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Indiana University Studies 
land was the Criminal Law Consolidation Acts of 1861, but 
even these left most of the old common law definitions un- 
touched. Treason was cut down to offenses against the per- 
sons of the sovereign. Criminal defamatory libel was modi- 
fied by Lord Campbell’s Act of 1843, which made truth a 
defense. Some of the states of the Union have abolished 
common law crimes, and most of them have adopted penal 
codes, which for the most part are mere codifications of the 
common law. The federal government has no common law 
crimes. 
Real Property. The Fines and Recoveries Act of 1833 sub- 
stituted simple disentailing assurances for collusive suits. The 
Prescription Act of 1832 substituted brief periods for time 
immemorial in case of profits and easements, and the Limi- 
tation Act of 1833 vested title after twenty years from the 
time claims became vested. By the Dower Act of 1833 the 
wife became entitled to dower out of equitable as well as 
legal estates, but only in lands to which the husband was 
entitled at death and of which he died intestate. The Inheri- 
tance Act of 1833 permitted the ancestor and relatives of 
the half-blood to inherit. The Real Property Act of 1845 
practically abolished feoffment by livery, almost obsolete for 
two centuries, and substituted for it a deed of grant. The 
Wills Act of 1857 required all wills to be in writing, those re- 
lating to personalty as well as those relating to land, and 
provided that all wills should speak as from the testator’s 
death, so as to include all property of which he died possessed. 
Corporations. In 1844 companies were allowed to obtain a 
certificate of incorporation without applying to Parliament 
for a charter, and an act of 1855 permitted registry with lim- 
ited liability of members. In the United States, New York 
passed the first general religious incorporation act in 1784. 
This privilege was extended to manufacturers and bankers 
in 1811, and made a general policy in 1850. In England, 
railway companies still require an act of Parliament for their 
creation. 
Agency. The law of representation developed so as to make 
the principal liable for the acts of the agent within the scope 
of his authority, and the master liable for the acts of the 
servant within the course of his employment. 
