8. Succession, is where a chattel interest is given to cor pot ations aggregate of many, as dean and chapter, mayor and commonalty ; in which one body of men may, by suc ceeding another body, acquire a property in all the move ables of the corporations ; for in the judgment of law a cor poration never dies. And in sole corporations which re present a number of persons, as the master of an hospital, &c. they have the same power as corporations aggregate, to take personal property or chattels in succession. But in sole corporations which represent no others than them selves, as bishops, parsons, and the like, no chattel interest can regularly go in succession; and, therefore, if a lease for years be made to the bishop of Oxford and his succes sors, in such case his executors or administrators, and not his successors, shall have it.
9. Custom is the acquiring property by the custom or local usage of some .particular place; as in the case of, 1. Heriots, which are a customary tribute of goods and chat tels, payable to the lord of the lee on the decease of the owner of the land. 2. Mortuaries, which are a sort of ec clesiastical heriots, being a customary gift due to the minis ter in many parishes on the death of his parishioners, now regulated by statute. 3. Heirlooms, which are personal chattels, that, contrary to the nature of chattels, descend by special custom to the heir, along with the inheritance, and are in general such things as cannot be taken away without dismembering the freehold.
10. By marriage.—The chattels of the wife are vested in the husband, in the same degree of property, and with the same powers, as the wife (when sole) had over them, pro vided he reduces them to possession, by exercising some act of ownership. In real estates, he only gains a title to the rents and profits during ':overture, (unless he takes them afterwards also by the curtesy.) but in the case of a chattel real, as a lease for years, the husband shall receive the rents and profits of it, and may sell, surrender, or dis pose of it during coverture. If he survive his wife, such chattels are to all intents and purposes his own. Yet if he has made no disposition. thereof in his lifetime, and dies be fore his wife, he cannot dispose of them by will, but they shall remain in her possession. So also in closes in action ; as debt upon bond, contracts, &c. these the husband can not have, unless he reduce them to possession ; but in case the husband survive the wife, the law is very different with respect to chattels real and choses in action ; for he shall have the chattels real by survivorship, but not chases in action.
II. Forfeiture.—The forfeiture of goods and chattels takes place upon conviction of the following crimes: 1. High treason, or misprision of treason. 2. Petit treason. 3. Fe lony in general, including felo de se. 4. Manslaughter. 5. By conviction of excusable homicide. 6. By outlawry for treason or felony. 7. By conviction orpetit larceny. By flight in treason or felony, even though the party be alter wards acquitted of the fact. 9 13y standing mute when ar raigned of felony. 10 By drawing a weapon on a judge, or striking any one in the presence of the king's courts. By prcemunire. 11. By pretended prophecies, upon a second conviction. 13. By owling, (,xporiing wool.) 14. By ar tifictrs residing abroad. 15 By challenging to fight on ac count of money lost or won at gaming. All these forfei tures commence from the time of conviction, and not from the time of committing the fact, as in forfeitures of real property. Yet a fraudulent conveyance of them, to defeat the interest of the crown, is made void by statute 13. E. c. 5.
12. Judgment.—By judgment consequent on a suit at law, a man may not only recover, but may also originally acquire a right to personal property ; as where a man agrees to buy a horse at a stated sum, the vendor, or per son selling, has a right to the sum agreed upon as soon as the contract is made; and the la w gives him a remedy by which he may recover the possession of that right. In popular actions, commenced to recover penalties given by particular statutes to those who will sue for them, no one has an acquired right, but may originally acquire a right to the penal sum in question, on judgment ; and it it is not in the power of the crown to release an informer's interest whenever he has begun such suit.
13. Grant.—A grant or gilt is a voluntary conveyance of a chattel personal in possess on, without any, or mere ly.a nominal, consideration, as five shillings ; and in leases by always reserving a rent, though it be but a pepper corn ; any of which considerations will convert the gift mote properly into a grant These gifts or grants may be made either in writing or by word of mouth, attested by sufficient evidence, of which delivery of possession is the strongest and most essential proof : but such deeds of gift made to the use of the owner ore void ; and if made to any other person, with intent to de fraud creditors, are also void.