THE LAW AND CUSTOM OF PRIMOGENITURE 379 



subject, however, to a right of dower to his widow, should there be one. If 

 there are no children or lineal descendants, the property goes to other relatives 

 of the deceased. If the intestate leaves no kindred, his estate escheats to the 

 state in which it is situated. The laws of the different states of the Union 

 regulating the descent and division of landed property on death of owner 

 harmonise to a great extent with each other. 



It may be asserted that the system of land-tenure by small proprietors is 

 regarded in this country with great favour, and that the prevailing public 

 opinion is that the possession of land should be within the reach of the most 

 modest means. A proprietor of land, however small, acquires a stake in the 

 country, and assumes responsibilities which guarantee his discharging faithfully 

 his duties as a citizen. Whilst practically any one man may acquire as much 

 land as he can pay for, yet the whole tendency and effect of the laws of this 

 country are conducive to dispersion and multitudinous ownership of land. The 

 several states, and the government of the United States grant their lands in 

 limited quantities ; and under the laws of descent lands descend to the children, 

 irrespective of sex, in equal shares ; and the laws of partition provide for a 

 division of the lands into as many parts as there are interests, where it can be 

 done without prejudice. In many European countries the sale and transfer of 

 land are so hampered by legal complications, and entail such heavy expenses, 

 as frequently to discourage such operations. In the United States, on the 

 contrary, the sale and transfer of land are conducted with about the same ease 

 as would be the sale of a watch. Very large quantities of land are seldom held 

 in this country, undivided, by one family for more than one or two generations. 

 It is worthy of remark that in this country the same reluctance is not felt, as 

 in Europe, to parting with family lands. 



The conclusion to be drawn from this rapid survey of foreign 

 laws and customs regulating the devolution and settlement of 

 land may be expressed in a very few words. No other nation 

 has adopted in its entirety the English right of primogeniture 

 a right which could only have grown up in a thoroughly feudal- 

 ised society, and could only have been perpetuated in a country 

 where the feudal structure of society has never undergone any 

 violent disturbance. In those states which have remodelled their 

 jurisprudence on the principles of the Code Napoleon, the eldest 

 son is effectually debarred from engrossing the whole landed 

 property of the family. In other states which have developed 

 their law of succession independently, parents are allowed to 

 "make eldest sons," under greater or less restrictions. In no 

 considerable state but our own does the law itself, in default 

 of a will or settlement, constitute the eldest son the sole heir to 



