that no statement of facts, nor any recital of former instruments, should ever appear on the face of a deed, which can, either directly or indirectly, lead the parties to any misapprehension as to the state of their title. Whoever, therefore, introduces a recital in the brief mode which has been here pointed out, should take care to satisfy himself, that so clear is the effect of the settlement, or will, that no reasonable doubt can be entertained of it. From neglecting to attend to these considerations, titles, which often appear good on the face of the recitals, would be found to be doubtful, or absolutely bad, if the deeds themselves were examined. For the purpose of explaining more in detail the mode of reciting a deed, it will be convenient to consider in succession its various material parts-10. the style of the Deed; 20. the Date; 3°. the Parties; 4o. the Recitals; 5o. the Operative Clauses; 6o. the Parcels; 70. the Habendum; 8o. Uses and Trusts; 9o. Provisoes, &c.

1o. As to the Style of the Deed.]-Deeds are either Indentures or Deeds Poll. The recital of the former should commence thus: -"Whereas, by indenture bearing date" &c.; that of the latter thus—“ Whereas, by a deed poll under the hands and seals of &c. [those parties only who execute]." In reciting deeds it is a common practice to give them the name which denotes their supposed legal operation, as, instead of saying, "by indentures bearing date" &c., to say, by indentures of lease and release bearing &c.;" or " by indentures of lease and release and appointment;" or "by indenture of assignment," &c., or "by indenture of bargain and sale," &c. Except, however, in the case of a lease and release, which are two instruments so connected as to have no effectual operation without each other, (and consequently they should always be named in the manner above described), it seems better and more correct to take no notice of the legal designation of the deed, but to let its contents, as subsequently disclosed, speak for themselves.

2o. As to the Date.]—It is very material that the date of the instrument should be accurately stated, and hence has originated. the practice of referring to the date, not in precise terms, but in some such form as this:-" Whereas by indentures of lease and release and appointment, the lease bearing date on or about the 6th day of April, 1829, and the release and appointment on or about the 7th day of April, 1829;" or, "Whereas, by indentures. of lease and release, bearing date respectively on or about the 9th and 10th days of March, 1829." The advantage resulting from

this mode of reciting the date is, that if it happen to be wrongly stated, extrinsic evidence may be admitted to fix the day and support the recital. It seems to be, however, an unnecessary precaution where reasonable care is used to be correct as to the date. Where the deed in recital is of the same date as the reciting deed, then the proper form is this:-Whereas by indenture bearing even date with these presents," &c.; or, "Whereas by a deed poll under the hands and seals, &c., and bearing even date herewith," &c.; or if the instrument in recital be a release grounded on a lease, then as follows: "Whereas by indentures of lease and release, the lease bearing date the day before the day of the date of these presents, and the release of even date herewith, and made &c." Sometimes a deed is dated on one day and executed subsequently, and it is not unfrequently material to shew this fact, which may be done thus:-"Whereas, by indenture bearing date on or about &c., and made &c., being an indenture which was first sealed and delivered by A. B. on the in the year &c.,"-a circumstance of course which need be stated only in those instances where the deed, if executed at the time it bears date, would have been invalid or ineffectual for the purpose now to be accomplished.

day of

3o. As to the Parties.]-Parties in deeds are usually described by their christian and surnames, place of abode, their title and profession or business, and sometimes by the character which they fulfil, as heirs, executors, trustees, commissioners under an inclosure act, &c. The names of the parties are generally introduced in these words:-" Whereas, by indenture bearing &c., and made or expressed to be made between &c." In general, the names of all the parties should be mentioned in the recital, though where it is important to be concise, and the parties are very numerous, and many of them, as frequeutly happens, have little or no concern with the title, it will be quite sufficient to refer to them in this way:-"Whereas, by indentures of lease and release bearing date respectively, &c., the release being made or expressed to be made between A. B. of the first part, C. D. of the second part, several other persons of the third part, several other persons of the fourth part, and E. F. of the fifth part," &c. It is not uncommon, however, to see these useless names, with all their additions of place and profession, set out at full length. Where the creation of a term is recited, and the term was created by an indenture of a distant period, it is

quite immaterial, as to the reciting deed, what was the residence, description, or character of the grantor or grantees of the term; but where it was created within a short period, it is useful to know, and it is in general proper, to state these facts. So in the assignment of terms, it is very immaterial what was the residence or description of a former assignee. A similar observation applies to parties, trustees, where the trusts have been performed. But if, on the other hand, the reciting deed is for the purpose of effecting a transaction which is to carry on the title through the medium of the heir, executor, or administrator of a former assignee, trustee, &c., as owner, it is very desirable that the residence of such trustee &c. should be known, and ought therefore to be stated. So, where there are several trustees, and the title is to be derived through the survivor of them, the residence and description of all the trustees should be stated, since the evidence which is to make out the fact of survivorship must have reference to the identity of persons, and consequently depends on their places of residence and pursuits, &c.

The first deed to be recited will sometimes, by the description of parties, introduce a reference to, and, consequently, notice of, a former deed, will, or other instrument. Thus A., the granting party, may be described as the devisee or heir-at-law of B.: when described as the heir-at-law, the intimation of his character thus conveyed necessarily leads to the inquiry whether B. died intestate,

if mentioned as devisee, this as necessarily leads to inquiry for the will of B. In either case, and indeed in all similar instances, the deed now supposed to be in preparation should be contemplated as one which at some future period may become the first document in the history of the title; and as it is desirable that such an instrument should be as free as possible from all reference to any other, one of these two plans ought to be adopted,-either the description which would lead to any inquiry for a will, or as to an intestacy, should be omitted, or such facts should be stated, or so much of the deed in question should be recited, as will furnish the information which at some future period may possibly be demanded on these points. Thus, on the description of a person as heir of B., it may be stated, " that B. died intestate, and was buried at on or about the — day of, and that letters of administration to his effects were obtained from the consistorial court of

on or about the - day of " If he be mentioned as devisee, there may be an averment that the will bears date on or

about the

day of

If in the deed now in recital the will itself were recited, that recital should be introduced in the deed supposed to be in preparation.

Where some of the parties are dead, and the deed is to refer to their deaths, or is to treat the title as free from incumbrances in consequence of their death, or death without issue, &c., it is very convenient to the ready and correct understanding of the deed to refer to these parties as soon as named, as being deceased or dead without issue, &c., in such terms as will at once manifest the fact material to be known.

4o. As to the Recitals.]—As a general rule it may be laid down, that it is proper to pass over the recitals, and go at once to the operative part of the deed. When, however, it is deemed proper to take any of the recitals, the best plan seems to be to state them in the order of their date, and as independent and substantive recitals carrying on the history of the title in progressive order. Subject, however, to these general rules, it will often be necessary to introduce some of the recitals of the deed in recital, especially where the operative part is so dependent on them that it could not be clearly understood without reference to them. Instead, however, of reciting them as recitals, their effect may sometimes be more simply introduced, and the operative part of the deed made equally intelligible by an allegation expressive of their general effect. If, for example, in the deed under recital a will has been recited, and then the operative part conveys "all the manors, messuages, &c., hereinbefore described,”—in this case the recitals may be passed over, and the deed recited as a conveyance of all the manors, messuages, &c. which were devised by the thereinbefore recited will of &c., bearing date &c." It is not unusual to find the difficulty which has been here noticed got rid of in this way-" after reciting as therein is recited, it is witnessed, &c. &c." Nothing can be more inconsistent with correct practice. The sub-recital is either material or immaterial: -in the former case it should be given, in the latter there ought to be no reference to it.

66

Where part of the recitals are given and part rejected, this circumstance should be noticed in these or the like terms: "And whereas in the said indenture, of &c., it is among other things recited, that &c." It frequently happens that the sub-recitals are the same as those which form a substantive part of the deed in preparation; and, in such a case, it will be sufficient to notice them in this way," after reciting as hereinbefore is re

cited, &c." If it happen that part only of the sub-recitals are directly stated in the deed in preparation, then the additional recitals may be introduced thus-" after reciting the hereinbefore recited will of the said &c., and also the indentures of lease and release, bearing date &c., it is further recited that, &c." It is not uncommon to find the sub-recital erroneously stating the date of a deed; in such a case it would be proper to advert to the mistake, which may be done in some phrase like this, "after reciting the hereinbefore recited will, bearing date &c., and therein, by mistake, recited as bearing date &c." And so as to any other mistake in names, quantities, &c., the correction may be stated in a similar manner; and sometimes it may be necessary even to introduce a recital for the mere purpose of correcting a mistake of

this kind.

5o. As to the operative part of Deeds.]-Where the motives, considerations, consent of parties, &c., are not requisite for the full understanding of the subsequent part of the deed, they may be slightly passed over, or even altogether omitted; and in such cases it will be sufficient to say, "that, in performance of the therein recited agreement, and for the considerations therein expressed, &c.," or "in consideration of the sum of £ paid by the said to the said, &c., the receipt of which said sum, &c., is thereby acknowledged;" or where there are several considerations paid to distinct persons, the receipt may be recited thus-" And the receipt of the said sums of £ and £&c., are acknowledged by the persons to whom the same are severally expressed therein to have been paid." The words of conveyance, release, and discharge should be given verbatim. The testification clause may be given briefly; and it will be sufficient to say, "testified as therein is mentioned," except in those cases where the deed is executed under a particular authority or power, and the consent &c. is required to be given in a particular mode; for then it is material that the recital should disclose the manner in which the deed was executed and attested. The mode in which the deed was attested and executed is usually stated in the introduction of the recital, in this way:-"Whereas, by indenture bearing date &c., and made, signed, sealed, &c., and as to the execution thereof, attested by two credible witnesses whose names are thereon indorsed, &c." After the words of conveyance, &c., the limitations should be carefully stated; and where these are complex, and have reference to