If land
had even been systematically treated as capable of acquiring
rights, the time of a disseisee might have been added to that Of
the wrongful occupant, on the ground that the land, and not this
or that individual, was gaining the easement, and that long
association between the enjoyment of the privilege and the land
was sufficient, which has never been the law.
All that can be said is, that the metaphors and similes employed
naturally led to the rule which has prevailed, [385] and that, as
this rule was just as good as any other, or at least was
unobjectionable, it was drawn from the figures of speech without
attracting attention, and before any one had seen that they were
only figures, which proved nothing and justified no conclusion.
As easements were said to belong to the dominant estate, it
followed that whoever possessed the land had a right of the same
degree over what was incidental to it. If the true meaning had
been that a way or other easement admits of possession, and is
taken possession of with the land to which it runs, and that its
enjoyment is protected on the same grounds as possession in other
cases, the thought could have been understood. But that was not
the meaning of the Roman law, and, as has been shown, it is not
the doctrine of ours.
Pages:
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473