ABSTRACT
Complete ownership of anything implies power to make over the ownership to another; since a partial or entire interdict implies partial or entire ownership by the authority issuing the interdict, and therefore limits or overrides the ownership. If the right of gift to others than offspring had to be decided upon from an expediency point of view, strong reasons might be assigned for concluding that unrestrained giving should not be allowed. The right of gift implies the right of bequest; for a bequest is a postponed gift. If a man may legitimately transfer what, he possesses to another, he may legitimately fix the time at which it shall be transferred. One of the illustrations of the general truth that the civilized man has greater freedom of action than the partially-civilized man and the uncivilized man, is the fact that the right of bequest, scarcely recognized at first, has gradually established itself.
