Chapter the seventeenth.
Of GUARDIAN and WARD.
THE only general private relation, now remaining to be diſcuſſed, is that of guardian and ward; which bears a very near reſemblance to the laſt, and is plainly derived out of it: the guardian being only a temporary parent; that is, for ſo long time as the ward is an infant, or under age. In examining this ſpecies of relationſhip, I ſhall firſt conſider the different kinds of guardians, how they are appointed, and their power and duty: next, the different ages of perſons, as defined by the law: and, laſtly, the privileges and diſabilities of an infant, or one under age and ſubject to guardianſhip.
1. The guardian with us performs the office both of the tutor and curator of the Roman laws; the former of which had the charge of the maintenance and education of the minor, the latter the care of his fortune; or, according to the language of the court of chancery, the tutor was the committee of the perſon, the curator the committee of the eſtate. But this office was frequently united in the civil law[1]; as it is always in our law with regard to minors, though as to lunatics and idiots it is commonly kept diſtinct.
- ↑ Ff. 26. 4. 1.
