Page:Sphere and Duties of Government.djvu/201

181 according to the individual circumstances of the condition of the nation, and guided by considerations of the period required for the full development of the body, as an approximative characteristic. It is advisable that certain times should be appointed for the expiration of minority as regards the validity of different actions, and that the freedom of the minors be gradually enlarged while the supervision of their affairs is proportionately diminished.

3. The State must see that the parents strictly fulfil their duty towards their children, that is, to befit them, as far as their situation allows, to choose a plan of life of their own; and that the children, on their part, discharge the duty they owe to their parents, that is, to do all to enable the latter to fulfil their duty with regard to them; while neither parents nor children be allowed to overstep the rights which the discharge of their mutual duty puts into their hands. To secure this object alone must be the State's endeavour; and every attempt to bring out positive ends through the pretence of this solicitude,—as, for example, to encourage a particular development of the children's powers,—must be regarded as foreign to its appropriate sphere.

4. In the event of the death of the parents, guardians are necessary to be appointed. The State, therefore, should determine the w ay in which they are to be chosen, and the qualifications requisite in them for the proper performance of their trust. But it will do well to provide that they be appointed by the parents before their death, or by the surviving relatives, or by the municipality to which the minors belong. The conduct of the guardian in the discharge of his duty requires especial supervision on the part of the State.

5. In order to provide for the security of minors, and that their inexperience and rashness be not employed by others to prejudice their interests, the State must declare all such