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 or1 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, Hæc 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 feoffinent 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 feoffinent, 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,

wheresoever it findeth an use, conjoineth the possession to the use, and turneth the possession into that quality of estate, condition, rent, and the like, as the use hath.

The use is but the equity and honesty to hold the land in conscientia boni viri. As for example, if I and you agree that I shall give you money for your land, and you shall make me assurance of it; I pay you the money, but you have made me no assurance: here, although the estate of the land be still in you, yet the equity and honesty to have the land is with me; and this equity is called the use. Upon which I had no remedy, but in Chancery, until this statute, made 27 H. VIII.; and now, this statute conjoining and conveying the land to him that hath the use, I, for my money paid to you, have the land itself, without any other conveyance from you; and this is called a bargain and sale.

But the same parliament that made that statute did foresee that it would be mischievous that men's lands should so suddenly, upon the payment of a little money, be conveyed from them, peradventure in an alehouse or a tavern upon strainable advantages, [and]1 did gravely provide another act, in the same parliament, that the land, upon the payment of this money, should not pass away except there were a writing indented made between the parties, and the said writing also within six months enrolled in some of the courts at Westminster, or in the sessions rolls in the shire where the land lieth; [except it be in cities or corporate towns where they did use to enrol deeds, and there the statute extendeth not.] 2

1 I have added this without authority.

2 Omitted in Sloane MS.

5. The fifth conveyance1 is a conveyance to stand seised to uses. It is in this sort: a man that hath wife and children, brothers or kinsfolks, may by writing under his hand and seal agree that for their or any of their preferment he will stand seised of his land to their uses, either for life, in tail, or fee-simple, as he shall see cause; upon which agreement in writing there ariseth an equity or honesty that the land should go according to this agreement, nature and reason requiring and allowing these provisions; which equity and honesty is the use. And the use being created in this sort, the statute of 27 H. VIII., beforementioned, conveyeth the estate of the land as the use is appointed.

And so this covenant to stand seised to uses is at this day, since the said statute, a conveyance of land. But this differeth from a bargain and sale, in that this needeth no enrolment as a bargain and sale doth, nor is tied to be in writing indented, as bargain and sale must: and if the party to whose use he agreeth to stand seised of the land be not wife, child, or cousin, or one that he meaneth to marry, then will no use rise, and so no conveyance for although the law alloweth these weighty considerations of marriage and blood to raise uses, yet doth it not so of trifling considerations of acquaintance, schooling, service, and the like. But where a man maketh an estate of his land to others, by fine, feoffment, or recovery, he may then appoint the use to whom he listeth, without respect of kindred, marriage, money, or other things; for in that case, his own will

1 The MSS. have "The last conveyance of the [or, a] fine;" which, I suppose, indicates a reading "five," and that at first Wills were not treated of under this heading.