Now here it muſt be obſerved, that the lineal anceſtors, though (according to the firſt rule) incapable themſelves of ſucceeding to the eſtate, becauſe it is ſuppoſed to have already paſſed them, are yet the common ſtocks from which the next ſucceſſor muſt ſpring. And therefore in the Jewiſh law, which in this reſpect entirely correſponds with ours[1], the father or other lineal anceſtor is himſelf laid to be the heir, though long ſince dead, as being repreſented by the perſons of his iſſue; who are held to ſucceed not in their own rights, as brethren, uncles, &c, but in right of repreſentation, as the ſons of the father, grandfather, &c, of the deceaſed[2]. But, though the common anceſtor be thus the root of the inheritance, yet with us it is not neceſſary to name him in making out the pedigree or deſcent. For the deſcent between two brothers is held to be an immediate deſcent; and therefore title may be made by one brother or his repreſentatives to or through another, without mentioning their common father[3]. If Geoffrey Stiles hath two ſons, John and Francis, Francis may claim as heir to John, without naming their father Geoffrey: and to the ſon of Francis may claim as couſin and heir to Matthew the ſon of John, without naming the grandfather; viz. as ſon of Francis, who was the brother of John, who was the father of Matthew. But though the common anceſtors are not named in deducing the pedigree, yet the law ſtill reſpects them as the fountains of inheritable blood: and therefore in order to aſcertain the collateral heir of John Stiles, it is in the firſt place neceſſary to recur to his anceſtors in the firſt degree; and if they have left any other iſſue beſides John, that iſſue will be his heir. On default of ſuch, we muſt aſcend one ſtep higher to the anceſtors in the ſecond degree, and then to thoſe in the third, and fourth, and ſo upwards, in infinitum; till ſome anceſtors be found, who have other iſſue deſcending from them beſides the deceaſed, in a parallel or collateral line. From theſe anceſtors the heir of John Stiles muſt derive his deſcent; and in ſuch derivation the ſame rules muſt
