Tillotson - BX5037 T451 1712 v2

86 The Nature and Necef jity Vo1.1I. for falfe Imprifonment, the real Detriment whichcomes tohim by it is, tobe made amends for : and fo in all other Cafes, the injured Perfon is fo far as is poflible to be reftored to the good Condition in which he was before the Injury. IV. As to the Meafure and Proportion of the Re(titution we are to make. Zacheus here offersfourfold, which was much beyond what any Law required in like Cafes. The Meafure of Reftitution by the Judicial Law of the yews, did ve- rymuch vary according to the kind and degreeof the Injury. In fome Cafes a Man was only bound toPimple Reftitution ; but then hewas to do it to the full, Exod. 22. 5, 6. And fo if that which is another Man's be delivered unto his Neighbour to keep, and be floten fromhim, he is to make Reflitution thereof, Ver. t 2. Andfo if a Man borrow ought ofhis Neighbour, and it be hurt or die, the owner there. ofnot being with it, he pall furely make it good, Ver. 14. But for dl manner of trefpaffes by way of theft, whether it befor Ox, for Aft, for Sheep, for Raiment, or for any mannerof loll thing, which another challengeth to be his, be whom the fudge /hall condemn, Pall pay double to his Neighbour, Ver. 9. that is, ifit be of a living Creature, if the theft befound in his hands alive, whether it be Ox or Aft, or Sheep, he (hall reflore double, Ver. 4. But ifa Man didfleal an Ox or a Sheep, and did kill itorfell it, he was to restorefive Oxen for an Ox, andfour Sheep for a Sheep. And thus we find David judged upon Nathan's Parable ofthe Rich Man, who had ta- ken the Poor Man's only Lamb, and kill'd and dreft it for a Traveller that came to him, 2 Sam. t 2. 6. He (hall reflore the Lamb fourfold. Now the Reafon of this feems to be partly becaufe of the advantage and ufefulnefs of thofe Creatures a- bove anyother; and partly becaufe when they were once kill'd or alienated, a Man could not without great trouble and difficulty make Difcovery, which hazard of not difcovering feems to be accounted for in the Reftitution : but if a Man did voluntarily offer Reftitution, beforehe was profecuted, for any thing that was ta- ken by violence, or unjuuily detained from his Neighbour, then he was only to reflore the principal, and to add afifth part thereto, and to offer up an Offering to the Lord, and fo his atonement was made, Levit. 6. t. &c. So that the higheft proportion was a fourth or fifth part, and that only in the particular cafe of Sheep or Oxen flolen away, and kdl'dor alienated afterwards. In- deed Solomon fpeaks ofa fevenfold Reftitution, Prov. 6. 31. Where he faith, If a thiefbe found, he (hall refiore fevenfold, even all the fubflanceof his Houfe ; where limn is only a number of Perfe&ion, and the meaning is, he (hall make perfe& and full Reftitution according to the Law, fo far as his Subftance or Eftate will reach. So that it feems Zacheus in reftoring fourfold didoutdo the utmoft feverity of the Law; which in cafe of fraud and opprefiion was but double, if demanded; ifvoluntarily offer'd, was the principal and a fifth part added : but to teftifie the truth of his Repentance, and his hearty Sorrow for the injuries he had done, he punifheth himfelf beyond what the Law would havedone. I do not fay that this Example binds as to this meafure and proportion : nay, Ì donot fay we are bound to the proportions of theLaw; for that only concerned the Nation ofthe Yews : but altho' we be free from the Letter of the Law, yet we are tyed to the Equityof it. As to the fubftance ofthe Duty of Re(tititution, we are bound to that by the Law of Nature. 'As to the Meafure and Proportion, the Equity of the Judicial Law in its Proportions, and of Zacheus his Example, ought to be confiderable to us. But to fpeak more particularly concerningtheMeafures and Proportions of Re- ftitutlon, I (hall lay down thefe Propofitions. s. Where Reflitution can be made in kind, or the Injury can be certainly valu- ed, we are to re(tore the thing or the value. 2. We are bound to restore the thing, with the natural increafe of it, that is, to fatisfie for the lofs fuftained in the mean time, and the gain hinder'd. 3. Where the thing cannot be reftored, and the value of it is not certain, we are to give reafonable Satisfa&ion, that is, according to a middle eftimation; not the higheft, nor the loweft of things of the kind. The injur'd Perlon can demand nomore, and ftri& Ju(tice requires no more. But it is fafe for him that bathdone the Injury, rather to exceed than to fall (hort. 4. We

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