The obligation of another contract, that of location, is of a more
complicated kind. Lands or houses, labor or talents, may be hired for a
definite term; at the expiration of the time the thing itself must be
restored to the owner, with the additional reward for the beneficial
occupation and employment. In these lucrative contracts, to which may be
added those of partnership and commissions, the civilians sometimes
imagine the delivery of the object, and sometimes presume the consent of
the parties. The substantial pledge has been refined into the invisible
rights of a mortgage or _hypotheca_; and the agreement of sale, for a
certain price, imputes from that moment the chances of gain or loss to
the account of the purchaser. It may be fairly supposed that every man
will obey the dictates of his interest; and if he accepts the benefit,
he is obliged to sustain the expense of the transaction. In this
boundless subject, the historian will observe the _location_ of land and
money, the rent of the one and the interest of the other, as they
materially affect the prosperity of agriculture and commerce.
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