Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/481

 Ch. 17. or dicretion. And ir Matthew Hale gives us two intances, one of a girl of thirteen, who was burned for killing her mitres; another of a boy till younger, that had killed his companion, and hid himelf, who was hanged; for it appeared by his hiding that he knew he had done wrong, and could dicern between good and evil: and in uch caes the maxim of law is, that malitia upplet aetatem. So alo, in much more modern times, a boy of ten years old, who was guilty of a heinous murder, was held a proper ubject for capital punihment, by the opinion of all the judges.

regard to etates and civil property, an infant hath many privileges, which will be better undertood when we come to treat more particularly of thoe matters: but this may be aid in general, that an infant hall loe nothing by non-claim, or neglect of demanding his right; nor hall any other laches or negligence be imputed to an infant, except in ome very particular caes.

is generally true, that an infant can neither aliene his lands, nor do any legal act, nor make a deed, nor indeed any manner of contract, that will bind him. But till to all thee rules there are ome exceptions; part of which were jut now mentioned in reckoning up the different capacities which they aume at different ages: and there are others, a few of which it may not be improper to recite, as a general pecimen of the whole. And, firt, it is true, that infants cannot aliene their etates: but infant trutees, or mortgagees, are enabled to convey, under the direction of the court of chancery or exchequer, the etates they hold in trut or mortgage, to uch peron as the court hall appoint. Alo it is generally true, that an infant can do no legal act: yet an infant, who has an advowon, may preent to the benefice when it becomes void. For the law in this cae dipenes with one rule, in order to maintain others of far greater Rh