lege from time immemorial, they are entitled to it. Salk. 41. So, also, in some boroughs, the probate of the wills of the burgesses may, by custom, belong to the mayor, in respect of lands devisable within such borough; though still, as to personal property, the will must be proved before the ordinary. If all the goods of the deceased be within the same jurisdiction, a probate is to be made, or administration taken out before the ordinary, or bishop of the diocese where the deceased lived; but if the deceased had bona notabilia, that is, personal property (whether goods or debts) of the value of £5, except where the amount is varied by particular custom, as in London, where they must amount to £10, (3 Bac. Abr. 37,) in several dioceses or jurisdictions, or peculiars within the same province, the will must be proved, or administration taken out, in the prerogative or metropolitan court of the province in which the deceased died, by way of special prerogative. 4 Burn. Ecc. Law, 234. And if the bona notabilia lie in different dioceses of different provinces, administration must be taken out in the archiepiscopal court of each province. 3 Bac. Abr. 36. But if they lie in one diocese of each province, administration may be granted by the bishop of each diocese, of such bona notabilia as are within his jurisdiction. Bonds and other specialities are bona notabilia in the diocese where they happen to be at the time of the death of the intestate; but simple contract debts and securities are such only in the diocese where the debtor then resided. 3 Bac. Abr. 37; 11 Vin. Abr. 80. When the will is proved, the original must be deposited in the registry of the ordinary, and a copy thereof is made upon parchment, under the seal of the ordinary, and delivered to the executor or administrator, together with a certificate of its having been proved before him: and this is called the probate. In defect of any will, the person entitled to be administrator must also, at this period take out letters of administration, under the seal of the ordinary; whereby an executorial power to collect and to administer, that is, to dispose of the goods of the deceased, is vested in him. An administrator swears that the deceased made no will, to the best of his knowledge and belief, and that he will truly administer the goods, and render a just account when required. And he enters into a bond with two or more sureties, to render a true and perfect inventory within twelve months into the registry of the Spiritual Court, and to divide the residue according to the Statute of Distributions; and that should it appear that the deceased left a will, the letters of administra tion shall, on the exhibition of such will by the executor in court, be rendered into court. After obtaining the probate, or letters of administration, the executor or administrator must immediately proceed to make an inventory of all the goods and chattels, whether in possession or action, of the deceased; which, if required, must be delivered to the ordinary on oath, in the presence of two credible witnesses; and to which, if so delivered, no creditor is at liberty to object. But even before probate, or letters granted, he may lawfully perform every act that is incident to his office. 4. The Powers, Rights, and Remedies of Executors and Administrators. As the executor, by virtue of the will of the testator, and the administrator,* by virtue of his * In the extent of the powers of an administrator a material distinction subsists in the payment of debts and legacies; as whether it is general, or special and particular, or whether appointed by the ordinary, or with the will annexed. The interest of a general administrator, whether appointed by the ordinary, or with the will annexed, in consequence of the testator dying without appointing an executor, is similar to, and commensurate with that of an executor, in regard to the collection of the effects and payment of the debts of the deceased. And the case is the same in respect of particular and special administrations, for specific purposes and limited uses, as where the administration is granted for a limited time, whether durante minoritate, durante absentia, or pendente lite, or in whatever other form, or whether it is limited to a particular object, or for a spe administration, are to collect in the goods and chattels of the deceased, whether real or personal, in possession, as ready money, money in the funds, goods, cattle, stock on farm, or in trade, &c., or in action, as debts owing to the deceased, cial time, for the powers of these restricted administrations are similar to those which vest in the executor or general administrator, so long as they last. This is the general law respecting the payment of debts. But, with respect to the payment of legacies, a difference subsists in regard to whether the administration is granted with the will annexed, or by virtue of the ordinary's power, in consequence of the intestacy of the deceased. In the first case, the administrator is to proceed by the same rules, and has the same duty to perform, in respect to the legacies, as an executor. But an administrator, appointed in consequence of the intestacy of the deceased, is to proceed in the distribution of the intestate's property, after the funeral and testamentary charges and debts are paid, in the distribution of the surplus property, according to the provisions of the Statute of Distributions, and the particular customs of London, York, and Wales. The preceding paragraph consists of one of the Notes to Mr. Williams's Edition of Blackstone's Commentaries. As an act of justice and courtesy for the great obligations I have been under to that edition, I conceive it but right to give all the publicity in my power to an able and an ingenious critic's declaration that, "it is the only edition extant of that admirable work, in which the numerous errors and mis-statements of the learned and eloquent Judge are corrected, and that it is the only one edited in the philosophical manner and spirit of the author, and in which the annotations bear any similitude to the COMMENTARIES, in the essential points of elegance and perspicuity of diction, philosophical illustration, and varied and extensive erudition." securities for money, &c., they have large powers and interests conferred on them by law, being the representatives of the deceased, and having the same property in and right to his goods as the deceased had when living, and the same remedies to recover them. And, for this purpose, they may enter peaceably into the house of the testator, remove all his goods, and possess themselves of all specialties, writings, and other securities relating to the personal estate of the deceased. But they must not break open inner or outer doors, or boxes containing such deeds, &c.: if open, or the key be in them, they are, however, empowered to enter and remove the property belonging to them in their representative character. The different kinds of property to which an executor is entitled are All chattels real, that is, terms for years, though determinable on lives, all reversionary interests in such terms, mortgages, next presentations to churches, estates by statute-merchant, statute staple or elegit, property in the colonies abroad, and all personal chattels whatever; these vest in an executor or administrator, and are to be administered by him as the assets of the testator. 11 Vin. Abr. 171. Within the description of personalty are included all property in the stocks or funds, literary and patent property, all debts |