Note 323 — Chapter XIV

Gibbon, vol. iv., p. 341: “The law of nature instructs most animals to cherish and educate their youthful progeny. The law of reason inculcates to the human species the returns of filial piety. But the exclusive, absolute and perpetual dominion of the father over his children is peculiar to the Roman jurisprudence and seems to be coeval with the foundation of the city.”