The zeal of friendship and parental affection suggested
a liberal artifice: a qualified citizen was named in the testament, with
a prayer or injunction that he would restore the inheritance to the
person for whom it was truly intended. Various was the conduct of the
trustees in this painful situation; they had sworn to observe the laws
of their country, but honor prompted them to violate their oath; and if
they preferred their interest under the mask of patriotism, they
forfeited the esteem of every virtuous mind. The declaration of Augustus
relieved their doubts, gave a legal sanction to confidential testaments
and codicils, and gently unravelled the forms and restraints of the
republican jurisprudence. But as the new practice of trusts degenerated
into some abuse, the trustee was enabled, by the Trebellian and Pegasian
decrees, to reserve one-fourth of the estate, or to transfer on the head
of the real heir all the debts and actions of the succession. The
interpretation of testaments was strict and literal; but the language of
trusts and codicils was delivered from the minute and technical accuracy
of the civilians.
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