2Ö0 D E P O S I T S .
A truftee is.
not refponfible
for a de-
jofitunlefs he
tranfgrefs
with refpeft
toiu_
He may keep,
it himfeffi or
commit the
care of it to
any o f his fa.-
xnily ;
but i f he give
charge o f it
to a itranger
he becomes
refponfible;
B o o k XXVIIL
A deposit remains in the hands of the perfon who receives charge
of it, as a truft,— that is to fay, he is not anfwerable for it. If, therefore,
a depofit be loft or deftroyed in. the truftee’s hands, without any
tranfgreflion on his part,, he is not in that cafe refponfible for it;, be-
caufe the prophet has laid “ an honejt trujlee is not refponfible-,— and
alfo, becaufe there is. a neceffity, amongft mankind, for depolits; and,
this neceliity conld not be anfwered in cafe o f making frufte.es refpon-
fiblè, as no, one would, then, accept, the truft.
A truster- may either keep the depofit himfelf) or commit it
for that purpofe to fome ope of his family,, fuch as- his- wife, his fon,
his mother, or his-father;, becaufe it is evident that a.t-ruftee does not
engage tô keep the property of another with more care than he does,
his own,; and he fometimes. keeps his own himfelf, and fometimes.
commits it to one of his family. Befides, there exifts an. abfolute ne-<
ceffity for committing the truft to his-family-,, fince it is neither pof-
fible for him to remain always in the houfe, nor, when, he goes- out,,
to carry the depofit with him.— -For all thofe reafons, therefore, the.
eonfent of the proprietor is underftood to extend to the trufte.e’s ctom-
mitting the depofit to the care of hislfamily.:— But if the. truftee Ihould.
commit the depofit to the charge of any other than, a member of his
family,- (as.if he. were either to hire fome perlbn out of his,family, for
the purpofe of-keeping it,— or to give it in depofit to feme one out of
his family,) he is then refponfible,, in as-much,as,there is a difference,
between the care of different people,, and it, was his. own care, and
not that of another, to which the proprietor affented, Befides, a.
thing does not involve its fimilar and hence a truftee is- not: ejn-
powered to coriftitute another the truftee of the fame thing ; in the
fame manper as an agent is not permitted to conftitute another agent.,
(By the term ‘family, in this place, is to be underftood, all fuch as live
with the truftëe, or-whofe maintenance is incumbent upon him, or
his upon them, as a wife or adult fani)
If
Book XXVIIT., D E P O S I T S .
I f a truftee lodge the depofit in a place o f cuftody ^ belonging to
another, he becomes refponfible for it;, becaufe the lodging it in another's
place of cuftody is,, in effedt, depofiting it with that others_
It is otherwife, however, if he hire the faid place; for in that inftance
his lodging it there is confidered in the fame light with his keepino- i t
himfelf,. and therefore does not, induce refponfibility..
I f the houfe of a truftee take fire, and he deliver the depofib-to his '
neighbour,— or if, being in, a boat, on the point ,of finking, he throw
the depofit into another boat,— and it in. either cafe be loft, , he is not
refponfible, fince he a&ed. only for. the prefervation of it,, and confe-
qiiently according to the eonfent of the proprietor,. But the affertion
of the truftee, in- ftich cafes, is-not to be credited unlefs. fupported
by witneffes, fince, upon the eftablifhment, of a caufe of refpon-
fibility, he pleads the exiftence of a neceffity, which invalidates.
the refponfibility, and the cafe is therefore the fame-as i f he were
to plead that, the. proprietor.had empowered him.to confign.the depofit,
to another.
If the proprietor of the depofit demand'it from the truftee; and
henegled delivering it to him,, being at the fame time capable of fuch
-delivery, he becomes-in that cafe refponfible for it, fince hisneglefting
or refufmg to deliver it,, under, a. capacity, to do fo,.is a tranfgreft
fioa. The ground of this is , that the demand of- the proprietor
clearly indicates, his diflent from., the truftee’s retaining pofleffion
any longer, and is therefore a difmiffion of him from the truft.^—
Hence the truftee is-refponfible,.becaufe o f his retaining poffeffion after
inch difl'ent.
If the truftee mix the depofit with his own property, in. fuch a
manner that a.feparation becomes difficult, hemuft in.that cafe make
* Arab.. M aian Mohirrez.% meaning a -cheft, or, other place o f fecurity. (See Him.)
2&1
and fo alfo,
i f he lodge it
in a place o f
cuftody belonging
to-
another...
Hé is-not '
made refponfible
by putting
it out o f
his own pof-
feffionwith
a view to the
immediate
prefervationt
o f i t . -
He becomes
relponfibleon
negleéting to
deliver it on
demands
I f he mix--it
infeparably
with his own
an