Laws
him:--O creature of a day, you know neither what is yours nor yourself:
for you and your property are not your own, but belong to your whole
family, past and to come, and property and family alike belong to the
State. And therefore I must take out of your hands the charge of what
you leave behind you, with a view to the interests of all. And I hope
that you will not quarrel with us, now that you are going the way of all
mankind; we will do our best for you and yours when you are no longer
here. Let this be our address to the living and dying, and let the law
be as follows:--The father who has sons shall appoint one of them to be
the heir of the lot; and if he has given any other son to be adopted by
another, the adoption shall also be recorded; and if he has still a son
who has no lot, and has a chance of going to a colony, he may give him
what he has more than the lot; or if he has more than one son unprovided
for, he may divide the money between them. A son who has a house of his
own, and a daughter who is betrothed, are not to share in the bequest of
money; and the son or daughter who, having inherited one lot, acquires
another, is to bequeath the new inheritance to the next of kin. If a man
have only daughters, he may adopt the husband of any one of them; or if
he have lost a son, let him make mention of the circumstance in his will
and adopt another. If he have no children, he may give away a tenth of
his acquired property to whomsoever he likes; but he must adopt an heir
to inherit the lot, and may leave the remainder to him. Also he may
appoint guardians for his children; or if he die without appointing them
or without making a will, the nearest kinsmen,--two on the father's
and two on the mother's side,--and one friend of the departed, shall be
appointed guardians. The fifteen eldest guardians of the law are to have
special charge of all orphans, the whole number of fifteen being
divided into bodies of three, who will succeed one another according
to seniority every year for five years. If a man dying intestate leave
daughters, he must pardon the law which marries them for looking, first
to kinship, and secondly to the preservation of the lot. The legislator
cannot regard the character of the heir, which to the father is the
first consideration. The law will therefore run as follows:--If the
intestate leave daughters, husbands are to be found for them among
their kindred according to the following table of affinity: first,
their father's brothers; secondly, the sons of their father's brothers;
thirdly, of their father's sisters; fourthly, their great-uncles;
fifthly, the sons of a great-uncle; sixthly, the sons of a great-aunt.
The kindred in such cases shall always be reckoned in this way; the
relationship shall proceed upwards through brothers and sisters and
brothers' and sisters' children, and first the male line must be taken
and then the female. If there is a dispute in regard to fitness of
age for marriage, this the judge shall decide, after having made an
inspection of the youth naked, and of the maiden naked down to the
waist. If the maiden has no relations within the degree of third cousin,
she may choose whom she likes, with the consent of her guardians; or she
may even select some one who has gone to a colony, and he, if he be a
kinsman, will take the lot by law; if not, he must have her guardians'
consent, as well as hers. When a man dies without children and without
a will, let a young man and a young woman go forth from the family and
take up their abode in the desolate house. The woman shall be selected
from the kindred in the following order of succession:--first, a
sister of the deceased; second, a brother's daughter; third, a sister's
daughter; fourth, a father's sister; fifth, a daughter of a father's
brother; sixth, a daughter of a father's sister. For the man the
same order shall be observed as in the preceding case. The legislator
foresees that laws of this kind will sometimes press heavily, and that
his intention cannot always be fulfilled; as for example, when there are
mental and bodily defects in the persons who are enjoined to marry. But
he must be excused for not being always able to reconcile the general
principles of public interest with the particular circumstances of
individuals; and he is willing to allow, in like manner, that the
individual cannot always do what the lawgiver wishes. And then arbiters
must be chosen, who will determine equitably the cases which may arise
under the law: e.g. a rich cousin may sometimes desire a grander match,
or the requirements of the law can only be fulfilled by marrying a
madwoman. To meet such cases let the following law be enacted:--If any
one comes forward and says that the lawgiver, had he been alive, would
not have required the carrying out of the law in a particular case, let
him go to the fifteen eldest guardians of the law who have the care of
orphans; but if he thinks that too much power is thus given to them, he
may bring the case before the court of select judges.
Thus will orphans have a second birth. In order to make their sad
condition as light as possible, the guardians of the law shall be
their parents, and shall be admonished to take care of them. And what
admonition can be more appropriate than the assurance which we formerly
gave, that the souls of the dead watch over mortal affairs? About this
there are many ancient traditions, which may be taken on trust from the
legislator. Let men fear, in the first place, the Gods above; secondly,
the souls of the departed, who naturally care for their own descendants;
thirdly, the aged living, who are quick to hear of any neglect of family
duties, especially in the case of orphans. For they are the holiest
and most sacred of all deposits, and the peculiar care of guardians and
magistrates; and those who try to bring them up well will contribute
to their own good and to that of their families. He who listens to the
preamble of the law will never know the severity of the legislator; but
he who disobeys, and injures the orphan, will pay twice the penalty he
would have paid if the parents had been alive. More laws might have been
made about orphans, did we not suppose that the guardians have children
and property of their own which are protected by the laws; and the duty
of the guardian in our state is the same as that of a father, though
his honour or disgrace is greater. A legal admonition and threat may,
however, be of service: the guardian of the orphan and the guardian of
the law who is over him, shall love the orphan as their own children,
and take more care of his or her property than of their own. If the
guardian of the child neglect his duty, the guardian of the law shall
fine him; and the guardian may also have the magistrate tried for
neglect in the court of select judges, and he shall pay, if convicted,
a double penalty. Further, the guardian of the orphan who is careless
or dishonest may be fined on the information of any of the citizens in a
fourfold penalty, half to go to the orphan and half to the prosecutor
of the suit. When the orphan is of age, if he thinks that he has been
ill-used, his guardian may be brought to trial by him within five years,
and the penalty shall be fixed by the court. Or if the magistrate
has neglected the orphan, he shall pay damages to him; but if he have
defrauded him, he shall make compensation and also be deposed from his
office of guardian of the law.
If irremediable differences arise between fathers and sons, the father
may want to renounce his son, or the son may indict his father for
imbecility: such violent separations only take place when the family are
'a bad lot'; if only one of the two parties is bad, the differences do
not grow to so great a height. But here arises a difficulty. Although
in any other state a son who is disinherited does not cease to be a
citizen, in ours he does; for the number of citizens cannot exceed 5040.
And therefore he who is to suffer such a penalty ought to be abjured,
not only by his father, but by the whole family. The law, then, should
run as follows:--If any man's evil fortune or temper incline him to
disinherit his son, let him not do so lightly or on the instant; but let
him have a council of his own relations and of the maternal relations of
his son, and set forth to them the propriety of disinheriting him, and
allow his son to answer. And if more than half of the kindred male and
female, being of full age, condemn the son, let him be disinherited.
If any other citizen desires to adopt him, he may, for young men's
characters often change in the course of life. But if, after ten years,
he remains unadopted, let him be sent to a colony. If disease, or old
age, or evil disposition cause a man to go out of his mind, and he is
ruining his house and property, and his son doubts about indicting him
for insanity, let him lay the case before the eldest guardians of the
law, and consult with them. And if they advise him to proceed, and the
father is decided to be imbecile, he shall have no more control over his
property, but shall live henceforward like a child in the house.
If a man and his wife are of incompatible tempers, ten guardians of the
law and ten of the matrons who regulate marriage shall take their case
in hand, and reconcile them, if possible. If, however, their swelling
souls cannot be pacified, the wife may try and find a new husband, and
the husband a new wife; probably they are not very gentle creatures, and
should therefore be joined to milder natures. The younger of those
who are separated should also select their partners with a view to the
procreation of children; while the older should seek a companion for
their declining years. If a woman dies, leaving children male or female,
the law will advise, but not compel, the widower to abstain from a
second marriage; if she leave no children, he shall be compelled to
marry. Also a widow, if she is not old enough to live honestly without
marriage, shall marry again; and in case she have no children, she
should marry for the sake of them. There is sometimes an uncertainty
which parent the offspring is to follow: in unions of a female slave
with a male slave, or with a freedman or free man, or of a free woman
with a male slave, the offspring is to belong to the master; but if the
master or mistress be themselves the parent of the child, the slave and
the child are to be sent away to another land.
Concerning duty to parents, let the preamble be as follows:--We honour
the Gods in their lifeless images, and believe that we thus propitiate
them. But he who has an aged father or mother has a living image, which
if he cherish it will do him far more good than any statue. 'What do
you mean by cherishing them?' I will tell you. Oedipus and Amyntor and
Theseus cursed their children, and their curses took effect. This proves
that the Gods hear the curses of parents who are wronged; and shall we
doubt that they hear and fulfil their blessings too?' 'Surely not.' And,
as we were saying, no image is more honoured by the Gods than an aged
father and mother, to whom when honour is done, the God who hears their
prayers is rejoiced, and their influence is greater than that of the
lifeless statue; for they pray that good or evil may come to us in
proportion as they are honoured or dishonoured, but the statue is
silent. 'Excellent.' Good men are glad when their parents live to
extreme old age, or if they depart early, lament their loss; but to bad
man their parents are always terrible. Wherefore let every one honour
his parents, and if this preamble fails of influencing him, let him hear
the law:--If any one does not take sufficient care of his parents, let
the aggrieved person inform the three eldest guardians of the law and