emancipator, and alio a ftave emancipated, yet is here to be taken in
the laft fenfe only, lince a mafter does not commonly require any aid
from his Have,— and the parentage of the Have is notorious,— which
forbid its being taken in the fir ß or fécond fenfe;— and the third is merely
figurative, whereas words are legally to be' conftrued in their literal
fenfe ; and the application of it to a Have forbids its being taken iu its
fourth fenfe ; wherefore it mull neceflarily be received in its laß acceptation
; and fuch being the cafe, the term Hands as an exprefs ma-
numiflion, which is accordingly eftablifhed, indépendant of intention.
And the fame rule holds if a mafter fhould fay of his female Have, this
is my M aw lat*, on the grounds already ftated.— I f the man alfo who
ufes this expreffion were afterwards to fay that his intention thereby
was to exprefs Mawla-Mawa/at +, or that (acknowledging the word
to bear its laß acceptation, as before recited) he was not ferions in fo
expreffing himfelf, however this may coincide with his own confidence,
yet it is not to be admitted with the magiftrate, as it contradids
appearances...
or addrefs
him by that
term.
| f | ! i
IlMPf
liisf
i « f i l
If , however, a man Ihould ufe the term Maivla to his Have in
the vocative, faying “ O, my Mawla!" the flave is liberated; becaufe,
as it muft be received in its laft fenfe (for the reafohs before
mentioned) it Hands as an exprefs emancipation; and as vocatives in
other inftances are conlidered in the light of exprefs emancipation,
where the fpeaker, addreffing his flave, fays “ O , Hoorl" or, “ O,
“ A tteekl” and fo forth, inducing the liberation of the flave, fo alfo
in the prefent cafe.— Ziffer maintains that the flaye is not in this cafe
rendered free but through the intention o f the fpeaker, becaufe it may
fometimes happen that this expreffion is meant merely as a mark of
kindnefs, or fon d regard, in which fenfe it is frequently ufed, the fame
* T he feminine of Mawla.
■j. A perfon connefted with another in general interefts, by a mutual compaA. It is a
term ufed to exprefs any peculiar intimacy of connexion.
as
as “ my child'." or, “ mafter ƒ” the ufe of which words from a
mafter to his flave does not conftitute emancipation unlefs by the intention
o f the fpeaker.— Our doftors, on the other hand, allege that
a word muft be taken in its literal fenfe in preference to any other; and
an emancipated perfon is the literal fenfe applicable upon the prefent
occafion, as has been already demonftrated; and as it is capable of
bearing its literal fenfe on this occafion, it muft be fo received: contrary
to the terms child, mafter, and fo forth, becaufe in thefe words
no meaning is found peculiarly applicable to emancipation, fuch phrafes
being ufed merely as expreffions of kindnefs and affedtioii.
I f a man addrefs his flave, faying “ O, my fon!” or, “ O, my
“ brother!” the flave is not liberated, becaufe the intention of a vocative
expreffion is merely to diftinguifh the perfon who is addreffed
by i t : for although, where the fpeaker addreffes the flave by a de-
fcriptive term, in its fenfe applicable from him to the perfon he addreffes,
■ it muft be taken as fixing that defcription upon the latter, (the
fpeaker appearing in his own mind to apply it to the perfon he thus
addreffes, the fame as i f he were to call to him by the term freeman, )
and the flave accordingly becomes liberated, for the reafons already af-
figned,— yet where a perfon calls to his flave by a term not at all applicable
from him to the flave, the intention of the addrefs appears to
be merely a diftinguijhing appellative, not fixing any particular defcription
upon the perfon called to, as that of fon is not applicable, fince
the flave fo addreffed is the progeny of another perfon,and not of thé
fpeaker.— It is recorded, in the Rawdyet Shaz, as an opinion of Ha-
ncefa, that the flave in the prefent cafe becomes liberated: but the authority
of the ZdhirrRawdyet, as before ftated, is the moft worthy of
credit.
I f a man fay to his flave, “ O, fon !” the flave is not emancipated,
becaufe this Amply exprefles a truth; to wit, that the flave is the fon
Addrefling
the flave,
perfon ally, as
if he were a
fon or a brother
, does not
amount to
manu million.