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I RECI TATI\ O, or Recitative, in mu- 
le, a kind of singing, that differs but little 
•o.n ordinary pronunciation, such as that in 
Il'ich the several parts of the liturgv are re- 
parsed in cathedrals; or that in which the 
fetors commonly deliver themselves on the 
heatre at the opera, when they are to express 
jome action or passion, to relate some event, 
F reveal some design. Notwithstanding this 
ort of composition is noted in true time, the 
»er;brmer is at liberty to alter the bars of 
treasure, and make some long and others 
port, as his subject requires; hence the 
borough -bass to the recitative is usually 
faced below the other, to the end that he, 
dio is to accompany the voice, may rather 
bserve and follow the singer, than the person 
hat beats the time. 
RECKONING, or a Ship’s Reckon- 
ing, in navigation, is that account by which 
t anytime it may be known where the ship 
and on what course or courses she is to 
teer in order to gain her port ; and that ac- 
cent taken lrom the log-board is called the 
ead-reckoning. See Navigation. 
RECL1XER, or Reclining diae. See 
Dialling. 
R ECO aN IS ANCE, is an obligation of 
|cord, wnich a man enters into before some 
ourt of record, or magistrate duly autho- 
red, with condition to some particular act; 
| to appear at the assize* or quarter-sessions, 
) keep the peace, &c. 
j RECOIL,^ or Rebound, the starting back- 
jard of a fire-arm, after an explosion. Mer- 
innus tells us, that a cannon 1 ‘2 feet in leno-th, 
■jeighing 64001b. gives a ball of 24 lb. an uni- 
fn» velocity of 640 feet per second. Putting 
jerefore, W — 6400, w = 24, V =: 640, and 
j ~ die velocity with which the cannon re- 
j»Is i we shall have (because the momenta of 
ic cannon and ball are equal) Wv = : and 
wv _ 24 X 64 
w ~ 6400 — 2 > 4 
that is, it 
ould recoil at the rate of 2 T 4 ^ feet per second* 
j tree to move. 
I RECORD. An act committed to writing 
fany of the king’s courts, during the term 
jheiein it is written, is alterable, being no 
jeord ; but that term once ended, and the act 
|ly. enrolled, it is a record, and of that 
fedit which admits of no alteration or proof 
j the contrary. 
[RECORDAR E facias, a writ directed to 
F sheriff, to remove a cause out of an in- 
rior court, into the king’s-bench or common- 
leas. 
[RECORDER, a person whom the mayor 
id other magistrates of a city or corporation 
pociate to them, for their better direction in 
fitters of justice, and proceedings in law; 
j which account this person is generally a 
lunsellor, or other person well skilled in the 
vv. i he recorder of London is chosen by 
|e lord-mayor and aldermen ; and, as he is 
-Id to be the mouth of the city, he delivers 
e judgment of the courts, and* records and 
irtities the city customs. 
II ECO \ Elli , in law, is obtaining any 
fug by judgment or trial at law. 
A recovery resembles a tine so far as being 
[action real or fictitious, and in that lands 
| i 
EEC 
are recovered against the tenant of the free- 
hold, and an absolute fee-simple is vested in 
the recoverer; but it is carried on through 
every stage of proceeding, instead of being 
compromised like a line. See Fine. 
i I h>s invention we owe to the ingenuity of 
the ecclesiastics, to evade the statute of mort- 
main, which prohibited them from purchasing 
or receiving, under pretence of a free gift, 
any lands or tenements whatsoever ; and as 
judgment w as given for religious houses, they 
were presumed to have recovered the lands 
by sentence of law, on a supposed prior title, 
and were held not to come within the statute! 
1 he convenience of those recoveries was soon 
discovered, and made use of by lay persons 
as a common mode of transferring lands; 
but the want of moderation en the part of the 
ecclesiastics, in their frequent recourse to 
feigned recoveries, was such as to call for 
parliamentary interference, and gave rise to 
the act in the reign of Edward the First, called 
the statute of Westminster; which enacts, 
that in all cases where ecclesiastical persons 
recovered lands by default, a jury should try 
the right ; and if the demandants w ere found 
to have no title, the land should be forfeited 
to the lord of the fee, according to the statute 
of mortmain. 
Tins act threw the recoveries into disuse, 
till they were resumed as a mode of evading 
the strictness of the statute tie donis con- 
ditionalibus, which lays a general restraint 
on alienation. The people made many at- 
tempts to procure a repeal of this statute, 
but iii vain; but as the inconveniences were 
manifest, the judges always endeavoured to 
contrive means ot evading it; and it was de- 
cided in a case in the reign of Edward IV. 
that a common recovery suffered by a tenant 
intail, should operate as an effectual bar to 
his estate tail, and to all remainders and rever- 
sions depending thereon; by which means 
tenants in tail are now enabled to dispose of 
their estates, or convert them into estates in 
fee-simple; and it may be suffered of all 
things, whereof a writ of covenant mav be 
brought for the purpose of levying a fine. 
There are three persons required to form 
a recovery ; the demandant, tenant, and 
vouchee. The demandant is he who brings 
the writ of entry; the tenant is he against 
whom the writ is brought ; and the vouchee is 
he whom the tenant vouches and calls to 
warranty; but this may be better understood 
by supposing John Jacobs to be tenant of the 
freehold, and desirous of suffering a recovery 
to cut off all entails and reversions, and to con- 
vey the estate in fee-simple to James Jenkins. 
Jenkins sues out a v l it of precipe quod reddat, 
as in the case of a fine, and charges that the 
defendant has no title, but came into pos- 
session after Hugh Hunt had turned the 
plaintiff out of it. The proceedings are made 
upon the recovery-roll, in which the writ and 
complaint of the demandant are recited ; the 
tenant then appears and calls upon one 
Charles Browning, who is supposed at the 
original purchase to have warranted the title 
to the tenant, and who is denominated the 
vouchee: the vouchee then appears, is im- 
pleaded, and defends the the title. Jenkins, 
the demandant, craves leave to imparl, which 
is granted ; the plaintiff then returns into 
court, but the vouchee disappears and makes 
default; judgment is of course given for Jen- 
kins, and Jacobs is to recover the value of the 
4A2 .1 
R E c 555 
land from Charles Browning, as he lost them 
through his default. But on. enquiry, it is 
always found that Browning (who is merely 
an officer of the court, and denominated the 
common vouchee, from being always vouch- 
(A.l), has no kinds, so that Jacobs, now called 
the u co vice, lias but a nominal recomper.ee; 
and the plaintiff, who is now recoverer, has 
the lands vested in him by judgment of the 
court, and Seisin delivered by the sheriff. 
A lecovery is sometimes with double or 
ticble voucher, or even more if necessary. 
And, indeed, a double voucher is the most 
common, by first conveying an estate to any 
t u i i cl person, against whom the writ is issued, 
lie then vouches the tenant in tail who 
vouches over the common vouchee; for if 
tne recovery is had immediately against the 
tenant in tail, it bars only such estate in 
the pi anises of which he is then actually 
seized ; but if the recovery is had against a 
third person, and the tenant in tail is the first 
vouchee, it bars every latent right and in- 
terest which he may ‘have in the lands re- 
coveied. If an infant suffers a recovery in. 
person, he may reverse if, but then the L r i t 
of error must be brought during his minority. 
Sometimes, though but seldom, the court 
pei nr its the infant to appear by guardian, 
where the recovery is of manifest advantage 
to the infant ; and when this has been allowed 
by the judges, the infant cannot set it aside; 
but if it is to the prejudice of the infant, he 
has a remedy by action against the guardian. 
1 Ins appears from several cases. If the in- 
fant appears by attorney, he may reverse the 
lecovei v aftei he is of age, because it may he 
here discovered by trial whether the warrant 
of attorney was made by him while an in- 
iai;t. A married woman joining with her 
husband in suffering a recovery, will bar her 
remainder ; because as she is examined pri- 
vately as to her consent, it takes away die 
presumption in law that it is done by the 
compulsion of her husband. 
All persons have power to suffer a recovery 
except the king (for if he does, he must either 
be tenant or vouchee, and in both cases the 
plaintiff must count against him, which the 
law does not allow), infants, persons non 
compos, and women who are possessed of 
dower; who are prohibited by the statute of 
1 1 Henry VII. c. 20, which enacts that a re- 
covery suffered by any woman of lands set- 
tled on her by her husband, or settled on her 
husband and her by any of his ancestors, shall 
be void. 
I he effect of common recoveries may 
appear to be an absolute bar not only of ail 
estates tail, but of remainders and reversions 
expectant on the determination of such 
estates. So that a tenant in tail may convey 
lands in tail to the recoverer, free* and dis- 
chaiged of all conditions and appointments in 
tail, and of all remainders and reversions. But 
as is before mentioned, a woman possessed of 
dower is prevented by the statute ; and by 
the statute ot 1 1 Eliz. c. 8, no tenant for life 
of any sort can suffer a recovery, so as to bind 
them in remainder or reversion. Koc which 
reason, if there is a tenant for life with re- 
mainder in tail, and other remainders over 
and the tenant for life is desirous to suffer a 
valid recovery, either he or the tenant to the 
Precipe must vouch the remainder-man in 
tail. It is an essential part of a recovery that 
the tenant to the precipe should be actually 
