Of Title by Escheat, by Forfeiture, and by Execution
NOTES
1. Litt. sec. 12. Co. Litt. ibid. note 106.
2. Ch. J. Swift, in his Digest of the Laws of Connecticut, and Mr. Dane, in his Abridgment of American Law.
3. Wright on Tenures, 115-117. 2 Blacks. Com. 244, 245.
4. 1 Wm. Blacks. Rep. 123.
5. N.Y. Revised Statutes, vol. i. 282. tit. 12. Ibid. 718. sec. 1, 2, 3. Swift's Digest, vol. i. 156. Tucker's Blackstone, vol. ii. 244, 245. note. Statute of Pennsylvania, 29th September, 1787. b Binney's Rep. 375. Dane's Abridg. vol. iii. 140. sec. 24. Ibid. vol. iv. 538. Mr. Dane says, that the New England colonies of Massachusetts and Plymouth very early passed laws for vesting in the colony all lands escheating for want of heirs, on the ground that the colony was the sovereign who made the original grant. In Maryland. before the revolution, lands were liable to escheat to the lord proprietary of the province; and since that era, the state, as to lands of the proprietary, stand in his place under an act of confiscation, and the lands remain, of course, subject to escheat. See Harr. & McHenry's Rep. index, tit. Escheat. Passim. Ringgold v. Malott, 1 Harr.& Johns. 299.
6. Vol. ii. of this work, p. 47.
7. 4 Co. 58. a. Comyn's Digest, tit. Prerogative, D. 70.
8. 1 Vol. i. 282.
9. Code, 10. 10. 1.
10. Domat, vol. i. 592. sec. 6. 616. sec. 4. Vanderlinden's Institutes, by Henry, 165. Code Napoleon, sec. 723.
11. Bracton, lib. 1. ch. 12. sec. 10.
12. This was the case with the ancient Germans, when their institutions were studied by Caesar and Tacitus. They had not then any private property in land; it was vested in the community or tribe. Caesar, de Bell. Gal. lib. 4. c. 1. Tacit. de Jtlor. Germ. c. 26.
13. N.Y. Revised Statutes, vol. i. 718. sec. 2.
14. 3 Ch. Rep. 19.
15. Wright on Tenures, 117, 118.
16. See Vol. ii. of this work, p. 318. N.Y. Revised Statutes, vol. i. 284. sec. 1.Ibid. vol. ii. 701. sec. 22.
17. Dane's Abr. vol. v. p. 4. Mr. Dane says, that forfeiture of estates for crimes is scarcely known in our Americas practice or laws. Ibid. p. 11.
18. Case of Capt. Gordon, Foster's Crown Law, 95. Borland v. Dean, 4 Mason's Rep. 174. Dalrymple on Feudal Property", ch. 4. p. 145-154. gives an interesting history of the law of forfeiture in Scotland, and the gradual conformity on the point in the text between the Scotch and English law.
19. Wright on Tenures, p. 203. Co. Litt. 251. a. b.
20. See supra, p. 34. 81, 82.
21. McKee v. Prout, 3 Dall. Rep. 486.
22. Commonwealth v. Welcome, cited in 5 Dane's, Ibr. 13. sec. 7. The extraordinary industry, and great experience, of the author of the Abridgment and Digest of American Law, (vol. v. x. xi.) was not able to lead him to any case in our American courts, in which there had been a forfeiture of the estate of a tenant for life or years, by reason of a breach of duty as tenant, by way of plea, or default upon record.
23. Abr. of American Law, vol. v. p. 20.
24. Province Act of Massachusetts, 1696, cited in 5 Dane's Abr. 23, note. Province Acts of Pennsylvania, 1700, and 1705, cited in 6 Binney's Rep. 145.
25. Griffith's Register, h. t. No. 3.
26. New York Revised Statutes, vol. ii. 183. sec. 104. Ibid. 363. sec. 2. ibid. 367. sec. 24. Ibid. 368. sec. 34. Ibid. 369. sec. 38.
27. New York Revised Statutes, vol. ii. p. 370. to 374. The regulations respecting the sale of lands on execution, are too minute to be more particularly detailed, and they reach from sec. 24. p. 367. to sec. 67. p. 374.
28. Preston on Abstracts, vol. iii. 90. Shep. Touchstone, 226.
29. Dune's Abr. vol. v. 22. 25. Swift's Digest, vol. i. 154, 155. Griffith's Register.
30. It has been adjudged, under the Pennsylvania statute, that an estate for life, belonging to the debtor, is not within the statute, and it may be sold on execution without an inquest on its value. Howell v. Woolfort, 2 Dalf. Rep. 75.
31. Simonds v. Catlin, 2 Caines' Rep. 60. Barney v. Patterson, 6 Harr.& Johns. 182. The N.Y. Revised Statutes, vol. ii. 374. require a regular conveyance from the sheriff.
32. Den v. Abingdon, Doug. Rep. 473.
33. N. Y Revised Statutes, vol. ii. 182. sec. 96 Ibid. 359. sec. 3.
34. 6 Binney's Rep. 135.
35. Jones v. Edmonds, 2 Murphy, 43.
36. 2 P. Wms. 491.
37. N.Y. Revised Statutes, vol. i. 744. sec. 4, 5. 6.
38. N.Y. Revised Statutes, vol. ii. 99-113.
