283. Fixed Maximum.-The modern fine, payable in respect of succession to copyhold, is strictly limited to two years improved value of the land, after deducting any quit rents which may happen to be payable (108); but,

284. No Regular Criterion.-The amount or proportion payable in one manor is no criterion for that of another; the only resemblance being that there is some fine invariably levied upon the incoming

tenant.

285. Succession to Copyhold.—When a copyholder dies his successor must take care, according to the custom, to get duly entered upon the court roll, or his holding may be compromised.

FORM OF CONVEYANCE.

286. When a copyholder sells his estate, he and the purchaser have to proceed as suggested by the following form of copyhold conveyance :

in the county

The Manor of A General Court Baron of Charles James Privilege, Esq., Lord of Wheatsheaf the said Manor, holden in and for the said Manor, on the first of Middlesex. day of January in the thirty-third year of the reign of our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, by the grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Queen Defender of the Faith, and in the year of our Lord, 1870, before John Thomas, the Steward of the said Manor. At this Court comes John Ploughman, one of the customary tenants of this Manor, and in consideration of the sum of £1,234, of lawful money of Great Britain, to him in hand well and truly paid by Henry Temple, of Cheapside, in the city of London, merchant, in open court surrenders into the hands of the lord of this manor, by the hands and acceptance of the said Steward, according to the custom of this manor, all that messuage, or parcel of land, known as Middle Hill Field, with the appurtenances thereof (and to which same premises the said John Ploughman was admitted at the general court holden for this manor on the 1st day of January, 1868). AND the reversion and reversions, remainder and remainders, rents, issues and profits thereof: AND all the estate, right, title, interest, trust, benefit, property, claim, and demand whatsoever of the said John Ploughman, in, to, or out of the same premises and every part thereof: To the use of the said Henry Temple his heirs and assigns for ever according to the custom of this manor. Now also, at this Court comes the said Henry Temple, and prays to be admitted to all and singular the said customary or copyhold hereditaments and premises, so surrendered to his use at this Court, as aforesaid, to whom the lord of this manor, by the said steward, grants seisin thereof according to the custom: To have and to hold the said messuage, hereditaments and premises, with their appurtenances, unto the said Henry Temple and his heirs, to be holden of the lord by copy of court roll at the will of the lord (287), according to the custom of this manor, by fealty suit of court, and the ancient annual rent or rents and other duties and services heretofore due and of right accustomed. AND so (saving the right of the lord) the said Henry Temple is admitted tenant thereof, and pays to the lord, on such his admittance, a fine certain of £72, and his fealty is respited (34). (Signed.) JOHN THOMAS; Steward.

287. "At the will of the lord" in a copyhold conveyance, is an obsolete form, which is usually retained, but has no force or effect.

FINE TO SUCCESSOR.

288. In some few instances, when the lord of a manor dies, the tenants have to pay a fine to his successor, in addition to the fine upon their own succession; but that custom is rare, and only arises upon the death of the lord, not upon the sale or other transfer of the manor.

MINING, &c.

289. One of the peculiarities inseparable from copyhold is, that the tenant must not open mines or dig minerals without licence of the lord, which is, of course, invariably refused, unless a valuable consideration be offered for the privilege.

TIMBER.

290. Timber upon a copyhold estate is the absolute property of the lord, whether planted by him or not; for,

291. Timber trees, planted by a copyholder, cease to be his property; from the moment of planting they become the property of the lord.

VARIETY OF CUSTOMS.

292. The customs of manors in small matters of detail are so numerous as to defy description.

VALIDITY OF TITLE.

293. The original modes of conveying grants of feudal property, were extremely simple, and the title was usually unquestionable; because,

NORMAN PERIOD.

294. Conveyances in the Norman period were principally made from the king to a subject, or from a superior to an inferior, or from a father to his daughter, on her marriage; and

295. Subject to Services.-In former times, conveyances were rarely in an absolute form, as the grantee usually became the tenant of the grantor, liable to service, or some form of perpetual acknowledgment, which for ever preserved and simplified the validity of title.

296. Anciently Illegal to Sell.-The sale, or, as it was called, alienation of land, was of old really illegal, and must have been

effected clandestinely, and it is obvious that, under those circumstances, a vendor was incapable of giving a good title, while the purchaser must have run great risk of subsequent deprivation.

297. Questions of Title Perpetuated.-Selling or alienating land being repugnant to the whole object and spirit of the feudal law, it is not surprising that the vague questions concerning good title, which arose out of former customs, have survived until the present day.

298. Insecurity of Ancient Purchasers.-Formerly, in the nature of things, a possessor had no right to alienate, and the purchaser was afterwards entirely at his mercy; hence,

ORIGIN OF COVENANTS OF TITLE.

299. The custom of covenants arose, whereby the alienator was held responsible to the purchaser to restore the purchase-money, should the latter be disturbed in his possession; and

MODERN OBLIGATIONS.

300. The question still arises, and should be raised by every purchaser, What right or title has the proposing vendor to sell or alienate the property offered ?

RETROSPECT OF SIXTY YEARS.

301. As a general rule, every vendor of freehold property is bound to furnish the intending purchaser with an abstract of all the deeds, wills, and other instruments which have been executed with respect to the property, for the last sixty years.

302. Advowsons.-Evidence of title to an advowson may be demanded for one hundred years previously.

COPYHOLD TITLES INVIOLABLE.

303. Titles to copyhold lands should be beyond the possibility of doubt, as an abstract of the copies of the court roll for the previous sixty years ought to be conclusive.

304. Title to Leaseholds.-Purchasers of leasehold property, are entitled to claim all evidence concerning the title to the property, for the previous sixty years.

ORIGIN OF DEFINED TERM.

305. The custom which defines sixty years as the limit of investigation, seems to have arisen from an act of Henry VIII., which named that time as the limit within which action could be brought for the recovery of land; but,

306. Rule not Invariable.-The rule of sixty years, as a limit to an action for recovery, was never adhered to in its integrity, and has been virtually abolished; for,

UNCERTAIN SETTLEMENTS.

307. So long as the law permits the erection of estates tail (175) and estates for life (233), there is always a presumption that the earliest person mentioned as having conveyed the property was merely a tenant for life, who illegally assumed to be tenant in fee simple.

When land has passed

308. Concurrence of Past Holders. through the possession of several parties, during the sixty years investigated, it frequently becomes necessary, upon the evidence, to obtain of all the parties, concurrence in the proposed sale, in order that an unencumbered estate may be assured to the purchaser.

DESIRABILITY OF COVENANTS OF TITLE.

309. Notwithstanding every precaution which a purchaser may take in the investigation of titles, he should still require a covenant under bond (122) as a collateral security.

ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD COVENANT.

310. The usual points to be observed in a covenant are, that they shall provide that the vendor is entitled to sell; that the property shall be quietly enjoyed; that there are no incumbrances; and that the vendor and his heirs are bound to effect any further assurance which may prove at any time to be necessary; however,

311. Limitation of Responsibility.—It is understood to be a rule, that the vendor never gives absolute covenants for the title to the land he sells, but always limits his responsibility to the acts of those who have been in possession since the last sale of the estate; thus, 312. If the land should have been purchased by the vendor's father, and have descended from him to the vendor, the covenant will only extend to the acts of himself and his father; and

313. When the vendor has himself purchased the estate, his covenant will only extend to an assurance as regards his own

acts.

PRIOR TITLES.

314. All title in the property, which existed previously to the last purchase, must be investigated by the purchaser, at his own discretion, and at his own risk; for,

COVENANTS SOMETIMES WORTHLESS.

315. Covenants on the sale of property are understood to bind the vendor and his heirs, devisees and executors only, they cannot be extended or construed to bind any previous possessor; but,

MORTGAGOR'S TITLES.

316. A proposing mortgagor is bound to give to the mortgagee an absolute covenant, binding upon him for all past time, but that by no means removes the necessity for a strict investigation of title by the mortgagee.

317. Covenants by Trustees.—When a sale is effected by trustees who have no beneficial interest in the property themselves, all that they can be legally required or reasonably expected to covenant is, that they have done no act to encumber the estate.

OBSOLETE OBLIGATION.

318. Formerly, when land was sold by trustees, the purchaser was bound to see that the money was properly applied to the purposes of the trust, but that absurd requirement is no longer in force (“).

COVENANTS UNRELIABLE.

319. Covenants, though in most cases desirable, are for the most part so much waste paper. The only satisfaction of them is, that they are a test of the good faith of a vendor, for beyond that they can rarely be expected to go; because,

320. If a vendor obtains purchase-money upon property which he knows he is not entitled to sell, it would be a violent stretch of imagination to suppose that he will be likely to be forthcoming with a return of the purchase-money, in the event of the badness of the title being discovered; therefore,

RIGHT TO PRIOR DEEDS.

321. A purchaser or mortgagee, whether he takes a covenant or not, should never forego his right to all prior deeds relating to the property for the previous sixty years, and earlier if they can be procured; for,

322. Prior Deeds best Security.—In most cases the prior deeds relating to property, are the only security which the purchaser can venture to rely upon; because,

323. Absence of Prior Deeds suspicious.—If the prior deeds of an estate are not forthcoming, the presumption is that they are held by some person who has a lien or mortgage upon the property.

(a) See "Trustees."