Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/234

 220 civil law would call it) had not been forisfamiliated, in his lifetime. King John, however, who kept his nephew Arthur from the throne, by diputing this right of repreentation, did all in his power to abolih it throughout the realm : but in the time of his on, king Henry the third, we find the rule indiputably ettled in the manner we have here laid it down, and o it has continued ever ince. And thus much for lineal decents.

V. rule is, that, on failure of lineal decendants, or iue, of the peron lat eied, the inheritance hall decend to the blood of the firt purchaor; ubject to the three preceding rules.

if Geoffrey Stiles purchaes land, and it decends to John Stiles his on, and John dies eied thereof without iue; whoever ucceeds to this inheritance mut be of the blood of Geoffrey the firt purchaor of this family. The firt purchaor, perquiitor, is he who firt acquired the etate to his family, whether the ame was transferred to him by ale, or by gift, or by any other method, except only that of decent.

is a rule almot peculiar to our own laws, and thoe of a imilar original. For it was entirely unknown among the Jews, Greeks, and Romans: none of whole laws looked any farther than the peron himelf who died eied of the etate; but aigned him an heir, without conidering by what title he gained it, or from what ancetor he derived it. But the law of Normandy agrees with our law in this repect: nor indeed is that agreement to be wondered at, ince the law of decents in both is of feodal original; and this rule or canon cannot otherwie be accounted for than by recurring to feodal principles.

feuds firt began to be hereditary, it was made a neceary qualification of the heir, who would ucceed to a feud, that he hould be of the blood of, that is lineally decended from, Rh