In witness whereof, the said parties have hereunto set their hands and seals, the day and year first above written.

That A. B. hereby leases to C. D., all that farm of land in the town of heretofore occupied by A. B. as a homestead, bounded and described as follows: [here insert boundaries and description,] containing

acres, more or less,

with the dwelling house, barns and other buildings thereon,

and the appurtenances thereto appertaining.

the

To be held by the said C. D. for the term of years, from day of next, he paying therefor rent as follows, to wit: for the dwelling house and buildings, • dollars per year, payable in four equal quarterly payments, the first payment to be on the day of next; and for the use of the land, one-third of the entire produce thereof, to be harvested by the said C. D. and delivered to the order of said A. B., at such place or places as he may direct, not more miles distant from said dwelling house.

than

Said C. D. agrees, that he will treat such premises in a husband-like manner; that he will expend the crops thereon, except the one-third to be delivered to the said A. B. as aforesaid; that he will not make or suffer any waste thereof, nor underlet the same, or any part thereof, without the consent of the lessor in writing; that he will pay all taxes levied upon said estate during said term; that he will deliver up possession of the said premises at the end of said term, or the earlier termination of this lease, in as good order and condition as the same are now in, or may be put in by said lessor, reasonable use and wear thereof, accidents by fire and

other casualties, happening without the fault of the lessee, excepted.

In witness whereof, said parties have hereto set their hands and seals, the day and year first above written.

Executed in presence of

A. B. [L. S.]

C. D. [L. S.]

[Should be acknowledged and recorded like a deed.]

16. LEASE FOR MINING PURPOSES.

This agreement, made the

between A. B. of

day of

A. D. 18

of the first part, and C. D. of of the second part, witnesseth:

That the party of the first part, in consideration of the agreements hereinafter contained, on the part of the party of the second part to be performed, hereby grants to said party of the second part and his assigns, the right to enter upon lands hereinafter described, and search for mineral and fossil materials, and to conduct mining and quarrying operations to any extent he or they may desire.

Said party of the second part is to pay for the land, upon which buildings necessary for his uses in the business aforesaid shall stand, a reasonable rent, and is to occupy the land for no other purpose than as aforesaid.

and are bounded and de

Said lands are located in scribed as follows: [here insert description.]

Said party of the second part hereby agrees to pay said party of the first part, his heirs or assigns, an annual rent of dollars, payable in four equal quarterly payments; the

first payment to be on the

day of

next: and also

agrees, that no unnecessary damage shall be done to said lands in conducting said operations.

This lease is to continue, the rent being paid as stipulated, and no unnecessary damage being done to the lands, for the full term of ten years from the

day of

next.

Provided, however, that unless mineral or fossil material,

of practical value for mining purposes, shall be found within two years from the date hereof, this lease may be terminated. by the lessee at any time thereafter, at three months' notice. Witness our hands and seals, the day and year first above written.

Executed in the presence of

A. B.

[L. S.]

C. D.

[L. S.]

[Should be acknowledged and recorded like a deed.]

CHAPTER XXXI.

OF EMINENT DOMAIN.

EVERY nation, and every independent State, has a full and complete right of property, to the exclusion of all other nations and States, in all the realty within its territorial limits, including not simply the public domain and property of the nation, but also the private property of individuals. As it relates to private property, this right of the public is called the right of eminent domain. It includes the right to tax, regulate, appropriate to public use upon payment of compensation, and without compensation whenever the owner has been guilty of acts of forfeiture.

It is a theory everywhere recognized, that rights of private property must be made subservient to the public interest and welfare. On this ground rest those rights of public convenience and necessity, which are the bases of all applications for the adverse appropriation of private property to the lay*ing out and use of highways, railways, canals, &c. A more doubtful application of the principle, but one which has been sustained in many of the States, has been made by what are called "mill-acts," by force of which individuals and corporations desiring to appropriate flowing water to the creation

power for manufacturing and mechanical purposes, &c., are permitted adversely to flow the lands of riparian proprietors above them, upon payment of compensation, to be ascertained in the manner pointed out by the statutes.

All private property is held subject to this right. Statutes are sometimes passed authorizing the blowing up or other destruction of buildings, in cases of emergency; as, to prevent the spread of a conflagration or of an epidemic. This

right is, however, one that exists at common law, without statute provisions, resting on the plea of necessity, and may be exercised by private individuals, as well as by municipal officers.

This right, and the remedy of a party injured to recover his damages, have been discussed in the following, among other cases. Mayor of New York vs. Lord, 17 Wend., 285; Stone vs. Mayor of New York, 25 Wend., 157; Surocco vs. Geary, 3 Cal., 69; American Print Works vs. Lawrence, 1 Zabr., 248; Hale vs. Lawrence, 1 Zabr., 714; 3 Zabr., 590.

Whether, in the absence of constitutional regulation, the owner of private property appropriated to public use is entitled to compensation, is not, as to all nations, universally agreed. But, in the United States, the Constitution specially provides, that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. There are similar provisions in the constitutions of most of the States of the Union. The mode of obtaining compensation in such cases is fixed by statute regulations, which provide some tribunal for the assessment of damages, before which each party may meet and discuss their claims on equal terms. If proceedings for the appropriation of private property be had, without such preliminary provisions for indemnity, an injunction will be issued, on application by the owner of the property. See Gardner vs. Newbury, 2 Johnson's Chan., 162; Henderson vs. New Orleans, 2 Louisiana, 416.

Whether a statute, which assumes to appropriate private property for public uses, will be held so absolutely void as that all persons acting under it will be rendered liable to parties, whose property they may injure or destroy, as trespassers, the authorities are not agreed. In cases in Massachusetts, arising under an unconstitutional liquor law, the officers destroying the property were held so liable. As a general rule, it must be left to the discretion of the legislature, to determine what are such public uses as authorize the appropriation of private property: but, in cases in which the legislature should attempt to take the property of A. and give it to B.; or, if they should vacate a grant or a fran