Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/316

 300 here, for the ake of regularity, as a part of the cenus regalis; and hall potpone for the preent the farther conideration of all forfeitures, excepting one pecies only, which aries from the misfortune rather than the crime of the owner, and is called a deodand. this is meant whatever peronal chattel is the immediate occaion of the death of any reaonable creature; which is forfeited to the king, to be applied to pious ues, and ditributed in alms by his high almoner ; though formerly detined to a more upertitious purpoe. It eems to have been originally deigned, in the blind days of popery, as an expiation for the ouls of uch as were natched away by udden death; and for that purpoe ought properly to have been given to holy church ; in the ame manner, as the apparel of a tranger who was found dead was applied to purchae maes for the good of his oul. And this may account for that rule of law, that no deodand is due where an infant under the years of dicretion is killed by a fall from a cart, or hore, or the like, not being in motion ; whereas, if an adult peron falls from thence and is killed, the thing is certainly forfeited. For the reaon given by ir Matthew Hale eems to be very inadequate, viz. becaue an infant is not able to take care of himelf: for why hould the owner ave his forfeiture, on account of the imbecillity of the child, which ought rather to have made him more cautious to prevent any accident of michief? The true ground of this rule eems rather to be, that the child, by reaon of it's want of dicretion, is preumed incapable of actual in, and therefore needed no deodand to purchae propitiatory maes: but every adult, who dies in actual in, tood in need of uch atonement, according to the humane upertition of the founders of the Englih law.

tands the law, if a peron be killed by a fall from a thing tanding till. But if a hore, or ox, or other animal, of Rh