ecute it, acknowledged by a proper person, and recorded in the public registry. Every deed conveying real estate, though it is, when duly executed, binding as between the parties, is nevertheless void as against any person who may subsequently purchase the conveyed estate in good faith, and for a valuable consideration, and whose deed shall be first recorded. Deeds, mortgages, and other se curities in the nature of mortgages, are recorded by the clerks of the several counties, in books provided for that purpose.

of

A mortgage is the conveyance of an estate, by way pledge for the security of debt, and to become void on the payment of it. The condition upon which the land is conveyed is usually inserted in the deed of conveyance, but the defeasance may be contained in a separate instrument; and if the deed be absolute in the first instance, and the defeasance be executed subsequently, it will relate back to the date of the principal deed, and connect itself with it, so as to render it a security in the nature of a mortgage. In order, however, to render the deed a security against subsequent purchasers and mortgagees, the deed and defeasance should be recorded together. An omission to have the defeasance registered, would make the estate, which was conditional between the parties, absolute against every person but the original parties and their heirs.

The

practice of placing the conveyance in fee, and the condition or defeasance which is to qualify it, in separate instruments, is liable to accidents and abuse, and injury to the mortgagor, and should be discouraged.

If the condition of a mortgage has been satisfied, the person in whose custody it may be, shall cause it to be discharged, whenever there shall be presented to him a

What is a mortgage? How is it conditioned? When the condition is fulfilled, what is done?

certificate, signed by the mortgagee, acknowledged or proved, and certified as the law prescribes to entitle conveyances to be recorded, specifying that the mortgage has been paid. And every certificate of discharge shall be recorded.

When a deed or mortgage has been executed, and before it shall be recorded, the party executing it acknowledges before a commissioner of deeds, (of whom there are four appointed in each town by the board of supervisors and county judges,) that he did execute the deed; and the commissioner subscribes a certificate of the acknowledgment on the margin or back of the instrument. Judg es of the several courts of the state, are also authorized to take such acknowledgments. If a married woman signs a deed, the acknowldgment must be made to the commissioner, apart from her husband, that she executed the same freely, and without compulsion from her husband, If any married woman refuses to execute a conveyance, she retains her estate in dower, against any per on claiming the conveyed premises.

Personal property is divided into chattels real and personal. Chattels real concern the realty, as a lease for years of land; and the duration of the time is immaterial. It is only personal estate, if it be for a thousand years. There are, also, many chattels which, though of a moveable nature, yet, being attached to the freehold, and contributing to its value and enjoyment, go with it; as the shelves and fixtures in a house, and the posts and rails of an enclosure. But many things are now treated as personal property which seem, in a degree, to be attached to the freehold. It is a general rule, that things which a

What is essential to a deed before it is recorded? By whom is it acknowledged? How are commissioners of deeds appointed? What are chattels real? What chattels attached to a freehold are mova.

tenant has fixed to the freehold, for the purposes of trade or manufactures, may be removed, when the removal does not cause any material injury to the estate. Thus, fats, coppers, tubs and partitions, belonging to a soap boiler, have been removed. Chimney pieces, and even wainscot, put up by a tenant; or a cider mill and press erected by him, may be removed, if it can be done without material injury to the freehold. On the other hand, iron stoves, fixed to the brickwork of the chimneys of a house, have been adjudged to pass with the house, as a part of the freehold. The right of removal depends upon the mode. of annexation of the article, and the effect which its removal would have upon the premises.

A title to personal property may be acquired in various ways. A person has a right to all that his property produces. Such are the fruits of the earth, the increase of animals, and the increase of stock invested in trade or manufactures. Property is also acquired by one's own act and power; as his literary property, consisting of maps, writings and books, mechanical inventions, produced by his intellectual and manual labor. Goods and chattels are obtained also by transfer by act of law; as by judgment on a recovery by law in an action of trespass or trover; and by gift, which, in some cases, gives a valid title.

To give validity to a gift, there must be a delivery, at least so far as the subject is capable of delivery: if the thing cannot be delivered, there must be an act equivalent to it. The donor must part with both the possession and dominion of the property. If the thing given be a chose in action, the law requires an assignment, and the transfer must be actually executed. And gifts of goods and.

ble? What are not? How is title to personal property acquired?, How are gifts rendered valid? What is a contract? When is it

chattels, as well as of lands, made with intent to delay and defraud creditors, are void, as against the person to whom the fraud would be prejudicial.

Contract of Sale. A contract is an agreement between two or more persons by which the parties agree to do, or not to do, a particular thing. Contracts are executory when the stipulations remain to be executed; or when one party agrees to sell and deliver at a future time, for a stipulated price, and the other agrees to accept and pay. Contracts are express or implied. They are express, when parties contract in express words or by writing; and implied, when an act has been done which shows that the parties must have intended to contract: Thus, if a person employs another to do some service, it is presumed that the party employing intended to pay for the labor performed. To render a contract binding, there must be a legal consideration: something must have been paid or something given or done, as an inducement to the fulfilment of the contract. A contract to be valid, requires, (1.) that the thing sold has actual existence, and is capable of delivery; (2) that a price must be fixed, or susceptible of being ascertained without further negotiation between the parties; and, (3.) that there be a mutual consent of the parties to the contract, which is binding when a proposition made by one party is accepted by the

other.

In the sale of a chattel, as one's own property, if the possession be at the time in another, and there be no covenant or warranty of title, the party buys at his peril. But if the seller has possession of the article, and he sells it as his own property, he is understood to warrant the

executory? When is it express? When implied? What things are requisite to the validity of a contract? What constitutes a warranty of title? What is the law concerning the disclosure of

title. A fair price implies a warranty of title. With regard to the quality of the thing sold, the seller is not bound to make good any deficiency, unless he expressly warranted the goods to be sound and good, or unless he made a fraudulent representation concerning them. But a moral obligation rests on every person knowingly to conceal no fault in any article he sells. And if there be an intentional concealment or suppression by one party of a material fact, in a case wherein the other has not equal access to means of information, the contract is void. But when both have equal means of information, and neither says nor does anything to impose on the other, a disclosure of facts is not necessary to make the contract valid.

When the terms of sale are agreed on, and the bargain is struck, the contract is absolute without the actual delivery, and the property and the risk of accident to the goods, vest in the buyer. He is entitled to the goods on payment or tender of the price, and not otherwise, when nothing is said at the sale as to the time of delivery or the time of payment; for, though the vendee acquires the right of property by the contract of sale, he does not acquire the right of possession, until he pays or tenders the price. But if the goods are sold upon credit, and nothing is said as to the time of delivering the goods, the vendee is immediately entitled to the possession. To make a contract of sale valid, there must be a delivery, or tender of it, or payment, or tender of payment, an carnest given, or a memorandum in writing signed by, the party to be charged; and if nothing of this kind takes place, it is no contract, and the owner may dispose of his goods as he pleas

es.

defects in goods sold? When is the seller obliged to deliver goods sold? When does the buyer's right of property commence? When the right of possession?