Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/386

 370 3. is the lat tage, or perfection, of copyhold aurances. And this is of three orts: firt, an admittance upon a voluntary grant from the lord; econdly, an admittance upon urrender by the former tenant; and thirdly, an admittance upon a decent from the ancetor.

admittances, even upon a voluntary grant from the lord, when copyhold lands have echeated or reverted to him, the lord is conidered as an intrument. For, though it is in his power to keep the lands in his own hands, or to dipoe of them at his pleaure, by granting an abolute fee-imple, a freehold, or a chattel interet therein; and quite to change their nature from copyhold to ocage tenure, o that he may well be reputed their abolute owner and lord; yet, if he will till continue to dipoe of them as copyhold, he is bound to oberve the antient cutom preciely in every point, and can neither in tenure nor etate introduce any kind of alteration; for that were to create a new copyhold: wherefore in this repect the law accounts him cutom's intrument. For if a copyhold for life falls into the lord's hands, by the tenant's death, though the lord may detroy the tenure and enfranchie the land, yet if he grants it out again by copy, he can neither add to nor diminih the antient rent, nor make any the minutet variation in other repects : nor is the tenant's etate, o granted, ubject to any charges or incumbrances by the lord.

admittances upon urrender of another, the lord is to no intent reputed as owner, but wholly as an intrument: and the tenant admitted hall likewie be ubject to no charges or incumbrances of the lord; for his claim to the etate is olely under him that made the urrender. Rh