As every lawyer knows, the estate does not
mean the land. It means the status or persona in regard to that
land formerly sustained by another. The same word was used in
alleging a right by prescription, "that he and those whose estate
he hath have for time whereof memory runneth not to the
contrary," &c.; and it will be remembered that the word
corresponds to the same requirement of succession there.
To return to Bracton, it must be understood that the description
of assigns as quasi heredes is not accidental. He describes them
in that way whenever he has occasion to speak of them. He even
pushes the reasoning drawn from the analogy of inheritance to
extremes, and refers to it in countless passages. For instance:
"It should be noted that of heirs some are true heirs and some
quasi [377] heirs, in place of heirs, &c.; true heirs by way of
succession quasi heirs, &c. by the form of the gift; such as
assigns," &c. /1/
If it should be suggested that Bracton's language is only a piece
of mediaeval scholasticism, there are several answers. In the
first place it is nearly contemporaneous with the first
appearance of the right in question. This is shown by his citing
authority for it as for something which might be disputed.
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