ADVERTISEMENT. THE number and importance of the Actions in which the title to Real Property is brought, either directly or incidentally, into question, together with the want of a Treatise devoted to a subject so useful and so extensive, will perhaps be thought a sufficient apology for the present publication. It will not, it is hoped, be deemed injudicious, that the doctrine of Real Actions has been treated at considerable length; for, however much these ancient modes of proceeding may have fallen into disuse, yet, as they still occasionally occur in our Courts, to dismiss them with a slight and cursory notice seemed improper. To those also who are desirous of studying the grounds and principles upon which the great system of our Real Property law is founded, and which may frequently be traced to their origin in the various forms of Real Actions, this portion of the work will not perhaps be found altogether without value. In pursuing so intricate a branch of the Law many difficulties arose, which may be urged as an excuse for the inaccuracies that may be observable in the following pages. |