1 § 1. WHEN the performance of any thing is dependent on an uncertain event, the contract in relation to it is said to be "hazardous." A contract of this sort may be unlawful and void, as a wager; or it may be lawful and valid, as providing security against future loss. The principle of the latter, or, in other words, the principle of indemnity, is the general principle which runs through the whole contract of INSURANCE. A contract of indemnity is given to a person, against his sustaining loss or damage, and cannot properly be called one that insures the thing, it not being possible so to do; and, therefore, as Lord Hardwicke has said, it must mean insuring the person from damage; that is, damage to the thing or to his property. 1 "Men that hazard all, Merchant of Venice. 2 Sadlers Co. v. Badcock, 2 Atk. R. 554. |