Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol II).djvu/240

 226 here it mut be oberved, that the lineal ancetors, though (according to the firt rule) incapable themelves of ucceeding to the etate, becaue it is uppoed to have already paed them, are yet the common tocks from which the next ucceor mut pring. And therefore in the Jewih law, which in this repect entirely correponds with ours, the father or other lineal ancetor is himelf laid to be the heir, though long ince dead, as being repreented by the perons of his iue; who are held to ucceed not in their own rights, as brethren, uncles, &c, but in right of repreentation, as the ons of the father, grandfather, &c, of the deceaed. But, though the common ancetor be thus the root of the inheritance, yet with us it is not neceary to name him in making out the pedigree or decent. For the decent between two brothers is held to be an immediate decent; and therefore title may be made by one brother or his repreentatives to or through another, without mentioning their common father. If Geoffrey Stiles hath two ons, John and Francis, Francis may claim as heir to John, without naming their father Geoffrey: and to the on of Francis may claim as couin and heir to Matthew the on of John, without naming the grandfather; viz. as on of Francis, who was the brother of John, who was the father of Matthew. But though the common ancetors are not named in deducing the pedigree, yet the law till repects them as the fountains of inheritable blood: and therefore in order to acertain the collateral heir of John Stiles, it is in the firt place neceary to recur to his ancetors in the firt degree; and if they have left any other iue beides John, that iue will be his heir. On default of uch, we mut acend one tep higher to the ancetors in the econd degree, and then to thoe in the third, and fourth, and o upwards, in infinitum; till ome ancetors be found, who have other iue decending from them beides the deceaed, in a parallel or collateral line. From thee ancetors the heir of John Stiles mut derive his decent; and in uch derivation the ame rules mut Rh