The conſtraint a man is under in theſe circumſtances is called in law dureſs, from the Latin durities, of which there are two ſorts; dureſs of impriſonment, where a man actually loſes his liberty, of which we ſhall preſently ſpeak; and dureſs per minas, where the hardſhip is only threatened and impending, which is that we are now diſcourſing of. Dureſs per minas is either for fear of loſs of life, or elſe for fear of mayhem, or loſs of limb. And this fear muſt be upon ſufficient reaſon; “non,” as Bracton expreſſes it, “ſuſpicio cujuſlibet vani et meticuloſi hominis, ſed talis qui poſſit cadere in virum conſtantem; talis enim debet eſſe metus, qui in ſe contineat vitae periculum, aut corporis cruciatum[1].” A fear of battery, or being beaten, though never ſo well grounded, is no dureſs; neither is the fear of having one’s houſe burned, or one’s goods taken away and deſtroyed; becauſe in theſe caſes, ſhould the threat be performed, a man may have ſatisfaction by recovering equivalent damages[2]: but no ſuitable atonement can be made for the loſs of life, or limb. And the indulgence ſhewn to a man under this, the principal, ſort of dureſs, the fear of loſing his life or limbs, agrees alſo with that maxim of the civil law; ignoſcitur ei qui ſanguinem ſuum qualiter qualiter redemptum voluit[3].
The law not only regards life and member, and protects every man in the enjoyment of them, but alſo furniſhes him with every thing neceſſary for their ſupport. For there is no man ſo indigent or wretched, but he may demand a ſupply ſufficient for all the neceſſities of life from the more opulent part of the community, by means of the ſeveral ſtatutes enacted for the relief of the poor, of which in their proper places. A humane proviſion; yet, though dictated by the principles of ſociety, diſcountenanced by the Roman laws. For the edicts of the emperor Conſtantine commanding the public to maintain the children of thoſe who were unable to provide for them, in order to prevent the murder and expoſure of infants, an inſtitution founded on the ſame principle as our
