Note 377 — Chapter VIII · THE UNFREE. THE SERF.

Of course (except under circumstances which the Christian clergy, and probably even the heathen priesthood,—and if neither of these, yet the universal human feeling—would condemn,) the issue of such marriage could not have been treated as unfree, during the life of the father. But a question might arise after death, and on subsequent inheritance by third parties. And cases might occur where the public right rendered it necessary to take care that the unfree should not enjoy the advantages of freedom.