Ath. O my friends, we will say to them, hard is it for you, whoare creatures of a day, to know what is yours-hard too, as the Delphicoracle says, to know yourselves at this hour. Now I, as thelegislator, regard you and your possessions, not as belonging toyourselves, but as belonging to your whole family, both past andfuture, and yet more do regard both family and possessions asbelonging to the state; wherefore, if some one steals upon you withflattery, when you are tossed on the sea of disease or old age, andpersuades you to dispose of your property in a way that is not for thebest, I will not, if I can help, allow this; but I will legislate witha view to the whole, considering what is best both for the state andfor the family, esteeming as I ought the feelings of an individualat a lower rate; and I hope that you will depart in peace and kindnesstowards us, as you are going the way of all mankind; and we willimpartially take care of all your concerns, not neglecting any ofthem, if we can possibly help. Let this be our prelude and consolationto the living and dying, Cleinias, and let the law be as follows:
He who makes a disposition in a testament, if he be the father ofa family, shall first of all inscribe as his heir any one of hissons whom he may think fit; and if he gives any of his children tobe adopted by another citizen, let the adoption be inscribed. And ifhe has a son remaining over and above who has not been adopted uponany lot, and who may be expected to be sent out to a colonyaccording to law, to him his father may give as much as he pleasesof the rest of his property, with the exception of the paternal lotand the fixtures on the lot. And if there are other sons, let himdistribute among them what there is more than the lot in such portionsas he pleases. And if one of the sons has already a house of hisown, he shall not give him of the money, nor shall he give money toa daughter who has been betrothed, but if she is not betrothed hemay give her money. And if any of the sons or daughters shall be foundto have another lot of land in the country, which has accrued afterthe testament has been made, they shall leave the lot which theyhave inherited to the heir of the man who has made the will. If thetestator has no sons, but only daughters, let him choose the husbandof any one of his daughters whom he pleases, and leave and inscribehim as his son and heir. And if a man have lost his son, when he was achild, and before he could be reckoned among grown-up men, whether hisown or an adopted son, let the testator make mention of thecircumstance and inscribe whom he will to be his second son in hope ofbetter fortune. If the testator has no children at all, he mayselect and give to any one whom he pleases the tenth part of theproperty which he has acquired; but let him not be blamed if hegives all the rest to his adopted son, and makes a friend of himaccording to the law. If the sons of a man require guardians, and: thefather when he dies leaves a will appointing guardians, those havebeen named by him, whoever they are and whatever their number be, ifthey are able and willing to take charge of the children, shall berecognized according to the provisions of the will. But if he dies andhas made no will, or a will in which he has appointed no guardians,then the next of kin, two on the father"s and two on the mother"sside, and one of the friends of the deceased, shall have the authorityof guardians, whom the guardians of the law shall appoint when theorphans require guardians. And the fifteen eldest guardians of the lawshall have the whole care and charge of the orphans, divided intothrees according to seniority-a body of three for one year, and thenanother body of three for the next year, until the cycle of the fiveperiods is complete; and this, as far as possible, is to continuealways. If a man dies, having made no will at all, and leaves sons whorequire the care of guardians, they shall share in the protectionwhich is afforded by these laws.
And if a man dying by some unexpected fate leaves daughters behindhim, let him pardon the legislator if he gives them in marriage, hehave a regard only to two out of three conditions-nearness of kinand the preservation of the lot, and omits the third condition,which a father would naturally consider, for he would choose out ofall the citizens a son for himself, and a husband for his daughter,with a view to his character and disposition-the father, say, shallforgive the legislator if he disregards this, which to him is animpossible consideration. Let the law about these matters wherepracticable be as follows:-If a man dies without making a will, andleaves behind him daughters, let his brother, being the son of thesame father or of the same mother, having no lot, marry the daughterand have the lot of the dead man. And if he have no brother, butonly a brother"s son, in like manner let them marry, if they be of asuitable age; and if there be not even a brother"s son, but only theson of a sister, let them do likewise, and so in the fourth degree, ifthere be only the testator"s father"s brother, or in the fifth degree,his father"s brother"s son, or in the sixth degree, the child of hisfather"s sister. Let kindred be always reckoned in this way: if aperson leaves daughters the relationship shall proceed upwards throughbrothers and sisters, and brothers" and sisters" children, and firstthe males shall come, and after them the females in the same family.