only one kind of ownership (dominium), so that a man is either the owner of a thing, or he is not. And this was formerly the case among the Roman people: for a man was either the owner ex jure Quiritium, or he was not. But afterwards the ownership was split; so that now one man may be the Owner of a thing ex jure Quiritium, and yet another person may have it in his possession (in bonis). For instance, if in the case of a thing which is res mancipi, I do not transfer it to you by mancipatio, but merely deliver it to you, the thing indeed becomes your thing (in bonis tuis), but it will remain mine ex jure Quiritium, until by continued possession you have acquired a Right (donec tu eam possidendo usucapias). When that is complete, it is yours absolutely (pleno jure).

139. Upon the conditions of tenure of land, depend the Title or evidence of ownership; the modes of Conveyance or Transfer by Contract; the modes of Succession on the death of the Proprietor, whether by his Testament, or ab intestato: the judicial Remedies for Wrongs: and the like. A person's landed property so much determines his condition, that we commonly speak of his land as his Estate. The possesssion of a house, or habitation, is important to man in his social condition, not only as a means of shelter and bodily comfort, but also as giving him a fixed local position in the Community. By such possession, he is a Householder; and for many important purposes the State or City is considered as consisting of Householders. The place, neighbourhood, city, or country in which a person has his habitation, is his Domicile (Domicilium). A person's Domicile, for the most part, places him under the Laws of the State in which it is situated.

140. As Property in Land, and in the fruits produced by the cultivation of the Land, is established and realized by

the Laws and Customs of each country; in like manner is established Property in other objects, which can be distributed and assigned to special persons; for instance, in flocks and herds, and their produce; in the produce of the interior of the earth, as mines; in all that we fabricate by fashioning into a new form the materials thus produced,— wood, stone, metal, and the parts of plants and of animals. With regard to all these, and other forms of material or corporeal Property, the Law in every Country recognizes certain modes of acquiring, possessing, and transferring them, as conferring Rights.

141. The Wrongs, or Injuries by which the Rights of Property are violated, are distinguished and classed by the Law according to their circumstances. The Command, Thou shalt not steal, is the basis of all Laws on this subject. The definition of Stealing, or Larceny (Latrocinium), in the English Law*, is "the felonious taking and carrying away the goods of another." The definition of the Roman Law† was nearly the same. "Furtum est contrectatio fraudulosa, lucri faciendi causâ, vel ipsius rei, vel etiam ejus usus possessionisve." The English Law further distinguishes prioately Stealing, as for instance, picking the pocket; and open and violent Larceny, which is Robbery; this the Roman Law § calls Bona vi rapta. Another crime against property is Burglary (Burgi Latrocinium), or nocturnal Housebreaking; for the Law considers the crime if committed by night as much more heinous than the like act committed by day;

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* Blackstone, iv. 229. The more exact definition, by modern lawyers, of Theft is, a taking or removing of some Thing; being the Property of some other Person and of some value; without due Consent (to be separately defined); with intent to despoil the owner, and fraudulently appropriate the thing.

+ Instit. iv. 1.

The distinction of privately stealing is now done away as an aggravation. § Dig. XLVII. 8.

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as we have already seen that it makes Right of self-defence in the two cases.

difference in the

142. The crime of Theft, as above defined, includes only the cases in which the Thief touches and takes the material object: but besides these, a person may be despoiled of his property by Fraud; as for instance, when an Order to deliver goods is fabricated or forged by some one who has no Right to give such Order. This is Forgery. In the Roman Law* it was Crimen Falsi. "Lex Cornelia de falsis pœnam irrogat ei qui testamentum aliudve instrumentum falsum scripserit, signaverit, recitaverit, subjecerit; vel signum adulterinum fecerit, sculpserit, expresserit, sciens, dolo malo." We need not here attempt to enumerate the various forms of fraud and deception by which a person may be deprived of his property. They are all included in the term Cheating.

143. According to the English Law, Larceny applies only to moveable Property; for landed Property, by its nature, cannot be taken and carried away. And even of things that adhere to the Land, as Corn, Grass, Trees, and the like, no Larceny can be committed by the Common Law of England. The Severance of these from their roots is an Injury against the real Estate, which is termed a Trespass.

* Inst. iv. 18. 7. "The Law of Forgery appoints a punishment for a man, if knowingly, and with fraudulent intent, he has written, sealed, recited, or substituted a testament or other instrument: or if he has, with like knowledge and intent, forged the signet of another person, by marking, or other way of expressing." The English Law is, "Whosoever by means of any false Seal, Signature, Stamp, Impression, or Mark, deceptively used to obtain undue credit, &c. or by means of any Machine, Instrument, or Thing, artfully contrived and fraudulently used for the purpose of Deception, or by the false and deceptive Use of any other Instrument or Thing by Sleight of Hand or other Device, or by any false Personation, shall cheat or defraud any other Person of any Property, shall incur Penalties, &c.

But this state of the English Law has in several instances been altered in modern times*.

144. There are some further distinctions with regard to Property, which it may be useful to notice. According to the Roman Lawyers, the power of individuals over their property, which they termed Dominium Vulgare, was subject to the power which the State, or the Sovereign had, to prescribe the conditions on which they were to hold and enjoy their possessions: this power was Dominium Eminens. The State, which defines and establishes the Rights of the Owner, always limits those Rights; either by national maxims, as in Asiatic Empires, where the Sovereign is the Proprietor of the Soil; and in Feudal Kingdoms, where the King is the Sovereign Lord of every Fee; or by cases of public necessity and convenience; as when a man is compelled by the State to part with his house, that the street may be improved.

145. Again: besides Private Property, Res Singulorum, the Roman Lawyers reckoned various kinds of Public Property; thus, among Res Publicæ are highways, streets, bridges, the walls and gates of a city; public gardens, grounds, fields and estates; markets, courts of justice; prisons; docks and harbours; fleets and their furniture, and the artillery, arms, and carriages of public armies; also the wealth of the public Treasury; and many other kinds of property, according to the various institutions and modes of administration of different states.

146. There are other things, which are common in their use, hence called Res Communes; but incapable of being appropriated, hence also called Res Nullius; as air, running water, the sea, the shore. These can be used by each

• The ultimate conclusion at which English Lawyers have arrived on this subject is, that it would be desirable to abolish the distinctions of the Law of Theft with regard to things severed and not severed from the realty. See Act of Crimes and Punishments, Chap. XVIII. Sect. 1. Art. 6.

person without any hurt or loss to other persons, and are hence said to be things quorum innoxia est utilitas. Yet these are not, in all cases, reckoned Res Nullius. States claim a property in their navigable rivers, and even in the sea near their shores. And by the English Law, although a person can have no property in running water, he may possess as property a lake or river, under the designation of "so many acres of ground covered with water." He may also have a property in the use of running water: but this belongs to property of another kind, which we must now notice.

147. Private property is corporeal or incorporeal. Corporeal property is such as we have mentioned, both moveable and immoveable: the immoveable being lands, houses, mines, and the like. But besides these kinds of property, a man may have a property in the Use of land or its adjuncts. This is the case, for instance, when a man has a Right of way over another's land; or has a water-mill, of which the water flows through another's estate: for he has a Right to the flow of the water; and the owner of the other estate is not allowed to stop or turn aside the stream which drives the mill. Such Limitations of the Proprietor's Right, by the Right of another to some use of the property, arising from neighbourhood (vicinage), or other relations, are called in the Roman Law, Servitutes, Servitudes or Services; and are treated with great detail and distinctness by the Roman Lawyers. Such Property is termed by English Lawyers incorporeal Property. Servitudes of a Property for the convenience of a neighbouring property are called in English Law, Easements.

148. The Feudal System in England gave to the Tenant an ownership charged with several Services, as homage, ward, marriage, relief, and (in the principal Tenures) with the Service of following the Lord to the wars. As wars became of less consequence in the internal condition of the

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