almoſt entirely fallen into the right of ſucceſſion by primogeniture, as the law now ſtands: except in Kent, where they gloried in the preſervation of their antient gavelkind tenure, of which a principal branch was the joint inheritance of all the ſons[1]; and except in ſome particular manors and townſhips, where their local cuſtoms continued the deſcent, ſometimes to all, ſometimes to the youngeſt ſon only, or in other more ſingular methods of ſucceſſion.
As to the females, they are ſtill left as they were by the antient law: for they were all equally incapable of performing any perſonal ſervice; and therefore, one main reaſon of preferring the eldeſt ceaſing, ſuch preference would have been injurious to the reſt: and the other principal purpoſe, the prevention of the too minute ſubdiviſion of eſtates, was left to be conſidered and provided for by the lords, who had the diſpoſal of theſe female heireſſes in marriage. However, the ſucceſſion by primogeniture, even among females, took place as to the inheritance of the crown[2]; wherein the neceſſity of a ſole and determinate ſucceſſion is as great in the one ſex as the other. And the right of ſole ſucceſſion, though not of primogeniture, was alſo eſtabliſhed with reſpect to female dignities and titles of honour. For if a man holds an earldom to him and the heirs of his body, and dies, leaving only daughters; the eldeſt ſhall not of courſe be counteſs, but the dignity is in ſuſpenſe or abeyance till the king ſhall declare his pleaſure; for he, being the fountain of honour, may confer it on which of them he pleaſes[3]. In which diſpoſition is preſerved a ſtrong trace of the antient law of feuds, before their deſcent by primogeniture even among the males was eſtabliſhed; namely, that the lord might beſtow them on which of the ſons he thought proper: — "progreſſum eſt, ut ad filios deveniret, in quem ſcilicet dominus hoc vellet beneficium confirmare[4]."
