they are both constrained by necessity to join together to sell the land or a good part of it, to pay the debts occasioned through their suit. And if the chief of the family, for any good purpose of well seating himself, by selling that which lieth far off to buy nearer, or for the advancement of his daughters or younger sons, should have just and reasonable cause to sell; there this perpetuity, if it should hold good, restraineth him. And more than that, where men that are owners of the inheritance of land not entailed may, during the minority of the eldest son, appoint the profits to go to the advancement of the younger sons and daughters, and to pay debts; by entails and perpetuities the owners of these lands cannot do it, but they must suffer the whole to descend to the eldest son, and so to come to the crown by wardship all the time of his infancy. And where men, foreseeing dangerous times or untowardly heirs, might prevent the mischief of undoing their houses by conveying their lands out of them, or from such heirs, they are by the perpetuity tied; so as they stand tied to the stake for forfeiture to the crown, and restrained from disposing it to their own, or to their children's, good. Therefore it is worthy of good consideration, whether it be better for the subject and sovereign to have lands secured to men's names and blood by perpetuities, with all the inconveniences abovementioned, or to be free, with hazard of undoing his house by unthrifty posterity.

4. The last and greatest estate of land is fee-simple, and beyond this there is none. All the former, for years, lives, or entails, have further beyond them the estate of fee-simple; but fee-simple itself is the greatest, last, and uttermost degree of estates in land. There

fore he that maketh a lease for life to one, or a gift in tail, may appoint a remainder to another for life or in tail after that estate, or to a third in fee-simple; but after a fee-simple he can limit no other estate. And if a man do not dispose of the fee-simple by way of remainder when he maketh the gift in tail, or for lives, then the fee-simple resteth in himself as a reversion.

And the difference between a reversion and a remainder is this: the remainder is always a succeeding estate, appointed upon the gift of a precedent estate at the time when the precedent is appointed; but the reversion is the estate left in the giver, after a particular estate made by him for years, life, or in tail. Where the remainder is [not]1 made with the particular estates, then it must be done by deed in writing, with livery and seisin, and cannot be by words. And if the giver will dispose of the reversion afterwards, that remaineth in himself, he is to do it in writing and not by word, and the tenant is to have notice of it, and to atturn it, which is to give his assent by word, or paying rent, or the like; and except the tenant will thus atturn, the party to whom the reversion is granted cannot have the reversion; neither can he compel him by any law to atturn, unless the grant of the reversion be by fine; and then he may, by writ provided for that purpose and if he do not purchase that writ, yet by the fine the reversion shall pass, but the tenant shall pay no rent except he will, nor be punished for any waste in houses, woods, &c. [unless it be granted by bargain and sale by indenture enrolled 2].

1 I have introduced this negative without authority.

2 Harl. MS. omits this, which seems a correction not well fitted into the text.

These fee-simple estates lie open to all perils of forfeitures, extents, incumbrances, sales, &c.

Lands are conveyed by these six means: 1. Feoffment; 2. Fine; 3. Recovery; 4. Bargain and sale; 5. Covenant to stand seised; 6. A Will in writing.

1. A feoffment is, where, by deed or without deed, lands are given to one and his heirs, and livery and seisin made. If a lesser estate than fee-simple be given, and livery of seisin made, it is not called a feoffment, but either a lease for life or a gift in tail, as above is mentioned.

2. A fine is a real agreement beginning thus, Hœc est finalis concordia, &c., and this is done before the King's judges in the Court of Common Pleas concerning land, that one man shall have it from another to him and his heirs, or to him for his life, or to him and the heirs or heirs male of his body, or for years certain; whereupon rent may be reserved, but no condition or covenants. This fine is a record of great credit; and upon this fine four proclamations are made openly in the Common Pleas; that is, every term one, for four terms together and if any man, having right to the land, make not his claim within five years after these proclamations ended, he loseth his right for ever: except he be an infant, a woman covert, or beyond the seas, or mad; and then his right is saved, so that he claim it within five years after his full age, the husband's death, return from beyond the seas, or recovery of his wits, as the case falleth out. This fine is called a feoffment of record; because that it includeth all the feoffment doth, and worketh further of its own nature, and barreth entails peremptorily, whether the heir doth

1 The printed text and Sloane MS. omit this, and add to the sentence "according to the form and effect of the deed."

claim within five years or not, if he claim by him that levied the fine.

3. Recovery is where, for assurance of lands, the parties do agree that one shall begin an action real against the other, as though he had good right to the land; and the other shall not enter into defence against it, but allege that he bought the land of one I. S. who hath warranted it to him, and pray that I. S. may be called in to defend the title: which I. S. is one of the criers of the Common Pleas, and is called the common vouchee. This I. S. shall appear and make as if he would defend it, but shall pray a day to be assigned him by the court to bring in his matter of defence; which being granted him, at the day he maketh default; and thereupon the court is to give judgment against him. Which judgment cannot be for him to lose the land, because he hath it not, but the party that he sold it to hath it, who vouched him to warrant it therefore the demandant, who hath now no defence made against him, must have judgment to have the land against him that he sued, who is called the tenant, and the tenant is to have judgment against I. S. to recover in value so much land of his, whereas in truth he hath none, nor never will. And by this device, grounded upon strict principles of law, the first tenant loseth the land and hath nothing; but it is by his own agreement, for assurance to him that bought it.

This recovery barreth entails and all remainders and reversions that should take place after the entails : saving where the King is giver of the entail and keepeth the reversion in himself; there neither the heir, nor the remainder, nor reversion is barred by the recovery. The reason why the heirs in tail, remainders, and

reversions are thus barred is, because in strict law the recompense adjudged against the crier, that was vouched, is to go in succession of estate as the land lost should have done, and then it were not reason to allow the heir liberty to keep the land itself, and also to have recompense; therefore he loseth the land, and is to trust to the recompense.

This sleight was first invented when entails fell out to be so inconvenient as is before declared, so that men made no conscience to cut them off if they could find law for it. And now, by use, these recoveries are become common assurances against entails and against the remainders and reversions, and are the greatest security purchasers have for their money; for a fine will bar the heir in tail, and not the remainder, nor reversion, but a common recovery will bar them all.

Upon feoffments, fines, and recoveries, the estate of the land doth settle as the use and intent of the parties is declared, by word or writing, before the act was done; as for example, if they make a writing that one of them shall levy a fine, or make a feoffment, or suffer a recovery to the other, but the use and intent is, that one should hold it for his life, and after his death, a stranger to have it in tail, and then a third in feesimple in this case the land settleth in estate according to the use and intent declared: and that by reason of a statute made 27 H. VIII. conveying the land in possession to every one that hath interest in the use or intent of the fine, feoffment, or recovery, according to the use and intent of the parties.

:

4. Upon this statute is also grounded the fourth and fifth of the six conveyances, viz. bargains and sales, and covenants to stand seised to uses; for this statute,