Page:United States Reports, Volume 1.djvu/32

 Rh  his Surveyor-General, to urvey the everal quantities of land there mentioned; which the plaintiff contended was good evidence to prove his title—Defendant demurred to Plaintiff’s evidence.

A question then aroe, whether it hould be tated that the plaintiff’s ancetor. A. Sonmans was eized in fee by virtue of a grant from William Penn ; or whether the lit of purchaers hould be et forth ?

After long debate, gave the opinion of the Court as follows:

Chief Jutice:—Though demurrers are diued, yet the law is not uncertain. It is a ettled rule, that courts of law determine Law; a Jury Facts. Upon which maxim, every ecurity depends in an English Country.

When a deed is produced in evidence, it mut be hewn in hœc Verba on the demurrer. There is a difference between Baker’s cae as reported in Croke and Coke: but it is law, that when facts are attempted to be proved by witnees, the fact mut be admitted; but previous to the admiion of a fact, circumtances or evidence, mut be hewn,, tending to prove uch fact. There may be a demurrer to evidence, either parol or written; and there may be written evidence to prove a fact.

The difficulty in this cae is, whether this lit of purchaers, is ufficiently decriptive of the nature of the etate, in the deed refered to. We mut for the ecurity of the Province, take notice of the circumtances of this Province. It is well known what kind of a tranaction this was. William Penn, oon after his grant from the Crown, old land, and received the money. Thee grants were in the Province at large: the party mut do omething more to appropriate the land. By this lit, he expresly ays, it is an account of the lands granted to purchaers; is it not then a proof, that William Penn made a grant, among others, to A. Sonmans, for five thouand acres of land in Pennylvania?

It ufficiently appears a deed did exit; but it may be aked, what was the nature of that deed–what kind of an etate paed by it? The word Purchae, however, implies a purchae in fee; and there is no intance where any other etate was granted. Beides the cutom of the Province in the like caes, hews what was the nature of the purchae.

The Court do not take upon themelves to ay, what the deed was: and, under all the circumtances of the cae, we think it not proper to inert this lit in the demurrer. If the defendant’s council will not agree to tate an etate in fee in the plaintiff’s ancetor, it mut go to the jury to draw their inference of the nature of the etate, from the evidence laid before them. April