Note 81 — XXIII. THE LOST COIN.

Nor do I see any force in the minute criticism by which Dr. Trench endeavours to make out that while the sheep were the shepherd’s property, the money did not belong to the woman. He says, “I have found my sheep which was lost;” while she says, “I have found the piece which I had lost;” but these are nothing more than varieties of expression. The absolute identity of the terms in which the two cases are introduced, proves that these seemly and slight variations of phraseology at the close, do not indicate a substantial difference. “What man of you having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them?” and “What woman, having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece?”—these questions, so carefully and completely parallel, conclusively show that, after making allowance for the necessary difference in the nature of the subjects, the two cases, in relation to possession, loss, and finding, are precisely the same.[81]