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TJie Green Bag.
RHYMES ON REAL PROPERTY.1 BY RICHARD WEBB. О Muse, whose aid has always been Invoked by poets of every time, Whene'er they sing their songs of war, Or sing, perchance, of love and wine, On my poor verse bestow thy grace, Thy favor on my sentiments. I sing a song of chattels real, Of lands and hereditaments. I do not sing such milder themes As chattels usufructuary, Or bills and notes and special pleas, I sing of things hereditary; The things that pass from man to man, According to propinquity, The tenements that men obtain By right of consanguinity. The deeds of heroes and of saints Recorded are in song and story, And are, for each succeeding age, The monuments of former glory; But deeds with witnesses and seals, Recorded in a legal manner, Have carried fields of greater worth Than those won under waving banner. A deed which, for consideration, Recites the dedo et concessi, And names the parties to the grant, With good description of the loci, A muniment of title is, The very highest to be found. Grantee may hold against the world, He actually owns the ground. 1 Read at the annual dinner of the Cumberland County (Me.) Uar Association, 1897.
