E.g., if I sell you two thousand bushels of corn, upon condition that my crop shall produce that much, and it produces only fifteen hundred bushels. In a less extended acceptation, but in a true sense, a condition is a future and uncertain event, on the existence or non-existence of which is made to depend either the accomplishment, the modification or the rescission of an obligation or testamentary disposition. There is a marked difference between a condition and a limitation. When a gift may defeated upon the happening of an uncertain event, it is called a condition, but when it is given to be enjoyed until the event arrives, it is a limitation. It is not easy to say when a condition will be considered a covenant and when not, or when it will be held to be both.
Events foreseen by conditions are of three kinds.
Some depend on the acts of the persons who deal together, as if the agreement should provide that a partner should not join another partnership. Others are independent of the will of the parties. E.g., if I sell you one thousand bushels of corn on condition that my crop shall not be destroyed by a fortuitous event or act of God. Some depend in part on the contracting parties and partly on the act of God. E.g., if it be provided that such merchandise shall arrive by a certain day.