aliis rebus optare legatarium jusserat, habebat olim in se conditionem: et ideò, nisi ipse legatarius vivus optasset, ad hæredem legatum non transmittebat. Sed ex constitutione nostrâ et hoc in meliorem statum reformatum est, et data est licentia hæredi legatarii optare servum,. licèt vivus legatarius hoc non fecerit. Et, diligentiore tractuta habito, hoc in nostrâ constitutione additum est, sivè plures legatarii extiterint, quibus optio relicta est, et dissentiant in corpore eligendo; sivè unius legatarii plures hæredes sint, et inter se circa optandum dissentiant, alio aliud corpus eligere cupiente, ne pereat legatum, (quod plerique prudentium contra benevolentiam introducebant,) fortunam esse hujus optionis judicem, et fortè hoc esse dirimendum, ut, ad quem sors pervenerit, illus sententia in optione præcellat. any slave, from among his slaves, or any article from a certain class of things; and such legacy was formerly presumed to imply this condition, that, if the legatee in his lifetime did not make his election, the legacy could not be transmitted to his heir. But, by our constitution, this presumed condition is now taken away, and the heir of the legatee is permitted to elect, although the legatee in his life-time hath neglected to do it. And, upon further consideration, we have added to our constitution, that, if there be several legatees, to whom an option is left, and they differ in their choice, or if there be many heirs of one legatee, of divers sentiments, then Fortune must be the judge: for, lest the loss of the legacy should ensue, (which the generality of ancient lawyers, contrary to all benevolence, would have permitted,) we have decreed, that such dissensions should be decided by lot; so that his option, to whom the lot falls, shall be preferred. Quibus legari potest. § XXIV. Legari autem illis solùm potest, cum quibus testamenti factio est. Jus antiquum de XXV. Incertis verò personis neque legata neque fidei-commissa olim relinqui concessum erat; nam ne miles quidem incertæ personæ poterat relinquere, ut Divus Hadrianus rescripsit. Incerta autem persona debatur, quam incertâ opi $24. A legacy can be left to those only, who have the capacity of taking by testament, (i. e. factio passiva.) incertis personis. $25. It was not permitted formerly, that either legacies, or gifts in trust, should be bequeathed to incertain persons; this was even prohibited to a soldier, by the emperor Adrian. An incertain person is one whom the testator has figured in nione animo suo testator subjiciebat, veluti, si quis ita dicat, quicunque filio meo filiam suam in matrimonium dederit, ei hæres meus illum fundum dato. Illud quoque, quod iis relinquebatur, qui post testamentum scriptum primi consules designati essent, æque incertæ personæ legari videbatur: et denique multæ aliæ hujusmodi species sunt. Libertas quoque incertæ personæ non videbatur posse dari, quia placebat, nominatim servos liberari. Sub certâ verò demonstratione, id est, ex certis personis, incertæ personæ rectè legabatur: veluti, ex cognatis meis, qui nunc sunt, si quis filiam mean uxorem duxerit, ei hæres meus illam rem dato. Incertis autem personis legata vel fidei-commissa relicta, et per errorem soluta, repeti non posse, sacris constitutionibus cautum erat. his imagination, without any determinate knowledge; as if he should say: whoever shall give his daughter in marriage to my son, to that person let my heir deliver up such a piece of ground. And, if he had made a bequest to the first consuls appointed after his testament was written, this also would have been a bequest to incertain persons; and there are other similar examples. Freedom likewise could not be conferred upon an incertain person; for it was necessary, that all slaves should be nominally infranchised: but a legacy might have been given to an incertain person under a certain demonstration; or, in other words, to an incertain person, being one of a number of persons certain: as, I direct my heir to give such a thing to any one of my present collateral relations, who shall take my daughter in marriage. But, if a legacy or fiduciary gift had been paid to incertain persons by mistake, it was provided by the constitutions, that such persons were not compellable to refund. Jus antiquum de posthumo alieno. § XXVI. Posthumo quoque alieno inutilitèr antea legabatur. Est autem alienus posthumus, qui natus inter suos hæredes testatori futurus non est ideòque, ex emancipato filio conceptus nepos, extraneus erat posthumus avo. $26. Formerly a legacy could not enure to a posthumous stranger: that is, to one who, if he had been born before the death of the testator, could not have been numbered among his proper heirs: and of consequence a posthumous grandson, by an emancipated son, was a posthumous stranger in regard to his grandfather. Jus novum de personis incertis et posthumo alieno. § XXVII. Sed nec hujusmodi species penitùs est sinè justa emendatione relicta, cum in nostro codice constitutio posita sit, per quam et huic parti medemur, non solùm in hæreditatibus, sed etiam in legatis et fidei-commissis: quod evidentèr ex ipsius constitutionis lectione clarescit. Tutor autem nec per nostram constitutionem incertus dari debet: quia certo judicio debet quis pro tutelâ suæ posteritati cavere. $ 27. But the ancient law hath not been left without proper emendation; for a constitution in our collection hath altered the law concerning incertain persons, not only in respect of inheritances, but also legacies and fiduciary bequest. This alteration will appear from the constitution itself; which gives no authority to the nomination of an incertain tutor; for it is incumbent upon every parent to take care of his posterity in this respect, by a determinate appointment. De posthumo aliena hærede instituto. § XXVIII. Posthumus autèm alienus hæres instituti et antè poterat, et nunc potest; nisi in utero ejus sit, quæ jure nostro, uxor esse non potest. $ 28. A posthumous stranger could formerly, and may now be appointed heir, unless it appear, that he was conceived by a woman, who could not have been legally married to his father. meum vernam do, lego. Licet enim non verna, sed emptus sit, si tamen de servo constat, utile est legatum. Et convenientèr, si ita demonstraverit, Stichum servum, quem a Seio emi, sitque ab alio emptus, utile est legatum, si de servo constat. quest thus worded: I give and bequeath Stichus my slave, who was born in my family: in this case, although Stichus was not born in the family, but bought, yet, if there be certainty of his person, the legacy is valid. And if a testator should write: I bequeath Stichus my slave, whom I bought of Seius; yet, although bought of another, the legacy would be good, if no doubt existed as to the person of Stichus. De falsa causa adjecta. § XXXI. Longè magis legato falșa causa adjecta non nocet: veluti cum quis ita dixerit: Titio, quia me absente negotia mea curavit, Stichum do, lego: vel ita, Titio, quia patrocinio ejus, capitali crimine liberatus sum, Stichum do, lego. Licèt enim neque negotia testatoris unquam gesserit Titius, neque patrocinio ejus liberatus sit, legatum tamen valet. Sed, si conditionalitèr enunciata fuerit causa, aliud juris est; veluti hoc modo, Titio, si negotia mea curaverit, fundum meum do, lego. $ 31. A fortiori a legacy is not rendered less valid, although a false reason be assigned for bequeathing it: as if a testator should say: I give my slave Stichus to Titius because he took care of my affairs in my absence: or because I was acquitted upon a capital accusation, by his protection. For although Titius had never taken care of the affairs of the deceased, and although the testator was never thus acquitted by means of Titius, the legacy will be good. But if the bequest had been conditional, as I give to Titius, such a piece of ground, if it shall appear, that he hath taken proper care of my affairs, then the law would be different. De servo hæredis. § XXXII. An servo hæredis rectè legemus, quæritur : et constat, purè inutilitèr legari, nec quicquam proficere, si vivo testatore de potestate hæredis exierit: quia, quod inutile foret legatum, si statim post $ 32. It is doubted, whether a testator can bequeath to the slave of his heir; and it is settled that such a legacy, would be of no avail, although the slaves should be freed from the power of the heir in the factum testamentum decessisset testator, hoc non debet ideò valere, quia diutiùs testator vixerit. Sub conditione verò rectè legatur servo, ut requiramus, an, quo tempore dies legati cedit, in potestate hæredis non sit. lifetime of the testator; for a bequest, void if the testator had expired immediately after he had made it, ought not to become valid, merely because he happened to enjoy a longer life. But a testator may give a conditional legacy to the slave, (of his instituted heir,) which will be good, if the slave be not under the power of the heir when the condition is fulfilled. De domino hæredis. § XXXIII. Ex diverso, hærede instituto servo, quin domino rectè etiam sinè conditione legetur, non dubitatur: nam, etsi statim post factum testamentum decesserit testator, non tamen apud eum, qui hæres sit, dies legati cedere intelligitur; cum hæreditas à legato separata sit, et possit per eum servum alius hæres effici, si prius, quam jussu domini adeat, in alterius potestatem translatus sit; vel manumissus ipse hæres efficitur: quibus casibus utile est legatum. Quod si in eâdem causâ permanserit, et jussu legatarii adierit, evanescit lega tum. $ 33. On the contrary it is not doubted, but if a slave be appointed heir, that his master may take an unconditional legacy (by the same testament:) for, although the testator should die instantly, yet the legacy does not become immediately due from the slave who is heir; for the inheritance is here separate from the legacy, and another may become heir by means of the slave, if he should be transferred to a new master, before he hath entered upon the inheritance, at the command of his master, who is the legatee; or the slave himself may become heir in his own right by manumission; and in these cases, the legacy would be good. But, if the slave should remain in the same state, and enter upon the inheritance by order of his master, who is the legatee, the legacy becomes extinct. De modo et ratione legandi. De ordine scripturæ. XXXIV. Ante hæredis institutionem inutilitèr antea legabatur; scilicèt, quia testamenta, vim ex institutione hæredis accipiunt, et ob id veluti caput atque fundamen $34. A legacy could not formerly take effect, until the heir was instituted; because a testament receives its force and efficacy from the institution of the heir: by parity of rea |