Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/85

 Ch. 5. caes the land echeated, or fell back, to the lord of the fee ; that is, the tenure was determined by breach of the original condition, expreed or implied in the feodal donation. In the one cae, there were no heirs ubiting of the blood of the firt feudatory or purchaer, to which heirs alone the grant of the feud extended: in the other, the tenant, by perpetrating an atrocious crime, hewed that he was no longer to be truted as a vaal, having forgotten his duty as a ubject; and therefore forfeited his feud, which he held under the implied condition that he hould not be a traitor or a felon. The conequence of which in both caes was, that the gift, being determined, reulted back to the lord who gave it.

were the principal qualities, fruits, and conequences of the tenure by knight-ervice: a tenure, by which the greatet part of the lands in this kingdom were holden, and that principally of the king in capite, till the middle of the lat century; and which was created, as ir Edward Coke exprely tetifies, for a military purpoe; viz. for defence of the realm by the king's own principal ubjects, which was judged to be much better than to trut to hirelings or foreigners. The decription here given is that of knight-ervice proper; which was to attend the king in his wars. There were alo ome other pecies of knight-ervice; o called, though improperly, becaue the ervice or render was of a free and honourable nature, and equally uncertain as to the time of rendering as that of knight-ervice proper, and becaue they were attended with imilar fruits and conequences. Such was the tenure by grand erjeanty, per magnum ervitium, whereby the tenant was bound, intead of erving the king generally in his wars, to do ome pecial honorary ervice to the king in peron; as to carry his banner, his word, or the like; or to be his butler, champion, or other officer at his coronation. It was in mot other repects like knight-ervice ; only he was Rh