Ch.Xl. Sec. I.] Revenue. — Forfeitures. 215 estate. 8. Escheat was the last fruit or incident resulting from the feudal system. It was a species of confiscation (a) by which the feud reverted to the sovereign, either from the delinquency of the vassal (who held it under the implied condition that he should not prove guilty of any act of felony or treason), or in consequence of his dying without an heir, either fit to perform the stipulated services, or entitled, by the original grant, to succeed to the feud {h). It was imagined that the King would often find it necessary, with a view of examining into the real state and circumstances of the country, to make a personal progress throughout his do- minions ; and as the removal of the Court would occasion an unusual demand at the places to which it went, for every species of provisions, it was thought requisite to give the Crown a right of purchasing necessaries for the maintenance of the royal household, at an appraised valuation, in preference to all other persons, and even to force the sale or the hire of any thing pe- culiarly wanted, without the owner's consent (c). This prero- gative, which obtained the names o^ purveyance andL pre-emption^ was afterwards extended to every spot where the royal family resided. But the powers vested in the purveyors, or officers appointed for that purpose, being greatly abused, and indeed becoming every day less requisite, in consequence of the great increase of cultivation and improvement, and of the abundance which necessarily followed, the whole right was abolished, at the same time with the harsh and obnoxious system of military tenures ; and by 12 Car. 2. c. 24-. the hereditary excise, and a duty on wine licences, were settled on the Crown in its stead {d). The duty on wine licences was abolished by statute 30 Geo. 2. c. 19. and an annual sum of upwards of 7000/. per annum, issuing out of the new stamp duties imposed on wine licences, was settled on the Crown in its stead. 3. Of forfeitures for offences^ which afford another ordinary resource for the exigencies of the state. " The true reason and only substantial ground of any for^ feiture for crimes consist," says Sir Wm. Blackstone {e), " in (a) See Wright on Tenures, p. 117, (r) 5 Ilnme's Hist. 365, 490, 547. note 10. ('0 * Inst. 273. '1 Sinclair, 36. ( {b) See 1 Bla. Com. 63, &c. 1 Sin- Bla. Com. '287, S. Clair, 29, &c. • {e) Ibid. '299. this>
