Chapter the thireenth.
Of the TITLE to THINGS REAL, in general.
THE foregoing chapters having been principally employed in defining the nature of things real, in deſcribing the tenures by which they may be holden, and in diſtinguiſhing the ſeveral kinds of eſtate or intereſt that may be had therein, I come now to conſider, laſtly, the title to things real, with the manner of acquiring and loſing it. A title is thus defined by ſir Edward Coke[1], titulus eſt juſta cauſa poſſidendi id quod noſtrum eſt; or, it is the means whereby the owner of lands hath the juſt poſſeſſion of his property.
There are ſeveral ſtages or degrees requiſite to form a complete title to lands and tenements. We will conſider them in a progreſſive order.
I. The loweſt and moſt imperfect degree of title conſiſts in the mere naked poſſeſſion, or actual occupation of the eſtate; without any apparent right, or any ſhadow or pretence of right, to hold and continue ſuch poſſeſſion. This may happen, when one man invades the poſſeſſion of another, and by force or ſurprize turns him out of the occupation of his lands; which is termed a diſſeiſin, being a deprivation of that actual ſeiſin, or corporal
- ↑ 1 Inſt. 345.
