_Introductory._--The two chief purposes of human life are, first, the maintenance of the individuals of the species, and, secondly, the reproduction of the species. The laws relating to property subserve the former aim; those relating to the family subserve the latter. Property itself is the central feature of the former, and the family is the central feature of the latter. _Parental Authority and Marriage._--The laws of family life are based upon a physiological or psychological foundation, the love of parents for their children. In cases in which the legal regulation of family life is unduly harsh--as in the case of the maintenance in former times of parental authority in the interest of the parents--parental love exercises a mitigating and counteracting influence. To-day, the duty of parents to devote themselves to the careful upbringing of their children is universally accepted on principle. (There is but one exception to this generalisation: the duty of the father to provide for the upbringing of an illegitimate child is not as yet generally accepted on principle.) The duty of parents to provide for the upbringing of their children is one prescribed, not only by nature and morality, but also by the laws of human society. And yet this duty is not directly established by law; although it seems possible that children might be able to enforce by legal process the duty of their parents to exercise their parental authority in accordance with accepted rules. The obligation to provide for the upbringing of their children is legally imposed on parents, if only for the reason that the liabilities thus incurred through the sexual act withhold many persons from needless and excessive sexual indulgence--and such conditional abstinence is advantageous, not merely to the individual, but also to the community. The upbringing of children rests upon the legal basis of parental authority. The suitable upbringing of the offspring is best ensured when the legal relationships between the sexes are properly regulated. In all times, the essence of such regulation has consisted in the fact that a particular form of sexual union offers certain advantages, but that the acceptance of these advantages involves the performance of certain duties. This particular form of sexual union is known as marriage. _History of Marriage._--It is a debatable question whether matriarchy ever really existed. The question interests us here only for the reason that many modern scholars, including many Socialists, contend that matriarchy did at one time really exist; and they infer from this that a time will come in which the sexes will have equal rights. In actual fact, in recent times, the importance of patriarchy--the father right--has continually diminished.