistered 
 estates, rights, interests, or equities to which such 
 persons may be entitled, 
 L 2 
 
( 148 ) 
 
 but free from all other estates and interests whatsoever, 
 including estates and interests of her Majesty, her heirs and 
 successors." 
 
 Registration of possessory title not to prejudice any interest 
 subsisting or capable of arising at time of registration, but with 
 that saving to have the same effect as registration of absolute 
 title. Sect. 8. 
 
 A qualified title may be registered — i. e. a title subject to 
 certain estates and interests reserved and entered in the 
 register. Such title subject to such reservations to have the 
 same effect as an absolute title. Sect. 9. 
 
 A land certificate to be delivered on application to first 
 registered proprietor. Such certificate to state whether title 
 absolute, qualified, or possessory. Sect. 10. 
 
 (2.) Leasehold Land. 
 
 Sect. 11. "A separate register shall be kept of leasehold 
 land, and on and after the commencement of this act any of 
 the following persons ; (that is to say) : — 
 
 (1.) Any person who has contracted to buy for his own 
 benefit leasehold land held under a lease for a life or 
 lives, or determinable on a life or lives, or for a term 
 of years, of which more than twenty-one are unexpired, 
 whether subject or not to incumbrances ; and 
 (2.) Any person entitled, for his own benefit at law or in 
 equity, to leasehold land held under any such lease 
 as is described in this section, whether subject or not 
 to incumbrances ; and 
 (3.) Any person capable of disposing, for his own benefit, 
 by way of sale, of leasehold land held under any such 
 lease as is described in this section, whether subject 
 or not to incumbrances, 
 may apply to the registrar to be registered, or to have regis- 
 tered in his stead any nominee or nominees, not exceeding 
 the prescribed number, as proprietor or proprietors of such 
 leasehold land, with the addition where the lease under which 
 the land is held is derived immediately out of freehold land, 
 and the applicant is able to submit for examination the title 
 of the lessor, of a declaration of the title of the lessor to grant 
 the lease under which the land is held : provided, — 
 
 " That in the case of leasehold land contracted to be bought, 
 the vendor consents to the application." 
 
 Lease, or when lost verified copy thereof, to be deposited 
 
 with registrar on application for registration Leasehold 
 
 land under absolute prohibition of alienation not to be registered. 
 
( 149 ) 
 
 Sect. ] 3. " The registration under this act of any person as 
 first registered proprietor of leasehold land with a declaration that 
 the lessor had an absolute title to grant the lease under which the 
 land is held shall be deemed to vest in such person the posses- 
 sion of the land comprised in the registered lease relating to 
 such land for all the leasehold estate therein described, with 
 all implied or expressed rights, privileges, and appurtenances 
 attached to such estates, but subject as follows : — 
 
 (I.) To all implied and express covenants, obligations and 
 
 liabilities incident to such leasehold estate ; and 
 (2.) To the incumbrances (if any) entered on the . register ; 
 
 and 
 (3.) Unless the contrary is expressed on the register, to such 
 liabilities, rights, and interests as affect the leasehold 
 estate, and are by this act declared not to be incum- 
 brances in the case of registered freehold land ; and 
 (4.) Where such first proprietor is not entitled for his own 
 benefit to the land registered as between himself and 
 any persons claiming under him, to any unregistered 
 estates, rights, interests, or equities to which such 
 persons may be entitled, 
 but free from all other estates and interests whatsoever, including 
 estates and interests of her Majesty, her heirs and successors." 
 
 Sects. 14, 15, correspond as to leasehold with sects. 8, 9, as 
 to freeholds. 
 
 Instead of a land certificate is given an office copy of the 
 registered lease with an endorsement, whether any declara- 
 tion, absolute or qualified, as to the title of the lessor has been 
 made. 
 
 Sect. 17. Regulations as to examination of title by registrar. 
 Sect. 18. Liability of registered land to easements and certain 
 other rights. 
 
 Part II. 
 Registered Dealings with Registered Land. 
 
 Mortgage of Registered Land. — A registered proprietor of 
 any freehold or leasehold land may charge any such land with 
 the payment of any principal sum of money with or without 
 interest — and such charge shall be completed by entering on 
 the register the person in whose favour the charge is made as 
 proprietor of the charge— who may obtain a certificate of charge 
 in the prescribed form sect. 22. 
 
 Sect. 28. "Subject to any entry to the contrary on the 
 register, registered charges on the same land shall as between 
 
' 150 ) 
 
 themselves rank according to the order in which they are 
 entered on the register, and not according to the order in which 
 they are contracted." 
 
 On cessation of charge, entry on register to be annulled. 
 
 Transfer of Freehold Land. — Registered proprietor may 
 transfer in prescribed manner (by delivery of land certificate) 
 —such transfer to be completed by entering transferee as pro- 
 prietor on register. Sect. 29. 
 
 Transfer of Leasehold Land. — Registered proprietor may 
 transfer in prescribed manner (by delivery of office lease) — such 
 transfer to be completed by entering transferee as proprietor on 
 register. Sect. 34. 
 
 Transfer of Charges. — Registered proprietor may transfer 
 in prescribed manner — such transfer to be completed by enter- 
 ing transferee as proprietor of charge on register. Sect. 40. 
 
 Part III. 
 Unregistered Dealings loith Registered Land. 
 
 Sect. 49. " The registered proprietor alone shall be entitled to 
 transfer or charge registered land by registered dispositions; 
 but subject to the maintenance of the estate and right of such 
 proprietor, any person, whether the registered proprietor or not 
 of any registered land, having a sufficient estate or interest in 
 such land, may create estates, rights, interests, and equities in 
 the same manner as he might do if the land were not registered ; 
 and any person entitled to or interested in any unregistered 
 estates, rights, interests, or equities in registered land may 
 protect the same from being impaired by any act of the re- 
 gistered proprietor by entering on the register such notices, 
 cautions, inhibitions, or other restrictions as are in this act in 
 that behalf mentioned." 
 
 Sects. 53, 54. Cautions against registered dealings may be 
 lodged : cautioner to be entitled to notice of proposed registered 
 dealings. 
 
 Part IV. 
 
 Provisions supplemental to foregoing Part of Acts. 
 
 Sects. 60 — 64. Caution against entry of land on register. 
 Sect. 65. Facilities for registration of crown lands. 
 Sects. 66 — 72. Proceedings on and before registration. 
 Sects. 73 — 76. Doubtful questions arising on title. 
 Sects. 77 — 80. Land certificates, office copies of leases, and 
 certificates of charge. 
 
( 151 ) 
 
 Sect. 81. Special hereditaments (incorporeal hereditaments 
 in gross — severed mines). 
 
 Sects. 82 — 85. General provisions. 1. No trust to be entered 
 on register. 2. No registration of any undivided share in any 
 land or charge. 
 
 Sects. 86 — 104. Infants, Lunatics — Notices — Specific Per- 
 formance — Rectification of Register — Fraud — Inspection of 
 Register. 
 
 Part V. 
 Administration of Law and Miscellaneous. 
 
 Sect. 105. " There shall be an office in London to be called 
 the Office of Land Registry, the business of which shall be 
 conducted by a registrar to be appointed by the Lord Chan- 
 cellor, with such number of officers (namely, assistant registrars, 
 clerks, messengers, and servants,) as the Lord Chancellor, 
 with the concurrence of the Commissioners of Her Majesty's 
 Treasury as to number, may from time to time appoint." . . . 
 
 Sect. 117. "The Lord Chancellor, with the concurrence of the 
 Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, shall have power 
 by general orders from time to time to do all or any of the 
 following things : — 
 
 ( 1 ) To create distinct registries for the purpose of registration 
 
 of land within the defined districts respectively, and 
 to alter any districts which shall have been so created : 
 and, 
 
 (2) To direct, by notice to be published in the " London 
 
 Gazette," when (upon or after the commencement of 
 this act) registration of land is to commence in any 
 district, and the place at which lands are to be re- 
 gistered ; and, 
 
 (3) To commence registration of land in any one or more 
 
 district or districts, pursuant to any such notice ; and, 
 
 (4) To appoint district registrars, clerks, messengers, and 
 
 servants to perform the business of registration in 
 
 any district which may from time to time be created 
 
 a district for registration under this act. 
 
 The Lord Chancellor may, with the like concurrence, from 
 
 time to time make, rescind, alter, or add to any order made in 
 
 pursuance of this section." 
 
 Sect. 122. The registrar and staff under Lord Westbury's 
 Act (which is abolished) to be the staff at the new office of 
 land registry. 
 
 From the registration and other acts it is apparent what 
 
C 152 ) 
 
 frantic efforts have been made at various times to rid the 
 country of some oppressive incubus. That incubus crushes 
 with the weight of a millstone every transaction in relation to 
 land, and is as fatal to the development of, as the invasion of 
 an army of locusts is destructive to, agricultural prosperity. 
 The scourge I allude to. is the ordinary system of conveyancing 
 now in vogue. Transfers of land are since the 8 & 9 Vict, 
 almost invariably made by deed of grant, which, though ex- 
 tremely bulky as a rule, may still be described with sufficient 
 accuracy as a concise compendium of most of the monstrosities 
 the law of real property has been able to accumulate during 
 eight hundred years of continuous aggregation. Like other 
 indentures a deed of grant contains the eight parts mentioned 
 by Coke. " There have been eight formall or orderly parts of a 
 deed of feoffment, viz., 1, the premises of the deed implied by 
 Littleton ; 2, the habendum, whereof Littleton here speaketh; 
 3, the tenendum, mentioned by Littleton ; 4, the reddendum ; 
 5, the clause of ivarrantie" (now supplied by covenants for 
 title); "6, the in cujus rei testimonium, comprehending the 
 sealing; 7, the date of the deed, containing the day, the 
 month, the yeare and stile of the king, or of the yeare of our 
 Lord ; lastly, the clause of hits testibus ; and yet all these 
 parts were contained in very few and significant words, haec 
 fuit Candida illius setatis fides et simplicitas, qua? pauculis lineis 
 omnia fidei firmamenta posuerunt." (Co. Litt. 6 a.) Now 
 you must not expect me to untwist the marvellous lassoes the 
 lawyers have knotted together out of the construction and 
 operation of these various parts of a deed. Consider for 
 instance the difference between a simple habendum and a 
 habendum with a scilicet : — " As if a rent-charge often pounds 
 be granted to A. and B. to have and to hold to them two, viz. 
 to A, untill he be married, and to B. until! he be advanced to a 
 benefice, they be joyn-tenants in the meane time, notwithstand- 
 ing the severall limitations ; and if A. die before marriage, the 
 rent shall survive ; but if A. had married, the rent should 
 have ceased for a moietie, et sic e converso on the other side." 
 (Co. Litt. 180 b.) 
 
 If the grant had been to A. and B., habendum to A. till he 
 be married, and to B. till he be advanced to a benefice, they 
 would probably be considered tenants in common. Again — 
 grant to A. and B. habendum to A. for years, remainder to B. 
 for years, is good ; but lease of two acres to A. and B., haben- 
 bum one acre to A. for years, the other to B. for years, is in- 
 valid (T. 4 Eliz.) (Hob. 172.) 
 
 I shall not trouble you with the other formalities and all the 
 
( 153 ) 
 
 incidents they involve — such as, what is a sufficient delivery ? 
 and, what is a material alteration sufficient to vitiate a deed? but 
 I pass to the language of the instrument. After the scolding of 
 your last letter, I had better say nothing about technical terms, 
 nor shall I lay myself open to attack on that score by any par- 
 ticular comments. I content myself with the general observa- 
 tion, that the intrinsic unintelligibleness of the phraseology of 
 sealed instruments is, for technical obscurity, compared with 
 all other portions of the law, facile princeps ; and that it will 
 for ever remain an insoluble puzzle to all future generations, 
 why the judges should have gone to the needless trouble of put- 
 ting such mystifying interpretations on the Statute of Uses, since 
 even before the 27 Hen. 8, the wording of deeds must always 
 have remained secure from being correctly construed by the lay 
 world ! an insoluble puzzle, I say, unless, indeed, we suppose 
 the ornaments of the bench were so habituated to special plead- 
 ing, that they found it impossible to increase too much the in- 
 surmountable difficulties thrown in the way of the non-pro- 
 fessional. 
 
 Let us next consider the subject-matter of a conveyance, and 
 suppose a fee simple estate is contracted to be sold. From the 
 moment the parties are ad idem and the contract is in writing, 
 the property, as I have already said, passes to a purchaser in the 
 view of a court of equity ; and the vendor is bound to execute a 
 good and valid legal conveyance within a reasonable time. By 
 a good conveyance, I mean a conveyance of the estate with what 
 is called a marketable title ; in other words, a title which goes 
 back for an antecedent period of sixty years. The vendor must 
 furnish the vendee with an abstract of all the conveyances, 
 devises, and dealings with the property during those sixty years. 
 The vendee then makes searches in the registry offices for in- 
 cumbrances, &c. If no such incumbrances are found and the 
 abstract is approved of by counsel, the vendee or his solicitor 
 prepares a draft conveyance, which is submitted to the vendor. 
 This being approved by the latter, or an amended form being 
 agreed to by the parties, the vendee or his solicitor has the 
 original or altered draft engrossed on parchment duly stamped. 
 This being executed and delivered by the vendor is the con- 
 veyance. 
 
 The. expense in such a transaction is enormous, as a rule 
 being about 10 per cent, on the purchase-money — the vendor 
 bearing the cost of the abstract — the vendee of the conveyance. 
 Why sixty years should be the root of title, Lord Westbury 
 professed himself unable to divine. (Hans. 165, p. 351.) For 
 it is hardly a good answer to say, that this period was devised 
 
( 154 ) 
 
 with regard to the duration of human life ; and, in fact, if all 
 the transactions during such a period appear in black and white 
 on the abstract, the title, though considered perfectly safe and all 
 that the Court of Chancery would ever require, is by no means 
 indefeasible. Thus let A. who is tenant for life convey the 
 estate in fee on attaining his majority. He may live to be eighty- 
 one, and then his grantee will be able to give a marketable title, 
 yet the purchaser from the latter will on the death of A. be 
 ousted by the remainderman or reversioner. 
 
 Next as to — II. Conveyance ex testamento. 
 
 " The testamentary power over land was certainly in use 
 among our Anglo-Saxon and Danish ancestors, though it seems 
 to have been rather adopted from the remnant of the Roman 
 laws and customs they found here, than brought from their own 
 country ; for as Tacitus, writing of the ancient Germans, says, 
 successores sui cuique liberi et nullum testamentum. Spelm. 
 Posthum. 21, 127. After the Norman Conquest the power of 
 devising land ceased, except as to socage lands in some par- 
 ticular places, such as cities and boroughs, in which it was still 
 preserved ; and also except as to terms for years or chattel in- 
 terests in land, which, on account of their original imbecility 
 and insignificance, were deemed personalty, and as such were 
 ever disposable by will. This limitation of the testamentary 
 power proceeded, partly from the solemn form of transferring 
 land by livery of seisin introduced at the Conquest, which could 
 not be complied with in the case of a last will ; partly from a 
 jealousy of death-bed dispositions, but principally from the 
 general restraint of alienation incident to the rigours of the 
 feudal system, as it was established or at least perfected by the 
 first "William. See Wright's Ten. 172." (Mr. Hargrave's 
 note (1); Co. Litt. Ill b.) 
 
 With this introduction I proceed to consider testamentary 
 disposition of — I. Freeholds; II. Leaseholds; III. Copyholds. 
 
 I. Disposition of Freeholds by Will — and first, of fee simple 
 estates. Before the acts of Henry VIII. no freeholds could be 
 directly disposed of by will, save those which were devisable by 
 custom ; but indirect disposition was effectuated by a feoffment 
 to the uses of a last will during the life of the testator, who de- 
 vised or appointed the use as the case might be, and the use so 
 devised or appointed was enforced by the Court of Chancery 
 compelling the feoffee to discover on oath and carry into effect 
 the trust thus created. The 27 Hen. 8, having annexed the 
 seisin to the use, testamentary disposition by the method of a 
 feoffment to the uses of a last will became impossible ; but as 
 power to devise property had become a necessity the 32 and the 
 
( 155. ) 
 
 34 Hen. 8, enabled tenants to dispose of two-thirds of their 
 lands held in chivalry, and the whole of their lands held in 
 common socage, the only formality being that the will should be 
 in writing. 
 
 Devises permitted by custom need not have been in writing. 
 The 12 Car. 2, c. 24, having changed all tenures in chivalry 
 into free and common socage, all a man's freehold lands in .fee 
 became devisable. 
 
 A wide door had been thrown open to all kinds of fraud by 
 having no proper precautions for the due authentication of wills 
 under the statutes of Hen. VIII. — to suppress which it was 
 enacted by the Statute of Frauds (29 Car. 2, c. 3), that every 
 will disposing of freehold land should be in writing, signed by 
 the testator or by some other person for him in his presence, 
 and at his direction, and also attested and subscribed in his 
 presence by three or more credible witnesses. Such continued 
 to be the law till the Wills Act hereafter to be mentioned. 
 
 Of other freeholds — Estates pur auter vie were not devisable 
 till made so by 29 Car. 2, c. 3, which required for their dis- 
 position the same formalities as for the disposition of freeholds 
 in fee. Estates pur auter vie were not devisable at common 
 law as being real estate ; nor under the 32 and the 34 Hen. 8 
 as being less than fee simple. Quasi-entailed estates pur auter 
 vie were formerly, as they still are, unbarred by testamentary 
 disposition — the issue taking per formam doni in the absence 
 of some disposition inter vivos by the donee in possession. 
 
 II. Leaseholds for Years.* — Terms attendant upon the in- 
 heritance were required to be devised with the formalities 
 prescribed for the disposition of the inheritance itself. So also 
 were terms created under a will, inasmuch as they were a 
 partial disposition of the freehold interest in right of which 
 they were created. But terms in gross being but chattels 
 were disposable as were personalty — that is to say : As to 
 quantity : from the reign of Hen. II. to that of Car. II. — as 
 appears from Glanville and Finch — a testator might dispose of 
 the whole, a moiety, or a third of his goods according as he 
 died, leaving neither wife nor child, leaving either wife or child, 
 or leaving wife and child, respectively : As to manner — the 
 will might be either nuncupative or in writing — the age for 
 testamentary capacity being apparently (though this is a much 
 disputed point) fourteen years in the case of males — twelve in 
 the case of females. 
 
 III. Copyholds were not devisable at common law as being 
 
 » Satisfied attendant terms to cease from 31 Dec. 1845. 8 & 9 Vict. c. 112. 
 
( 156 ) 
 
 real estate ; nor under the 32 and the 34 Hen. 8 as not being 
 of socage tenure. Nor did the 29 Car. 2, c. 3, alter the law in 
 their regard ; so that up to the Wills Act a testator had to 
 resort to a surrender to the uses of his will and then he could 
 dispose of the uses just as the freeholder did before the 
 27 Hen. 8. 
 
 But now by the Wills Act (7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict. c. 26) all 
 property (not entailed or quasi-entailed), whether real or per- 
 sonal — in possession or expectancy — acquired or to be acquired 
 — or of what kind soever — may be directly disposed of by will ; 
 and all wills, save those of soldiers and seamen in actual service, 
 are subjected to the same mode of execution — viz. they must be 
 in writing, signed at the foot or end thereof by the testator or 
 by some other person in his presence and by his direction, and 
 such signature must be made or acknowledged in the presence 
 of two or more witnesses, present at the same time, who in his 
 presence and in presence of each other, shall thereunto subscribe 
 their signatures. The will speaks from the death of the testator 
 not from the date of execution. The age for testamentary- 
 capacity is twenty-one. 
 
 From this description, it appears what an incomparable 
 facility in mode of transfer disposition ex testamento has over 
 conveyance inter vivos — and how easily one bold statute reduced 
 heterogeneous discordances, as to different kinds of property, to 
 one homogeneous uniformity. That same statute brought back 
 to a testator the ordinary meaning of language, so that, when 
 he says — " I devise my real property to A." — the devisee gets 
 the testator's full interest in that property and not merely a life 
 estate. So when a testator says — " I give all my property to 
 B." — B. will become entitled to the entire real and personal 
 estate of the deceased, including whatever he had a general 
 power of appointment to dispose of. 
 
 Why has the Wills Act been the success it has proved? 
 because, it may fairly be owned, it has placed all property — 
 real or personal — almost on the same footing for its purposes ; 
 and, according as you assimilate the law of immoveables to that 
 of moveables, you will improve the methods of transfer as every 
 other portion of the system. 
 
 There, then is my answer: — Make the law of chattels exclusive 
 and co-extensive with all property, and you have the simplest of 
 conveyances cut and ready to your hand. On a transfer of 
 realty the transferee will enter into possession as he would do 
 on a transfer of personalty; and he will receive a receipt for the 
 purchase-money, which shall state in plain English for what 
 estate he has paid; whilst the receipt his vendor held for his 
 
( 157 ) 
 
 own purchase will be cancelled at the stamp office simultaneously 
 with the issue of another receipt for the new transaction. The 
 receipt might indeed be the same as that given on the discharge 
 of a mere debt — as the short bar of six years under the Statute 
 of Limitations would prevent the accumulation of receipts, which 
 would otherwise in time become as burthensome as the most 
 elaborate mode of transfer. I shall not, however, develop the 
 only thorough plan that can be suggested for dealing with this 
 matter, and which, if adopted, would dispense with all the 
 intricacy and technicality of conveyancing. 
 
 I repeat, if you are determined still to maintain the barbarous 
 relics of feudalism, transfer by land certificate under the new 
 Land Transfer Bill is perhaps the best expedient that presents 
 itself — an expedient, too, which pulverizes the nut you gave me 
 to crack in requesting me to draw a conveyance without techni- 
 cality. 
 
 Yet that you may hide your head in confusion and be forced 
 to confess, that barristers with subtlety, and attornies and soli- 
 citors with prolixity, have made of our legal instruments crafty 
 and resistless engines for the carrying out of their own sinister 
 ends and for the destruction of the unwary, attend to the sim- 
 plicity of transfer in ancient times : — 
 
 Here is an Anglo-Saxon transfer of the eighth century: — 
 
 "Ego Forter, famulus famulorum Dei, pro redemptione anima? 
 mea? unum carratum dedi Aldberhto abbati quae scita est juxta 
 fluvium JEsce, ad portum que dicitur Bledenhithe, ad insulam 
 parvam et ad ecclesiam beati Martini confessoris, in propriam 
 substanciam, habendum donandumque cuicumque voluerit. Qui 
 hanc cartam infringere temptaverit, sciat seipsum a communione 
 sanctorum separatum et ab Omnipotenti Deo. 
 + Ego Forter consensi et subscripsi. Acta est autem hsec 
 donatio anno dccxii. indictione prima." (Charts? Anglo- 
 Saxonia?, Kemble, Tom. 1.) 
 
 Here is a transfer during the middle ages : — 
 
 " Sciant prassentes et futuri, quod ego Henricus, Dei gratia 
 abbas et conventus Sancti Petri Gloucestria?, concessimus Wil- 
 lelmo tinctori et Alicia? uxori suae, et haeredibus eorum, tres 
 aaras prati in prato vaccarum apud Munstreworthe quas Rogerus 
 filius Rogeri filii Cecilia? nobis dedit in feodo et haereditate et 
 carta sua confirmavit; tenendas et habendas de nobis, sibi et 
 ha?redibus suis, libere et quiete, pro tribus solidis octo denariis 
 nobis annuatim persolvendis videlicet medietatem ad festum 
 Sancti Michaelis et aliam medietatem ad annunciationem Beata? 
 Maria?. Idem vero Willelmus juramentum, etc. 
 
 " In cujus rei testimonium pra?sens scriptum in modum cyro- 
 
( 158 ) 
 
 graphi," etc. ( Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri 
 Gloucestriae, vol. ii. — The Chronicles and Memorials of Great 
 Britain and Ireland published under the direction of the Master 
 of the Rolls.) 
 
 Such is ever the brevity of honesty — such its clearness and 
 precision. Oh ! Dick Roe, if you could but throw off that 
 encrusted nature of chicanery and duplicity it has taken you all 
 your manhood to acquire ! If you could but expunge the gloomy 
 black-letter and dry up the midnight oil ! 
 
 " Ant£ leves ergo pascentur in sethere cervi, 
 Et freta destituent nudos in littore pisces : 
 Ant£ pererratis amborum finibus, exul 
 Ant Ararim Parthus bibet, aut Germania Tigrim, 
 Quam nostra illius labatur pectore vultus." 
 
 Even so unfading would then be the excellence of your 
 character in the memory of 
 
 Your devoted servant, 
 Richard Roe, Esq. John Doe. 
 
 Blackacre, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 Dear Doe, 
 
 Have you ever witnessed the calm dignity and imper- 
 turbable serenity with which a man of irreproachable character 
 listens to an outpouring of vile abuse ? And if provoked by a 
 bystander to refute the reviler, his only answer will be : — " Let 
 him go on — he will do himself far more harm than anything I 
 might say could do him — out of his own mouth will come the 
 most cogent of refutations." Such is the reply I might well 
 give to one who asked, would I sit silent under the multifarious 
 charges you have brought against the law. 
 
 You begin with an enumeration of the ancient modes of con- 
 veyance (for I limit myself to your last note), in order to hold 
 them up to derision and disgust — you conclude with an account 
 of the wretched state, to which an abandonment of those same 
 modes have reduced us. Who ever heard, from the first of the 
 Plantagenets to the twenty-seventh year of the second of the 
 Tudors, a single complaint against the methods of transfer or a 
 wish expressed for that wicked goblin — registration? Yet how 
 numerous and complex must have been the dealings with land, 
 seeing it was practically the only species of property recognized ! 
 
( 1-9 ) 
 
 And when chattels do at length struggle into notice, what is 
 the first thing we hear of them ? Why, that one of the ordi- 
 nary methods of their transfer is so ready an instrument of 
 fraud that its operativeness has to be curtailed : — " All deeds 
 of gift of goods and chattels made or to be made of trust to the 
 use of the person or persons that made the same deed of gift " 
 — are declared " void and of none effect." '(3 Hen. 7, c. 6.) 
 It is of no avail to cite 50 Edw. 3, c. 6, and 2 Rich. 2, stat. 2, 
 c. 3, wherein gifts of freeholds and gifts of chattels are placed 
 on the same footing, by reason of the frauds committed by per- 
 sons fleeing to the franchise of Westminster or of St. Martin- 
 le-Grand, London, or other such privileged places; for the 
 privilege, not the mode of transfer, was the effective means of 
 dishonesty. And what is the first great resolution on the 
 Statute of Fraudulent Gifts, 13 Eliz. c. 5 — applicable to both 
 moveables and immoveables — but Twyne's case — a perusal of 
 which will show how difficult it is to distinguish between a valid 
 and an invalid transfer of goods. 
 
 It is no small virtue to forego all personal considerations in 
 order to instruct the ignorant ; and, were it not for the benefits 
 I one day hope to reap in the eclat of my scholar, I should 
 never be unselfish enough so to lower myself as to condescend 
 to examine these extraordinary statements of yours, which if 
 left to themselves are their own contradiction. You are 
 certainly to be congratulated on that harum-scarum style of 
 reading, which swallows here and devours there, without the 
 least attempt at mastication or digestion. No doubt erudition 
 on the inch-deep scale is generally, as things go, the most 
 useful, supplying as it does an inexhaustible fund of the small- 
 talk order — the only kind of conversation admissible in society — 
 and therefore the criterion the world has for pronouncing a 
 man a genius or a blockhead. Unluckily, however, your letter 
 is not addressed to the million, which has scarce time to look 
 and read, but to one far removed from the busy hum of men, 
 who will sit down and con over each line and syllable sent for 
 his perusal — one to whom nothing is more nauseous than 
 cabbaged and garbled plagiarism. When you were about it you 
 might as well have given the whole passage from Blackstone : — 
 " The use of seals as a mark of authenticity to letters and other 
 instruments in writing, is extremely ancient. We read of it 
 among the Jews and Persians in the earliest and most 
 sacred records of history (1 Kings, c. xxi. ; Daniel, c. vi. ; 
 Esther, c. viii.) . . . But in the times of our Saxon ancestors, 
 they were not much in use in England. . . . The method of 
 the Saxons was for such as could write to subscribe their 
 
( 160 ) 
 
 names; and whether they could write or not, to affix the sign 
 of the cross; which custom our illiterate vulgar do, for the 
 most part, to this day keep up, by signing a cross for their 
 mark, when unable to write their names. And indeed this 
 inability to write, and therefore making a cross in its stead, is 
 honestly avowed by Csedwaller, a Saxon king, at the end of 
 one of his charters.* In like manner, and for the same 
 insurmountable reason, the Normans (a brave but illiterate 
 nation), at their first settlement in France, used the practice of 
 sealing only, without writing their names, which custom con- 
 tinued when learning made its way among them, though the 
 reason for doing it had ceased ; and hence the charter of 
 Edward the Confessor to Westminster Abbey — himself being 
 brought up in Normandy, — was witnessed only by his seal, and 
 is generally thought to be the oldest sealed charter of any 
 authenticity in England. At the Conquest, the Norman lords 
 brought over into this kingdom their own fashions, and intro- 
 duced waxen seals only, instead of the English method of 
 writing their names, and signing with the sign of the cross." 
 (Bk. ii. c. 20.) 
 
 Indeed the barons did not possess the accomplishment df 
 penmanship — I frankly avow it ; but I have yet to learn, that, 
 chivalry to which the best breeding of the nineteenth century 
 is boorishness ; that, honour to which the code of existing high- 
 mindedness is shame ; that, aspirations to which our boasted 
 philanthropy is mean and grovelling — are as feathers when put 
 in the balance with that quill-driving art, which the lowest 
 counter-jumper would think it too insignificant to mention — 
 from the acquisition of which not all the bungling of all the 
 school boards in creation can exclude the poor gutter-arab! 
 
 To be able to write is not that supreme and all essential 
 attribute you would have us believe. How has the genesis of 
 law been described? From the isolated "themists" or direct 
 pronouncements of Zeus to the precedents thereupon formed; 
 and then from these to customs, upon which direct legislation 
 is built — oral tradition being the instrument of transmission 
 till superseded by the written statute or code of the legislator.! 
 Through what channel have the immortal poems of Homer 
 come down? You can hardly be ignorant of the general 
 opinion entertained by the critics, for the cr^/Aara Kvypa (II. vi. 
 168) may be explained as symbolic just as well as graphic 
 representations, whilst there is every probable ground for sup* 
 
 * "Propria maun, pro ignorantia litterarum, signum sanetffi crncis expressi 
 et subscripsi." (Seld. Jan. Ang. i. 1, s. 42.) 
 f Maine's Ancient Law. 
 
( 161 ) 
 
 posing, that, prior to the general collection by Pisistratus— at 
 least originally — both the Iliad and Odyssey were handed 
 down from generation to generation of rhapsodists by mere 
 recitation. Did the greatest of human moral philosophers 
 need pen and ink to promulgate those ethical lessons, which 
 shall be taught as long as the race of man endures ? Nor is it 
 so very plain we should never have heard of Socrates but for 
 Plato, who somewhere deplores the existence of books at all, 
 seeing they so extinguish original thought. The very fact of 
 written memorials makes disciples less careful of the doctrines 
 and reputation of their master; and as the Pythagorean philo- 
 sophy, though unwritten, was preserved and diffused, so the 
 Aristotelian ethics, though written, were during their ages of 
 concealment practically lost and unknown ! 
 
 If, however, you insist, I am willing to allow that the 
 inability of the barons to subscribe their names to documents 
 was somewhat blameworthy or, at any rate, not altogether 
 creditable. But, in retaining seals, do we retain the badge of 
 barbarism ? Do our instruments retain the stigma of shame 
 because they so often employ the term " assigns " — originally 
 introduced for the sake of those born out of wedlock.* 
 
 Do we retain the Ptolemaic theory of the universe, because 
 we speak of the rising and setting of the heavenly bodies and 
 the motion of the sun and stars, as if Copernicus and Galileo 
 had never lived ? Did the early Church retain idolatry, because 
 she appropriated to Christian worship the temples of the con- 
 verted Pagans ? Convenience and expediency have suggested 
 the propriety of adoption in each case ; and you might as well 
 fire out at the Rhodian law of general average, or indeed at the 
 jus receptum at large, as at the employment of seals — for it is 
 present adoption not past antecedents that must be regarded in 
 either. But it is the old story — when you have no case, abuse 
 the attorney on the other side ! and so, the gnawing conscious- 
 ness of the intrinsic weakness of your attack upon our system 
 of conveyancing has driven you to that last and meanest of 
 shifts — to distract attention by singling out some irrelevant 
 topic and thereupon emptying the vessel of malignant spleen. 
 
 It is to be lamented that virulent diatribes against the form 
 and framework of our deeds have so monopolized your attention 
 as to leave no room for an examination or account of their 
 genealogy. This with your leave I shall now supply. 
 
 * " Ne ceux qi entrent par feffemenz de bastardz, dount les bastardz ne furent 
 mie feffez a lour assignez; car pur favour de bastardz furent primes assignez 
 trovez pur mettre en feffementz." (Britton, L. ii. c. 16.) 
 
 M 
 
( 162 ) 
 
 " Anglo-Saxon conveyances consisted," he says, " principally 
 of these things :— - 
 
 " 1st. The grantor's name and title are stated. In the older 
 charters the description is very simple. It is more full in those 
 of a later period ; but the grants of Edgar are generally dis- 
 tinguished from those of other kings by a pompous and inflated 
 commencement. 
 
 " 2nd. A recital is usually inserted, in many instances pre- 
 ceding the donor's name. Sometimes it states his title, or some 
 circumstances connected with it. Sometimes the recital is on 
 the brevity and uncertainty of life. . . . 
 
 " 3rd. The conveying words follow, which are usually ' Do 
 etconcedo;' 'donare decrevimus' . . . or other terms of equiva- 
 lent import, either of Latin or Saxon. 
 
 " 4th. The person's name then occurs to whom the land is 
 granted. . . . 
 
 " 5th. What lawyers call the consideration of a deed is com- 
 monly inserted. This is sometimes 'Pro intimo caritatis affectu,' 
 ' Pro ejus humili obedientia.,' and such like. Often it is for 
 money paid, or a valuable consideration. 
 
 " 6th. The premises are then mentioned. . . . 
 
 " 7th. The nature of the tenure is then subjoined, whether 
 for life or lives, or in perpetuity, or whether any reversion is to 
 ensue. 
 
 " 8th. The services from which the land is liberated and 
 those to which it is to continue subject are then mentioned. 
 
 " 9th. Some exhortations — not to disturb donation, and some 
 imprecations on those who attempt such disturbance. 
 
 " 10th. The date, the place of signature if a royal grant, and 
 the witnesses usually conclude it. The date is sometimes in 
 the beginning."* 
 
 " No very material change in the form or language of con- 
 veyances appears to have ensued immediately upon the Norman 
 Conquest. The language, until the time of King John, was 
 Latin or Anglo-Saxon; after that reign French generally came 
 into use along with Latin; and during the reigns of Edw. III., 
 Rich. II., Hen. IV., and Hen. V., legal instruments were 
 frequently in the French language. . . . The ' Boke of Instru- 
 ments,' published in 1543, contains more Latin forms than 
 English; but 'West's Symboheography,' which appeared in 
 1594, more English than Latin. 
 
 " About the reigns of Hen. III. and Edw. I. conveyances 
 assumed the shape, and the division into several formal parts, 
 
 * Turner, Hist. Anglo-Saxons, ii. 668. 
 
( 163 ) 
 
 .which are still generally in use." (Davidson's Precedents and 
 Forms in Conveyancing, Introd. ) 
 
 Modern conveyancing was gradually brought to perfection 
 by Nathaniel Pigot, who died 1739, James Booth, Mr. Fearne, 
 Ralph Bradley and Charles Butler, who flourished at the close 
 of the last century, to whom must be added Lewis Duval, who 
 died in 1844. 
 
 Thus by slow progress, by laborious and continuous improve- 
 ment, have our instruments acquired that matchless perfection 
 of precision, completeness, and provision, which all the beadledom 
 registration and notarial interference in esse or in posse have 
 not and never shall bestow upon our Continental neighbours — ■ 
 a perfection that could never have been attained amongst our- 
 selves but for the humanity, generosity, and charity of the good 
 old times, when the much-favoured papists were tolerantly shut 
 out from every profession, and, in consequence, devoted their 
 whole energies to the one branch of the law they might follow, 
 and that branch having thus a greater amount of attention 
 happily concentrated upon it was brought to a higher degree of 
 excellence than any other. 
 
 I shall not stop to point out in detail the splendid mechanism 
 of a conveyance deed, but as you have so much dilated upon 
 registration, I refer you to the Report of the Conveyancing 
 Commission, 1850, where you will find that registration of 
 assurances both on the Continent and in England has generally 
 obtained or been aimed at instead of registration of titles. 
 
 I have no doubt you will jump to the conclusion that any 
 defects in the Continental system are to be attributed to regis- 
 tration, being by the former instead of by the latter method. 
 But surely this is to see only the black side of the shield, for- 
 getting there may well be a white side ; and that the very 
 prevalence of registration of assurances is proof of its superiority 
 over registration of titles. 
 
 In England also, since the first commencement in 1660, 
 registration of assurances has always been contemplated, save 
 in the bill of Lord Cairns in 1859 — in the act of Lord West- 
 bury, 1862 (which eventually proved to be in fact a registration 
 of assurances), and in the present bill of Lord Cairns. 
 
 As you have dwelt so much on the new measure, I may be 
 allowed to make a few observations on its general character, 
 premising that it is perhaps the least imperfect of those wild 
 endeavours to overthrow the noblest system of conveyancing in 
 existence, which at times startle and make the world stand 
 aghast. Just as the revolutionists profit by the experience of 
 past defeats, so that each successive assault on society becomes 
 
 m 2 
 
( 164 ) 
 
 more formidable, even so have the fell concoctors of this regis- 
 tration bill shown a wily astuteness, worthy of a better cause, 
 in attempting to cover and strengthen those unprotected flanks, 
 whereby discomfiture has heretofore been courted. But their 
 nefarious councils shall again be scattered on the four winds -of 
 heaven. 
 
 It is in vain they attempt to avoid the dangers they pretend 
 were the cause of Lord Westbury's act proving a failure. 
 That elaborate and complicated enactment was supposed to be 
 a distinct advance on the bills of 1859; and even Lord St. 
 Leonards, notwithstanding his decided and now fully-justified 
 opposition, preferred the statute to either the bill or the recom- 
 mendations, pure and simple, of the Royal Commission, 1857. 
 In fact, how were these recommendations contrasted with the Act 
 of 1862 ? " The result was, that when they had got an estate, 
 they with one hand put on the register an apparent title and 
 with the other hand closed up the register, with an infinite 
 number of inhibitions, caveats and cautions, which must be got 
 rid of before any dealings with it could take place." (Speech 
 of Lord Selborne, then Solicitor-General, 1862, Hans. 167). 
 The great advantage of Lord Westbury's scheme was made to 
 consist in putting a real, not a fictitious, owner on the register. 
 How far that may be true, and how far the present bill departs 
 therefrom, I commend to your consideration. 
 
 Time tests all things ; and the prediction of Lord St. Leo- 
 nards has been realized. The Act of 1862 has turned out to 
 be " An Act for the Registration of Assurances in disguise ;" 
 and so will the measure of 1875, if passed into law — for what 
 else can be the effect of those innumerable caveats, covenants 
 running with the land, charges, incumbrances, fractioning of 
 estates and other entries too numerous to mention ? Then it is 
 a delusion to think that practically this, as the former act, will 
 not be for the registration of indefeasible titles alone. It is 
 true the contents of a man's muniments will not be set forth, 
 and that there are careful provisions for preventing inspection 
 of the register save by parties interested ; but will any one with 
 either a qualified or possessory title desire to run the danger of 
 that fact being discovered by appearing on the office books in so 
 unsatisfactory a character ? Or is it imagined the cautions and 
 other entries will not afford abundant scent to put the quick- 
 nosed busy bodies, who under various excuses will certainly get 
 access to the register, into possession of all their neighbours' 
 affairs, just as much as if the documents were transcribed at 
 length ? For the matter of expense— it is six to one and half 
 a dozen to the other. You appear before the registrar— he 
 
( 165 ) 
 
 refers to the superior courts — you appeal to the Court of Chan- 
 cery—and eventually to that ghost-like entity— the Supreme 
 Appellate Court — pray where is the saving over an application 
 under the Act of 1862 ? 
 
 There is no general provision for mapping — a defect which, 
 if it renders registration less complete, at any rate saves the 
 country from premature bankruptcy. But it would seem it is 
 within the power of the registrar to require an accompanying 
 map, when it is desired to enter an indefeasible title. Now 
 how much do you think the cost of twenty-seven maps fur- 
 nished under Lord Westbury's act came too ? Why merely to 
 a trifle of 270/. — giving an average cost of 10Z. each — an item, 
 I am mean enough to think, ought not to be altogether over- 
 looked in the " leetle bill " we may have to pay the piper under 
 the latest edition of registration. 
 
 From this question of outlay we may naturally pass to the 
 other economic bearings of the bill, the most important of which 
 is the fatal blow aimed at the only profitable safe investment in 
 these days of commercial integrity to the ill-starred capitalist. 
 One might have thought that purse-tricks on a large scale, 
 Tammanay rings, and the delicious music of windings-up, that 
 issues with such sweet unbroken melody from the Court of 
 Chancery, would have satisfied the most insatiable thirst for 
 the commission of fraud and dishonesty. Moderation, how- 
 ever, is a quality fast disappearing from the face of the earth ; 
 and so the land must be brought into the already over-gorged 
 market of iniquities to pander a new article of unfair dealing. 
 It used to be said men liked to sink their savings in land, 
 because they knew " it could not run away whilst they were 
 asleep." That pleasing assurance is no longer to minister 
 balmy consolation to the troubled soul. The aim and ambition 
 of the conspirators against our system of conveyancing is to 
 make land as easily and cheaply transferable as stock — in other 
 words, as capable of being used for the violation of a trust, just 
 as if anyone in his senses does not prefer to pay so much more 
 and travel by the ordinary mail, with the strong probability of 
 being killed, to going by the cheap excursion, with the certainty 
 of death ! Land when once on the register is clean and free 
 from every claim, save only such claims as are guarded by 
 cautions. The Court of Chancery is bearded within the sanctum 
 sanctorum of its own dominions, for all the equities that might 
 hitherto have been followed into the land are smothered on a 
 transfer other than to a volunteer; and the trembling widow 
 and helpless orphan are to be deprived of that constructive 
 
( 166 ) 
 
 notice, which heretofore had been so frequently a protection 
 even against a purchaser for valuable consideration. 
 
 By sects. 88, 89, when the registered proprietor contemplates 
 a transfer, the registrar is to send notice to all persons who have 
 entered cautions. The notice is directed to the address in the 
 United Kingdom previously given, and is enclosed in an en- 
 velope marked externally — " Office of Land Registry." The 
 Postmaster-General is to give directions for the immediate 
 return to the office of these letters in case the persons to whom 
 they are sent no longer retain the given address. If, however, 
 at the expiration of seven days, the letter is not returned, the 
 transfer on the register may be accomplished whether or no the 
 cautioner appears. This is sharp-shooting enough and one 
 might suppose an advertisement in the " leading journal" would 
 do no harm — especially to those unfortunate claimants, who, 
 having entered no caution, ought still to be given one last 
 chance before the bolt is drawn and they are launched into an 
 eternity of lacklands. 
 
 The act carefully provides for several standing sources of 
 litigation which, however desirable and beneficial in itself from 
 a humanitarian point of view, will nevertheless meet with the 
 condemnation of the economist. Of course there will be a 
 grand flourish of trumpets in the courts to begin with, but how 
 often you may expect a repetition of the saine you will gather 
 from my subsequent remarks. Here I allude en passant to 
 sect. 41, which provides that, on the death of the registered 
 proprietor of freehold land, a person is to be registered in his 
 place by appointment of the registrar (subject to appeal) on the 
 application of any person interested in the land. Who are 
 interested parties I leave you to guess — only observe the mak- 
 ings of a fine Irish fight, when all the interested parties dis- 
 agree ! ! 
 
 There is certainly no inconsistency in the bill — certainly not ! 
 Thus, by sect. 73, the superior courts are made courts of 
 reference for questions of law and fact propounded by the regis- 
 trar; and, by sect. 113, the Court of Chancery is made a court 
 of appeal from the decision of the registrar, from which an 
 ultimate appeal lies to the Supreme Appellate Court (?) and the 
 County Courts are also to be made courts of appeal from the 
 decisions of registrars — with nothing more than all the powers 
 of the Court of Chancery, which latter, however, is made the 
 ultimate court of appeal from the County Courts — to flaunt, we 
 may presume, in haughty show before us, the omnipotence of 
 an act of parliament, in transferring all the wisdom and juris- 
 
( 167 ) 
 
 diction of the higher to the lower tribunal ! Then persons not, 
 exceeding the prescribed number may be entered as joint pro- 
 prietors ; but no one is to appear on the register as the owner 
 of an undivided share. The Judicature Act (?) seems to have 
 been in view when the highest court of appeal was in con- 
 templation. 
 
 Again, there is no confusion in the bill — oh dear, no! — 
 certainly not ! Thus, by sect. '82, two or more persons may be 
 entered on the register as proprietors, with a note appended 
 that no transfer shall be effected, when by death or otherwise 
 these proprietors are reduced below a certain number, but that 
 the vacant places must first be filled up. Suppose there is no 
 such note and there are originally three persons entered on the 
 register — one of whom dies — is it certain a valid transfer can 
 be effected by the remaining two ? 
 
 By sect. 42, on the death of a registered proprietor of lease- 
 holds his executor or administrator is to be entered in his stead. 
 Suppose the number of executors or administrators exceeds the 
 prescribed number that may be registered, who then will obtain 
 the honoured place ? 
 
 ' The bill is ushered in before the public with the very modest 
 pretension of leaving the law as it is, but still of cheapening 
 and simplifying the mode of transfer. You will very soon per- 
 ceive the veracity of this pretension is quite in keeping with its 
 humility. Thus some of the warmest advocates of the measure 
 have exhausted themselves in eulogizing the manner in which 
 constructive notice is swept away ! What becomes of the act* 
 making a mortgage a primary charge upon the land is more 
 easily imagined than described ! 
 
 ~- Covenants are still to run with the land, but it will go hard 
 with poor Spencer's case when it has to decide the various 
 rights and obligations on an assignment — some of the covenants 
 being entered and some unentered on the register — not to speak 
 of the very simple circumstances that may arise, when one, in a 
 long chain of assignees, happens to register the lease itself. 
 
 \The separation of surface and minerals in this bill will, 
 perhaps, be as effective as the enactment that, in the absence of 
 an intention to the contrary, all the powers usually conferred 
 should be considered as inserted in every mortgage deed.f 
 Effective or not, however, is not the question ; but rather how, 
 in so small a point, there is no deviation from the former law ! 
 Then there can be little doubt the law of merger remains intact ! 
 for, suppose a registered leasehold and the unregistered fee to 
 
 v. * 17 & 18 Vict. c. 113. f 23 & 24 Vict. c. 145. 
 
( 168 ) 
 
 centre in the same person— either the entry is not worth the 
 paper it is written on or there is no swallowing up of the lesser 
 in the greater estate ! 
 
 These are a few examples of the manner in which the bill 
 preserves the law as it was ; but, as if such a recommendation 
 were not strong enough, "the glorious uncertainty of the law," 
 so popular amongst the masses, is enshrined in clause 13, which 
 provides that registration shall not be final as to boundaries ; 
 so that a registered estate of ten may, on closer examination, 
 turn out to be but an estate of seven acres ! 
 
 It is very melancholy to reflect that a measure possessing so 
 many advantages and extended at one slap to the whole of 
 England, instead of to a single county, as those stupid and 
 tentative Commissioners advised in 1857, should be doomed to 
 an inoperative existence. The measure, as I have already said, 
 will prove—" an act for the registration of assurances in dis- 
 guise " — notwithstanding the death-like struggles of its pro- 
 moters to avoid that catastrophe. You have seen how the 
 register . will be crowded ; but to give you a more accurate 
 idea : — " the different registered titles with respect to different 
 interests in the same piece of land, that might arise under this 
 bill, which was to make the title to land so simple, were as 
 follows: — Freehold in surface of land, freehold in minerals, 
 freehold in rent, leasehold in surface of land, leasehold in 
 minerals, leasehold in rent — any number of sub-leases in every 
 one of the three before-mentioned particulars : — Estate by 
 curtesy in every one of the before-named freehold interests — 
 Estate by dower in the same — and any number of registered 
 charges on any of the before-mentioned interests. Besides all 
 these registered titles affecting the same piece of land, there 
 might be the unregistered charge by deposit of land certificate 
 on every one of the before-mentioned interests, whether free- 
 hold, leasehold, by curtesy, or by dower." (Sp. of Sir F.. 
 Goldsmid, 1874, Hans. 220.) 
 
 Assume, however, that the bill really proves to be for the 
 registration of title as it professes : still, as I have previously 
 shown, indefeasible titles alone will be registered. Grant that 
 possessory titles will be entered to the utmost degree : yet less 
 than one-third of the land in England and Wales will be 
 within the operation of the bill ; for by the report of a par- 
 liamentary committee (Sp. of Mr. Law, Hans. 220, p. 1252) 
 it appears that seventy per cent, of all the land within that 
 portion of the United Kingdom, fit for cultivation, is in settle- 
 ment. Now even where land in settlement may be put on the 
 register, it will not ; and the observations of Lord St. Leonards 
 
( 169 ) 
 
 are as applicable to this as to Lord Westbury's bill. " He was 
 not till this moment aware that the bill invited men settling 
 their estates on marriage to have recourse to the register. 
 Suppose the settlor's attorney to advise him to apply to the 
 court for a title, he would naturally say, " What ! do you doubt 
 my title ?' ' Oh, no,' would be the reply. ' Then why apply 
 to give me a title when I already have it ?' ' Ay,' the attorney 
 says, ' but you may want to sell.' ' To sell !' says the owner, 
 * I never mean an acre of my estate to be sold from my sons 
 and my sons' sons, to the latest generation, as far as the law 
 will permit it to remain in settlement.' " (Hans. 165, p. 370.) 
 
 But, supposing every rood in England and "Wales could be 
 registered, the entries would yet not be numerous. There is 
 nothing more hateful to Englishmen than that prying and 
 inquisitorial procedure so much in vogue on the Continent. 
 They would make almost any sacrifice rather than have their 
 affairs thus tampered with and published to all the world. The 
 Saxon temperament will never endure such petty restrictions 
 on liberty — be the gain what it might. Least of all will the 
 people of this country put themselves into the hands of a sub- 
 official like the registrar, whose meddling would be so much 
 more intolerable than the meddling of a person, whose status 
 ranked with that of the judges of the land. " The multiplication 
 of judges was said to be an evil, but a far greater evil was the 
 multiplication of a species of officer, of whom there were too 
 many already, sometimes called registrars and sometimes called 
 commissioners, with powers which very closely resembled the 
 powers of judges, without their weight and responsibility." 
 (Sp. of Lord Cairns, 1862, Hans. 167, p. 249.) Disagreeable 
 enough it sometimes is to open one's affairs to one's solicitor ; 
 but the disclosure differs in kind from a revelation to a public 
 official or body, which would be a hundred times more un- 
 pleasant. 
 
 There yet remains the grand and insuperable objection to 
 the present and all similar bills — they are self-contradictory on 
 the face of them. Their object is to simplify — their effect must 
 be to complicate. One would have thought the spirit of a 
 framer of the Statute of Uses had descended on Lord Westbury 
 as he deplored the existence in the same hereditaments of con- 
 current legal and equitable estates as the cause and root of the 
 complexities of title. (Hans. 165, p. 254.) Yet what did his 
 act and what does the present bill do ? To legal and trust, 
 they add registered estates ; and thus you have the register, 
 "with all its cautions, &c, and, behind the register, all the old 
 dealings with deeds — altered in no other respect, except length 
 
( 170 ) 
 
 and number of recitals, which, as becomes the dignity of a 
 great piece of legislation, will be considerably enlarged by 
 setting forth in addition to all the former, the various registered 
 transactions ! 
 
 I may dismiss the subject of the present bill in the words of 
 Mr. O. Morgan : — " For the last 200 years the idea of a perfect 
 land registry had been a sort of philosopher's stone, after which 
 English conveyancers and real property lawyers had been 
 seeking in vain." (Hans. 220, p. 1245.) 
 
 You have now my opinion on the Land Transfer Bill, and I 
 shall he curious to observe if you still stick to your favourable 
 impression concerning it. I can hardly believe you will again 
 propound that still wilder scheme of your own — a clean and 
 clear riddance of the whole law of real property. On the 
 contrary, I trust you are now recovered to a healthy state of 
 mind, and let me further trust you will not be, like the un- 
 grateful patient who, once convalescent, forgets his healer, but 
 often have a kindly thought for 
 
 Yours with deep respect, 
 
 John Doe, Esq. Bichard Boe. 
 
 Whiteacre, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 My dear Boe, 
 
 You seem to have been playing at blindman's buff and 
 to have made every other but the right guess. There is one, 
 and, I believe, but one of the assemblage of considerations, 
 adduced in support of the Land Transfer Bill, you have 
 studiously ignored, except indeed with a back-hand slap of 
 abuse. Had that presented itself fairly and received the least 
 reflection, the veil must have been torn from your eyes. 
 
 What means that outcry against registration, as though it 
 were a new and untried intruder ? Has no provident uncle or 
 thoughtful aunt committed to your trust their nepotal bounties 
 in the 3 per cents? Or is it possible you have never 
 heard of the Merchant Shipping Act ? The books of the 
 Bank of England and the register of ships have justly kindled 
 the enthusiasm of our conveyancing reformers. The bank 
 recognizes no trusts but enters as fundholders the name or 
 names of the persons appointed by those, to whose account the 
 
( 171 ) 
 
 consols are standing, and with the entry the ownership is 
 passed. Still a cestui que trust is not without protection ; for, 
 if he has reason to suppose an improper disposition is about to 
 be effected, he may, by application to the Court of Chancery, 
 obtain a distringas or stop order, which will prevent a transfer 
 without the permission of the court. Now the cautions in the 
 Land Transfer Bill will perform the office of a distringas or 
 stop order, whilst the register itself will in clearness, principle, 
 and ease of working approach the bank ledgers and ship 
 registers. By the Merchant Shipping Act, 17 & 18 Vict. 
 c. 104, s. 19, no seagoing vessel shall have the privileges of a 
 British ship unless registered. The property in registered 
 ships is supposed to be divided into sixty-four equal parts, and 
 any person or persons not more than five may be registered as 
 the owner of a part or parts, but not of a fraction thereof, 
 provided the total number of owners does not exceed thirty- 
 two. Every transfer of a registered ship is by bill of sale 
 under seal, according to a prescribed form, which specifies the 
 number and date of registry, the name, build, port of registry, 
 and nature of the ship, with her full description and tonnage. 
 The name of the transferee is entered as owner on the register ; 
 and the fact of entry endorsed on the bill of sale. No dealing 
 is recognized unless it appears on the register, which does not 
 admit trusts or any entries, save those of owners and mortgagees. 
 
 Can anything be more simple than dealings with stock and 
 ships, and could our reformers, still retaining the antiquated 
 nonsense of real property law, have chosen a better pattern for 
 facilitating the transfer of land ? " In five minutes and at an 
 expense less than five shillings, you may make a contract for, 
 and actually transfer, such a ship as the Himalaya or the Great 
 Eastern." " Under this bill any intending purchaser of an 
 estate will have only to say to the vendor, ' I will give you so 
 much money for your estate as soon as you show me that your 
 name is on the register, and that there are no caveats. If 
 there are caveats you must settle with them, and, when you 
 have settled with them, transfer the estate to me, and here is 
 your money.'" ( Sp. of Lord Cairns, 1859, Hans. 152, p. 280.) 
 Thus the Land Transfer Bill introduces no new kind of estate 
 as you audaciously declared, but merely an improved mode of 
 conveyance. Nor is the law changed, nor is there confusion, 
 nor is there inconsistency, save in such minutias as none but a 
 low order of intelligence would ever notice — minutise, which I 
 admit may ruin thousands, in order that millions may be 
 benefited. 
 
 Then, if you have done me the honour to peruse my last 
 
{ 172 ) 
 
 letter and are nattering enough to give me credit for the truth 
 of my statements, you will know from the case of Ireland, how 
 much prized is that indefeasible title, which it is one of the 
 chief merits of the Land Transfer Bill to confer. Indeed it 
 was last year stated by a noble lord, that the Duke of Leinster 
 had mentioned to him his idea of passing all his estates through 
 the Landed Estates Court, so impressed was he with the ad- 
 vantages of having a parliamentary title. ( Sp. of Lord O'Hagan, 
 Hans. 218, p. 1670.) 
 
 Then look at Australia ; " In the Australian colonies a 
 system of registration, following as nearly as possible the re- 
 commendations contained in the Report of 1857, had been 
 established. It had been introduced into South Australia in 
 1861, and at later periods into New South Wales, Tasmania, 
 and Victoria ; and he found that, within a period of barely 
 nine years, nearly 20,000 titles had been registered, represent- 
 ing property to the amount of something like 13,000,000/. or 
 14,000,000/., whilst the total number of recorded dealings with 
 property approached 90,000. These facts showed, he thought, 
 that a system of registration was not likely to interfere with 
 dealings in land." ( Sp. of Sir R. Baggallay, 2nd Read. Land 
 Transfer Bill, Hans. 220.) 
 
 I am not at all distressed at that- paternal tone, in which you 
 express your solicitude for my mental convalescence, but ever 
 harping on the same thing will stale the best of jokes, and that 
 reiterated compassion has grown out of its original funniness. 
 You never attempt to show, in what the wildness of my scheme 
 of a general extension to all property of the law of personalty 
 consists ; and, if I am not mistaken, ipse dixits are especially 
 out of place in the mouth of a lawyer. Though I am but a 
 layman I have a queer weakness for supporting statements that 
 are not self-evident, and whilst the feasibility and expediency 
 of my proposals may from their intuitive character render 
 explanations difficult, they will perhaps afford the most apt 
 illustration of the personal peculiarity just mentioned. 
 
 I might cite many countries where the uniformity in the 
 rules governing moveables and immoveables shows that any 
 primordial and radical distinction is a pure matter of accident, 
 but I shall content myself with the Roman Law. The divi- 
 sions of things are thus set forth:— (1) " Summa itaque rerum 
 divisio in duos articulos deducitur ; nam alias sunt divini juris, 
 alias humani." (2) " Qusedam prseterea res corporales sunt, 
 qusedam incorporates." (3) Quasdam res mancipi sunt, quse- 
 dam nee mancipi. _ (Gaii, Insts. ii.) Res mancipi are thus 
 enumerated by Ulpian, " Mancipi res sunt prasdia in Italico 
 
( 173 ) 
 
 solo, tarn rustica, qualis est fundus, quam urbana, qualis domus; 
 item jura praediorum rusticorum, velut via, iter, actus, aquaa- 
 ductus ; item servi, et quadrupedes qua? dorso collove doman- 
 tur, velut boves, muli, equi, asini (Ulph. Reg. xix. 1): to 
 which, enumeration is to be added — the entire patrimony when 
 a will was made, per ass et libram, (familia sua id est patri- 
 monium (Gaii, Insts. ii. 102). It thus appears that immove- 
 ables, whether houses or lands, and rural servitudes (iter, via, 
 actus) on Italian soil were so far distinguished from the general 
 class of moveables as to require the formalities of the manci- 
 patio for their transfer. But even such immoveables and 
 servitudes might be transferred by a cessio in jure of the 
 haereditas, which, though including res corporales and lands 
 amongst the rest, was itself a res incorporalis. (Gaii, Insts. 
 ii. 340 
 
 Everyone, however, knows that the distinction of res man- 
 cipi and res nee mancipi was altogether fortuitous, those things 
 only being ranked in the former class, which participated in 
 the jus civile and had peculiar value in the eyes of the ancient 
 Roman, when that distinction was irrevocably fixed, so that 
 camels, elephants, and other animalia feras naturas, even after 
 taming, were still ranked as res nee mancipi (" ad rem non per- 
 tinet, quod hasc animalia etiam collo dorsove domantur," Gaii, 
 Insts. ii. 16); and so were lands of the provinces, unless 
 indeed those to which the jus Italicum was accorded. 
 
 The inclusion of beasts of burden — (I had better not say 
 anything about slaves, as you will perhaps pretend that they, 
 like our own villains and niefs, savoured of the realty) — in the 
 same category as lands demonstrates how accidental was the 
 distinction in their transfer from that of the general mass of 
 property. Then with what contempt does Justinian sweep 
 away that barbarous difference and make simple traditio in 
 all cases effective for the conveyance of property : — Antiquas 
 subtilitatis ludibrium per hanc decisionem expellentes, nullam 
 esse differentiam patimur inter dominos apud quos vel nudum 
 ex jure Quiritiurn nomen vel tantum in bonis reperitur ; quia 
 nee hujusmodi volumus esse distinctionem nee ex jure Quiritiurn 
 nomen quid nihil ab asnigmate disceptat, nee unquam videtur, 
 nee in rebus apparet, sed vacuum et superfluum verbum, per 
 quod animi juvenum, qui ad primam legum veniunt audientiam, 
 perterriti; ex primis eorum cunabulis inutiles legis antiquse 
 dispositiones accipiunt : sed sit plenissimus et legitimus quisque 
 dominus, sive servi, sive aliarum rerum ad se pertinentium. 
 (C. 7,25, Const. Justin. — De nudo jure Quiritiurn tollendo.) 
 
 The jurisprudence of other countries shows there is nothing 
 
( 174 ) 
 
 in the nature of realty which prevents it being subjected to the 
 same rules as personalty. But did any doubt remain upon the 
 subject that doubt is removed by our own law, which, in the 
 case of chattels real, applies most of the principles governing 
 chattels personal. There ! rack your brain until the impossi- 
 bility of my proposal is demonstrated by as adamantine a chain 
 of argument as the impossibility of motion was once demon- 
 strated by Zeno — my answer is that of Diogenes — Solvitur 
 ambulando ! It may not be out of place to state the modes in 
 which property in goods is transferred inter vivos. Those modes 
 are : — -1. By gift accompanied with delivery of possession — 
 actual or constructive. 2. By deed of gift without delivery 
 of possession. 3. By bargain and sale — sometimes with, some- 
 times without delivery of possession — including under this head 
 —barter. 4. By assignment — as of negotiable instruments and 
 bills of lading. 5. By general acts of parliament — as Bank- 
 ruptcy Act. 6. By entering into certain status — as marriage — 
 (where the husband acquires the wife's choses in possession 
 absolutely and her choses in action sub modo; — partnership, 
 &c. 7. By entry on the books of the bank or on the registers 
 of ships and joint stock companies. 8. By special acts of 
 parliament— royal grants — and letters patent. 
 
 Thus there is variety without superfluity in the methods of 
 conveying moveables — applicable with little or no change to 
 the conveying of immoveables. I need not again allude to 
 transfer ex testamento — the uniformity of which established by 
 the Wills Act is, as I before stated, a striking proof of how 
 easily all property may be submitted to the same rules. 
 
 This letter concludes with the same prayer as its predecessor 
 — that by all means we may have thorough reform— viz. the 
 adoption of my proposal in making the law governing chattels 
 co-extensive with all property — but, if that cannot be, then 
 such an instalment as is shadowed forth in the Land Transfer 
 Bill. 
 
 Est quodam prodire tenus si non datur ultra. 
 
 And so in all sincerity believe me 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 John Doe. 
 Richard Boe, Esq. 
 
( 175 ) 
 
 Blackacre, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 My dear Doe, 
 
 The cerebral process, to which, you have called my atten- 
 tion, will hardly I fear be called into operation by the paradoxes 
 of Eleatics or the tubs of Cynics. Not even the outermost layer 
 of brain tissue can be disturbed by all the concentrated thought 
 I am able to bestow on the rather capacious mare's-nest you 
 have discovered in the justification the law of chattels real 
 furnish, for an extension to immoveables of the rules governing 
 moveables. To a mind that soars in the etherial regions of 
 philosophy, so heavy and mundane an affair as history — above 
 all, history of the barbarous (?) jurisprudence of a small patch, 
 upon the face of an insignificant planet, in one of myriads of 
 solar systems, must be an unmitigated and intolerable bore. 
 
 Yet you have yourself to thank for forcing me to inflict this 
 torment, by reminding you that the grandest tenant in Bel- 
 gravia with a lease of 999 years is, when put into the straight 
 waistcoat of the law, nothing better than an humble bailiff — a 
 degraded care-taker — in fact a sort of private policeman in 
 plain clothes ! 
 
 You need not cry out — Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur 
 in illis — for, although the termrowner has no longer to weed the 
 gardens and cart the refuse from the demesnes of the freeholder, 
 he stands in precisely the same nihilist position, with regard to 
 the creation and limitation of estates, as of yore. Indeed, if 
 you will be kind enough to remember, you must recall, how 
 you yourself, when showing me over your rock of technicality, 
 pointed out one or two spikes of the range of the rule in 
 Shelley's case, which were crystallized out of this very prin- 
 ciple. But why remind you of these facts? — to prove the 
 insignificance of chattels real, and to show you they could not 
 subsist without the substratum of those same freeholds you are 
 so anxious to destroy. 
 
 I much regret the mare's-nest should be so easily robbed, 
 seeing there is in reserve so much more expert and athletic a 
 climber, in the fact, that, search the law where you may, you 
 will search in vain for any branch more technical or unknown 
 than that which treats of chattels real ! Take the student, who 
 has eaten his dinners for a couple of terms, and he will go 
 through the intricacies of fee simples, entails, estates for life, 
 by the curtesy, or in dower, without falter. Take the barrister 
 of ten years' standing, and you will knock him over on the 
 learning of leaseholds — A. agrees with B. by word of mouth 
 
( 176 ) 
 
 for the hire of apartments for six months from to-morrow : C. 
 agrees with D. by word of mouth for board, lodging, and keep, 
 for himself, servant and horse for ten years from to-morrow, at 
 the rate of 200?. per annum : — -an action lies for breach of the 
 second, but not of the first contract. — Suppose two years of a 
 lease to run, and the lessee assigns the residue of the term in 
 writing not under seal — can the assignment be enforced ? 
 
 But it is not necessary to have recourse to the Statute of 
 Frauds or the Amendment of Property Act, to find difficulties. 
 The difference between an actual demise and an agreement for 
 a lease and the doctrines of notice and fixtures furnish thorny 
 points without number. Thus, " A. agrees to let, and B. 
 agrees to take," may operate as words of present demise ; 
 whereas, an agreement by A. to grant, and B. to take a lease, 
 for a certain term, at a fixed rent, is per se only a contract 
 for a future demise. Again — the acceptance of rent, qua rent, 
 after the expiration of a notice to quit, may amount to a waiver 
 of the notice ; but a mere demand of rent, accruing subsequent 
 to that expiration, is not of itself a waiver. A quarter's notice 
 ending at any quarter after the first year will suffice when the 
 demise is — " for One year, and then to continue tenant after- 
 wards, and quit at a quarter's notice" — but, when a house is let 
 " from year to year, to quit at a quarter's notice," the notice 
 must expire at the period of the year at which the tenancy 
 commenced. 
 
 These are petty waifs and strays that float on the surface and 
 superficial bosom of the law of chattels real — waifs and strays 
 that might be found in the common-place book of any embryo 
 lawyer, yet I feel confident they are sufficient, without recurring 
 to any really nice and difficult distinctions on this subject, to 
 drag you down from that high unanswerable dialectic, which was 
 to deal my poor nervous system so serious a shock. 
 
 With this assurance I may proceed to the other portions 
 of your epistle — with the expectation that what I have yet 
 to say will meet with perusal. I was under the impression it 
 was a gross outrage upon philosophical reasoning, to attempt to 
 draw an inference from the sequences in one country to those 
 which might be looked for in another. But let that pass. I am 
 ready to meet you in that fallacious method of induction, by 
 showing there are quite as many countries which do as do not, 
 maintain a distinction in the rules, which govern moveables and 
 immoveables, respectively. 
 
 But I shall follow your own example and allude only to the 
 Roman law, which you flaunt so haughtily in my teeth as 
 though it declared in stentorian tones, that the highest develop- 
 
( 177 ) 
 
 ment of jurisprudence demanded the same law for property of 
 every kind and description, and that the enactment of Justinian 
 was a sample of that legislative interference, which is requisite 
 to the perfecting of every legal system. You have stated that 
 lands on Italian soil were res mancipi, and 1 am perfectly 
 willing to admit the accidental character of such a peculiarity ; 
 as, indeed, the successive designations given to property itself 
 sufficiently manifest. " Le droit de propriete se depouille de 
 ses anciennes appellations quiritaires ; il commence a, prendre le 
 nom plus general, plus philosophique de proprietas, qui designe 
 que la chose nous est appropriee. Ainsi, la philologie, dans 
 les trois noms successifs qui ont ete donnes a ce droit, retrouve 
 l'histoire des_ vicissitudes et des transformations de la societe 
 Romaine. Mancipium, dans les temps primitifs, de manu 
 capere, lorsque la guerre, la lance, sont le moyen d'acquerir 
 par excellence. Dominium, plus tard : c'est la maison (domus) 
 qui est proprietaire, toutes les individualites s'absorbent dans 
 la personne du chef. Enfin, proprietas : la personnalite de 
 chacun, meme des fils de famille, est constitute ; ils ont une 
 propriete a. eux ; ce n'est plus la maison seulement, c'est chaque 
 individu qui peut 6tre proprietaire." (Explication Historique 
 des Instituts de l'Empereur Justinien, par M. Ortolan, Tom. 
 Prem., Histoire et Generalisation, p. 360, 8th ed.) AH this 
 is very true ; and I only wish you had pursued the matter 
 further, and told me how the agro Romano preserves to this 
 day the boundaries traced out by Servius Tullius, and marking 
 the original domain to which the jus civile extended ; how 
 that domain was enlarged to the whole of Italy by the result of 
 the Social War, b. C. 90 ; how all the rest of the empire, with 
 the exception of those places to which the jus Italicum was 
 granted, belonged as ager publicus to the state, and, saving 
 the agri qufestorii and assignati, was therefore unsusceptible of 
 dominium ex jure Quiritium or the formalities of the mancipa- 
 tion. We must look to the ager publicus — to the provinces, if 
 we would institute any comparison between the holding of lands 
 in Roman and English law, inasmuch as they were not subject 
 to the artificial jus civile of ancient times. You know that the 
 lands in the provinces were agri occupatorii, vectigales, or 
 subscivi, according as they were tenanted — by a mere occupant, 
 paying rent and sometimes without any rent — by an emphyteuta, 
 to whom they were farmed out, and who paid rent to the public 
 treasury — or were retained by the state after the distribution of 
 the conquered territory. These latter lands, and sometimes, 
 too, even the allotted portions, were invaded by patrician and 
 powerful plebeian families, and possessed with all the benefits 
 
( 178 ) ' 
 
 of ownership. Thus, they were transmitted as inheritances and 
 were acquirable under the edicts of the preetors by prsescrip- 
 tiones longinqui temporis of ten and twenty years, according as 
 the true owners were present in the. same province or absent, 
 respectively — a rule which Justinian confirmed and extended 
 by making it applicable to Italian as well as provincial soil, at 
 the same time abolishing the biennial usucapion of the Twelve 
 Tables— and, as to moveables, substituting for a one year's a three 
 years' usucapion. (Insts. ii. tit. 6.) Those possessions re- 
 sembled, in not being proprietary, our own estates, none of 
 which are allodial (Co. Litt. 1 b), but, in most other respects, 
 they widely differed. Need I unfold the deeds of injustice with 
 which their history is so sadly associated, and which aroused the 
 indignant passion of Stolo, the Gracchi, and so many other 
 heroes, who fell as martyrs in the cause of fair play ? By the 
 Lex Licinia, De modo agrorum, 366 B. C, no one was to 
 possess more than 500 jugera of land (ne quis amplius quam 
 quingenta agri jugera possideret). With the exception of the 
 promoter, who, for breaking his own law, was fined 1,000 asses, 
 very few persons were prosecuted for violation of this measure, 
 which consequently proved a dead letter. It however furnished 
 the model for the Lex Sempronia, 132 B. C, in which Tib. 
 Gracchus proposed that no citizen should possess more than 
 500 jugera, plus 250 for each child. The lands that would be 
 surrendered in ,consequence were to be distributed amongst the 
 poor citizens, who were to pay therefor an annual rent to the 
 state. With the massacre of its author, this measure also 
 proved abortive ; and so did most of the other agrarian laws 
 down to Caesar's Lex Julia, 63 B. C, which distributed the 
 public lands of the Campaigna amongst poor citizens who had 
 three or more children — a distribution of which about 20,000 
 heads of families availed themselves. 
 
 But all the agrarian laws that could have been devised would 
 have been powerless for good, once the lawless system of paying 
 the soldiery in land instead of in money, came into practice. 
 How pathetically does Virgil describe the rapacity with which 
 the territory of Mantua was thus allotted in B. c. 40, pursuant 
 to the compact of the triumviri, Mark Antony, Lepidus and 
 Caesar Octavianus ! — 
 
 En, unquani patrios longo post tempore fines 
 Pauperis et tuguri congestum cespite culmen, 
 Post aliquot, mea regna videns, mirabor aristas ? 
 Impius htec tam culta novalia miles habebit ? 
 Barbaras has segetes ? en, quo discordia cives 
 Perduxit miseros ! en, quels consevimus agros ! 
 
 Eel, i. 68. 
 
( 179 ) 
 
 Few, however, were the owners who, like the poet, resided on 
 their property. For ages, the simplicity and rigour of a Cincin- 
 natus had been unknown, and the severity of Cato and the other 
 stoics served but to bring out in stronger relief the prevailing 
 luxury and waste. General absenteeism — always disastrous 
 to a country — became utterly destructive when the cultivation 
 of the soil was committed to the unfortunate beings whom 
 capture or birth had reduced to slavery. Labour stimulated 
 by the lash was attended with its usual result — unproductive- 
 ness — an evil which was indefinitely increased by a general 
 abandonment of, or expulsion from, tillage of the free popu- 
 lation. In vain were larger and larger troops of human beings 
 driven to servile toil. Nature resented the outrage offered to 
 her noblest work, and visited — with the chastisement of a con- 
 stantly-diminishing return — man's hateful greed that enthralled 
 his fellow-man. Hence arose the necessity for modifying the 
 condition of the labourer, by giving him that interest in the 
 fruits of his exertions which would partly secure those vigorous 
 efforts that are the attributes of freedom and independence 
 alone. Territorial serfdom replaced personal servitude : — 
 " L'esclavage, tel que l'ont connu les anciens Romains, a com- 
 mence sa transformation ; le servage a pris naissance : a cote 
 de l'asservissement de l'homme a l'homme vient se placer 
 1'asservissement de l'homme a la terre." (Histoire et Genera- 
 lisation, Ortolan, i. 386, 8th ed.) The new class of workmen 
 (the originals of our ancient villains) are known under the 
 names Coloni or Agricolas, of which there were two kinds — 
 1. The Servi Censiti, Adscripticii, or Tributarii. 2. The 
 Inquilini or Coloni Liberi. The feature in common between 
 these two kinds was, that both were equally bound to reside on. 
 the soil they cultivated — were irremovable by their masters — 
 and, on a sale of the lands, passed as an appurtenance to the 
 purchaser. The condition of the servi censiti — so called from 
 being inscribed on the census as servi coloni, and rated for the 
 payment of a personal impost or capitation to the imperial 
 exchequer — approximated to actual slavery. These coloni 
 were, either themselves or their ancestors, slaves. All they 
 had, even their peculium, belonged to their masters. Still 
 they and their families were allowed to occupy the land to 
 which they were attached, and live on its products, yielding 
 their masters a rent, either in kind or in money. The condition 
 of the inquilini, on the other hand, approximated that of free- 
 dom. They were, either themselves or their ancestors, free — 
 they might have property of their own — as well in immoveables 
 as in moveables, poverty and wretchedness having induced them 
 
 n2 
 
( 180 ) 
 
 to descend to a status which, though humbler, afforded, at 
 least, subsistence. These coloni were also entered on the 
 census for a personal impost and for the ordinary tax, if pro- 
 prietors of an immoveable. Although owners in their own 
 right, they had still to pay an annual rent (canon, redditus) to 
 their masters in kind or in money which it was forbidden to 
 raise. The coloni or agricoke had been introduced shortly 
 before the time of Constantine. 
 
 Now why have I been thus particular in stating all these 
 details ? — to prove, that Roman jurisprudence can be no guide 
 or model on the subject of land — which, whether during the 
 Republic or during the Empire, was under artificial ownership, 
 artificial cultivation, in a word, under so many artificial con- 
 ditions, that its transfer, in being effected as that of other 
 property, may also rightly be deemed to have been artificial 
 and not such as the genius of the system would have struck out 
 in a state of natural competition and arm's-length dealing. 
 I shall not revert to the entirely different circumstances which 
 render the argument drawn from the Roman law equally 
 fallacious with the illustrations you would derive from the 
 jurisprudence of other countries. 
 
 There is one thing, however, I cannot pass over — the Empire 
 was like America and Australia in possessing a boundless thinly 
 occupied, or, to a great extent altogether unoccupied, expanse — 
 a fact, which shatters and shivers to a thousand pieces any 
 supposed connexion between the rules, which should govern 
 those vast areas and the limited surface of England. You 
 know, sir, as well as I do, that in the United Kingdom land is 
 a monopolized article, and yet you have dared to hazard a 
 I comparison of the registration and uniformity in the transfer 
 of property obtaining in countries, where land is a commodity 
 in such general supply, that, amongst other significant facts, 
 the great problem of emigration is to confine the immigrants to 
 soil already subjected to cultivation, so as to obtain the com- 
 bination that will render labour most productive, instead of 
 permitting the new comers to set up as landowners for them- 
 selves — so cheap and easy is it to become a proprietor. The 
 boldness is on a par with the coolness of the affront in striving 
 to gain your point by an ignorant oversight on my part — an 
 oversight, too, the commission of which would vainly task 
 crassness the most gross ! 
 
 You urge the example of Australia as furnishing a strong- 
 argument in favour of registration of title in England ; but no 
 inference could be less warranted. In the case of the former, 
 as I have just said, there is that abundance of land, which 
 
( 181 ) 
 
 indefinitely lowers its value ; and the cheapness of the article 
 niakes_ it a bad speculation, to go to the expense of picking 
 flaws in disputable titles. Consequently, a conveyance need 
 not be hedged round with all that care and circumspection, 
 without which no man's holding would be safe in this country. 
 Again, to general differences as in other countries, Australia 
 superadds the very great difference of being a new country. 
 Hence, there are not those historical traditions and longstanding 
 associations, which in an old country like England clog any 
 new movement set on foot. Moreover, registration is com- 
 pulsory in Australia, so that in course of time there can be but 
 one system of transfer. Not so under the registration bill 
 proposed for England ; and, to be sure, if we are to choose the 
 lesser of two evils, it is no doubt better to have the voluntary 
 system here. It is better, I say, because compulsion would be 
 utterly intolerable with us and legal ingenuity would be taxed 
 to devise modes of avoiding the obnoxious tyranny. Yet no 
 measure of registration can be eventually beneficial, unless 
 made compulsory, inasmuch as it will otherwise always lead to 
 complexity by adding another to the various methods of transfer. 
 The bill of last session proposed universal compulsion, except 
 for estates sold at a price not exceeding 300/. — an exception, 
 which it was truly observed " clearly signified and could only 
 signify, that the new method of making out titles would be 
 more expensive than the old." (Sp. of Sir F. Groldsmid, 
 Hans. 220.) 
 
 Thus, the success of registration in Australia affords no 
 ground for expecting similar success in England. Nor do the 
 operations of the Landed Estates Court in Ireland yield any 
 better hope. In the first place, that tribunal is judicial in the 
 fullest sense of the word ; whereas the Land Registry will be a 
 sort of mongrel — half judicial — half official and mechanical. 
 The promoter of the Land Transfer Bill is apparently now, as 
 in 1859, convinced that a "court" is preferable to a "registry;" 
 yet, in order to utilize the unoccupied staff constituted under 
 Lord "Westbury's Act, the fate, of what is put forward as a 
 great measure, is to be jeopardized ! 
 
 In the next place, the success in Ireland is greatly to be 
 attributed to the large number of estates so encumbered and 
 loaded with such complex burdens, that the court was a 
 " tabula in naufragio," resort to which could not make matters 
 worse and might possibly make them better. But in England, 
 though most land is in mortgage, there is no such complication 
 as would render recourse to the registry office equally general, 
 and, if not general, registration can never be advantageously 
 
( 182 ) 
 
 effective. Then, in Ireland, there is the Ordnance Survey, and 
 the General Valuation, and the long-established Registry of 
 Deeds — three powerful engines hi facilitating the working of 
 the Landed Estates Court. England lacks these engines ; nor 
 will the tithe maps, being on no general plan, be much of a 
 substitute. Hence her registration of title starts without those 
 aids, which have been so auxiliary in the sister isle. 
 
 It is not necessary to comment on the table you have given 
 of the modes in which personal property is transferred. 
 Evidently most are in use with regard to realty under certain 
 modifications, and those modifications are obviously suggested 
 by the different nature of immoveables. Certainly, were you 
 not so inconsistent, one might be surprised to see you mention- 
 ing transfer of personalty by delivery of possession, just as if 
 there could be any delivery of land in the same manner, 
 except by symbol ; and thus we are driven to feoffment and 
 livery of seisin — that ancient mode of conveyance branded in a 
 previous letter with the mark of your reprobation ! 
 
 I have now gone through the various positions advanced in 
 your last note, with the exception of the first, which, though 
 thrown to the front as apparently an impregnable outpost, is far 
 the weakest and most untenable of all. You have gloated over 
 the registration of stock and ships, believing its success to be the 
 prototype and precursor of the success, which is to attend the 
 registration of title to land. Really it is astonishing how curious 
 an answer would sometimes have to be given to the pert inquiry, 
 " What's in a name ? " " Magic," in the present instance is one 
 of the most prominent ingredients — for . how else could such 
 wondrous confusion have been wrought in your mind, by the 
 term " registration ?" Can you seriously think that shares in 
 ships, stock, or companies, have anything in the wide world to 
 do with land ? You are aware that such property is personal ; 
 but have you adverted to the fact, that it is not of corporeal, but 
 of incorporeal, nature? for this is the kernel of the whole 
 matter. The truth is shares are susceptible of title registra- 
 tion, for the very reason, that they are — to borrow the language 
 of the commentators of the civil law — res fungibiles ; and in 
 like manner susceptible of such registration are all other things, 
 quae pondere, numero, mensurave constant. But with this ex- 
 ception corporeal chattels are incapable of such registration 
 equally with land, and wherefore ? because their existence is 
 individualized — because one horse will not stand for another 
 horse, as one barrel of oil will stand for another barrel of oil. 
 The distinction of things determined in specie and in genere 
 respectively is found in our own (e. g., bargain and sale of 
 
( 183 ) 
 
 individual objects or of things sold by bulk, measure, &c.) as 
 well asinthe Koman jurisprudence, and, no doubt, finds a place 
 in the jurisprudence of every country, being based on a distinc- 
 tion nature herself supplies. Fungibile things are described in 
 the Institutes (ii. tit. 4, s. 2), as, res quaa usu consumuntur — 
 or, as Cicero and Ulpian have it, res quas in abusu continentur 
 (Top. 50 ; Ulp. Eeg. 24, s. 27)— whereas things not fungibile, 
 are — res, quarum salva substantia utendifruendi potest esse 
 facultas (Ulp. Eeg. 24, s. 26). The real contracts— mutuum 
 and commodatum — bring out the opposed characters in strong 
 relief.. Both were contracts of loan, but the obligations that 
 arose out of each transaction were very different, as appears by 
 the following descriptions : " Re contrahitur obligatio, veluti 
 mutuidatione. Mutui autem datio in iis rebus consistit quae 
 pondere,numero, mensurave constant, veluti vino, oleo, frumento, 
 pecunia numerata, sere, argento, auro ; quas res aut numerando, 
 aut metiendo, aut adpendendo in hoc damus ut accipientium 
 fiant. Et quandoque nobis non esedeni res, sed alias ejusdem 
 naturas et quaHtatis redduntur : unde etiam mutuum appel- 
 latum est, quia ita a me tibi datur, ut ex meo tuum fiat. Et ex 
 eo contractu nascitur actio quas vocatur condictio. 
 
 " Item is cui res aliqua utenda datur, id est commodatur, re 
 obligatur et tenetur commodati actione. Sed is ab eo qui 
 mutuum accepit, longe distat ; namque non ita res datur ut 
 ejus fiat, et ob id de ea re ipsa restituenda tenetur. Et 
 is quidem qui mutuum accepit, si quolibet fortuito casu 
 amiserit quod accepit, veluti incendio, ruina, naufragio, aut 
 latronum hostiumve incursu, nihilominus obligatus permanet. 
 At is qui utendum accepit, sane quidam exactam diligentiam 
 custodiendas rei prsestare jubetur ; nee sufficit ei tantam diligen- 
 tiam adhibuisse, quantam in suis rebus adhibere solitus est, si 
 modo alius diligentior poterit earn rem custodire ; sed propter 
 majorem vim majoresve casus non tenetur, si modo non hujus 
 ipsius culpa in casus intervenerit. Alioquin, si id quod tibi 
 commodatum est peregre tecum ferre malueris, et, vel incursu 
 hostium prasdonumve, vel naufragio, amiseris, dubium non est 
 quin de restituenda ea re tenearis. Commodata autem res tunc 
 proprie intelligitur, si, nulla mercede accepta vel constituta, 
 res tibi utenda data est ; alioquin, mercede interveniente, locatus 
 tibi usus rei videtur, gratuitum enim debet esse commodatum." 
 (Insts. iii. tit. 14, s. 2.) 
 
 I am quite aware that the intention of the parties or circum- 
 stances might transform a res fungibilis into a res non fungibi- 
 lis ; and conversely, as in the case of money in a chest put by 
 Paul : — " Si certos nummos, puta qui in area sint, stipulate sim 
 
( 184 ) 
 
 et hi sine culpa promissoris perierint, nihil nobis debetur." 
 (Dig. vi. s. 1, N. 37.) So, in the case put by Ulpian of a 
 legacy: — "Talis scriptura: quas pecunias legavi, quibus dies 
 adpositus non est, eas heres meus annua bima trima die dato, 
 ad corpora legata non pertinet, sed ad ea quas pondere, numero, 
 mensura continentur. . . . Item si legetur pecunia quas in area 
 est vel vinum quod in apothecis est, dicendum est cessare clausu- 
 lam, quoniam quotiens species legetur cessare diximus." (Dig. 
 xxx. 30.) On the other hand, even an immoveable might 
 become a res fungibilis, as so many acres of land — but here, as 
 in the case of money, an additional circumstance has to be 
 added on, the land must be eadem qualitate et quantitate as the 
 money must be kept in the coffer, and the necessity of this dis- 
 tinguishing circumstance proves that the difference between 
 things determined generically and specifically, is physical and 
 radical, and that Paul's language — " In genere suo magis re- 
 cipiunt functionem per solutionem, quam specie "(Dig. xii. 12), 
 as well as the definition of the commentators — " Quarum una vice 
 alterius fungitur" — are only applicable to things, which in their 
 nature are substitutional. 
 
 To all this you will object with your usual shallowness — " Oh ! 
 but a ship or a railway is an individualized entity in all con- 
 science; yet registration is as successful with them as with 
 consols ! " Poor dreamer ! is it not manifest that registration 
 in the case of ships and companies is successful, because, and 
 because only, the shares are res fungibiles ? Do you suppose 
 that, if instead of distributing the value of a ship into aliquot 
 parts, you were to divide the ship itself into the same number of 
 aliquot parts of equal value, and assign and register the assig- 
 nees of these latter as owners of specific portions — do you. 
 suppose, I say, that the registration would be possible, or if 
 possible, advantageous ? 
 
 And is not this, or rather something more difficult, precisely 
 what is contemplated in the bill as to the registration of title to 
 land ? May it not be said of the present scheme, as it was said 
 of Lord Westbury's Act : — " There was nothing tangible about 
 it — nothing but a piece of paper. One estate was not quite the 
 same as another, but 1,000/. stock was as good as another 1,000/. 
 stock." (Sp. of Ld. St. Leonards, Hans. 152, p. 681.) 
 
 The guilt of the plotters and abettors of these nefarious 
 measures becomes of a deeper dye when it is remembered they 
 act throughout with consummate malice aforethought, for, it 
 may reasonably be presumed, they have all heard of the Court 
 of Chancery, and of the common doctrine that specific per- 
 formance will not be enforced for the transfer of stock, for this 
 
( 185 ) 
 
 very reason, that on payment of the differences a complaining 
 party is in no way damnified, inasmuch as he can go into the 
 market the next day and contract for a subject-matter in all 
 respects similar without disadvantage. Thus are the conspirators 
 put into the dock and convicted of an aggravated assault upon 
 our revered system of conveyancing — an assault as heinous — 
 •would it were as punishable ! as your cowardly attempt to 
 garrotte the whole law of real property ! 
 
 The fungible nature of stock is from the foregoing investi- 
 gation abundantly manifest, and so of shares in ships; the 
 non-fungible nature of land is equally manifest ; thus the 
 fundamentum relationis between the existing and proposed 
 registration breaks down ; and with it crumbles to powder that 
 unsightly bridge of analogical argument, by which you thought 
 to span the impassable gulf, which divides experienced and 
 established success from unrealized and groundless expectation. 
 
 You have spoken of the omnipotence of the law, and who 
 will contest the point ? The law, I own, is omnipotent ; but, 
 I couple the admission with a distinguo. An act of parliament 
 may command a sluice to be put up across a small stream ; or 
 it may command the inhabitants on a particular coast to prevent 
 the tide from ebbing and flowing. A duty is imposed in each 
 case — a violation of which is legally punishable. In the impo- 
 sition of the obligations the law is equally omnipotent but 
 utterly impotent to enforce the performance of its second 
 mandate. So the law may order that immoveables shall be 
 treated as moveables : — in the command there is omnipotence — 
 but what in the execution ? Let the 7 & 8 Vict. c. 76 be a 
 warning against playing with the omnipotence of the law. 
 That statute amongst other omnipotent feats declared " that a 
 ' contingent remainder should be an executory devise !' or, in 
 the sarcastic words of the late Lord Campbell, C, 'that a 
 square should be a circle !' " (Warren's Law Studies, vol. ii. 
 p. 1215, 3rd ed.) 
 
 We all know with what hot haste the 8 & 9 Vict. c. 106, 
 followed on the heels of the previous act to undo the mischief 
 thereunder done or impending. So, unless you want to have 
 another ridiculous exhibition of imbecility, abandon this phantom 
 of registration ; seek not to impose on objects qualities their 
 nature rejects; aim not at the boasted uniformity of the doc- 
 trinaire — in a word (for you will not improve it) be satisfied 
 with the creation, as it is, in the benign and practical spirit of 
 
 Yours most contentedly, 
 
 John Doe, Esq. Richard Roe. 
 
( 186 ) 
 
 "Whiteacre, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 Dear Roe, 
 
 Perhaps there is no more painful sight than the spectacle 
 of faculties misapplied and powers misused. You have your 
 share of gifts — paltry, indeed, though the modicum be! Yet,, 
 by a life of continuous plodding and unremitting industry, you 
 might have risen to the coarser conceptions of justice and 
 honesty. Unfortunately your days and, for that matter, your 
 nights too, have been devoted to the acquisition of the art and 
 mystery of legal legerdemain, and so deeply has this pursuit 
 eaten into the very vitals of your intellectual being, that you 
 are utterly incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong 
 — truth and falsehood. So long as I take my stand on merely 
 legal ground and urge from a legal point of view the obvious 
 dictates of common sense and expediency, I might as weU be 
 speaking to you in high Dutch, for, no matter what I say, 
 you are always ready to give a meaningless answer ; by an 
 unenviable sleight of hand you evade or repulse every attack. 
 But your juristic coat of mail shall no longer protect, for I shall 
 now give battle with the resistless engines of political economy, 
 which will drive you in confusion from the redoubts a depraved 
 sophistry has hitherto enabled you to hold. 
 
 First, then, of that topic we spoke of in an earlier portion of 
 our correspondence : " There are two arguments of an econo- 
 mical character, which are urged in favour of primogeniture. 
 One is, the stimulus applied to the industry and ambition of 
 younger children, by leaving them to be the architects of their 
 own fortunes. This argument was put by Dr. Johnson in a 
 manner more forcible than complimentary to an hereditary 
 aristocracy, when he said, by way of recommendation of primo- 
 geniture, that it ' makes but one fool in a family.' It is curious 
 that a defender of aristocratic institutions should be the person 
 to assert that to inherit such a fortune as takes away any neces- 
 sity for exertion, is generally fatal to activity and strength of 
 mind: in the present state of education, however, the propo- 
 sition, with some allowance for exaggeration, may be admitted 
 to be true. But whatever force there is in the argument, 
 counts in favour of limiting the eldest, as well as all the other 
 children, to a mere provision, and dispensing with even the 
 'one fool' whom Dr. Johnson was willing to tolerate. If 
 unearned riches are so pernicious to the character, one does 
 not see why, in order to withhold the poison from the junior 
 members of a family, there should be no way but to unite all 
 
( 187 ) 
 
 their separate potions, and administer them in the largest pos- 
 sible dose to one selected victim. It cannot be necessary to 
 inflict this great evil on the eldest son, for want of knowing 
 what else to do with a large fortune. 
 
 " The other economical argument in favour of primogeniture, 
 has special reference to landed property. It is contended, that 
 the habit of dividing inheritances equally, or with an approach 
 to equality among the children, promotes the subdivision of 
 land into portions too small to admit of being cultivated in an 
 advantageous manner. This argument, eternally reproduced, 
 has again and again been refuted by English and continental 
 writers. It proceeds on a supposition entirely at variance with 
 that on which all the theorems of political economy are 
 grounded. It assumes that mankind in general will habitually 
 act in a manner opposed to their immediate and obvious pecu- 
 niary interest. For the division of the inheritance does not 
 necessarily imply division of the land ; which may be held in 
 common, as is not unfrequently the case in France and Belgium ; 
 or may become the property of one of the co-heirs, being charged 
 with the shares of the others by way of mortgage ; or they may 
 sell it outright and divide the proceeds. When the division of 
 land would diminish its productive power, it is the direct inte- 
 rest of the heirs to adopt some one of these arrangements." 
 
 Thus is the banefulness of primogeniture shown up in its true 
 colours, nor are entails a less grievous misfortune: — " The 
 economical evils arising from this disposition of property were 
 .partly of the same kind, partly different, but on the whole 
 greater than those arising from primogeniture alone. The 
 possessor could not now ruin his successors, but he could still 
 ruin himself: he was not at all more likely than in the former 
 case to have the means of improving the property, while, even 
 if he had, he was still less likely to employ them for that pur- 
 pose, when the benefit was to accrue to a person whom the 
 entail made independent of him, while he had probably younger 
 children to provide for, in whose favour he could not now 
 charge the estate .... It may be added that the heir of 
 an entail, being assured of succeeding to the family property, 
 however undeserving of it, and being aware of this from his 
 earliest years, has much more than the ordinary chances of 
 growing up idle, dissipated, and profligate." * 
 
 One of the worst consequences of both primogeniture and 
 entails is to restrict land from being employed in the most 
 highly productive manner. This restriction on free trading in 
 
 * J. S. Mill, Pol. Ec, bk. v. c. 9, 
 
( 188 ) 
 
 land is of course irresistibly strengthened by a monstrous mode 
 of transfer — any change of which must be hailed as a great 
 economic blessing. 
 
 Were a greater production of wealth the only economic 
 result that might be looked for from an abolition of primogeni- 
 ture, entails, and expensive wearisome conveyances, there would 
 be no great reason to rejoice. As it is, wastes are reclaimed — 
 bogs and fens brought under cultivation — sterile ground made 
 fertile — and thus an enormous addition is given to the means 
 of subsistence. But is this result any advantage per se ? If 
 we listen to the glowing periods of the statesman's or M.P.'s 
 stump oratory, or to the roarings of public platforms, or to the 
 budget-eulogiums of the press, we have the affirmative dinned 
 into our ears unto deafness. Yet how much is the pauper list 
 reduced ? how far is the struggle for existence mitigated ? in 
 what respect is labour softened ? Statistics and history show, 
 that the almost uniform result of a fall in the price of corn has 
 hitherto been to stimulaty' marriages amongst the working 
 classes, and thus, within a brief period, the advantage, heralded 
 forth with such pomp, turns out to be a mere multiplication of 
 those who are consigned to drudgery for the rest of their days ; 
 and if no improvement in agriculture intervenes, an eventual 
 increase of rent to the already swollen pockets of the landlords. 
 Philanthropy — charity — poor law — all are powerless to raise 
 the condition of the lowest strata in society, without the diffu- 
 sion of prudence and the permanent elevation of the standard 
 of comfort amongst those strata — as powerless as the most pro- 
 fuse money alms is to buy bread in an isolated famine-stricken 
 town, if the rich donors will not reduce their own consumption. 
 With, however, the destruction of primogeniture, entails and a 
 cumbrous system of transfer, land would become a really 
 merchantable article; and, though its value would from that 
 very fact unquestionably rise, the cheapness of conveyancing 
 would render profitable sales in small lots, which would be 
 within the reach of the thrifty labourer, and thus would be laid 
 the foundation for peasant proprietorships — in other words for 
 the restoration of that famed yeomanry " who were vaunted as 
 the glory of England while they existed" — and with them for 
 the introduction of forethought and providence amongst the 
 lower orders. In this way we perceive how increased pro- 
 ductiveness would become a real blessing, and how desirable it 
 is to strike off from the soil those deadening shackles, which 
 immoveably impede the progress of improvement. 
 
 I presume you will take me to task for so readily disposing 
 of the vexed question as to the relative merits of the petite and 
 
( 189 ) 
 
 the grande culture. I I presume also you will dispute the moral 
 benefits attributed to small ownerships. You will doubtless 
 insist that the general axiom on the Continent in favour of 
 small proprietorships is of little value, because abroad there are 
 no examples of successful cultivation of extensive properties. 
 " But the argument admits of being retorted ; for if the Con- 
 tinent knows little, by experience, of cultivation on a large 
 scale and by large capital, the generality of English writers 
 are no better acquainted practically with peasant proprietors 
 and have almost always the most erroneous ideas of their 
 social condition and mode of life." (J. S. Mill, Principles of 
 Pol. Ec, bk. ii. ch. 6.) It is easy, however, to prove the 
 economical and moral advantages of small proprietorships. 
 
 " ' It is especially Switzerland,' says M. de Sismondi, ' which 
 should be traversed and studied to judge of the happiness of 
 peasant proprietors. It is from Switzerland we learn that 
 agriculture, practised by the very persons who enjoy its fruits, 
 suffices to procure great comfort for a very numerous popu- 
 lation; a great independence of character, arising from inde- 
 pendence of position ; a great commerce of consumption, the 
 result of the easy circumstances of all the inhabitants, even in a 
 country whose climate is rude, whose soil is but moderately 
 fertile, and where late frosts and inconstancy of seasons often 
 blight the hopes of the cultivator. . . . Wherever we find 
 peasant proprietors, we also find the comfort, security, con- 
 fidence in the future, and independence, which assure at once 
 happiness and virtue. . . . The peasant proprietor is of 
 all cultivators the one who gets most from the soil, for he is the 
 one who thinks most of the future, and who has been most 
 instructed by experience. He is also the one who employs the 
 human powers to most advantage, because dividing his occu- 
 pations among all the members of his family, he reserves some 
 for every day of the year, so that nobody is ever out of 
 work.' . . . 
 
 " ' Minute labour on small portions of arable ground gives 
 evidently, in equal soils and climate, a superior productiveness, 
 where these small portions belong in property as in Flanders, 
 Holland, Friesland, and Ditmarsch in Holstein, to the farmer. 
 It is not pretended by our agricultural writers, that our large 
 farmers, even in Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, or the Lothians, 
 approach to the garden-like cultivation, attention to manures, 
 drainage, and clean state of the land, or in productiveness from 
 a small space of soil not originally rich, which distinguish the 
 the small farmers of Flanders, or their system.' 
 
 " But the most decisive example in opposition to the English 
 
( 190 ) 
 
 prejudice against cultivation by peasant proprietors is the case 
 of Belgium. The soil is originally one of the worst in Europe. 
 ' The provinces,' says Mr. M'Culloch, ' of W. and E. Flanders, 
 and Hainault, form a far-stretching plain, of which the luxuriant 
 vegetation indicates the indefatigable care and labour bestowed 
 upon its cultivation ; for the natural soil consists almost wholly 
 of barren sand, and its great fertility is entirely the result of 
 very skilful management and judicious application of manures.' 
 
 " It is from France that impressions unfavourable to peasant 
 proprietors are generally drawn. . . An authority, on this 
 point, not to be disputed, is Arthur Young, the inveterate 
 enemy of small farms, the coryphasus of the modern English 
 school of agriculturists; who yet travelling over nearly the 
 whole of France, in 1787, 1788, 1789, when he finds remark- 
 able excellence of cultivation, never hesitates to ascribe it to 
 peasant property. . . ' Give a man the secure possession of a 
 bleak rock, and he will turn it into a garden ; give him a 
 nine years' lease of a garden, and he will convert it into a 
 desert.'" . .* 
 
 " The mental faculties will be most developed where they 
 are most exercised; and what gives more exercise to them 
 than having a multitude of interests, none of which can be 
 neglected, and which can be provided for only by varied effects 
 of will and intelligence ? Some of the disparagers of small 
 properties lay great stress on the cares and anxieties which 
 beset the peasant proprietor of the Rhineland and Flanders. It 
 is precisely these cares and anxieties which tend to make him 
 a superior being to an English day labourer. . . It is not on 
 the intelligence alone that the situation of a peasant proprietor 
 exercises an imposing influence. It is no less propitious to 
 the moral virtues of prudence, temperance and self-control. 
 Day labourers, where the labouring class mainly consists of 
 them, are usually improvident .... the tendency of peasant 
 proprietors and of those who hope to become proprietors is to 
 the contrary extreme." . -* 
 
 I suppose you will scarcely have the hardihood to resist 
 directly the force of these observations in favour of peasant 
 proprietors; but you may seek to elude their effect by the 
 contention, that England is not an agricultural, but a manu- 
 facturing country; that it is the spinning-jenny and steam- 
 engine, not the plough and sickle, that are our bread-winners; 
 and that, therefore, an improvement in the status of the tillers 
 of the soil can have very little power in ameliorating the posi- 
 
 * J. S. Mill, Pol. Ec, bk. ii. c. G. •)- lb. c. 7. 
 
( 191 ) 
 
 tion of labourers at large. This conclusion involves a fallacy, 
 similar to that contained in the objection to Ricardo's theory 
 of rent — viz. that there is no farming, which does not yield a 
 higher than the ordinary rate of profit, and that the excess 
 thereof over the ordinary rate enables rent to be paid even for 
 the worst land under cultivation : — the answer to which objec- 
 tion is, that farming is as agreeable as any other industry, and 
 that consequently persons will engage therein so long as they 
 can obtain the ordinary rate of profit, and thus by descending 
 to the "margin of cultivation" fixed by the given state of 
 population, there will be n"o surplus for the landlord. So 
 peasant proprietorships, being once established and found as 
 paying as a mechanic's employment, will draw numbers of 
 artisans to that kind of life — and this result, increasing the 
 numbers of the provident class and diminishing those of skilled 
 hands, will reinforce the ranks and example of the prudent, 
 and, in lessening the competition of labour, will raise the 
 wages of their late fellow-workmen, and in the ultimate result 
 raise wages generally, since by the hypothesis there is an abso- 
 lute diminution of the labouring class, by the transition of a 
 portion of its members to the class of proprietors working on 
 their own account. Hence, it appears that the establishment of 
 small proprietors will be a blessing to the whole labouring 
 class, the revivification of which will proceed from the lowest, 
 and gradually be diffused through all its other grades, just as 
 warmth is spread from the extremities to all other parts of 
 the body. 
 
 The desirability of small proprietorships and of enfranchising 
 land from the slavery of primogeniture, entails, and expensive 
 transfer, is loudly called for by the voice of justice. You have 
 zealously insisted on a radical difference between moveables 
 and immoveables for the purposes of law — that I deny — but 
 that there is a fundamental difference for the purposes of 
 economy is of course apparent to every one. What requires to 
 be inculcated is the moral consequences which flow from that 
 difference. " No man made the land. It is the original inhe- 
 ritance of the whole species. Its appropriation is wholly a 
 question of general expediency. When private property in 
 land is not expedient, it is unjust. It is no hardship to any 
 one to be excluded from what others have produced : they were 
 not bound to produce it for his use, and he loses nothing by not 
 sharing in what otherwise would not have existed at all. But 
 it is some hardship to be born into the world and to find all 
 Nature's gifts previously engrossed, and no place left for the 
 new comer. To reconcile people to this, after they have once 
 
( 192 ) 
 
 admitted into their minds the idea that any moral rights belong 
 to them as human beings, it will always be necessary to con- 
 vince them that the exclusive appropriation is good for man- 
 kind on the whole, themselves included." (J, S. Mill, Pol. Ec, 
 bk. ii. c. 2.) 
 
 The " sacredness of property," therefore, cannot be applied 
 in the same sense to immoveables as to moveables ; and if pro- 
 perty in land is to be at all allowed to private individuals 
 instead of a general appropriation by the state with compensa- 
 tion for all existing interests, each member of the community 
 should have a chance of becoming an owner of the coveted 
 article. By the existing law, however, the booty is practically 
 secured to a few idle drones, of whom it may be said, as was 
 several years ago said of the owners of Irish estates, that " the 
 greatest burthen on land is the landlord." The landowner 
 reaps where he has not sowed, and this privilege to be recon- 
 cilable with justice should, by being shared by as many per- 
 sons as possible, be stripped of its exceptional character. That 
 to the landlords and to the landlords alone of any class in the 
 state belongs such a privilege will be admitted without con- 
 troversy, nor do I intend to trouble you with enforcing so well 
 known a truth. 
 
 I have now hinted at those economic considerations, which 
 demand an abolition of the law of real property, or, at least, 
 of so much thereof as can be wrung from a Conservative govern- 
 ment. These arguments are not to be turned aside by any 
 kind of legal shuffling, and thus all your tricks and devices are 
 brought to naught. After all this waste of correspondence 
 may I not regret the tardiness of your conversion to my views 
 as Achilles regretted the tardiness of the reconciliation with 
 Agamemnon — 
 
 " 'Arpei^rj, i] dp ri t6$ afxcftorcpoiaiv apuov 
 ' En-Aero, aol Kat kfxoi, ote vdi 7rep a-^vv/jiivu) Klip 
 Ov/xofiopiii 'ipifii fiEverjvayiev dvEKa Kuiptig •" 
 
 II. xix. 6. 
 
 But no matter, you are now become my fellow-combatant in the 
 war against those mischievous principles you before sustained. 
 One brave charge and the day is ours — yours — civilization's, 
 and that of 
 
 Your gallant commander, 
 
 John Doe. 
 Richard Roe, Esq. 
 
( 193 ) 
 
 Blackacre, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 Dear Doe, 
 
 Do not alarm yourself about a wasteful correspondence, 
 unless you mean that useless series of letters you yourself have 
 penned. For my part I am glad to have an opportunity of 
 confirming, economically, those principles which I have already 
 shown to be, legally, unassailable. Nor will you catch me 
 whining out like the craven son of Atreus : — 
 
 tyu) 6 ovk aiTioe tt-fii 
 
 'AXXa Ztvc icai MoTpa KaX fiepoipoirig 'Eptric 
 OIVe fioi £iv ayopjj typtalv 'ififiahov aypwv arijv 
 "Hjuan ru or "A^iWrjOQ ytpa£ avroe airrjvpiov. 
 
 II. xix. 84. 
 
 On the contrary, I am proud to own the responsibility of the 
 truths I have advanced; and, for reconciliation with your 
 absurd schemes, know that my motto is — "War to the knife!" 
 
 You must not think to frighten me with a great name, or that 
 I shall be deterred from unveiling fallacies simply because they 
 are entrenched behind a powerful apparatus of extracts. When 
 you speak of peasant proprietors with such complacency, you 
 seem to forget " the advantage of small properties in land is 
 one of the most disputed questions in the range of political 
 economy." (J. S. Mill, Pol. Ec, bk. ii. c. 6.) It would be 
 an easy undertaking to bear out the truth of this admission by 
 citing instances of the unfavourable operation of small owner- 
 ships; but there is a shorter cut to the same conclusion. 
 
 England cultivates on the large scale and is the wealthiest 
 country in the world, and her landowners are, for proportionate 
 fractions of their estates, wealthier than the Lilliputian pro- 
 prietors abroad, whose whole patrimony would be equal to one 
 of those fractions. Reconcile this fact with the advantage of 
 peasant proprietors, and I shall be prepared to consider their 
 claims ; but, until you do so, they stand condemned. 
 
 There is, however, a very palpable error in supposing that 
 the mere excellence of peasant proprietorships would on the 
 abolition of primogeniture, entails, and the existing system, of 
 transfer, lead to their adoption in England. I maintain now, 
 as I did before, that, whatever your abolition, you would have 
 the devolution of estates as heretofore, because that devolution 
 is in accordance with the wishes of the people, who, whenever 
 they do not allow the rule of law to operate, almost invariably 
 dispose by instrument much in the same manner as the rules of 
 
 o 
 
( 194 ) 
 
 descent would have disposed if left to themselves. And then 
 for the matter of entail — that is also a cherished custom, and if 
 destroyed would be practically restored by means of trusts or 
 some other device. 
 
 Let us, however, assume that, by sweeping away these ob- 
 noxious institutions, you would impress on land that currency 
 you so ardently aspire after. What would be the ultimate 
 result? The drones you alluded to would unquestionably 
 disappear, almost entirely; but the transformation scene would 
 not be such as you anticipate. Instead of a fissiparous mul- 
 tiplication of busy bees, there would now be numerically a 
 smaller clique of the same individuals as before, who, having 
 swallowed and devoured most of their own species, would wear 
 so hideous and bloated an aspect as to be scarce recognizable 
 for their former selves. These metamorphosed and hateful 
 drones would gradually be eaten up in the same manner, until 
 only two or three were left, for whom the more awful fate of 
 being engorged by a company would be reserved ! It seems a 
 contradiction in terms to assert, that, if land became the 
 marketable article you desire, the consequence would sooner or 
 later be to aggregate it in fewer hands and in larger masses 
 than before. Yet, say what you will, the grande culture is too 
 well established in this country to be easily superseded; therefore, 
 the supposed best system of farming would suggest the utility 
 of extending the farmer's operations. Thus, the successful 
 cultivator, having the means, would be prompted to become a 
 larger and larger owner, and the gratification of his desire 
 would be seconded by the commercial quality conferred on the 
 land. Companies, however, would be formed for the purchase 
 of arable, as they already are for the purchase of building, 
 ground; and thus sooner or later every acre in the country 
 would be engrossed by a few persons or bodies politic. 
 
 You will perhaps reply, that co-operation is the grand multi- 
 plier of productiveness, and that the formation and success of 
 such companies ought to be a subject of congratulation rather 
 than of lamentation. I am as willing as Adam Smith to con- 
 cede the advantages springing from mere division of labour, 
 but, unless in a state of socialism or communism, I very much 
 question whether the larger principle is in general beneficial. 
 Were we to go by external facts, their eternal failures would 
 "puTTJOmmnies under a heavy anathema; but, even granting 
 that unifocal success were attainable, the tyranny they exercise 
 is foreign to\the free atmosphere of a free country. Who, for 
 example, has\ not felt the arbitrariness of gas or water com- 
 panies? Moreover, the power wielded by companies has no 
 
( 195 ) 
 
 counteractive ; for, though apparently the co-existence of several 
 such bodies gives the show of competition, mutual arrangement 
 confers real and assured monopoly. We might, therefore, in 
 following out your recommendations pass from our present 
 Pharaohs to much severer task-masters. 
 
 In so persistently urging the adoption of peasant proprietor- 
 ships as the only means of raising the condition of the labouring 
 classes, you seem to have been strangely fighting with a shadow. 
 There is nothing more evident than the continuous improve- 
 ment in the welfare of the lower orders — an improvement which 
 bears out the truth — " God never sends mouths but he sends 
 meat !" Does any one for an instant imagine that the working 
 population is not now five times as well off as a hundred years 
 ago, or twenty times five times as well off as in the Anglo-Saxon 
 period ? . Why even in benighted Ireland do not the majority 
 ■of the people wear shoes and stockings, whereas in the time of 
 Henry VIII. such a luxury, according to the veracity of the 
 historian (Froude) was scarcely known amongst the noblest 
 descendants of the Milesian monarchs. To be sure you will 
 remind me of the passage in Hallam : — " There is one very un- 
 pleasing remark which every one who attends to the subject 
 of prices will be induced to make, that the labouring classes, 
 especially those engaged in agriculture, were better provided 
 with the means of subsistence in the reign of Edward III. or 
 Henry VI. than they are at present. In the fourteenth cen- 
 tury, Sir J. Cullum observes, a harvest man had fourpence a 
 day, which enabled him in a week to buy a comb of wheat, but 
 to buy a somb of wheat, a man must now (1784) work ten or 
 twelve days."* This seems to tell against the amelioration in 
 the condition of the lower orders. But not to mention the un- 
 certainty which the author allows to enshroud the matter, may 
 we not back superior housing, clothing, and means of transit, 
 without adverting to a great advance in mental acquisitions, 
 against the mere animal comfort of a little more to eat ? 
 j Indeed, how has the transition been effected from the hunting 
 to the nomad — from the nomad to the agricultural — and from 
 the agricultural to the present state of society — if not through 
 that very increase of population you so much deprecate ? Nor 
 is the labouring class that hereditary caste of bondsmen you 
 would wish to make out. This is a free country, whose institu- 
 tions breathe the life-breath of freedom — whose laws distinguish 
 not between rich and poor — whose traditions are the record of a 
 noble independence — whose history is full of examples of patient 
 
 * Mid. Ages, c. 9. 
 o2 
 
( 196 ) 
 
 industry, even in the lowliest, rewarded with affluence and 
 crowned with honour ! Away, then ! with that false cry of 
 wolf, for every augmentation of the human family is shown by 
 experience to add to the material resources of happiness. 
 
 Therough-and-readyjustice your economic system administers 
 is so dissimilar to the procedure heretofore generally in operation 
 that a long time, I fear, must elapse before men's minds become 
 so habituated to its forms as to have general recourse to its 
 assistance. Surely it is too violent a stretch of barefaced asser- 
 tion to pretend there could be a moral right to deprive land- 
 owners of their property on making them compensation ? Is then 
 money an equivalent for everything? Are there no associations 
 — no ancestral connexions — no dear old family ties, which may 
 not be reduced to a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence ? Yet 
 I must confess the incontrovertible " privilege " you. deem so 
 apparent escapes my dull comprehension ; for does not the land- 
 owner go into the market, just as any other proprietor, and does 
 he not run the same risks in buying and selling, as any other 
 purchaser or vendor ? The price of land is fixed by the rate of 
 interest, which determines the value of that as of any other " 
 investment in a fixed source of income and the financial con- 
 ditions of profitably embarking upon ventures of every kind. 
 Where, then, is the distinction which profanes " the sacredness 
 of property "when applied to land? 
 
 Great allowance must be made for the eccentricities and 
 dogmatic inanities of the dreaming theorist; but that we should 
 be called upon to sanction and approve of flagrant contradiction 
 is rather too heavy a tax, even upon the well-disciplined for- 
 bearance of good breeding. Can you really expect me to endorse 
 by my silence the monstrous statement that improvement in 
 agriculture lowers or retards the rise of rent ? If this be one 
 of " the resistless engines of your political economy," I would 
 strongly advise you to try it, on the earliest occasion possible, 
 on some of Euclid's lines of rail, where perchance the opportune 
 collision of a reductio ad absurdum may prevent subsequent 
 more serious accidents. 
 
 With the hearty wish my advice may be adopted, 
 
 I am (without being an engine-driver) your fast friend, 
 
 John Doe, Esq. Richard Roe. 
 
( 197 ) 
 
 Whiteacre, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 Sir, 
 
 Silent contempt is the appropriale answer usually 
 accorded to the arrogant ebullitions of presuming ignorance. 
 Persons well informed rightly deem it a thankless office to 
 interrupt the uninstructed brawler, who clings with the stub- 
 bornness of desperation to his hopeless errors and their per- 
 sistent promulgation. Of the wisdom of that unspoken reply 
 I am fully conscious ; nor should I under ordinary circum- 
 stances deviate from the prudent course thereby prescribed. 
 In your case, however, there are elements which perhaps justify 
 a slight departure from a rule of almost universal application ; 
 and, therefore, though the assertions you put forward resemble 
 the disjointed and unconnected thoughts of the untutored 
 savage or the ravings of a dangerous lunatic in a non-lucid 
 interval, I shall, out of consideration for the long-standing 
 relations which have subsisted between us, deign to vouchsafe 
 some words of rejoinder to the heap of empty trash, loaded, 
 carted, and conveyed in your last letter. 
 
 Your attempt to handle economic questions is a piece of 
 botchery from beginning to end. Throughout you manifest 
 the unmistakeable peculiarity of the economic quack — an utter 
 incompetence to comprehend the method of the science, within 
 whose domain you have so recklessly ventured to trespass. So 
 long as that method is misunderstood, so long is political 
 economy a trackless and untraversable region. In vain will 
 you ponder over statistics — in vain will you study history — in 
 vain master the " Wealth of Nations " and all the works that 
 have followed in its wake : until the mind is imbued with a 
 knowledge of the method, the interpretation of economic 
 phenomena remains an unrevealed mystery. Political economy 
 has been truly described as a science of tendencies. It speaks 
 not in the " imperative, but, like all sciences, in the indicative 
 mood. Its language is: This is, or, this is not." (Unsettled 
 Questions in Pol. Ec, J. S. Mill, Ess. v.) 
 
 It says — if such and such a cause operates, such and such, an 
 effect tends to be produced — that is, such and such an effect 
 is and will be produced in the absence of counteracting agencies. 
 It is emphatically styled — a " hypothetical science " — not that 
 the conclusions of any science are ever absolute (for even in the 
 most axiomatic of sciences, do not their truths postulate this 
 condition : that the constitution of the universe or of the human 
 mind — according as the dualistic or Berkelian theory is ad- 
 
( 198 ) 
 
 mitted, respectively — remain the same ?) but that in social 
 sequence so numerous are the agents at work, as compared 
 with those in the sequence of the more abstract sciences, that 
 the ultimate production of any given complex result is, as de- 
 pending on so much vaster a number of contingencies, more 
 easily defeated. Yet is not the noblest of applied sciences — 
 physical astronomy — a science of tendencies? A direct solu- 
 tion of the problem of the three bodies is still beyond all the 
 powers of modern mathematics ; but approximation calculates 
 the gravitating interaction of the sun and members of the solar 
 system with a precision and exactness, that, from a slight per- 
 turbation, can with certainty predict the presence, and assign 
 the position of, an undiscovered planetary Neptune ! 
 
 Hence, the approximative method, which yields the triumphs 
 of astronomical deduction, can be no drawback to the attain- 
 ment of economical truth ; and with this preliminary vindication 
 I shall proceed to point out how grossly you have misconceived 
 the mode in which social problems are to be explained. 
 
 You declare that the increase of the labouring classes has 
 been attended, not with a deterioration, but rather with an 
 amelioration of their circumstances. This statement from your 
 own quotations appears to be highly questionable ; but for the 
 sake of argument, I am willing to concede the point. What, may 
 I ask, is the inference you would draw ? Can you positively 
 mean that their multiplication has been advantageous to the 
 toilers ? As well might you ascribe to the heights our gallant 
 soldiers had to clamber at Sevastopol the success which waited on 
 the British arms ! It was in spite of the rugged cliff, as it is 
 in spite of the pressure of numbers, victory smiled and smiles. 
 The workman of to-day is better off than the workman of a 
 hundred years ago, but not so weU off as he might and ought to 
 be. He is better off, because he shares in some of the crumbs 
 that fall from a national table of prosperity, now more dainty 
 than of yore. He is better off, because, in the general spread 
 of education and information, he too comes in for a small 
 addition to his mental stock. He is better off, because, not- 
 withstanding the drag of over-population and the poorness of 
 wages, he works more severely and assiduously, and because 
 even in him " the effective desire of accumulation "' has become 
 much stronger. Hence, improvement is compatible with the 
 pressure of numbers, even as lameness in an adult is compatible 
 with a rate of progression more rapid than that of the soundest 
 infant. 
 
 I shall now proceed to show from elementary principles the 
 incoherency of your assertions, first, however, glancing at that 
 
( 199 ) 
 
 climax of confusion — the mixing up of the progress that has 
 taken place in the transitions of society from one general stage 
 to another general stage with the progress that may take place 
 in any given stage. Who does not see that an increase of 
 numbers, which forced the hunting, the nomad, and the agri- 
 cultural, states to be in turn abandoned as inadequate to furnish 
 the increased supply of necessaries was a conspicuous blessing. 
 Nor do I deny that, if we had only to turn round and find 
 another higher state of society, the increased population, which 
 would drive us thereto would be also a blessing. But no such 
 state seems in store, unless you fall back on the schemes of 
 socialists or communists. Yet in all states of society, once a 
 community is sufficiently numerous for the combination which 
 will render its labour most effective, any further multiplication 
 in that state of societj must of necessity, casteris paribus, 
 diminish the wealth and comfort of each individual, although 
 the aggregate resources may and probably will be augmented— 
 the universal in economy differing from the universal of the 
 nominalist logic, in not always following the variations of the 
 particulars it includes. 
 
 Suppose a tribe of savages living by the produce of the chase 
 can scour the island (let it be) they inhabit and kill the annual 
 increase of wild animals, which affords them an abundant 
 supply. Suppose also that their numbers are such, that their 
 whole time, except what is devoted to needful repose, is em- 
 ployed either in obtaining necessaries or in fashioning the best 
 weapons the given state of knowledge can devise. It is quite 
 evident that under these circumstances, any multiplication of 
 the tribe must entail gradual want and impoverishment. Let it 
 not be said that fresh numbers can devote themselves to the 
 domestication of animals or to the cultivation of the soil or to 
 hunting on a more extensive scale or can migrate — all that is 
 outside the hypothesis, which postulates the chase (the fruits of 
 which exactly exhaust the annual breed), and that within the 
 island as the only source of subsistence. Now this example is 
 the simple case of a mere complex phenomenon, and, if it be 
 true, as I maintain it is, no person with a glimmering of 
 scientific method can have the least difficulty in extending its 
 application. Nor does the element of migration when intro- 
 duced shake its thoroughness, for, a time must come when the 
 whole world would be situated as the island, and then a further 
 multiplication would be attended with similar consequences. 
 
 Take next the nomad state and let the same assumption of an 
 island and effective combination of labour be made — or rather, 
 let us assume that a multiplication of the tribe will, by enabling 
 
( 200 ) 
 
 greater care to be devoted to them, render the flocks and herds 
 more prolific. So far there seems to be a corresponding addi- 
 tion to the food of the community ; but the question imme- 
 diately arises, how is this surplus of sheep and cattle to be 
 reared and fattened ? Whether we assume it in the first in- 
 stance or suppose that the. island afterwards has all its annual 
 herbage consumed, that inevitable result will in the long run 
 limit the number of animals destined for consumption ; and then 
 at last further multiplication of the consumers must involve 
 poverty and misery. This again is a simple case, which, like 
 the example in the hunting state, is thoroughgoing and appli- 
 cable to the whole world. 
 
 We now come to the agricultural state, and here what has 
 been demonstrated for the hunting and nomad states is equally 
 demonstrable. Let the island be again assumed and suppose 
 only a small portion of its surface under tillage. Suppose its 
 inhabitants to be all engaged either in tillage or in producing 
 agricultural implements — the result being the most effective 
 combination of labour and the greatest produce capable of being 
 raised without either resorting to fresh land or expending a 
 greater amount of labour on that already under cultivation. If 
 now the inhabitants increase in number, the extra food will be 
 raised from fresh land or from the land already reclaimed. If 
 from fresh land, no injury will result if that land be more fertile 
 or as fertile as the land cultivated; and if the island be of 
 uniform fertility, then no injury will result until the whole 
 island is reclaimed ; but from that moment or from the moment 
 when inferior ground has to be resorted to, further multiplica- 
 tion leads to want and wretchedness. Hence, it appears that 
 though the number of inhabitants is such as to render combi- 
 nation of labour as efficient as possible on a given area, 
 multiplication may still go on until the entire territory of a 
 country is brought under tillage without any injurious results. 
 This conclusion, however, involves an assumption which is not 
 warranted by experience, viz., that all the land is equally fertile, 
 or else that the most fertile portions are not cultivated at first 
 or at least at an early period. In fact the reverse is the truth 
 — that in every country the soils are of varying fertility, and 
 that the most fertile are the first or almost the first to be 
 cultivated — the latter fact being partly borne out by the reten- 
 tion under tillage of the lands earliest reclaimed, which, ceteris 
 paribus, pay higher rent. 
 
 But under any circumstances, the time at length comes when 
 the whole island is cultivated, and that with efficient combina- 
 tion of labour. Will then a further multiplication of the 
 
( 201 ) 
 
 inhabitants be of no detriment to their comfort and happiness ? 
 The answer to this query answers the alternative of resorting 
 to fresh land in the first instance and enunciates the most 
 fundamental of all economic laws. That law is styled the law 
 of diminishing return and is thus introduced and stated: — 
 " The limitation to production from the properties of the soil, 
 is not like the obstacle opposed by a wall, which stands im- 
 moveable in one particular spot, and offers no hindrance to 
 motion short of stopping it entirely. We may rather compare 
 it to a highly-elastic and extensible band, which is hardly ever 
 so violently stretched that it could not possibly be stretched 
 any more, yet the pressure of which is felt long before the final 
 limit is reached, and felt more severely the nearer that limit is 
 approached. 
 
 "After a certain, and not very advanced, stage in the progress 
 of agriculture, it is the law of production from the land, that in 
 any given state of agricultural skill and knowledge, by in- 
 creasing the labour, the produce is not increased in an equal 
 degree ; doubling the labour does not double the produce ; or, 
 to express the same thing in other words, every increase of 
 produce is obtained by a more than proportional increase in the 
 application of labour to the land."* 
 
 The truth of the above law is demonstrated by the conduct 
 of every farmer in the world who, in cultivating more than the 
 single rood of land most convenient to his purpose, proves, by 
 the extra trouble he thereby goes to, that it is a better specula- 
 tion to extend his operations than concentrate them on a limited 
 area. The law of diminishing return is the only explanation 
 of universal practice, unless indeed it be a principle of human 
 nature to seek trouble and inconvenience for their own sake. 
 Another demonstration of the same truth is furnished by the 
 relative values of agricultural and manufactured products, which 
 vary inversely as society progresses — the ratio of the former to 
 the latter constantly becoming one of greater inequality, even 
 after all allowances for improvements in machinery and combi- 
 nation of labour. Any tables of statistics will prove this asser- 
 tion, but the strongest opposers of the theory are the best 
 witnesses when they maintain — -" that the raw products of the 
 soil, in an advancing community, steadily tend to rise in price. 
 Now, the most elementary truths of political economy show 
 that this could not happen unless the cost of production, 
 ; measured in labour, of these products, tended to rise." And 
 again, " the exchange values of manufactured articles, compared 
 with the products of agriculture and mines, have as population 
 
 * J. S. Mill, Pol. Ec, bk. i. t=. 12. 
 
( 202 ) 
 
 and industry advance a certain and decided tendency to fall . . . 
 "Whether agricultural produce increases in absolute, as -Well as 
 comparative cost of production depends on the conflict of the two 
 antagonistic agencies — increase of population, and improvement 
 in agricultural skill." * . . . But no matter what that improve- 
 ment, multiplication must eventually be attended with its ever- 
 threatening consequence, want and impoverishment. Nor is it 
 true that so much of the world is still uncultivated or ill- 
 cultivated, as " that for the present all limitation of production 
 or population from this source is at an indefinite distance, and 
 that ages must elapse before any practical necessity arises for 
 taking the limiting principle into serious consideration." f 
 
 You say " God never sends mouths but he sends meat" — let 
 me inquire are the laws of nature expressions of the will of 
 God? and is improvidence to be blessed by a standing miracle? 
 The conditions of production unlike those of distribution are 
 part of the order established in the universe— removed from 
 man's control, and unless the Creator is perpetually to inter- 
 rupt the uniformities He himself has decreed, " it is in vain to 
 say, that all mouths which the increase of mankind calls into 
 existence, bring with them hands. The new mouths require 
 as much food as the old ones, and the hands do not produce as 
 much." :f " There is room in the world, no doubt, and even in 
 old countries, for a great increase of population, supposing the 
 arts of life to go on improving, and capital to increase. But 
 even if innocuous, I confess I see very little reason for desiring 
 it. The density of population necessary to enable mankind to 
 obtain, in the greatest degree, all the advantages both of co- 
 operation and social intercourse has, in all the most populous 
 countries, been attained. .... Solitude, in the sense of being 
 often alone, is essential to any depth of meditation or of cha- 
 racter; and solitude in the presence of natural beauty and 
 grandeur, is the cradle of thoughts and aspirations, which are 
 not only good for the individual but which society could ill do 
 
 without Hitherto it is questionable if all the mechanical 
 
 inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human 
 being. They have enabled a greater population to live the 
 same life of drudgery and imprisonment, and an increased 
 number of manufacturers and others to make fortunes. They 
 have increased the comforts of the middle classes. But they 
 have not yet begun to effect those great changes in human 
 destiny, which it is in their nature and in their futurity to 
 accomplish." § 
 
 I have entered into the foregoing discussion in order to satisfy 
 
 * J. S. Mill, Pol. Be, bk. iv. u. 2. .J Ibid. bk. i. t . 13. 
 
 t Ibid. bk. i. u. 12. § Ibid. bk. iv. c. 6. 
 
( 203 ) 
 
 you some step must be taken, if we are to improve the condition 
 of the masses ; and as you have attempted to discredit the 
 advantages that accrue from peasant proprietorships, the intro- 
 duction of which are so much to be desired, I shall next examine 
 the outward features of that attempt. You say that England 
 adopts the grande culture and is the wealthiest country in the 
 ^ world — yes, and I will tell you what is more. 
 
 A handful of Athenians defeated hosts of Persians on the 
 fields of Marathon, as if the trade and energy of Englishmen 
 did not more than counterbalance the mistakes of their agricul- 
 ture, as the valour and patriotism of those immortal Greeks 
 more than counterbalanced the inferiority of numbers ! Per- 
 haps, however, it is only on that other fact (?) you insist, viz. 
 that our large landowners are even proportionally wealthier 
 than foreign peasant proprietors. I do not know on what evi- 
 dence you advance this assertion ; but let it be granted. My 
 answer is, our landowners may be absolutely for fractions of 
 their estates wealthier than peasant proprietors, but they are not 
 so relatively to the rest of the population. The wealth of a 
 peasant proprietor compared with that of a trader abroad is 
 greater than the wealth of a landowner compared with that of 
 a merchant in England. By landowners I mean owners of cul- 
 tivated, not building, ground. Of course if you include such 
 millionnaires as the Duke of Westminster, your position is 
 beyond dispute. But we are not speaking of the proprietors of 
 such splendid monopolies ; we exclude house property with its 
 fancy prices,- and limit ourselves to the ordinary land brought 
 into the market. 
 
 I pass now to your defence of property in land, every part of 
 which is infected with the crudeness of blundering ignorance. 
 What is the moral foundation upon which property rests, and is 
 it applicable to the soil ? " The essential principle of property 
 being to assure to all persons what they have produced by their 
 labour and accumulated by their abstinence, this principle can- 
 not apply to what is not the produce of labour, the raw material 
 of the earth. If the land derived its productive power wholly 
 from nature, and not at all from industry, it not only would not 
 be necessary, but it would be the height of injustice, to let the gift 
 of nature be engrossed by individuals. . . . The claim of the 
 landlords to the land is altogether subordinate to the general 
 policy of the state. . . . The species at large still retains, of its 
 original claim to the soil of the planet which it inhabits, as 
 much as is compatible with the purposes for which it has parted 
 with the remainder."* 
 
 * J. S. Mill, .Pol. Ec, bk. ii. c. 2. 
 
( 204 ) 
 
 The foregoing extracts are a sufficient reply to the supposed' 
 injustice of compensating the landowners and of redelivering' 
 the " common inheritance" to the rightful heirs — the community 
 at large. 
 
 In striving to gild over with an air of ordinary trafficking 
 the undeniable privileges that appertain to the landocracy, you 
 seem to be so entirely innocent of an elementary economic 
 theorem that I must needs pay it a- passing notice. That 
 theorem is Ricardo's theory of rent, from which you will 
 perceive that the landowner, as I before said, reaps where he 
 has not sowed ; that he appropriates the " natural increment of 
 the soil," which, arising without any effort on his part from the 
 spontaneous progress of society, ought in justice to be shared 
 amongst the general community. The theorem in question 
 has been described as the "Pons Asinorum of political 
 economy," and will only be assented to when thoroughly under- 
 stood. Here it is : — " The worst land in actual cultivation 
 (in point of fertility and situation together) pays no rent ; and 
 the rent, which any land will yield, is the excess of its produce, : 
 beyond what would be returned to the same capital if employed 
 in the worst land under cultivation." 
 
 This is the limit of farmers, not of metayer or cottier rents.* 
 I cannot expand this doctrine as I should were I writing a 
 treatise on political economy, nor is your ignorance worthy of 
 such trouble. The principle rests on the facts — that the land 
 in any country is never all cultivated ; that it possesses different 
 degrees of fertility ; that land being a thing limited in quantity 
 is a monopolized article ; that there is free competition amongst 
 the landlords for the letting as there is amongst the farmers 
 for the buying of land. " The worst land which can be culti- 
 vated as an investment for capital, is that which, after replacing 
 the seed, not only feeds the agricultural labourers and their 
 secondaries, but affords them the current rate of wages, which 
 may extend to much more than mere necessaries, and leaves for 
 those who have advanced the wages of these two classes of 
 labourers, a surplus equal to the profit they could have expected 
 from- any other employment of their capital."* 
 
 The objection that landlords would not let their land, unless 
 they received rent, is founded on the idea that the gradations 
 of fertility are nicely divided ; whereas the truth is there are 
 good and bad portions included in a holding, the former of 
 which alone pay rent if the latter belong to the worst soil culti- 
 vated. But even supposing the fertile and unfertile portions 
 lay in separate areas and that the landlords refused to let the 
 * J. S. Mill, Pol. Ec, bk. ii. c. 16. 
 
( 205 ) 
 
 inferior soils, what would happen ? — " Merely that the increase 
 X>f produce, which the wants of society required, would for the 
 time be wholly obtained (as it always is partially), not by an 
 extension of cultivation, but by an increased application of 
 labour and capital to land already cultivated. Now this in- 
 creased application of capital is attended with a smaller pro- 
 portional return We are to suppose no change, 
 
 except a demand for more corn, and a consequent rise of its 
 price. The rise of price enables measures to be taken for in- 
 creasing the produce, which could not have been taken with 
 
 profit at the previous price And when the impulse 
 
 is given to extract an increased amount of produce from the 
 soil, the farmer or improver will only consider whether the out- 
 lay he makes for the purpose will be returned to him with the 
 ordinary profit, and not whether any surplus will remain for 
 rent. Even, therefore, if it were the fact, that there is never 
 any land taken into cultivation, for which rent . . . was 
 not paid; it would be true, nevertheless, that there is always 
 some agricultural capital which pays no rent, because it returns 
 nothing beyond the ordinary rate of profit."* 
 
 From the theory of rent itself I proceed to point out its 
 consequences. According as " the margin of cultivation " — 
 that is, the degree of inferior soil to which the wants of the 
 community have extended cultivation — descends or ascends, 
 rent rises or falls. Now let us consider the changes in a pro- 
 gressive state of society : — 
 
 Let population increase, capital and the arts of production 
 remaining stationary: 
 
 Wages fall — profits rise — more food is required — the 
 margin of cultivation must descend — and rent rises. 
 
 Let capital increase, population and the arts of production 
 remaining stationary : 
 
 Wages rise — profits fall — and rent almost certainly rises, 
 
 for it is highly probable the labourers will require 
 
 more food or a more costly quality of food — in either 
 
 of which cases the margin of cultivation descends. 
 
 Let population and capital increase with equal rapidity, the 
 
 arts of production remaining stationary : 
 
 Real wages are the same — money wages rise — profits 
 fall — rent rises. 
 Let the arts of production improve, population and capital 
 .remaining stationary: 
 
 Real wages rise — money wages are the same— ^profits 
 are the same — rent, falls. 
 
 * J. S. Mill, Pol. Ec, bit. ii. c. 16. 
 
( 206 ) 
 
 But " population almost everywhere treads close on the heels 
 of agricultural improvement, and effaces its effects as fast as they 
 are produced." .... "Agricultural improvement may thus 
 be considered to be not so much a counter-force conflicting with 
 increase of population as a partial relaxation of the bonds which 
 confine that increase." "Agricultural improvement, then, is 
 always ultimately beneficial to the landlord,"* i.e., instead of 
 raising the margin of cultivation it keeps it at the same level 
 with a greater return ; and thus it appears that under all cir- 
 cumstances the landlords appropriate that " unearned increment 
 of the soil " which so distinguishes property in immoveables 
 from property in moveables. 
 
 With this farewell to our correpondence, a further prolonga- 
 tion of which I must decline, 
 
 I am your obedient servant, 
 
 Richard Roe, Esq. John Doe. 
 
 Blackacre, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 Sir, 
 
 The obloquy and aspersions of your last, and several other 
 letters, shall not go unpunished. Our whole correspondence is 
 now in the hands of my solicitors — Messrs. Sticksteady — upon 
 whom I rely to discover good ground for a civil action or 
 criminal prosecution. To them you are in future referred by, 
 
 Yours, &c, 
 John Doe, Esq. Richard Roe. 
 
 Whiteacre, 
 
 Manor of Dale. 
 Sir, 
 
 I despise and spit upon the venal justice of the courts of 
 law and challenge you, if you are a man, to the unbiassed 
 tribunal of the imperial parliament. Meantime, I warn you I 
 shall shake off any imputations on my character as the lion 
 shakes the dewdrops off his mane. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 Richard Rpe, Esq. John Doe. 
 
 P.S. — My agents are Messrs. Claptrap, to whom you are 
 referred. 
 
 * J. S. Mill, Pol. Ec, bk. iv. «. 3. 
 
(-207 ) 
 
 Biackacre, 
 
 Manor of Sale. 
 Sir, 
 
 In accepting your challenge, I fling back with scorn the 
 dastardly imputation you have dared to hurl against the in- 
 violable and immaculate administration of justice. 
 
 And as for your dewdrops — 
 
 There is no terror, Doey, in your threats ; 
 For I am arm'd so strong in honesty, 
 That they pass by me as the idle wind, 
 Which I respect not. 
 
 I am your obedient servant, 
 John Doe, Esq. Eichaed Eoe. 
 
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STEVENS ft HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ADMIRALTY LAW— 
 
 Jones , .20 
 
 Kay ......... 23 
 
 Parsons ......... 41 
 
 United States Reports ... 42 
 
 AGENCY— 
 . Story 42 
 
 AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS . 36 
 
 AMERICAN REPORTS . . 36-43 
 
 AMERICAN TREATISES . .'36-43' 
 
 APPELLATE PROCEEDINGS— ' 
 Powell 41 
 
 ARBITRATION— 
 
 Morse . ; 40 
 
 ARTICLED CLERKS— 
 
 See STUDENTS. 
 ASSAULTS— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 BAILMENTS— * 
 
 Story .42 
 
 BALLOT ACT— 
 
 Bushby 32 
 
 BANKRUPTCY— 
 
 Roche and Hazlitt 1 1 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY., 35 
 
 BILLS of Lading— , 
 
 Kay 24 
 
 BILLS OF SALE— ' 
 
 Roche and Hazlitt II 
 
 BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGIS- 
 TRATION— 
 
 Flaxman 44 
 
 CANADA— ' . 
 
 Code of. ' 38 
 
 Harrison . . . . . . .39 
 
 Wotherspoon 43 
 
 CAPE" OF GOOD HOPE- 
 
 See DUTCH LAW. 
 CARRIERS— 
 
 See RAILWAY LAW. 
 ,, SHIPMASTERS. 
 CHANCERY— 
 
 See EQUITY. 
 CHARITABLE TRUSTS— 
 
 Cooke ./ 21 
 
 CHURCH AND CLERGY— 
 
 Brice . 8 
 
 CIVIL LAW— 
 
 See ROMAN LAW. 
 
 CODES— 
 
 Canada 38 
 
 New York 40 
 
 COLLISIONS AT SEA— 
 
 Kay . . . ' . . , . . .27 
 United States District ^Reports . 42 
 
 COLONIAL LAW— 
 
 Forsyth 19 
 
 COMMENTARIES— 
 
 Kent ........ 39 
 
 Story . v . . . . . . 4^42 
 
 COMPANIES LAW— 
 
 Brice j 
 
 Browne , , ( 35 
 
 Buckley ........ 22 
 
 Reilly's Reports 22 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 COMPENSATION— 
 
 Lloyd . ' 20 
 
 CONFLICT OF LAWS— 
 
 Story 42 
 
 Woolsey 45 
 
 CONSTABLES— 
 
 See POLICE GUIDE. 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW AND '-■ 
 HISTORY— 
 
 Forsyth . * 19 
 
 Taswell-Langmead .' . . . ij 
 
 CONTRACTS— 
 
 Kay . . j 25 
 
 Langdell 40 
 
 Parsons 41 
 
 Story . 42 
 
 CONVEYANCING, Practice of— 
 
 Copinger 47 
 
 CONVEYANCING, Principles of— 
 
 Deane v . . . j 13 
 
 COPYRIGHT— 
 
 Copinger 17 
 
 CORPORATIONS— 
 
 Brice . . . . . . . . 7 
 
 COVENANTS FOR TITLE— 
 
 Rawle ........ 41 
 
 Crew of a ship— 
 
 Kay 26 
 
 CRIMINAL LAW— 
 
 Bishop 37 
 
 Green . ' 39 
 
 Wharton 43 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 CROWN LAW— 
 
 Forsyth 19 
 
 Hall . . 30' 
 
 Taswell-Langmead ■ 15 
 
 Kelyng . , •. , . , . . 34 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YAKD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS— continued. 
 
 CUSTOM AND USAGE— 
 
 Browne 10 
 
 CUSTOMS— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 i DAMAGES— 
 
 Mayne - . . .29 
 
 DICTIONARY— 
 
 Brown 14 
 
 Johnson 47 
 
 DIGESTS— 
 
 Abbott 36 
 
 (Paschal . , 41 
 DIVORCE— 
 
 Bishop 38 
 
 Browning 17 
 
 DOMESTIC RELATIONS— 
 
 Schouler ' i 41 
 
 DUTCH LAW— 
 
 Van Der Keesel . . . .38 
 
 Cape of Good Hope Reports. . 38 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL LAW— 
 
 Brice 8 
 
 EDUCATION ACTS— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 .ELECTION LAW & PETITIONS— 
 
 Bushby 32 
 
 Hardcastle 32 
 
 O'Malley and Hardcastle ... 32 
 
 „ EQUITY— 
 
 Choyce Cases 34 
 
 Pemberton 3 1 
 
 Snell 12 
 
 Story 4 1 
 
 EVIDENCE— 
 
 See USAGES AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 EXAMINATION OF STUDENTS— 
 Indermaur 16 
 
 EXTRADITION— 
 
 Clarke , ■ 4> 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 
 FACTORIES— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 fFIRE INSURANCE— 
 
 Bennett 37 
 
 FISHERIES— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 FIXTURES- 
 
 Brown 2l 
 
 IFORGERY— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCES- 
 May 22 
 
 GAIUS INSTITUTES— 
 
 Harris 47 
 
 GAME LAWS— 
 
 Locke 31 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 HACKNEY CARRIAGES— 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 HISTORY— 
 
 Taswell-Langmead rj 
 
 HYPOTHECATION— 
 
 Kay 25 
 
 INDEX TO PRECEDENTS— 
 
 Copinger 35 
 
 INJUNCTIONS— 
 
 Joyce 18 
 
 INSTITUTE OF THE LAW— 
 
 Brown's Law Dictionary ... 14 
 
 INSURANCE— 
 
 Bennett 37 
 
 Bigelow. . • 37 
 
 Bliss 38 
 
 INTERNATIONAL LAW— 
 
 Clarke 46 
 
 Woolsey 45 
 
 INTOXICATING LIQUORS— 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 JOINT STOCK COMPANIES— 
 See COMPANIES. 
 
 JUDICATURE ACT— 
 
 Griffith .1 JO 
 
 Indermaur 16 
 
 JURISPRUDENCE— 
 
 Forsyth 19 
 
 JUSTINIAN'S INSTITUTES— 
 
 Harris 47 
 
 LAND TENURES— 
 
 Finlason . . 21 
 
 LANDS CLAUSES CONSOLIDA- 
 TION ACT 20 
 
 LARCENY— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 LAW DICTIONARY— 
 
 Brown 14 
 
 LAW REVIEW— 
 
 American . . . . , . . -3^ 
 LICENSES— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 LEADING CASES— 
 
 Common Law 16 
 
 Equity and Conveyancing . . 16 
 
 Mercantile Law 39 
 
 Sales 4o 
 
 Contracts 4° 
 
 LEGACY AND SUCCESSION— 
 
 Hanson I 7 
 
STEVENS ft HAYNES, BELL TAED, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS— continued. 
 
 Legal remedies— 
 High .... 
 
 39 
 
 LIFE ASSURANCE— 
 
 Bigelow 37 
 
 Bliss 38 
 
 Buckley 22 
 
 Reilly 22 
 
 LIQUIDATION with CREDITORS— 
 Roche and Hazlitt ... . , . 11 
 And see BANKRUPTCY. 
 
 LLOYD'S BONDS 21 
 
 MAGISTERIAL LAW— 
 
 Greenwood and Martin . . 6, 48 
 
 MALICIOUS INJURIES-^ 
 ' See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 MANDAMUS— 
 
 High '. ' 
 
 MARINE INSURANCE - - 
 Parsons*. .... 
 
 • • 39 
 
 . . 41 
 
 MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE— • 
 
 Browning ....... 17 
 
 Bishop 38 
 
 MARRIED WOMEN'S 
 PERTY ACTS— 
 Griffith 
 
 PRO- 
 
 45 
 
 MASTER AND SERVANT—, 
 " See SHIPMASTERS & SEA- 
 MEN. 
 
 MASTERS AND SERVANTS— 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE— 
 Wharton and Stille .... 
 
 MERCANTILE LAW . . . , 
 See SHIPMASTERS &, SEA- 
 MEN. 
 „ STOPPAGE IN TRANSITU. 
 
 MINES— 
 
 Nevada Reports 40 
 
 , See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 MUNICIPAL LAW— 
 
 Harrison 
 
 43 
 39 
 
 NEGLIGENCE— 
 Campbell . . ■ . 
 Shearman and Redfield 
 
 39 
 
 35 
 4' 
 
 OBLIGATIONS— 
 
 Brown's Savigny 45 
 
 OVER-RULED CASES — 
 
 Bigelow. , , , . . . .37 
 
 PARLIAMENT— 
 Taswell-Langmead 
 
 PARTNERSHIP— 
 Story . . . . 
 
 PASSENGERS— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 „ RAILWAY LAW. 
 
 PASSENGERS AT SEA— 
 Kay , 
 
 42 
 
 27 
 
 PATENTS— 
 
 Curtis 38 
 
 Fisher 38 
 
 Wynne's Bovill Case ■ . . . . 17 
 
 PAWNBROKERS— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 PERSONAL PROPERTY— 
 Langdell , 
 
 PERSONATION and IDENTITY--* 
 Moriarty . j 
 
 PILOTS— ■ 
 
 Kay 
 
 40 
 
 27 
 
 POLICE GUIDE— 
 
 Greenwood and Martin 
 
 6,4* 
 
 PRACTICE BOOKS— 
 
 Bankruptcy IT ' 
 
 Companies Law 22 
 
 Compensation 20 
 
 Conveyancing 47 
 
 Damages '. 29 j 
 
 Divorce 17 
 
 Ecclesiastical Law 8 . 
 
 Election Petitions . . . . ' . 3? ! 
 
 Equity 3H 
 
 Injunctions 18/ 
 
 Judicature Act ... ... 3d 
 
 Magisterial 6, 48 
 
 Railways 20 
 
 Rating . • 10 
 
 PRIORITY— 
 
 Robinson , 31 
 
 PROBATE— 
 
 Hanson 17 
 
 PROHIBITION— 
 
 High > 
 
 PUBLIC WORSHIP- 
 Brice . . . . 
 
 39: 
 
 8 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS-^ 
 Indermaur »'"" 16 
 
 QUO WARRANTO— 
 
 High 39 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAE. 
 
 INDEX OF SUBJECTS— continued. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 RAILWAYS— 
 
 Godefroi and Shortt .... 20 
 
 Lloyd , . 20 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 RATING— 
 
 Browne ,10 
 
 REAL PROPERTY— 
 
 Deane 13 
 
 REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS 
 AND DEATHS— 
 
 Flaxmau 44 
 
 REPORTS— 
 
 American 36-43 
 
 Bellewe 33 
 
 Brooke 34 
 
 Cape of Good Hope .... 30 
 
 Choyce Cases 35 
 
 Cooke 34 
 
 Criminal Law (Green) ... 39 
 
 Cunningham 33 
 
 Election Petitions 32 
 
 Finlason 31 
 
 Fisher ' 38 
 
 Idaho 39 
 
 Insurance Cases 37 
 
 Kelyng, John 34 
 
 Kelynge, William 34 
 
 Nebraska ....... 40 
 
 Nevada 40 
 
 New York 40 
 
 Oregon 41 
 
 Reilly 22 
 
 United States 42 
 
 Washington Territory. ... 43 
 
 RITUAL— 
 
 Brice 8 
 
 ROMAN LAW— 
 
 Brown's Analysis of Savigny . . 45 
 
 „„ Hadley 39 
 
 Harris 47 
 
 SALES— 
 
 Langdell 40 
 
 SALVAGE— 
 
 Jones 20 
 
 Kay 28 
 
 SANITARY ACTS— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 SEA SHORE— 
 
 Hall 3° 
 
 SHIPMASTERS AND SEAMEN— 
 
 Kay 23 
 
 SHIPPING— 
 
 Parsons 4 1 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SLANDER— 
 
 Townshend 42 
 
 SOCIETIES— 
 
 See CORPORATIONS. 
 
 STAGE CARRIAGES— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 STATUTE OF FRAUDS— 
 
 Throop .42 
 
 STOPPAGE IN TRANSITU— 
 
 Houston 31 
 
 Kay 25 
 
 STUDENT'S BOOKS— 
 
 Brown ™ . 14 
 
 Deane 13 
 
 Griffith 45 
 
 Harris 47 
 
 Indermaur . 16 
 
 Snell 12 
 
 Taswell-Langmead . . . . 15 
 
 Woolsey 45 
 
 SUCCESSION DUTIES— 
 
 Hanson 17 
 
 TELEGRAPHS— 
 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 TITLE DEEDS— 
 
 Copinger 47 
 
 TOWNS IMPROVEMENTS— 
 See MAGISTERIAL LAW. 
 
 TRADE MARKS— 
 
 Browne » • • 3^ 
 
 TREASON— 
 
 Kelyng 34 
 
 Taswell-Langmead .... IS 
 
 TRIALS— 
 
 Queen v. Gurney 3 1 
 
 ULTRA VIRES— 
 
 Brice 7 
 
 UNITED STATES— 
 
 Abbott 1 . . 36 
 
 Andrew's Manual 3° 
 
 And see AMERICAN TREA- 
 TISES. 
 
 USAGES AND CUSTOMS— 
 
 Browne I0 
 
 VERBAL AGREEMENTS- 
 
 Throop 4 2 
 
 VOLUNTARY CONVEYANCES— 
 May 2 2 
 
 WAR POWERS— 
 
 Whiting 4 3 
 
STEVENS & BATISTES, BELL YAED, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 This day is published, in One thick Volume, 8vo., price 42s., strongly bound in cloth, 
 
 A MAGISTERIAL and POLICE GUIDE: 
 
 BEING 
 
 The Statute Law, including the Session of 1874, with Notes and References 
 to the most recently decided Cases, relating to the Procedure, 
 Jurisdiction, and Duties of Magistrates and Police Authorities 
 
 IN THE METROPOLIS AND IN THE COUNTRY. 
 
 With an Introduction showing the General Procedure before Magistrates 
 both in Indictable and Summary Matters ; 
 
 And a COPIOUS INDEX to the WHOLE WORK. 
 By HENRY C. GREENWOOD, 
 
 STIPENDIARY MAGISTRATE FOR THE DISTRICT OF THE STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERIES, 
 
 AND 
 
 • TEMPLE C. MARTIN, of the Southwark Police Court. - y $ 
 
 " The ''Mdgisterihl dnd" Police Guide,' by Mr. Henry Greenwood and Mr.'Temple 
 Martin, is a model work in its conciseness, and, , so far as we have been able to test it in 
 .completeness and accuracy. It ought to be in the hands of all who, as magistrates or other- 
 wise, have authority in matters of police" — Daily News. * 
 
 "This handsome volume aims at presenting? ' a 
 comprehensive magisterial handbook for the whole 
 of England.' It 1s prefaced by an introduction 
 treating.of proceedings before justices in indictable 
 offences and summary matters, which is likely to be 
 'useful to the numerous gentlemen who, withput the 
 slightest knowledge of* their duties, find themselves 
 called upon to administer the law. The plan of the 
 authors is to arrange alphabetically under separate 
 heads thevarious subjects treated of. These appear 
 to include the whole range of matters within the 
 cognizance of magistrates, and we are bound to say 
 that we have not 'detected the omissiorl of any 
 statutory .provision we. have looked for. 
 
 "As regards the arrangement of matter under 
 each head, the idea of the authors is to place in the 
 text the provisions of the statute law creating 
 offences, ,&nd "to throw* into notes the sections relat- 
 ing to procedure, arid the 'cases. This mode of 
 arrangement seems to us excellent, and is. well 
 carried out. -Another praiseworthy feature of the 
 work is that the sections of the statutes quoted in 
 the text are generally given verbatim, and where 
 they are summarized attention is drawn to the fact 
 by the use ofbrackets. 
 
 "As to the care with which the work has. been 
 executed, a somewhat minute examination of three 
 or four of the divisions enables us to speak, on the ' 
 whole, favourably." — Solicitors' Journal. 
 
 "This work, which with much, propriety is dedi- 
 cated to Sir Thomas Henry, sprang out of an inten- 
 tion on tHe paVt of the authors to compose a book 
 containing and explaining the statutes relating 
 exclusively to the metropolis, for the use of the 
 Metropolitan "Police Courts. Theauthors soon dis- 
 covered that the metropolis is regulated by general 
 as well as by special statutes, andtlen it occurred 
 to them that their scheme- might well be enlarged, 
 and that a comprehensive handbook for all justices 
 
 of the peace might usefully supersede a volume 
 intended only for a limited "area of police law. 
 Hence we have the book before us, and, on inspect- 
 ing it, we cannot but rejoice that the original idea 
 of the authors has undergone expansion in the 
 manner we have explained. In shape and form the 
 book is most convenient, and the elegance and style 
 of the volume are peculiarly attractive. 
 t " The authors begin with an -Introduction divided 
 into two parts : one relating ^to indictable offences,' 
 the other to summary matters. In • these, 'juris- 
 diction/ / process/ 'witnesses/ ' hearing," enforc- 
 ing judgments/' action against justices,' ' stating a 
 case,' ( certiorari,' ' habeas corpus/ and ' mandamus 
 or rule/ are fully discussed. The .main body of the 
 work is under titles arranged in alphabetical order, 
 commencing with 'accessories' and ending: with 
 'witchcraft/ _ Under each tifle is given the Act or 
 Acts prohibitive or mandatory' relating to it, while 
 such sections as regulate procedure and other' 
 matters of that nature are collected into foot-notes, 
 along with decisions cited. As far as possible an 
 accurate transcript of these statutes is produced ; 
 but the less important sections are abbreviated, and 
 these are distinguished by being enclosed within 
 brackets. In indictable offences the punishments 
 are properly omitted, as these do not concern the 
 justices of the peace; but the foot-notes in, each 
 case show whether the offence is triable'at quaver 
 sessions, and .give, provision as to bail and costs. ■ 
 We may add that the legislation of 1874 is. incorpo- 
 rated in the work. There is a table of cases-cited, 
 and of statutes, and a good index is added. The 
 appendix gives a. list of the petty sessional divisions 
 in England and Wales, with the places where the 
 petty sessions are held. We are sure that the popu- 
 larity of the work will satisfy the hopes of its' authors, 
 and that it will meet with general approval."— Law 
 Journal. * 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 THE LAW OP CORPORATIONS. 
 
 Just published, in 8vo., price 21s,, cloth, 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE DOCTRINE 
 
 J on- 
 
 ULTRA VIRES: 
 
 BEING 
 
 AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PRINCIPLES WHICH LIMIT 
 THE CAPACITIES, POWERS, AND LIABILITIES 
 
 OF 
 
 CORPORATIONS, 
 
 AND MORE ESPECIALLY OP 
 
 JOINT STOCK COMPANIES. 
 
 BY 
 
 SEWARD BRICE, M.A., LL.D., London, 
 
 Of the Inner Temple, 'Barrister -at- Law. 
 
 "Here is a volume of 500 pp. upon a title to 
 which, so far as we aie aware, not even, a chapter 
 of any text-book in this country has been devoted, 
 and to which we are quite sure no distinct heading 
 has ever been assigned in an American Digest. 
 .... Upwards of noo Cases are cited in this 
 iwork, of which" it may be fairly assumed that few 
 do not involve pecuniary interests of considerable 
 magnitude. In the next" decade we maybe sure 
 that the doctrine of Ultra Vifes as applicable to 
 railroads, municipal and other chartered bodies in 
 the United States, will assume a large' political as 
 well as legal importance. We welcome his pioneer 
 volume as a fair result of the author's ' attempt, 
 though, perhaps, nothing more,' to collect and group 
 the mdre important of these various decisions, . . . 
 This is the only work of its kind afforded the pro- 
 fession of either country. The English cases, many 
 of great authority with us, are here collected and 
 lucidly arranged. Besides the questions constantly 
 presented to, the Courts, it happens frequently that 
 Corporation Counsel are called upon to give advice 
 which may affect property of great value. In such 
 an emergency this volume would be of essential 
 service." — American Law Review, October 1874. 
 
 \ , " Much as one may be surprised at the confusion 
 F Which clouds the doctrine 6"f Ultra Vires, it is all 
 the more pleasant to notice the lucid manner in 
 which it has been handled by the author. His 
 & ■ arrangement of the work is logical, and his treat- 
 ment of the parts clear and concise. The work is 
 arranged under four main heads. Each part appears 
 to be well and appropriately filled up. The refer- 
 ences to decided cases are full and accurate. The 
 result is a body of law essential as an appendix to 
 any work on Corporations, and such as should be 
 on the shelves of any lawyer who assumes to have 
 a useful and reliable library of modern law." — 
 Canada Law Journal. 
 
 " Mr. Brice writes with knowledge and with pre- 
 cision ; and his volume is probably as good as was 
 possible in the present stage of the law." — The 
 Daily News. 
 
 " When the reader has once got over the prejudice 
 
 produced by Mr. Brice's strange enmity with his 
 
 , subject, he will find him a guide of very great value: 
 
 Much information on a difficult and unattractive 
 
 ^"subject has been collected and arranged in a manner 
 
 | which will be of great assistance to the seeker after 
 
 the law on a point involving the powers of a com- 
 pany." — Law Journal. 
 
 "Mr, Brice himself calls His work an attempt to 
 reduce a vast mass of authorities to something like 
 order, and to deduce from them some general con- 
 clusions. To our mind it is a very creditable and 
 courageous attempt, and really of the same class as 
 those which started our present excellent text-books 
 in other branches of the law. But here the author 
 has chosen for himself a subject of great difficulty, 
 and one in which he will find it difficult to interest 
 the general student. The doctrine 'of UUraVires 
 is of very modern growth, and took its rise in the 
 attempt of our Courts. to make old law fit a new 
 state of facts by using and refining upon a maxim. 
 The doctrine is thus, as Mr. Brice say's, purely the 
 creature of judicial decisions, and for this reason it 
 forms a most embarrassing and awkward subject 
 for any legal writer. In this case the author has 
 certainly worked hard, and displayed great industry 
 and research. He has endeavoured, and that suc- 
 cessfully, to force his subject into some logical 
 order, and to arrange a mass of vague decisions 
 under different heads as clearly as was possible. 
 He has, at all events, laid 'the foundation for, per- 
 haps, a more complete and systematic text-book ; 
 which at some future time, when the .Courts are 
 themselves more logical in their decisions, will be 
 written. He has certainly called attention to a 
 most important branch of our law, which has hitherto 
 been much neglected. It is a branch, also, which 
 is daily growing in importance with the growth of 
 Corporations and the increase of Joint Stock Com- 
 panies. To investigate the principles which limit 
 their capacity, powevand liabilities, is certainly a 
 task worthy of the undertaking by any lawyer, more 
 especially at the present time. We congratulate 
 Mr. Brice on his success in so far as he has gone^ 
 and look forward to the time when some future 
 edition of his work shall, the law itself on Ultra 
 Vires having become more settled, be considered 
 as one of ourstandard works upon its own special 
 subject."— T/ie Law. 
 
 " It is an exceedingly valuable work at this time 
 when the rights and powers of Corporatibns are 
 matters of so much interest in the United States, 
 as well as in Great Britain, and its manifold cases 
 furnish as interesting reading to the business man 
 generally as to the lawyer or justice. "—Boston 
 (£/. S.) Journal of Commerce. 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL TABS, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 Just published, in One Volume, Octavo, price 2$s., cloth lettered, 
 
 CHURCH AND CLERGY. 
 
 THE LAW RELATING TO PUBLIC WORSHIP; 
 
 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO 
 
 apatttrtf of Ettual ana <3Drnamentation, 
 
 AND THE MEANS OF SECURING THE DUE OBSERVANCE THEREOF. 
 
 AND CONTAINING IN EXTENSO, 
 
 WITH NOTES AND REFERENCES, 
 
 THE PUBLIC WORSHIP REGULATION ACT, 1874; 
 
 THE CHURCH DISCIPLINE ACT ; 
 
 THE VARIOUS ACTS OF UNIFORMITY ; 
 
 THE LITURGIES OF 1549, 1552, and 1559, 
 
 COMPARED WITH THE PRESENT RUBRIC; 
 
 THE CANONS; THE ARTICLES; 
 
 AND THE 
 
 INJUNCTIONS, ADVERTISEMENTS,' AND OTHER ORIGINAL 
 DOCUMENTS OF LEGAL AUTHORITY. 
 
 By SEWARD BRICE, LL.D., 
 
 OF T^E INNER TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 The Substantive Law relating to the 
 Conduct of Public Worship. 
 
 Chap. I.— The Nature and Sources of Ecclesias- 
 tical Law. 
 
 Sect. 1. Introductory. 
 
 Sect. 2. Statutory Enactments. 
 
 Sect. 3. The Anglican Cancn Law. 
 
 Sect. 4. Ecclesiastical Common Law. 
 
 Sect. 5. Effect of Usage. 
 
 Chap. II.— General matters relating to Public 
 Worship. s 
 
 Sect. 1. Place. 
 Sect. a. Time. 
 Sect. 3. Person. 
 
 Sect. 4. The General Conduct of Public 
 Worship. 
 
 Chap. III.— The Liturgy of the Church of England: 
 
 Sect. x. Explanation of Terms. 
 
 Sect. 2. History of the Liturgy. 
 
 Sect. 3. The Ordinary Services. 
 
 Sect. 4" Other portions of the Common 
 Prayer._ 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YAKD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 THE LAW RELATING TO PUBLIC WORSHIP. 
 
 CONTENTS— continued. 
 
 \ Chap. IV.— Rites and Sacraments. 
 
 Sect. i. Exact meaning and nature of. 
 
 Sect. *. History of. 
 
 Sect. 3. The Holy Communion. 
 
 Sect. 4. Other Rites and Sacraments. 
 
 . Chap. V. — Ceremonial. 
 
 Sect. x. Explanation of Terms. 
 
 Sect. z. General Law relating to Cere- 
 monial. 
 
 Sect. 4. Ceremonies connected with^the 
 Holy* Communion. 1 
 
 Sett. 4. Ceremonies connected, with the 
 other Services. 
 
 Chap. VI. — Subsidiary matters pertaining to the 
 Conduct of Public Worship. 
 
 % Chap. VII. — Vestments. 
 
 Sect. ±, Explication of Terms. 
 Sect. 2. History of. 
 Sect. 3. Vestments of the Holy Com- 
 munion. 
 Sect. 4. Vestments of the other Services. 
 
 Chap. VIII. — Ornamentation. 
 
 Sect. j.. Definition of the Term. 
 Sect. 2. History of Law relating to. 
 Sect. 3. Ornamentation considered ge- 
 nerally. 
 
 {a.) Structural Ornamentation. 
 
 (£.) Non-structural ditto. 
 
 ' Sect. 4. Ornamentation specially con- 
 nected with the Holy Communion. 
 (a.) Structural. 
 [b.) Non-structural. 
 
 r, Chap. IX. — Decoration or Ornamentation in 
 |W* matters not essential. , 
 
 FChap, X. — The position and duties of the Laity in 
 ■ respect of the Conduct of Public Worship. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 p The Means for securing the proper 
 holding and conduct of Public 
 Worship. 
 
 Chap. I. — Punishments for Ecclesiastical Offences. 
 
 Sect. 1. Introductory- 
 Sect, a. Punishments applicable to both 
 Clergy and Laity. 
 
 Chap. I. con/. — Sect. 3. Punishments applicable to 
 Clergy only. 
 Sect. 4. Anomalous Punishments. 
 
 Chap. II. — The Jurisdiction and Power of the 
 Ordinary. 
 
 Chap. III. — Faculties. 
 
 Chap. IV. — Ordinary Legal Proceedings. 
 Sect. ±. Ecclesiastical Courts. 
 Sect. z. Civil Suits. 
 Sect. 3. Criminal Suits. 
 Sect. 4. Enforcing Judgments. 
 
 Chap. V.— The Church. Discipline Act. 
 Sect. 1. General notice of. 
 Sect. a. The Statute annotated. 
 
 Chap. VI.— The Public Worship Regulation Act, 
 1874. 
 
 Sect. 1, General notice of. 
 Sect. z. The Statute annotated. 
 
 Chap. VII. — The Court of Final Appeal in Eccle- 
 siastical matters. 
 
 Sect. t. Appeals in Early Times. 
 Sect. z. The Privy Council. 
 Sect. 3. The present High Court of 
 Appeal. 
 
 Part III. 
 
 Authoritative Enactments in relation 
 to the holding and conduct of 
 Public Worship. 
 
 Chap. I. — The General Statutes of Uniformity :— 
 2 & 3 Edward VI., c. 1 ; 
 5 & tf Edward VI., c. 1 ; 
 1 Eliz., c. 2; 
 13 & 14 Car. II., v, 4 ; 
 35 & 36 Vict, c. 35. 
 
 I- 
 Chap. II. — Particular and Special Statutes relating 
 to Public Worship. 
 
 Chap. III.— Enactments of a statutory nature re- 
 lating to Public Worship:— 
 
 The Injunctions of Edward VI. ; ' 
 The Injunctions of Elizabeth ; 
 The Advertisements of Elizabeth. 
 
 Chap. IV.— The Articles of Religion. 
 
 Chap. V.— The Canons. ' 
 
10 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL TABS, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 Just published^ in 8vo., price p. 6d., cloth, 
 
 THE LAW OF USAGES and CUSTOMS: 
 
 Sl practical i.ato XCtact, 
 
 By J. H. BALFOUR BROWNE, 
 
 Of the Middle Temple, Barrzsier-at-Law t 
 
 Registrar to the Railway Commissioners ; Author of " The Law of Carriers," " The Medical 
 
 * Jurisprudence of Insanity," &"c. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 As to Customs generally. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 As to Customs of the Country, and the Admissibility of the Proof of 
 
 these. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 As to the usages of Trade and the Laws of Evidence respecting , 
 
 these. ,s 
 
 " Mr. Browne has in this work chosen for exposition an interesting and difficult 
 branch of the law. He has discharged his duty with great ability and industry. 
 . "We look upon this treatise as a valuable addition to works written on the Science 
 of Law." — Canada Law Journal. , 
 
 '-' This is-,a very elegantly produced volume, and is written in an extremely scientific 
 and agreeable style. i • 
 
 "As a tract upon a very troublesome department , of law it is admirable — the prin- 
 ciples laid down are sound, the illustrations are well chosen, and the decisions and dicta 
 are harmonised so far as possible, and distinguished when necessary." — Irish Law Times', 
 
 — : — ; — ^ : — 77 ' 
 
 In the Press, in One Volume 8vo., 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LAW RELATING TO THE RATING 
 
 OF 
 
 RAILWAY, GAS, DOCK, HARBOUR, TRAMWAY, 
 
 /■' < 
 
 BRIDGE, PIER, and other CORPORATIONS, 
 
 TO THE 
 
 RELIEF OF THE POOR. 
 
 By J. H. BALFOUR BROWNE, 
 
 Of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law ; 
 Author of " The Law of Usages and Customs," " The Law of Carriers,*' &*c 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 11 
 
 In one thick volume, 8vo., 1873, price 30X., cloth lettered, 
 
 THE LAW AND PRACTICE IN BANKRUPTCY ; 
 
 Comprising the Bankruptcy Act, 1869 ; the Debtors Act, 1869 ; the Insolvent Debtors 
 and Bankruptcy Repeal .Act, 1869 ; together with the General Rules and Orders 
 in Bankruptcy, at Common Law and in the County Courts ; 
 
 With tiie Practice on Procedure to Adjudication, Procedure 
 
 to Liquidation, Procedure to Composition, arid Procedure 
 
 under Debtors' Summons, Scales of Costs and 
 
 of Allowance to Witnesses. 
 
 Copious Notes, References, and a very full Index. Second Edition. By Henry Philip 
 Roche and William Hazlitt, Barristers-at-Law, and Registrars of the Court 
 of Bankruptcy. 
 
 Prom THE LAW. 
 " The. aim of the, authors in writing this book has 
 been to make it useful to the profession, and in this 
 they have eminently succeeded. Bringing to their 
 task a long and varied experience of Bankruptcy 
 ' laws, they have been able, from their position as 
 Registrars of the Court, also to acquire more know- 
 ledge of the practical working of the new Act than 
 could well have been obtained by any other writer, 
 however gifted and industrious. The last statute, 
 which by itself loolced so simple, has, from the 
 number and complexity of the rules framed there- 
 under, probably surpassed all its predecessors in 
 accumulating a mass of forms and ceremonies. 
 Therefore it is that, a book like the above becomes 
 . absolutely necessary, more especially to solicitors 
 ;, who have but a small practice in Bankruptcy. The 
 portion of the work which to such will be found 
 most useful, is that on th'e practical procedure ; 
 where they will find plain and minute directions as 
 to setting about the commencement of a Bankruptcy 
 or Liquidation, and also as to its continuance and 
 Ifeonclusion. There is also a special and carefully 
 written ^ chapter on Costs. There are included in 
 the work all the statutes, rules, forms, and scales 
 of costs, which can be wanted in a Bankruptcy 
 ' case ; while the Index is a book of itself, and seems 
 unusually complete. The type and binding could 
 not well be better. Altogether we can say of this 
 book that it is the product of hard work, by men 
 who know of what they write, and that it is worthy 
 to stand beside our best text-books on the shelves 
 : -.,of every lawyer." 
 
 ■"&■ From the LAW TIMES. 
 
 ;' ; i " f" This work is one which has naturally carried 
 )with it more weight than any other text-book, 
 paving been written by two registrars of the Court 
 if'of Bankruptcy. In practice it has been found to 
 ■adaUse the anticipations formed concerning it, in 
 proof of which we have now in our hands a second 
 edition. Perhaps the most valuable feature of the 
 work is the fulness of the practical details which 
 enable a tyro to transact his bpsiness with tolerable 
 [Security. The first half of the work comprises the 
 bankruptcy Act and the Debtors Act, which have 
 been carefully and ably noted with all the deci- 
 sions; and the latter half is devoted mainly to 
 practice and procedure. The Bills of Sale Act and 
 one or two other enactments are incorporated which 
 are frequently consulted by the bankruptcy practi- 
 tioner. A very elaborate index ends the volume." 
 
 From the LAW,"JOUBNAL. 
 
 "The work before us also contains the Debtors 
 Act of 1869, the Bankruptcy Repeal Act of 1869, the 
 Absconding Debtors Act, 1869, with several other 
 Acts and all the General Rules in Bankruptcy, 
 printed and annotated in the s,ame manner as the 
 principal Act. There is also a very full collection of 
 forms and bills of costs; but ike portion of the work 
 which is decidedly the most novel, andwe imagine 
 will prove extremely useful, is that comprised in 
 pages 355-474. which contain an exposition, by the 
 authors on the practice on procedure to adjudication, 
 liquidation, and composition with creditors, and 
 on procedure under a debtors* summons. It is not 
 vften that a practising lawyer is able to turn to a 
 book on Practice written by the judges of the parti- 
 cular Court to which it relates, and, as it were, 
 stamped with the seal of authority In con- 
 clusion, we have only to say that Messrs. Roche 
 and Hazlitt have appended to their work a very 
 full and copious index, and that we can cordially 
 and conscientiously recommend it to the notice of 
 the legal prof ession." 
 
 From the SOLICITOUS' JOURNAL. 
 
 " In the book before us, a reader is enabled by 
 means of large consecutive figures at the head of 
 each margin to reach the 1 section and cases he re- 
 quires without the trouble of referring to the index. 
 In the hurry of daily practice this will probably be 
 found no small advantage. In the subsequent 
 chapters on adjudication, liquidation, composition,' 
 and debtors' summons, the arrangement adopted is 
 the convenient one for practical purposes of tracing 
 each consecutive step of the procedure, and weld- 
 ing together the provisions of the Acts, Rules, and 
 Forms, with the substance of the cases. This 
 appears to us to be successfully accomplished, and 
 the book, as a whole, constitutes a useful digest of 
 the statutory and case law. As regards the former, 
 the work appears to contain every provision rela- 
 ting to or connected with the subject, including 
 even the orders made in December, 1869, transfer- 
 ring business then pending. The cases are taken 
 from a wide range of reports and include a con- 
 siderable number cited from MSS. notes. , The 
 index is unusually full, combining both, an analysis 
 and index ; and, lastly, the type and paper are all 
 that can be desired." 
 
12 
 
 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 Just published, Third Edition, in 8vo., price '2Qr., cloth, . 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF EQUITY 
 
 3|ixteirtiet> for tlje WL&z of fetuoetitgf ano tfje profcggfcm. 
 
 By EDMUND H. T. SNELL, 
 
 OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARRISTER- AT- LAW. 
 
 Third Edition 
 By JOHN R. GRIFFITH, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law, ■! 
 
 In One Vol., 8vo., 1874. 
 
 * # * This Work has become a Standard Class-Book in England^ Ireland, j 
 India, and the Colonies. 
 
 " The second edition of this Treatise was noticed in this Review in .October, 1872 ; the first edition had 
 appeared in 1868. We are glad to see evidence of its growing popularity. As a second book in equity we 
 are inclined to think it is the best which has been published. Mr. Snell's Treatise presents compacdy/ \ 
 and (considering the size of the book) with remarkable comprehensiveness, the leading points on the 
 various heads of Equity jurisdiction. Its selection of the most recent Cases' is very valuable for the 
 student and for the practitioner who desires a convenient vade-mecum, this book can be safely recom- 
 1 mended." — American Law Review, January, 1875. / 
 
 " We know of no better introduction to the Principles of Equity. While 
 affording to the Student an insight to principles of which as yet he is not 
 master, it places at the service of those familiar with the doctrines of Equity, "$ 
 the most recent cases establishing or qualifying well understood principles "— £ 
 Canada Law Journal. 
 
 "Equity can never be made easy, nor isMt 
 desirable that it should be so ; but in the fact of 
 the large equitable jurisdiction conferred recently 
 —that is, since 1853— upon Common Law Courts, 
 and the extension of equitable principles and rules, 
 to the exclusion of Common Law, contemplated by 
 the Judicature Bill, it behoves every practitioner 
 to know as much as possible of equity with as little 
 expense of time as possible, and for this purpose 
 we know of no better work than Mr. Snell's. It 
 presents in a small compass the substance of ' The 
 Leading Cases,' and of Story's work ■on * Equity 
 , Jurisprudence ;' while students will be delighted to 
 find clear, logical, and intelligible explanations of 
 its most mysterious process and development. The 
 work professes to be based on the lectures of Mr. 
 Birkbeck, but it has now reached its third edition 
 in a few years, and is admirably noted up with the 
 latest decisions and enactments. We find particu- 
 larly good information concerning the equitable 
 and statutable rights of married women, and the 
 priorities of equitable and legal, registered and un- 
 registered, ' mortgages. Counsel, attorney, and 
 student, .will find it a useful, and especially a safe 
 guide in what it professes to teach." — Irish Law 
 Times. 
 
 "The great merit of the book now under con- 
 sideration is its scientific arrangement and accuracy. 
 It, therefore, becomes a most excellent guide to 
 
 those Common Lawyers who have somehow ac- 
 quired the notion that Equity is a vague term for a 
 sort of natural justice, and that it recognises no 
 rules such as are found in the Common Law. This 
 book is indeed a most praiseworthy and successful 
 'attempt to reduce Equity Jurisprudence to a science, 
 and as such deserves every commendation that can 
 be bestowed ; for by doing so it makes one mbre 
 step towards that complete codification of our law 
 which should be the aim and the desire of every 
 true lawyer. To the ordinary student of Equity 
 it is indeed unnecessary for us to say one word in 
 its praise and recommendation. But as every 
 Common Lawyer must before long add to his 
 knowledge some idea of equitable doctrine, it is to 
 them especially that we commend this book. They 
 will find in it the principles of Equity set out and 
 illustrated in a really scientific and, we may say, 
 , workmanlike way, and for this reason they will 
 recognise in its method the style of thought and 
 manner to which they have long been accustoniedii& 
 — The Law. ' c/, 
 
 "We have received the third edition of Snell's" 
 Equity, "by Mr. J. R. Griflith. The statute and 
 case law has been brought down to the time of 
 publication, and this admirable standard work may 
 therefore be used without any more assistance than 
 is afforded by ( the current reports." — Law Times, 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 13 
 
 Just published, in one volume, 8vo., price lSs., cloth, 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF CONVEYANCING. 
 
 AN ELEMENTARY WORK FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS. 
 
 By Henry C. Deane, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law, Lecturer to the Incorporated 
 Law Society of the United Kingdom. 
 
 " Mr. Deane is one of the Lecturers of the Incorporated Law Society, and in his elementary work 
 ►intended for the use of students, he. embodies some lectures given at the hall of that society. It would 
 weary our readers to take them over the ground necessarily covered by Mr. Deane. The first part is 
 devoted to Corporeal Hereditaments, and the second to Conveyancing. The latter is prefaced by a very 
 interesting "History of Conveyancing," and for practical purposes the chapter (Ch. 2, Part II.) on 
 Conditions of Sale is decidedly valuable. The most recent legislation is handled by Mr. Deane in con- 
 nexion with the old law, the Judicature Act and the Vendor and Purchaser Act both being considered 
 in this chapter on Conditions of .Sale. We might make some interesting quotations, but the work is one 
 which those engaged in conveyancing should purchase and put on their shelves, and welcome it with the 
 recommendations which we have already recorded. "—Law Times. 
 
 " We Hope to see this book, like SnelPs Equity, a standard class-book in 
 'all Law Schools where English law is taught."- — Canada Law Journal. 
 
 , "This is, as its author states, a purely elementary 
 
 work. It may indeed be called the A B C of con- 
 
 ji.Veyancing. In the clearest and simplest language 
 
 the student will find an outline, firstly, of the various 
 
 forms of ownership in land, and, secondly, of the 
 
 ordinary modes of conveyances used in transferring 
 
 such land from one person to another. The second 
 
 portion is founded upon lectures that were delivered 
 
 by the author at the Incorporated Law Society, and 
 
 is accordingly very clear and practical. The whole 
 
 jj work- is very well and thoroughly done. Mr. 
 
 Deane has, we believe, succeeded in writing the 
 
 very simplest work ever published on the abstruse 
 
 f. subject of conveyancing ; and has by his language 
 
 \ and illustrations, explained points of law in a way 
 
 that cannot be misunderstood. For this reason, and 
 
 as being the most elementary work combining the 
 
 ^elements of real property law with the principles of 
 
 practical conveyancing, we can heartily recommend 
 
 it as a first book on the subject of which it treats. 
 
 As such we should think it would be both worthy 
 
 % and suitable to be yarned as one of the books that 
 
 ;' ( are required to be read ,as a preparation for the 
 
 ■rarious Law Examinations." — The Law. 
 
 W* " We can confidently recommend Mr. Deane's 
 j-swork on the ' Principles of Conveyancing.' It is 
 
 notexhaustive, and does not pretend to go fully into 
 ||the laws of trusts, powers, or remainders, but it fully 
 fexplains the several different legal and equitable 
 'Testates in land and the tenure of land, and the modes 
 •i of , alienation used in conveyances inter vivos and by 
 \ will. It also fully explains the meaning and value 
 
 of the several parts of the conveyances, the cove- 
 nants, conditions, provisoes, exceptions and reser- 
 > va^ons, habendums, and the proper form of recitals, 
 [ &c, &c. — a point frequently neglected in other and 
 
 more* pretentious treatises. It contains excellent 
 
 chapters on purchase deeds, leases, mortgages, 
 settlements, and wills ; and, in addition, Mr. Deane 
 treats of conditions of sale most fully and clearly. 
 It seems essentially the book for young convey- 
 ancers, and will, probably, in many cases supplant 
 Williams. It is, in fact, a modern adaptation of 
 Mr. Watkin's book on conveyancing, and is fully 
 equal to its prototype." — Irish Law Times. 
 1 
 " A general review of the scope of Mr. Deane's 
 volume and a perusal of several of its chapters 
 have brought us to the conclusion that,, though its 
 contents are purely elementary, and it contains 
 nothing which is not familiar to the practitioner, 
 it may be extremely useful to students, and especially 
 to those gentlemen who are candidates for the 
 various legal examinations. There are so many 
 questions set now on case law that they would do 
 well to peruse this treatise of Mr. Deane's, and use 
 it in conjunction with a book of questions and 
 answers. They will find a considerable amount of 
 equity case law, especially in the .second part of 
 Mr. Deane's book, which comprises in substance 
 some lectures delivered by the author at the Law 
 Institution." — Law Journal. 
 
 " As Mr. Deane's work is addressed to the rising 
 generation of conveyancers, ' students entering 
 upon the difficulties of real' property law,' it may be 
 presumed that he does not fear the immediate anni- 
 hilation of that noble science in its traditional forms 
 by any legislative changes. The first part of the 
 volume is composed of a series of chapters on cor-; 
 poreal hereditaments, and the second part of some 
 lectures on conveyancing recently delivered by the 
 author at the Law Institution'. It is enough to say 
 that Mr. Deane writes v clearly and to the point." — 
 Saturday Review. 
 
14 
 
 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 Just published, in one volume, 8vd., price 21s., cloth, 
 
 A NEW LAW DICTIONARY, 
 
 AND 
 
 institute of tf)e tofjole Hato ; 
 
 EMBRACING FRENCH AND LATIN TERMS, AND 
 
 REFERENCES TO THE AUTHORITIES, 
 
 CASES, AND STATUTES. 
 
 By ARCHIBALD BROWN, 
 
 M.A. Edin. and Oxon, and B.C.L. Oxon, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at- 
 
 Law, Author of the " Law of Fixtures," " Analysis of Savigny's 
 
 Obligations in Roman Law," &c. 
 
 "Mr. Brown has succeeded in the first essential,, that of brevitfii 
 He has compressed into a wonderfully small compass a great deal 
 of matter. Our impression is that the work has been carefully ': 
 executed!'— Solicitors' Journal. 
 
 ' ' This book certainly answers to its first 
 title, , if it hardly comes up to the ambitious 
 ide£ of its second. For the purposes of 
 working law students nothing could be more 
 useful. , Besides explaining every legal term, 
 new and old, so carefully indeed as to in-' 
 elude the word ' re, ' the author gives short 
 notes upon points of law, which are excel- 
 lent specimens of clear and compressed 
 writing. References to cases and statutes 
 are abundant, as also to the best text writers 
 on each subject. As an example of Mr. , 
 Brown's resolute endeavour to reduce even 
 the vaguest and widest portions of our law 
 to some clear first principles, we may refer 
 readers to the title 'Fraud,' where they will 
 find nine columns of compressed learning 
 scientifically arranged. French and Roman 
 law terms and doctrines are also carefully 
 explained, while even the growth and cha- 
 racter of the British Constitution are shortly 
 but clearly set out under their proper head- 
 ings. As already stated, the book is, for 
 students, invaluable ; but members of the 
 profession will also find it useful for ready- 
 reference ; and certainly the public could 
 find a great deal of curious information in 
 its pages. We are always glad to be able 
 to speak well of a book which, like the 
 present, shows signs of good earnest work. 
 Here the style and execution are worthy of 
 the great subject chosen, and more than 
 this cannot be said in its favour. The 
 printing is excellent for the purpose of find- 
 ing any point that is sought ; the general 
 
 get-up of the book could not be better ; and 
 we are glad to note that the edges'are ready 
 cut, thereby saving the reader much trouble, 
 and tending to keep the book itself neat and 
 clean in appearance for a long time to come, 
 even though in constant use." — The Law. 
 
 " In a modest preface Mr. Brown intro* 
 duces us to a rather ambitious work. He 
 has endeavoured to compress into less than, 
 four hundred pages the whole law of Engr 
 land, and has evidently bestowed ,much> 
 pains on the execution of the task. He. 
 does not, however, aim at anything higher 
 than rendering a service to students prepare 
 ing for the Bar or for the lower branch of 
 the profession, and there can be no doubt 
 that he has produced a book of reference 
 which will be useful to the class he has had 
 in view. The conditions which are imposed S 
 by the very nature of such a work neces- 
 sarily limit the possibility of making it 
 altogether satisfactory. If it goes thoroughy 
 into the rules and principles of every branch J 
 of law, it becomes too bulky to answer the 
 purpose for which it is composed ; and, 'on 
 the other hand, there is the danger of sacri- 
 ficing ■completeness to compression. Mr. 
 Brown has perhaps done about as much as 
 any one, not a rare genius, could do in such 
 a case, and his Dictionary will be serviceable 
 to those who are in want of hints and re- 
 ferences, and are content with a general 
 idea of a law or legal principle. It is a 
 handy book to have at one's "elbow."— 
 Saturday Review. 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 15 
 
 Just published, in one thick volume, 8vo., price '2ls., cloth, 
 
 ENGLISH 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY. 
 
 w 
 
 gjesigiufr as & fei-§acrli fax Sfctafttate nria <§%rs. 
 
 By T. P. TASWELL-LANGMEAD, B.C.L., > 
 
 Of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law, late -Vinerian Scholar in the University 
 of Oxford, and Tancred Student in Common Law. 
 
 CONT 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 .From the Teutonic Conquest of Britain to 
 , the Norman Conquest of England. ' , 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Norman Conquest. , 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Reigns of the Norman and first Angevin < 
 Kings. 
 / ' f 
 
 CHAPTER TV. 
 Magna Charta. 
 
 CHAPTER V.. 
 
 Administrative System under the Norman 
 and Plantagenet Kings. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. - 
 
 The Succession to the Crown. 
 i 
 
 CHAPTER VII, 
 
 '"• Origin of Parliament. / 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 , Growth of Parliament. 
 
 ENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Parliament under the Lancastrian and 
 Yorkist Kings. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Tudor Period— Hen. VII., Hen. VIIL, 
 Edw. VI., Mary. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 The Reformation in England. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 1 The Tudor Period— Reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 , CHAPTER XIII. 
 The Stewart Period — from the Accession of 
 James I. to the Passing of the Petition of 
 Right,, 
 
 CHAPTER XIV.' 
 
 The Stewart Period— from the Petition of 
 
 Right to the Restoration. 
 
 CHAPTER- XV. 
 
 The Stewart Period— from the Restoration 
 to the Passing of the Bill of Rights. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Progress of the Constitution since the, 
 Revolution. 
 
16 < STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL TABS, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 MR. INDERMAUR'S BOOKS FOR STUDENTS. 
 
 v " Mr. Ihdermaur's books are admirably adapted to the purpose for which they are .written, and we 
 heartily recommend them to students and teachers, who will find them exceedingly convenient compen- 
 diums of the law." — American Law Review. 
 
 InSvo^ 1874, price 3 s. t cloth, 
 
 SELF-PREPARATION FOR THE FINAL 
 EXAMINATION. 
 
 CONTAINING A COMPLETE COURSE OF STUDY, WITH STATUTES, 
 /CASES, AND QUESTIONS; 
 
 And intended for the- use, during the last four' months, of those Articled Clerks who 
 read by themselves. By John Indermaur, Solicitor (Clifford's Inn Prizeman, 
 Michaelmas Term, 1872) ; Author of "Epitomes of Leading Common Law, and 
 Equity and Conveyancing -Cases." 
 
 Second Edition. In 8vo., 1874, price 5j., cloth, 
 
 AN EPITOME OF LEADING COMMON LAW OASES; 
 
 WITH SOME SHORT NOTES THEREON. 
 
 Chiefly intended as a Guide to V Smith's Leading CXses." By John Indermaur, 
 Solicitor (Clifford's Inn Prizeman, Michaelmas Term, 1872). 
 
 , "This should be placed in the handy-volume 
 series of law books. Its title expresses its object — 
 that of an Epitome and Guide to Leading Cases. 
 The Cases themselves are stated with admirable 
 brevity and clearness, and the notes turn out to be 
 more full and instructive than their material size 
 would seem to indicate. The type and binding are 
 excellent, and in several respects this is an im- 
 provement on the first edition."— American Law 
 Review. 
 
 " At the end of thirteen months from the publi- 
 
 cation of the little volume the demand has* justified 
 a second edition. Last year we suggested that the 
 compiler of the book knew the value of skilful-. 
 ' cram ' in the law examinations ; and the call for a 
 second edition plainly shows that our suspicion*was 
 correct. One case has been added, and also refer- 
 ences to the.- original reports of the several - cases ; 
 otherwise, the book is a mere reprint, and a glance 
 at it with a knowledge of its popularity affords an 
 exact view oi the art of examination as used in the 
 ' Final.'' "— The Law Journal. * ■ 
 
 Second Edition, in 8vo., 1874, price §s. t cloth/ 
 
 AN 'EPITOME OF LEADING CONVEYANCING AND 
 EQUITY CASES; 
 
 k WITH SOME SHORT NOTES THEREON, FOR THE USE OF , 
 
 STUDENTS. 
 
 By John Indermaur, Solicitor, Author of "An Epitome of Leading 
 Common LawXases." 
 
 I Journal. 
 
 THE NEW JUDICATURE ACTS. 
 
 ► In preparation, in Svo., 
 
 THE STUDENT'S GUIDE TO THE SUPREME COURT OF 
 JUDICATURE ACT, 
 
 AND THE RULES THEREUNDER ; 
 
 Being a book of Questions and Answers intended for the use of Law Students. By 
 ' John Indermaur, Solicitor, Author 1 of "Self-preparation for the Final Exami- 
 nation," and "Epitomes of Leading Common Law, and Equity and Conveyancing 
 Cases." ' ' ' 1 
 
STEVENS ft HATNES, BEL1 YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 17 
 
 Second Edition, in one thick volume, crown 8vo. , price zos. , cloth, 
 
 THE PROBATE, LEGACY, AND 
 DUTY ACTS: 
 
 SUCCESSION 
 
 comprising 36 Geo. Ill, cap. 52 ; 45 Geo. Ill cap. 28; 55 Geo. III. cap. 184; and 
 
 16 & 17 Vict. cap. 51 ; -with an 1 Introduction, copious Notes and References to all 
 the decided Cases in England, Scotland and Ireland, to Michaelmas Term 1870 ; 
 together ,with an Appendix of Statutes, Forms, Tables of Duties, and a full Index. 
 By Alfred' Hanson, Esq., Comptroller of Legacy and Succession Duties. 
 
 "It is the only complete book upon a subjeqt of 
 great importance, but which does not come within 
 1 the regular course of professional stildyj and there- 
 fore requires to be read up when a case having 
 reference to it comes into the solicitor's gffice. 
 
 "Mr. Hanson is peculiarly qualified to be s the 
 adviser at such a time. Hence, a volume without 
 a rival." — Law Times. 
 
 " Since Mr. Hanson produced his first edition he 
 has been appointed Comptroller of Legacy and 
 Succession Duties. His book is in itself a most 
 useful one ; its author knows every in and out of 
 the subject, and has presented the whole in a form 
 easUy .and reacttly handled, and with good arrange- 
 ment and clear exposition." — Solicitors' Journal. 
 
 In one volume, 8vo., 1870, price lfe.,. cloth lettered; 
 
 THE LAW OF COPYRIGHT. 
 
 In Works of Literature and Art ; including' that of the Drama, Music, Engraving, 
 Sculpture, Painting, Photography, and Ornamental and Useful Designs ; together 
 with International and Foreign Copyright, with* the Statutes relating thereto^ 
 and References to the English and American Decisions: By Walter Arthur 
 Copinger, of the Middle Temple, Barrister- at- Law. 
 
 " A book th,at is certainly the most complete trea- 
 tise upon the complex subject of copyright which 
 has ever been published in England." — Atken&um. 
 
 "Awork much needed, and which he has done 
 exceedingly well." — American Law Review. 
 
 " We make no question that Mr. Copinger's 
 well-devised, well-written, and useful treatise will 
 become a standard work." — Law Journal. 
 
 "The book is a thoroughly good one: there is 
 scarcely a decision of any .importance left un- 
 
 noticed, and the law in its bearings is fairly and 
 judiciously treated." — The Bookseller. 
 
 " In conclusion we refer <Jur readers to this 
 capital book on Copyright. The reader will find 
 in it citations on the latest cases bearing on the 
 subject, chapters on International Copyright, and 
 the best and newe,st opinions on the subject so very 
 important to authors and to publishers/' — The Pub- 
 lisfte^s* Circular. 
 
 In 8vo., 1873, price lets. 6d. t cloth, 
 
 THE BOM ILL PATENT 
 
 A Collection of the Summings-up and Judgments in the Litigation under the Patent of 
 5th June, 1849, granted to the late G. H. Bovill for Improvements in, the 
 Manufacture of Flour. With an Introduction and some Observations by 
 W. W. Wynne, Attorney-at-Law. 
 
 Table of Contents'. Introduction— Judgment of 
 the Court of Exchequer in Bovill v. Pimm (30 Jan. 
 I 8 S 6) — The Specification .under the Patent of 1849 
 —Note upon that Specification— The Experiments 
 at -Deptford— Bovill «, Key worth (at Nisi Prius, 
 Juliy,MiSsS)-T-Bovill o. Keyworth (Motion for New 
 Trial, 28. May, 185,7) -Bovill v - Goodier (Master of 
 the Rolfs, April, 1866)— Bovill v. Goodier (Trial 
 before Willes, J., Dec. 1866)— Bovill v. Crate (Vice- 
 
 Chancellor Wood, June, 1867) — Bovill ». Cowan 
 (Master of the Roils, July, 1867)— Bovill v. Smith 
 (Vfce-ChancelTor Wopd, Nov. 1867) — Bovill v. 
 Goodier (Trial before Byles, J, Feb. 1868)— Bovill 
 v. Cowan (Lord Cairns, C, July, 1868) — Bovill v. 
 Smith (Lord Cairns, C, Dec. 1868) — Bovill v. 
 Goodier (Appeal for New Trial, before Lord 
 Hatherley, C., Dec. 1868)— Bovill v. Finch (C. P.). 
 
 In 8vo., 1872, price 12s., cloth, 
 
 of Marriage 
 
 An Exposition of the Laws 
 and Divorce. 
 
 As administered in the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes, with the Method of 
 Procedure in each kind of Suit ; Illustrated by Copious Notes of Cases. By 
 Ernst Browning, of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law* 
 
18 
 
 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 THE LAW OF INJUNCTIONS. 
 
 In two volumes, royal 8vo., 1872, price 7&r., cloth, 
 
 THE LAW AND PRACTICE OF INJUNCTIONS. 
 
 EMBRACING ALL THE SUBJECTS IN WHICH 
 
 COURTS OF EQUITY AND COMMON LAW 
 
 HAVE JURISDICTION, 
 
 By WILLIAM JOYCE, 
 
 of Lincoln's inn, barrister-at-law. 
 
 REVIEWS. 
 
 "A work which aims at being so absolutely 
 complete, as that of Mr. Joyce upon a subject 
 which is of almost perpetual recurrence in the 
 Courts, cannot fail to be a welcome offering to the 
 profession'; and, doubtless, it will be well received 
 and largely used, for it is as absolutely complete as 
 it aims at being. .... This work is, therefore, 
 eminently a work for the practitioner, being full of 
 practical utility in every page, and every sentence, 
 of it We have to congratulate the pro- 
 fession on this new acquisition to a digest of the 
 law, and the author on his production of a work of 
 permanent utility andW-fame." — Law Magazine 
 and Review, 
 
 "Mr. Joyce has produced not a treatise but a 
 complete and compendious exposition of the Law 
 and Practice of Injunctions both in equity and com- 
 mon law. 
 
 " Part III. is devoted to the practice of the 
 . Courts. Contains an amount of valuable and 
 technical matter nowhere else collected. . 
 
 " From these remarks it will be sufficiently per- 
 ceived what elaborate and painstaking industry, as 
 well as legal knowledge and ability, has been 
 necessary in the compilation of Mr. Joyce's work. 
 No, labour has been spared to save the practitioner r 
 labour, and no research has been omitted which 
 could tend towards the elucidation and exemplifi- , 
 cation of the general principles of the Law, and 
 Practice of Injunctions." — Law Journal. 
 
 " He does not attempt to go an inch beyond that 
 for which he has express written authority I he al- 
 lows the cases to speak, and does not speak for them. 
 
 "The work is something more than a treatise on 
 the Law of Injunctions. It gives us the general 
 law on almost every subject to which the process of ' 
 injunction is applicable. Not only English, but 
 American decisions are cited, the aggregate number- 
 being 3,500, and the statutes cited 160, whilst the 
 index is, we think, the most elaborate we have ever 
 seen — occupying nearly 200 pages. The work- is 
 probably entirely exhaustive.'^— Law,Tjmes. 
 
 "Mr. Joyce's work, within the limits which he has assigned himself, is well done. He has been 
 evidently diligent in the collection of cases, and the points decided are stated with accuracy, and with 
 more fulness of detail than 'in any work on inj unctions with which we are familiar. It cannot fail to be 
 useful in instructing practitioners in the proper employment of this much abused method of procedure."— 
 American Law Review. 
 
 " Mr. Joyce has produced a clear* scientific, and thorough treatise upon the subject of injunctions 
 which, unlike most English works, will be nearly as useful to the American as to the English practitioner. 
 
 " We doubt if there can be a single case of any note found upon injunctions in the English law that is 
 not cited in these volumes." — Chicago Legal News. 
 
 " This work, considered , either as to its matter or manner of execution, is no ordinary work. It is a 
 complete and exhaustive treatise both as to the law and the practice of granting injunctions. It must 
 supersede all oth^r works on the subject. The terse statementc-f the practice will be found of incalculable ' 
 value. We know of no book as suitable to supplya knowledge of the law of injunctions to our common 
 law friends as Mr. Joyce's exhaustive work. It is alike indispensable to members of the Common Law 
 and Equity Bars. Mr. Joyce's great.work would be a casket without a key unless accompanied by a good 
 index. His index, is very full and well arranged. We feel that this work is destined to take its place 
 *as a standard text-book, and the text-book on the particular subject of which it treats. The author 
 deserves great credit for the very great labour bestowed upon it. The publishers, as usual, have acquitted 
 themselves in a manner deserving of the high reputation they bear." — Canada Law Journal. 
 
STEVENS & HATNES, BELL TAKD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 19 
 
 In one volume, royal 8vo., 1869, price 3<w., cloth lettered, 
 
 CASES AND OPINIONS ON 
 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, 
 
 AND VARIOUS POINTS OF ENGLISH JURISPRUDENCE. 
 
 Collected and Digested from Official Documents and other Sources; 
 
 WITH NOTES. 
 
 By WILLIAM FORSYTH, M.A., Q.C., 
 
 Standing Counsel to the Secretary of State in Council of India, 
 
 Author of " Hortensius," "History of Trial by Jury,'' "Life of Cicero," etc., late 
 Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 
 
 From the CONTEMPORARY REVIEW. 
 
 "We cannot but regard with interest a book 
 which, within moderate compass, presents us with 
 the opinions or responsa of such lawyers and states- 
 men as Somers, Holt, Hardwicke, Mansfield, and, 
 to come down to our own day, Lyndhurst, Abinger, 
 JJenraan, Cranworth, Campbell, St. Leonards, 
 Westbury, Chelmsford, Cockburn, Cairns, and the 
 present Lord Chancellor Hatherley. At the end of 
 each chapter of the 'Cases and Opinions,' Mr. 
 Forsyth has added notes of his own, containing a 
 most excellent summary of all the law bearing on 
 that branch of his subject to which the ' Opinions ' 
 refer. . . . Our space precludes us from dwelling 
 upon the contents of this work at any greater 
 length, but we think we have said enough to show 
 that it is worthy of a place on the book-shelves of 
 our statesmen, and all who take an interest in con- 
 stitutional, or rather, national and colonial ques- 
 tions." 
 
 Prom the LAW MAGAZINE and LAW 
 REVIEW. 
 
 "Mr. Forsyth has largely and beneficially added 
 to our legal stores. H is work may be regarded as in 
 some sense a continuation of ' Chalmers's Opinions 
 of Eminent Lawyers.' ... The constitutional 
 relations between England and her colonies are 
 becoming every day of more importance. Ihe 
 work of Mr. Forsyth will do more to make these 
 relations perfectly clear than any : which has yet 
 appeared. Henceforth it will be the standard work 
 of reference in a variety of questions which are 
 constantly presenting themselves for solution both 
 here and in our colonies. . . . Questions of colonial 
 law by no means occupy an exclusive share of the 
 volume. . . - Among other questions on which 
 'opinions' are given, and of which careful sum- 
 maries and generalisations have been added by- 
 Mr. Forsyth, are those relating to vice-admiral ty 
 jurisdiction and piracy ; the prerogatives of the 
 Crown in relation to treasure trove, land in the 
 colonies, mines, cession of territory, &c . J the power 
 of courts-martial, extra-territorial jurisdiction alle- 
 g ance, the lex loci and the lex fort, extradition 
 and appeals from the colon.es. f he volume bears 
 marks of extreme care and regard to accuracy, and 
 h in every respect a valuable contribution to consti- 
 tutional law." 
 
 From the CANADA LAW JOURNAL. 
 
 "Mr. Forsyth at the present juncture has done 
 good service not only to his profession, but to all 
 men who .take any interest in public affairs, and we 
 therefore hope that those for whom the book is 
 especially intended will not be backward in giviilg 
 to it that support which the industry and ability of 
 its author, and the public spirit and enterprise of 
 its publishers, so well deserve." 
 
 From the LAW TIMES. 
 
 "This one volume of 560 pages or thereabouts 
 is a perfect storehouse of law not readily to be 
 found elsewhere, and the more useful because it is 
 not abstract law, but the application of principles 
 to particular cases. Mr. Forsyth's plan is that of 
 classification. He collects in separate chapters a 
 variety of opinions bearing upon separate branches 
 of the law. Thus, the first chapter is devoted to 
 cases on the common law, and the law applicable to 
 the colonies ; the second to the ecclesiastical law 
 relating to the colonies ; the third to the powers 
 and duties, civil and criminal liabilities, of governors 
 of colonies; the next to vice-admiralty jurisdiction 
 and piracy ; the fifth to certain prerogatives of the 
 Crown : such as lands in the colonies, grants, 
 escheats, mines, treasure trove, royal fish, felon's 
 goods, writ ne exeat regno, proclamation, cession 
 of territory, .and creation of courts of justice ; the 
 sixth chapter contains opinions on martial law and 
 courts-martial ; the seventh on extra-territorialjuris- 
 diction; the eighth on the lex loci and lex fori ; 
 the ninth on allegiance and aliens ; and then suc- 
 cessively on extradition ; on appeals from the colo- 
 nies ; on the revocation of charters ; on the Channel 
 Islands ; on the nationality of a ship, and other 
 matters relating to ships ; on the power of the 
 Crown to grant exclusive rights of trade ; on writs 
 of habeas corpus ; on certain points relating to the 
 criminal law ; and lastly, on miscellaneous subjects, 
 such as the declaration of war before hostilities ; on 
 the right of war, booty and prize, and on the grant 
 of a marriage licence. . . . This is a book to be 
 read, and therefore we recommend it not to all 
 lawyers only, but to every law student. The 
 editor's own notes are not the least valuable portion 
 of the volume." 
 
 d 2 
 
20 
 
 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL TABD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 In one thick volume, 8vo., 1869, price 32.?., cloth, 
 
 , THE LAW OF RAILWAY COMPANIES. 
 
 Comprising the Companies Clauses, the I^ands Clauses, the Railways Clauses Consoli- 
 dation Acts.Uhe Railway Companies Act, 1867, atld the Regulation of Railways 
 
 Act, 1868; "with Notes of Cases on all the Sections, brought down to the end of 
 ' the year 1868 ; together with an Appendix giving all the other material. Acts 
 
 relating*, to Railways, and thkr Standing Orders of the Houses , of Lords and 
 
 Commons ; and a copious Index. By Henry Godkfroi, of Lincoln's Inn, and 
 
 John Shortt, of the Middle Temple, Barristers -at-Law. 
 " The title of this book is the best possible 
 explanation of its contents. Here we have all the 
 statutes affecting Railway Companies, with the 
 standing orders of Parliament, in a volume exqui- 
 sitely printed, and of most . convenient size and 
 form. We have also, "what in effect to the prac- 
 titioner is a complete manual of reference of all the 
 decided cases on Railway Law, together with an 
 index of so copious and accurate a nature, as to 
 render the discovery of every section and every, 
 authority easy in the highest degree. . . . We find' 
 pages of authorities on ' transfer of 'shares,' ' calls,' 
 'forfeiture of shares,' 'sti.ja,,' 'Lloyd's bonds,' 
 ' contracts by companies,' and 'dividends.' Then 
 
 comes a mass of matter relating to the voluntary 
 arid compulsory acquisition of lands by Railway 
 Companies, while the ' compensation ' cases stretch 
 over some fifty pages. So also under the third 
 statute, there are a dozen pages on the powers and 
 duties of Railway Companies in the construction of 
 their works, while the liability of the Companies as 
 carriers of passengers and goods is also elucidated 
 in the most elaborate style. The ' Rating of Rail- 
 ways ' adds several pages of authorities. . . . We 
 believe that we have said enough to show that this 
 book;will prove to be of pre-eminent value to prac- 
 titioners, both before Parliamentary committees and 
 in the Court's of Law and Equity.'*— rZtfaw Journal. , 
 
 Second Edition, 1870, in 8vo., price 16s., cloth, 
 
 THE LAW OF COMPENSATION 
 
 FOR LANDS, HOUSES, &c. 
 
 Under the Lands Clauses, Railways Clauses Consolidation and Metropolitan Acts, &c, 
 with a full Collection of Forms and Precedents. Second Edition (much enlarged)!. 
 By Eyre Lloyd, of the Inner Temple, Barrister- at-Law. 
 'Few branches of the law lying within so small 
 
 a compass affect so many and such important in- 
 terests as that which gives compensation for lands 
 compulsorily taken for the purpose of public im- 
 provement, or private enterprise for a public benefit, 
 and for injuries done to other private properties by 
 the construction of the necessary works. T,he 
 cases decided upon the questions that arise for 
 solution in the application of this law are very 
 numerous, and many of them very difficult ; and a 
 collection of them well arranged, with the principles 
 they determine clearly stated appended to the 
 
 statute, could n<?t fail to be cordially welcomed by 
 all concerned' in properties they affected, whether 
 lawyers or land valuers. It is not therefore sur- 
 prising that Mr. Lloyd's admirable treatise, ex- 
 haustive as it is, should have passed so rapidly into 
 a second edition. But short as is, the time since it 
 made its first appearance, it has suffiped to produce 
 quite a crop of new "decisions, all of which have 
 been carefully noted up. The volume contains also 
 a valuable, collection of practical precedents." — 
 Law Times. 
 
 In 8vo., price 2 j. 6d, 9 
 
 MORIARTY ON PERSONATION AND DISPUTED IDENTITY 
 
 A ND THEIR TESTS. 
 
 In a handy volume, crown 8*0., 1870, price 10s: 6d., cloth, 
 
 THE LAW OF SALVAGE, 
 
 < As administered in the High Court of Admiralty and the County Courts ; with the 
 Principal Authorities, English an,d American, brought down to the present time } • 
 and £in, Appendix, containing Statutes, Forms, Table of Fees, etc/ By Edwyn ' 
 JONES, of Gray's Inn, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 his simplicity of style." — Liverpool yottrnal of 
 Commerce, i 
 
 "An admirable treatise on an important branch 
 of jurisprudence is compiled by Mr. Edwyn Jones, 
 
 " This book will be of infinite service to lawyers 
 practising in the maritime law courts and to those 
 engaged in shipping. In short, Mr. Jones's, book, 
 is a complete guide, and is full of information 
 upon all phases of the subject, tersely and clearly, 
 written. It will be quite as useful to, as it is as 
 much needed by, the American lawyer as the 
 English, because the salvage laws of America and 
 England are much alike, and Mr, Jones makes 
 constant reference to American authorities. The 
 book is all the more welcome beqause.phe sub- 
 ject upon which it treats is but little understood 
 except by a, favoured few. Now, however, if in- 
 terested people remain ignorant it is their own 
 fault. Mr. Jones has treated a very compli- 
 cated and difficult subject in a simple and con- 
 cise manner, and his success is commensurate with 
 
 of Gray's Inn, Barrister-atTLaw, who, in a compact 
 volume, gives us a very.comprehensive statement of 
 'The Law of Salvage,' as administered in the High 
 Court of Admiralty and the County Couxt&^with ' 
 1 the principal authorities, English, and American,.; 
 brought down to the present time,, and an'Appen* 
 dix containing statutes,, forms, tables 'of fees.. &c. 
 Mr.Jones has consultedia wide range of cases, 
 and systematised with much skill and clearness the i, 
 leading principles deducible.from numerous judg- 
 ments and precedents,«both here and in the United • 
 States. His work is likely to become a text-book 
 on the law in question." — Daily News, < > 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YAED, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 21 
 
 In 8vd., '872, price ox, cloth, 
 
 THE RULE OF THE LAW OF FIXTURES:" 
 
 £' Second Edition, embracing references to English, Scotch, Irish ? and American Decisions. 
 
 By Archibald Brown, M.A. Edin. and Oxon. and B.CX. Oxon., of the Middle 
 I, , Temple, Barrister- at-Law. 
 
 • We can recommend the book to the practitioner, because it is an intelligent construction^ 
 and not a mere string of head-notes. It will be a useful book, and is well got up and printed 
 in a large clear type." — Solicitors' Journal. 
 
 , t " It is a good aiid very sensible and readable book 
 ' to the practical and common sense English and 
 ' American lawyer. It takes up a difficult subject, 
 
 begins at the very beginning, tracing the decisions 
 
 in the order of time, and showing how they gradually 
 
 extended a principle here, then another there, until 
 
 finally a system is built up, somewhat incoherent, 
 
 but good enough for all practical purposes, and 
 
 enabling the lawyer, to use our author's words, * to 
 
 advise upon Modern Cases.' We have read it 
 
 with much zest, and greatly admire it. . . . We 
 
 can recommend it as being an exhaustive compila- 
 tion." — The Southern Law Review. 
 
 "Great industry has been, spent in reconciling 
 
 the numerous decisions on a very difficult branch of 
 
 law,- and even in illustrating it by references to 
 
 American cases. ... In one respect Mr. Brown 
 seems admirably adapted to the task of writing on 
 the law of fixtures. He is strongly convinced of 
 the influence, of history upon law. In his opening 
 sentence he tells us that * it has been said of history 
 that it finds. its entablature in law; it .may con- 
 versely be said of law that it finds its explanation in 
 history.' The sentence is a good opening upon a 
 subject which owes so much of its Ja,w to arbitrary * 
 rules rather than general principles' 1 as fixtures. 
 
 Mr. Brown's seventh and last chapter 
 
 will be found to contain a most serviceable enume- 
 ration of the recent cases, arranged according as 
 the conflict was between landlord and tenant, 
 mortgagor and mortgagee, and so on." — Law 
 Journal. 
 
 In 8vo., 1867, price is., sewed, * 
 
 LLOYD'S BOWS; THEIR .NATURE AMD USES. 
 
 By Henry Jefferd Tarrant, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law. 
 , In 8vo., 1867, price i6j\, cloth, 
 
 THE CHAKITABLE TRUSTS ACTS,, 1853, 1855, 1860; 
 
 THE CHAEITY cblOnSSIOEEBS JUKISDIOTKW ACT, 1862; 
 . ( THE EOMAN CATHOLIC CHAKITIES ACTS: 
 
 Together with a Collection of Statutes relating to or affecting Charities, including the 
 Mortmain Acts, Notes of Cases from 1853 to the present time, Forms of Decla- 
 rations of Trust, , Conditions of Sale, and Conveyance of Charity Land, and a 
 very , copious- Index. Second Edition. 
 
 By Hugh Cooke and R. G. Harwood, of the Charity Commission. 
 
 "Charities are so numerous, so many persons are 
 directly or indirectly interested in them, they 'are so 
 much abused, and there is such a growing desire to 
 rectify those abuses and to call in the aid of the 
 commissioners for a more beneficial application of 
 their funds, that we are not surprised to receive a 
 
 second edition of a collection of all the statutes that 
 regulate them, admirably annotated by two such 
 competent 1 editors as 1 Messrs. Cooke and Harwood, 
 whose official experience peculiarly qualifies them 
 for the task." — Law Times. 
 
 In 8vo., 1870, price Js. 6d., cloth, 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE LAW OF TENURES OF LAND IN 
 ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 
 
 By W. F. Finlason, of the Middle, Temple, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 " Mr. W. F. Finlason has done good service in Confining himself to the facts of legal history, he 
 .publishing. a concise, well-written history of the law has collected and presented, in an admirably com- 
 of tenures of land in Kngland and Ireland, with pact form, all the really useful information it con- 
 particular reference to inheritable tenancy, lease- tains." — Observer. 
 hold tenure, tenancy at will, and tenant right. % 
 
!32 
 
 STEVENS & HAYNE8, BELL YAKD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 This day is published, Second Edition, in 8vo., 1875, price its., cloth, 
 
 THE LAW AND PRACTICE UNDER THE COMPANIES ACTS, 
 
 1862, 1867, 1870; 
 
 THE LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANIES ACTS, 
 
 1870, 1871, 1872; 
 
 AND OTHER ACTS RELATING TO JOINT STOCK COMPANIES, 
 
 Together with Rules, Orders, and Forms, &c. &c. By H. Burton Buckley, M.A., of 
 Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law, and Fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. 
 
 %* In the preparation of the Second Edition the Reports have been carefully 
 researched, and numerous authorities added. Table A. of The Companies 
 Act, 1862, is now printed with Notes, in which many points not touched 
 upon in the First Edition are discussed. The authorities, including those 
 in the Albert and European Arbitrations, are brought down to the date 
 of publication". 
 
 EUROPEAN ARBITRATION. • 
 
 In Farts, price Js. 6d. each, sewed, 
 
 LORD WESTBURY'S DECISIONS. 
 
 Reported by Francis S. Reilly, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 albert Arbitration. 
 
 In Parts, price Is. 6d. each, sewed, 
 
 LORD CAIRNS'S DECISIONS. 
 
 Reported by Francis S. Reilly, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 In 8vo., 1871, price 21s., cloth, 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE STATUTES OF ELIZABETH AGAINST 
 FRAUDULENT CONVEYANCES, 
 
 The Bills of Sale Registration Acts, and the Law of Voluntary 
 Dispositions of Property generally. 
 
 By H. W. MAY, B.A. (Ch.Ch. Oxford), and of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 " Examining Mr. May's book, we find it con- 
 structed with an intelligence and precision which, 
 render it entirely worthy of being accepted as a 
 guide in this confessedly difficult subject. , The 
 subject isan involved one, but with clean and clear 
 handling it is here presented , as clearly as it could 
 be. ... On the whole, he has produced a very 
 useful book of an exceptionally scientific character." 
 — Solicitors' journal. 
 
 "This treatise has, not b e en published before it 
 wag wanted. The statutes of Elizabeth against 
 fraudulent conveyances have now been in force for 
 more than three hundred years. The decisions 
 under them are legion in number, and not at all, 
 times consistent with each other. , An attempt to 
 reduce the mass of decisions into something like 
 shape, and the exposition of legal principles in- 
 volved in the decisions, under any circumstances, 
 must have been a work of great labour, and we 
 are pleased to observe that in the book before us 
 there has been a combination of unusual labour 
 with considerable professional skill. . . . We can- 
 not conclude oijr notice of this work without saying 
 that it reflects great credit on the publishers as well 
 as the author. The facilities afforded by Messrs. 
 -Stevens and Haynes for the publication of treatises 
 by rising 'men in our profession are deserving of 
 all praise. We feel assured, that they do not lightly 
 lend their aid to works presented for publication, 
 and that in consequence publication by such a firm 
 is to some extent a guarantee of the value of the 
 work published." — Canada Law Journal. 
 
 " The subject and the work are both very good. 
 The former is well chosen,' new, and Interesting^ 
 the latterhas the quality which always distm* . 
 guishes original research from borrowed labours." •» 
 — American Law Review. 
 
 " We are happy to welcome his (Mr. May's) work 
 as an addition to the, we regret to say, brief cata- 
 logue of law books conscientiously executed. We 
 "can corroborate his own description 'of his' labours, 
 'that no pains have' been spared to make the book' 
 as concise and practical as possible, without doing 
 so at the expense of perspicuity, or by the omission 
 of any important points.' " — Law Times, , 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 23 
 
 This day is published, in two volumes, royal 8vo., price , cloth lettered. 
 
 THE LAW 
 
 RELATING TO 
 
 SHIPMASTERS AND SEAMEN. 
 
 THEIR APPOINTMENT, DUTIES, POWERS, RIGHTS, 
 LIABILITIES AND REMEDIES. 
 
 By JOSEPH KAY, M.A., Q.C., 
 
 OF TRIN. COLL. CAMBRIDGE, AND OF THE NORTHERN CIRCUIT ; 
 
 SOLICITOR-GENERAL OF THE COUNTY PALATINE OF DURHAM \ ONE OF THE JUDGES OF THE COURT OF 
 
 RECORD FOR THE HUNDRED OF SALFORD ; 
 
 AND AUTHOR OF " THE SOCIAL CONDITION AND EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE 
 
 IN ENGLAND AND EUROPE." 
 
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Part I. 
 
 The Public Authorities. 
 
 Chap. I.— The Board of Trade: its General Functions 
 
 with reference to Masters and Seamen. 
 Chap. II. — Local Marine Boards. 
 Chap. III. — Mercantile Marine Offices. 
 Chap. IV.— Naval Courts. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 The Appointment, Certificates, &c>, 
 of the Master* 
 
 Chap. I; — Who may appoint or succeed him, and how 
 
 long his authority continues. 
 Chap. II. — His Qualifications. 
 Chap- HI. — His Examination and Certificates. 
 Chap. IV. — In what cases Colonial Certificates are valid- 
 Chap. V. — His Remuneration. 
 Chap. VI. — Who may remove him, or cancel or suspend 
 
 his Certificate. 
 Chap. VII.— His Offences. 
 Chap. VIII. — Legal Procedure tor infliction of 
 
 Penalties, etc 
 
 Part III. 
 
 The Voyage. 
 
 Duties and Besponsibilities of the Master. 
 
 Chap. I..— The Master's general duties and authorities 
 
 on the Voyage. 
 Chap. II. — His duty to see that the Ship is seaworthy. 
 Sect. i. The Master's duty to see that the 
 Ship is seaworthy. 
 
 Chap. II. Sect. 2. What seaworthiness means in 
 
 {cont.) Marine Insurance. 
 
 Sect. 3. Seaworthiness as regards Master, 
 Crew, and Pilot. 
 
 Sect. 4. Seaworthiness as regards hull, 
 rigging, and stores. 
 
 Chap. III.— His duties with respect to receiving, stow- 
 ing, and taking care of the Cargo. 
 See Part IV., Chap. 2. 
 
 Chap. IV. — His duty in the preparation of the Ship 
 
 for sea. 
 Chap. V. — His duties when the Ship has to proceed 
 
 to a Foreign Port and load there. 
 
 Chap. VI.— His duty to obtain the necessary Clear- 
 ances, &c. 
 
 Chap. VII. — What Documents he must procure and 
 keep. 
 
 Chap. VIII, — His duty to carry proper Colours. 
 
 Chap. IX.— His duties after all is ready to Sail. 
 
 Chap. X. — When he is bound to set Sail on the Voyage. 
 
 Sect. 1. Duty of Master to set Sail on the 
 day fixed by Charter-party and Policy. 
 
 Sect. 2. Consequences of not Sailing ac- 
 cording to the terms of the Policy. 
 
 Sect. 3. Consequences of not Sailing ac- 
 cording to the terms of the Charter- 
 party. ' , 
 
 Sect. 4. Demurrage for delay in Loading 
 or Unloading. 
 
 Chap. XI. — When he must sail with Convoy. 
 Chap. XII. — His duty not to deviate. 
 
 Sect. 1. What it is to deviate, and the 
 consequences of doing so. 
 
 Sect. 2. Change of Voyage, and its effect 
 on the Policy. 
 
24 
 
 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB, 
 
 THE LAW RELATING TO SHIPMASTERS AND SEAMEN. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS— continued. 
 
 Chap. XII. Sect. 3. When Master may stop at the 
 {cant.) - usual intermediate Forts without . a 
 
 deviation. 
 
 Sect. 4. In what order the Master must 
 visit the Ports Of Discharge so as to 
 avoid a deviation, when the Ports of 
 Discharge are, or when they -are not 
 specifically named in the Policy. 
 
 Sect. 5. It is not necessary to Sail to all 
 the Ports named in the Policy. 
 
 Sect. 6. When the Master may revisit a 
 Port, or, sail backwards and ' forwards' 
 from one to the other without deviation. 
 
 Sect. 7. What Ports he may visit and 
 trade at; and how he may do so under 
 the Licence Clauses without deviation. 
 
 Sect. 8. For what purposes he may visit 
 Ports which are within the Licence 
 Clauses without deviation. 
 
 Sect. 9. When trading at a Port is a devi- 
 ation. 
 
 Sect. 10. When cruising, chasing, or 
 attacking is a, deviation. 
 
 Chap. XIII. — His duty not to delay. 
 
 Sect. 1. The consequence of delay as 
 respects the Charterer and the Owner 
 of the Cargo. 
 
 Sept. 2. When delay in commencing or pro- 
 secuting the Voyage is equivalent to 
 deviation, and discharges the Under- 
 writer. 
 
 Chap. XIV. — What circumstances justify or excuse a 
 delay or a deviation. 
 
 Sect. x. Usage. 
 
 Sect. a. Perils insured against 
 
 Sect. 3. Moral or physical force. 
 
 Sect. 4. Making a Port to refit. 
 
 Sect. 5. Making a Port in order to recruit, 
 
 or to procure fresh hands or provisions. 
 Sect. 6. Stress of Weather. 
 Sect. 7. Endeavour to avoid Capture or 
 
 imminent peril. ■ 
 Sect 8. Endeavour to join Convoy. 
 Sect. 9. Succouring Ships in Distress. 
 
 Chap. XV. — His duty not to commit Barratry. 
 
 Sect. t. What Barratry is, and by whom 
 
 it may be committed. 
 Sect. *. Statutable provisions for the dis- 
 couragement of Barratry. 
 
 Chap. XVI. — His duties in case of a Collision. 
 (See Part XII., Chap. ,8.) 
 
 Chap. XVII.— His duties to the Underwriters on 
 abandonment. 
 
 Chap. XVIII.— His duties in a Port of Discharge. 
 
 Sect. 1, His duties to his Employers. 
 
 Sect 2. . His' duties to the Mercantile I 
 Marine Office Superintendents. 
 
 Chap. XIX. — His duties to the authorities of the 
 Harbour. 
 
 Chap. XX.— The Master's Protests. 
 
 Part IV. 
 
 The Master's Duties and Powers with 
 
 respect to the Cargo. 
 Chap. I. — Generally: 
 
 Sect. x. As Agent of the Shipowners. 
 Sect. ii. As Agent of the Owners of the 
 Cargo. 
 
 Chap. II. — His Duties with respect to Receiving, 
 Stowing, and Taking Care of the Cargo. 
 
 Chap. III. — When he may Hypothecate the Cargo. 1 
 {See Part VIII., Chap. 5.) 
 
 Chap. IV.— When he may Sell it. 
 
 Chap. V. — When he should Tranship it. 
 
 1 Sect. 1. As Agent of the Shipbwner. 
 Sect. 2. As Agent of the Owners of die 
 Cargo. 
 
 Chap. VI.— Freight 
 
 Sect. 1. What itis, and when it is payable^ 
 Sect. 2. When Freight, so called, is payable' 
 
 in advance. 
 Sect. 3. How much Freight is payable- 
 Sect. 4. Pro rata Freight, what it is, and * 
 
 when it is payable. 
 Sect. 5. The Rules of the Admiralty Court 
 
 with respect to Freight. 
 
 Chap. VII. — His lien on the Cargo. 
 
 Sect. 1. What it is, and when it exists. 
 Sect. 2. For what amount of Freight ^he 
 
 lien may be enforced. ' 
 
 Sect. 3. What lien the Owner and Master 
 
 have when the Ship is Chartered. 
 Sect. 4. How the lien may be lost or ex- 
 tinguished. 
 Chap, VIII. — His duties with reference to Delivery. [ 
 
 Part V. ' I 
 
 Bills of Lading, 
 
 Chap. T. — What a Bill of Lading is, and its form. 
 
 Chap. II. — When Master may sign Bills of Lading, 
 
 Chap. III.— The effect of the Bill of , Lading as evidence. 
 
 Chap. IV.— When and how the Bill of Lading maybe 
 Transferred. 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 25 
 
 THE LAW RELATING TO SHIPMASTERS AND SEAMEN. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS— continued. 
 
 Xhap. V.— The effect of the Transfer of the Bill of 
 Lading upon the PROPERTY in the goods 
 g named in the Bill. 
 
 !■ , Sect. i. The effect of the Transfer of the 
 
 Bill of Lading upon the property in the 
 goods. 
 
 Sect. 2. Instances in which it has been 
 held that the property in_ the goods 
 passed to the Consignee or Indorsee by 
 the Transfer of the Bill of Lading. 
 
 Sect. 3, Instances! in which, -it has been 
 held that.the property in the goods did 
 not pass to the Consignee or Indorsee 
 by the Transfer of the Bill of Lading. 
 
 Chap. VI.— The effect of the Transfer of the Bill of 
 Lading upon the Contract contained in the Bill 
 of Lading. 
 
 Chap. VII.— "The effect of the Bill of Lading upon the 
 liabilities of Owners, Master, and Charterers. 
 
 Chap. VIII.- 
 
 -The -Master's duties as to delivery of the 
 (See Part IV., Cargo, Chap. 8.)' 
 
 in the Bill 
 
 Chap. IX.— The meaning of the exceptions 
 of Lading. 
 
 Part VI. 
 Stoppage in Transitu. 
 
 Chap. I. — What it is. 
 
 Chap. II.—- Who may exercise the right. 
 
 Chap. III. — Under what circumstances the Consignor 
 is entitled to exercise the right, 
 
 ■Sect. i. The Consignor must be wholly or 
 partially unpaid. 
 
 Sect. 2. The Consignee must have become 
 insolvent, or have so, failed in circum- 
 stances as to be unable to perform his 
 part of the contract, 
 
 Sect. 3. The Master or Carrier must be 
 the agent to forward and not to receive 
 and keep the goods. 
 
 Chap. IV.— In what manner the right may be exercised. 
 
 Chap. V. — How long the transit and the right to stop 
 continue. 
 
 Sect. 1. The general rule. 
 Sect- 2. What is such a taking possession 
 of the goods by the 'Consignee or his 
 Agent to keep as to put an end to the 
 right to stop. 
 
 a. Both Consignor and Consignee 
 must have assented to the posses- 
 sion of the Consignee. 
 b* What acts amount to such a deli- 
 / very to or ■ taking possession by 
 
 the .Consignee. 
 
 1, Goods need not come to the cor- 
 
 poral touch of the Consignee. 
 
 2. When touching, marking, or 
 
 Chap. V. (cont,)— 3. At what place, 
 
 4. Into what ship, 
 
 5. To what agent. 
 
 c When delivery of part is delivery 
 of the whole, so as to put an end 
 to the right to stop. 
 
 Chap. YI.t-Hgw the right to stop may be defeated. 
 
 Sect. a. Generally. 
 
 ' Sect. 2. When the Transfer or Pledge of 
 the Bill of Lading puts an end to the 
 right to. stop. ' 
 
 Sect. 3. When the Transfer of the Bill of 
 Lading does not put an end to the right 
 to stop; 
 
 Chap. VII. — Master's duties as to delivery. 
 
 Chap. VIII. — The effect of the exercise of this right 
 on the Contract of Sale. 
 
 Part VII. 
 
 "When the Master may make the Owners 
 liable upon his personal Contracts. 
 
 Chap. L— When he may bind themin Contracts relating 
 to the usual course of the Ship's employment. 
 
 Chap. II. — When he may bind them for matters which 
 are necessary' for the prosecution of the voyage. 
 
 Sect. x. Generally when he may do this. , 
 Sect. 2. For necessary repairs and supplies. 
 Sect. 3. For money borrowed. 
 Sect. 4. The Master has no such authority 
 if the Owner or his Agent can interfere. 
 
 Chap. III. — What Owners are made liable by the 
 Master's Contracts.' 
 
 Chap. IV.— When the Master may sell the Ship.' 
 
 Sect. 1. Under what circumstances he may 
 1 sell. 
 
 Sect. 2. When he may sell underthe direc- 
 tions of a Foreign Court. 
 
 Sect. 3. What he must do before selling. 
 
 i Sect. 4. Duty of purchaser before buying. 
 
 Sect. 5. Cases in which the sale has been 
 upheld or set aside. 
 
 Part VIII. 
 s Hypothecation. 
 
 Chap. I. — The Form, Contents, and Nature of the 
 Contract. 
 
 Sect. i. What it is. 
 
 Sect. a. Who may give it. 
 
 Sect. 3. To whom it may be given. 
 
 Sect. 4. Form. 
 
 Sect. 5. Contents. 
 
 Sect. 6. Construction. 
 
 Sect. ^. What rate of interest may be 
 reserved. 
 
26 
 
 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YAED, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 THE LAW RELATING TO SHIPMASTERS AND SEAMEN. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS— continued. 
 
 Chap. II.— Under what circumstances the Master may 
 Hypothecate the Ship. 
 
 Sect. i. What necessity must exist to 
 justify the Master in giving a Bond. 
 
 Sect. 2. When Owners cqnsent dispenses 
 with the existence of such necessity. 
 
 Sect. 3. ■ For what purposes the Master may 
 - give a Bond. 
 
 Sect. 4. In what Forts the Master may 
 give a Bond. 
 
 Sect. 5. What the Master must do before' 
 he may give a Bond. 
 
 Sect. 6. The Master cannot Pledge the 
 Ship and bind the Owners personally 
 by the Bond. 
 
 Sect. 7. What the Lender ought to ascer- 
 tain before he can safely advance on 
 the security of a Bond. 
 
 Chap. III. — The legal effect and operation of the Con- 
 tract. 
 
 Sect. 1. Generally. 
 
 Sect. 2. When the Bond becomes payable.' 
 
 Sect. 3. What discharges the Bond. 
 
 Sect. 4. What remedies the Bondholder Has 
 and against whom. 
 
 Sect. 5. Over what claims a Bond has pre- 
 cedence. 
 
 Sect. 6. By i the law of what country the 
 Contract is governed. 
 
 Chap. IV. — Under what circumstances the Master may 
 Hypothecate the Freight. 
 
 Chap. V. — Under what circumstances the Master may 
 Hypothecate the Cargo. ' 
 
 Sect. 1. When he may Hypothecate v the 
 Cargo.' 
 
 Sect. 2. Cargo cannot be made liable on 
 Bond given for necessities of the Ship 
 till, Ship and Freight are exhausted. 
 
 Sect. 3. When he must communicate with 
 Owners before giving a Bond. 
 
 Sect. 4. Remedy of Owners of Cargo 
 against the Owner of Ship. 
 
 Part IX. 
 
 , The Crew. 
 
 Chap. I. — Interpretation of Terms. 
 
 Chap. II. — Seamen, how protected and regarded by 
 the Courts. 
 
 Chap. III.— The duties of the Crew. 
 
 Chap. IV. — As to Apprentices. 
 
 Chap. V. — The engagement of Seamen. 
 
 Chap. VI. — Allotment of Wages. 
 
 Chap. VII. — Discharge and Payment of Wages. 
 
 Sect. 1. When and how the Master may 
 discharge a Seaman, 
 
 Sect. 2, What public authority may dis< 
 1 charge a Seaman. 
 
 Chap. VIII.— Remittance of Wages and Savings Bank 
 for Seamen. 
 
 Chap. IX.— Legal rights to Wages. 
 
 Sect. 1. The provisions of the Statute. 
 
 Sect. 2. When and how the Wages" are 
 payable. 
 
 Sect. 3. When the whole of the Wages 
 contracted for are due. 
 
 Sect. 4. When part only of the Wages con- 
 tracted for are due. 
 
 Sect. 5. When no part of the Wages con- 
 tracted for are due. 
 
 Sect. 6. What will cause a forfeiture of 
 Wages. 
 
 Sect. 7. When Seamen may claim extra 
 remuneration. 
 
 Sect. 8. Insurance of Wages. 
 
 Sect. 0. Effect of a change of Owners upon 
 Wages. 
 
 Chap. X. — Mode of recovering Wages and Seamen's lien. 
 
 Sect. 1. The Statutes. 
 
 Sect. 2. Seamen may proceed against 
 Owners, or Master, or Ship and Freight 
 
 Sect. 3. Who are entitled to sue as Seamen; 
 
 Sect. 4. The Lien of the Seaman for his 
 Wages. 
 
 Sect. 5. Within what time Suits for Wages 
 must be brought in the Court of Admi- 
 ralty. 
 
 Chap. XL — Relief to Seamen's Families out of Poor 
 Rates. 
 
 Chap. XII.— Wages and Effects of deceased Seamen. 
 
 Chap. XIII. — Leaving Seamen abroad. 
 
 Chap. XIV. — Volunteering into the Navy. 
 
 Chap. XV* — Provisions, Health, and Accommodation. 
 
 Chap. XVI. — Poweu of making Complaint, and protec- 
 tion of Seamen from Imposition. 
 
 Chap. XVII. — Discipline, and forfeiture of Wages. 
 
 Sect. 1. The Master's authority to main* 
 tain Order and Discipline. 
 
 Sect. 2. When and how he may punish or 
 discharge. 
 
 Sect. 3. What conduct on board incurs a 
 1 forfeiture of Wages. 
 
 Sect. 4. What acts amount to such ,a 
 Desertion as to incur a forfeiture of 
 Wages. 
 
 Sect. 5. When a Master may waive a 
 forfeiture;. , 
 
 Sect. 6. The Statutes. 
 
STEVENS & HATNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 27 
 
 THE LAW RELATING TO SHIPMASTERS AND SEAMEN. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS— continued. 
 
 Part X. 
 
 Pilots. 
 
 Chap. I.— :Origin of Pilots. 
 
 Chap. II. — Definition of Terms used by and application 
 of Sections of Merchant Shipping Act relating to 
 Pilots. 
 
 Chap. III. — Pilotage authority. 
 Sect. i. Powers of. 
 Sect. 2. Returns by. 
 
 Chap. IV.— Licensing of Masters and Mates. 
 
 Chap. V. — Pilot Boats and Pilot Licenses. 
 
 Chap. VI.— What Signals must be used and displayed 
 when a Pilot is wanted. 
 
 Chap. VII. — When it is the Master's duty, irrespective 
 of the Statute, to employ a Pilot, arid the conse- 
 quences of his not doing so. 
 
 Chap. VIII — Compulsory Pilotage. 
 
 Sect i. In what cases the Employment of 
 Pilots is compulsory. 
 
 Sect. 2. In what cases Ships are exempted 
 from the Regulation respecting com- 
 pulsory Pilota"ge. 
 
 Sect. 3. What will excuse a Master not 
 employing a Pilot. 
 
 Chap. IX.— The Master's duties and authority while 
 the Pilot is in charge of the Ship. 
 
 Chap.- X.— The authority of the Pilot while the Ship 
 is under his care. 
 
 Chap. XI.— The Limitation of the Liability of Owners 
 and Master where Pilotage is compulsory. 
 
 Sect. 1. The Liability of Owners and 
 Master for the Default of the Pilot 
 irrespective of the Statute. 
 Sect. 2. The Statutable Limitations. 
 Sect. 3. To entitle Owners and Master 
 to protection, the Default causing the 
 injury must relate to some duty of the 
 Pilot. 
 Sect. 4. — To entitle Owners and Master to 
 protection, they must prove that the 
 injury was due solely to the Pilot's 
 Default. 
 Sect. 5. Respective Liabilities of Owners, 
 Master, and Pilot, in cases of Ships 
 in tow. 
 Chap. XII.— Rights, Privileges, and Remuneration of 
 
 Pilots. 
 Chap. XIII.— Offences of Pilots. 
 
 Chap. XIV.— The Trinity House. 
 
 Sect. 1. General powers of. 
 
 Sect. z. Sub-Commissioners and Pilots. 
 
 Sect. 3. -Compulsory Pilotage. 
 
 Sect. 4. Rates of Pilotage. 
 
 Sect. 5. Pilot Fund. 
 
 Sect. 6. Appointment of Sub-Commis- 
 sioners by Trinity Houses of Hull and 
 Newcastle. 
 
 Chap XV.— When Pilots may claim Salvage. 
 
 See Salvage, Part XIII., Chap. 3, 
 
 Part XI. 
 
 Passengers, 
 
 Chap. I. — The Master's authority over the Passengers, 
 
 Chap. II. — The Master's Duties to the Passengers 
 irrespective of the Statutes. 
 
 Chap. III.— The Rights and Liabilities of Passengers 
 under their contract irrespective of the Statutes. 
 
 Chap. IV.— The Statutable Provisions for the Protec- 
 tion of Passengers. 
 
 Sect. z. Boats for sea-going Ships. 
 
 Sect. 2. Build and Equipment of Steam 
 
 Ships. 
 Sect 3. Survey of Passenger Steamers. 
 Sect. 4. Definition of Terms in and extent 
 
 of " The Passengers Act, 1855," and the 
 
 Machinery for executing the, Act 
 Sect. 5. Matters relating to a Passenger 
 
 Ship to be attended to before sailing on 
 
 Voyage from the United Kingdom. 
 Sect. 6. Passengers' Rights before, during, 
 
 and after such Voyage. 
 Sect 7. Miscellaneous Provisions. 
 Sect. 8. Voyages from the Colonies. 
 Sect. 9. Voyages to the United Kindom. 
 Sect. 10. Schedules to ** The Passengers' 
 
 Act, 1855." 
 
 Chap. V. — Penalties on Drunken or Disorderly Pas- 
 sengers on a Passenger Steamer. 
 
 Part XII. 
 Collisions. 
 
 Chap. I. — Liability of Masters and Owners for Damage 
 by Collision. 
 
 Ci?ap. II.— Rights of the Parties, in a Court of Common 
 Law when both Ships have been in Fault 
 
 Chap. III. — If the Collision was the consequence of 
 unavoidable Accident, neither party can recover 1 
 either in a Court of Law or the Court of Admiralty. 
 
 Chap. IV.— What Remedy Owners of Injured Ship 
 have in the Court of Admiralty. 
 
 Sect. 1. What Remedies the Owners of 
 
 Injured Ship have in the Court. 
 Sect. 2. The Principles upon which the 
 
 Court regulate the right to Compensation. 
 Sect. 3. The Principles upon which the 
 
 Court proceeds in Assessing the amount 
 
 of Compensation. 
 
 Chap. V. — The Law relating to Sailing Ships, Steam 
 Ships, and Lights, prior to 25 and 26 Vict. c. 63. 
 
 Chap. VI. — The Statutable Provisions and Regulations 
 now in Force for preventing Collisions at Sea with 
 Diagrams. 
 
 Sect. z. The Statutable Provisions. 
 Sect. 2. The Regulations and Diagrams. 
 
 Chap. VII. — The Cases decided upon the Regulations. 
 
 Chap. VIII. — Duties of Master in case of Collision. 
 Sect. 1. /His duties to his own Ship. 
 Sect. 2. His duties to the Injured Ship. 
 
28 
 
 STEVENS & HAYHES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 THE LAW RELATING TO SHIPMASTERS AND SEAMEN. 
 
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS— continued. 
 
 Part XIII. 
 Salvage. 
 
 Chap. I.— What Salvage Services are, and when they 
 should be rendered. ' 
 
 Chap. II.— When Salvage Reward is Payable. 
 
 Sect i. When a Ship or Boat is Stranded 
 or otherwise in Distress on the Shore 
 of any Sea or Tidal Waters situate 
 within the United Kingdom. 
 
 Sect. 2. For saving Life. 
 Sect. 3- I n cases not fallii/g within the 
 two previous sections : — ■ 
 
 i. The property valued must have 
 
 been in Danger or Distress. 
 v. The Salvors must have rendered 
 actual assistance which con- 
 tributed towards saving the 
 Property in danger. 
 Sect. 4. What Signals a Ship in Distress 
 must use when Signalling for assistance. 
 Sect. 5. What kind of Services are treated 
 as Salvage Services. 
 
 Sect. 6. The effect of acceptance or refusal 
 of assistance on the right to Salvage 
 reward. 
 
 Sect. 7. When a Seaman may agree to 
 abandon his right to Salvage. 
 
 Chap. III. — Who may claim as Salvors. 
 Sect. 1. General Rule. 
 Sect. a. Crew of Salving Ship. 
 Sect. 3. Passengers on Salving Ship. 
 Sect. 4. Owners of Salving Ship. 
 , Sect. 5. Crew of Ship Salved. 
 
 Sect. 6. Passengers on Ship Salved. 
 
 Sect. 7. Associated Ships. 
 
 Sect. 8 O fficers and Crews of Her 
 
 Majesty's Ships. 
 Sect. 9. Officers and Men of the Coastguard. 
 Sect. 10. Ship Agents. 
 Sect. ir. Pilots. 
 Sect. 12. Tugs. 
 . Sect. 13. Magistrates. 
 
 Chap. IV. — What claim Salvors have when there are 
 several sets. 
 
 Sect. 1. Whilst the Master remains on 
 
 Board. 
 Sect 2. When the Ship is a derelict. 
 
 1. What constitutes a derelict. 
 
 2. The rights of several sets of 
 
 Salvors. 
 
 Sect. 3. When the first set of Salvors 
 abandon the enterprise. 
 
 Chap. V.— What Amount will be awarded to Salvors. 
 
 Sect. 1. Where no Agreement was entered 
 into between the Salvors and the Salved. 
 
 'yject, 2. Where an Agreement was entered 
 into between the Salvors and the Salved. 
 
 Sect. 3. How the value of the Property 
 Salved is estimated for the purpose of 
 calculating the amount of Salvage. 
 
 Chap. VI. — The Apportionment of the Salvage. 
 
 Sect. 1. In what proportions the Salvage is 
 apportioned among the Persons entitled. 
 
 1. Owners of Salving Ships. 
 
 2. The Master, Seamen, and Ap- 
 
 prentices. 
 
 3. Persons assisting. 
 
 4. Where there are several sets of 
 
 Salvors. 
 
 5. Officers and Seamen of Royal 
 
 Navy and Coastguard. 
 Sect. 2. By whom Salvage may be appor- 
 tioned among those entitled. 
 Sect 3. What Agreement for apportion- 
 ment will be upheld. 
 ' Sect. 4. In what proportions Ship, Freight, 
 and Cargo contribute to the Salvage. 
 
 Chap. VII. — What conduct forfeits the whole or part 
 of the Salvage. 
 
 Sect. 1. The General Rule. 
 
 Sect. 2. Misconduct. 
 
 Sect. 3. Negligence or Unskilfulness. 
 
 Sect 4. Fraud. 
 
 Sect. 5. Embezzlement 
 
 Chap. VIII. — What remedies the Salvors have for 
 securing the payment of the Salvage. 
 
 Sect. 1. What the Salvors' remedies are, 
 irrespective of Statute. 
 £. Their maritime lien. 
 u. Their right to retain possession 
 of the Property saved. 
 Sect. 2. What the Salvors' remedies are 
 
 under the Statute. 
 Sect. 3. How far payment to one Salvor 
 discharges claim of others. 
 
 Chap. IX. — Wrecks and Casualties. 
 
 Part XIV. 
 
 The Master's Remedies. 
 
 Chap.I.— The Master's remedies before " The Merchant 
 Shipping Act, 1854." 
 
 Chap. II. — The Statutable Provisions as to his remedies. 
 
 Chap. III.— The Master's remedies since "The Mer- 
 chant Shipping Act, 1854," and " The Admiralty 
 Court Act, 1861." 
 
 Sect. *. What remedies he now has. 
 Sect. 2. The Master's maritime lien for 
 
 Wages and Disbursements. 
 Sect. 3. Over what claims the Master's lien 
 
 has precedence. 
 Sect. 4. What will cause a forfeiture or 
 reduction of his Wages. 
 
 Chap. IV. — When the Master may sue in his own name. 
 Chap. V. — When the Master may sue the Owners. 
 
 Part XV. 
 
 The Master's Liabilities. 
 
 Chap. I.— Liability of Master on Contracts entered 
 into for the Owners. 
 
 Chap. II. — Liability of Masters for Wrongs. 
 Chap. III.— Master's Liabilities under the Customs 
 Acts. 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 29 
 
 In 8vo., Second Edition, price 21.fi, cloth,. 
 
 A TKEATISE ON THE LAW OF DAMAGES. 
 
 COMPRISING THEIR MEASURE, 
 
 THE MODE, IN WHICH THEY ARE ASSESSED AND REVIEWED, . 
 t ^practice of (Sratftmg |to Crisis, nxiia i\z %v&a of j&et-irff. 
 
 By JOHN D. MAYNE, 
 
 Of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. \ 
 
 Second Edition, 
 By LUMLEY SMITH, of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 " Few modern text-books have a higher authority 
 than Mayne on Damages. An argument is seldom 
 heard in the courts upon a question, of the measure 
 of damages without the work being referred to ; 
 and there are several points upon which there was, 
 at the date of the first edition (1856), either an 
 absence or a conflict of authority, and upon which 
 the views advanced by the author have since been 
 
 held to be law by the courts It is fortunate 
 
 for the reputation of the work that so good an editor 
 has been found for it as Mr. Lumley Smith. The 
 additions to the text of the former edition are dis- 
 tinguished by brackets. Mr. Lumley Smith's work 
 has been well done, and the new cases are skilfully 
 incorporated. . .,- • Probably there is no other 
 one subject 'upon which the cases reported as we'll 
 as unreported so frequently present the same diffi- 
 culty of extracting from complicated statements of 
 fact, special in their character and not likely ,to 
 occur again, the legal principles involved in the 
 decision, so as to be available for guidance in other 
 cases. It is exactly this difficulty which makes the ( 
 subject one upon jvhich a goocl text-book such 
 as the present is peculiarly valuable." — Solicitors' 
 Journal. 
 
 "We are glad that this useful work fell into the 
 hands of so capable an editor as Mr. Lumley Smith. 
 
 * It is always a great advantage gained when an 
 editor has had' practical experience of the subject 
 with which he deals, and it is a positive gain to the 
 
 • law when busy "lawyers can find time to do well 
 the work which is so apt to fall into the hands of 
 those who have little learning and less practice. 
 
 . The law relating to damages is a branch of our 
 
 jurisprudence peculiarly practical in its nature and 
 
 highly important to suitors and the profession ; it 
 
 is, moreover, surrounded by difficulties which 
 
 require a clear explanation before they become 
 
 intelligible to the ordinary mind. . . . : . • . . 
 
 "The concluding chapter (c. 19) is very im- 
 
 . portant, and we should like to make copious 
 
 I extracts from it. It deals with the ' powers of the 
 
 court or judge in regard to damages/ We re- 
 
 ' commend it to the attention of our readers, as 
 
 ! indeed we do the entire work, which is excellently 
 
 , executed, with an entire freedom from verbosity, 
 
 ; and a good index."— Law Times. 
 
 " In the year 1856 Mr. John D. Mayne, a gentle- 
 man of the bar, now enjoying a very extensive 
 practice in the Indian Empire, published a treatise 
 on the Law of Damages. Mr. Mayne conferred a 
 great boon on the profession by his labours, and for 
 sixteen years his book has been regarded with 
 high respect in Westminster Hall. In the ordinary 
 course of things such a lapse of time, from the 
 natural accretion of precedents, would have created 
 a demand for a new edition, but in the particular 
 department of law investigated by Mr. Mayne 
 , there has been an extraordinary development of 
 principles, exhibited in numerous cases, upon which 
 the 1 judges have expended a large amount of time, 
 industry, and learning. Consequently, the publi- 
 cation of a new edition, is not premature. On the 
 contrary, it was high time that the profession should 
 be supplied with a treatise condensing and arranging 
 the matter brought into existence by the contested 
 cases of that period. It is perfectly intelligible 
 that Mr. Mayne's absence from England and the 
 toil of his professional career have prevented him 
 from undertaking this duty himself. But the per- 
 formance of ithas fallen on a deputy, whose success 
 in the, discharge thereof might fairly have been 
 anticipated, and who in the result has, we think, 
 not disappointed the reasonable expectations formed 
 concerning him. 
 
 " Mr. Lumley Smith hafcevidently been actuated 
 by a modest desire not to despoil the original author 
 of well-earned fame. He has, as far" as possible, 
 retained the primary form of the book, and has dis- 
 tinguished what Mr. Mayne wrote from what he 
 himself has written, by enclosing, all the later matter 
 in brackets, adding a brief separate chapter on the 
 assessment of damages in the Court of Chancery 
 under Lord Caims's Act, 21 & 22 Vict. c. 27. He 
 has also cited many Scotch and Irish cases, and the 
 leading American decisions of recent date. 
 
 " One word with regard to the book itself will not 
 be out of place. It is well printed, in an excellent 
 form, and of a convenient size — no small considera- 
 tions in a text-book, which, from the nature of its 
 contents, is useful rather for reference than for 
 study. Good looks in a book set off its intrinsic 
 merits, just as an imposing appearance adds to the 
 dignity and influence of a judge." — Law Journal. 
 
30 
 
 STEVENS ft HAYNES, BELI YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 Just published, in one volume, 8vo., price 25J., cloth, 
 
 AN ESSAY 
 
 ON 
 
 THE RIGHTS OF THE CROWN 
 
 PRIVILEGES OF THE SUBJECT 
 
 3fn t&e §>ea §>&oresi of tfjc Eealm. 
 
 By Robert Gream Hall, of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister-at-Law. Second Edition. Revised 
 and corrected, together with extensive Annotations, and references to the later 
 Authorities in England, Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. By Richard 
 Loveland Lovelanp, of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING 
 
 I. — Lord Chief Justice Hale's " De Jure Maris." 
 
 II. — The Case of Dickens y, Shaw. 
 
 III. — Mr. Serjeant Merewether's Speech in the Court of Chancery, Dec. 8, 1849, 
 upon the Claim of the. Commissioners of Woods and Forests to the Sea Shore, 
 and the Soil and Bed of Tidal Harbours and Navigable Rivers ; the Nature 
 and Extent of the Claim, and its effect upon such Property. [Reprinted by tie 
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 writer to take up. Questions of foreshore, when 
 they arise, are sure to have a great deal of law 
 in them ; but they are few and far between* and 
 Mr. Loveland can scarcely expect his, book . to 
 obtain the demand it deserves in this country, 
 although we hope that the well-known penchant 
 of American lawyers for subjects with a flavour of 
 legal antiquity will give the publishers a market on 
 the other side of the Atlantic. Mr. Hall, whose 
 first edition was issued in 1830, was a writer of 
 considerable power and method. Mr. Loveland's 
 editing reflects the valuable qualities of the * Essay ' 
 
 itself. He has done his work without pretension, 
 but in a solid and efficient manner. The ' Sum- 
 mary of Contents ' gives an admirable epitome of 
 the chief points discussed in the 'Essay,' and 
 indeed, in some twenty propositions, supplies a 
 useful outline of the whole law. Recent cases are 
 noted at the foot of each page with great care and 
 accuracy, while an Appendix contains much valu--. 
 able matter ; including Lord Hale's treatise De 
 Jure Maris, about which there has been so much 
 controversy, and Serjeant Merewether's learned 
 argument on the rights in the river Thames. The 
 book will, we think, take its place as the modern 
 authority on the subject." — Law Jour/tat* 
 
 THE NEW JUDICATURE ACTS. 
 
 In preparation, in one volume, 8vo., 
 
 THE 
 
 SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE ACT, 1873, 
 
 The Supreme Court of Judicature Act Amendment Act, with the rules and orders thereon. 
 
 Edited, with Copious Notes and a full Index, by William Downes Griffith, of the 
 
 Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law, 
 
 Late Her Majesty's Attorney- General for the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, 
 
 Author of " Griffith's Bankruptcy." 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 31 
 
 MERCANTILE LAW. 
 
 In ane volume, demy 8vq., i866, price lor. 6d., cloth, 
 
 PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW OF STOPPAGE IN TRANSITU, 
 RETENTION, AND DELIVERY. 
 
 By JOHN HOUSTON, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 * ( We have no hesitation in saying, that we think 
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 to the library of either the merchant or the lawyer." 
 — Solicitors' Journal. 
 
 " We have, indeed; met with few works which so 
 
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 " It will probably be a very long time before the 
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 immensely important question where innocent mis- 
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 *' All who perused the report of this case in the 
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 In royal 8vo,, 1867; price IOJ. (id., cloth, 
 
 THE PRACTICE of EQUITY by WAY. of REVIVOR & SUPPLEMENT. 
 
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 'Mr. Pemberton has, with great care, brought | will probably be applied to future cases."— Soli- 
 
 tog'ether and classified all these conflicting cases', 
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 InSvo., 1873, price 5j-.,, cloth, 
 
 . THE LAW OF PRIORITY. 
 
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 the advanced student, and will furnish the practi- I' complete works."— Solicitors' Journal. 
 
32 
 
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 COMPRISING 
 
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 TOWN CLERKS* AGENTS, POLL-CLERKS, &c, 
 
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 AN APPENDIX OF STATUTES AND AN INDEX. 
 
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 FOURTH EDITION, 
 
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 OF THE INNER TEMPUE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. , 
 
 "We have 3 ust received at a very opportune 
 moment the new edition of this useful work. We 
 need only say that those who have to do with 
 elections will find * Bushby's Manual ' replete with 
 information' and trustworthy, and that Mr. Hard- 
 castle has incorporated all the recent changes, of 
 the law." — Law Jour^eU. 
 
 "As far as we can judge, Mr, Hardcastle, who 
 
 is known as one of the joint editors of O'Malley 
 and Hardcastle's Election Reports, has done his' 
 work well. . . , For practical purposes, as 
 a> handy manual, we can recommend the, work 
 to returning officers, agents, and candidates ; .and 
 returning officers cannot do better than distribute 
 this manual freely amongst, their subordinates, if 
 they wish them to understand their work.**— -Solir - s 
 citorf Journal. 
 
 A Companion Volume' to the above, in crown 8vo., price Sir. cloth, lettered, 
 
 THE LAW AND PEAOTIOE OF ELECTION PETITIONS, 
 
 With an Appendix containing the Parliamentary Elections Act, 1868, the General Rules 
 for the Trial of Election Petitions in England, Scotland, and Ireland, Forms of 
 Petitions, &c. By Henry Hardcastle, of the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 "Mr. Hardcastle gives. us an original treatise 
 with foot notes, and 'he has evidently taken very 
 considerable pains to make his work a reliable 
 guide. Beginning with the effect of the Election 
 Petitions Act, 186&, he takes his readers step 1 by 
 step through th,e new procedure. His mode of 
 treating the subject of 'particulars' will be found 
 
 extremely useful, and he gives all the law and 
 , practice in a very small compass. In an Appendix 
 is supplied the Act and the Rules. We can 
 thoroughly recommend Mr. Hardcastle's book as a 
 concise manual on the law and practice of election 
 petitions." — Law Times. 
 
 Now ready, Volume I., price 30J,, and Volume II., price 24JV, 
 
 REPORTS OF THE DECISIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 JUDGES FOR THE TRIAL OF ELECTION PETITIONS 
 
 IN ENGLAND AND IRELAND. 
 
 PURSUANT TO THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS ACT, 1868. 
 
 By EDWARD LOUGHLIN O'MALLEY and HENRY HARDCASTLE, 
 
 Barristers- at-Law. 
 
STEVENS & HAYHES, BEL£ YABD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 33 
 
 &ttbnt£( an* fcgnes' £mt* of a&tprmfel of ti)t (Earls Reporters. 
 
 SOME RARE LAW BOOKS. 
 
 [From "The Albany Law Journal."] 
 
 " Law books are not generally things of beauty. There is nothing particularly grati- 
 fying to the esthetic department of the human organism in the conventional typography 
 and sheep-skin. Some of our publishers give considerable attention to the mechanical 
 execution of their books, and deserve and receive a good degree of credit therefor. But, 
 after all, th&r labours seldom please the eye. In most marked contrast to even the very 
 best of our books, are a series of law books that have been recently issued by Messrs. 
 Stevens & Haynes, of London. They are reprints of some of the scarcest of the Old 
 English Reports, and in their mechanical execution would delight the heart of Aldus 
 Manutius, Thuanus, or any other admirer of elegant editions. The black letter type of 
 the originals is faithfully reproduced, the curious old-style spelling and interchange of 
 letters have been closely followed, while the rich antique calf covers are, no doubt, 
 superior to anything that served to encase the original Reports. These editions have 
 been carefully prepared, and some of the volumes have been enriched with notes added 
 in MS. to some copy of the original by its learned owner generations ago. / 
 
 " This enterprise of Messrs. Stevens & Haynes is a matter of universal interest, 
 and appeals to every lover of elegant books. The works which they have reproduced 
 are those which were the scarcest, and for copies of which the most exorbitant prices 
 were demanded. The following is a brief description of the matter of these volumes." 
 
 BELLEWE'S CASES, T. RICHARD II. 
 
 In 8vo., price 3/. 3.?., bound in calf antique, ' 
 
 LES ANS DU ROY RICHARD LE SECOND. 
 
 Collect' ensembl' hors les abridgments de Statham, Fitzherbert, et Brooke. Per 
 Richard Bellewe, de Lincolns Inne. 1585. Reprinted from the Original 
 Edition. 
 
 " No public Jibrary in the world, where English 
 law finds a place, should be without a copy of this 
 edition of Bellewe." — Canada Law Journal. 
 
 "We have here a facsimile edition of Bellewe, 
 and it isVeally the most beautifid and admirable, 
 reprint that has appeared at any time. It is a 
 perfect gem of antique, printing, and forms a most 
 interesting monument of our early legal history. 
 It belongs to the same class of works as the Year 
 Book of Edward I. and other similar works which 
 have been printed in our own time under the 
 auspices of .the Master of the Rolls,; but is far 
 superior to any of them, and is in this respect 
 
 highly creditable to the spirit and enterprise of 
 private publishers. The work is an/ important link 
 in our legal history; there are no year books of the 
 reign of Richard II., and Bellewe supplied the only 
 substitute by carefully extracting and collecting all v 
 the cases he could find, and he did it in the most 
 ,convenient form — that of alphabetical arrangement 
 in the order of subjects, so that the work is a digest 
 as well as a book of law reports. It is in fact a 
 collection of cases of the reign of Richard II., 
 arranged according to their subjects in alphabetical 
 order.' It is, therefore, one of the most intelligible 
 and interesting legal rnemorials of the Middle 
 Ages." — Law Times. 
 
 CUNNINGHAM'S REP0RT.S; 
 
 In 8vo. , price 3/. 3^. , calf antique, 
 
 Cunningham's (T.) Reports in K. B., 7 to 10 Geo. II. ; to which is prefixed a Proposal 
 
 for rendering the Laws of England clear and certain, humbly offered to the 
 Consideration of both Houses of Parliament. Third Editipn, with numerous 
 Corrections. By Thomas Townsend BucknilL, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 peace and prosperity of every nation than .good 
 laws and the due execution of them. 1 The history 
 of.the civil law is then rapidly traced. Next a 
 history is given of English Reporters, beginning with 
 the reporters of the Year Books from 1 Edw. III. 
 to 12 Hen. VIII. — being near 200 years — and after- 
 wards to the tipe of the author." — Canada Law 
 Journal, 
 
 "The instructive chapter which precedes the 
 cases, entitled ' A proposal for rendering the Laws 
 'of England qlear and certain,' gives the volume a 
 degree of peculiar interest, independent of the value 
 of many of the reported cases. That chapter begins 
 with words which ought, for the information of 
 everypeopie, to be printed in letters of gold. They 
 are as follows : 'Nothing conduces more to the 
 
34 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 ^tebenrf at* ^agnesi' &ttit& of 30it$xintg at fye ©aria &e$axtersl. 
 CHOYCE CASES IN" CHANCERY. 
 
 In 8vo., price 2.1. 2s., calf antique, 
 
 THE PRACTICE OF THE HIGH COURT OF CHANCERY. 
 
 With the Nature of the several Offices belonging to that Court. And the Reports of 
 many Cases wherein Releif hath been there had, and where denyed. 
 
 "This volume, in paper, type, and binding (like " Bellewe's Cases ") is a facsimile^ of the antique edition. 
 All who buy the one should buy the other." — Canada Law Journal. 
 
 In 8vo., price 3/. 3*., calf antique, 
 
 SIR G. COOKE'S COMMON PLEAS REPORTS 
 
 In the Reigns of Queen Anne, and Kings George I. and IE. 
 
 The Third Edition, with Additional Cases and References contained in the Notes 
 taken from L. C. J. Eyre's MSS. by Mr. Justice Nares, edited by Thomas 
 Townsend Bucknill, of -the Inner Temple, Barrister-at-Law. 
 " Law books never can die or remain long dead an old volume of Reports may be produced by theses^ 
 so long as Stevens and Haynes are willing to con- modern publishers, whose good taste is only equalled;' 
 tinue them or revive them when dead. It is cer- by their enterprise." — Canada Law Journal. 
 tainly surprising to see with what facial accuracy „ 
 
 BROOKE'S NEW .CASES WITH MARCH'S TRANSLATION. 
 
 In 8vo., 1873, price 4/. 41"., calf antique, 
 
 Brooke's (Sir Robert) New Cases in the time of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and 
 Queen M<ary, collected out of Brooke's Abridgment, and arranged ^ under years, 
 with a table, together with March's' (John) Translation 0/* Brooke's New Cases 
 in the time of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Queen Mary, collected out of 
 Brooke's Abridgment, and reduced alphabetically under their proper heads and 
 titles, with a table of the principal matters. In one handsome volume. 8vo. 1873- 
 
 " Both the original and the translation having 
 long been very scarce, and the mispaging and other 
 errors in March's translation making a new and 
 corrected edition peculiarly desirable, Messrs. 
 
 Stevens and Haynes have reprinted the two books 
 in one volume, uniform with the preceding volumes 
 of the series of Early Reports." — Canada Law 
 Journal. 
 
 KELYNGE'S (W.) REPORTS. 
 
 In 8vo., 1873, price 4/. 4s., calf antique, 
 
 Kelynge's (William)' Reports of Cases in Chancery, the King's Bench, &c, from the 
 3rd to the 9th year of His late Majesty King George II., during which time Lord 
 King was Chancellor, and the Lords Raymond and Hardwicke were Chief 
 Justices of England. To which are added,, seventy New Cases not in the First 
 Edition. Third Edition. In one handsome volume. 8vo. 1873. 
 
 KELYNG'S (SIR JOHN) CROWN CASES. 
 
 In 8vo., 1873, price 4/. 4J., calf antique, 
 
 Kelyng's (Sir J.) Reports of Divers Cases in Pleas of the Crown in the Reign of King 
 Charles II., with Directions to Justices of the Peace, and others; to which are 
 added,' Three Modern Cases, viz., Armstrong and Lisle, the King and Plummer, 
 the Queen and Mawgridge. Third Edition, containing, several additional Cases 
 never before printed, together with a Treatise upon the Law and Proceed- 
 ings in Cases of High Treason, first published in 1793. The whole carefully 
 revised and edited by Richard Loveland Loveland, of the Inner Temple, 
 Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 " We look upon this volume as one of the most 
 important and valuable of the unique reprints of 
 Messrs. Stevens and Haynes. Little do we know 
 of the mines of legal wealth that lie buried in the 
 old law books. But a careful examination, either of 
 the reports or of the treatise embodied in the volume 
 now before us, will give the reader some idea of the 
 
 good service rendered by Messrs. Stevens & Haynes 
 to the profession. . . Should occasion arise, the 
 Crown prosecutor as well as counsel for the prisoner 
 will find in this volume a gomple^e vade mecum of 
 the law of high treason and proceedings in relation 
 thereto." — Canada Law Journal. 
 
 Other Volumes are in Progress. 
 
- STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 35 
 
 In 8vo.,.i867, price 21s., clqih, 
 
 A Treatise on the Companies Act, 1862. 
 
 With Special Reference to Winding-up, for the purposes of Reconstruction or Amal- 
 gamation ; with Orders, Forms, and Precedents. Together with a Supplement,, 
 containing the Companies Act, 1867, with Notes, and a Digest of Additional 
 Cases. By G. Lathom Browne, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law. 
 The Supplement may be had separately, price ?j. 6d>, cloth, 
 
 " Perspicuous statement and felicity of arrange- 
 ment characterise the work throughout. . , . From 
 his experience as a liquidator and a director, our 
 i author has been able to offer a work of a very 
 practical nature, and at the same time of value to 
 the profession."— Law Magazine. 
 
 " This work is exceedingly well done ; and is 
 just such a one as solicitors, directors, officers, 
 shareholders, and creditors of joint-stock-companies 
 ought to possess for the guidance and government 
 of their conduct in regard to their interests, duties, 
 or obligations in the company with whjch they may 
 be connected."— -Money Market Review. 
 
 BIBLIOTHECA LEGUJI.. 
 
 In i2mo. (338 pp.), price 2s. t cloth lettered, 
 
 A CATALOGUE OF LAW BOOKS, 
 
 Including all the Reports in the various Courts of England, Scotland, and Ireland ; with 
 a Supplement to January, 1874. By Henry G. Stevens and Robert W. 
 HaYnes, Law Publishers and Booksellers ; Exporters of Law and Miscellaneous 
 Literature ; Foreign and Colonial Literary Agents, &c. &c. 
 
 . In royal 8vo., 1872, price 2&s., cloth lettered; 
 AST INDEX TO 
 
 TEN THOUSAND PRECEDENTS in CONVEYANCING, 
 
 AND TO 
 
 COMMON AND COMMERCIAL FORMS. 
 
 Arranged in Alphabetical order with Subdivisions of an Analytical Nature ; together 
 ' with an Appendix containing an Abstract of the Stamp Act, 1870, with a Schedule 
 of Duties ; the Regulations relative to, and the Stamp Duties payable on, Probates 
 of Wills, Letters of Administration, "Legacies, and Successions. By Walter 
 Arthur CopInger, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law, Author of "The 
 Law of Copyright in Works of Literature and Art." / 
 
 - ** We cannot close this review of Mr. ( Copinger's 
 - publication better than with the apt quotation with 
 which he , inaugurates it : * Knpwledge , is of two 
 kinds ; we know a subject ourselves, or we know 
 where we can find information upon it.' 
 
 " Mr. Copinger has not only designed an Index 
 which cannot fail to be of practical use, but has 
 
 successfully elaborated the»work designed by com-, 
 biding a perspicuous order of arrangement with a 
 most exhaustive table of contents, and most copious ' 
 references to precedents. The Index is arranged 1 
 in alphabetical order, with subdivisions of an analy- 
 tical^ nature, the latter, being made throughout sub- 
 servient to the former." — Law Journal.' 
 
 iln Svo., 1871, price 5j.,'cloth, 
 
 THE LAW OF NEGLIGENCE, 
 
 Illustrated by the Recent Decisions of the Courts of the United Kingdom 1 and America. 
 * By Robert Campbell, Advocate of the Scotch Bar, and of Lincoln's Inn, 
 Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 In ,this Essay, the Author reviews old principles in the light of recent decisions ; combining 
 the point of view of the practitioner — noting the latest phase of judicial opinion ; 
 with the attempt to digest and harmonize the law, so that (if possible) new decisions 
 may seem to illustrate old and familiar principles, or that the extent and direction 
 of the change introduced by each decision may be correctly estimated. 
 
 " I would also refer to some ingenious remarks 
 as to the misapplication of the terra ^ gross neg- 
 ligence,' which are to be found in a very good book 
 —Campbell's Law of Negligence."— Mr. Justice 
 IVilles in the case of " Otpenhcim v. White Lien 
 HMetCo." . , . ,.,..,, 
 
 " We presume from this being styled the first of 
 a series of practical Law Tracts, that Mr. Campbell 
 
 is about to devote his attention to other subjects, 
 which, from the success of his first attempt, we 
 shall expect to see him elucidate considerably. If, 
 however, he should ever find time to expand this 
 tract on the Law of Negligence into a complete 
 treatise, we shall expect to find it one of the most 
 satisfactory text-books on English tew."— Solicitors' 
 Journal. 
 
36 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 AMERICAN AND COLONIAL, LAW WORKS. 
 
 *** Should the Profession have any difficulty in procuring any of the following 
 Books through their usual Bdokseller\ application to Stevens & Haynes will meet with 
 prompt attention. ■ 
 
 ABBOTT'S NEW YORK DIGEST. 
 
 Entirely recast, revised, corrected, and consolidated. A Digest of New York Statutes 
 and Reports from the Earliest Period to the Year 1873. Comprising the Adjudi-. 
 cations of all the Courts of the .State, together with the Statutes of. General 
 Application. By Benjamin Vaughan Abbott and Austin Abbott. In 6 
 royal 8vo. volumes, price 9/. 15^ bound. ' 
 
 Now ready, Volumes I. to XII., 
 
 THE AMERICAN REPORTS. 
 
 Containing all Cases of General Value, 
 DECIDED BY THE COURT OF LAST RESORT IN EVERY STATE 
 
 IN THE UNION. 
 
 The 1 Reports of the Courts of Last Resort of the several States contain cases of 
 great general' importance, and which are always considered as high authority by the 
 Courts of the other States, but they are buried beneath a mass of practice and local 
 cases of no value outside of the States in which they are decided. 
 
 In " The American Reports " the plan is to give all cases having a general value, 
 hereafter decided by the Court Of Last Resort in every State, unencumbered by Practice 
 Cases and those of local importance only. . • 
 
 AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONS : 
 
 Comprising the Constitution of each State in the Union, and of the United States, with 
 the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation ; each accompanied 
 by a Historical Introduction arid Notes, together with a Classified Analysis of the 
 Constitutions, according to their subjects, showing, by comparative arrangement, 
 every Constitutional Provision now in force in the several States ; with References 
 to Judicial Decisions, and an Analytical Index. Illustrated by carefully engraved 
 fac-similes of the Great Seals of the United States, and of each State and Territory. 
 By Franklin B. Hough.' In two vols., price yos., bound. 1872. 
 
 THE AMERICAN LAW REVIEW. 
 
 A Quarterly Journal of American Jurisprudence, &c. Price 6s. each number. 
 The principal features of this Review are treatises upon practical or theoretical 
 points of law, reports of leading cases, regular digests of +he current series of English 
 Reports and of the principal American cases from the, courts of all Ijtie States, brief 
 critical notices of new law-books, and in each number a " Summary of Events," where 
 notes of decisions,, legal intelligence, and professional gossip are grouped under local 
 headings. , 
 
 In 8vo., 1873, price 15J., bound, 
 
 MANUAL OF THE LAWS AND COURTS OF THE 
 UNITED STATES, 
 
 AND OF .THE SEVERAL STATES AND TERRITORIES. 
 
 By. Horace Andrews, of the New York Bar. 
 This book is a complete summary in convenient form of the Jurisdiction of all the Courts, 
 and of the Laws of the United States and all the other States and Territories, for 
 the use of Lawyers, Notaries, Commissioners, Collecting Agents and business men. 
 
 would ' be caused by the necessity for correspon- 
 dence'; while to intending settlers also it will be 
 a guide, with regard to exemption and homestead 
 laws,, rates of interest, rights of married womeni';^ 
 taxation, and other points bearing on their future 
 course." 
 
 "The work, we are told in the Preface, is de- 
 signed for lawyers and business men. The object 
 appears to be to give a plain statement of the law, 
 practice, and procedure of the courts, without the 
 citation of authority, so as to be a guide to nonpro- 
 fessional persons. It must prove a most useful 
 epitome, for it contains a great amount of varied, 
 information." — Law Times. 
 
 From The Times. 
 " Among recent publications has been a ' Manual 
 of the Laws and Courts of -the United States,' and 
 of the several States and Territdriesi with a Dic- 
 tionary of reliable practising lawyers, edited by 
 Mr. Horace Andrews, A.M., of the New York 
 Bar. The business relations of the two countries 
 are extending with such rapidity as to render a 
 work of the kind indispensable for use on this side, 
 and the task seems to j have been carefully per- 
 formed by Mr. Andrews. It will not only serve to 
 prevent contracts being entered into in ignorance 
 of peculiar local statutes, but in many questions 
 that may arise will save the delay and expense that 
 
STEVENS & HATNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAE. 
 
 37 
 
 AMERICAN AND COLONIAL LAW WORKS-^******* 
 
 FIRE INSURANCE CASES. 
 
 Being a Collection of all the Reported Cases on Fire Insurance in England, Ireland, 
 Scotland, and America, from the earliest" period to the present time, Chronologi- 
 ' i cally arranged. With Notes and References. By Edmund H. Bennett. 
 Vol. I., covering the period from 1729 to 1839; Vol. II., from 1840 to 1849. 
 Vol. III., from 1849 to 1854^ Three vols., royal 8vo. 1872-^. Price 5/. ioj., 
 law calf. , v 
 
 It is proposed to issue a collection of all the cases 
 on Fire Insurance from the -earliest period to the 
 present time, chronologically arranged, with notes 
 and references, by" Hon.. Edmund H. Bennett, 
 of the Boston Bar.^ The Series will embrace all 
 the reported cases in England, Ireland, Scotland, 
 and America, including Canada and the British 
 Provinces. The opinions of the Court will always 
 begiyen in full, but the arguments of Counsel and 
 the reporter's statement will be sometimes con- 
 densed. New head-notes will also be frequently 
 
 introduced, and foot-notes and references to other 
 Cases added. The Court by which the Case was 
 ■determined, and the volume and page where origin- 
 ally reported, will distinctly appear. A Table of 
 Cases, both of those reported and of those only 
 cited, with a full Index, will be found in each, 
 volume. 
 
 The volumes to complete the Work, and bringing 
 the Cases to the present time, will be published at 
 an early period. 
 
 Royal 8vo., 1873, price 42J., law calf, 
 
 BIGELOWS INDEX OF OVERRULED CASES. 
 
 The attempt has been made in this Volume to collect all the reported cases from the 
 earliest period to the present time which have been 
 
 REVISED, OVERRULED, DENIED, DOUBTED, OR MODIFIED, 
 
 With such of the cases explained or distinguished as were deemed important ; and, for 
 the accomplishment of this purpose, all the Reports of the English, Irish, and American 
 Courts have been examined, and for the most part page by page. The number of cases 
 amounts to twenty thousand. 
 
 " A book which every lawyer will find it useful to have at, his elbow."— 
 Solicitors' Journal. 
 
 LIFE AND ACCIDENT INSURANCE REPORTS. 
 
 Vol. I.— Containing Reports of all the published Life and Accident Insurance Cases 
 determined in the American Courts prior to January, 1871. With Notes to 
 ' English Cases. Vol. II. — Containing all the Cases adjudicated on in the American 
 and English Courts since the publication of Vol. I. ; together with the prior 
 leading English Life and Accident Insurance Cases. ■_ Vol. III., embraces the cases 
 decided since January 1872, and also all the Scotch and Canadian cases of general 
 interest, and such of the English and Irish cases as were not published in the 
 second volume. The Scotch cases are as valuable as'they are inaccessible to the 
 Profession generally. By Melville M. Bigelow, of the Boston Bar. Three 
 vols., royal 8vo. 1871-4. Price 5/. idj., law calf. 
 
 These 'Cases decide interesting and important 
 questions concerning Suicide, Insurable Interest, 
 Restrictions upon Residence and Travel, ^Receipt ( 
 of Premium after Forfeiture, Death in Known 
 Violation of Law, dec. ' v 
 
 : The subject of , Life and Accident Insurance 
 has within a few years sprung into such absorbing 
 interest In the Courts, that it has been, thought that 
 a collection of the Cases upon this branch of the 
 law would prove acceptable. 
 
 BISHOP'S COMMENTARIES ON THE CRIMINAL LAW. 
 
 Two vols., royal 8vo. Fifth Edition. 1872. -3/. nos., cloth. 
 
38 STEVENS & HAYHES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 AMERICAN AND COLONIAL LAW W ORKS-^'W. 
 
 Fifth Edition, 1873, tw ° volumes, royal 8vo., 3/. ioj., cloth, 
 
 COMMENTARIES ON THE LAW OF MARRIAGE AND 
 
 DIVORCE. 
 
 With the Evidence, Practice, Pleading, and £orms; also of Separations without Divorce, 
 and of the Evidence of Marriage in all issues. By Joel Prentiss Bishop. 
 
 This work lias, been thoroughly revised. The new matter added to this edition is in amount equal to 
 nearly one-fourth of a volume. 
 
 BLISS (G.). THE LAW OP LIFE INSURANCE. 
 
 With a Chapter on Accident Insurance. 
 Second Edition, royal 8vo. 1874. 35J., cloth. v 
 
 In one volume, royal 8vo., 1873, price 35J., cloth,,. 
 
 BROWNE ON THE LAW OF TRADE MARKS 
 
 AND ANALOGOUS SUBJECTS 
 (Firm Names, Business Signs, Goodwill, Labels, &c). 
 
 THE CIVIL CODE OF LOWER CANADA. 
 
 Together with a Synopsis of Changes in the Law, References to the, Reports of the 
 Commissioners,' &c, and a complete Index. By THOMAS McCord, Advocate. 
 i2mo. New Edition. 1873. "js. td. bound. 
 
 CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
 
 Buchanan (J.), Reports of Cases decided m the Supreme Court of the Cape of Good 
 Hope. Vols. I., II., & III. 1868^70. Royal 8vo. 63*. 
 
 . — Vol. IV., parts i. to iii. 1873. 15J. 
 
 Menzies' (W.), Reports of Cases decided in the Supreme Court of the Cape of Good 
 Hope. Vol. I . and Vol. II., parts i. to iv. ' £$. 
 
 -, — : — r Vol. III.,- parts i. to iv. 42J. 
 
 In l2mo., price ior. dd., 
 
 SELECT THESES ON THE LAWS OF HOLLAND 
 AND ZEELAND. 
 
 Being a'Commentary of Hugo Grotius' Introduction to Dutch Jurisprudence, and intended 
 to supply certain defects therein, and to determine some of the more celebrated 
 Controversies on the Law of Holland. By Dionysius Godefridus van der 
 Keesel, Advocate, and Professor of the Civil and Modern Laws in the University 
 of Leydeit. Translated from the original Latin by C. A. Lorenz, of Lincoln's 
 Inn, Barrister-at-Law. Second -Edition, with a Biographieal Notice of the Author 
 by Professor J. De Wal, of Leyden. 
 
 Royal 8vo., Fourth Edition, 1873, price 40J., cloth. 
 
 CURTIS' TREATISE ON THE LAW OF PATENTS 
 
 For Useful' Inventions in the United States of America, and the Remedies for their 
 ' ^ Infringement. 
 
 FISHER (SAMUEL S.). REPORTS OF CASES ARISING 
 UPON LETTERS PATENT FOR INVENTIONS, 
 
 Determined in the Circuit Courts of the United States. 1848-71. In 4 vols., royal 8vo. 
 
 1870-72. 21/. _; 
 
 ■ ' ^ — ^tJa 
 
STEVENS & HATNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAE. 39 
 
 AMERICAN AND COLONIAL LAW mm— continued. 
 
 GREEN'S CRIMINAL LAW REPORTS. 
 
 Being Reports of Cases determined in the Federal and State Courts of the United States, 
 and in the Courts of England, Ireland, Canada, &c. With Notes by N. St. 
 John Green. Vol. I., royal 8vo., price 40s-., law calf. 
 
 • LEADING CASES ON MERCANTILE LAW. 
 
 Fifth Edition. Enlarged and Improved. Being Select Decisions of American Courts, 
 with especial Reference to Mercantile Law, with Notes. The whole Work has 
 been thoroughly revised, and largely increased by the introduction of several 
 entirely new heads of practical interest, by Hon. J. I. C. Hare and Jno. Wm. 
 Wallace, Esq. In 2 vols., royal 8vo. Price 3/. 15^., law calf. 
 
 HADLEY'S INTRODUCTION TO ROMAN LAW, 
 
 In Twelve Academical Lectures. l2mo. 1874. Is.dd. 
 
 MUNICIPAL LAW OF ONTARIO, CANADA. 
 
 In one vol., 8vo., price 35J., calf. 
 
 The Municipal Manual, containing the 'Municipal and Assessment Acts, and Rules of 
 Court for the Trial of Contested Municipal Elections,- with Notes of,' all decided 
 Cases, some additional Statutes, and a full Index. , By Robert A. Harrison, 
 D.C.L., one of Her Majesty's Counsel. Third Edition. 8vo. Toronto, 1874. 
 
 In royal 8vo. 1874. Price 35*., cloth. 
 
 A TREATISE on EXTRAORDINARY LEGAL REMEDIES. 
 
 Embracing MANDAMUS, QUO WARRANTO and.; PROHIBITION. By 
 James L. High, of the Chicago Bar. 
 
 "Mr. High is quite right when he says, that no 
 single treatise covers the ground which he now 
 occupies, ' no previous writer having ever attempted 
 a treatise upon either of the subjects here embraeed, 
 which should be founded upon and include the 
 result of all the English and American decisions.' 
 On this score the book is welcome, and we / think 
 that American jurisprudence has attained to such 
 excellence, and has been built up by men of vast 
 learning, whose successors have proved most 
 worthy, that \t is impossible to write a text book 
 
 on a branch of law common to both countries with- - 
 out citing tlie legal decisions in both countries. 
 Another merit in Mr.. High's, work is that, 'follow- 
 ing the inductive method, he has endeavoured' to, 
 group and generalise the results of his investiga- 
 tions, so as to ascertain the governing principles 
 l underlying all the decisions, arid to state these in 
 the ttxt with as much brevity as seemed consistent 
 with clearness.' As the work of an American, the 
 treatise under notice is one of the best which we 
 have met with." — Law Times. 
 
 IDAHO REPORTS. 
 
 Cases Argued and Adjudged in .the Supreme Court of the Territory of Idaho, January 
 1866 to August 1867. One vol., 8vo. 1867. 2/. ioj. 
 
 KENT'S COMMENTARIES ON AMERICAN LAW. 
 
 COMMENTARIES ON AMERICAN LAW. 
 
 By Hon. James Kent. Edited and Revised by O. W. Holmes, Junr. 12th, Edition. 
 4 vols, royal 8vo. 1873. . 5/. cloth. 
 
 In the present edition of this work an attempt has been made to bring it down through the quarter of 
 a century which has elapsed since the author's death. 
 
 The great weight attaching to any opinion of Chancellor Kent has been dgemed a sufficient teason for 
 not attempting any alteration in his text or notes. To insure accuracy, this edition has been printed from 
 the eleventh, and then carefully read with the sixth, which contained the author's last corrections. The 
 original text has been scrupulously restored, except that, whenever a difference between the proofs and the 
 sixth' edition has occurred in a citation, it has been corrected in the proper abbreviated form. In this way a 
 large proportion of the author's citations have been verified ; and it is believed that the present revision, 
 together with the dare which former editors have bestowed, has insured their accuracy. 
 
40 
 
 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL TAHD, TEMPLE BAR. 
 
 AMERICAN AND COLONIAL LAW WO RKS-^V^- 
 
 Royal 8vo., Vol. I., price 32s., cloth, 
 
 A SELECTION OF CASES ON THE LAW OF 
 CONTRACTS. 
 
 With References and Citations. By C. C. Langdell, Dane Professor of Law in 
 
 Harvard University. 
 
 of English, Scotch, Irish, American, and even of 
 French 'Law, in order that lie might present their 
 jewels to his pupils." — Laia Journal. 
 
 "The design of this work is both novel and 
 good." — Soliditort? Journal. 
 " Mr. Langdell has rummaged the vast libraries 
 
 Royal 8vo., Vol. I., price 35J., cloth, 
 
 LEADING CASES ON SALES. 
 
 A Selection of Cases on the Law of Sales of Personal Property. With References and 
 Citations., By C. C. Langdell, Dane Professor of Law in Harvard University. 
 
 " We have before noticed Professor Langdell's 
 Selection of Cases on the Law of Contracts. The 
 present work is on the same plan. 
 ' , " For those students who desire to know what 
 the fundamental ifrinciples of law are, and the 
 method in which they have been worked out and 
 applied, we know no work to which we wouki 
 sooner recommend them. * 
 
 "We have said that these books were mainly 
 
 intended to be useful to students ; but if there are 
 any practising lawyers who still have the time and 
 taste to *read law,' we can promise them that, I 
 they will find no- legal study more delightful than * 
 that of tracing the history of opinion through 
 the pages of these books. . . . To understand 
 fully how good these books are, the reader must * 
 be a pretty good lawyer himself." — American Law 
 Review. 
 
 morse on Arbitration and award. . 
 
 The Law of Arbitration and Award. By John T. Morse, Jun. 8vo. 35.C, cloth. 
 
 NEBRASKA REPORTS. 
 
 Reports of Cases in the Supreme Court of Nebraska. By James M. Wool worth, 
 Counsellor-at-Law. 3 vols., 8vo. 1871-73. 7/. 10s. 
 
 NEVADA REPORTS. 
 
 Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada. Nine vols., 
 
 8vo. 1865 to 1873. 27/. 
 
 *,* These Reports contain 'numerous Decisions upon Mines and Mining Claims, 
 
 Mining Rights, &c. 
 
 NEW YORK SUPREME COURT REPORTS. 
 
 Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the late Supreme Court of the State of 
 New York, 1842, 1843, an <^ '844. By T. M. Lalor. Being a continuation of 
 Hill and Denio.'s N. Y. Reports. One vol., 8vo. 1857. 30J. 
 
 THOMPSON AND COOKE'S NEW YORK SUPREME 
 COURT REPORTS. 
 
 COMMENCING JUNE, 1873. 
 Vols. I., II., and III. now Ready. Price 35J. each, law calf. 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Superior' Court of the City of New 
 York. By J. McSweeney. 1869-70. Two vols., 8vo, 3/. ioj, 
 
 THE CIVIL CODE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Reported complete by the Commissioner of the Code. 8vo. 1865. lis. 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 41 
 
 AMERICAN AND COLONIAL LAW W ORKS-^W. 
 
 OREGON REPORTS. 
 
 Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of the Territory of 
 Oregon, and of the State of Oregon, 1853 to 1870; and Cases in the Circuit, 
 Courts of Oregon. 1867 to 1872. Three vols., 8vo. 9/. ' 
 
 l Sixth Edition, 1873, thoroughly revised, three volumes, royal 8vo., 5/., cloth, 
 
 PARSONS ON CONTRACTS. 
 
 "In this edition the whole work, has been recast and thoroughly revised ; new chapters on the law of 
 Patents, Copyright, Trade-marks, and Telegrams, inserted ; additions made to almost every section ; and 
 more than thirteen hundred recent cases quoted from or cited. Every effort has been made to render the 
 work worthy the acceptance it finds with the profession."— Author's .Preface to the Sixth Edition. 
 
 PARSONS' (T.) LAW OP SHIPPING AND THE 
 PRACTICE IN ADMIRALTY. 
 
 Two vols:, royal 8vo. 1 869. 3/, 3J. cloth. 
 
 PARSONS' (T.) LAW OF MARINE INSURANCE AND 
 GENERAL AVERAGE. 
 
 Two vols., toyal^vo. 1868. 3/. cloth. , ' 
 
 In royal 8vo., 1872, price %$*., cloth,, 
 
 THE LAW OF APPELLATE PROCEEDINGS, 
 
 In relation to' Review, Error, Appeal, and other reliefs upon final judgments. 
 By T. M. Powell. 
 
 Fourth Edition, royal 8vcT., 1873, 36J., cloth lettered, 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE LAW OF 
 COVENANTS FOR TITLE. 
 
 By .WILLIAM Henry Rawle. Fourth Edition, revised and enlarged. ^ ■ 
 
 In the preparation of this edition every-Iine has been carefully considered/ and every authority recon- 
 sulted. Much of it has been written over, — in particular, the introduction, the chapter on "the usual ; 
 covenants," on the covenant against encumbrances, on covenants running with the land, and as to their 
 operation by way of estoppel or rebutter. .The subject of the measure of damages has been considered 
 separately,, and a new chapter has been added,-^-" The jurisdiction of equity as to covenants for title." It 
 is believed that the treatise now correctly represents the present state of the law in England and in 
 America. * . , 
 
 SCHOULER (J.) ON THE LAW OF DOMESTIC 
 RELATIONS; N 
 
 Embracing Husband and Wife, Parent and Child, Guardian and Ward, Infancy, and 
 Master and Servant. Second\Edition. One vol., royal 8vo. 1874. 38*. cloth. 
 
 SHEARMAN AND REDFIELD ON THE LAW OF 
 NEGLIGENCE. 
 
 Third Edition, royal 8vo. 1874. 35 s. cloth. 
 JUDGE STORY'S WOEJtS. 
 
 In two volumes, royal 8vo., 1873, price' 75J., cloth, 
 
 COMMENTARIES ON EQUITY JURISPRUDENCE. 
 
 As adjj^ astered in England and America. By Joseph Story, LL.D. 
 ■Eleventh Edition, carefully revised, with Notes and Additions, by F. J. Balch. 
 
42 STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. . 
 
 AMERICAN AND COLONIAL LAW WORKS-^*'^- 
 
 1 JUDGE STORY'S WORKS— continued. 
 
 COMMENTARIES ON AGENCY. 
 
 Eighth Edition. By N. St. John Green. 35*. cloth. 
 
 COMMENTARIES ON BAILMENTS. 
 
 Eighth Edition. By E. H. BENNETT, Esq. 3 1 J. t>d. cloth. 
 
 COMMENTARIES ON PARTNERSHIP. 
 
 Sixth Edition. By John C. Gray, Junr. 3U. 6d. cloth. 
 
 COMMENTARIES ON CONFLICT OF LAWS. 
 
 Seventh Edition. By Edmund H. Bennett. 35J. cloth. 
 
 STORY (W. W.) ON THE LAW OF CONTRACTS. 
 
 Fifth Edition. Revised and enlarged by Melville M. Bigelow. Two vols., 
 royal 8vo., price 75 s. cloth. 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE VALIDITY OF VERBAL 
 AGREEMENTS. 
 
 As affected by the Legislative Enactments in England and the United States, commonly 
 called the Statute of Frauds; including also the effect of Partial, and Complete' 
 Performance and the sufficiency of the Writing in Cases where Verbal Agreements 
 are not valid ; together with other kindred matters ; to which are prefixed transcripts' 
 of the various Statutes on the subject now in force in both Countries. • 1 
 
 By Montgomery H. Throop. V0l.1I., royal 8vo. 1870. Price 35J. cloth. 
 
 TOWNSHEND'S TREATISE ON THE WRONGS CALLED 
 SLANDER AND LIBEL. 
 
 And on the Remedies for those Wrongs. By John Townshend, of the New York Bar, 
 Second Edition. 1872. 38.C cloth. > 
 
 - UNITED STATES CIRCUIT COURT REPORTS. 
 
 Reports of Cases at Law and Equity, and in the Admiralty, Determined, in the Circuit 
 Court of the U. S. for the District of Maryland. By R. B. TANEY, Chief Justice 
 of the Supreme Court of the U. S. April T. 1836 to April T. 1861. One vol., 
 8vo. '35J. 
 
 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT REPORTS. 
 
 Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the District Courts of the U. S. within the 
 Sec-ond Circuit. By Robert D. Benedict. 1865101871. Four vols. 8vo. 9/. 
 
 *tf* Numerous and valuable Decisions concerning Collisions at Sea are contained ii 
 these volumes. The" Reports in all the' U. S. District 'Courts contain Decisions , in 
 Admiralty. ' - ^ 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 43 
 
 AMERICAN AND COLONIAL LAW mm-continued. 
 
 WASHINGTON TERRITORY REPORTS. 
 
 Opinions of the Supreme Court of the Territory of Washington, 1854 to 1864. 
 One vol., 8vo. 2l. idi. 
 
 WHARTON'S CRIMINAL LAW. 
 
 Seventh and Revised Edition; Three vols., royal 8vo. 1874. 
 Vol. I. Principles, Pleading, and Evidence. Vol.. II. Crimes. Vol. III. Practice. 
 
 Price £$, cloth. 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE CRIMINAL LAW OF THE UNITED STATES. , By 
 Francis Wharton, LL.D., Author of "Conflict of Laws," "Precedents of 
 1 Indictments and Pleas," '* Medical Jurisprudence," *>' Law of Homicides," &c. 
 
 The third volume of this edition is substantially new, and comprehends an independent treatise on 
 Criminal Practice. The chapters on Crimes, which in prior editions were spread over the second and 
 third volumes, are^now consolidated in, the .second. The whole work , has been thoroughly revised and 
 re-written, and upwards of six hundred pages of additional matter incorporated in the text. To enable this 
 extension to be more readily mastered, the, topics have been re-arranged, devoting the first volume to 
 Principles, Pleading, and Evidence • the second to Crimes ; and the third to Practice. 
 
 Recent investigations having shown that the chief maxims and definitions of the English Criminal Law 
 have been largely derived from the Roman and Canon Law, has led to the introduction in this edition of a 
 new feature — the references to the early jurists laying down and illustrating these maxims and definitions, 
 as well as to such points in the dissertations of the more moderji jurists as may be consulted with 
 advantage. In making frequent references to these authorities there foas been no ' relaxation of the 
 vigilant scrutiny and careful analysis due to the adjudications of the Anglo-American Courts.^ So far from 
 this being the case, there is not a citation -,in. the former texts which has not for this edition been verified, 
 and t as far as known, there is not a single intermediate reported English or American criminal decision 
 that has not been ^scrutinized and introduced. , Nor is this all. The student will see by comparison that 
 the text has been so subdivided that each point is now presented in its own separate analytical place. 
 That .the labour thus' applied is made only the more fruitful by the introduction of c6gnate foreign 
 jurisprudences, will be conceded by all who will examine the sections devoted to Presumptions, to Casual 
 Connection, to Estoppel by Consent, to; Omissions, to Conflict of Jurisdictions, to Conspiracy, and _ to 
 Attempts. The treatise now covers the whole field of Criminal Jurisprudence, and is commended with 
 confidence to those engaged in the application of our criminaUaw, whether as practitioners or judges. ' 
 
 Third Edition, 1873, two volumes in three, price 5/. 1 gV. 6d. t law calf, 
 
 WHARTON AND STILLE'S MEDICAL 
 JURISPRUDENCE. 
 
 The first volume containing a Treatise on Mental Unsoundness, embracing a general view 
 of Psychological Law, by Francis Wharton, LL.D. The second in twq parts, 
 embracing the topics of Fcetus and New Born Child, and Difference of Sex, by 
 Samuel Ashhurst, M.D., of Philadelphia ;. Poisons, by Robert Amory, M.D., 
 of Brookline, Mass.; Wounds and Signs of Death, by Wharton Sinkler, M.D., 
 of Philadelphia ; 'Psychological and Legal Notes, by Francis Wharton, LL.D. 
 
 " So far as we can judge, the work constitutes a most complete and valuable encyclopaedia of medical 
 jurisprudence." — Solicitor? Journal. 
 
 WHITING (W.). 
 
 WAR POWERS UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 With an Appendix of Cases. 8vo. ,1871. 2 u. cloth. 
 
 WOTHERSPOON'S MANUAL OF THE PRACTICE AND 
 
 PROCEDURE IN THE SEVERAL COURTS HAVING CIVIL JURIS- 
 DICTION IN THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC. i 2 mo. 1870. 
 
 V Any Foreign Works not in stock can be supplied (if in print) in a 
 few weeks from date of order. 
 
44 
 
 STEVENS & HATNES, BELL TABS, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 Just published, in 8vo., price 6s., cloth, 
 
 THE LAW 
 
 CONCERNING, THE 
 
 REGISTEATION OF BIETHS AND DEATHS 
 
 IN 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES, 
 
 AND 
 
 AT SEA. 
 
 Being the whole Statute Law upon the subject; together with a list 
 of Registration Fees and Charges, 
 
 EDITED, WITH 
 
 Copious Explanatory Notes and References, and an 
 Elaborate Index. 
 
 'by 
 
 ARTHUR, JOHN FLAXMAN, 
 
 OP THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. 
 
 " The complete and correct registration of births 
 and deaths is, for several reasons, a matter of great 
 importance, and it can only be effected by a law 
 that is very simple in its provisions. The work 
 cannot be wholly done by officials, but persons of 
 all classes have to give the needful information. 
 We agree with Mr. Flaxman as to the utility and 
 thoroughness of the Act of 1874, and, with a little 
 zeal in the enforcement of its provisions, the returns 
 of the Registrar-General will be an exact record. 
 It is, perhaps, as lucid as we can expect an Act of 
 Parliament to be ; but still it needs a careful study 
 and general knowledge of the pre-existing law to 
 understand all the clauses. Now Mt. Flaxmarfs 
 unpretentious but admirable little book makes the 
 duties of all parties under the Act abundantly 
 clear. 
 
 " Mr. Flaxman's plan is to print the Act clause 
 by clause, and after each clause he puts his notes. 
 The Act says, ' In the case of any child born alive, 
 &c. ;' and a note tells the reader that ( No still-born 
 child can be registered as a birth or death. Persons 
 who would have been required to give information* 
 concerning the birth, had such child been born 
 alive, are- responsible only for the proper disposal of 
 the body.' This is very lucid ; though, by the way, 
 the note would have been more complete if the 
 author had added that a still-born child cannot be 
 buried without a medical certificate, or a declara- 
 tion signed by a person who would have been re- 
 quired by the Act tOsgive information concerning 
 the birth if the child had been born alive. It is 
 
 true that later on, under the burials clauses, the Act 
 makes those provisions ; but the substance of them 
 would have made the note we have quoted com- 
 plete. But it must not be supposed that Mr. Flax- 
 man's book is carelessly written. On the contrary, 
 there are copious notes which of themselves form a 
 digest ajid exposition of the law, and it requires a 
 very close scrutiny to detect a trifling and practically 
 unimportant omission. Lawyers will find the book 
 not only handy, but also instructive and suggest 
 To registrars, and all persons engaged in the , 
 c'ution of the lain, the book-will be invaluable. The 
 index occupies thirty-five pages, and is so full that 
 information on a minute point can be obtained with- 
 out trouble. It is an index that must have cost the 
 author much thought and time. The statements of 
 what is to be done, who may do it, and 'what must 
 not be dojie, are so clear that it is welt nigh impos- 
 sible for any one who consults the book to err. 
 Those who use ' Flaxman's Registration of Births 
 and Deaths '^wilfadmit that our laudatory- criticism 
 is thoroughly merited." — Law Journal. 
 
 "Mr. Arthur John Flaxman, barrister-at-law, of 
 the Middle Temple, has published a small work on 
 ' The Xaw Concerning the Registration of Births 
 and Deaths in England and Wales, and at, Sea." 
 Mr. Flaxman has pursued the only possible plan, 
 giving the statutes and references to cases. The 
 jemarkable feature is the index, which fills no less 
 than 45 out of a total of 11? pages. ThS'index 
 alone would be extremely useful, and is worth the 
 money asked for the work." — Law Times, ,, 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BELL YARD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 45 
 
 Just published, in 8vo., Third Edition, price $s., cloth, 
 THE 
 
 MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY ACT, 1870, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 \ 
 
 Married Women s Property Act, 1870, 
 Amendment Act, 1874.. 
 
 ITS RELATIONS TO THE 
 
 DOCTRINE OF SEPARATE TjfeE. 
 
 TOtf) &pp«irtftr of g>tatut«i, €tet& antf tfaxmi. 
 
 By J. R. GRIF 
 
 of Lincoln's inn, 
 
 " Mr. Griffith, the editor of the present work' (and 
 he is also the editor of that excellent treatise, 
 *SnellV Principles of Equity') has, by his introduc- 
 tion and notes, given to the lawyer every necessary 
 assistance in the interpretation of these statutes,' 
 which, from their somewhat revolutionary character, 
 require to be carefully studied* in order* that their 
 
 FITH, B.A. Oxoir, 
 
 BABRISTEB-AT-LAW. 
 
 relation to the principles of the status of married 
 women at Common Law and in Equity may be 
 appreciated. All the cases decided under, these 
 -Acts- have beeri quoted and considered; while in 
 the introduction there is a concise statement of the 
 liability of the wife's separate estate to her general 
 engagements."— Irish Law Times. 
 
 In post 8vo., 1874, Fourth Edition, price ioj. 6d. t cloth, 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 THE STUDY OF INTER NATIONAL LAW, 
 
 DESIGNED AS AN AID LN^TEACHING, and IN HISTORICAL STUDIES. 
 
 By Theodore D. Woolsey, late President of Yale College. 
 
 Fourth Edition, revised and enlarged. 
 
 " The fact that President Woolsey*s , treatise on 
 International Law has already reached a fourth 
 edition may be taken as evidence oi the increasing 
 attention now paid to the subject of which it treats 
 by all who lay claim to a liberal education in the 
 United States. VCertainly the long controversy 
 maintained with this country in regard to the 
 recognition of Confederate belligerency ^ and _ the 
 depredations of the * Alabama ' and its 1 sister 
 cruisers proves that no people stands more in need 
 of enlightenment on the subject. The first edition 
 of President Woplsey's work appeared in i860; the 
 second, considerably enlarged, four years later ; 
 
 and the third, with further valuable additions, in 
 1871. The fourth edition which v now appears like- 
 wise contains various additions. The work is in- 
 tended for students rather than lawyers, the author 
 having undertaken its preparation while lecturing 
 on International Law and History at Yale College. 
 To the origin&l historical sketch of the subject, 
 corrected and enlarged, Dr. Woolsey has , added; 
 in 1 the form of .a second appendix, a pretty full 
 summary of the various treaties which! form the 
 landmarks of international jurisprudence, and in the 
 notes newly introduced he has brought down the 
 discussion to the present time." — Saturday Review, 
 
 In 8vo M 1872, price p. 6d. t cloth, 
 
 AN EPITOME AND ANALYSIS OF SAVIGNTS TREATISE ON 
 OBLIGATIONS IN ROMAN LAW, 
 
 By Archibald Brown, M.A. Edin. and .Oxon. and B.G.L. Oxon., of the Middle 
 Terriple, Barrister-at-Law. 
 
 fifty pages. At the same time the pith of Von 
 Savigny's matter seems to be very successfully pre- 
 served, nothing which might be useful to the 
 English reader being apparently omitted. 
 
 " The new edition of" Savigny will, we hope, be 
 extensively read andreferred to by English lawyers. 
 If it is not, it will not be the fault of the translator 
 and epitomiser. Far, less will it be the fault of 
 Savigny himself, whose clear definitions and accu- 
 rate tests are of great, use to the legal practitioner." 
 — Law Journal. 
 
 "Mr. Archibald Brown deserves the thanks 
 of all interested -in the science of law, whether 
 as a study or 1 a practice, for his edition of 
 #err von Savigny's great work on 'Obligations. 
 Mr Brown has undertaken a double task— the 
 translation of his author, and the analysis of his 
 author's matter. That he has succeeded in reducing 
 the bulk .of ^thfe original will be seen at a glance ; 
 the French translation consisting of two volumes, 
 with some five hundred pages apiece, as compared 
 with Mr. Brown's thin volume of a hundred and 
 
46 
 
 STEVENS & HAYKES, BELL YABD, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 THE LAW OF EXTRADITION. 
 
 Just published, Second Edition, in 8vo., price i&r., cloth, 
 
 A TREATISE UPON 
 
 THE LAW OF EXTRADITION. 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 CONVENTIONS UPON the SUBJECT EXISTING BETWEEN 
 ENGLAND AND FOREIGN NATIONS, 
 
 THE CASES DECIDED THEREON. 
 
 • • ' • By EDWARD CLARKE, 
 
 OF lincqln's inn, barrister-at-law, and late tancred student.- 
 
 " Mr. Clarke's accurate and sensible book is the best authority to which the English 
 reader can turn upon the subject of Extradition." — Saturday Review. 
 
 " The opinion we expressed of the merits, of this, work when it first appeared lias been 
 fully justified by the' reputation it has gained. This .new edition, embodying and ex- 
 plaining the recent legislation oh extradition, is likely to sustain that reputation 
 
 There are other points we had m'arked for comment, but we must content ourselves with 
 heartily commending this new edition to the attention of the profession. It is seldom we 
 come across a book possessing, so much interest to the general reader and at the same 
 time furnishing so useful a guide to the lawyer." — The Solicitor^ Journal. 
 
 "The appearance of a second edition of this treatise does not surprise us. It is a 
 useful book, well arranged and well written. A student who wants to learn the principles 
 and practice of the law of extradition will be greatly helped by Mr. Clarke. Lawyers" 
 who have extradition business will find this volume an excellent book of reference. 
 Magistrates who have to administer the extradition law. will be greatly assisted by a 
 careful perusal of ' Clarke upon Extradition.' This may be called a warm commenda- 
 tion, but-those who have read the book will hot say it is unmerited. We have so often 
 to expose the false pretenders to legal authorship that it is a pleasure to meet with a 
 volume that is the useful and unpretending result of honest work. Besides the Appendix, 
 which contains the extradition conventions of this country since 1843, we have eight 
 chapters. The first is ' Upon the Duty of Extradition;' the second on the 'Early 
 Treaties and Cases ; ' the others on the law. in the United States, Canada, England, Sn| 
 France, and the practice in those countries." — The Law Journal. 
 
 ' ' One of the most interesting and valuable contributions to legal literature which it , 
 has been our province to notice for a long time, is ' Clarke's Treatise on the.Law of 
 Extradition.' . . . t . Mr. Clarke's work comprises chapters upon the Duty of 
 Extradition ; Early Treaties and Cases ; History of the Law in the United States, |n 
 Canada, in England, in, France, &c.,.with an Appendix containing ' the Conventions 
 
 existing between England and Foreign Nations, and the Cases decided thereon 
 
 The work is ably prepared throughout, and should form a part of the library of every 
 lawyer interested in great Constitutional or International Questions."— ^/foBy Law^ 
 
 The Times of September 7, 1874, in a long article upon "Extradition Treaties,'* 
 makes considerable use of this work,' and writes of it as "Mr. Clarkis useful Wot%, 
 on Extradition." ' 
 
STEVENS & HAYNES, BBEfc TABS, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 47 
 
 PRACTICE OP CONVEYANCING. 
 
 This day is published, in One Volume, 8vo., price 14J., cloth, 
 
 title freDs: 
 
 THEIR CUSTODY, INSPECTION, AND PRODUCTION, 
 
 'I 
 
 Sit 3Ufo>, m (Equftp and in Scatters! of 1 Contoepancmg;, 
 
 INCLUDING COVENANTS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF DEEDS AND 
 ATTESTED COPIES ; 
 
 With an Appendix of Precedents, the Vendor and Purchaser. Act, 1874, 
 <Sr*f. &*c. <5r=r. ., 
 
 By WALTER ARTHUR COPINGER,' ; 
 
 ,OF THE MIDDLE TEMELE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW ; '• '\ 
 
 Author of " The Law of Copyright " and " Index to Precedents in Conveyancing." 
 JOHNSON'S DICTIONARY BY Dr. R. G. LATHAM/ . 
 
 Complete in Four Volumes, Quarto, price 7/.,, cloth, 
 
 A DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 By R. G. LATHAM, M.A., M.D., '&c„ 
 
 UATE, FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; 
 
 Author of "The English Language,*' &c. Founded on that of Dr. Samuel Johnson, 
 as edited by the Rev; H. J. Todd, M.A.' With numerous Emendations and Additions^ l 
 
 ."The special excellence of the present over all 
 previous editions will be found in the etymological 
 department."— ^John Bull. 
 
 "Though nominally based on Johnson's Dic- 
 tionary, so much of the original text is discarded as 
 imperfect or erroneous, and the additions 'in every 
 
 department are so numerous and extensive,, that it 
 
 may be regarded virtually as a new book 
 
 Dr. Latham's Dictipnary deserves to be studied by 
 every one interested in the language ; as a book of 
 reference it is admirably fitted for general useful- 
 ness." — Edinburgh Review. 
 
 THE ELEMENTS OP ROMAN LAW. 
 
 This day is published, in 8vo., price , cloth, 
 
 A CONCISE DIGEST OF THE INSTITUTES 
 
 GAIUS AND JUSTINIAN, 
 
 With copious References arranged in Parallel Columns, also Chronological and 
 Analytical, Tables,. Joists of Laws, &°c. &>c. 
 
 PrimsSfry designed for the Use of Students preparing for Examination at 
 Oxford, Cambridge; and the Inns of Court. 
 
 . BY. SEYMOUR F. HARRIS, B.C.L., M.A., 
 
 OF WORCESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD, AND THE INNER TEMPLE. 
 
48 
 
 STEVENS & HAYNES, BEIX YAED, TEMPLE BAB. 
 
 Now Ready, in One thick Volume,. 8vo., of nearly One Thousand Pages, 
 price 42J., strongly bound in Cloth, 
 
 A MAGISTERIAL & POLICE GUIDE : 
 
 25etng tlje Statute Hato, 
 
 INCLUDING THE SESSION OF 1874, 
 WITH NOTES AND REFERENCES TO THE MOST RECENTLY DECIDED CASES, 
 
 RELATING TO THE 
 
 PROCEDURE, JURISDICTION, and DUTIES of MAGISTRATES 
 and ( POLICE AUTHORITIES, 
 
 IN THE METROPOLIS AND IN THE COUNTRY . 
 
 With an Introduction showing the General Procedure before Magistrates 
 both in Indictable and Summary Matters. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY C. GREENWOOD, 
 
 Stipendiary Magistrate for the District of the Staffordshire Potteries, 
 
 AND 
 
 TEMPLE C. MARTIN, 
 
 Of the Southwark Police Court. 
 
 "The law relating to magistrates is a very im- 
 portant part of our jurisprudence, and upon the skill 
 with which the statute and case law is expounded, 
 by text writers depends in a great measure the, suc- 
 cessful administration of the criminal law. The 
 fact that Mr. Greenwood, evidently ably assisted 
 by Mr. Martin, should have entered a field already 
 occupied by Oke and Burn, the latter >work having 
 been recently edited with most elaborate care by 
 high authorities, would appear to show that magi- 
 strates are not' altogether satisfied with the way 
 in which the subject of the jurisdiction of magi- 
 strates, -and police law generally, has-been dealt 
 with. And we notice that our authors do not con- 
 fine themselves to the duties of magistrates only, 
 particular attention, we are told in the preface, 
 having been paid to the duties of constables. 
 
 fr For the form of the work we have nothing but 
 commendation. The subjects are treated in alphabe- 
 tical order — obviously the simplest and most intel- 
 ligible form for atreatise on law where the subject is 
 plainly divisible and capable of classification. " The 
 subjects thus classified are preceded by a valuable 
 introduction commencing with the jurisdiction of 
 magistrates in indictable offences, which is followed 
 by a dissertation upon their jurisdiction in summary 
 matters. As illustrating the desire of our authors to 
 attain to lucidity, we may refer to the first page of 
 this introduction, which opens thus : — 
 
 * Before proceeding in any matter the justice 
 should inquire :-— 
 
 ' 1st. Whether he has jurisdiction. 
 r 2nd. IT more than one or any particular de- 
 scription of justice is required. 
 
 * 3rd. Wheth'era time is limited for any of the 
 proceedings, ( • - 
 
 '4th. What are his powers by the commission 
 of the peace or by statute.' 
 
 " Under each head a short explanation is given, 
 and the writers, whose qualifications for the task no 
 one can question, proceed to treat ,of jurisdiction 
 under n '& 12 Vict. c. 42, ss. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7. This 
 brings us to the mode in which statute-law has been 
 treated, and to explain this we turn to the preface, 
 where we are told that the form of the statutes has 
 been as little interfered with as possible; but the 
 sections which relate to procedure and other matters 
 
 of that nature have been collected into foot notes, 
 and referred to as required. By this arrangement 
 the text has been confined almost entirely to the 
 sections creating offences, &c. 
 
 " Having given this description of the plan of the 
 treatise it only remains for us to observe upon the 
 execution of the design. It is perfectly plain that 
 , a vast amount of labour and intelligence has been 
 expended with the conscientious desire to produce 
 a reliable guide. The foot notes, to which all ob- 
 servations, directions, subordinate sections of Acts 
 of Parliament and cases are relegated, contain all the 
 information necessary to elucidate the text, which, as 
 we have said, is wholly statute law. The portion 
 of the work entitled ' Intoxicating Liquors * is an 
 excellent and at the same time a very concise treatise 
 oh the licensing law, and we should imagine would 
 prove of great use to magistrates and their clerks. 
 In the text we have the statutes unencumbered 
 with individual criticism, and the notes, whilst full 
 of important, illustrative, and explanatory matter, 
 are -concise, the effect of decisions being shordy 
 stated, no effort being made by the authors to in- 
 dulge in unnecessary writing, so frequently the bane 
 of authors and publishers. 
 
 "In short, we may say we have here our ideal 
 law book. It is at once in itself an index and a 
 digest. We have long been of opinion that in order 
 to simplify English law it must first be arranged in 
 order, alphabetical or otherwise, letting the Legis- 
 lature speak where it makes the law, and citing the 
 recognised authorities clearly and without comment 
 where the law is to be found only in textbooks and 
 cases. Messrs. Greenwood and Martin have pro- 
 duced a work which is of moderate dimensions and 
 price, whilst from our examination of it we believe 
 it may be said to omit nothing which it ought to con- 
 tain. Without wishing to disparage any existing 
 text-book, we believe this before us will prove of 
 more practical use as being better arranged than 
 either Oke or Burn. Those are very valuable works, 
 and will always retain their place in favour, but we 
 think Messrs. Greenwood and Martin will find a 
 hearty welcome wherever magistrates desire to be 
 informed by easy reference of the nature and extent 
 of their jurisdiction and powers." — Law Times. 
 
 " This work is epiinently practical, and supplies a real want. It plainly 
 and concisely states the law on all points upon which Magistrates are called 
 upon to adjudicate, systematically arranged, so as to be easy of reference. It 
 ought to find a place on every Justice } s table, and we cannot but think that its 
 usefulness will speedily ensure for it as large a sale as its merits deserve?— 
 Midland Counties Herald, 
 
 LONDON: FEINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STBKET AND CHAEINQ CEOSS.