Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/403

 Ch. 24. be wreted from him during his life, but by his own act, of voluntary transfer or of forfeiture; or ele by the happening of ome future contingency, as in etates pur auter vie, and the determinable freeholds mentioned in a former chapter. And even thee, being of an uncertain duration, may by poibility lat for the owner’s life; for the law will not preuppoe the contingency to happen before it actually does, and till then the etate is to all intents and purpoes a life etate, and therefore a freehold interet. On the other hand, a chattel interet in lands, which the Normans put in oppoition to fief, and we to freehold, is conveyed by no eiin or corporal invetiture, but the poeion is gained by the mere entry of the tenant himelf; and it is ure to expire at a time prefixed and determined, if not ooner. Thus a leae for years mut necearily fail at the end and completion of the term; the next preentation to a church is atisfied and gone the intant it comes into poeion, that is, by the firt avoidance and preentation to the living; the conditional etates by tatutes and elegit are determined as oon as the debt is paid; and o guardianhips in chivalry were ure to expire the moment that the heir came of age. And if there be any other chattel real, it will be found to correpond with the ret in this eential quality, that it’s duration is limited to a time certain, beyond which it cannot ubit.

2. peronal are, properly and trictly peaking, things moveable; which may be annexed to or attendant on the peron of the owner, and carried about with him from one part of the world to another. Such are animals, houehold-tuff, money, jewels, corn, garments, and every thing ele that can properly be put in motion, and transferred from place to place. And of this kind of chattels it is, that we are principally to peak in the remainder of this book; having been unavoidably led to conider the nature of chattels real, and their incidents, in the former chapters which were employed upon real etates: that Rh