LIFE ESTATE. 224 ant for life is liable for waste committed by him on the premises, and is subject to an obli- eation of fidelity to his landlord, the reversioner, LIFE INSURANCE. gation of fidelity or to his rcmaindernuin. A breach of this obli- gation, us by milking a wrongful conveyance of the premises* in fee simple by fcotinient, involved a forfeiture of the life estate to tlie injured land- lord. This characteristic of the estate has re- cently disappeared with the abolition of feoff- ment" and other 'tortious conveyances.' See I'EOFFJIE.NT ; FOUFEITLRE. Subject to his liability for waste, the life ten- ant has many of the rights of an owner of the land. He might at common law protect his pos- session by the same ancient and exclusive reme- dies as were available to the tenant in fee simple. His estate is regarded as real property, and not, like a leasehold, however long, as personal es- tate. He is entitled to estovers (i.e. wood for fuel and repairs, and the like) and his personal representatives are, after his death, entitled to the emblements, or growing crops. (See Kmble- me.nt: Kstovkr.) lie may. by the methods ap- propriate for the conveyance of freeholds (liv- ery of seisin, deed), freely alienate his estate, though he cannot in general give an estate to endure beyond his own. It is not uneomnion, however, in creating a life estate, to confer upon the life tenant a power to lease the premises for twenty-one years or other determinate period. and a lease so made holds good notwithstanding the prior termination of the life estate. In Eng- Jand. where life estates are fretpiently created as an incident of marriage settlements for pro- viding a revenue for the parties to the marriage and tlieir issue, it has been provided by statute that such a life tenant may make long leases not subject to the life estate." (Settled Land Acts, 1882, isno.) An estate for the life of another than the ten- ant himself (still known by its Norman-French description as an estate pour uutcr vie) may arise either directly, as by a grant of land to A for the life of 1!. or indirectly tluough a convey- ance by a life tenant of his life estate to another. In neither of these eases does the estate come to an end upon the death of the tenant pour cutter ric, the ])erson by whose life the estate is meas- ured (known as the cestui que vie) being still alive. Ill that case there is an unexpired frag- ment of the life estate remaining, which, at the common law, vested in the first person to take possession thereof (known as the "general occu- pant') or in a person designated by the creator or the tenant of the life e.state (known as the 'special occupant'). This remnant of an estate pour auler ric is now generally disposed of by statute, going either to the heir or to the per- sonal representative of the life tenant. See OcciPANCY. See also E.state: Fee: Teniee, and authorities referred to under Real Prop- erty. LIFE GUARDS. The First and Second Regi- ments of Life Guards are cavairs' regiments of the British Household Cavalry, and are stationed at Windsor and Regent's Park, London, respec- tively. They are the senior regiments of the Household Brigade, and being the personal regi- ments of the sovereign, are not required to go on foreign service. Tliis rule, however, has been broken in every great campaign in which, since their organization. England ha,s been engaged; notably in the Peninsular campaign and at Waterloo, where they particularly distinguished themselves. They had their origin in two troops of horse grenadiers, raised respectively in 1093 and 1702, which were reorganized in ITH.'i as regi- ments of life guards. They are armed with sword and carbine; mounted on heavy black chargers; and wear a uniform consisting of white leather breeches, knee-boots, red coat, steel helmet and cuirass, the former surmounted by a high plume. The rank and tile are required to be over six feet in height before enlistment. In time of jjcace they are more or less occupied in the per- formance of duties about the Court and me- tropolis. LIFE INSURANCE. Life insurance is a term used to cover a variety of transactions in all of which the uncertainty of human life plays a more or less important part. In its purest form a life-insurance contract contains an agree- ment on the part of the insurer to pay a stated sum upon the death of the insured, if that event occurs while the policy is in force. In recent years, however, the investment principle has come to be quite as prominent in life underwrit- ing as the insurance principle, and through the combination of the two principles there has developed the great variety of policies now writ- ten by life-insurance companies. History. Originally life insurance was not much more than an incident of marine insurance. When the success or failure of a voyage depended largely on the personal qualities of the master of the ship, the owners of ship and cargo would in- sure themselves not only against the perils of the deep, but also against the danger of loss through the death of the master; that is, they took out insurance on the life of the master for the voyage. These early life-insurance policies were written by individuals long before life-in- surance companies came into existence. The earliest policy of which anything definite is known was issued in London in ir)8.3, insuring the life of one Willinni Gybbons for twelve months. This was underwritten by thirteen persons act- ing individually; the premium was $80 per thou- sand. The earliest life-insurance company of which we have definite information was established in 1G99 by the Mercers' Company of London for the benefit of the widows and orphans of subscribers. The members of tlie company bound themselves to pay five shillings apiece to constitute an in- demnity to be paid on the death of each mem- ber. The oldest existing life-insurance com- panies are the London Assurance Corporation and the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation, both of which were chartered in 1720. and began to issue life policies in 1721. The Equitable, established in 1702, was the first oflnce to devote it.self exclusively to the business of life insur- ance, and to make use of the scientific methods which characterize modern underwriting. The only other surviving English society which baa come down from the eighteenth century is the Pelican, which was founded in 1707. The first life-insurance society established in the United States was incorporated in Philadel- phia in 17.59. It was called the Presbyterian Annuity and T-ife Insurance Company. This company still exists, having amended its charter in 187.5 and changed its name to the Presbyte- rian Ministers' Fund Life Insurance Company. Two other similar societies were established in
