PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

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it orJ, if none were enabled to enter into it \\'itnout
a capital sufficient for prompt pal ment.An advo ..
cate, therefore, for tile interests of this import3.&,t
class of the community, will deem it more eligible,
that one out of a thousand should be sent to jail b:r his
creditors. . than that the nine hundred and ninetv-nirle
~
should be straitened, and embarrassed, and nlany of
them lie idle, bv the want uf credit •
.I
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CHAPTER XI.
CONTRl"lCTS OF LABOUR.
SER\1"ICE.
SERVICE in this country is, as it ought to
be, v(\luntary~ and by contract; and the master's
authority extends no farther than the terms or
eqcitable construction of the contract will justify.
The treatment of servants, as to diet, ~jscipline,
and accommodation, ill€ kind an(1 quantity 6f work
to be required of them, the intermission, liberty,
and indulgence to be allowed them s must be determined
in a great measure by custom) for where the
contract involves so many particulars, the contracting
parties express a few perhaps of the principal,
and by mutual understanding refer the rest to the
known custom of the country in like cases.
~t\. sen~ant is not bound to obey tlJe un!auful commands
of his master; to nlinister, for instance, to
his unlawful pli!2.Sures; or to assist him by unlawful
practices in his profession; as in smuggling or adulterating
the articles in \\"hich he deais. For the
servant is bound by nothing but his own promise;
and the obligation of a promise extends not to
things unlawful.
For the ~ame reason, the master's authority is no
justification of the servant in doing Y:rong; for the
servant's own promise, upon which that authority is
founded, would be none.