6oz B A I L .
A perfon becoming
furety
on behalf o f a
flave for a
claim, to
, which the
* Have is not liable
until after
emancipation,
muft discharge
it immediately;
principal.—I f he take it from the freedman, the freedman is then
entitled to retake it from the flave, becaufe of his having paid it by his
defire : but if he take it from the flave, he [the flave] is not entitled to
take any thing from the freedman, becaufe he merely pays a debt
which he juftly owes.
C H A P . III.
Of Bail by Freemen in behalf of {Slaves, and by Slaves in
behalf of Freemen.
If a perfon be furety in behalf o f a flave, for fome thing not
claimable from the flave until after he recover his freedom, without
fpecifying whether the thing in queftion is claimable immediately, or
hereafter, in that cafe it is to be confidered as> irrimediately due;_
that is to fay, it is claimable immediately from the furety.— For in-
ftance, if an inhibited flave acknowledge his deftruction of the property
of any perfon,— or that he owes a debt which his mafter disavows,—
or if, having married without the confent of his mafter, he
fhould have had carnal connexion with the woman on the fuppofition
of fuch marriage being valid, (in all which cafes nothing could be exacted
from the flave immediately, nor until he become free,) and a
perfon be a furety for the compenfation eventually claimable from the
flave, he is liable to an immediate claim for it. The reafon of this is,
that the flave ought immediately to difcharge the compenfation, becaufe
there exifts an evident caufe of its obligation upon him, and a
flave, in virtue of his being a m a n , is capable of being fubjeCt to obligation.
He is, however, exempted from an immediate claim for the
compenfation,
C h a p . III. B A 1 L.
compenfation, becaufe of his poverty, fince every thing he pofleffes
is the property of his mafter, and his mafter is not aflenting to
the obligation. The furety, on the -contrary, is not poor, and
is therefore liable to the claim immediately, in the'fame manner as a
perfon who becomes furety for an abfentee or a pauper.— It is other-
wife where a perfon becomes bail for a debt not immediately due, for
there the furety alfo is not liable to an immediate claim, any more
than the debtor, fince the debt is fufpended in its obligation to a future
, period by the confent of the creditor.— It is, however, to be obferved
that, in the cafe in queftion, the furety, on difcharging the claim upon
the flave, is not entitled to demand it from the flave until he ftiall
have obtained his freedom; becaufe the creditor had no right to demand
it until that event; and the furety ftands in the place of the
creditor.
If a perfon advance a claim >on an unprivileged flave, and another
become furety for his perfon, and the flave afterwards die, the furety is
in that cafe releafed from his engagement, becaufe of the principal being
releafed.— (Th e law is the fame where the flave, in whofe behalf bail
for the perfon is given, is emancipated.')
If a perfon claim the right of property in a flave, and another become
furety in behalf of the pofleflor of him, and the flave then die,
and the claimant eftablilh his right by witnefles, the furety is in that
cafe refponfible for the price ;— becaufe it was incumbent on the pof-
fefior to repel the claim, or, if he failed in fo doing, to give the value
for which the furety became anfwerable; and as the obligation, after
the flave’s death, refts upon the principal, fo alfo it now refts upon
the furety.— It is otherwife in the preceding cafe; for there the obligation
was merely to produce the perfon of the flave, which is cancelled
by his death.
603
Bail for the
perfon o f a
flave is cancelled
by his
death.
Bailtoaclaim
o f right in a
flave fubje&s
the furety to
refponfibility
in the event
o f the flave’s
deceafe.
4 H a I f