846 E N T R Y. 
fame effeft with, and in all refpefls amounts to, a legal 
entry. Ibid. § 419. See the article Claim. Such an en¬ 
try gives a man feifin; or puts into immediate pofleftion, 
him that hath right of entry on the eftate; and thereby 
makes him complete owner, and capable of conveying it 
from himfelf by either defcent or purchafe. Co. Lit. 15. 
This remedy by entry takes place in three only of the 
five fpecies of oufler, viz. abatement, intrufion, and 
difteifin; for, as in thefe the original entry of the wrong¬ 
doer was unlawful, they may therefore be remedied by 
the mere entry of him who hath right. But, upon a dif- 
continuance, or deforcement, the owner of the eftate can¬ 
not enter, but is driven to his adtion : for herein the ori¬ 
ginal entry being lawful, and thereby an apparent right 
of poftellion being gained, the law will not fuffer that 
right to be overthrown by the mere a£t or entry of the 
claimant. Yet a man may enter on his tenant by fuffer- 
ance : for fuch tenant hath no freehold, but only a bare 
pofleftion ; which may be defeated, like a tenancy at will, 
by the mere entry of the owner. But if the owner thinks 
it more expedient to fuppofe or admit fuch tenant to have 
gained a tortious freehold, he is then remediable by writ 
of entry, ad terminum qui proeteriit. 1 Injl. 57. 
On the other hand, in cafe of abatement, intrufion, or 
difteifin, where entries are generally lawful, this right of 
entry may be tolled , that is, taken away, by defcent. 
Defcents which take away entries, are when any one, 
feifed by any means whatfoever of the inheritance of a 
corporeal hereditament, dies, whereby the fame defeends 
to his heir : in this cafe, however feeble the right of the 
anceftor might be, the entry of any other perfon who 
claims title to the freehold is taken away ; and he cannot 
recover pofi'effion againft the heir by this fummary me¬ 
thod, but is driven to his aftion to gain a legal feifin of 
the eftate. Lit. 385. In general therefore, no man can re¬ 
cover pofTefiion by mere entry on lands, which another 
hath by defcent. Yet this rule hath fome exceptions; 
efpecially if the claimant were under any legal difabilities, 
during the life of the anceftor, either of infancy, cover¬ 
ture, imprifonment, infanity, or being out of the realm : 
in all which cafes, there is no negleft or laches in the 
claimant, and therefore no defcent fliall bar, or take away 
his entry. Co. Lit. 246. And this title of taking away en¬ 
tries by defcent, is ft ill farther narrowed by 32 Hen. VIII. 
c. 33 ; which enadts, that if any perfon dilfeifes or turns 
another out of polfellion, no defcent to the heir of the 
diffeifor fliall take away the entry of him that litis right to 
the land, unlefs the diffeifor had peaceable poftellion five 
years next after the difl'eilin. But the ftatute, on feodal 
reafons, does not extend to any feoffee or donee of the 
diffeifor, mediate or immediate.' 
By the ftatute of limitations, 21 Jac. I. c. 16, it is 
enacted, that no entry lhall be made by any man upon 
lands, unlefs within twenty years after his right lhall ac¬ 
crue. And by 4& 5 Anne, c. 16, no entry fliall be of force 
to fatisfy the fluid ftatute of limitations, or to avoid a fine 
levied of lands, unlefs an action be thereupon commenced 
within one year after, and profecuted with effect. This 
remedy by entry muft be purfued, according to 5 Rich . 11 . 
ft. 1. c. 8, in a peaceable and eafy manner ; and not with 
force or ftrong hand. For, if one turns or keeps another 
out of polfeflion forcibly, this is an injury of both a civil 
and a criminal nature. The civil is remedied by imme¬ 
diate reftitution, which puts the ancient poflelfor in Jlatu 
qtio ; the criminal injury or public wrong, by breach cf 
the king’s peace, is punilhed by fine to the king. See the 
article Forcible Entry. 
The writ of entry is a polfelfory remedy which dif- 
proves the title of the tenant or poflelfor, by fhewing the 
unlawful means by which he entered, or continues pof- 
feflion. The writ is direfted to the fheriff, requiring 
him to “command the tenant of the land, that he render 
to the demandant the land in queftion, which he claims 
be his right and inheritance; and into which, as he 
faith, the faid tenant had not entry, but by (or after) a 
difteifin, intrufion, or the like, made to the faid demand¬ 
ant, within the time limited by law for fuch actions; or 
that upon refufal he do appear in court on fuch a day, to 
fhew wherefore he hath not done it.” This is the origi¬ 
nal procefs, the praecipe, upon which all the reft of the 
fuit is grounded ; wherein it appears, that the tenant is 
required, either to deliver feifin of the lands, or to fhew 
caufe why he will not. This caufe may be either a de¬ 
nial of the faff, of having entered by or under fuch 
meansasare fuggefted, ora jollification of his entry, by rea- 
fon of title in himfelf, or in thole under whom he makes 
claim ; whereupon the poftellion of the land is awarded to 
him who produces the clearelt right to polfefs it. 
The writs of entry are of divers kinds, diftinguilhed 
into four degrees, according to which the writs are va¬ 
ried. The firft degree is a writ of entry fur dijfeifm, that 
lieth for the dilfeifee againft a difteifor, upon a dilfeifin 
done by himfelf; and this is called a writ of entry in the 
nature of an affile. Second, A writ of entry fur dijfiijin 
in le per, againft the heir by defcent, who is faid to be in 
the per, as he comes in by his anceftor ; and fo it is if a 
difteifor make a feoffment in fee, gift in tail, &c. the 
feoffee and donee are in the per by the difteifor. Third, 
A writ of entry fur dijfeifm in le per & cui, where the 
feoffee of a difteifor maketh a feoffment over to another; 
when the dilfeifee lhall have this writ of entry fur dijfeifm , 
&c. of the lands in which fuch other had no right of 
entry, but by the feoffee of the diffeifor, to whom the 
diffeifor demifed the fame, who unjuftly and without 
judgment dilfeifed the demandant. 1 hfl. 238. 
Thefe three degrees thus ftate the original wrong, and 
the title of the tenant, who claims under fuch wrong. 
If more than two degrees (that is two alienations or de¬ 
fcents) were part, there lay no writ of entry at the com¬ 
mon law. For, as it-was provided for the quietnefs of 
men’s inheritances, that no one, even though he had the 
true right of polfellion, ihould enter upon him who had 
the apparent right by defcent or otherwife, but he was 
driven to his writ of entry tp gain polfellion ; fo, after 
more than two defcents, or two conveyances, were palfed, 
the demandant, even though he had the right both of 
polfellion and property, was not allowed this polfelfory 
action, but was driven to his writ of right; a long and 
final remedy, to punifti his negledt in not fooner putting 
in his claim while the degrees fublifted, and for the ending 
of fuits, and quieting of all controverfies. 2 Injl. 153. 
But by the ftatute of Marlbridge, 52 Hen. III. c. 30, it 
was provided, that when the number of alienations or de¬ 
fcents exceeded the ufual degrees, a new writ Ihould be 
allowed without any mention ot degrees at all. And ac¬ 
cordingly,—Fourthly, A new writ hasbeen framed, called 
a writ of entry in the pojl, which only alleges the injury 
of the wrong-doer, without deducing all the intermediate 
title from him to the tenant, dating it in this manner; 
that the tenant had not entry, unlefs after, or fubfequent 
to, the oufter, or injury done by the original difpolfeffor ; 
and rightly concluding, that if the original title was 
wrongful, all claims derived from thence muft participate 
of the fame wrong. Upon the latter of thefe writs it is 
(the writ of entry fur dijfeifm in the pof ), that the form 
of our common recoveries of landed eftates is ufually 
grounded. See the article Fine and Recovery. 
This remedial inftrument of writ oficntry is applicable 
to all the cafes of oufter, except that of difcontinuance of 
tenant in tail, and fome peculiar fpecies of deforcements. 
Such is that of the deforcement of dower by not afligning 
any dower to the widow within the time limited by the 
law; for which die has her remedy by writ of dower, 
unde nihil habet. But in general the writ of entry is the 
univerfal remedy to recover pofleftion, when wrongfully 
withheld from the owner. 
Entry ad communem legem. A writ of entry which lies 
where the tenant for term of life, or for term of another’s 
life* 
