f the Iroquois.

With respect to Pennsylvania, I cannot do better than point out the
work of Proud, entitled "The History of Pennsylvania, from the original
Institution and Settlement of that Province, under the first Proprietor
and Governor, William Penn, in 1681, till after the year 1742," by
Robert Proud, 2 vols. 8vo, printed at Philadelphia in 1797. This work is
deserving of the especial attention of the reader; it contains a mass of
curious documents concerning Penn, the doctrine of the Quakers, and
the character, manners, and customs of the first inhabitants of
Pennsylvania. I need not add that among the most important documents
relating to this State are the works of Penn himself, and those of
Franklin.

Part II.

Appendix G

We read in Jefferson's "Memoirs" as follows:--

"At the time of the first settlement of the English in Virginia, when
land was to be had for little or nothing, some provident persons having
obtained large grants of it, and being desirous of maintaining
the splendor of their families, entailed their property upon their
descendants. The transmission of these estates from generation to
generation, to men who bore the same name, had the effect of raising up
a distinct class of families, who, possessing by law the privilege of
perpetuating their wealth, formed by these means a sort of patrician
order, distinguished by the grandeur and luxury of their establishments.
From this order it was that the King usually chose his councillors of
state." *c

[Footnote c: This passage is extracted and translated from M. Conseil's
work upon the life of Jefferson, entitled "Melanges Politiques et
Philosophiques de Jefferson."]

In the United States, the principal clauses of the English law
respecting descent have been universally rejected. The first rule that
we follow, says Mr. Kent, touching inheritance, is the following:--If a
man dies intestate, his property goes to his heirs in a direct line.
If he has but one heir or heiress, he or she succeeds to the whole. If
there are several heirs of the same degree, they divide the inheritance
equally amongst them, without distinction of sex. This rule was
prescribed for the first time in the State of New York by a statute of
February 23, 1786. (See Revised Statutes, vol. iii. Appendix, p. 48.) It
has since then been adopted in the Revised Statutes of the same State.
At the present day this law holds good throughout the whole of the
United State