SECTION 1. the art, of alienation. If, by an investigation of the laws of property, we elicit and systematise the principles which govern its disposition, we are then compacting the science. The science of alienation, therefore, may be defined-a systematic statement of the principles of alienation. To apply these principles to practice, by means of appropriate instruments or conveyances, constitutes the art of alienation. Plan of the present Essay. defined. III. Entertaining this view of the subject, I propose in the present Essay to treat of it strictly as a scientific art (a). Writing, however, principally for the student and young practitioner, and aiming at as much conciseness as is consistent with perspicuity and the nature of a didactic work, there are many topics very suitable for discussion in a more comprehensive treatise, which, in a work, like the present, intended only as an INTRODUCTION TO ConVEYANCING, must be passed over without notice, or only glanced at. After some preliminary observations on the character of the study, and the method in which it should be conducted, I shall, in the First Abstract of Title Book, treat of "ABSTRACTS OF TITLE." Every Abstract of Title is, or ought to be, an epitome of the evidences of ownership; and as, in this country, all landed property is held by title (b), and not like (a) "Art is the application of knowledge to a practical end. If the knowledge be merely accumulated experience, the art is empirical; but if it be experience reasoned upon and brought under general principles, it assumes a higher character, and becomes a scientific art."-Herschel's Nat. Phil., art. 64, p. 70. (b) The following definition of the term "title," though not ex personal chattels, by possession only, no one can SECTION 1. purchase such property, or advance his money upon its security, with a certainty of obtaining that which is bought or mortgaged, unless it is first made manifest by the evidences of ownership that the alleged owner has, in fact, a good title to the estate in question. Hence has arisen one of the most responsible, and certainly not the least arduous, duties of the conveyancing counsel, viz. that of advising on Abstracts of Title. surances. IV. Having, then, in the first place, examined the Analysis of Assubject of Abstracts of Title, without a due consideration of which the rights of property can in no wise be regulated with certainty, or safely made the subject of disposition, I shall next proceed, in the Second Book, to treat of "MATTERS COMMON TO ASSURANCES." In every Assurance (as I have elsewhere observed) (a), i. e. in every instrument by means of which any interest or estate is created or simply conveyed, there must necessarily be an alienor and events by which the possessor pressed with much precision, is sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes:-"A title in-this country does not mean merely those documents which directly confer right upon the existing possessor, as, for instance, the deeds of lease and release by which an estate is conveyed to you, but it means the abstract result of the whole series, or succession of instruments and (a) Recital-Book, Introd. § 1, art. 1 and 2. SECTION 1. alienee, as well as a subject-matter of alienation. The former are denominated parties; the latter, parcels. It is likewise plain that every act of alienation must originate from some motive. One parts with his estate for a sum of money; another, in consequence of the affection which he has for the alienee; and a third, in satisfaction of some debt: but whatever be the inducement, it is termed the consideration. Some expressions must be employed for the purpose of evincing an intention to alien; and these are to be found in what are technically called the operative words. In order to develope the characters and interests of the parties, or to preserve the continuity of title, or to put upon the instrument the evidences of its own validity, some explanatory statements are commonly premised; and these are called recitals. It is also necessary to declare what interest the alienee is to take in the parcels; and this is usually done by a clause denominated the habendum. Besides, the numerous and complicated transactions of mankind have originated the necessity of inserting various kinds of covenants; and, to prevent the intervention of fraud, the law has prescribed certain essential formalities, as, for instance, that a deed shall be executed, i. e. sealed. and delivered. Constituents of Assurances. V. Such are the constituents of most Assurances; without an accurate knowledge of which it would be as idle to attempt to draw a conveyance, as to construct a watch when ignorant of the nature and use SECTION 2. of the barrel, the verge, the pinions, the centre, contrate, and balance wheels, &c. We might call the thing which we had fashioned a watch; but the probability is that it would give either an incorrect notation of time, or none at all (a). Having, therefore, expounded these matters, I shall, in the Third Book, treat of "PARTICULAR SORTS OF ASSURANCES," Particular sorts comprehending in this division the various subjects of purchases, mortgages, leases, partitions, exchanges, settlements, wills, and auxiliary instruments; and, in the Fourth Book, a practical exposition of the law relating to "STAMPS ON ASSURANCES" Stamps on Aswill be attempted. of Assurances. surance S. SECTION 2. Study of Conveyancing. veyancing. VI. With respect to the Study of Conveyancing, on Study of Conwhich I shall now offer some general observations, it follows, from the definition already given (Art. II.) that, in order to its successful prosecution, two things are indispensable: 1, A correct ascertainment of its principles; and, 2, Skilfulness in practically applying them. Now nothing is more commonly laid down in treatises on the conduct of law studies than this proposition; and yet, judging from its limited influence in practice, one can hardly suppose that, by the majority of students, it has been fully under (a) Recital-Book, Introd. § 1, art. 2. SECTION 2. stood. They have given it, perhaps, a mere unthinking acquiescence, never inquiring as to the particular nature of the procedure in either case; but at once engaging in the study of some text book, supposed to contain an authentic exposition of the law. The very commonness of the precept and its generally acknowledged truth, are circumstances each of which is calculated to produce an uninquiring assent; although the whole value of it, practically, depends on our having a clear insight into the character of the study and the method in which it should be pursued. It is an opinion very generally entertained (and one more pernicious could hardly have taken root), that a correct and comprehensive knowledge of principles can be best acquired from the study of dogmatical or elementary treatises; and accordingly such works have superseded, in many instances, all inductive inquiry into the original sources of our law. The student may rest assured that a procedure of this sort, in which the mind is a mere passive recipient, can only serve to make what Lord Bacon significantly calls "lawyers in haste;" who, for the most part, may be truly likened to those blades of corn that grow yellow before the harvest, but have empty ears (a). Whoever would acquire a thorough knowledge of principles, in the proper sense of the word (b), must not be content to take them upon (a) Quint. lib. i. cap. iii., who applies this forcible image to those precocious children whose early ripeness is too often a fatal omen of premature decay. (b) I say "proper sense of the word," for no term is oftener misapplied. Hobbes, with his |