ON THS XMyLUBNCB OF FEUDALISM. 49 



son, and all the tenures of the king in capite, he likewise taken 

 away, and that all sorts of tenures held of the king or others be 

 turned into free or common socage, save only tenures in frankalmoign* 

 copyholds, and the honorary services (without the slavish part) of 

 grand seijeanty ; from which it will be perceived thatall land was then 

 to be held (and it has ever since been held) as of free and common 

 socage tenure, and the three excepted tenures. Socage was an 

 ancient free tenure, of feudal origin, even in the time of the Saxons, 

 whereby lands were holden of a lord (without military service), but 

 under certain free and honourable services — such as render of 

 homage, fealty, or small money payments ; in short, it is the tenure 

 by which every freeholder now holds his lands. But time has dis- 

 pensed with the necessity for any real services at all. Similar feudal 

 incidents were annexed to this species of tenure as to those of knights' 

 service, but all of them are by the statute of Charles abolished, ex- 

 cept the following — the holding of the land either of the king as lord 

 paramount, or sometimes in manors of a mesne or mediate lord ; the 

 implied render o{ fealty to that lord, even at this day ; the payment 

 of a relief or sum of money on the assumption of an inheritance when 

 a rent is due to the lord ; wardship, or the devolution of the custody 

 of the person and estate of an infant heir to his next of kin (not his 

 or her heir-at-law) until he or she attain the age of fourteen; and 

 escheats, or the absolute forfeiture or resumption of the estate (pur- 

 suant to the original, or supposed original, nature of that estate) to the 

 king or lord, on the corruption of the blood of the tenant (a free- 

 holder) by attainder for high treason, petit treason, or murder. 

 But these are not the only peculiarities of freeholds which remind 

 us of their feudal origin — in legal phrase, the freeholder is said to be 

 seised (i.e. possessed in estate after investiture, actual or presumed) 

 of the land or tenements in his demesne as of fee ; this word " fee " 

 being synonimous with " fief," a beneficiary grant of land, such as 

 it originally was. Until within a ver}^ modem period (and perhaps 

 even now, in some cases) a conveyance or purchase is made 

 " to him to hold of the chief lord of the fee;" and these words, chief 

 lord, are in express pursuance of the statute of Quia Emp tores 18 

 Edw. I. c. 1. The old mode of conveyance of freeholds is now often 



