A COVENANT to stand seised must be understood to intend a covenant to ftand feifed to USES, and is an affurance by which a man feifed of lands, &c. covenants, in confideration of blood or marriage, that he will remain feifed of them, to the ufe of his child, wife, or relation, in an estate of freehold, and this being a public confideration, is executed by the ftatute of ufes, and transfers the poffeffion to the covenantee, without being affected by the ftatute of enrolments. As this fpecies of conveyance, owing to its peculiar quality of operating in favour of none but perfons very nearly related, and not capable, therefore, of vesting an estate in trustees of a fettlement, (unless fo related,) is not often used, it may be deemed fufficient to refer the reader for the learning refpecting it to the "Elements of Conveyancing," where (on account of the neceffity there frequently is to refer to this fubject, when confidering the legal construction of marriage fettlements) the Author, has attempted to adduce fuch of the principal-points respecting it, as are more particularly applicable to the modern practice of conveyancing. The form of this deed may be as follows: PRECEDENT OF A DEED OF COVENANT, TO STAND SEISED. Deed of Covenant by a Father, to stand seised to the Ufe of his Son, with Power of Revocation. THIS INDENTURE, made, &c. between A. B. of, &c. of the first part, C. D. and E. F. of, &c. of the second part, and C. B. of, &c. of the third part, (recitals), Witneffeth, that the faid A. B. for the purpose of settling and establishing the feveral meffuages, lands, and other hereditaments hereinafter mentioned, unto and upon, and in order that the fame may remain and continue in the blood of the faid C. B. in fuch manner and form as is hereinafter expreffed, and for and in confideration of the natural love and affection which the faid A. B. bears unto thofe to whom the eftates are hereinafter limited, and for the advancement of the faid C. B. his fon, and others of his blood, hereafter mentioned, he the faid A. B. doth hereby for himself and his heirs, covenant, grant, and agree, to and with the faid C. D. and E. F. and their heirs, that he the faid A. B. and his heirs, fhall and will from hence COVENANT. forth ftand, continue, and be feifed of and in all that and thofe, &c. together with all and fingular the rights, members, and appurtenances, thereunto refpectively belonging, or in any wife appertaining, or reputed, or taken as part or parcel thereof; to and for the uses, intents, and purposes hereinafter limited and declared, and to and for no other use, intent, or purpose, whatsoever: that is to fay, to the ufe and behoof of the said C. B. for and during the term of his natural life, without impeachment of or for any manner of wafte, and after his decease, then to and for the ufe and behoof of the first fon of the faid C. B. lawfully to be begotten, and to the use and behoof of the heirs male of the body of fuch first Power of revo- fon, and in default of fuch iffue, &c. PROVIDED cation. always, and it is hereby further declared and agreed, that if the faid A. B. fhall at any time hereafter be defirous to alter or revoke any use, truft, caufe, or limitation, in these presents contained, it fhall be lawful for him fo to do, by any writing indented, and by him fealed and delivered, in the prefence of two or more credible witneffes, and that all or any such addition, alteration, or revocation, additions, alterations, or revocations, so by him made, shall stand, and be good and effectual in the law, to all intents and purposes, any thing in these presents contained to the contrary, in any wife notwithstanding. In witnefs, &c. The ufual covenants for the title may be added, if the covenantor defire it, OF THE USUAL COVENANTS FOR THE TITLE. UPON thefe covenants, which are faid to have been invented by fir Orlando Bridgman, who is juftly confidered as the father of modern conveyancing, fome few obfervations have already been given, (fee ante, vol. I. p. 25, &c. and notes to the feveral preceding precedents,} and fome others will be given in the annotations to the first precedent, under the title Release: a particular at tention has also been given to this important head, in the Editor's attempt to furnish the ftudent with the leading principles on the general science of conveyancing (a). But as the tritenefs and utility of the head may induce an expectation that fomething of practical ufe fhould here be furnished upon the subject, I fhall bring to the (a) See Elem. Conv. bk. iv. par. i. chap. 1. Cafe. ftudent's view a variety of cafes indicative of the conftruction of those covenants, partly from the collections of Mr. Powell, and partly from other authentic writers; and these I shall preface with two very inftructive opinions of two of our most eminent conveyancers upon the fame fubject. Any more elaborate differtation than this, the other engagements of the Editor, combined with the publifher's pofitive pledge to the public, to present them with one complete volume of precedents in the course of every month, render impracticable; but this will, he trufts, be deemed of the lefs importance, when the ftudent is informed, that all that the Editor is capable of presenting him with on this subject, will be found copiously detailed in the concurrent publication aboye alluded to. Opinions of two very eminent modern Conveyancers respecting A. having two fons, and being seised in fee fimple of a meffuage and garden, and also a farm confisting of a meffuage and acres of land, and entitled unto two leafehold houses, for the remainder of two feveral terms years, dies, having duly executed his will for paffing estates in fee, whereby he gives the meffuage and garden to his fecond fon, in fee, and one of the leafehold houses to his eldest son, abfolutely, and appoints his fecond fon executor. of The meffuage and garden given to the second son, have been in A.'s family near a century, having defcended to him through several ancestors. The farm defcended to the eldest fon, was purchased by A. of the affignees of a 2. |