Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/323

 Ch. 20. alo expreed in the attetation; "ealed and delivered." A deed takes effect only from this tradition or delivery; for, if the date be fale or impoible, the delivery acertains the time of it. And if another peron eals the deed, yet if the party delivers it himelf, he thereby adopts the ealing, and by a parity of reaon the igning alo, and makes them both his own. A delivery may be either abolute, that is, to the party or grantee himelf; or to a third peron, to hold till ome conditions be performed on the part of the grantee: in which lat cae it is not delivered as a deed, but as an ecrow; that is, a crowl or writing, which is not to take effect as a deed till the conditions be performed; and then it is a deed to all intents and purpoes.

lat requiite to the validity of a deed is the attetation, or execution of it in the preence of witnees: though this is neceary, rather for preerving the evidence, than for contituting the eence, of the deed. Our modern deeds are in reality nothing more than an improvement or amplification of the brevia tetata mentioned by the feodal writers ; which were written memorandums, introduced to perpetuate the tenor of the conveyance and invetiture, when grants by parol only became the foundation of frequent dipute and uncertainty. To this end they regitered in the deed the perons who attended as witnees, which was formerly done without their igning their names, (that not being always in their power) but they only heard the deed read; and then the clerk or cribe added their names, in a ort of memorandum; thus; "hijs tetibus, Johanne Moore, Jacobo Smith, et aliis ad hanc rem convocatis ." This, like all other olemn tranactions, was originally done only coram paribus, and frequently when aembled in the court baron, hundred, or county court; which was then expreed in the attetation, tete comitatu, hundredo, &c. Afterwards the attetation of other witnees was allowed, the trial in Rh