Joseph Story

“ In the case of Penn and Baltimore, the question of alienation could not arise. There the suit was about an agreement as to the bounds of two Provinces; and it is certain, that a Province cannot be dismembered by aliening one part so as to be holden of another Province. Something might be incidentally said as to the point of alienation, but there could be no solemn adjudication, for the case did not require it. The jurisdictions and powers granted by the Maryland charter, are larger than those in any other. Doubts may arise as to the principality, from the nature of the property. ”

“ A manor is not to be compared with the seignory of Maryland. The principal powers given to the proprietor of Maryland do not belong to the lord of a manor.
'The word assigns is necessary to make offices of trust transferrable; and the reason for omitting it in some parts of the Maryland charter, was to make some parts of the property unalienable. It is omitted in the grant of the seignory. It is said that kingdoms are devisable; but there is no instance of the devise of a dependent kingdom. I say this on the authority of Craig. Henry the VIII., and Elizabeth, had acts of Parliament. ”

“ Every plea to the jurisdiction must state, that there is another Court in which the cause may be tried, and which that Court is. Therefore, if want of jurisdiction is objected to the Court Baron of Windsor Castle, it should be stated where else the province of Maryland can be impleaded; for fines have been levied in the Court of Common Pleas here, of shares of a proprietorship in America. The only proprietorships at present are Pennsylvania and Maryland ”

“ Where common recoveries cannot be suffered, alienation is sufficient; and whether it be by feoffment, or lease and release, the effect ought to be the same. In the case of copyholds, where there is a custom for entailing, and no custom for a common recovery, a surrender is equivalent to a recovery. This point was adjudged by three Judges against one, in Carr v. Singer, 2 Ves. Rep. 603. and the doctrine was approved of by Lord Hardwicke in a subsequent case. ”

“ As to the Isle of Man, there is an annotation by Lord Hale in the new edition of Coke upon Littleton, now publishing, which explains the reason why the statutes De Donis, of uses, and of wills, do not to extend to Man, in a way not applicable to Maryland. Man was a dominion belonging to the King of England before those statutes; and Lord Hale says, it was ruled, that those statutes do not extend there, because Man was not parcel of the realm of England, and is not specially named. But the grant and settlement of Maryland are subsequent to those statutes. ”

“ So, the statute of wills, beginning with manors, shall not extend to a higher dominion, such as proprietary government. Dependent kingdoms are not devisable without the consent of the superior prince. ”

“ But, as we have all come to a conclusion upon one point, which finally disposes of the whole cause, it is deemed proper at once to put the parties in possession of our opinion, without attempting to analyse the learning which is involved in others of more complexity, and would require more extensive researches. ”

“ Many things, of a special nature, are unalienable. Dignities "are so, because they are personal, and in the blood. Offices of trust are not assignable, unless by the original terms of the grant, or by prescription, which supposes such a grant. Ministerial offices are, indeed, assignable, and the power of appointing a deputy is incident where the office is assignable, but not vice versa. ”

“ Both Maryland and Man are dominions held of the crown of England; and the grant of Man to the Derby family was prior to the statute De Donis, and yet the Judges held, that it did not extend to it, any more than the statutes of uses and wills, which were subsequent. ”

“ The property is entailable, but a common recovery cannot be suffered for want of a proper, Court, and, therefore, ex necessitate, alienation being the only mode of barring the case will admit of, ought to be adjudged sufficient.
'But, if the property is not within the statute De Donis, and yet should be within the statute of wills, it may be material to consider what consequences will follow. Then, under the settlement of 1733, the last Lord Baltimore had a fee simple conditional, and if a possibility of reverter is not grantable, as Lord Hardwicke holds in Stafford v. ”