Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/269

 Ch. 15. a conequence of this doctrine of echeat, all lands of inheritance immediately reveting in the lord, the wife of the felon was liable to loe her dower, till the tatute 1 Edw. VI. c. 12. enacted, that albeit any peron be attainted of mipriion of treaon, murder, or felony, yet his wife hall enjoy her dower. But he has not this indulgence where the antient law of forfeiture operates, for it is exprely provided by the tatute 5 & 6 Edw. VI. c. 11. that the wife of one attaint of high treaon hall not be endowed at all.

we have only poken of etates veted in the offender, at the time of his offence, or attainder. And here the law of forfeiture tops; but the law of echeat purues the matter till farther. For, the blood of the tenant being utterly corrupted and extinguihed, it follows, not only that all he now has hould echeat from him, but alo that he hould be incapable of inheriting any thing for the future. This may farther illutrate the ditinction between forfeiture and echeat. If therefore a father be eied in fee, and the on commits treaon and is attainted, and then the father dies: here the land hall echeat to the lord; becaue the on, by the corruption of his blood, is incapable to be heir, and there can be no other heir during his life: but nothing hall be forfeited to the king, for the on never had any interet in the lands to forfeit. In this cae the echeat operates, and not the forfeiture; but in the following intance the forfeiture works, and not the echeat. As where a new felony is created by act of parliament, and it is provided (as is frequently the cae) that it hall not extend to the corruption of blood: here the lands of the felon hall not echeat to the lord, but yet the profits of them hall be forfeited to the king o long as the offender lives.

is yet a farther conequence of the corruption and extinction of hereditary blood, which is this: that the peron Rh