quam ut ii etiam, qui directo libertatem acceperunt, tui liberti fiant: nam huic etiam voluntati tuæ, si ii, quorum de statu agitur, sonsentiant, auctoritatem nostram accommodamus. Et, ne hujus rescriptionis nostræ emolumentum alia ratione irritum fiat, si fiscus bona agnoscere voluerit, et ii, qui bonis nostris attendunt, sciant, commodo pecuniario præferendam esse libertatis causam, et ita bona cogenda, ut libertas eis salva sit, qui eam adipisci potuerunt, ac si hæreditas ex testamento adita esset. upon by the written heir; but "those whom the heir was order"ed to manumit, shall obtain their "freedom from you only. And, "if you are not willing, that the "goods of the deceased should be "adjudged to you on any other con"dition, than that even they, who "received their liberty directly by "testament, shall also become your "freed-men, we then order, that "your will shall be complied with, "if the persons agree to it, who are "to receive their freedom. And, "lest the use and emolument of this "our rescript should be frustrated "by any other means, be it known "to the officers of our revenue, "that, whenever our exchequer "lays claim to the estate of a de"ceased person, the cause of liber"ty is to be preferred to any pe"cuniary advantage; and the es"tate shall be so seized, as to pre serve the freedom of those, who "could otherwise have obtained it: "and this in as full a manner, as if "the inheritance had been entered "upon by the testamentary heir.” non erit dicendum, revocari libertates; quia semel competierunt. has been made for the sake of liberty, shall the heir be restored in integrum? We answer, that freedom once obtained, shall not afterwards be revoked. Si libertates datæ non sunt. VI. Hæc constitutio libertaum tuendarum causâ introducta est; ergò, si libertates nullæ sint datæ, cessat constitutio. Quid ergò, si vivus dederit libertates vel mortis causâ, et, ne de hoc quæratur, utrum in fraudem creditorum, an non, factum sit, idcircò velint sibi bona addici, an audiendi sunt? Et magis est, ut audiri debeant, etsi deficiant verba constitutionis. VII. 6. This constitution was made for the protection of liberty and therefore, when freedom is not given, the constitution has no effect. Suppose then, a master hath given freedom to his slaves either inter vivos, or mortis causâ and to prevent the creditors from complaining of fraud, they should petition, that the estate of the deceased may be adjudged to them; are they to be heard? We think they ought, although the letter of the constitution is deficient. De speciebus additis a Justiniano. Sed cum multas divisiones ejusmodi constitutioni deesse perspeximus, lata est à nobis plenissima constitutio, in quâ multæ species collatæ sunt, quibus jus hujusmodi successionis plenissimum est effectum; quas ex ipsius lectione constitutionis potest quis cognoscere. $ 7. But perceiving that the rescript was deficient in many respects, we enacted a very full constitution, containing many cases, which amply explain the rights of succession; which any person who reads that constitution, may understand. TITULUS DECIMUS-TERTIUS. DE SUCESSIONIBUS SUBLATIS, QUÆ FIEBANT PER BONORUM VENDITIONES, ET EX SENATUS-CONSULTO CLAUDIANO. C. vii. ERANT ante prædictam successionem olim et aliæ per universitatem successiones; qualis fuerat bonorum emptio, quæ de bonis debitoris vendendis per multas ambages fuerat introducta; et tunc locum habebat, quando judicia ordinaria in usu fuerant; sed, cum extraordinariis judiciis posteritas usa est, ideò cum ipsis ordinariis judiciis etiam bonorum venditiones expiraverunt: et tantummodò creditoribus datur officio judicis bona possidere, et, proùt utile eis visum est, ea disponere: quod ex latioribus digestorum libris perfectius apparebit. Erat et ex senatus-consulto Claudiano miserabilis per universitatem acquisitio, cum libera mulier, servili amore bacchata, ipsam libertatem per senatus-consultum amittebat, et cum, libertate substantiam. Quod indignum nostris temporibus esse existimantes, et à nostrâ civitate deleri, et non inseri nostris digestis concessimus. T. 24. There were many other kinds of universal succession before that, which we treated of in the foregoing title; as the bonorum emptio; which was introduced with many intricacies for the sale of debtor's estates, and continued as long as the ordinary judgments were in practice; but, when the extraordinary judgments were used, the emptio bonorum and the ordinary judgments ceased together. Creditors can now possess themselves of the goods of their debtors and dispose of them as they think proper, by the decree of a judge. These points are treated of more at large in the books of our digests. There was also, by virtue of the Claudian decree, another universal acquisition called miserabilis: for example, if a freewoman had debased herself by cohabiting with a slave, she lost her freedom by the before named decree, and, together with her freedom, her estate and substance. But, this was, in our opinion, unworthy of our reign, and ought to be expunged; hence, we have not permitted it to be inserted in the digests. |