Note 75 — Chapter II · NEGLIGENT INTERFERENCE (continued 2)

“The rule, that due diligence is such attention and effort applied to a given case as the ordinary prudent man would put forth under the same circumstances, seems to meet the demands of every conceivable case.... The ratio of diligence to circumstances being thus fixed, the two extremes may change to an infinite extent without destroying the ratio, and without giving rise to what we term negligence. The bailee who undertakes the carriage of stone for the paving of a street is held to the rule that he must use such attention and effort as the ordinary prudent man would use under like circumstances.”

“The bailee, who undertakes to repair a delicate watch, is held to the rule that he must use such attention and effort as the ordinary prudent man would use under the same circumstances. The contract of the watchmaker is the same, relatively, as that of the hod-carrier. Each contracts to provide the reasonable ordinary skill and attention which a man in his position would exercise under like circumstances. The ratio, proportion, or correspondence of diligence to circumstances, of care to surroundings, is fixed and identical. And in determining a question of diligence or negligence in either case, it would be only necessary to apply the same rule to varying circumstances and persons, to demand the same ratio between varying extremes. And it is not too much to assert that all the perplexity and misunderstanding on the subject of diligence and negligence are due to the habit of confounding the specific acts and circumstances, which must always vary, with the ratio or relation between them, which remains always the same. It is true that there may be different ratios of effort and attention to the circumstances and to the results desired. A man may contract to furnish the highest skill, the most perfect means and appliances, the most assiduous attention in the accomplishment of a specific end. But, when an individual so contracts, there is the element of special or positive intention introduced, which takes the case out of the category of diligence, and renders such a contract a special and extraordinary one. The law never requires such a special, positive intention....” 6 Albany Law Journ. 313, 314.