Chapter the twenty sixth.
Of TITLE to THINGS PERSONAL by OCCUPANCY.
WE are next to conſider the title to things perſonal, or the various means of acquiring, and of loſing, ſuch property as may be had therein: both which conſiderations of gain and loſs ſhall be blended together in one and the ſame view, as was done in our obſervations upon real property; ſince it is for the moſt part impoſſible to contemplate the one, without contem-plating the other alſo. And theſe methods of acquiſition or loſs are principally twelve: i. By occupancy. 2. By prerogative. 3. By forfeiture. 4. By cuſtom. 5. By fucceſſion. 6. By marriage. 7. By judgment. 8. By gift. 9. By contract. 10. By bankruptcy. 11. By teſtament. 12. By adminiſtration.
And, firſl, a property in goods and chattels may be acquired by occupancy: which, we have more than once[1] remarked, was the original and only primitive method of acquiring any property at all; but which has ſince been reſtrained and abridged, by the poſitive laws of fociety, in order to maintain peace and harmony among mankind. For this purpoſe, by the laws of England, gifts, and contracts, teſtaments, legacies, and adminiſtrations have been introduced and countenanced, in order to transfer and continue that property and poſſeſſion in things perſonal, which
- ↑ See pag. 3. 8. 258
