Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/214

 202 order therefore to treat a matter of this univeral conequence the more clearly, I hall endeavour to lay aide uch matters as will only tend to breed embarament and confuion in our enquiries, and hall confine myelf entirely to this one object. I hall therefore decline conidering at preent who are, and who are not, capable of being heirs; reerving that for the chapter of echeats. I hall alo pas over the frequent diviion of decents, into thoe by cutom, tatute, and common law: for decents by particular cutom, as to all the ons in gavelkind, and to the younget in borough-englih, have already been often hinted at, and may alo be incidentally touched upon again; but will not make a eparate conideration by themelves, in a ytem o general as the preent: and decents by tatute, or fee-tail per formam doni, in puruance of the tatute of Wetminter the econd, have alo been already copiouly handled; and it has been een that the decent in tail is retrained and regulated according to the words of the original donation, and does not intirely purue the common law doctrine of inheritance; which, and which only, it will now be our buines to explain.

, as this depends not a little on the nature of kindred, and the everal degrees of conanguinity, it will be previouly neceary to tate, as briefly as poible, the true notion of this kindred or alliance in blood.

, or kindred, is defined by the writers on thee ubjects to be "vinculum peronarum ab eodem tipite decendentium"; the connexion or relation of perons decended from the ame tock or common ancetor. This conanguinity is either lineal, or collateral. Rh