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Ch.  8]  INCUMBRANCES.  §    97

species  of  deeds  had  in  America.becoine  the  ordinary  instruments  for
passing  the  title  in  lands  from  seller  to  buyer,  the  forms  of  these
deeds  soon  became  fixed  and  unchangeable.  The  purchase  price
was  always  recited  thus  (with  a  little  more  or  less  verbiage):    "For

and  in  consideration  of pounds,  good  and  lawful  money  of

England,  well  and  truly  paid  by  (the  bargainee)  to  (the  bargainor
or  releasor)  before  the  ensealing  and  delivery  of  these  presents,  the
receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged,  and  whereof  the  said  (bar-
gainor) releases  and  acquits,  &c.,  fully  by  these  presents."  This
clause  having  sunk  into  an  unmeaning  form,  it  became  usual  in
England,  if  not  in  America,  to  indorse  on  the  deed  a  separate  receipt
for  the  purchase  money.  But  soon  this  also  was  considered  so  far
as  a  mere  form  that  if  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  purchase  money
was  not  paid  in  fact,  courts  of  equity  would  not  deem  this,  any  more
than  the  receipt  in  the  body  of  the  deed,  an  estoppel  on  the  grantoi* ;
but  they  would  allow  him  to  show  what  part  of  the  purchase  money
was  unpaid,  and  give  him  a  lien  on  the  land  sold;  which,  however,
like  all  secret  equities,  could  not  be  upheld  against  a  purchaser  for
valuable  consideration  without  notice.^**

The  lien  is  a  remnant  of  the  vendor's  original  estate,  and  is  com-
plete without  the  vendee's  promise  or  covenant.  Hence,  where
land  has  been  sold  to  a  married  woman,  to  an  infant,  or  to  a  person
of  unsound  mind,  the  vendor's  lien  is  more  convenient  than  a  mort-
gage for  the  purchase  money,  and  may  be  useful  in  cases  where
such  a  mortgage  is  actually  given,  but  is  void  for  want  of  power,  or
for  noncompliance  with  prescribed  forms.***

148  4  Kent,  Comm.  151:  "The  vendee  becomes  a  trustee  to  the  vendor  for
the  purchase  money,  or  so  much  as  remains  unpaid.  This  equitable  mortgage
will  bind  the  vendee  and  his  heirs  and  volunteers,  and  all  purchasers  •  •  •
with  notice."  Mackreth  v.  Symmons,  15  Ves.  329,  1  White  &  T.  Lead.  Cas.
