We find the same reasoning
often repeated in the Year Books, and, indeed, from that day to
this it has always been one of the commonplaces of the law. Thus
Hankford, then a judge of the Common Bench, says (circa A.D.
1410), /2/ "If a stranger takes beasts in my custody, I shall
have a writ of trespass against him, and shall recover the value
of the beasts, because I am chargeable for the beasts to my
bailor, who has the property." There are cases in which this
reasoning was pushed to the conclusion, that if, by the terms of
the trust, the bailee was not answerable for the goods if stolen,
he would not have an action against the thief. /3/ The same
explanation is repeated to this day. Thus we read in a well-
known textbook, [171] "For the bailee being responsible to the
bailor, if the goods be lost or damaged by negligence, or if he
do not deliver them up on lawful demand, it is therefore
reasonable that he should have a right of action," &c. /1/ In
general, nowadays, a borrower or hirer of property is not
answerable if it is taken from him against his will, and if the
reason offered were a true one, it would follow that, as he was
not answerable over, he could not sue the wrong-doer. It would
only be necessary for the wrong-doer to commit a wrong so gross
as to free the bailee from responsibility, in order to deprive
him of his right of action.
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