BASTARD (OF. bastard, Fr. botard, prob ably from LLat. bastum, OF. bast, Fr. bat, pack saddle; equivalent to OF. fils-de-bast, son of a pack-saddle, bastard, referring to the use of pack-saddles as beds in taverns, by muleteers). An illegitimate child, one neither begotten nor born in lawful wedlock; specifically, one born of a spinster, of a widow whose husband has been dead such a length of time as to make it impos sible for him to be the father, or of a married woman when proof positive is produced that the paternity is other than of the husband. Where the mother is married, the presumption of the law is exceedingly strong in favor of the hus band's being the father; the old English law went so far as to make the presumption eonclu rive in ease the husband was, at the presumed time of conception, 'within the four seas sur rounding Great Britain.' But proof to the con trary may now be adduced without such a limit. Under the Roman or civil law, a child born be fore the marriage of its parents was legitimated by their subsequent marriage. This principle is followed by the law of those countries which were grounded in the Roman rather than the English common law; namely, Scotland, and the nations of the Continent of Europe; and, in America, Louisiana, the Province of Quebec, and the States of Central and South America. In many States of the United States, the civil-law rule has been adopted•by statute. The common law recognized no such principle, the nearest ap proach to it being the case of a bastard eign6 (Old Law French), where a son born before mar riage succeeded without opposition to the father's estate, although the latter had a legiti mate heir; if the possession of the so-called bastard eigne was undisputed during his lifetime, and his legal heir claimed the estate, it was no bar to that claim to prove the bastardy of the father.
An illegitimate child is, in the old law phrase, /thus nulliits, the son of no one. His rights from his parents are those of support only. He has, at least under the common law, no legal name until by reputation he acquires one, and he has no right of inheritance as an heir. Further more, his own heirs at law can be only those of direct descent from him; if he die intestate, leaving no children or grandchildren, his prop erty will not by law become that of father or mother, brother or sister, or uncle or aunt, but will escheat to the State; and in the United States may be claimed by the public administra tor. But several of the States have by statute allowed an illegitimate child to inherit from his mother, and in some eases his mother to inherit from him as heir or next of kin. The mainte nance of an illegitimate child devolves by com mon law in the first instance upon his mother; but in order that the child may not be a burden on the public, statutes in England and similar enactments in all of the States in this country allow proceedings to be taken to compel the father to aid in supporting the child. This pro
cedure is based, not on the theory that the child has a right to his support, but solely to prevent the burden of support from falling upon the parish or county. The usual practice in such a proceeding is for the alleged paternity to be established by direct evidence (the affidavit of the mother being admitted as of strong, though not necessarily conclusive, weight) after which the putative father is called on to give hood to the magistrate or overseers of the poor to con tribute a fixed sum for an agreed time to the support of the child. (See AFFILIATION.) The custody of the child belongs primarily to the mother, but the court may determine the time during which such custody may last. In all civil and criminal rights not connected with the law of inheritance, or of support from parents, the status of the bastard is the same as that of any other person. He may hold and dispose of real and personal property. may sue and be sued, may devise by will, and may claim the protection of the State in all respects as though he were legitimate. In questions of settlement arising under poor-laws, it has been held that his legal domicile is that of the mother, not, as with legit imate children, of the father, until he attains a settlement of his own. It has also been held that the ordinary right of a father to appoint by will or deed a guardian for his minor child does not exist in the ease of a bastard.
The term has not always been one of contempt and humiliation. William the Conqueror was not ashamed to sign himself 'Guillaume Bas tard': and the title has been borne without re proach by many other characters famous in his tory, as Don John of Austria, and Dunois, 'the Bastard of Orleans.' Consult: The Commen taries of Kent and Blackstone; also, Sehouler, Treatise on the Law of the Domestic Relatio-ns (5th ed., Boston, 1895).
The sociological significance of bastardy first received serious attention in connection with the development of the English Poor-Law. It was recognized that not merely the rights of the in dividual with respect to the inheritance of prop erty and the right to parental support, but also the rights of the public to be protected from the public burden of supporting illegitimates, are involved in the principles determining legislation relating to bastards. In 1575-76 an act (18 Eliz.. cap. 3) was passed which was and is still the basis of bastardy law; it charged the jus tices to punish the mother and reputed father of every bastard child in the several parishes of England by compelling the payment of money weekly, or, in default, by imprisonment, in order that the parishes, which had previously been lia ble for the support of bastard children, might be relieved and rendered better able to support 'the impotent aged true poor.' Consult Nicholls, History of the English Poor-Law, Vol. I. (Lon don, 1S54). See ILLEGITIMACY; PooR-LAws.