6.  Thus,  where  a  party  claimed  title  to  land  in  Massachusetts,
under  a  written  instrument,  withovU  a  seal,  executed  at  the  island
of  Grenada  in  the  West  Indies,  before  a  notary  public,  according
to  tlie  mode  prescribed  by  the  laws  of  the  colony  to  pass  real  es-
tates in  that  island,  where  both  the  parties  to  the  instrument
were  domiciled  at  the  time ;  and  by  the  laws  of  Massachusetts
no  estate  of  freehold  in  lands  can  be  conveyed  unless  by  deed  or
conversance  under  hand  and  seal  of  the  party,  and  to  perfect  the
title  as  against  strangers,  it  is  further  necessary  that  it  should  be
acknowledged  before  a  proper  magistrate,  and  recorded  in  the
registry  of  deeds  for  the  county  where  the  land  lies :  Held,  that
such  an  instrument  as  that  executed  at  Grenada  was  insufficient
to  convey  a  title  to  the  land  in  Massachusetts.  The  United  Staies
V.  Crosby,  7  Cranch,  115.
7.  In  cases  depending  on  the  statutes  of  a  State,  and  more
especially  in  those  respecting  titles  to  land,  this  Court  adopts' the
construction  given  by  the  State  Courts,  where  that  construction
is  settled,  and  can  be  ascertained.  Polkas  lessee  v.  Wendell  ei  al*
9  Cranch,  87.  98.
8.  It  is  not  necessary  that  an  executor  of  a  will  made  in  one
State,  devising  to  the  executor  lands  situate  in  another  State,
should  take  out  letters  testamentary  in  the  State  where  the  lands
lie,  to  enable  him  lo  maintain  an  ejectment  for  the  lands.  Doe,
lessee  of  Lewis  and  Wife,  v.  M^Farland  et  al.  9  Cranch,  151, 152.
