Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/20

RELEASE. leased bv the death of the tortfeasor, or a debt rvleased "by the discharge in baiikniiitey of the debtor as "well as a bond or a right of entry upon land released by the deed of the person claiming the right, i.ord Coke, in his eouimentary upon 1-ittleton. enumerates a considerable number and varietv of releases in vogue in his day. most of which" have, in the growing simplilication of the law of real property, become obsolete. We nia.y, perhaps, conveniently distinguish two separate and distinct types of releases as still existing, viz. the ordinary release of a debt or obligation and the release of an interest in or claim to land. The former of these may be eflfeeted by act of the jiarties. or by o])eration of law—as where a contract for personal services is terminated by the death of a party thereto. At common law, however, the forgiveness of a debt, wliether complete or partial, is not legally binding if made by parol or simple contract, but requires a release under seal to render it effectual and irrevocable.

The second form of release above referred to is l)est described as a form of conveyance of real property at common law. Its distinguishing characteristic is the fact that it is in and l)y itself not available for effecting a conveyance to a stranger, i.e. to one having no interest in the land in question (for which purpose the feoffment or the grant must be resorted to), but only to one in privity of estate, i.e. having an interest with the releasor in the same parcel of land, as a wife to the husband's grantee, or a landlord, remainderman, or person asserting any other claim in relation to the premises to a tenant in possession. The act of the tenant in giving up his estate to the landlord is not a release, but, involving as it does a transfer of the possession, is conceived of as of a totally different character, and is effected by a distinct form of conveyance, called a surrender. In this form of a conveyance of the landlord's estate to his tenant in possession the release played a distinguished part in the history of conveyancing. In the effort to attain to a simpler and less notorious method of conveying freehold estates than the ancient and cumbrous process of livery of seisin, the lease and release were ingeniously combined in a single transaction. Thus, if the land to be sold by A to B was first leased to B for a year, B would by taking possession of the land come into the requisite privity of estate with A to enable the latter to complete the transfer of title by releasing his reversion to B. Consult Blaekstone and Kent. Conuiicniaiics. See also Pbopebty; Lea.se axd Kelease; Conveyance; Deeo; Grant, and the authorities there referred to.

Analogous to the first form of release above described, but still operating as a eonunon-law conveyance, is its use to convey doubtful or precarious interests in land or rights in land which do not rise to the dignity of estates, as a contingent remainder to the freeholder who was seised of the land, or the right of a disseisee to the disseisor or other person seised of the land. See Disseisin; Entry, Eight of: Remainder. In form the deed of release is substantially reproduced in the modern quitclaim deed. See QnxcLAisi.  RELIANCE. An American racing yacht, and the successful defender of the America's Cup in ) RELIEF. the International yacht races of 1903. She was built by Hcrresholl, for a syndicate of American yachtsmen, represented by C. Oliver Iselin. Her measurements were: Length over all, 143.69; water line. 89.(i(i; sail area as per rule, 16,!.")!•. 45; sail area, 127.12. Owing to her large sail area she was required to give the challenger Shamrock 111. (q.v.) a time allowance of one minute and fifty-seven seconds. She was sailed by Captain Barr. the skipper of the old Columbia, and defeated her opponent in the first three races of the series as follows: August 22d, by 7 minutes and 3 seconds, corrected time: August 26th, by 1 minute and 19 seconds, corrected time; September 3, the challenger got lost in the fog and did not finish the race. Reliance alone completed the course.  RELICS (OF., Fr. relique, from Lat. rellquice, remains, from relinquere, to leave behind, from re-, back again, anew -)- linquere, to leave, Gk. Xe'miiv, leipein, Skt. ric, to leave). In ecclesiastical usage, the remains of the Ijodies of saints; more loosely, objects connected with the earthly life of Christ or of the saints. At an early period miracles are described as connected with relics, as in the Old Testament (II. Kings .xiii. 21). Saint Ambrose tells of a blind man's sight being restored by his touching the bodies of the martyrs Gervasius and Protasius. and similar wonders are detailed by other saints. Altars were early erected over the tombs of the martyrs, and the present practice of the Roman Catholic Church requires the inclusion of some relic or relics within every altar to be consecrated. The veneration of relics found no important early adversary. One of the treatises of Saint Jerome, indeed, is directed against the objections of Vigilantius on this point; but even the Iconoclasts, while vehemently repudiating the use of images, admitted the veneration of relics, and, with the exception of the Waldenses, Wiclif, and some others, it w-as practically unchallenged until the sixteenth century, when Protestants generally repudiated it entirely as superstitious. The decree of the Council of Trent connects the question with the general one of the veneration to be paid to the saints, and regards the relics of the saints not as possessing any intrinsic virtue, but as instruments through which God bestows benefits on men. Various alleged relics of Mohammed and other iloslem worthies are preserved at Mecca. Medina. Constantinople, and other places; and several sanctuaries in India are supposed to be the resting-places of relics of Buddha. See Saint; Cross; Holt Coat; Pilgrim.  RELICT PLANTS (OF. relict, from Lat. relief us. p.p. of reliiuiiiere. to leave behind). Plants of very restricted distribution, but formerly more widespread. For example, the big trees of California are the remnants of a former widely distributed group. The term may also be applied locally to species which belong to a former topographic condition when they were abundant. Naturally or artificially reclaimed swamps may yet retain isolated relict plants.  RELIEF (Lat. relevamentum). An incident of the feudal tenure of lands. It consisted in the obligation of the heir to redeem the land from the lord of whom it was held, in order to make good his right of inheritance. Unlike the