Principles of Morals and

202/Jeremy Bentham
lation in prejudice of filial wardship. 13. Abuse of parental powers. 14.
Disturbance of parental guardianship. 15. Breach of duty to parents.
16. Elopement from parents. 17. Child-stealing. 18. Bribery in preju-
dice of filial wardship.
L. Next with regard to the offences to which the filial condition, the
condition of a son or daughter, stands exposed. The principles to be
pursued in the investigation of offences of this description have already
been sufficiently developed. It will be sufficient, therefore, to enumerate
them without further discussion. The only peculiarities by which of-
fences relative to the condition in question stand distinguished from the
offences relative to all the preceding conditions, depend upon this one
circumstance; viz., that it is certain every one must have had a father
and a mother: at the same time that it is not certain that every one must
have had a master, a servant, a guardian, or a ward. It will be observed
all along, that where a person, from whom, if alive, the benefit would be
taken, or on whom the burthen would be imposed, be dead, so much of
the mischief is extinct along with the object of the offence. There still,
however, remains so much of the mischief as depends upon the advan-
tage or disadvantage which might accrue to persons related, or sup-
posed to be related, in the several remoter degrees, to him in question.
The catalogue then of these offences stands as follows: 1. Wrongful
non-investment of filiation. This, if it be the offence of him or her who
should have been recognized as the parent, coincides with wrongful
detrectation of parentality: if it be the offence of a third person, it in-
volves in it non-investment of parentality, which, provided the parentality
is, in the eyes of him or her who should have been recognised as the
parent, a desirable thing, is wrongful. 2. Wrongful interception of filia-
tion. This, if it be the offence of him or her who should have been
recognised as the parent, coincides with wrongful detrectation of
parentality: if it be the offence of a third person, it involves in it inter-
ception of parentality, which, provided the parentality is, in the eyes of
him or her who should have been recognized as parent, a desirable thing,
is wrongful. 3. Wrongful divestment of filiation. This, if it be the of-
fence of him or her who should be recognized as parent, coincides with
wrongful abdication of parentality: if it be the offence of a third person,
it involves in it divestment of parentality; to wit, of paternity, or of
maternity, or of both; which, if the parentality is, in the eyes of him or
her who should be recognized as parent, a desirable thing, are respec-
tively wrongful. 4. Usurpation of filiation. This coincides with wrong-

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Principles of Morals and Legislation/203
ful imposition of parentality; to wit, either of paternity, or of maternity,
or of both: and necessarily involves in it divestment of parentality, which,
if the parentality thus divested were, in the eyes of him or her who are
thus divested of it, a desirable thing, is wrongful. 5. Wrongful invest-
ment of filiation: (the filiation being considered as a beneficial thing.)
This coincides with imposition of parentality, which, if in the eyes of the
pretended father or mother the parentality should be an undesirable thing,
will be wrongful. 6. Wrongful abdication of filiation. This necessarily
coincides with wrongful divestment of parentality; it also is apt to in-
volve in it wrongful imposition of parentality; though not necessarily
either to the advantage or to the prejudice of any certain person. For if a
man, supposed at first to be your son, appears afterwards not to be
yours, it is certain indeed that he is the son of some other man, but it
may not appear who that other man is. 7. Wrongful detrectation of fili-
ation. This coincides with wrongful noninvestment or wrongful inter-
ception of parentality. 8. Wrongful imposition of filiation. This, if it be
the offence of the pretended parent, coincides necessarily with usurpa-
tion of parentality: if it be the offence of a third person, it necessarily
involves imposition of parentality; as also divestment of parentality:
either or both of which, according to the circumstance above mentioned,
may or may not be wrongful. 9. Mismanagement of parental guardian-
ship. 10. Desertion of parental guardianship. 11. Dissipation in preju-
dice of filial wardship. 12. Peculation in prejudice of filial wardship.
13. Abuse of parental power. 14. Disturbance of parental guardianship.
15. Breach of duty to parents. 16. Elopement from parents. 17. Child-
stealing. 18. Bribery in prejudice of parental guardianship.
LI. We shall now be able to apply ourselves with some advantage to
the examination of the several offences to which the marital condition,
or condition of a husband, stands exposed. A husband is a man, be-
tween whom and a certain woman, who in this case is called his wife,
there subsists a legal obligation for the purpose of their living together,
and in particular for the purpose of a sexual intercourse to be carried on
between them This obligation will naturally be considered in four points
of view: 1. In respect of its commencement. 2. In respect of the placing
of it. 3. In respect of the nature of it. 4. In respect of its duration. First
then, it is evident, that in point of possibility, one method of commence-
ment is as conceivable as another: the time of its commencement might
have been marked by one sort of event (by one sort of signal, as it may
here be called) as well as by another. But in practice the signal has

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