Cassillis peerage, 1760-4

11
Objection 1.
merit was acquiesced in, and has stood unimpeached
for thirty Years ; and the said Simon late Lord
Lovat having as a Peer of Scotland been impeached,
brought to a Trial, and convicted of High Treason
for his Accession to the Rebellion 1745, the Law in
this Particular must now be considered as esta-
blished, and cannot be called in Question.
It may be objected, That by the Law and Usage
of England, Dignities as well as Lands, unless
limited by special Grant, always descend to the
right Heirs, or Heirs of Line, and consequently to
Heirs Female ; and that this Rule ought to take
Place in the present Case.
To this it is answered, That the Feudal Law was
only introduced into England at the Norman Con-
quest; and at the same Time the Female Succession
was established agreeable to the Norman Custom. —
But it appears from the Laws of Malcolm the lid,
who reigned in 1004, and from the most undoubted
Authorities, that the Feudal Law, by which the
Female Succession was excluded, took Place much
earlier, and continued much longer in its original
Purity in Scotland, where it has ever been consi-
dered as the proper Law of that Country in Matters
of Succession, unless where it has been clearly al-
tered by Custom, which will not be maintained in
the present Case.
defluxerit; et si quid dubii oriatur,
repetendae Bunt, ut inde quod asquum
It may be further objected, That there occurred Objection n.
one Instance of the contested Right to the Title ^^"iiSjuiy
and Dignity of Lord Oliphant in 1633, where the I633 - °} u
p n • p l rr-ii 1 t» i phant against
Court of Session found, 1 hat where the Person last oiiphant.
Answer.
Leges Malco-
lumbi 2 di , cap.
i. Reg. Majes-
tat.
Sir Tho. Craig,
Lib. i Dieg. 8,
§ 2 and 16.
Hoc enim cer-
tissimum est,
nos purius hoc
jus habere quam
vicinos. — Hoc
jus proprium
hujus Regni di-
ci potest, cum
ex ejus scaturi-
gine et fontibus
omne jus, quo
hodie minim- in
foro, omnisque
usus et praxis
origincs semper
est dignoscatur.