facrednefs of the perfon of Man.— W e (hall fpeak more fully upon this-
fubjeft, in treating of
Book L. O f F ines,
A lthough the manner in which this fubjeft is treated involves-a con—
fiderable portion of frivolous abfurdity, yet we alio find, in the courfe of
its. difcuffions, many wife and falutary regulations, both for preferving
the fecurity of the perfon, and the peace and good order of fociety. Wer
may perceive, from the perufal of it, that a man is made refponfible not.
only for his' overt afts, but likewife for any injury which may be more
remotely oecafioned by his careleffiiefs, obftinacy, or wilful negleft-
T h e degree of the fine was originally fixed at a certain, amount, that for,
the life of a man being determined at one hundred camels,- and all others
at a proportionable rate, according to the injury. In later times, however,
the changes in manners,, and in the value of property, introduced others
modes of afcertaining amercement, and .fines came to be levied not only in
proportion to the injury fuflained, butalfo according to the circumftances of
the cafe.— Chap. VI. exhibits the only fpecies of inquejt admitted by the
MuJJulman law in cafes of uncertain homicide, confifting folely of expurgatory
oaths. However well calculated this may have been for the meridian
of Arabia or Irak, and for the ftate of fociety in thofe countries at
the time thefe laws, were firft fyftematized into, a code, it is certainly
but a poor device for the detection of guilt or the afcertainment of fa ff
in a well-regulated community..—It is remarkable that a law ftriftly cor-
refpondent to what is mentioned In. this chapter formerly prevailed among
the Saxons and other northern nations of E ur,oi?e , where the refponfibi*
lity for unafcertainable bloodfhed lay with the mafter of the family, or
with, the people o f the tything in which the body was found.
Book LI. 'The L evying o/iFines.
T he fubjeft of this book is purely of a local nature, relating entirely
to the levying of fines upon the Arabian tribes for offences unintentionally
committed by any individual of them.— Thefe regulations ferve to give
us a pretty clea'r idea of the ftate of fociety in the native land of IJlamifrn.
However ufelefs, and perhaps impracticable, in a more advanced ftate of
refinement, thefe, as well as many regulations in the two preceding books,
were well calculated to reduce a fierce people under the reftraints of law
and civil government.
B ook LII. O f W ills.
'WiTH refpeft to the forms of wills, the fame obfervations occur as
have been already made in treating of Marriage.— In fact, as writing
was formerly very little in ufe among the Arabs, all deeds are, in the
commentaries upon their laws, regarded and mentioned as being merely
•oral. Hence W ills, as difeufled in this book, ate folely of the nuncupative
defeription. T h e moft remarkable features in this book are, the
reftriftions impofed upon teftators with refpeft to the difpofal of their pro*
perty.
B ook LIII. O f Hermaphrodites.
T his book, and the fucceeding chapter, which, beCaufe of its being
detached from any particular fubjeft, is termed Chapter the la st , are
a kind offupplement to the reft of the work. Hermaphrodites are probably
a clafs of beings which exift in imagination rather than in reality. W è fhall
therefore leave this book to fpeak for itfelf.— The laft chapter is worthy
of particular notice, as (if we except bills o f fa le and judicial letters) it
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