Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/22

 10 tinuance of the original poeion which the firt occupant had; or as an abandoning of the thing by the preent owner, and an immediate ucceive occupancy of the ame by the new proprietor. The voluntary dereliction of the owner, and delivering the poeion to another individual, amount to a transfer of the property; the proprietor declaring his intention no longer to occupy the thing himelf, but that his own right of occupancy hall be veted in the new acquirer. Or, taken in the other light, if I agree to part with an acre of my land to Titius, the deed of conveyance is an evidence of my having abandoned the property, and Titius, being the only or firt man acquainted with uch my intention, immediately teps in and eies the vacant poeion: thus the conent expreed by the conveyance gives Titius a good right againt me; and poeion, or occupancy, confirms that right againt all the world beides.

mot univeral and effectual way, of abandoning property, is by the death of the occupant: when, both the actual poeion and intention of keeping poeion ceaing, the property, which is founded upon uch poeion and intention, ought alo to ceae of coure. For, naturally peaking, the intant a man ceaes to be, he ceaes to have any dominion: ele, if he had a right to dipoe of his acquiitions one moment beyond his life, he would alo have a right to direct their dipoal for a million of ages after him; which would be highly aburd and inconvenient. All property mut therefore ceae upon death, conidering men as abolute individuals, and unconnected with civil ociety: for then, by the principles before etablihed, the next immediate occupant would acquire a right in all that the deceaed poeed. But as, under civilized governments which are calculated for the peace of mankind, uch a contitution would be productive of endles diturbances, the univeral law of almot every nation (which is a kind of econdary law of nature) has either given the dying peron a power of continuing his property, by dipoing of his poeions by will; or, in cae he neglects to dipoe of it, or is not permitted to make any dipoition at all, Rh