MORTMAIN, moreman, in English law, lands held by a corporation were said to be held in mortmain (mortua moms, by dead hand), because they were then not alienable. The expression has particular reference to es tates held by religious and eleemosynary cor porations in England. At one time half the land in England was vested in religious houses. As early as 1279 the English Parliament began to deal with the evils arising from the transfer of lands to religious corporations; the lords of the soil were deprived of escheats or other feudal profits: "a dead hand yieldeth no serv ice." In 1736 by the Mortmain Act the power of devising land by will to charitable purposes was destroyed. The law on this subject was consolidated by the Mortmain and Charitable Uses Act (1888), under which no bequest for a charitable purpose was to involve the ac quisition of land. The Act of 1891 enacted that land may be devoted to any charitable use, but it must be sold within a year from the tes tator's death, unless the time be extended by certain authorities. It also permits the acquire
ment of land directed to be acquired for a charity if the court or the charity commission ers consent. A large number of acts from 1841 onward have exempted from mortmain restric tions land bequeathed for school sites, burial places, places of worship, literary and scientific institutions, public parks, but maximum limits are imposed in several cases.
The old English statutes of mortmain have not been regarded as in force in the United States except in Pennsylvania, where the dedi cation of property to superstitious uses, and grants to a corporation without statutory li cense, are forbidden. In some States the right of religious corporations to hold land, and the power to make, devise or bequeath land to religious societies or charitable purposes, is restricted.