repeatedly,
until that
number of
depofitions
be obtained.
mit, forty-nine men only haying taken the oath, he adminiftered it
to one of them a fecond time, fo as to complete the number of fifty,
and then decreed the f i n e a n d alfo, becaufe, fifty depofitions being
requifite upon the authority of the tradition concerning the prophet’s
determination in this point, the completion of the number, in the
utmoft poffible degree, is therefore requifite;—and it is, moreover,
attended with this advantage, that it afcertains the weight and importance
of blood. It is to be obferved, however,-that if there be
fifty inhabitants of the place or diftrift, the heir cannot infift upon any
of them being repeatedly fworn ; becaufe the repetition of the oath is I
admitted purely from neceffity, which does not here exift.
it is not re- T h e oath [required in Kijfdmit\ is not incumbent on an infant or
qinred of an n ifijot: for an oath is in the nature of a declaration, not of an aB \ infant ox idiot: 7
and the declarations of fuch are not regarded. In the fame manner,
it is not incumbent on a woman or a flave ; becaufe thofe cannot be
confidered as aiders and confederates of the murderer; and of fuch
alone is it required.
nor, where a I f a corpfe be found without marks of violence upon it, the oath I
found with *s not reclu' re^’ nor is any f'ne impofed on the diftrift; for it is here |
out marks o f evident that the perfon was not murdered; becaufe this defeription is I
ence“Pon applicable only to one who dies in confequence of fome aft of violence
fuftained from another ; but the perfon in queftion appears to have died
naturally, and not in confequence o f any violence. Fine, moreover,
is incurred by the overt aft of the individual; and the oath is impofed
from a fufpicion of murder ; and hence it is indifpenfable that there be
fome marks upon the body fufficient to evince a murder,— fuch as a
wound, a bruife, or ligns of ftrangling,— or a hemorrhage from the
eyes or ears, as that cannot be occafioned but by fome violence. It is
qtherwife where the hemorrhage proceeds from the mouth, the
anus, or the yard ; as this may appear without any aft of violence.
I f
If either the wholefoody of the flain be found, or the greater part
of it, or the upper half of it, with or without the head, the oath is adminiftered
to the people o f the diftrift, and the fine is impofed on them.
If, on the contrary, the lower half only, of the body, be found, or
any part o f the trunk fhort of the half, with or without the head, or
the hand, foot, or head alone, nothing whatever is impofed on them.
The reafon of this is, that the law here treated of is founded on the
word of G o d , which exprefsly mentions the term “ b o d y . ” N o w
the greater part [of the body] is made fubjeft to the rule of the whole,
out of reverence to m a n ; and accordingly, any principal portion of it
is accounted the fame as the whole in effeft ; but it is not fo with any
inconfiderable portion, as that is neither the whole body, nor can it
be virtually accounted fuch ; whence, in fuch a cafe, the oath is not
required., Befides, if any inconfiderable portion of the body were accounted
fubjeft to the fame rule with the whole, fo as to require
fwearing and a fine, it might, in fome inftances, induce the confequence
of two fwearingsand two fines on account of one body, which,
would be unlawful. In fhort, it is a rule, where any part of a human
body is found, that i f the remainder, fuppofing it afterwards to
be difeovered, be fuch as would require fwearing and a fine, thofo are
not required on account of fuch part; and vice verfa ; for the reafons
already affigned.
Rules to be~
obferved
where only a
part o f a body
is found.
I f a new-born infant be found in any place, and there be mo T h e body o f
marks o f violence upon it, the people of the place are not liable to any f ” “"found*'
thing*; for as, if the body of an adult be found without marks of vio- 4oes not (Ub-
lence nothing is required, fo likewife in the cafe of the infant a fo r - .totem
Uori. If, on the contrary, there be marks of violence upon the in- there
fant’s body, and it appear to have been completely formed, the oath b.emarksof
is adminiftered and the fine impofed upon the people of the place; be- fiT enceupon
caufe it is moft probable, where the infant is completely formed, that
* T h a t is, they are n o t liable either to have th e o a th impofed or a line levied upon th em .
VoL. IV. K k k jt