Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/186

 174 a moderate term of years; for courts of jutice will not indulge even wills, o as to create a perpetuity, which the law abhors : becaue by perpetuities, (or the ettlement of an interet, which hall go in the ucceion precribed, without any power of alienation ) etates are made incapable of anwering thoe ends, of ocial commerce, and providing for the udden contingencies of private life, for which property was at firt etablihed. The utmot length that has been hitherto allowed, for the contingency of an executory devie of either kind to happen in, is that of a life or lives in being, and one and twenty years afterwards. As when lands are devied to uch unborn on of a feme-covert, as hall firt attain the age of twenty one, and his heirs; the utmot length of time that can happen before the etate can vet, is the life of the mother and the ubequent infancy of her on: and this hath been decreed to be a good executory devie.

3. executory devie a term of years may be given to one man for his life, and afterwards limited over in remainder to another, which could not be done by deed: for by law the firt grant of it, to a man for life, was a total dipoition of the whole term; a life etate being eteemed of a higher and larger nature than any term of years. And, at firt, the courts were tender, even in the cae of a will, of retraining the deviee for life from aliening the term; but only held, that in cae he died without exerting that act of ownerhip, the remainder over hould then take place : for the retraint of the power of alienation, epecially in very long terms, was introducing a pecies of perpetuity. But, oon afterwards, it was held, that the deviee for life hath no power of aliening the term, o as to bar the remainder-man: yet in order to prevent the danger of perpetuities, it was ettled , that, though uch remainders may be limited to as many perons ucceively as the devior thinks proper, yet they mut all be in ee Rh