Ity the statute 29 Charles II., e. 3, a. 4, certain forms were required in order to give effect to a sale of " lands, tenements, or hereditamenta, or any interest in or concerning them." Such forms are no part of the sale, which conaista in the consent of parties who are competent to consent, but the statute merely declares that such consent shall, in certain cases, have no legal effect, unless the prescribed forms are observed. if an agreement for sale has been made without the requisite formalities, and has been carried into effect in some material part, a court of equity will enforce the performance of the whole contract, on the ground that the informal contract, having been partly completed, is nut a rise within the statute. In all other cases, of con tracts as to interest. in land," the agreement, or some memorandum or note thereof, shall be in writing, and signed by the party to be charged therewith, or by seine other person thereunto by him lawfully authorised." The agreement binds the party who signs it, although it is not signed by the other party. No established form is requisite, and it is not necessary that the agreement should be contained in one instrument : it may be collected from a series of letters, or a written 'der followed by a written acceptance, or from documents referred to by a letter. The signature may be attached to any part of it. An agent may be appointed verbally, and the same person may act as agent for both parties to the sale. An auctioneer is such agent, and his writing down the name of the highest bidder in his book is a sufficient signature.
The law which relates to the construction of agreements for sale falls under the ordinary rules as to the construction of agreements generally. The same observation applies as to the remedies which parties possess for the enforcement of them. When the contract for the sale of an estate is completed, the estate is, in equity, considered to be and the buyer is viewed as the owner of the estate, and the seller as only a trustee for the buyer, while the buyer is considered as a trustee of the purchase-money for the seller. If, therefore, is party has contracted for the gale of an estate of inheritance, and die before payment of the purchase-money, the money will be considered as part of his personal estate, and his executors will be entitled to it. On the other hand, if the party who has contracted to buy the estate die before it is conveyed to him, his heir or devisee will be entitled to the estate, and the executors must pay the purchase-money out of the personal estate of the buyer, if they have sufficient assets. It is a con sequence of this equitable doctrine, that the buyer must, as &general rule, bear any loss which happens to the estate after the completion of the contract of sale. A person who has obtained such an equitable
ownership may deal with the property in all respects as if it were his own ; and such dealings, though not valid at law, are viewed as valid transactions in a court of equity.
With respect to sales of personal property, the common law required no formalities. The terms of sale might be agreed on either verbally or in writing ; and they might be proved by any evidence legally appli cable to the proof of other matters. Sales of goods made at one time, and not together exceeding in price 10/., still remain on this footing. By the same statute (29 Chas. IL, c. 3) which prescribed certain formalities in sales of land, it was enacted (s. I7) that "no contract for the sale of any goods, wares, and merchandise fur the price of 10/. sterling and upwards shall be allowed to be good except the buyer shall accept part of the goods so sold and actually receive the same or give something in earnest to bind the bargain, or in part payment, or that some note or memorandum in writing of the said bargain be made and signed by the parties to be charged by such contract or their agents thereunto lawfully authorised." By the 9 Geo. IV., c. 14, s. 7, the enactments of this act are extended to all contracts for the sale of goods of the value of 10/. sterling and upwards, notwithstanding the goods may be intended to be delivered at some future time, or may not at the time of the contract be actually made or fit for delivery. The statutory requisites are thus four in number : I. Delivery and receipt of part of the goods.
2. Payment of earnest, 3. Payment of part of the price.
4. A signature of a memorandum of the bargain by the party or his agent. By the performance of any one of these requisites the parties to the sale are bound.
If the goods themselves are delivered to the buyer himself and accepted by him, of course no question can arise as to the completion of the bargain. Where, however, the delivery is not to him personally, many cases of nicety occur as to whether or not a delivery has taken place, so as absolutely to vest the property of the goods in the buyer. A delivery which would be sufficient, if not afterwards interfered with by the seller, to accomplish the requisite of the statute, is complete as soon as the goods have been delivered to a carrier for the purpose of being conveyed to the buyer, even although the carrier has not been selected by the buyer. But during the course of actual transit to the place Indicated by the buyer to the seller as the place of destination, the goods are subject under certain circumstances to a right of the seller to detain them. This is called the right of stoppage in transitu, and the time and place when It co- sr late often a question of great nicety.