RECOKDE RECUSANT 233 all deeds of conveyance, whether absolute or conditional, were required to be recorded, that "neither creditors might be defrauded nor courts troubled with vexatious suits and end- less contentions." The statutes of the various states differ in some immaterial respects as to the time and manner of registry, and as to what deeds or instruments must be recorded ; but the principle in all is the same, and all make such record absolutely necessary in order to complete the purchaser's title, and render it valid against creditors and subsequent lona fide purchasers. If the deed is not recorded, the sale is nevertheless good and the title passes as between the immediate parties and their heirs and devisees, but it is void as against subsequent bonafide purchasers and mortgagees whose deeds are first recorded. In some of the states a specified time is allowed in which the deed may bo recorded, but in general the grantee is left to put his conveyance on record whenever he sees fit, the risk of delay being that his title may be lost by another convey- ance from his grantor to a bonafide purchaser. In 1830 the real property commissioners in England recommended the establishment in that country of a general registry of deeds and instruments relating to land, as contributing to the security of title and the cheapness and fa- cility of transfers of land, and in 1862 such a registry was provided for ; but hitherto it has not come into general use. Heritable but not leasehold property is recorded in Scotland in a public register, and the deed must be recorded within 60 days to render it valid against cred- itors and purchasers. A very simple system for the registration of land titles prevails in Australia, corresponding to the registration of vessels. It has sometimes been a question whether notice of the transfer of property to a subsequent purchaser was equivalent to a rec- ord of the prior deed, and whether the deed of a subsequent purchaser with such notice, duly recorded, would be valid against the prior un- recorded conveyance. The record of a title deed is not considered as conferring title in itself, but merely as evidence of notice or as constructive notice to the public of the title passed by the deed of conveyance of which it is an official and certified copy ; and it is there- fore a general rule that notice, actual or im- plied, to a subsequent purchaser of a prior con- veyance, is as effectual to defeat his claim as a l>ona fide purchaser as a due record of such conveyance would be; for so long as he re- ceives notice of the prior encumbrance, it makes no difference whether such notice is de- rived from a record or from any other authen- tic source, and he purchases thereafter at his peril. In other words, if he knows that the land he buys has already been conveyed to an- other person who has neglected to record the deed, he cannot claim the rights of a bonafide purchaser. RECORDE, Robert, an English mathematician, born at Tenby, Pembrokeshire, about 1500, died in London in 1558. He entered Oxford university in 1525, was elected a fellow of All Souls' college in 1531, and taught rhetoric, mathematics, music, and anatomy. In 1545 he received the degree of M. D. from Cambridge university, removed to London, and was phy- sician to Edward VI. and to Queen Mary. He died a prisoner in the king's bench, proba- bly for debt, though he left some property. He wrote the " Gate of Knowledge " and the " Treasury of Knowledge," both of which are lost. His extant works are: "The Ground of Artes, teaching the Woorke and Practice of Arithmetike" (1540), his most popular work; " The Vrinal of Physick " (1548) ; " The Path- way to Knowledge" (1551), a compendium of geometry ; " The Castle of Knowledge " (1556); and "The Whetstone of Witte," a mathematical work (1557). RECORDER, an obsolete wind instrument, re- sembling the flageolet, though by some writers it has been confounded with the flute. It is said to have had six vents. Its tone was soft and pleasing, whence Milton speaks of "flutes and soft recorders." RECCSAAT (Lat. reciisare, to refuse), a term of frequent occurrence in English ecclesiastical history, and used to designate those persons in general who refused or neglected to attend divine service on Sundays or holidays in the established church, or to worship God accord- ing to its forms. The use of the word to desig- nate a legal offence is traced to the first year of Queen Elizabeth, when it was enacted that all persons who, without reasonable excuse, failed to attend some usual place of prayer, should be censured and fined for every omis- sion 12 pence. In 23 Elizabeth the fine or for- feiture was made for every month 20 pounds ; and in 35 Elizabeth it was enacted that if re- cusants failed to submit within three months after conviction, they might, upon the requisi- tion of four justices of the peace, be compelled to abjure and renounce the realm ; and if they did not depart, or if they returned without license of the crown, they were guilty of felony and should suffer death without benefit of clergy. In the case of recusants who professed the Roman Catholic religion, and who were designated popish recusants, the laws were more severe ; in addition to the above general penalties, they were disabled from taking lands, either by descent or purchase, after the age of 18, until they renounced their errors, and were incapacitated in several minor rights of the subject. " Popish recusants convict," as they were called after being convicted, were vir- tually outlaws. Protestant dissenters were re- lieved from the penalties of recusancy at the revolution by the toleration act. This statute contained a proviso depriving of its benefit any papist or popish recusant, or any person who should deny the doctrine of the Trinity ; but Roman Catholics were exempted from prosecution by 31 George III. in 1791, and more fully by the Catholic emancipation act of
