Page:United States Reports, Volume 2.djvu/323

 Cmcurr Couar, Penwjlvauia Diftriét. 317 Let ustelt this a& by the foregoing rules. The aét is entitled, rypg. •* An aét, for afcertaining and confirming to certain perfons, Lrvx called Csmmfrut claimants, the lands by them claimed within _ the county of Luzerne, and for other purpofes therein men- tioned," and was palkd the 28th of Jlfmrb, 1787. The firfi {ive feftions, being material in the difcuilion of this part of the fubjcét, run in the following words. {Here the fudge rend the Law. } The a€t requires, That the Commflicut fettlers {hall prefer their claims to the commillioners. ’ That they {hall fupport their claims by reafonable proof. That the commillioners {hall adjudicate upon or confirm the claims. That they {hall have the lots, to which claims are fet up ‘ and admitted, {`urve ed; that they {hall make return of their {`urveys and their liook of entries to the Supreme Executive Council, who {hall caule patents to be iifued for their con- firmation, and each patent {hall comprehend all the parcels of land, which are ro be conlirmed to the fame claimant, to ` whom, by the tctum of the commMoners, the fame {hallbe found to belong. · . . The mere olfering or prefenting of the claim is not fnflicieng. It mult be fupported by reafonable proof, and afcertained, and eilablifhed b the Commillioners. T hefe a&s mu{l: be perfor- med before the eliate pa{l`es out of the P:m@luani¤ claimants, and is veiled in the Cmm·5¢‘xl·ut fcttlers. They are antecedent acfts, and in nature of a condition precedent. Now conditions precedent are fuch as muil happen or be performed before the eltate can veit or be enlarged; theyadmit of no latitude; they _ mult be ftriétly, literally, and punétually performed. It is a known maxim, that where the cilarc is to arife upon a condi- tion precedent, it cannot veit till that condition is performed; and this has been fo Ilrrmgly adhered to, that even where the condition has become impollible, no c{l:atc or interelt grew thereupon. Where a condition copulative precedes an c{l:ate, the whole mnfk be performed before the cllate can arife; or. u here an aét is previous to any cflate, and that aft conlills of {`eycral particulars, every particular mufiz be performed befor¢ the ellate can veit or take etfeét. Ca. Lit. 206, 2x8. 1 AM. 374. 376. Com. Rep. 732. '1`he cliate of the Penrwlvania claimants was not divefled on the palling ot the a€t; it was not divelled on prcfenting the claim on the part of the Cwmeéiicut {`ettlers. Other acts were prcviouily nccclfary, and, in particular, the commiflioncrs mult pafs upon and conhrm the claim,before the eflatc is diveiled from the one party and veiled in the other. Thcfc things preeede, and

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