arrear for fully twelve months, the mortgagee may proceed as if the power of sale were expressly reserved.

INSURANCE.

1570. Any mortgagee, whether so empowered in the deed or not, is at liberty to insure against fire, and to charge the estate with the cost of doing so, unless the mortgagor anticipates the expense by insuring on his own account.

RECEIVER OF RENTS.

1571. When principal and interest upon a mortgage are in arrear, the mortgagee, in lieu of taking possession or exercising a power of sale, may at his own option move the court to appoint a receiver of rents, which the court is bound to do; providing that,

1572. Bare Principal and Interest.-Under all circumstances no powers or proceedings short of foreclosure will entitle a mortgagee to more than his bare principal, interest, and costs; for,

1573. Disposal of Balances.-In the event of a receiver of rents being appointed under a mortgage, the mortgagee is bound to hand over the balance, after deducting his just claim, to the mortgagor; and

1574. Costs.—If a mortgagee exercise a power of sale, he is bound, after satisfying his own claim for principal, interest, and costs, to hand over the whole balance to the mortgagor.

AMICABLE MEANS OF TERMINATION.

1575. Sometimes it happens that the best way of terminating a mortgage obligation, is for the mortgagor to convey the whole property over to the mortgagee, in consideration of a further advance, more or less, which process has the advantage of being more speedy than any other course that can be adopted for a settlement.

THE LETTER OF THE BOND.

1576. If a mortgagor is prepared to pay principal and interest on the day first named in the deed (July 1st in the form), he is at liberty to do so, and may then demand the deeds and put an end to the obligation, whether the mortgagee wishes it or no; but,

NOTICE OR INTEREST.

1577. If the day first named in a mortgage deed for the payment of the principal is suffered to go by without such payment being effected, the mortgagor, on desiring any time after to put an end to

the obligation, must give the mortgagee six months' notice of his intention, or must pay the six months' interest, or otherwise offer the mortgagee some inducement to close the business at an earlier date; therefore, viewing the whole matter of ending a mortgage, it amounts simply to this, that

1578. Six Months' Notice, at Any Rate.-The present law is, that whether provided in the deed or not, a mortgagee must give six months' notice that he requires repayment of his money, or the mortgagor must give six months' notice of his intention to repay; but,

1579. Lapse of Notice.-If a mortgagor give six months' notice that he will repay the loan, and suffers the whole six months to elapse without paying, he must give another six months' notice, independently of the first, in order to revive his right to a settle

ment.

PERSONAL PROPERTY.

"CHATTELS PERSONAL.”

1580. In order to distinguish property which does not arise out of land, it is called "chattels personal."

1581. Blackstone's Dictum.-Blackstone said chattels personal were so called because they belong to the person of a man ; but, 1582. Wider Signification.—It has been pointed out that goods and chattels are now too numerous and important to accompany the persons of their owners; and

1583. Legal Definition. The lawyers regard a definition of personal property to be anything (not being real property) which can by any possibility become the subject of an action at law; hence,

KINDS OF ACTIONS.

1584. There are three kinds of actions at law, which, being put in juxtaposition, are explanatory of the legal definition of personal property; thus,

1585. Real Actions.—Real actions are brought for the recovery of lands, and by their aid the real land may be restored to its rightful holder:

1586. Mixed Actions.-Mixed actions are real and personal matters mixed together: and

1587. Personal Actions.-Personal actions are brought for goods

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which, as they are in their nature destructible, nothing but pecuniary consideration or damages can with certainty be recovered from the person against whom the action is brought.

DISTINCT METHODS OF ALIENATION.

1588. Personal property is, in law, chiefly distinguished from rcal property by being alienable by methods altogether different; for,

1589. Antithetical Conditions.-Whereas the first lesson to be learned on the nature of real property is that of such property there can be no such thing as absolute ownership (105), the rule with personal property is precisely the reverse; hence,

ABSOLUTE OWNERSHIP.

1590. Personal property is essentially the subject of absolute ownership, and cannot be held for any estate; because,

1591. No Principle of "Estate."-Though the expression "personal estate" is sometimes carelessly used, as applied to a man's entire personalty, there really is no such thing as an estate, in its integrity, in any personal property.

CHOSES.

1592. The early lawyers, who imported Norman-French into English law courts, distinguished personal property as of two kinds, which they called choses (or things) in possession (1593) and choses in action (1628), and those two expressions have survived, and are recognized at the present day.

1593. Choses in possession are movable goods, such as plate, furniture, farming stock (both live and dead), locomotive engines, ships, &c.

EXCEPTIONAL CHOSES IN POSSESSION. 1594. There are some choses in possession so closely connected with land that they partake of its nature; thus,

TITLE DEEDS.

1595. Title deeds, though movable articles, are not chattels in the strict sense of the term; for,

1596. Spontaneous Ownership.-Property in deeds passes out of the vendor to the purchaser simply by the grant of the land itself; and

1597. Title Deeds pass with the Land.—A devise of land by will entitles the devisee to possession of the deeds; while,

1598. Title includes Deeds.-Every purchaser of land, on com

pletion of the purchase, is entitled to all deeds relating to such land, if previously possessed by the vendor; but,

1599. Worthlessness of Deeds.-Deeds, though desirable, are not essential to the holding of land in fee-simple, for,

1600. Freeholds Independent of Deeds.-It has been declared that the freehold of land is independent of any deed; and

1601. Destruction of Deeds of No Effect.-Any holder in fee is at liberty to destroy his deeds, or to sell them, whether cancelled or not, for the mere value of the parchment, without affecting in the least his title to the land he holds; hence,

1602. Possession of Deeds mere Evidence. The mere possession of deeds without other evidence is not necessarily a claim upon the land which they relate to.

1603. Limited Possession of Deeds.-A tenant in tail (167) or for life (233), being the freeholder for the time being, is entitled to possession of the deeds of the estate, just as though he held in feesimple, but he has no right to injure or dispose of such deeds; though,

1604. No Penalty for Eccentric Destruction.—It is difficult to imagine how a tenant in tail or for life could be proceeded against for destroying deeds; yet,

1605. Rights of Successors.-Should a tenant in tail or for life dispose of the deeds of his estate, whether for a consideration or not, to any other person, the successor on coming into possession can compel such other person to restore the deeds, without consideration, if they are in existence.

FIXTURES.

1606. Fixtures are such movable articles as are fixed to the ground either directly or indirectly.

1607. Part of the Land.-The ancient common law regarding land as of far more consequence than any chattel which could be fixed to it, always considered everything attached to the land as part of the land itself; hence,

1608. Houses.-Houses which consist of aggregates of chattels personal, fixed to the land, still pass by a conveyance of the land without the necessity of express mention.

1609. Conveyances include Fixtures.-A conveyance of a house or other building, whether absolutely or by way of mortgage, will comprise all ordinary fixtures, such as stoves, grates, shelves, locks, &c., unless an intention to withhold the fixtures can be distinctly gathered from the deed of conveyance; and

1610. Rights of Heirs.-On the decease of a tenant in fee-simple the devisee of his house, or the heir-at-law, will generally be entitled to the fixtures set up in it; though,

1611. Rights of Occupiers.-On succession to a house or lands, the successor is bound by any rights which an occupying tenant of such house or lands may possess in the fixtures (2).

TIMBER.

1612. When lands are let to a tenant for years or for life, if no exception is made about the timber, the property therein will still remain in the owner of the inheritance, subject to the tenant's right to have the mast and fruit growing upon it, and the loppings for fuel, and the benefit of the shade for his cattle; thus,

1613. Cuttings and Gatherings.-All fruit which may be gathered, or bushes or trees which are not timber (1615), that may be cut or blown down, are the personal property of the tenant; but,

1614. Trees.—Timber trees upon land let on lease, which may be cut or blown down, become the immediate property of the freeholder.

1615. Definition of "Timber."-Timber trees are oak, ash, and elm in all places; beech and other trees are esteemed to be timber or not according to the custom of various localities.

1616. Tenants for Life.—The general rule which reserves timber to the freeholder or successor, is modified in cases of tenancy for life, "without impeachment of waste" (b).

GAME.

1617. Every animal treated of under the head of game (721), as long as it is alive and wild, is excepted from the general rule of personal property, and belongs to the real property of the estate where it may be found.

HAWKS AND HOUNDS.

1618. Hawks and hounds have formerly been considered belonging to the estate, but it is now settled that they are, in the fullest sense, personal property.

NO REMAINDER OR REVERSION.

1619. Though land may be so conveyed that several persons may have an estate in it at the same time in different degrees, as in possession, in remainder, or in reversion, the law knows no such thing as a remainder or reversion in a chattel.

(a) See "Landlord and Tenant."

(b) See "Husband and Wife,"