till he ſhould be of age to perform them himſelf. And, if we conſider a feud in it's original import, as a ſtipend, fee, or reward for actual ſervice, it could not be thought hard that the lord ſhould withhold the ſtipend, ſo long as the ſervice was ſuſpended. Though undoubtedly to our Engliſh anceſtors, where ſuch ſtipendiary donation was a mere ſuppoſition or figment, it carried abundance of hardſhip; and accordingly it was relieved by the charter of Henry I before-mentioned, which took this cuſtody from the lord, and ordained that the cuſtody, both of the land and the children, ſhould belong to the widow or next of kin. But this noble immunity did not continue many years.
The wardſhip of the body was a conſequence of the wardſhip of the land; for he who enjoyed the infant's eſtate was the propereſt perſon to educate and maintain him in his infancy: and alſo, in a political view, the lord was moſt concerned to give his tenant a ſuitable education, in order to qualify him the better to perform thoſe ſervices which in his maturity he was bound to render.
When the male heir arrived to the age of twenty one, or the heir-female to that of ſixteen, they might ſue out their livery or ouſterlemain[1]; that is, the delivery of their lands out of their guardian's hands. For this they were obliged to pay a fine, namely, half a year's profits of the land; though this ſeems expreſſly contrary to magna carta[2]. However, in conſideration of their lands having been ſo long in ward, they were excuſed all reliefs, and the king's tenants alſo all primer ſeiſins[3]. In order to aſcertain the profits that aroſe to the crown by theſe fruits of tenure, and to grant the heir his livery, the itinerant juſtices, or juſtices in eyre, had it formerly in charge to make inquiſition concerning them by a jury of the county[4], commonly called an inquiſitio poſt mortem; which was inſtituted to enquire (at the death of any man of fortune) the value of his eſtate, the tenure
