284

LAWS OF MARYLAND.— 1791.

of this state, it shall and may be lawful for the party claiming
tinder such deed to file his bill or petition in chancery, praying
the order and decree of the said court for recording such deed,
and the chancellor thereupon, without the appearance of or hear-
ing the defendant or defendants, shall have the same power and
authority to order and decree the recording of such deed, as he

(*eleventh)

hath in the cases mentioned in the twelfth* section of the act to
which this is a supplement; provided, that the complainant or
petitioner shall give such notice of his application in news-
papers or otherwise, as the chancellor shall direct.
By 1831, ch. 304, deeds may now be recorded, notwithstanding they
shall not have been recorded within six months after acknowledgment; to
operate on the parties to the deed only.

Deed to
have opera-
tion, &c.

SEC. 3. And be it enacted, That every deed, recorded in
pursuance of this act, shall have the same operation, effects and
consequences, and be liable to the same provisions, as a deed
recorded under a decree in virtue of the act to which this is a
supplement.

In certain
cases chan-
cellor may
decree a
perfor-
mance, &c.

SEC. 4. And, whereas infants, idiots, lunatics, and persons
who are not of sound mind, seized of lands, tenements and
hereditaments, may be compelled to convey the same, by de-
cree of the court of chancery, for a specific performance of
agreements made by the persons under whom they claim, pro-
vided application be made to the chancellor by the parties

*1773, ch. 7

entitled to a conveyance, * but there is no legal provision for
such a decree, as the circumstances of the case may require,
upon application made by the representatives or persons inte-
rested in the estate of the person who makes a contract for the
sale of his lands, Be it enacted, That if any person, seized of
any land, tenement or hereditament, hath made or shall make a
contract for the sale and conveyance thereof, and hath died or
shall die without performing his part of the agreement, having
devised or left the said land, tenement or hereditament, to
descend to a person under twenty-one years of age, or to an
idiot, lunatic, or person non compos mentis, in any such case,
the chancellor, on application by bill or petition of any repre-
sentative of the deceased, interested immediately in having
such agreement specifically performed, and on hearing all
parties concerned, shall have full power to decree a specific per-
formance, and to direct a conveyance by trustee or guardian, or
to decree otherwise, as justice and the established principles of
chancery shall require; provided nevertheless, that in the case
of an infant, no decree shall be made for a specific performance
in virtue of this act, unless it shall appear that the guardian or
guardians of the infant have consented thereto, or unless the
chancellor shall be satisfied that such infant or infants will not
be in any manner injured thereby.