Legislators have very properly decided that curators should be given to minors in order to take the place of their parents, protect the weakness of their age, and, by their diligence, preserve their estates unimpaired; but We have thought it to be just and proper to make an addition to these provisions. What is this defect? It is that when the curatorship is terminated, minors cannot receive the management of their property from the hands of the Emperor, nor obtain it except at a certain fixed age, that is to say, males at twenty years, and females at eighteen; and when they have arrived at this age the law provides that they shall have full power over their estates. But as all persons do not become competent at the same age, and it was not possible to state in a general way that all of them could receive the management of their property at a specified time, it was necessary to consider, in accordance with the ability of each one, when it would be proper to grant him or her the administration of their property. For must it be admitted that a certain person is competent merely because he has reached the established age, when his judgment is not yet formed; and that another is incompetent because he has not yet reached that age, when in fact he has the requisite wisdom and capacity? Thus as men do exhibit great differences from one another in both moral and physical respects, and one before the established age is already endowed with all the force of reason, and another, even after having attained that age, has only a weak mind, the law which prescribes this is defective. But there are also other parts of this legislation which are imperfect. In the first place, it is extremely difficult, not to say impossible, for everyone to profit by its provisions. For how can those who are separated from the Emperor by a great expanse of land or sea, without mentioning other impediments which may arise in the course of life, such as illness, apprehension of the treachery of enemies, broken limbs, accidents which frequently prevent persons from appearing in the place where the Emperor is residing, and which with good reason prevent the undertaking of a long voyage; how, I ask, can young people, when opposed by such obstacles, and by six hundred others which constantly beset Our lives, succeed in obtaining from the Emperor in person the authority to administer their property? Hence, desiring to dispose of this defect of the law (as previously stated), We hereby decree that minors, that is to say, males of twenty years and females of eighteen, shall have the right to manage their own estates, as being endowed at that age with all the discretion necessary to do this. If, however, they should not yet seem to be competent, and when they undertake the management of their affairs, are conscious of their incapacity, even though they may have passed the age at which they are entitled to be independent, this privilege shall not be granted them, for if they cannot accomplish the object of the law, and manage their property judiciously, why should authority to do this be conferred upon them, even though they may have reached the age at which they are entitled to it? And, for this reason, it should not be refused to those who have not yet attained the prescribed age, provided they are able to conduct their business properly. There is only one thing required by the law, which is that the property should be well administered, and when this is assured, it is unnecessary to take the age into consideration. Moreover, not only the Emperor, but also the magistrate of the district where the minor resides, can grant this right of administration, and in this way the wisdom of the legislator provides for all who can enjoy the benefit of the law, and the latter can be much more easily executed.