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 46 conferred upon him in that behalf, to act either together with such testamentary guardian, or in substitution for him, particularly in the event of his death.

Failing testamentary guardians, the guardianship or the appointment of guardians devolved upon the nearest relatives of the minor and, in particular, as Grotius tells us, went to the ‘four quarters’ (vier vieren-deelen), i.e. to the nearest of kin on the side of each of the four grand-parents. ‘Afterwards, however,’ he continues, ‘it was thought better that guardians should be appointed by the authorities, that is, by the Court of Holland, by the town and country Courts, or by the Orphan Chambers, which are in several places charged with that duty, the upper guardianship of orphans remaining, however, in the Court. These authorities are accustomed and bound in appointing guardians to take the advice of the nearest relatives, and to choose the guardian from amongst them so far as this can be done with advantage to the wards.’

The consequence of the change described by Grotius was to extinguish the last survivals of the old Germanic guardianship of blood-relations as a separate institution, so that Grotius and Voet are able to speak of ‘born’ or ‘lawful’ guardians as no longer recognized by the common law of Holland. All guardians thenceforward were either: (1) testamentary; or (2) appointed; and the intermediate class of ‘legitimi tutores’ disappears. Over both of these classes, it is important to remember, subsists the upper guardianship of the Sovereign exercised through the Courts of Justice.

At this point something may conveniently be said with regard to the Orphan Chambers. These were official