第44章

Thereshouldbethereforeaninsurmountablebarrierbetweenthosewhooughttogivetheeducation，andthosewhoaretoreceiveit，inordertopreventeverykindofcorruption，eventhoughthemotivebelawful。

Whydofatherssocarefullydeprivethosewhoaretomarrytheirdaughtersoftheircompanyandfamiliarity？

Thehorrorthatarisesagainsttheincestofthebrotherwiththesistershouldproceedfromthesamesource。Thedesireoffathersandmotherstopreservethemoralsoftheirchildrenandfamiliesuntaintedissufficienttoinspiretheiroffspringwithadetestationofeverythingthatcanleadtotheunionofthetwosexes。

Theprohibitionofmarriagebetweencousins—germanhasthesameorigin。

Intheearlyages，thatis，inthetimesofinnocence，intheageswhenluxurywasunknown，itwascustomaryforchildren[34]upontheirmarriagenottoremovefromtheirparents，butsettleinthesamehouse；

asasmallhabitationwasatthattimesufficientforalargefamily；

thechildrenoftwobrothers，orcousins—german，[35]wereconsideredbothbyothersandthemselvesasbrothers。Theestrangementthenbetweenthebrothersandsistersastomarriagesubsistedalsobetweenthecousins—german。[36]Theseprinciplesaresostrongandnonaturalthattheyhavehadtheirinfluencealmostoveralltheearth，independentlyofanycommunication。ItwasnottheRomanswhotaughttheinhabitantsofFormosa[37]thatthemarriageofrelativesofthefourthdegreewasincestuous；itwasnottheRomansthatcommunicatedthissentimenttotheArabs；[38]itwasnottheywhotaughtittotheinhabitantsoftheMaldivianislands。[39]

Butifsomenationshavenotrejectedmarriagesbetweenfathersandchildren，sistersandbrothers，wehaveseeninthefirstbook，thatintelligentbeingsdonotalwaysfollowthelawofnature。Whocouldhaveimaginedit！Religiousideashavefrequentlymademenfallintothesemistakes。IftheAssyriansandthePersiansmarriedtheirmothers，thefirstwereinfluencedbyareligiousrespectforSemiramis，andtheseconddiditbecausethereligionofZoroastergaveapreferencetothesemarriages。[40]IftheEgyptiansmarriedtheirsisters，itproceededfromthewildnessoftheEgyptianreligion，whichconsecratedthesemarriagesinhonourofIsis。Asthespiritofreligionleadsustoattemptwhateverisgreatanddifficult，wecannotinferthatathingisnaturalfromitsbeingconsecratedbyafalsereligion。

Theprinciplewhichinformsusthatmarriagesbetweenfathersandchildren，betweenbrothersandsisters，areprohibitedinordertopreservenaturalmodestyinfamilieswillhelpustothediscoveryofthosemarriagesthatareforbiddenbythelawofnature，andofthosewhichcanbesoonlybythecivillaw。

Aschildrendwell，oraresupposedtodwellintheirfather’shouse，andconsequentlytheson—in—lawwiththemother—in—law，thefather—in—lawwiththedaughter—in—law，orwife’sdaughter，themarriagebetweenthemisforbiddenbythelawofnature，inthiscasetheresemblancehasthesameeffectasthereality，becauseitspringsfromthesamecause；thecivillawneithercan，noroughttopermitthesemarriages。

Therearenations，aswehavealreadyobserved，amongwhomcousins—germanareconsideredasbrothers，becausetheycommonlydwellinthesamehouse；thereareotherswherethiscustomisnotknown。

Amongthefirstthemarriageofcousins—germanoughttoberegardedascontrarytonature；notsoamongtheothers。

Butthelawsofnaturecannotbelocal。Therefore，whenthesemarriagesareforbiddenorpermitted，theyare，accordingtothecircumstances，permittedorforbiddenbyacivillaw。

Itisnotanecessarycustomforthebrother—in—lawandthesister—in—lawtodwellinthesamehouse。Themarriagebetweenthemisnotthenprohibitedtopreservechastityinthefamily；andthelawwhichforbidsorpermitsitisnotalawofnature，butacivillaw，regulatedbycircumstancesanddependentonthecustomsofeachcountry：

thesearecasesinwhichthelawsdependonthemorals，orcustomsoftheinhabitants。

Thecivillawsforbidmarriageswhenbythecustomsreceivedinacertaincountrytheyarefoundtobeinthesamecircumstancesasthoseforbiddenbythelawofnature；andtheypermitthemwhenthisisnotthecase。Theprohibitionsofthelawsofnatureareinvariable，becausethethingonwhichtheydependisinvariable；thefather，themotherandthechildrennecessarilydwellinthesamehouse。Buttheprohibitionsofthecivillawsareaccidentalbecausetheydependonanaccidentalcircumstance，cousins—germanandothersdwellinginthehousebyaccident。

ThisexplainswhythelawsofMoses，thoseoftheEgyptians，[41]andofmanyothernationspermittedthemarriageofthebrother—in—lawwiththesister—in—law；whilsttheseverymarriagesweredisallowedbyothernations。

IntheIndiestheyhaveaverynaturalreasonforadmittingthissortofmarriages。Theuncleisthereconsideredasthefatherandisobligedtomaintainandeducatehisnephewasifhewerehisownchild；thisproceedsfromthedispositionofthispeople，whichisgood—naturedandfullofhumanity。Thislaworthiscustomhasproducedanother；ifahusbandhaslosthiswife，hedoesnotfailtomarryhersister：[42]

whichisextremelynatural，forhisnewconsortbecomesthemotherofhersister’schildren，andnotacruelstepmother。

15。ThatweshouldnotregulatebythePrinciplesofpoliticalLawthoseThingswhichdependonthePrinciplesofcivilLaw。Asmenhavegivenuptheirnaturalindependencetoliveunderpoliticallaws，theyhavegivenupthenaturalcommunityofgoodstoliveundercivillaws。

Bythefirst，theyacquiredliberty；bythesecond，property。Weshouldnotdecidebythelawsofliberty，which，aswehavealreadysaid，isonlythegovernmentofthecommunity，whatoughttobedecidedbythelawsconcerningproperty。Itisaparalogismtosaythatthegoodoftheindividualshouldgivewaytothatofthepublic；thiscannevertakeplace，exceptwhenthegovernmentofthecommunity，or，inotherwords，thelibertyofthesubjectisconcerned；thisdoesnotaffectsuchcasesasrelatetoprivateproperty，becausethepublicgoodconsistsineveryone’shavinghisproperty，whichwasgivenhimbythecivillaws，invariablypreserved。

CiceromaintainsthattheAgrarianlawswereunjust；becausethecommunitywasestablishedwithnootherviewthanthateveryonemightbeabletopreservehisproperty。

Letus，therefore，laydownacertainmaxim，thatwheneverthepublicgoodhappenstobethematterinquestion，itisnotfortheadvantageofthepublictodepriveanindividualofhisproperty，oreventoretrenchtheleastpartofitbyalaw，orapoliticalregulation。Inthiscaseweshouldfollowtherigourofthecivillaw，whichisthePalladiumofproperty。

Thuswhenthepublichasoccasionfortheestateofanindividual，itoughtnevertoactbytherigourofpoliticallaw；itisherethatthecivillawoughttotriumph，which，withtheeyesofamother，regardseveryindividualasthewholecommunity。

Ifthepoliticalmagistratewoulderectapublicedifice，ormakeanewroad，hemustindemnifythosewhoareinjuredbyit；thepublicisinthisrespectlikeanindividualwhotreatswithanindividual。Itisfullyenoughthatitcanobligeacitizentosellhisinheritance，andthatitcanstriphimofthisgreatprivilegewhichheholdsfromthecivillaw，thenotbeingforcedtoalienatehispossessions。

AfterthenationswhichsubvertedtheRomanempirehadabusedtheirveryconquests，thespiritoflibertycalledthembacktothatofequity。

Theyexercisedthemostbarbarouslawswithmoderation：andifanyoneshoulddoubtthetruthofthis，heneedonlyreadBeaumanoir’sadmirableworkonjurisprudence，writteninthetwelfthcentury。

Theymendedthehighwaysinhistimeaswedoatpresent。Hesays，thatwhenahighwaycouldnotberepaired，theymadeanewoneasneartheoldaspossible；butindemnifiedtheproprietorsattheexpenseofthosewhoreapedanyadvantagefromtheroad。[43]Theydeterminedatthattimebythe