Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/303

 Ch. 19.

HE mot uual and univeral method of acquiring a title to real etates is that of alienation, conveyance, or purchae in it's limited ene: under which may be comprized any method wherein etates are voluntarily reigned by one man, and accepted by another; whether that be effected by ale, gift, marriage ettlement, devie, or other tranmiion of property by the mutual conent of the parties.

means of taking etates, by alienation, is not of equal antiquity in the law of England with that of taking them by decent. For we may remember that, by the feodal law, a pure and genuine feud could not be transferred from one feudatory to another without the conent of the lord; left thereby a feeble or upicious tenant might have been ubtituted and impoed upon him, to perform the feodal ervices, intead of one on whoe abilities and fidelity he could depend. Neither could the feudatory then ubject the land to his debts; for, if he might, the feodal retraint of alienation would have been eaily frutrated and evaded. And, as he could not aliene it in his lifetime, o neither could he by will defeat the ucceion, by deviing his feud to another family; nor even alter the coure of it, by impoing particular limitations, or precribing an unuual path of decent. Nor, in hort, could he aliene the etate, even with the conent of the lord, unles he had alo obtained the conent of his own next apparent, or preumptive, heir. And therefore it was very uual in antient feoffments to expres, that the alienation was made by con- Rh