A TREATISE ON THE LAW OF CONTRACTS AND RIGHTS AND LIABILITIES EX CONTRACTU. BY C. G. ADDISON, ESQ. OF THE INNER TEMPLE, BARRISTER AT LAW. Second Edition. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: W. BENNING & CO. LAW BOOKSELLERS, FLEET STREET. PREFACE. A NEW edition of the ensuing treatise having been called for, the author has availed himself of the opportunity to remedy the defective arrangement of the first edition, which was occasioned by the work having been originally commenced as a treatise on a branch only of the law of contracts, and having been altered in its scope and plan after the first part of it had gone through the press. The publication of the work originally, in two separate parts, has hitherto prevented a remodelling of the whole of it, but that labour has now been accomplished, and it has been made what it would have been at the outset if it had been commenced as a treatise on the law of contracts. Many subjects, which could not be introduced into the first edition, have been added to the present, and the author has effected as great an improvement as he well could, in the interval that has elapsed since the work was out of print. Seven chapters have been added on new subjects, viz., CHAPTER III., on the illegality and invalidity of contracts, including contracts in restraint of trade; fraudulent sales and transfers of property; fraudulent representations and warranties, &c. &c.; and actions for the recovery of money paid under illegal and void contracts: CHAPTER IV., on parties to contracts and the rights and liabilities of persons labouring under disabilities, including contracts with aliens, outlaws, married women, infants, lunatics, drunkards, &c., &c.: CHAPTER V., on sales and transfers of lands and tenements, fixtures, growing crops, stock, shares, and ships: CHAPTER VII., on hypothecation, mortgage, and pledge, and the rights and liabilities of pledge receivers and pawnbrokers: CHAPTER XII., on contracts of insurance, including maritime, life, and fire insurance : CHAPTER XVII., on stamp duties on contracts; and CHAPTER XXII., on damages recoverable in actions ex contractu. Nearly one half the book, indeed, consists of entirely new matter. To make room for these additions the original text has been condensed into a smaller compass, the page has been enlarged in size, and the work formed into two volumes. Since the publication of the last edition more than two thousand additional cases and authorities have been examined and added to upwards of four thousand decisions and authorities previously cited, and the earliest, as well as the most recent reports have been searched, for adjudged cases illustrative of the rules and principles of the law of contracts, and of the rights and liabities resulting from the ordinary engagements and transactions of commercial life. Should any recent decisions of importance have escaped the author's attention, he will feel greatly indebted to any one who will take the trouble to point out to him the omissions. He will be thankful also for the correction of errors, and for any suggestions that may contribute to the future usefulness of the work. Inner Temple, April 20th, 1849. EXTRACT FROM THE PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. Ir is unnecessary to dilate at length upon the vast importance of the law of contracts, upon its intrinsic excellence and merits, and the advantage of an acquaintance with its general rules and principles to every man of business, as well as to the professed lawyer. From a cursory glance at the contents of the present volume, it will be abundantly evident that there are few mercantile transactions that can be entered into and conducted with safety without some knowledge of the subjects therein contained. In Germany and Holland the study of the law has long constituted an essential branch of a liberal education; and it is surprising, that in a commercial country like our own, so little attention should be paid by the public at large to the science of jurisprudence, or at all events to those general rules and principles of our ancient and excellent common law which regulate and control the ordinary intercourse of mankind, and define and ascertain the rights and liabilities of parties under the varying events and circumstances of daily life. There is scarcely an individual of any property or station in the country, who does not every week, nor any mercantile man who does not every day of the week, nay every hour of the day, contract the obligations, or acquire the rights, of a buyer or seller, of a hirer or letter to hire, of a debtor or creditor, of a borrower or lender, of a depositor or depositary, of a commissioner or employer, of an insurer or insured, of a receiver or agent, or trustee; and it is absurd, as well as dangerous, for a man to contract obligations, and acquire rights, of which he has no just or accurate perception, and involve himself in liabilities and responsibilities, without knowing the nature and extent of them. There was a period in the history of this country when a knowledge of the law was considered an essential part of education; and Sir John Fortescue tells us, that in his time there were in the inns of court two thousand students, the sons of knights and barons, who were placed there, not to be thoroughly learned in the law, or to get their living by its practice, but to be fitted for the exercise of their duties in private life as noblemen and gentlemen. Lectures and readings on jurisprudence have recently been revived in the inns of court, and some attempt has been made to recommence the teaching of the law as a |