Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/334

 318 and to farm et; dimii, concei, et ad firmam tradidi." Farm, or feorme, is an old Saxon word ignifying proviions : and it came to be ued intead of rent or render, becaue antiently the greater part of rents were reerved in proviions; in corn, in poultry, and the like; till the ue of money became more frequent. So that a farmer, firmarius, was one who held his lands upon payment of a rent or feorme: though at preent, by a gradual departure from the original ene, the word farm is brought to ignify the very etate or lands o held upon farm or rent. By this conveyance an etate for life, for years, or at will, may be created, either in corporeal or incorporeal hereditaments: though livery of eiin is indeed incident and neceary to one pecies of leaes, viz. leaes for life of corporeal hereditaments; but to no other.

retrictions, by the everity of the feodal law, might in times of very high antiquity be oberved with regard to leaes; yet by the common law, as it has tood for many centuries, all perons eied of any etate might let leaes to endure o long as their own interet lated, but no longer. Therefore tenant in fee-imple might let leaes of any duration; for he hath the whole interet: but tenant in tail, or tenant for life, could make no leaes which hould bind the iue in tail or reverioner; nor could a huband, eied jure uxoris, make a firm or valid leae for any longer term than the joint lives of himelf and his wife, for then his interet expired. Yet ome tenants for life, where the fee-imple was in abeyance, might (with the concurrence of uch as have the guardianhip of the fee) make leaes of equal duration with thoe granted by tenants in fee-imple: uch as parons and vicars with conent of the patron and ordinary. So alo bihops, and deans, and uch other ole eccleiatical corporations as are eied of the fee-imple of lands in their corporate right, might, with the concurrence and confirmation of uch perons as the law requires, have made leaes for years, or for life, etates in tail, or in fee, without any limitation or controll. Rh