[84]
Hence arise those questions of legal action
or competence. For there are some things, which,
although not laudable in themselves, are yet permitted by law; witness the passage in the Twelve Tables
authorising creditors to divide up a debtor's body
amongst themselves, a law which is repudiated by
public custom. There are also certain things which
although equitable are prohibited by law; witness the
restrictions placed on testamentary disposition.1
1 e.g. that the legal heir must receive at least a quarter of the property.
Quintilian. With an English Translation. Harold Edgeworth Butler. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1920.
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