metaphysics, the idea which we get by reflecting on the ideas that follow one another in our mind; and from the succession of ideas we get the idea of time. See Metaphysics, no. 93, and 209.

law. See Descent.

Succession to the Crown. See Hereditary Right.

From the days of Ecgbert, the first sole monarch of England, even to the present, the four cardinal maxims mentioned in that article have ever been held constitutional canons of succession. It is true, as Sir William Blackstone observes, this succession, through fraud or force, or sometimes through necessity, when in hostile times the crown descended on a minor or the like, has been very frequently suspended; but has generally at last returned back into the old hereditary channel, though sometimes a very considerable period has intervened. And even in those instances where this succession has been violated, the crown has ever been looked upon as hereditary in the wearer of it. Of which the usurpers themselves were so sensible, that they for the most part endeavoured to vamp up some feeble show of a title by descent, in order to amuse the people, while they gained the possession of the kingdom. And, when possession was once gained, they considered it as the purchase or acquisition of a new estate of inheritance, and transmitted, or endeavoured to transmit it, to their own posterity by a kind of hereditary right of usurpation. (See Black. Com. v. i. 197—217.) From the historical view there given, it appears, that the title to the crown is at present hereditary, though not quite so absolutely hereditary as formerly; and the common stock, or ancestor, from whom the descent must be derived, is also different. Formerly, the common stock was King Ecgbert; then William the Conqueror; afterwards, in James I.'s time, the two common stocks united; and so continued till the vacancy of the throne in 1688: now it is the Princess Sophia, in whom the inheritance was vested by the new king and parliament. Formerly, the descent was absolute, and the crown went to the next heir without any restriction: but now, upon the new settlement, the inheritance is conditional; being limited to such heirs only, of the body of the Princess Sophia, as are Protestant members of the church of England, and are married to none but Protestants.

And in this due medium consists the true constitutional notion of the right of succession to the imperial crown of these kingdoms. The extremes between which it steers are each of them equally destructive of those ends for which societies were formed and are kept on foot. Where the magistrate, upon every succession, is elected by the people, and Succession may by the express provision of the laws be depoed (if not punished) by his subjects; this may found like the perfection of liberty, and look well enough when delineated on paper; but in practice will be ever productive of tumult, contention, and anarchy. And, on the other hand, divine indefeasible hereditary right, when coupled with the doctrine of unlimited passive obedience, is surely of all constitutions the most thoroughly lawful and dreadful. But when such an hereditary right as our laws have created and veiled in the royal stock, is closely interwoven with those liberties which are equally the inheritance of the subject; this union will form a constitution, in theory the most beautiful of any, in practice the most approved, and, we trust, in duration the most permanent.

In France the succession to the monarchy was limited to heirs male (see Salic); but in Navarre the crown was inherited by the heir of line, whether male or female. The case stands thus: Philip the Fourth, king of France, surnamed the Fair, in the year 1285 espoused Jane queen of Navarre in her own right; and as king consort of this latter kingdom added the title of Navarre to his former one of France. Louis X., son and heir of Philip and Jane (surnamed Hutin, or the Boisterous), succeeded to both crowns. By Margaret his first wife, who had been crowned queen of Navarre, he left one daughter Joan or Jane. His second wife Clementia was pregnant at the time of his decease, and was delivered of a posthumous son, whom most of the French annalists recognize as John I. of France, though he lived no longer than three weeks. On his death the kingdom of France passed to Philip V. (surnamed the Long), and that of Navarre (to which the Salic law could by no construction extend) to Joanna, the only child and heir of Louis and Margaret. From Joanna, in lineal succession, the kingdom of Navarre passed to Jane d'Albret, mother of Henry IV. of France, and wife of Anthony of Vendome, who as king consort wore the crown of Navarre. On the accession of Henry to the kingdom of France, the two monarchies were united, and the four succeeding princes assumed the joint titles. But if ever the monarchy be restored in France, Mary, princess royal and daughter of Louis XVI., will have the same right to the throne of Navarre that her uncle has to the throne of France; for she is the undoubted heir of line of the great and illustrious Henry IV.