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This is the reason why not all things are according to law,

because there are things about which it is simply impossible to

lay down a law, and so we want special enactments for particular

cases. For to speak generally, the rule of the undefined must be

itself undefined also, just as the rule to measure Lesbian

building is made of lead: for this rule shifts according to the

form of each stone and the special enactment according to the

facts of the case in question.

It is clear then what the Equitable is; namely that it is Just

but better than one form of Just: and hence it appears too who

the Equitable man is: he is one who has a tendency to choose and

carry out these principles, and who is not apt to press the

letter of the law on the worse side but content to waive his

strict claims though backed by the law: and this moral state is

Equity, being a species of Justice, not a different moral state

from Justice.

Chapter XVI.