inherit. Thus, if it deſcended from Geoffrey Stiles, the father, the blood of Lucy Baker, the mother, is perpetually excluded: and ſo, vice verſa, if it deſcended from Lucy Baker, it cannot deſcend to the blood of Geoffrey Stiles. This, in either caſe, cuts off one half of the table from any poſſible ſucceſſion. And farther, if it can be ſhewn to have deſcended from George Stiles, this cuts off three fourths; for now the blood, not only of Lucy Baker, but alſo of Cecilia Kempe, is excluded. If, laſtly, it deſcended from Walter Stiles, this narrows the ſucceſſion ſtill more, and cuts off ſeven eighths of the table; for now, neither the blood of Lucy Baker, nor of Cecilia Kempe, nor of Chriſtian Smith, can ever ſucceed to the inheritance. And the like rule will hold upon deſcents from any other anceſtors.
The ſtudent ſhould bear in mind, that, during this whole proceſs, John Stiles is the perſon ſuppoſed to have been laſt actually ſeiſed of the eſtate. For if ever it comes to veſt in any other perſon, as heir to John Stiles, a new order of ſucceſſion muſt be obſerved upon the death of ſuch heir; ſince he, by his own ſeiſin, now becomes himſelf an anceſtor, or ſtipes, and muſt be put in the place of John Stiles. The figures therefore denote the order, in which the ſeveral claſſes would ſucceed to John Stiles, and not to each other: and, before we ſearch for an heir in any of the higher figures, (as № 8.) we muſt be firſt aſſured that all the lower claſſes (from № 1 to 7.) were extinct, at John Stiles's deceaſe.
