In the proſecution of the firſt of theſe enquiries, we diſtinguiſhed rights into two ſorts: firſt, ſuch as concern or are annexed to the perſns of men, and are then called jura perſonarum, or the rights of perſons; which, together with the means of acquiring and loſing them, compoſed the firſt book of theſe commentaries: and, ſecondly, ſuch as a man may acquire over external objects, or things unconnected with his perſon, which are called jura rerum, or the rights of things, and theſe, with the means of transferring them from man to man, were the ſubject of the ſecond book. I am now therefore to proceed to the conſidederation of wrongs; which for the moſt part convey to us an idea merely negative, as being nothing elſe but a privation of right. For which reaſon it was neceſſary, that, before we entered at all into the diſcuſſion of wrongs, we ſhould entertain a clear and diſtinct notion of rights: the contemplation of what is jus being neceſſarily prior to what may be termed injuria, and the definition of fas precedent to that of nefas.
Wrongs are diviſible into two ſorts or ſpecies; private wrongs, and public wrongs. The former are an infringement or privation of the private or civil rights belonging to individuals, conſidered as individuals; and are thereupon frequently termed civil injuries: the latter are a breach and violation of public rights and duties, which affect the whole community, conſidered as a community; and are diſtinguiſhed by the harſher appellation of crimes and miſdemeſnors. To inveſtigate the firſt of theſe ſpecies of wrongs, with their legal remedies, will be our employment in the preſent book; and the other ſpecies will be reſerved till the next or concluding volume.
The more effectually to accompliſh the redreſs of private injuries, courts of juſtice are inſtituted in every civilized ſociety, in order to protect the weak from the inſults of the ſtronger, by expounding and enforcing thoſe laws, by which rights are defined, and wrongs prohibited. This remedy is therefore princi-
