6 Aug t 1804

If a man hath issue

a son, and is attainted

& afterwards pardoned,

& then hath issue a

second son, and dies;

here the corruption of

blood is not removed

from the eldest & therefore

he cannot be heir:

neither can the youngest

be heir, for he hath an

elder brother living, of

whom the law takes notice

as he once had a

possibility of being heir,

& therefore the younger

brother shall not inherit,

but the land shall escheat

to the lord: tho',

had the elder died

without issue in the

life of the father, the

younger son born after

the pardon might well

have inherited, for he

hath no corruption of

blood. II 255

In the case of a sole

corporation, as of a parson

of a church, when he

dies of resigns, tho' there

is no actual owner of

the land till a successor

be appointed, yet there

is a legal, potential

ownership, subsisting

in contemplation of

law. II 261

De minimis non curat lex II 262

It...is... necessary for

corporations to have a

licence of mortmain

from the crown, to enable

them to purchase lands:

for as the king is the

ultimate lord of every

fee, he ought not,

unless by his own consent,

to lose his privilege of

escheats & other feudal

profits, by the vesting of lands in tenants that can never be attainted or die. II 269

A deed also, or other grant, made without any consideration, is, as it were, of no effect: for it is construed to enure, or to be effectual, only to the use of the grantor himself., II 290

A deed... written on stone, board, linen, leather, or the like, is no deed. II 297

Livery of seisin... if the conveyance or feoffment be of divers lands lying... in several counties, there must be as many liveries as there are counties. For, if the title to these lands comes to be disputed, there must be as many trials as there are counties, & the jury of one country are no judges of the notoriety of fact in another II 315.

Modus levandi fenis ....is as follows... The party to whom the land is to be conveyed or assured, commences an action or suit at law against the other, generally an action of covenant, by suing out a writ, or precipe, called a writ of covenant: the foundation of which is a supposed agreement or covenant, that the one shall convey the lands to the other; on the breach of which agreement the action is brought. II 330

And, as in the goods of an enemy, so also in his person, a man may acquire a sort of qualified property, by taking him a prisoner in war....And this doctrine seems to have been extended to negro- servants, who are purchased, when captives, of the nations with whom they are at war, & continue therefore in some degree the property of their masters who buy them: though, accurately speaking, that property consists rather in the perpetual service, than in the body, or person of the captive. II 402

Animals ferae naturae, all mankind had by the original grant of the creator a right to pursue & take.... & this natural right still continues in every individual, unless where it is restrained by the civil laws of the country. II 403

No man, but he who has a choise or free warren, by grant from the crown, or prescription which supposes one, can justify hunting or sporting upon another man's soil. II 417

A prescription.... presumes a grant. II 418.