PRIMOGENITURE is the rule of law under which the eldest son of the family succeeds to the father's real estate in preference to, and in absolute exclusion of, the younger sons and all the sisters. This is the rule adopted in Britain and in most European countries, though latterly the policy of the rule has been disputed, and the contrary example of France pointed to as an example or a warning, according to the theory advocated. The rule operates as follows: whenever a man dies intestate, leaving real estate—i.e., lands and houses—his eldest son is the only person entitled by law to the whole; and if the other brothers and sisters are not otherwise provided for out of the personality they are left destitute. If the eldest son is dead, but has left an eldest son, such grandson' of the deceased, in like manner, succeeds to the whole lands exclusively, and so on, following in succession, the eldest sons of eldest sons, and their next eldest sons, one by one, in their order of seniority. But when the male line is exhausted, then females do not suc ceed in the same way singly and by seniority, but all together succeed jointly. Such is the rule in England and in Scotland.. The preference of males to females was also time Jewish rule and the Greek rule, or at least that which prevailed at Athens; but it was unknown to the Romans. It is generally said our preference of males took its origin from the feudal system, by which the devolution of land depended on the personal ability of the party to perform military service. Our Danish ancestors seem not to have acknowledged any preference of the males, but time Saxons did so. Our law does not, like the Salle law, totally exclude femaleS, but merely postpones them until the males are exhausted. Though, however, it is the general law of England, as well as Scotland and Ireland, there is one county in England, that of Kent, where, by ancient custom— called gavelkind—a different rule prevails, and the land, instead of going wholly to the eldest son, is divided equally among all the sons. So there is an exception, called Borough English, in some boroughs and cities of England, where the land, instead of goiug to the eldest son, goes wholly to the youngest son. The evils said to be attendant on the law of primogeniture are alleged to be, that it ofteu produces great hardship, by making one of the family enormously rich, and the others very poor, thereby intro ducing a sense of inequality and injustice among those who are apt to believe them selves equals by the law of nature. IL also tends to encourage the accumulation of landed property in a. few hands, and thereby cuts off the great mass of the people from the gratification of a natural desire and from one incentive to industry—viz., the acqui sition of a portion of the soil. On the other hand, it is said that the cases of hardship in reality seldom occur, for, especially in modern times, an equal amount of personal property is often held by the same owners, and the rule does not apply to personalny, which as equally divided among all the children. Moreover, the great land-owners
seldom die intestate, but almost invariably provide for their younger children by means of charges or burdens on the family estate, and so counteract the effect of the law of primogeniture. The accumulation of landed property is said to be not an evil, bat the contrary, for it enables agriculture to flourish, inasmuch as the larger the farms, the greater is the capital required. and the Feater benefit to the land, and ultimately to the public. The law of primogeniture in England is not as it is or was in Scotland, stereo typed in its most odious form by the practice of entailing the lands, and so locking them up for generations in one family, them from commerce, and of necessity pre the successive heirs in possession from making improvements. The evils of the Scotch entail system have beeti exposed, and led, in 1848, to a relaxation of the law, by which the practice of disentailing the property is made more easy and frequent. But in England, land cannot be locked up for a greater period than the lives of persons in existence, and for 21 years more, after which the parties entitled can sell or bring the lands into the market at their discretion; so that it is not correct to say that the accu mulation of land in the great families is caused by the law of primogeniture, for practi cally each successive generation can do what it likes with the property, and squander it at will. It is only by the operation of the natural feelings of family pride that the family estates are kept together in a family. The mode in which this is practically done in England is as follows: the peer or head of the family being tenant for life, and the inheritance being entailed upon his eldest son, who is about to marry, the father and sun take the proper steps (which they can always do jointly) for unsettling the estate, and obtaining the absolute dominion over it. They then proceed to resettle the estate, making the father as before tenant for life, then the son is reduced in his turn to a tenant for life also, after the father, instead of, as before. being tenant in tail, or full proprietor. Thus, the maintenance of the family dignity is secured for another generation by settling the inheritance on the eldest male issue of the intended marriage: and when tire grandson attains the age of 21, or is about to marry, he and Iris father net in the saute way the next generation. The English law of landed property has been said to answer admirably all the purposes to which it is applicable, for a testa mentary power is given which stimulates industry, and encourages accumulation; and while capricious limitations, such as perpetual entails, are restrained, property is allowed to be molded according to the circumstances and wants of every family.