parties can render it so; and Sir John Leach, said (Reynolds v. Nelthorpe, 6 Mad. 18), that it may be considered the settled doctrine of the court, that by the terms of the agree ment, time may be made the essence of the contract; but that it had not been decided that where there is no stipulation in the contract, time may be made essential by subsequent notice; and he added, that in the case then before him, he should leave the point untouched. XI. OF THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE TITLE OR ABANDONMENT OF THE CONTRACT. If purchaser's solicitor approves of title, he should give early notice thereof to vendor's solicitor.]-If the vendor has succeeded in removing all objections raised upon the title, and complied with the requisitions demanded of him by the purchaser's solicitor, and the comparison of the documents with the abstract proves satisfactory, so that there is no longer any objection to the title, the latter should give early notice of that circumstance to the vendor's solicitor, acquainting him at the same time that he has accepted the title on behalf of his own client. Course purchaser's solicitor should adopt when the title proves defective.]-But if after a careful investigation it appears that the vendor cannot confer a good and marketable title, or that the property is subject to incumbrances he is unable to discharge, or that he has not the duration of interest which he pretended to sell, or that such property has been misdescribed, or there has been a total or partial failure of the consideration, or any material alteration made in the premises by the vendor, or under his sanction or authority subsequent to the contract, whereby the purchaser may be in any way prejudiced, then the purchaser's solicitor should give immediate notice to the vendor that his client will rescind the contract. Or where the circumstances will admit of it, and the purchaser is desirous that such should be done, instead of annulling the contract, to insist upon its fulfilment, and that the purchaser shall be allowed sufficient compensation, by a deduction of purchase money, to make up for such defects, whatever they may be. Notice of grounds of objection to title should be given.]—| When the contract is rescinded by a purchaser on account of the vendor's incapability to make a marketable title, the purchaser's solicitor must be careful to set the whole of the grounds of objection in his notice to the vendor of the purchaser's intention to annul the contract; for unless this be done, a purchaser would not, in case of his bringing an action at law upon the contract, be permitted at the trial to insist upon any objection to the title that appeared on the face of the abstract, which he neglected to take at the time of rescinding the contract, and which might have been removed by the vendor if taken before: (Todd v. Hoggart, 1 M. & M. 128.) XII. OF THE PROPERTY IN THE ABSTRACT. pur When general property subsists both in vendor and chaser.]-As long as the contract remains open, the general property of the abstract is neither in the vendor or the purchaser. If the contract is completed, it becomes the absolute property of the purchaser; if the contract is rescinded, it reverts back again to the vendor: (Roberts v. Wyatt, 2 Taunt. 278.) Property of the purchaser in the abstract pending the contract.-In the mean time, until the contract is either completed or annulled, the purchaser is entitled to retain the abstract in his possession, for the following purposes :1. To enable him to ascertain whether the vendor can confer a good title to the property. 2. For the purpose of taking the opinion of counsel upon it. 3. For the purpose of aiding him in the further investigation of the title. 4. To assist him in preparing the conveyance, by enabling him to see what persons are the proper conveying parties; what mode of assurance it may be most expedient to adopt, and what parcels are to be inserted, and so forth. Purchaser's right to retain abstract may subsist, notwithstanding he has rejected the title.]—The purchaser's right to retain the abstract does not necessarily cease by the circumstance of his rejecting the title, for in such case, his right of retention will continue until the dispute is finally settled, to enable him to justify his rejection of the title, and to show upon what grounds he did so. Vendor entitled to have abstract returned to him when contract is totally rescinded.]-But when the dispute is determined, and the whole contract totally rescinded, the purchaser is bound to return the abstract to the vendor, whose absolute property it then becomes; and a vendor's solicitor should lose no time in calling upon the purchaser's solicitor to return it, as it might prove prejudicial to a vendor's interest to have the weakness of his title exposed in the hands of persons who, having abandoned the contract, have no right whatever to have anything further to do with the property; and for the same reason, the purchaser's solicitor should forward any copy or extracts he may have of the abstract at the same time that he returns the latter to the vendor or otherwise, he ought to destroy them; for it would be a pernicious thing if accounts of a person's title, and particularly where that title is a defective one, could get abroad, and such copies or extracts might possibly be applied for very mischievous purposes: (Roberts v. Wyatt, 2 Taunt. 278.) As to the property in counsel's opinion taken upon the title.] —With respect to right to any counsel's opinion that may have been taken upon the title, the rule appears to be, that upon the abandonment of the contract, the vendor is entitled to have it forwarded to him with the abstract; for as he is bound to repay the purchaser the costs he has incurred in procuring such opinion, it is but just that he should have it for whatever it may be worth; but it is only on the ground that he has defrayed the expenses of taking the opinion that the vendor is entitled to have it handed over to him; for, if upon being called upon by the purchaser for the payment of these costs, he refuses to discharge them, the purchaser will be entitled to retain the opinion, or to erase it, as also any observations or opinions which may have been written on the abstract, so as altogether to debar the vendor from reaping any advantages from them, unless the purchaser's costs in respect of the same are satisfied: (Wood v. Court, Hil. Term, 1827, referred to 19 L. T. Rep. 199.) Right of rescinding contract may be lost by subsequent acquiescence.]—A party who is desirous of rescinding a contract must be careful not to do any act which may be construed as a confirmation of it, for if he does so, his right to annul the contract will be waived, and he will be held to his original bargain. Costs.]-If the contract is rescinded on account of the vendor's failing to make out a marketable title to the property, the purchaser will be entitled to call upon the former to defray all reasonable expenses incurred by the latter in the investigation, including, also, money paid as fees for the opinion of counsel, either upon the abstract, or any other point that may have arisen respecting the title: (Fleureau v. Thornhill, 2 Bl. Rep. 1078.) XIII. OF THE INVESTIGATION OF THE TITLE, AND OTHER INTERMEDIATE PROCEEDINGS, WHERE THE SALE IS MADE Under the DECREE OF THE COURT OF CHANCERY. 1. Investigation of Title. 2. Paying in of Purchase Money, and delivery of Possession. 1. Investigation of Title. Course of proceeding where the sale is made under a decree.]-When real property is sold under the decree of a Court of Equity, the vendor's solicitor must, as in ordinary cases, deliver the abstract to the purchaser or his solicitor within the time specified on the conditions of sale (15 & 16 Vict. c. 86, s. 56), and if he fails in so doing, an order may be obtained for this purpose on motion by notice, or on application at chambers: (Ayck. 433, 5th edit.) Duties of purchaser's solicitor with respect to the investigation of the title.]-With respect to the duties of the purchaser's solicitor in sales of this kind, it will be necessary for him not only to investigate the title with the same vigilance he ought to exercise in ordinary sales, but also to be certain that the sale is made in strict accordance with the decree (Colclough v. Sterum, 3 Bli. 181); added to which, he must also see that all persons who are necessary conveying parties are before the court; for if he takes a title which a decree in an imperfect suit does not protect, he must take the consequences: (ib.) Purchaser may abandon sale where there is an error in the decree.]-If the purchaser's solicitor discovers any error in the decree he may abandon the contract, as the court will not, under such circumstances, compel a purchaser to take an estate sold under it, notwithstanding the parties are proceeding to rectify the error: (Lechmere v. Brazier, 2 J. & W. 287; Calvert v. Godfrey, 6 Beav. 97; Sherwood v. Beverage, 13 Jur. 1042; Ayck. 433, 5th edit.) Proper course where purchaser's solicitor finds objections which cannot be disposed of out of court.]-If, upon the investigation of the title, the purchaser's solicitor discovers any objections which cannot be disposed of out of court, the proper course is to carry such objections before the judge in chambers, when the vendor will be required either to remove them, or argue them in open court: (Pegg v. Wisden, 16 Jur. 1105.) In such case, also, a reference may be made to the conveyancing counsel: (Ayck. 434, 5th edit.) Reference to counsel has superseded practice of referring to Master.]-This course of proceeding by reference to the conveyancing counsel has superseded the former practice of referring matters of this kind to the Master, and is authorized by the statute 15 & 16 Vict. c. 80, s. 40, by which it is enacted that it shall be lawful for the court, or any judge thereof, when sitting at chambers, to receive and act upon the opinion of conveyancing counsel in actual practice, to be nominated as thereinafter mentioned, in all cases in which, according to the practice of the court and of the Master's office, it has been usual for the Master to require or receive the opinion of conveyancing counsel, for his aid and assistance in the investigation of the title to an estate with a view to the investment of money in the sale or mortgage thereof, or with a view to the sale thereof, or in the settlement of a draft of a conveyance, mortgage, settlement or other instrument or otherwise, and in such other cases as the Lord Chancellor shall by any General Order direct. Party dissatisfied with conveyancing counsel's opinion may object to it.]-But it shall be competent for any party to object to any opinion of any such counsel when he shall deem it open to objection, and thereupon the point in dispute shall be disposed of by the court, or by the judge sitting in chambers, according to the nature of the case: (ib.) How business is to be distributed amongst counsel.]—The business to be referred to the conveyancing counsel nominated by the Lord Chancellor under the above-mentioned act, and who are six in number, is to be distributed amongst them in rotation by the first clerk to the registrars for the time being; and during his occasional or necessary absence, by the second clerk to the registrars for the time |