If irremediable differences arise between fathers and sons, the father may want to renounce his son, or the son may indict his father for imbecility:  such violent separations only take place when the family are ‘a bad lot’; if only one of the two parties is bad, the differences do not grow to so great a height.  But here arises a difficulty.  Although in any other state a son who is disinherited does not cease to be a citizen, in ours he does; for the number of citizens cannot exceed 5040.  And therefore he who is to suffer such a penalty ought to be abjured, not only by his father, but by the whole family.  The law, then, should run as follows:—­If any man’s evil fortune or temper incline him to disinherit his son, let him not do so lightly or on the instant; but let him have a council of his own relations and of the maternal relations of his son, and set forth to them the propriety of disinheriting him, and allow his son to answer.  And if more than half of the kindred male and female, being of full age, condemn the son, let him be disinherited.  If any other citizen desires to adopt him, he may, for young men’s characters often change in the course of life.  But if, after ten years, he remains unadopted, let him be sent to a colony.  If disease, or old age, or evil disposition cause a man to go out of his mind, and he is ruining his house and property, and his son doubts about indicting him for insanity, let him lay the case before the eldest guardians of the law, and consult with them.  And if they advise him to proceed, and the father is decided to be imbecile, he shall have no more control over his property, but shall live henceforward like a child in the house.

If a man and his wife are of incompatible tempers, ten guardians of the law and ten of the matrons who regulate marriage shall take their case in hand, and reconcile them, if possible.  If, however, their swelling souls cannot be pacified, the wife may try and find a new husband, and the husband a new wife; probably they are not very gentle creatures, and should therefore be joined to milder natures.  The younger of those who are separated should also select their partners with a view to the procreation of children; while the older should seek a companion for their declining years.  If a woman dies, leaving children male or female, the law will advise, but not compel, the widower to abstain from a second marriage; if she leave no children, he shall be compelled to marry.  Also a widow, if she is not old enough to live honestly without marriage, shall marry again; and in case she have no children, she should marry for the sake of them.  There is sometimes an uncertainty which parent the offspring is to follow:  in unions of a female slave with a male slave, or with a freedman or free man, or of a free woman with a male slave, the offspring is to belong to the master; but if the master or mistress be themselves the parent of the child, the slave and the child are to be sent away to another land.