Well for him if he could
trust his nearest relations! But where all was illegitimate, there
could be no regular law of inheritance, either with regard to the
succession or to the division of the ruler's property; and consequently
the heir, if incompetent or a minor, was liable in the interest of the
family itself to be supplanted by an uncle or cousin of more resolute
character. The acknowledgment or exclusion of the bastards was a
fruitful source of contest and most of these families in consequence
were plagued with a crowd of discontented and vindictive kinsmen. This
circumstance gave rise to continual outbreaks of treason and to
frightful scenes of domestic bloodshed. Sometimes the pretenders lived
abroad in exile, like the Visconti, who practiced the fisherman's craft
on the Lake of Garda, viewed the situation with patient indifference.
When asked by a messenger of his rival when and how he thought of
returning to Milan, he gave the reply, 'By the same means as those by
which I was expelled, but not till his crimes have outweighed my own.'
Sometimes, too, the despot was sacrificed by his relations, with the
view of saving the family, to the public conscience which he had too
grossly outraged. In a few cases the government was in the hands of the
whole family, or at least the ruler was bound to take their advice; and
here, too, the distribution of property and influence often led to
bitter disputes.
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