A new and more impartial order was introduced by
the _Novels_ of Justinian, who affected to revive the jurisprudence of
the _Twelve Tables_. The lines of masculine and female kindred were
confounded: the descending, ascending, and collateral series was
accurately defined; and each degree, according to the proximity of blood
and affection, succeeded the vacant possessions of a Roman citizen.
The order of succession is regulated by nature, or at least by the
general and permanent reason of the law-giver: but this order is
frequently violated by the arbitrary and partial wills, which prolong
the dominion of the testator beyond the grave. In the simple state of
society this last use or abuse of the right of property is seldom
indulged; it was introduced at Athens by the laws of Solon; and the
private testaments of a father of a family are authorized by the _Twelve
Tables_. Before the time of the decemvirs a Roman citizen exposed his
wishes and motives to the assembly of the thirty curiae or parishes, and
the general law of inheritance was suspended by an occasional act of the
legislature.
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