thod of conveyance was by livery of ſeiſin or corporal tradition of the lands, no gage or pledge of lands was good unleſs poſſeſſion was alſo delivered to the creditor; "ſi non ſequatur ipſius vadii traditio, curia domini regis hujuſmodi privatas conventiones tueri non ſolet:" for which the reaſon given is, to prevent ſubſequent and fraudulent pledges of the ſame land; "cum in tali caſu poſſit eadem res pluribus aliis creditoribus tum prius tum poſterius invadiari[1]." And the frauds which have ariſen, ſince the exchange of theſe public and notorious conveyances for more private and ſecret bargains, have well evinced the wiſdom of our antient law.
IV. A fourth ſpecies of eſtates, defeaſible on condition ſubſequent, are thoſe held hy ſtatute merchant, and ſtatute ſtaple; which are very nearly related to the vivum vadium before-mentioned, or eſtate held till the profits thereof ſhall diſcharge a debt liquidated or aſcertained. For both the ſtatute merchant and ſtatute ſtaple are ſecurities for money; the one entered into purſuant to the ſtatute 13 Edw. I. de mercatoribus, and thence called a ſtatute merchant; the other purſuant to the ſtatute 27 Edw. III. c. 9. before the mayor of the ſtaple, that is to ſay, the grand mart for the principal commodities or manufactures of the kingdom, formerly held by act of parliament in certain trading towns[2], and thence this ſecurity is called a ſtatute ſtaple. They are both, I ſay, ſecurities for debts, originally permitted only among traders, for the benefit of commerce; whereby the lands of the debtor are conveyed to the creditor, till out of the rents and profits of them his debt may be ſatisfied: and during ſuch time as the creditor ſo holds the lands, he is tenant by ſtatute merchant or ſtatute ſtaple. There is alſo a ſimilar ſecurity, the recognizance in the nature of ſtatute ſtaple, which extends the benefit of this mercantile tranſaction to all the king's ſubjects in general, by virtue of the ſtatute 23 Hen. VIII. c. 6.
V. Another ſimilar conditional eſtate, created by operation of law, for ſecurity and ſatisfaction of debts, is called an eſtate
