BOOK II. CHAP. XIII. 315 



r« Rome they were unknown till the Jaws of the twelve tables 

 were compiled, which firft gave the right of bequeathing ^ aiid' 

 among the Northern nations, particularly the Germans, teftaraents 

 were not received into ufe. By the common law of Englaiidv fincc 

 the conqueft, no eftate, greater than for term, of years, can be di-f- 

 poled; of by teftaraent, except only in Kent: and; in fome antient 

 burghs, and. a few particular manors, where dieir Saxon immunities 

 by particular ijiduJgence fubfilted. And though the feodal refrraint 

 on aliena,tions by deed vaniihed very early, yet this on wills con- 

 tinued for fome centuries after:, from, an apprehendon of infirmity 

 and impofition on: the teftator in exiremis ; which made, fuch devifes 

 fufpicioys. Every diftincl country has ditferent ceremonies and re- 

 quifites to make a will compleatly valid ; and this variety may ferve 

 to evince, that the right of making wjlls and difpohng of property 

 after death is merely a creature of the civil, or municipal laws, which- 

 have permitted it. in fome countries, and denied it in others ; and 

 even where it is permitted by law, it is fubjeded to different re- 

 ftriftions, in almoft every nation under Heaven, In England, par- 

 ticularly, this diverfity is carried to fuch a length, as- if' it had been 

 meant to point out the power of the laws- in regulating the fuccefTioii 

 to property ; and how futile every claim muft be, that has not it's 

 foundation in. the pofitive rules of the {fate [e]. In the fame king- 

 dom, the inftitution of marriage is regarded as one of the main links 

 of fociety, becaufe it is found to be the bed fupport of it. A pro- 

 mifcuous intercourfe and an uncertain parentage, if they were uni*-.' 

 verfal, would foon diflblve the frame of the conffitution, from the 

 infinity of claims and contefled rights of fuccefiion : for this reaibn, 

 the begetting an illegitimate cliild is reputed a violation of the Ibcial 

 compads, and the tranfgreflbrs are punifhable with corporal cor- 

 redion \^f~\- The civil codes were fo rigorous, that they even made 

 baftards incapable, in fome cafes, of a gift from their parents. The 

 deteflation in which they have been held by th^ Englifh laws is 

 very apparent, and may be inferred from the fpirit of their feveral 

 maxims :. as, " Hseres legithnus eft quern 7iupUa demonftrant &c. [^1." 



[<■] Blackftone. 



[./■] 18 Eliz. 7 Jac. I. 



\g\ A legitimate child is he that is born after wedlock, ' 



«' Cui 



