nor upon his
property, provided
his value
do not
exceed the
debt for
which he
Hands
pledged:
concur in diffolving the contrafl: of pawn, and the pawner either deliver
the Have, or pay a.fum to thé pawnee in atonement for the offence,
the obligation of debt is void * :— but if the pawnee Ihould fio--
nify that “ he does not defire any compenfation for the offence,” the
Have remains in pawn, as before. The argument of Hanèefais, that
no advantage can poffibly refult from taking cognizance of the offence
in queftion; for i f cognizance of it be taken on account of the
pawnee, it ns then incumbent on him to extricate the flave from the
guilt in which he is involved")"; wherefore he muff firfl pay the expiatory
fum, and then again receive it, in which there is evidently no
advantage.
If a pledged flave commit an offence upon the property .of the
pawnee, fuch offence is of no account, according to all our. doctors
provided the value of the flave be adequate to the amount of the debt;
for here no advantage can refult from taking cognizance of the offence;
as the remedy applicable in this, cafe is an appropriation of the flave to
the pawnee, in compenfation for the injury he had fuftained,— a remedy
which cannot here be effected, as the flave is. not made over in
atonement for the offence, but is fold, and a compenfation for the. in-
jury he has done to the property of the pawnee difcharged from the
purchafe money;— and as the fum appropriated to the difcharge of the
Compenfation is deduced from the debt, there Is finally no advantage
in taking account of the offence in this inftance. If, on the contrary,
the value of the flave exceed the amount of the debt, there are two
opinions recorded from Uaneefa upon the cafe.— One:, is,• that the offence
may be redrefled in the proportion in which the value [of the
flave] exceeds the debt, a pledge being a truft with refpedt to any
* Becaufe the flave here appears to have been “ loft in the hands of the pawnee,” a cir-
cumftance which liquidates his debt.
t Becaufe he is poflefled of the flave in a way which induces refponfibility.
excefs, and the injury in this cafe being fimilar to that committed by
a flave in depofit on the property of the truftee. The other is, that
the offence cannot be redrefled at all; for as the effedl of the contrail
of pawn (namely, the detention of the flave on account of debt) applies
to the excefs as well as to any other part of the pledge, it may'
theiefore be faid that he is a fubjedt of refponfibility in toto.
If an offence be committed by a pledged flave on the fon of the
pawner or pawnee, it is cognizable'; for, as the right of property of a
father is, in reality', diftindl and feparate from that of his fon, the
crime is therefore the fame as if committed upon a Arranger.
If a perfon pawn a.flav.e eflrimated at one thoufand dirms, in fecu-
rity for a debt of the fame amount, payable at fome future period, and
theSValue of the flave be afterwards lowered to one hundred dirms {rom
a fall in the priced, and a perfon then kill the flave, and pay a compenfation
of one hundred dirms, .(being the value he at that time
beats,) and the time of payment arrive, the pawnee muft in this cafe
keep polfeffion of the hundred dirms aforefaid in lieu of his debt, and
has .no further claim whatever upon the pawner.— This is founded
upon an eflrabliflied rule, that no regard is paid tb any depreciation of
a pledge from a' fall in the price, regard being bad folely to the value
it bore, at the time of the contrail of pawn;— whence it is that (as,is
here mentioned) a diminution of the value of a pledge from a fall in
the price does not occafion a remiflion of the debt, according to our
dq^pfs ;— contrary to the opinion oi.Ziffer, who contends that, upon
the pledge fuftaining any lofs with refpeit to it’s worth, it may be faid
to fuftain a lofs with refpeil to the JubJlance alfo. T h e argument of
our doitors is, that a fall in the price arifes merely from a decreafe of
defire in men towards the article,— a circumflance to which no regard
* That is, from a fall (for inftance) in the current or market price of Jlaves.
but his offence
again ft
the fon of the
pawnee is
cognizable.
If the pledge
be deftroyed
after depreciation,
the
pawnee muft
remain fatif-
fied with the
compenfation
he recovers
from the de-
ftroyerj