Page images
PDF
EPUB

Taking a promissory note payable in terms at the same time as that stipulated in a bond, with sureties for the payment of the bond, discharges the sureties; because the days of grace have to be added, before the note is payable, and so time is given to the principal. Appleton v. Parker, p. 173.

In an action in Massachusetts on a note made and payable, on a day certain, in New York, without any further agreement as to interest, the plaintiff can only recover six per cent interest, the legal rate in Massachusetts, though seven per cent is the legal rate in New York. Ayer v. Tilden, p. 178.

In Erickson v. Nesmith, p. 221, it was held that an action at law could not be maintained in Massachusetts, to enforce the liability of a stockholder of a corporation established in New Hampshire for a debt of the corporation, if the laws of New Hampshire provide that the remedy against a stockholder on a debt of the corporation in New Hampshire, shall be by bill in equity, and not otherwise. Subsequently, in Erickson v. Nesmith, 4 All. 233, it was held, that a bill in equity could not be maintained in Massachusetts to enforce the same liability; but in Erickson v. Nesmith, 46 N.H. 371, 1 Am. Law Rev. 134, the Supreme Court of New Hampshire have held, that the solvent stockholders residing in New Hampshire must pay the entire debts. We believe it has not been de

cided whether the New-Hampshire creditors, thus compelled to pay all the debts, can maintain a suit in Massachusetts to enforce contribution from the Massachusetts stockholders.

The opinion by Mr. Justice Hoar, in Willard v. Eastman, p. 328, in which it was held, that a debt contracted by a married woman, for the accommodation of another person, without consideration received by her, will not be enforced in equity against her separate estate, unless made a charge upon it by an express instrument, is perhaps the ablest in the volume, and shows how admirable a judgment that distinguished judge could write, when he was willing, as was too seldom the case, to take the necessary pains.

A contract made in violation of the Lord's Day Act is absolutely void, and no subsequent ratification will sustain an action upon it. Day v. McAllister, p. 433.

The case of Sanborn v. Carleton, p. 399, carries us back to the troublous times before the outbreak of the war. Sanborn was arrested on a warrant issued by order of the United States Senate against him, he having failed to appear before the committee appointed "to inquire into the facts attending the late invasion and seizure of the armory and arsenal of the United States, at Harper's Ferry, in Virginia, by a band of armed men." Sanborn, having been arrested by a deputy of the sergeant-at-arms of the Senate, was discharged from arrest on the ground that the warrant was addressed to the sergeant-at-arms only, and could not lawfully be served by deputy in Massachusetts.

Two cases are important, as bearing on questions which will probably arise under the recent Bankrupt Act. In Savage v. Winchester, p. 453, it was held, (1) that a widow who has joined with her husband in a mortgage of her separate estate, to secure his debt, which she has paid since his decease, for the purpose of exonerating her estate, may prove the amount before commissioners of insolvency upon his estate; and (2) that a creditor may prove his debt against the estate of his deceased debtor, before commissioners of insolvency, without first surrendering a mortgage of the separate estate of the debtor's wife, which

he holds, as security for the debt; and in Wolcott v. Hodge, p. 547, that a debt resulting from the neglect of an attorney-at-law to pay over to his client money which he has collected for him, is not a debt contracted while acting in a fiduciary capacity, and, as such, excepted from being discharged by a certificate under the United States Bankrupt Act of 1841.

In Russell v. Cowles, p. 582, which was an action for breach of promise of marriage, evidence that the plaintiff, in the absence of the defendant, bought a velvet cloak, a small quantity of crockery-ware, and some cloth which she made up into various articles of bed-clothing; and that she visited a furniture shop, and examined and learned the prices of various articles of furniture, is inadmissible to prove the plaintiff's assent to a mutual promise of marriage.

At the close of the volume, is the Address of the Bar to Chief Justice Shaw, on his resigning the place on the bench which he had occupied for thirty years, and his reply.

Reports of Cases at Law and in Chancery Argued and Determined in the Supreme

Court of Illinois. By NORMAN L. FREEMAN, Counsellor-at-Law. Vol. XLI. Containing a part of the Cases decided at the April Term, 1866. Chicago: Eugene B. Myers, 1868.

THERE are several cases of interest in this volume, besides those for which we could find room in our Digest. In Dickey v. McDonnell, p. 62, the question was whether if plaintiff, after suspecting that defendant's intention was to have sexual connection with her, still rode with him to a secluded spot, voluntarily alighted, and then resisted his advances for the purpose of extorting money, until he threatened and violently assaulted her, when she assented, she could recover. A verdict for the defendant was set aside. Mr. Justice Breese dissented from the opinion of the court, which was neatly put by Lawrence, J., thus: "It certainly cannot be contended, because a woman would sell her person for one hundred dollars, and would resist with all her physical force any attempt to take possession of her, except upon these terms, that, therefore, violence may be lawfully used to overcome her."

In Henchey v. City of Chicago, p. 136, it was held, that an attorney's lien for his fees did not attach to a claim for unliquidated damages prior to the judg ment, so as to deprive his client of the power to settle the case as she might see fit.

In Bowen v. Schuler, it is intimated obiter, p. 196, that, in case of a purchase of goods, with a fraudulent intent not to pay for them, the title to the property does not pass. Mr. Benjamin, in his book on Sales, p. 325, has deduced a contrary conclusion from the English cases, though affirming, of course, the vendor's right of rescission..

In People v. Harvey, Same v. Miller, p. 277, two hostile lawyers seem to have attempted each to have the other removed from a sphere too narrow to contain both. Neither succeeded; but each received a sound lecture, with an intimation of his fate in case of future misconduct.

In Reeder v. Purdy, p. 279, Mr. Justice Lawrence gives an interesting opinion, adverse to the right of the owner of land who is wrongfully kept out of possession, to enter forcibly against the will of the occupant.

[graphic]

BOOK NOTICES.

557

Dole v. Olmstead, p. 344, affirms the decision in the same case, 36 Ill. 150, ante, 2 Am. Law Rev. 528.

Morgan v. Peet, p. 347, affirms a point about which there has been expressed an unaccountable doubt, that when an indorser, with knowledge of facts discharging him from liability, makes a new promise, he will be liable, although he is ignorant that by the rules of law he is discharged.

On pp. 425, 441, 444, Mr. Justice Breese, an able judge, lets his rhetoric get a little the better of him, beginning thus: "Observe the generosity, the loving-kindness, philanthropy, and benevolence of this good Samaritan, the complainant!" He arrives on p. 444 at the oratorical climax: "Which of these parties, both with unclean hands, should a court of equity assist? Justice and those pure principles which are the ornament of such a court, -its brightest jewels, answer, neither."

[ocr errors]

The most important cases are in this number of our Digest, and we do not repeat them. The opinions of the judges are short, strong, and business-like. The reporter's work seems to be well done, except the head-notes. These are better than those in some American reports, which consist of slices cut at random from the body of the opinion, but are not so good as they might be. A head-note ought above all things to contain a statement of the facts of the case put categorically, not hypothetically, and what was held on those facts. Then, if a clean principle of law can be extracted as the ratio decidendi, it may well be allowed a short, separate paragraph; and important principles deliberately approved by the court, but not necessary to the case, may be sparingly intro duced under a semble.

Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Appeals of Maryland.
By J. SHAAFF STOCKETT, State Reporter. Vol. XXVII. Containing Cases
in April and October Terms, 1867. Published by authority. Baltimore:
John Murphy & Co. 1869.

THIS volume contains 715 pages besides the index, but only 54 cases, and
those, too, of certainly not more than average importance. Some of our State
Reports may, perhaps, be too brief, but such extended treatment of cases as
this is neither necessary nor desirable. The exceptions, and in most instances
the briefs of counsel, seem to be set forth verbatim; such reporting might be
well enough for patriarchal days, but for the span of human life in these times,
it is really imposing too much on the overworked lawyers of America. And
what is the use of such statements as these in the head-notes ? "Courts will
not assume that witnesses have perjured themselves and are not entitled to
credit. If testimony be not rebutted, and the character and credibility of the
witnesses be not impeached, it will have its due weight and influence with the
court."
"An act designed to prevent fraud should be not so construed
as to promote it." It is really cruel to the courts to cull these commonplaces,
and pillory them at the beginning of a case. There is no doubt, in this thick
book, the materials to make a very good volume, or rather a half or quarter
volume, of reported cases; but we do wish that the learned reporter would use
his scissors a little less and his head a little more. We assure him it would
give much more satisfaction to his readers.

[blocks in formation]

حدة

It is only just, however, to Mr. Stockett to say that these cases were not heard by him, but were decided before he occupied his present position, and were handed over to him by his predecessor.

In Treiber v. Burrows, p. 130, it is held, that in Maryland an innkeeper is not responsible for the loss of money in the trunk of a guest exceeding in amount such a sum as is convenient to meet his travelling expenses. The court admit that this is a relaxation of the rule of the common law.

A contract to deliver corn at a future period, which corn at the time of the contract is in the field, ungathered and unshucked, is not within the Statute of Frauds, work and labor being necessary to prepare the corn for delivery, and forming part of the consideration for the price to be paid. Rentch ▼. Long, p. 188. The court rest their decision on Eichelberger v. McCauley, 5 H. & J. 213; admitting that, if it were an open question in Maryland, their decision might perhaps be different.

An action for a tort was brought against husband and wife. Judgment by default was rendered against them jointly; and the amount of damages was determined by inquisition. Held, that execution could be levied upon the separate estate of the wife. Brown v. Kemper, p. 666.

Where an advancement is brought into hotchpot, its value must be estimated as of the time when it is received; that is, at the time when it is made complete by its actual possession and employment. Clark v. Willson, p. 693.

Report of the Case of the Steamship Meteor, libelled for alleged violation of the Neutrality Act. By F. V. BALCH, of the Suffolk Bar. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. 1869. Vol. I. Proceedings in the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. pp. 344. Vol. II. Proceedings in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York in the Second Circuit, and in the Supreme Court of the United States. pp. 204. [Both volumes bound together.]

WE discussed the case of The Meteor so much at length in our last number, that we here only briefly call the attention of our readers to this accurately edited Report, in which every thing that bears on the law and facts of the case, including all the evidence taken at the trial, is collected.

The case will always remain of special interest, so long as the Alabama claims are unsettled, for it is the most recent, and in some respects the most important, discussion in our courts of the right of citizens of neutral States to furnish vessels to belligerents. One cannot fail to be struck in reading this case with the narrowness of the distinction between what neutrals may, and what they may not, lawfully do; how much it is a matter of positive and somewhat arbitrary law, and how little it is based upon permanent moral distinctions.

It is matter of much regret, that the opinion of Judge Nelson, overruling the decision of Judge Betts, and releasing the vessel, is so brief, and that we have so imperfectly the reasons which guided the greatest living Admiralty lawyer in America in forming his judgment. The opinion, however, of Judge Betts, and the arguments of Mr. Webster for the Government, and Mr. Evarts for the claimants, make the volume a useful addition to international law.

[graphic]
[blocks in formation]

United States Provisional Court for Louisiana. Its Warrant in Law and Jurisdiction. Opinion of Judge PEABODY. New York: 1865.

AMONG the different tribunals established during the war by the President, or commanding generals, to dispense justice in civil and criminal cases in those portions of the insurrectionary territory which were in possession of our arms, the Provisional Court of Louisiana was the most important, both from the large sphere of its operations and the length of time during which it lasted. It was also, we believe, the only court which was established by order of the President himself. This opinion was delivered by the learned Judge who occupied the bench throughout the entire term of the existence of the Provisional Court, and maintains the right of the court to entertain jurisdiction of the cases of two prisoners, one charged with murder and the other with arson. In spite of all the talk about martial law which prevailed during the war, we venture to say that very few people had any clear comprehension of its extent and limits, and we commend Judge Peabody's opinion as a good exposition of the powers and authority of a belligerent army and its commander in an enemy country.

The Comic Blackstone. By GILBERT ABBOTT A BECKETT. With Illustrations by George Cruickshank. Chicago: Callaghan & Cockcroft. 1869. WE are delighted to greet this best of legal jeux d'esprit, which has become almost out of print, in so attractive a shape.

The author, who was a magistrate in London, and figures in the Ballads of Policeman X. as "that exlent Justice à Beckett the beak," has written several humorous works, the Comic History of Rome, the Comic History of England, &c., but the Comic Blackstone is the best and the best known of his books. It should not be read through, for the puns follow each other so closely as to soon surfeit the reader; but take a few pages at a time and it is very amusing, and instructive withal: the writer was unmistakably a sound and acute lawyer. The key-note of the book is struck in the first sentence:

"Every gentleman ought to know a little of law, says Coke, and perhaps, say we, the less the better."

66

So, It used to be thought that a fee or freehold might remain in abeyance; that is to say, without an owner; but modern lawyers cannot tolerate the idea of a fee with nobody to take it, and the doctrine is therefore exploded."

And again, "Every man may appear by his attorney, except an idiot, who must appear in person, for the law regards an idiot as one who is naturally qualified to enter personally into a lawsuit."

Among the best things in the book are the citations from the old authorities. "Bacon says, our laws, being mixed, like our language, are so much the richer; but Bacon always cuts it uncommonly fat when he gets on the subject of legal richness."

"If any person do hire my servant,' says F. N. B., 167, 168-but whether F. N. B. is a policeman or what, it is impossible to say, for we only find him alluded to in the books as F. N. B. 167, 168," &c.

"Collative advowsons where the patron and bishop are one; in which case Coke insists, in lengthy chapter of eighty-six pages, that the bishop cannot present to himself unless he were one beside himself,' in which case he

« PreviousContinue »