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FEO 
pelled to assist their lord, whether his mis- 
fortunes were caused by extravagance, or 
losses by war. 
The incident of escheat has been already 
noticed, and took place upon the default of 
tlr* vassal in his customary service. 
It will be observed, that this system de- 
pended solely on high conceptions of ho- 
nour, while the chief made it apparent that 
he gloried in the fidelity and happiness of 
his vassals, they felt equal pride in support- 
ing his splendor, and in endeavouring to 
elevate his consequence beyond that of his 
neighbour; but when the lord ceased to 
value the lives and property of his vassals, 
and made both subservient to purposes of 
mere ambition and avarice, the feodal sys- 
tem began to tremble to its base; wardship 
instead of being as before mutually advan- 
tageous, was then rendered the means of 
filling the coffers of the lord, and the ward 
was sometimes ransomed to prevent worse 
consequences : the result is obvious, the 
vassals received their inheritance almost ex- 
hausted, and viewed the incidents as so 
many lawless exactions, by which they 
might be stripped of large sums in reliefs, 
married to whom the lord pleased, purchase 
the freedom of marrying, or lose his land 
if he did neither. The aid which had been 
given as a tribute of gratitude on the mar- 
riage of the eldest daughter of the chief ; 
when his heir received the distinction of 
knighthood; or when the lord was made 
prisoner, was demanded as a tax on the 
most tiivial pretences; nor were escheats 
confined to real causes of forfeiture ; on the 
contrary, every venial offence, entirely 
out of contemplation in the original com- 
pact, was converted into a crime, and pro- 
nounced just reasons for seizure. In this 
wretched situation, disheartened by op- 
pression, and unable to resist without virtu- 
ally resigning the whole of their property, 
by that single act the vassals shrunk from 
the firm attitude they had assumed in bat- 
tle, when fighting by the side of a generous 
chief into the inertness of slaves, who, 
burning with secret hatred, often com- 
mitted military errors purposely, equally 
involving their sovereigns and their own 
safety ; from this cause knights’ service had 
its origin. See Knight service. 
FEOFFMENT, in law, may be defined 
to be the gift of any corporeal purditament 
to another. He that so gives or enfeoffs is 
called the feoffer ; and the person enfeoffed 
is denominated the feoffee. But by the 
mere words of the deed the feoffment is by 
FER 
no means perfected. There remains a very 
material ceremony to be performed, called 
livery of seisin, without which the feoffee 
hath but a mere estate at will. Livery in 
deed is the actual tradition of the land, and 
is made either by the delivery of a branch of 
a tree or a turf of the land, or some other 
thing, in the name of all the lands and 
tenements contained in the deed ; and it 
may be made by words only, without the 
delivery of any thing, as if the feoffer upon 
the land, or at the door of the house, says 
to the feoffee, “ I am content that you 
should enjoy this land according to the 
deed.” This is a good livery to pass the 
freehold. The livery within view', or the 
livery in law, is when the feoffer is not ac- 
tually on the land, or in the house, but 
being in sight of it, says to the feoffee, 
“ I give you yonder house, or land, go and 
enter into the same, and take possession of 
it accordingly:” This livery in law cannot 
be given or received by an attorney, as 
livery in deed may ; but only by the par- 
ties themselves. A feoffment cannot be 
made of a thing of which livery cannot be 
given, as of incorporeal inheritances, such 
as rent, advowson, common, &c. Though 
it be an advowson, &c. in gross. A man 
may either give or receive livery in deed, 
by letter of attorney ; for since a contract 
is no more than the consent of a man’s mind 
to a thing, where that consent or concur- 
rence appears, it were most unreasonable to 
oblige each person to be present at the 
execution of the contract, since it may as 
well be performed by any other person de- 
legated for that purpose, by the parties to 
the contract. 
FEE/E, in natural history, an order of 
quadrupeds, of which the distinguishing 
characters are, fore-teeth conic, usually six 
in each jaw ; tusks longer ; grinders with 
conic projections ; feet with claws ; claws 
subulate ; food carcases and preying on 
other animals : this order comprehends the 
following genera : 
Canis, 
Phoca, 
Didelpliis, 
Sorex, 
Erinaceus, 
Talpa, 
Felis, 
Viverra, 
Mustela, 
Ursus, 
which see. 
FERE natura. Animals ferae naturm, 
of a wild nature, are those in which a man 
hath not an absolute, but only a qualified 
and limited property, which sometimes 
subsists, and at other times doth not sub- 
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