prevail always. The law which calls the elder-born to the crown, preferably to the others, was not introduced into France till very late; it was unknown to the first race of kings, and even to the second. The four sons of Clovis shared the kingdom equally among themselves; and Louis le Debonnaire did the same: it was not till the race of Hugh Capet, that the prerogative of succession to the crown was appropriated to the first-born.

By the ancient custom of Gael-kind, still preserved in some parts of our island, primogeniture is of no account; the paternal estate being equally shared by all the sons. And it has been a matter of violent and learned dispute, whether, at the death of Alexander III., Balliol or Bruce was, by the law as it then stood, heir to the crown of Scotland. The former had undoubtedly the right of primogeniture, but the latter stood in one degree of nearer relation to the deceased sovereign; and the Scottish barons, not being able to determine whose claim was best founded, referred the question to Edward I. of England, and thereby involved their country in a long and ruinous war. See SCOTLAND.

is a name given by the Slavi to that tract of sea-coast which lies between the two rivers Cetina and Narenta, the first of which is the Neltus and Tilurias, and the second the Narus, of the ancients; comprising what was properly called Dalmatia two ages before our era, and which was known to the Greeks of the low times under the name of Paralatafia. Appian informs us, that the Ardei or Vardei possessed many cities there, part of which they seized before the invasion of the Romans, and part they built themselves. We learn also from the Tabula Peutingeriana, that after the conquest many of those cities remained, and were inhabited by the conquerors, who also founded new settlements. And indeed were these proofs wanting, the numerous inscriptions found near the sea, and sometimes among the hills, would render it at least probable. The coast is extremely pleasant, the soil fertile, and the situation most convenient for commerce with the inland provinces. By bad management, however, much ground has been lost near the sea, by its being covered with gravel, and by imprudent cultivation of the hills, the impetuous fury of the mountain torrents has rendered a part of it uninhabitable. Macarska is now the only town in the territory, and it appears to have risen out of the ruins of the ancient Rataneum of Pliny. It formed a part of the Narentan state for several ages, and afterwards, together with the rest of Primorie, passed under the obedience of various Christian princes. It afterwards became subject to the Ottoman Porte, and at last voluntarily subjected itself to the Venetian republic. See DALMATIA and MACARSKA. See also Fortie's Travels into Dalmatia, p. 265—318.