Chapter the eighth.
Of FREEHOLDS, NOT of INHERITANCE.
WE are next to diſcourſe of ſuch eſtates of freehold, as are not of inheritance, but for life only. And, of theſe eſtates for life, ſome are conventional, or expreſſly created by the act of the parties; others merely legal, or created by conſtruction and operation of law[1]. We will conſider them both in their order.
I. Estates for life, expreſſly created by deed or grant, (which alone are properly conventional) are where a leaſe is made of lands or tenements to a man, to hold for the term of his own life, or for that of any other perſon, or for more lives than one: in any of which caſes he is ſtiled tenant for life; only, when he holds the eſtate by the life of another, he is uſually called tenant pur auter vie[2]. Theſe eſtates for life are, like inheritances, of a feodal nature; and were, for ſome time, the higheſt eſtate that any man could have in a feud, which (as we have before ſeen[3]) was not in it's original hereditary. They are given or conferred by the ſame feodal rites and ſolemnities, the ſame inveſtiture or livery of ſeiſin, as fees themſelves are; and they are held by fealty, if demanded, and ſuch conventional rents and ſervices as the lord or leſſor, and his tenant or leſſee, have agreed on.
