Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/124

 112 inconvenience, which attended thee limited and fettered inheritances, were probably what induced the judges to give way to this ubtle finee, (for uch it undoubtedly was) in order to horten the duration of thee conditional etates. But, on the other hand, the nobility, who were willing to perpetuate their poeions in their own families, to put a top to this practice, procured the tatute of Wetminter the econd (commonly called the tatute de donis conditionalibus) to be made; which pays a greater regard to the private will and intentions of the donor, than to the propriety of uch intentions, or any public coniderations whatoever. This tatute revives in ome ort the antient feodal retraints which were originally laid on alienations, by enacting, that from thenceforth the will of the donor be oberved; and that the tenements o given (to a man and the heirs of his body) hould at all events go to the iue, if there were any; or, if none, hould revert to the donor.

the contruction of this act of parliament, the judges determined that the donee had no longer a conditional fee-imple, which became abolute and at his own dipoal, the intant any iue was born; but they divided the etate into two parts, leaving in the donee a new kind of particular etate, which they denominated a fee-tail ; and veting in the donor the ultimate fee-imple of the land, expectant on the failure of iue; which expectant etate is what we now call a reverion. And hence it is that Littleton tell us, that tenant in fee-tail is by virtue of the tatute of Wetminter the econd.

thus hewn the original of etates-tail, I now proceed to conider, what things may, or may not, be entailed under Rh