Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/231

 Ch. 14. IV. rule, or canon of decents, is this; that the lineal decendants, in infinitum, of any peron deceaed hall repreent their ancetor; that is, hall tand in the ame place as the peron himelf would have done, had he been living.

the child, grandchild, or great-grandchild (either male or female) of the eldet on ucceeds before the younger on, and o in infinitum. And thee repreentatives hall take neither more nor les, but jut o much as their principals would have done. As if there be two iters, Margaret and Charlotte; and Margaret dies, leaving ix daughters; and then John Stiles the father of the two iters dies, without other iue: thee ix daughters hall take among them exactly the ame as their mother Margaret would have done, had he been living; that is, a moiety of the lands of John Stiles in coparcenary; o that, upon partition made, if the land be divided into twelve parts, thereof Charlotte the urviving iter hall have ix, and her ix nieces, the daughters of Margaret, one apiece.

taking by repreentation is called a ucceion in tirpes, according to the roots; ince all the branches inherit the ame hare that their root, whom they repreent, would have done. And in this manner alo was the Jewih ucceion directed ; but the Roman omewhat differed from it. In the decending line the right of repreentation continued in infinitum, and the inheritance till decended in tirpes: as if one of three daughters died, leaving ten children, and then the father died; the two urviving daughters had each one third of his effects, and the ten grandchildren had the remaining third divided between them. And o among collaterals, if any perons of equal degree with the perons repreented were till ubiting, (as if the deceaed left one brother, and two nephews the ons of another brother) the ucceion was till guided by the roots: but, if both the brethren were dead leaving iue, then (I apprehend) their repre- Rh