III. The general duties of mankind are imposed by their public and
private relations: but their specific _obligations_ to each other can
only be the effect of (1) a promise, (2) a benefit, or (3) an injury;
and when these obligations are ratified by law, the interested party may
compel the performance by a judicial action. On this principle the
civilians of every country have erected a similar jurisprudence, the
fair conclusion of universal reason and justice.
1. The goddess of faith (of human and social faith) was worshipped, not
only in her temples, but in the lives of the Romans; and if that nation
was deficient in the more amiable qualities of benevolence and
generosity, they astonished the Greeks by their sincere and simple
performance of the most burdensome engagements. Yet among the same
people, according to the rigid maxims of the patricians and decemvirs, a
naked pact, a promise, or even an oath, did not create any civil
obligation, unless it was confirmed by the legal form of a stipulation.
Whatever might be the etymology of the Latin word, it conveyed the idea
of a firm and irrevocable contract, which was always expressed in the
mode of a question and answer.
Pages:
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347