rown, which was the donor.
A sale to third parties does not affect this phase of the question,
inasmuch as it is a principle of British law that no man can convey to
another a greater estate in land than that which he possesses himself;
and if the seller only held the land as tenant-in-fee for HIS OWN LIFE
and that of HIS heirs, he could not give a purchaser that which belonged
to the Crown, the REVERSION on default of heirs (see Statute DE DONIS,
13 Edward I., ANTE, p. 21). This right of the sovereign, or rather
of the people, has not been asserted to the full extent. Many noble
families have become extinct, yet the lands have not been claimed, as
they should have been, for the nation.

I should not complete my review of the subject without referring to what
are called the LAWS OF PRIMOGENITURE. I fail to discover any such law.
On the contrary, I find that the descent of most of the land of England
is under the law of contract--by deed or bequest--and that it is only in
case of intestacy that the courts intervene to give it to the next heir.
This arises more from the construction the judges put upon the wishes of
the deceased, than upon positive enactment. When a man who has the right
of bequeathing his estate among his descendants does not exercise that
power, it is considered that he wishes the estate to go undivided to the
next heir. In America the converse takes place: a man can leave all his
land to one; and, if he fails to do so, it is divided. The laws relating
to contracts or settlements allow land to be settled by deed upon
the children of a living person, but it is more frequently upon the
grandchildren. They acquire the power of sale, which is by the contract
denied to their parents. A man gives to his grandchild that which he
denies to his son. This cumbrous process works disadvantageously, and it
might very properly be altered by restricting the power of settlement
or bequest to living persons, and not allowing it to extend to those who
are unborn.

It is not a little curious to note how the ideas of mankind, after
having been diverted for centuries, return to their original channels.
The system of landholding in the most ancient races was COMMUNAL. That
word, and its derivative, COMMUNISM, has latterly had a bad odor.
Yet all the most important public works are communal. All joint-stock
companies, whether for banking, trading, or extensive works, are
communes. They hold property in common, and merge indi