In order therefore to treat a matter of this univerſal conſequence the more clearly, I ſhall endeavour to lay aſide ſuch matters as will only tend to breed embaraſſment and confuſion in our enquiries, and ſhall confine myſelf entirely to this one object. I ſhall therefore decline conſidering at preſent who are, and who are not, capable of being heirs; reſerving that for the chapter of eſcheats. I ſhall alſo paſs over the frequent diviſion of deſcents, into thoſe by cuſtom, ſtatute, and common law: for deſcents by particular cuſtom, as to all the ſons in gavelkind, and to the youngeſt in borough-engliſh, have already been often[1] hinted at, and may alſo be incidentally touched upon again; but will not make a ſeparate conſideration by themſelves, in a ſyſtem ſo general as the preſent: and deſcents by ſtatute, or fee-tail per formam doni, in purſuance of the ſtatute of Weſtminſter the ſecond, have alſo been already[2] copiouſly handled; and it has been ſeen that the deſcent in tail is reſtrained and regulated according to the words of the original donation, and does not intirely purſue the common law doctrine of inheritance; which, and which only, it will now be our buſineſs to explain.
And, as this depends not a little on the nature of kindred, and the ſeveral degrees of conſanguinity, it will be previouſly neceſſary to ſtate, as briefly as poſſible, the true notion of this kindred or alliance in blood[3].
Consanguinity, or kindred, is defined by the writers on theſe ſubjects to be "vinculum perſonarum ab eodem ſtipite deſcendentium"; the connexion or relation of perſons deſcended from the ſame ſtock or common anceſtor. This conſanguinity is either lineal, or collateral.
