Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/171

 Ch. 10. be thus forfeited, and the etate abolutely veted in the mortgagee at the common law, yet they will conider the real value of the tenements compared with the um borrowed. And, if the etate be of greater value than the money lent thereon, they will allow the mortgagor at any reaonable time to re-call or redeem his etate; paying to the mortgagee his principal, interet, and expenes: for otherwie, in trictnes of law, an etate worth 1000𝑙. might be forfeited for non-payment of 100𝑙. or a les um. This reaonable advantage, allowed to mortgagors, is called the equity of redemption: and this enables a mortgagor to call on the mortgagee, who has poeion of his etate to deliver it back and account for the rents and profits received, on payment of his whole debt and interet; thereby turning the mortuum into a kind of vivum vadium. But, on the other hand, the mortgagee may either compel the ale of the etate, in order to get the whole of his money immediately; or ele call upon the mortgagor to redeem his etate preently, or, in default thereof, to be for ever forecloed from redeeming the ame; that is, to loe his equity of redemption without poibility of re-call. And alo, in ome caes of fraudulent mortgagees, the fraudulent mortgagor forfeits all equity of redemption whatoever. It is not therefore uual for mortgagees to take poeion of the mortgaged etate, unles where the ecurity is precarious, or mall; or where the mortgagor neglects even the payment of interet: when the mortgagee is frequently obliged to bring an ejectment, and take the land into his own hands, in the nature of a pledge, or the pignus of the Roman law: whereas, while it remains in the hands of the mortgagor, it more reembles their hypotheca, which was where the poeion of the thing pledged remained with the debtor. But, by tatute 7 Geo. II. c. 20. after payment or tender by the mortgagor of principal, interet, and cots, the mortgagee can maintain no ejectment; but may be compelled to re-aign his ecurities. In Glanvil's time, when the univeral me- Rh