PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

Dlil1 ~f P I1rtnls.
any case justi!~ the leamJ of
neither reason will i~
. bastards to the world, without proVlSlon, education,
or profession ; or, what is more cruel, wilhcut the
means of continuing in the situation to which the parent
has introduced them: which last, is to leave
them to inevitable misery.
After the fir~t requisite, namely, a provision for
the exigences of his situcdion, is satisfied, a parent
may dimini:.h a child's portion, in order to punish
any flagrant crime, or to punish contumacy and
want of filial duty in instance~ not otherwise criminal
; for a child ,,·1:0 is conscious of bad behaviour,
or of contempt of his parent's will and happiness,
cannot reasonably expect the same in~tancQ ~.f hli
munificence.
A ch!ld's vices. may be of t!!at sort, and his vicious
habits so incorrigible, as to afford much the same
reason for believing that he will 'AClSte or misemploy
the fortune put into his power~ as if he were mad
or idiotish, in which case a parent may treat hilD as a
mad man or an idiot; that is~ may deem it suffick-nt
to provide for his support by an annuity equal to
his wants and innocent enjoyments, and which he
may be restrained from alienati!'::. This seems .to
be the only case iii which- a disiilherison, nearl·~: c.bsolute,
is jostifiableC)
Let not a father ho~e to excuse an iDDfficious dir.
pot'ition of his fort'Jlle~ by alleging, that "every
man may do what he will \\,jlb his own." All the
truth which this expression contains, is, that his
discretion is under no control of law; and that his
will, however capricious, will be valid. This by no
means absolves hjs conscience from the obligations
of a parent, or import~ that he may neglect, witb.
out injustice, the several wants and expectatious of
his family, in order to gratify a whim or a pique,
or indu 19~ a preference founded in no reasonable
distinction of merit or situation. Although in his
intercourse with his family, and in the lesser endearments
of domestic life, a parent may not always