Star.
London, England, 1829-06-24 00:00:00

often happens that the freehold is in a trustee, or has
been aliened by the tenant for life or tenant in tail. and
the person in whom it is vested cannot be traced. or
will refuse to concur in making the tenant ; sometimes
it is a question of construction whether the freehold is
vested in trustees. - If under the impression that they
have not the freehold, they are not made to join in the
conveyance to the tenant, the recovery may be void.
Not unfrequently. front omitting to investigate the title
when a recovery is to be suffered, or from some other
cause. it is not known that the freehold is in a trustee,
or that it has been aliened, and from ignorance of this
circumstance the recovery is void. These mischiefs can
only be remedied by obtaining. the concurrence of the
person in whom the freehold is vested. and suffering a
new recovery. If a recovery should be void for want
of a proper tenant to the prertipe. and the defect should
not be discovered in the life-time of the tenant in tail
who suffered it. the evil is incurable, and the estate may
be lost by the persons claiming under the recovery.
Mr. Preston, in his Treatise on Conveyancing, vol. 1,
p. BS! states, that 14 h has happened that six recoveries
have been suffered to bar the same estate tail, and that
five of them have bees defective for want of a good
tenant to the writ of entry. and the sixth recovery.
though good according to the better opinion, involved
the question. whether a recovery defective as against
the issue in tail and those in remainder and reversion.
for want of a good tenant to the writ of entry. is good
as between the parties, so as to pass the estate by way
estoppel or conveyance. and supply a seisin to serve the
uses declared thereof.' When a tenant in tail in re-
mainder is desirous of suffering a recovery. be is at the
mercy of the person-ltaving the freehold. who has it in
his power to withhold his assent. There are instances
Of this power being abused, and of the person having
the (rfehold extorting from the remainder man a coast-
&ration for his Concurrence. This sometimes occurs
when the freehold continues in the first tenant for life,'
who may or may not be connected with the remainder
man, but it more frequently occurs when the freehold
is vested in an alienee, who is generally a stranger.
There are cases in Which great skill and caution must
be used in making the tenant to the preetpe, in order
to preserve powers rights and interests which might
otherwise be prejudiced or extinguished, as the follow-
ing examples will show. If a tenant for life conveys
It) a tenant to the praxis* to enable a remainder man
in tail to suffer a recovery, he will, without caution.
extinguish the powers annexed to his estate for life. and
let. in upon his own estate the incsmbrances of the roe
mainder min. 'The expedients adopted to prevent this
Michief are extremely subtle and artificial. By similar
expedients a tenant for life with a contingent remainder
in tail. either to himself or his children, may assist a
remote remainder man in tail in suffering a recovery
without destroying the contingent remainder. If a per-
son having either an estate tail or an estate for life. with
a continget t rem-finder to his children (but, as not un-
frequently happens. it is doubtful which). is desirous of
barring his suppo•ed estate tail by a recovery, but at
the same time wishes to prevent the forfeiture of his
supposedlife estate and the destruction of the coatis-
gewt veassinder, a different connivance, no less artificial,
is emitted to. In recoveries of copyholds most of these
pittaptidns are unnecessary. Alter the demandant has
enist'Uirst judgment in a recovery. a writ of seisia is
amod'out, to be executed by the sheriff of the county
Wherache lands lie. and he returns that he has executed
the writ, and delivered miens of the lands to the dm
ittandant. But this is a false return, tor the writ is
never executed. and wins is never in fact delivered.
So that while the law requires that the demandant shall
recover against the actual tenant of the freehold, whim
be has recovered the lands. it fails in the final object of
the action. namely. that of giving him possession. Thiel
the suit is to commence with all the formalities of a
real action. but to end with disparities with the only
object of those formalities, namely, to give to the &i-
-ntendant the lands sued for.
Fines and recoveries of lands in England (not inclsd.
in* Wales, and with the exception of lands in the coos-
ties palatine, and some inferior jurisdictions) are levied
and suffered in the Court of Common Pleas at West.
rnioster. In addition to the essential acts to 'be dose
either in Court, or before a Judge, or a Sergeant, or
Commissioners, in levying a fine. or suffering a recovery
in that Court, documents must be obtained at the fole
lowing offices; via. for a fine. two at the Quakes's
office, one at a Judge's chambers. one at the Alienation
office, one at the Return office. one at the Warrant of
Attorney office, one at the Castes Brevium office, one
at the King's Silver office. and one at the Chirograpbeie
*doe; and for a recovery. two at the Conine 6 taco,
one at the Alienation office, four at the office of the
Clerk of the Recoveries. and one at the Seal
The forms and proceedings. both in fines and recoveries,
being so very numerous and complicated, it is net to
be wondered at that mistakes should occasionally be
made. In some cases the Court will rectify the mistakes,
but in other cases the Court will refuse an appliCation
for amendment ; so that a party claiming under a fine
of recover y may lose his estate. although his title may
be defective merely in consequence of some formal error
or omission. Applications to the Court for this purpose
frequently subject the parties to very heavy expenses.—
A fine. or a recover y.sn the Court of
.Common Pleas at
Westminster, may be reversed by a writ of mot, or
avoided on account of mistakes in the proceedings, which
the Court will not amend, or of the death of any of the
parties before a certain stage of the proceedings, or of
infancy in contain cases. or of lunacy as to a recovery in
certain cases, or of fraud, and on other accounts; and a
fine may also be avoided on the plea, that neither of the
parties had the freehold at the time of levying it ; and a
recovery May be avoided in case the tenant to the pis-
ripe should not have the freehold before the end of the
term in which it was suffered. In every stage of the
numerous proceedings in a fine and recovery. expenses
are incurred in official fees and stamps; these, together
with. the professional charges of the attorney, come to,
a considerable sum, varying in amount according to
the ithinber of the cent:sort in a fine, and the number
Of the eouchees in a recovery; and also according so
the circumstances of the fine being acknowledged in
Court, or before a Judge, or a Sergeant at Law, or
Commissioners, or of the recovery being suffered by the
appearance in Court of the tenant and the voucher or
vouchees in person, or by attorney. In addition to
these expenses, there are payable at the Alienation Of.
lice a psefine and postfine on the writ of covenant in a
fine, and a fine on the writ cf entry in a recovery. The
amount of these films depends oa the nature, situation,
• Went, and value of the propetty, and they are fro.'
quently very heavy. and greatly exceed in amount
the other expenses. Ws beim bees furnished with
Ope instance in which the enormous sum of 4,1:0(fi.
was paid for a fine. to some cues, where the income
payable to the person levying the fine, or suffering the
reverter,. consists of wall'ground rents reserved on
briddinglarises. ahe fine bats been known to be equal to
nearly le& the soma% rental. We have given in the
Appetadierart 411)art idstance of the proceedings in and
earenses of s Mies without a deafly., whets the party

Pappears In Court. and an instance of the proceedings
in and expenses of a fine. with a dedimus where the
party does not appear in Coen, and an instance of the
proceedings in and expenses of • recovery, with dotible
and treble voucher, with a dedimus whets the vonchees
appear by attorney. and with double voucher where the
vouches appears in person. It is observable that in these
Instances the lands were of little value, as appears from
the amount of the alienation fine,, which include the
prefine and postfine on a fine, and the sum paid for the
writ of entry to a recovery, which includes the fine on
that writ. We have also Fiera in the Appendix (Part 4)
the evidence of persons in the different offices through
which the proceedings in fines and recoveries in the
Court of Common Pleas at Westminster are pasted,
from which evidence it appears bow little benefit is ac-
tually produced to the Crown and the patentees gloom.
pared with the burthen sustained by the parties, the
fines payable at the Alienation Office on fines and re-
coveries, having, upon the average of three years ending
at the commencement of last Hilary Term, amounted
to 13,4491. 61. Bd. per annum. The mode in which
these fines are appropriated appears is the Appendix, and
the fees payable at the different offices also appear.
(To be coottaued.)

THE EVENING STAR•

LUN DON.

--.N011.*-

WEDNESDAY. JUNE 44. 1829.
St. Joss ens Risime.—Ccass lhasear.

PROROGATION or PARLIAMENT•

It has seldom or wet falls* to oar lot to mord a

more satisfactory and pleasing document than the
Speech of his Massarr in proroguing Parliament
this day. Having received the Speech just as
we are going to press, we are unable to speak of it
at any length in the terms which we could wish,
and which it omits ; but' we cannot refrain from
the espressio, of our heartfelt satisfaction that the
prevailing tone is pace—peos. With this view Will
MAJIIITT has formed an Embassy to the 0170311 AM
PORTS; and it is devoutly to be wished that the object
of this Embassy will prove what his MAJZSTY is so so•
'idiot). about.

The fine' pacification of Greece. and the reconcilia-
tion of the conflicting interests which press so heavily
on Portage!. ate likewise objects of his MAJESTIeII
solicitude; and we trust that his Mutates efforts to
these ends will prove availing.