thing deposited, though only where it is lost through some positive
act of commission on his part: for for carelessness, that is to say,
inattention and negligence, he is not liable. Thus a person from whom
a thing is stolen, in the charge of which he has been most careless,
cannot be called to account, because, if a man entrusts property to the
custody of a careless friend, he has no one to blame but himself for his
want of caution.

4 Finally, the creditor who takes a thing in pledge is under a real
obligation, and is bound to restore the thing itself by the action of
pledge. A pledge, however, is for the benefit of both parties; of
the debtor, because it enables him to borrow more easily, and of
the creditor, because he has the better security for repayment; and
accordingly, it is a settled rule that the pledgee cannot be held
responsible for more than the greatest care in the custody of the
pledge; if he shows this, and still loses it by some accident, he
himself is freed from all liability, without losing his right to sue for
the debt.

TITLE XV. OF VERBAL OBLIGATION

An obligation is contracted by question and answer, that is to say, by a
form of words, when we stipulate that property shall be conveyed to
us, or some other act be performed in our favour. Such verbal contracts
ground two different action, namely condiction, when the stipulation is
certain, and the action on stipulation, when it is uncertain; and the
name is derived from stipulum, a word in use among the ancients to mean
'firm,' coming possibly from stipes, the trunk of a tree.

1 In this contract the following forms of words were formerly sanctioned
by usage: 'Do you engage yourself to do so and so?' 'I do engage
myself.' 'Do you promise?' 'I do promise.' 'Do you pledge your credit?'
'I pledge my credit.' 'Do you guarantee?' 'I guarantee.' 'Will you
convey?' 'I will convey.' 'Will you do?' 'I will do.' Whether the
stipulation is in Latin, or Greek, or any other language, is immaterial,
provided the two parties understand one another, so that it is not
necessary even that they should both speak in the same tongue, so long
as the answer corresponds to the question, and thus two Greeks, for
instance, may contract an obligation in Latin. But it was only in former
times that the solemn forms referred to were in use: for subsequently,
by the enactment of Leo's constitution, their employment was rendered
unnecessary, and nothing was afterwards