could paſs without livery of ſeiſin; which muſt operate either immediately, or not at all. It would therefore be contradictory, if an eſtate, which is not to commence till hereafter, could be granted by a conveyance which imports an immediate poſſeſſion. Therefore, though a leaſe to A for ſeven years, to commence from next Michaelmas, is good; yet a conveyance to B of lands, to hold to him and his heirs for ever from the end of three years next enſuing, is void. So that when it is intended to grant an eſtate of freehold, whereof the enjoyment ſhall be deferred till a future time, it is neceſſary to create a previous particular eſtate, which may ſubſiſt till that period of time is completed; and for the grantor to deliver immediate poſſeſſion of the land to the tenant of this particular eſtate, which is conſtrued to be giving poſſeſſion to him in remainder, ſince his eſtate and that of the particular tenant are one and the ſame eſtate in law. As, where one leaſes to A for three years, with remainder to B in fee, and makes livery of ſeiſin to A; here by the livery the freehold is immediately created, and veſted in B, during the continuance of A's term of years. The whole eſtate paſſes at once from the grantor to the grantees, and the remainder-man is ſeiſed of his remainder at the ſame time that the termor is poſſeſſed of his term. The enjoyment of it muſt indeed be deferred till hereafter; but it is to all intents and purpoſes an eſtate commencing in praeſenti, though to be occupied and enjoyed in futuro.
As no remainder can be created, without ſuch a precedent particular eſtate, therefore the particular eſtate is ſaid to ſupport the remainder. But a leaſe at will is not held to be ſuch a particular eſtate, as will ſupport a remainder over[1]. For an eſtate at will is of a nature ſo ſlender and precarious, that it is not looked upon as a portion of the inheritance; and a portion muſt firſt be taken out of it, in order to conſtitute a remainder. Beſides, if it be a freehold remainder, livery of ſeiſin muſt be given at the time of it's creation; and the entry of the grantor, to do this, determines the eſtate at will in the very inſtant in which it is
- ↑ 8 Rep. 75.
