History of the earldoms of Strathern, Monteith, and Airth

170
HISTORY OF THE EARLDOMS OF
Proceedings
IN THE House
OF LORPS.
9th July, 1839.
Speech of Mr.
Knight Bruce.
tion of the words ' heirs male.' It cannot be
said, with reference to this branch of the argu-
ment, that the law has put a construction upon
the words of this clause, which prevents you
from putting upon them the construction which
you are convinced is their real meaning ; besides
that, if they have no fixed meaning, neither
have they an obvious meaning ; for, taking the
words as they stand, if I may be permitted
to use such an expression in this place, they are
nonsense. They are words, however, of which,
by construction, you must make sense ; out of
which, by construction, you must create a mean-
ing ; and you must make sense of the words as
they stand, if that can be done, for that is the
rule of all law/
*' There is another passage which is as strong
as any other in the judgment. It is in these
words (p. 52.) : — ' You cannot reject a phrase
except where it is absolutely necessary that you
should reject it ; and you cannot so correct it,
unless there is an absolute and indispensable ne-
cessity that you should so correct it. If you can
give a consistent meaning to the words forming
the phraseology of a deed, I say that your Lord-
ships are not at liberty to alter one syllable of it.
You must take the deed as it is ; you must make
a consistent construction of it as it is. If you can
make a consistent construction of it as it is, and,
making a consistent construction of it as it is, if