particular estate in the same lands. In other words, the estate left after the termination of a life estate or an estate for years in a given tract of land, is a reversion, and the estate arises by operation of law and not by deed or will, and it is in this that it differs from a remainder, which can only be limited by deed or will.2 The reversioner has the next right to the land, after the tenant of the term is through with the land, hence the reference to the kingdom, as vested in Bolingbroke, in reversion, and the reference to him as "our subjects next degree of hope." Sec. 194. Waste upon real estate.— "Gaunt. A thousand flatterers sit within thy crown, Whose compass is no bigger than thy head; And yet, encaged in so small a verge, The waste is no whit lesser than the land." Waste is any damage or act which injures the inheritance of real estate done by a tenant for life or years, to the 1 Tiedeman, R. P. (3d ed.), sec. 291. 22 Bl. Comm. 175; 4 Kent's Comm. 349. In King Richard II, the Queen said to Bushy: "Queen. 'Tis nothing less: conceit is still deriv'd From some forefather grief; mine is not so; For nothing hath begot my something grief; Or something hath the nothing that I grieve; 'Tis in reversion that I do possess." (Act II, Scene II.) Douglas said to Hotspur, in 1' Henry IV: "Doug. 'Faith and so we should Where now remains a sweet reversion." Scene I.) (Act IV, In Troilus and Cressida, Troilus speaks of Perfection in reversion, as follows: “Tro. . . . Praise us as we are tasted, allow us as we prove; our head shall go bare, till merit crown it; no perfection in reversion shall have a praise in present; we will not name desert, before his birth, and, being born his addition shall be humble." (Act III, Scene II.) Richard II, Act II, Scene I. 3 prejudice of the reversioner or heir.1 A tenant who cuts down trees, without the consent of his landlord, or reversioner,2 or one who opens mines, or commits such like acts of injury to the inheritance, is held to commit. waste thereon. Gaunt meant to tell the King that in seeking loans from the rich nobles of the realm and granting them concessions therefor, he had wasted the realm, as it were, for waste may be permissive, as well as otherwise and the damage is just as great. not king: Landlord of England art thou now, Thy state of law is bondslave to the law."4 Landlord, in its popular meaning, is a term applied to one who owns lands and rents them out to others. In the strictly legal sense, at ancient common law, it was used to indicate the lord or proprietor of the land who, under the feudal system retained the right of absolute property in the soil, or who had the fee of the land, while his grantee only took the right of possession." Gaunt here accuses the king of being merely the lord paramount or proprietor of the kingdom, not its king, in the true sense, and leaves the impression that his subjects are but little better than vassals, who only have the right of possession of the soil, a condition that has subverted the law. Sec. 196. "Gaunt. Lease-Tenement. dear land, This land of such dear souls, this dear, Dear for her reputation through the world, 1 Tiedeman, R. P. (3d ed.). 2 Tiedeman, R. P. (3d ed.). "White, Mines & Mining Remedies. 'Richard II, Act II, Scene I. Coke, Litt. 46a; Taylor, Land & Ten., sec. 25. Is now leased out (I die pronouncing it,) A lease is a written contract whereby the possession and profits of lands, or of some produce therefrom, is granted either for life or a fixed term of years, or during the pleasure of the parties.2 A tenement in the law of real property, is anything of a permanent nature, which may be holden, as a house or homestead. A pelting-farm, was a farm yielding wool, from the skin or pelt of sheep or rams, hence was about the lowest order of tenements or farms leased at that day and time. In comparing the kingdom, which was being let or demised, to such a leasehold, the dying Gaunt clearly expresses his condemnation for the course pursued by the king. Sec. 197. Possessed. “K. Rich. arge, And for these great affairs do ask some Towards our assistance, we do seize to us Whereof our uncle Gaunt did stand possess'd." A possessor, in the law of real property, is one who holds, detains or enjoys such property under a claim there Richard II, Act II, Scene I. 25 Coke, 23b; Coke, Litt. 57, a. Coke, Litt. 6a; Bl. Comm. 17; Tiedeman, R. P. (3d ed.), sec. 6. Gaunt further on, tells King Richard: "Gaunt. . . Why, cousin, wert thou regent of the world, It were a shame to let this land by lease." (King Richard II, Act II, Scene I.) In The Rape of Lucrece, the Poet said: "O, let it not be hild, Poor women's faults, that they are so fulfill'd 4 Richard II, Act II, Scene I. (1257, 1260.) to. In the law of real property the possessor thereof has the right to receive the profits, until a better adverse title has been established to such land, and this right is the right asserted by the king, as an incident to his possession, resulting from the confiscation of the property whereof his uncle Gaunt, "did stand possess'd." Sec. 198. Royalties. "York. hands, Seek you to seize and gripe into your The royalties and rights of banish'd Hereford? A royalty, in the law of landlord and tenant, is a share of the product or profits of land, as part of the output from a mine, reserved, by way of a rental, by the owner of the land for permitting another to use and enjoy it1 The duke of York here contends for the right of descent, recognized by the English law and of the right of Bolingbroke, as the heir to his deceased father, to inherit his land. It is presented, that there was no disloyalty, or attainder, which would destroy the right of descent, but both the ancestor and the heir were loyal subjects, which would give the heir a right of inheritance. 12 Bl. Comm. 116. 2 King Richard II, Act II, Scene I. 3 " White, Mines and Mining Remedies, Chapter 12. Coke, Litt. 46b; 202a; Tiedeman, R. P. (3d ed.), Speaking, to King Richard II, of the object of Bolingbroke's return, the Earl of Northumberland, said: "North. His coming hither hath no further scope, Than for his lineal royalties, and to beg, (Act III Scene III.) Sec. 199.-Attorneys-General. "York... rights, If you do wrongfully seize Hereford's Call in the letters-patents that he hath By his attorneys-general to sue His livery, and deny his offer'd homage, You pluck a thousand dangers on your head." An attorney-general is one elected or appointed to attend to all legal affairs of a state, nation or kingdom, with general authority in the premises, in all legal affairs.2 The King, at English law, is the Lord paramount in whom abides the superior title to land and all citizens hold under him, in legal contemplation, in their estates, or ownership. At feudal periods, when the owner died, his adult heirs, had to "sue livery," or claim a delivery to himself, as heirs of the father, of the land of which the latter died siezed. And this is the process that Shakespeare refers to in these lines, which the duke of York declares ought to be recognized, by the King. Sec. 200. "York. Letters-patent. rights, If you do wrongfully seize Hereford's Call in the letters patent that he hath By his attorney-general to sue His livery, and deny his offer'd homage, You pluck a thousand dangers on your head."5 Letters-patent are so called, because they are not sealed up, but are granted open. They are letters from the Government or its representative, to convey the right to the patentee, as a patent for a tract of land, or to secure him a right that he already possessed, as a patent for a new invention or discovery. Letters patent are generally 1 King Richard II, Act II, Scene I. 2 Bouvier's Law Dictionary. Tiedeman R. P. (3d. ed.). 4 Malone, Rolfe's Richard II, p. 194, notes. King Richard II, Act II, Scene I. |