etiam hominum &stimatione, quorum certe natura tanig est dignitatis, plerumque carius comparetur equus quam servus, gemma quam. famula? ita in tali libertate judicandi plurimum distat ratio considerantis a mecessitate. indigentis, seu voluptate cupientis, cum ista quid necessitas autem quid propter quid expelat, cogitet; et ista. quid verum luci mentis appareat, voluptas vero quid jucundum corporis sensibus blandiatur, exquirat.
n Communiter funguntur] Plin. Lib. xvin. c. 9l. ZEqui paítrisfamilias moper se ipsum in rerum gradibus pendat, — dus est, annona cujusque anni uti, XIV. 1 The most natural measure of the value of any thing is the need for it, as Aristotle rightly shews: which is seen most clearly in the exchange of things amongst barbarians. Yet this is not the only measure, For the will of men, which is the master of things, desires many things more than are necessary. Pearls, says Pliny, derive their value from luzury. And so Cicero of pictures: the measure of man's desires in these things is the measure of value. — And, on the other hand, it comes to pass that the most necessary things are of small value for their abundance. So Seneca shews by many examples, and adds, The price of amy thing is a temporary accident: however much good yow ma) say of them, they are worth just so much as they will fetch when sold. So Paulus, The prices of things are mot from the opinion or utility of. individuals, but are à common function; that is, as he explains elsewhere, what they would be worth to people in general. Hence it comes to pass that a thing is supposed to be of such value as is given or offered for it commonly; which cannot help having a certain latitude, within which more or less may be given or nmpretia Bist. Nat. Et Cicero Verrina de signis: Qui modus est ΠΩΣ. iv 7.
Paulus jurisconsultus: Pretig rerum r. 8, D. ad Leg. Aquil.
68 DE CONTRACTIBUS. [Lix. II.
ubi lex certum rebus pretium ἐν στιγμὴ», ut Aristoteles loquitur, id est, in puncto constituit.
2 In communi autem illo pretio?ratio haberi solet laborum et expensarum, quas mercatores faciunt: soletque subito quoque mutari ex copia et inopia ementium, pecuniz, mercium. Ceterum possunt et quaedam esse rei accidentia zestimabilia, ob quze res licite supra aut infra commune pretium ematur vendaturve, puta ob damnum consequens, lucrum cessans, affectum peculiarem, aut si in gratiam alterius res vendatur ematurve, alioqui non emenda aut vendenda; quz ipsa accidentia ei cum quo agitur indicanda sunt. Ejus quoque damni aut lueri cessantis ratio haberi potest, quod ex pretii solutione dilata aut anticipata nascitur.
XV. 1 De venditione Τοῦ emtione notandum, etiam sine traditione, ipso contractus momento transferri dominium posse, atque id esse simplieissimum: ita PSenecem venditio alienatio est, et rei suc jurisque sui in aliwm translatio: nam et ita fit in permutatione. Quod si actum sit, ne statim ο Ratio haberi solet laborum et exv- εἰαοῖο et perjurio agitur, non de negotio.
pensarum|] Nec improbat id Augustinus ad Ps. Ixx. Sed ait ipse mercator: af- Jero ev longinquo merces: mercedem (S 17. Ed. Benedictin. ubi verba paullo aliter leguntur). 7 Circa hune contractum vide Pv.
FENDORF. nostrum, De Jure Nat. ei Gent. Lib. v. cap. 5. J. B.
laboris mei unde vivam peto; dignus est enim mercenarius mercede sua: de menasked, except when the law has appointed a certain point of price for things, as Aristotle speaks.
2 Forthat common price, account is commonly taken of the labour and expense of the sellers, and it undergoes sudden changes according to the excess or defect of buyers, money, and wares. "lhere may also be certain accidents of the things, capable of an estimation, on account of which the things may be lawfully bought or sold above or below the common price; suppose, on account of loss to be incurred, cessation of gain, particular tastes, or if they are bought or sold to oblige a person, being otherwise not to be bought or sold. Also account may be taken of the loss or cessation of gain which arises from the payment deferred or anticipated.
XV. 1 With regard to Buying and Selling, it is to be noted that the ownership may be transferred at the moment of contract, without delivery, and that this is the simplest process. | So Seneca says, that seling is the alienation of the thing, and the transfer of one's property and one's right to another: as exchange also is. And if this be the case, if the ownership be not to pass immediately, the seller is Car. XII.] DE CONTRACTIDBUS. 69 dominium transeat, obligabitur venditor ad dandum dominium, atque interim res erit commodo et periculo venditoris: quare quod venditio et emtio constat prsestando, ut habere liceat, et evictionem, item quod res periculo est emtoris, et ut fructus ad eum pertineant antequam dominium transeat, commenta sunt juris civilis, quod nec ubique observatur: imo plerisque legum conditoribus placuisse, ut ad traditionem usque res commodo et periculo venditoris sit, notavit Theophrastus in loco, qui *apud Stobzum est, ubi et multa alia sew. 49. instituta reperias de solennitate venditionis, de arrhabone, de poenitentia, multum differentia a jure Romano: sicut et apud Rhodios perfici solitam venditionem et contractus quosdam alios relatione in acta, notavit in Rhodiaea Dion Pruszensis.
2 Illud quoque sciendum, si res bis sit vendita, ex duabus venditionibus eam valituram quz: in se continuit presentem dominii translationem,?sive per traditionem, sive aliter. Per hane enim facultas moralis in rem abiit a venditore: quod non fit per solam promissionem, P Senece] De Beneficiis v. 10, traditione uni Emtorum facta, ut per-4 Apud Stobeum est] Titulo dele- ^ peram intellexit PurENDonrtivs, dicto gibus. capite, ὃ 3. De vero sensu, et de re 8 Ponit heie Auctor, in una vendi- ipsa, diximus in notis nostris Gallicis ad tione ab initio dominium translatum, in hunclocum. J. B. altera non; nec discrimen omne petit ex obliged to give the ownership [at an appointed time]. And in the meanwhile, the thing is in the possession and at the risk of the seller. Wherefore that selling and buying consist in giving the means of having the thing sold, and remedy if the title to it prove bad, and that the thing is necessarily forthwith at the risk of the buyer, and also that the produce belongs to the buyer even before the ownership passes, are all fictions of the Civil Law, and are not everywhere observed. Indeed most legislators have provided that up to delivery the possession and risk are the seller's, as Theophrastus holds: and as we find in Stobszus, where you find many other rules about the formalities of sale, about earnest of sale, about retraction, very different from the Roman Law: as also that among the Rhodians sale was to be completed, as well as some other contracts, by publie registry, as Dio Pruszxensis notes.
2 'This also is to be observed, that if a thing be sold twice over, that sale of the two is valid which included a present transfer of tho ownership either by delivery or otherwise. | For by this means the jural claim passes from the seller, which it does not by a mere promise, Arist. Pol. i. 2.
Cap. 6.
DE CONTRACTIBUS. [Lix. II.
XVI. Monopolia "non omnia cum jure natur: pugnant: nam possunt interdum a summa potestate permitti justa de causa et pretio constituto: cujus rei exemplum nobis illustre praebet Josephi historia?ecum is viee regia /Egypto przeesset. Sie et sub Romanis Alexandrini Indicarum οὐ /Ethiopicarum mercium habebant, *ut Strabo loquitur, μονοπωλείαν. | Potest et a privatis institui, zequo duntaxat compendio. At qui, ut in Velabro olearii, de compacto id agunt, ut res supra pretium id quod summum nune est in communi pretio vendantur, aut vip aut fraude impediunt ne major copia importetur, aut ideo merces coemunt ut vendant pretio quod tempore venditionis iniquum sit, injuriam faciunt, atque eam reparare tenentur. Quod si alio modo impediunt invectionem mercium, aut ideo coemunt, ut pluris vendant, pretio tamen pro temporis ratione non iniquo, faciunt quidem adversus caritatis normam, quod multis evincit Ambrosius libro officiorum tertio, sed proprie jus alterius non violant.
XVIL De pecunia sciendum, eam naturaliter functionem recipere, "non in materia sola, nec in speciali appellatione vestes, vide Plinium vrrr. 97. de monopolio serici, Procopium in istoria Arcana. (Cap. 25.)
r Non omnia cum jure nature pugnant| Nota Thaletis Historia de Olivitate, [quxe varie a variis refertur. Vide Arist. Politic. τ. 11. Diogen. Laert. 1. 26. ibique Intt.] Pythoclis inventum de plumbo Tyrio coemendo, unde lucrum faceret Atheniensis populus, est apud Aristotelem GZconomicon 11. (pag. 510 p. E. Edit. Paris. Tom. 11.) de monopolio erinaceorum, quibus expoliuntur ? Male quadrat exemplum, ut observavit PUFENDORFIUS, dicto loco.
s Ut Strabo loquitur] Libro xvir. (p. 798) vide et Cassiodorum 11, 4. et 26. [Istud quoque exemplum de Alexandrinis, non congruit. Inspice Strabonislocum. J. B.]
XVI. It is not all monopolies which are at variance with Natural Law. Monopolies may sometimes be permitted by the government for just cause, and at a settled price; of which we have a remarkable example in the account of Joseph's administration of Egypt. So under the Romans the Alexandrians had the monopoly of Indian and Ethiopian wares. Monopolies may also be established by private persons, provided they be on equitable terms. But if persons, like the Velabrian oil-merchants, enter into a combination to raise the price above the common price, or prevent by fraud or force the importation of a larzer quantity, that they may buy up the article and sell it at a price which at the time of sale is unreasonable, they are guilty of a wrong, and are bound to repair it. If in any other way they prevent the importation of wares, in order to sell them at a higher price, though in the state of the market notan unreasonable one, aut forma, sed in genere magis communi, qua scilicet comparatur ad res, aut omnes, aut maxime necessarias: quse sestimatio, si aliud non convenerit, facienda erit tempore ac loco solutionis. Michael Ephesius ad quintum Nicomachiorum: ὡς Cap. 8. ἐπὶ τῆς χρείας τοῦτο ἐπὶ τοῦ νομίσματος ἴδοι ἄν "TES γινόμενον" ὡς γὰρ €T ἐκείνης οὐκ ἀεὶ ὁμοίως δεόμεθα καὶ ἐν χρείᾳ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐσμὲν, οὕπως οὐδὲ τὸ νό- μισμα ἀεὶ ἴσον δύναται, ἀλλὰ μεταπίπτει. καὶ τὸ πρότε- E πλεῖον δυνάμενον ὕστερον ὴ ἔλαττον ἢ οὐδὲν ἰσχύει. ὅμως μᾶλλόν ye TOUTO διαμένει καὶ δεῖ ὡς μέτρῳ αὐτῷ τῶν ἀλλασσομένων χρῆσθαι. Οποά de indigentia accidit, idem in mummo videre est. | Nam sicut ea, non eadem semper, nec enim alienis rebus eque semper opus est nobis, sic nec nummus idem semper valet, sed mutatur, et cum prius plus valuerit, postea aut minus aut nihil valet: * diuturmius autem est nummi pretium: eoque ut mensura, aliarum quae comparantur rerum uti solemus. — Cujus loci hie sensus est: quiequid adhibetur in hoc ut mensura sit rerum aliarum, debet esse tale, ut per se minime flectatur, talia autem sunt t De compacto id agunt] Lex:qua — magis communi] Non tam ex substantia et prudens est C. de monopoliis, et lo- — quam ex quantitate 1. τ. D. de Contrah. cus notabilis apud Lysiam (Orat. xxi. | Emtione. Non corpora hie cogitanda, cap. δ) adversus frumenti venditores, ^ sed quantitas. 1. Siis cui. S 1. de soluqui pretium falsis rumoribus incende- ^ zionibus L. 94.
bant. Adde Cassiodorum ix, 5. &c. * Diuturnius est nummi pretium] quicumque, 9. causa xtv. quzestione iv, Publica ac perpetua zstimatio d. 1. 1. D.
" Non in materia sola,necin speciali — de Contr. Emt. appellatione aut forma, sed in genere they offend against the law of charity; as Ambrose shews, but they do not properly violate the rights of others.
XVII. Concerning Money, it is to be noted that it naturally operates functionally, that is, one portion of it may do the office of another; and this, not only as to the material [gold for silver and reciprocally], nor in its special appellation and form [crowns for dollars, but in a more general sense, in its relation to all other things, or at least to the most necessary; and the estimation of this relation, if no other agreement is made, is to be made with reference to the time and place of payment. So Michael Ephesius says that money, though not in itself immutable, is the measure of all other things: the sense of which is this: that whatever is taken in order to be the measure of other things ought to be such that of itself it is least subject to change: and of this kind are gold, silver, brass: for their value is nearly the same at all times and everywhere: and as 72 DE CONTRACTIBUS. [Lir. II.
in genere sestimabilium, aurum, argentum, zs: per se enim ferme tantundem ubique, et semper valent: sed prout res alis, quibus indigent homines, copiose sunt aut rars, ita eadem pecunia ex eadem facta materia, eodem pondere, nune plus nune minus valet.
XVIII. Locatio et conductio,!ut recte a Caio dictum est, proxima est venditioni et emtioni, eisdemque regulis consistit: respondent enim pretium pensioni sive mercedi, et rei dominium facultati utendi. Quare sicut res domino perit, ita naturaliter sterilitas, et alii casus, qui usum impediunt, damno sunt conductoris: neque eo minus locator jus habebit ad pecuniam promissam, quia ipse facultatem utendi tradidit, qu: eo tempore tantum valebat: quanquam et legibus et paetis immutari id potest. Si tamen locator, cum conductor primus re uti impeditus esset, alii eam locaverit, quiequid consecutus inde fuerit rependet primo conductori, ne ex re aliena fiat locupletior.
XIX. Et quod de venditione supra diximus, pluris rem vendi minorisve emi posse, si im gratiam alterius vendatur ematurve, alias non vendenda aut emenda, idem et de re aut Confer, de hoc contractu, PurENnonriuMm nostrum, De Jure Nat. et Gent. Lib. v. cap. 6. J. B.
Y Tantundem et de commodato dici potest] Valde enim affinia commodatum et mutuum, ut locatio et fceneratio. in I. unica C. "Theod. quod jussu est: pecuniam commodat. Justinianus edidit mutuam dat. Nummos autem fonore sumtos conductos dixit Horatius Lib. r.
other things which men need are plentiful or scarce, the same money of the same material and weight, is sometimes worth more of those things, sometimes less.
XVIII. Letting and Hiring, as Caius rightly says, come nearest to selling and buying, and are governed by the same rules; the price corresponds to the rent or wages, and the ownership to the use of the thing hired or service rendered. Wherefore as, when a thing is destroyed, the loss falls on the owner, so by Natural Law barrenness of land hired, and other accidents which impede the use, are at the loss of the Hirer; and nevertheless the Letter has a right to the rent promised, because he gave up the power of using the thing himself, which at the time of letting was worth so much; though this may be changed by laws and covenants. Dut if the Letter, when the first Hirer is prevented making use of the thing, lets it to another, whatever he receives from that bargain he must pay to the first Hirer, that he may not become richer by what belongs to another.
XIX. And what we said above of Selling, that a thing may be Car. XII] DE CONTRACTIBUS. 13 opera locata conductave intelligendum est. Quod si una opera pluribus utilis esse possit, ut itineris susceptio, et locator pluribus se in solidum singulis obstrinxerit, poterit de singulis mercedem pacisci quam ab uno exigeret, ubi lex non obstat: quia quod illa opera secundo quoque utilis est, extrinsecum est contractui qui cum primo est initus, neque respectu primi quiequam minuit de zestimatione.
XX. 1 Circa mutuum quzeri solet, quo jure vetitze sint usure? et quanquam jure naturali vetitas esse receptior est sententia, contrarium tamen sentit Abulensis. Neque vero rm cap. xxv. videntur argumenta, quae in alteram adferuntur partem, talia "ipi esse ut assensum extorqueant. Nam quod de mutuo dicitur gratuitum esse, "tantundem et de commodato dici potest: cum tamen pro usu rei pretium exigere illicitum non sit, sed efficiat ut contractus in aliud nomen transeat. Nec magis urget quod suapte natura sterilis est pecunia. Nam et domos et res alias natura infeecundas ^hominum industria fructuosas fecit. Illud speciosius,?quod hic res pro re reddatur, usus autem rei ἃ re distingui non possit, cum in abusu consistat, ac proinde pro eo nihil debeat exigi.
Sat. 2. (vers. 9) ubi scholiastes merces, ^ Contrar. et Util. Act. Tutele.1. debitor.
usura. 7. D. de Usuris. z Hominum industria fructuosas fe-? Vide qux Auctor uberius dicit, ad cit] Nec enim debet sterilis esse pecu- — solutionem istius difficultatis, in Adnot.
nia. 1. quid ergo. 3. 8 Usuras. 4. D. de ad Lucam vi. 35. J. 8.
bought or sold for more or less if it be done to gratify a person, being otherwise not open to be bought or sold, is to be understood also of a thing or of service let and hired. ΟΥ̓ if one service may be useful to many persons, as, for instance, a journey undertaken by an agent, and if the latter (the agent) have engaged himself to several persons jointly, he may demand from each the payment which he would require from one, if the law do not forbid. For the same labour being useful to a second person as well as to the first, is something extrinsic to the contract entered into with the first, arid does not diminish the value of his services to the first.
XX. 1 Asto Lending Money, it is commonly made a question by what kind of law usury is forbidden. And although the more received opinion is that it is forbidden by Natural Law, Abulensis is of a contrary opinion. And in truth the arguments on the other Side are not such as compel assent. For when it is said (1) That money lent is a gratuitous benefit, the same may be said of any other thing lent, and yet it is not unlawful to demand payment for Usuf. ear. Rer. q. Usu cons.
Ususf. 9. D. ad Leg. Fab.
DE CONTRACTIBUS. [Lrx. II.
2 Sed notandum est, cum rerum, qu: usu pereunt, aut in alterius dominium transeunt, ususfruetus senatus consulto introductus dieitur, non tamen effectum, ut proprius ususfruetus esset, de voce ususfructus agi, qu:& certe secundum suam proprietatem tali juri non congruit; non tamen sequi inde jus tale nihil esse, aut non sstimabile, cum contra certum sit, siquis proprietario tale jus cedat, pecuniam posse exigi eo nomine. Sic et jus illud nonnisi post tempus certum reddendi pecuniam aut vinum, est aliquid szestimabile: minus enim solvit qui tempore minus solvit. Atque ideo *év ἀντι-χρήσει usus pecunie cum fructibus przedii compensatur. Quae vero à Catone, Cicerone, Plutarcho, "et aliis contra usuras dicuntur, ea respiciunt non tam quod intrinsecum οἱ est, quam quod plerumque ei adest, eamque consequitur.
3 Sed quiequid hae de re sentire libeat, sufficere nobis debet lex a Deo Hebrzis data, quz vetat Hebreos Hebrzis a "Ey ἀντιχρήσει}] 1. cum debitor. 8. D. in quibus causis pignus. 1. Si ea pactione. 14. C. de Usuris.
b Et aliis] Ut Appiano in civilibus, (pag. 382 p. Ed..H. Steph.)
3 Mutavit postea sententiam Auctor, ut patet ex ejus Epist. 953. ad Salmasium scripta; sed imprimis ex Adnotationibus ad dictum caput Lucz, vi. 35.
tota autem materia Fenoris et Usurarum absolutissimum et plenissimum Opus exstat summi Jurisconsulti, et non minus judicio, quam eruditione, insignis, Clariss. Nooprir, quod seorsim antea editum, inter Opera ejus postea recusum est. J. B.
€ Honesta moraliter] Hebrzei censent voce qv? significari usuram in pecunia: qua heic omnino conferri debent. De ^ voce rmaà^nin quavis specie. Hierony.
the loan of a thing; this only makes the contract take another name, letting instead of lending.
Nor is it more convincing to say (2) That money is barren by its nature; for houses and other things which produce no fruits by nature, the industry of man makes fruitful.
The other arguments are more specious, (3) That here, a thing of the same kind is repaid for a thing, and that the use of the thing, money, cannot be distinguished from the thing itself, since it consists in abusu, in getting rid of it: and therefore nothing ought to be demanded for it.
2 (4) It is said in the decree of the Senate*, That though there cannot be properly usufruct of a thing which perishes in the using, yet there may be quasi usufruct of such a thing, but that it does not thereby become the property of the tenant. PDut this merely defines the word wsufruct. Certainly that word does not properly agree with the right of usury. But it does not follow that there is no such right: * Under Tiberius, Heinecc, Zlem. Jur. Civ. 419.
Car. ΧΙ] DE CONTRACTIBUS. 75 pecuniam dare fcenori:?Est enim hujus legis materia, si non necessaria, certe ^honesta moraliter, unde et aliis maxime moralibus annumeratur Psalmo, qui apud Hebrzos est decimus quintus, apud Latinos *decimus quartus, et apud Ezechielem capite decimo octavo: quse autem hujus generis sunt, Christianos quoque obligant, quippe vocatos ad majora virtutum specimina: et qu: tune offieia homini Hebrzeo aut alioqui eireumeiso (nam hujus cum lHebrzo par causa erat) prestari jubentur, ea nune przstanda sunt homini cuivis, *omni populorum diserimine per Evangelium sublato, latiusque extenso proximi intellectu: quod przter cetera ostendit insignis Christi de homine Samarita apologus. Itaque Lactantius de officiis tractans hominis Christiani: ZVon dabit, inquit,: in usuras pecuniam: hoc est enim de alienis malis lucra captare. Ambrosius: Subvenire nom habenti humanitatis est; duritie autem 'plus extorquere quam. dederis. lpse mus ad xviii. Ezechielis: Putant quidam usuram tantum esse in pecunia: quod providens scriptura divina, omnis rei aufert superabundantium, ul plus non capias quam dedisti. ('Tom. v. pag. 440 A^. Ed. Basil.)
ἃ Decimus quartus] Et Ps. cxii. χρηστὸς ἀνὴρ ὁ οἰκτείρων kal κιχρῶν" Vir bonus est, qui alterius miseretur, eique pecuniam dat mutuam. (vers. 5.)
e Omni populorum discrimine per Xvangelium sublato] Christianos Arnobius libro rv. (Pag. 152, 153.) ait esse communicatores rei, et cum omnibus quos solidet germanitatis necessitudine copulatio. Alibi: qui omnes homines pro fratribus diligunt.
f Plus extorquere quam dederis] Cyprianus de lapsis gravia peccata enumerans, addit usuris multiplicantibus since, on the contrary, it is certain that if any one were to grant a proprietor such a right, money might be paid for it.
And the right of not having to repay anything, whether money or wine, till after a certain time, is something which has an estimable value.
For he who pays later, pays less.
And therefore, in the way of exchange the use of money may be paid for by the use of land.
As to what Cato, Cicero, Plutarch, and others say against usury, it does not touch its intrinsic nature, but its ordinary accompaniments and consequences.
3 But whatever may be our opinion of such arguments, it ought to suflice for us that there was a law given by God to the Hebrews, which forbad Hebrew to lend Hebrew money on usury. For the matter of this law, if not necessary, is certainly morally good; and so i8 assumed in Ps, xv. 5. Ezek. xviii. 8. And precepts of this kind bind Christians also, as being called to higher pitches of virtue than others; and what was then the duty towards a Jew, is now a duty to all men, Epist. Inst.
De Offic. iii.3.
Suet. c. 39.
76 DE CONTRACTIBUS. [Lizx. II.
Cxsar Augustus notavit aliquos, quod pecunias levioribus usuris mutuati, graviori foenore collocassent.
XXI. Observandum tamen est, esse qusdam *qus ad usur: speciem accedant, ac vulgo usurz esse videantur, cum tamen pacta sint generis alterius: ut de repensando damno, quod facit qui pecuniam dat mutuam, eo quod diu pecunia careat: item de luero ob mutui dationem cessante, deducto scilicet incerto spel, et labore qui subeundus fuerat. Sie etiam pro impensis ejus qui multis dat mutuam pecuniam, et in hoe paratam habet: et pro periculo amittendz sortis, ubi idonee non cavetur, si quid exigitur, usura vere non est. Demosthenes oratione ὧν Pantenetum, eum, qui quod ex mercatura aut honesta opera quszesivit "sub modico lucello elocat, partim Janus augere. (Pag. 194. Edit. Fell. Brem.) Chrysostomus de Jejunio v. ἐὰν νηστεύσῃς βλέπε μὴ δανείσῃς τὸ ἀργύ- ριόν σου ἐπὶ πόκῳ. νηστεύεις;: διάῤpu£ov βιαίων συναλλαγμάτων χειρόypadov* Si jejunes, vide ne pecuniam tuam colloces ftnori: jejunas? rumpe violentorum pactorum cautiones. ('Tom. γι. pag. 937.) Idem in caput ultimum 1. ad Corinthios, (T. 111. pag. 534) pecuniam fcenore partam non magis si in eleemosynam detur, Deo acceptam esse ait, quam si detur ex quzstu meretricio. Augustinus epist. ταν. Quid dicam de usuris, quas etiam ipse leges et judices reddi jubent. ta crudelior est, qui subtrahit aliquid vel eripit diviti, quam qui trucidat pauperem fenore.
Maximus homilia rrr. de Quadragesima: vecte frater frequentabis ecclesiam, si gressus tuos lethalibus laqueis avida illa non implicet et involvat usura. His adde Basilium in sermones Domini in monte, et quas ex conciliis sanctisque scriptoribus collegit Gratianus causa Xiv. quist. iii. et iv. [Nullie sunt Homiliz Basinu Magni in Sermones Domini in monte: sed una est in Psalm. xiv. adyersus Feeneratores, Tom. 1. pag. 135, et seqq. Ed. Paris. 1638. quam Auctor, quum in animo haberet, ita, lapsu memoris, perperam designavit. J. B.] € Que ad usure speciem accedant] Et si eum juris Romani consultis loqui volumus, fcenus odiosum nomen est, usura non item, Usure mon propter the separation being taken away by the Gospel, and the term neighbour more widely extended. So Lactantius and Ambrosius condemn usury. And Augustus noted for rebuke some who borrowed money at low interest and lent it at high.
XXI. It is to be observed, however, that there are some things which approach to the nature of usury, and commonly are held to be usury, which are paets of another kind: as pacts for making good the loss which he suffers who lends money, by being kept out of his money so long: and on account of the gain which the money-lender loses by lending, deducting what corresponds to the uncertainty of his hopes, and the labour he would have had to undergo. And again, if anything be demanded on account of expenses incurred by him who lends money to many, and has it ready for that purpose; and for the danger of losing the principal, where due security is not taken; this Car. XII.] DE CONTRACTIBUS. "i ut suum servet, partim ut gratum faciat alteri, negat fcneratorum odio przegravandum.
XXII. Leges vero human: quz concedunt aliquid stipulari pro usu pecunis, aut rei alterius, ut apud Hollandos jam pridem concessum est alis quidem 'octo nummos in centum, mercatoribus autem duodecim pro usu annali exigere, siquidem vere stant intra compensationem ejus quod abest, aut abesse potest, non pugnant cum naturali aut divino jure: sin eum modum excedunt, *impunitatem prsestare possunt, jus dare non possunt.
XXIIL Contractus avertendi periculi, quem assecurationem vocant, omnino nullus erit si contrahentium alter rem, de qua agitur, aut salvam quo destinabatur pervenisse, aut lucrum petentium, sed propter moram solventium infliguntur. 1. cum. quidam 17. $3. D. de Usuris. Cujacius in Paratitlo de Nautico ποτε: Fenus est quod prater sortem accedit lucri cause: usura, quod accedit me in damno versetur creditor. Sed quia plerique etiam usurarum abusi sunt nomine, ccepit et hoc in sequiorem sumi partem: in bonum autem sensum substitui vox ejus quod interest.
h Sub modico lucello] Procopius Goth. τ᾿. in laudibus Germani, qui Justiniano propinquus: χρήματα τοῖς δεομένοις ἅπασι δεδανεικωῶς μεγάλα, καὶ τόκον οὐδὲ ὅσον λόγῳ κεκομισμένος πρὸς αὐτῶν πώποτε" pecunias omnibus is ποῦ usury.
opus habentibus magnas dabat utendas, usuram autem, que quidem talis dici mereretur, nunquam ab ipsis sumebat. (Cap.
i Octo nummos in centum] Idem in Imperio constitutum.
κ΄ Impunitatem prestare possunt] Ideo permissas ante se usuras ad normam zquiorem reducere Justinianus sui officii censuit: novellis xxx1I. XXXIII. XXXIV.
Assecurationem] Id damnum in se suscipere dixit Suetonius Claudio. (c. 18.) Sie Cicero pecuniz: publiez przedes accepit, ut populo cautum esset sine vecturz periculo, epistolarum 11, 17, So Demosthenes in his oration against Pantzenetus, denies that he is to be stigmatized as an usurer because, what money he gained by commerce or manufacture he lent out at moderate interest, partly to keep the capital, partly to gratify another.
Human Laws which allow something to be covenanted for the use of money, if the rate lie within a due compensation, are not opposed to Natural or Divine Laws, as in Holland it has long been granted to persons in general to require 8 per cent. per annum, and to Merchants 12. If they exceed that standard, laws may afford impunity, but they cannot give a right.
XXIII Contracts for averting risk, which are called Insurance, are void if either of the contracting parties know that the thing insured has either reached its destination safely, or is lost: not only on account of the parity which the nature of permutatorial contracts requires, but also because the proper matter of this contract is loss 78 DE CONTRACTIBUS. [Lrx. II.
periisse sciverit: non tantum ob paritatem quam exigit contractuum permutatoriorum natura, sed quia propria materia hujus contractus est damnum sub ratione incerti. Periculi autem hujus pretium ex communi zstimatione petendum est. XXIV. 1 "In societate negotiatoria, *ubi confertur pecunia cum pecunia, si pecunie zequales sint, sequales esse etiam oportet partes in damno et lucro; sin inzquales fuerint, partes quoque fient pro rata: quod Aristoteles fine octavi ca.16 — ZVicomachiorum sic extulit: ἐν χρημάτων κοινωνίᾳ πλείω λαμβάνουσιν οἱ συμβαλλόμενοι πλείω. Atque idem habebit locum si oper: aut zequales aut inzquales conferantur. Sed et opera cum pecunia, aut cum pecunia et cum opera conferri potest, ut diei solet.
are eH Par pari datum hostimentum est, opera pro pecunia.
Navar. 17. n. 2 Sed hze collatio non uno modo fit: nam aut opera Cova.ii. — eonfertur cum solo pecunie usu, quo casu sors domino perit, Var. cap. 9.
Lo»3.2?* et si salva est, domino salva est: aut opera confertur cum ipso dominio pecuni», quo casu qui operam impendit particeps fit sortis. In prima specie comparatur cum opera non sors, sed perieulum amittendz sortis, et lucrum quod probabiliter ex ea sperari poterat. In altera operz pretium haτὰ [5 societate] Exemplumsocietatis — cap. 8. et in pinna ac pinnotere 1x. 42. habesindelphinis apud Plinium, Lib. rx. ^ meminit et Cicero de Finibus, (11r. 19.)
uncertain. 'The value of such danger 15 to be sought in common estimation.
XXIV. 1 In Partnerships in trade, where money and money are contributed by the parties, if the sums are equal, the gain and loss ought to be equally shared: if unequal, proportionally to the shares: Aristotle's rule. The same will hold if equal or unequal shares of labour are contributed. But money may be compared with labour, and labour with money. See Plautus.
2 But this joint contribution may be made in various ways: for either labour may be supplied by one party and the use of money (annual payment) by the other: in which case if the money-share be lost, the loss is the owner's, and if it be saved the gain is his: or labour and the ownership of money (capital) are the relative contributions; in which case he who supplies the labour partakes in the money-share. In the first case that which is compared with the labour is not the money-share, but the risk of losing it, and the gain which might be expected from it. In the other case the value of the labour is considered as something added to the money-share, and according to such value, he who supplies the labour has a share in