or diſcretion[1]. And ſir Matthew Hale gives us two inſtances, one of a girl of thirteen, who was burned for killing her miſtreſs; another of a boy ſtill younger, that had killed his companion, and hid himſelf, who was hanged; for it appeared by his hiding that he knew he had done wrong, and could diſcern between good and evil: and in ſuch caſes the maxim of law is, that malitia ſupplet aetatem. So alſo, in much more modern times, a boy of ten years old, who was guilty of a heinous murder, was held a proper ſubject for capital puniſhment, by the opinion of all the judges[2].
With regard to eſtates and civil property, an infant hath many privileges, which will be better underſtood when we come to treat more particularly of thoſe matters: but this may be ſaid in general, that an infant ſhall loſe nothing by non-claim, or neglect of demanding his right; nor ſhall any other laches or negligence be imputed to an infant, except in ſome very particular caſes.
It is generally true, that an infant can neither aliene his lands, nor do any legal act, nor make a deed, nor indeed any manner of contract, that will bind him. But ſtill to all theſe rules there are ſome exceptions; part of which were juſt now mentioned in reckoning up the different capacities which they aſſume at different ages: and there are others, a few of which it may not be improper to recite, as a general ſpecimen of the whole. And, firſt, it is true, that infants cannot aliene their eſtates: but infant truſtees, or mortgagees, are enabled to convey, under the direction of the court of chancery or exchequer, the eſtates they hold in truſt or mortgage, to ſuch perſon as the court ſhall appoint[3]. Alſo it is generally true, that an infant can do no legal act: yet an infant, who has an advowſon, may preſent to the benefice when it becomes void[4]. For the law in this caſe diſpenſes with one rule, in order to maintain others of far greater
