Paty

— Respondent asked for a rehearing on the ground that the act of the legislature, which purports to authorize a sale of the property of the plaintiff — then a minor — and the proceedings under it, transferred his title in the demanded premises to the grantor of the defendant. It is highly probable that the jurisdiction of the chancellor over *831 the persons and property of infants had its foundation in the prerogative of the crown, flowing from the general duty of the king — as parens patriae — to protect those who had no other lawful protector. The prerogative was exercised in the court of chancery, because it partook more of a judicial administration of rights and duties in foro conscientiae, than a strict executive authority: 2 Story’s Equity, 1333, 1334. In the United States the appointment of guardians and their supervision seems always to have been regarded as a judicial power, and has generally been confided to judicial officers. Under our system in California the general law confers the jurisdiction on the probate courts.

■Special laws providing for the sale by the guardian (of the person or property) of the real estate of the infant have been upheld by the courts of…