Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-01-25
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THE LAW OF MISTAKES.

line source OF almost every lawsuit is 10 De
found in mistakes. These are of two kinds !:
mistakes Of. fact, and mistakes of law, Ex-
perience has proven that thesablea man, ,ssome-
times men, sometimes make blunders, and the
law has decided that real mistake of fact
in an important part of contract will excuse
the party mistaken from performing his part
of the agreement.
For instance: man made contract with
one ice company and refused to deal with
another. When the bill was presented he
found that the latter company had supplied
his ice. He refused to pay the bill, and it was
decided that the mistake freed him from liza
bility.
A horse was sold by trader and paid for
on the spot. While the trade was going on
the horse died. The buyer brought suit for
the money paid, and it was decided it should
be paid back, since both parties had made a
mistake of fact, in supposing the horse to be
alive when the trade was ended.
If farmer intending to sell hay sells oats
by mistake instead, he may refuse to deliver
the oats on that ground. 1t sometimes hap
pens that bill is paid by mistake with coun-
terfeit bank notes. In such case the pay
ment is void and the receipt taken is worth
less.
A mistake in the quality of the thing bar
gained for is no ground for breaking an agree
ment. If a man buys cheap thing, with the
idea that it will serve his purpose as well as a
more expensive article, he cannot, because he
was mistaken, send it back and recover the
money paid.
A mistake of law is no ground for refusing
to carry out a contract. This rule is founded
on the old maxim, Ignorance of the law doth
not excuse" And every man is supposed to
know the law of the land he lives in.
Suppose debtor gives his note, promising
to pay a sum of money with lawful interest,"
thinking that the legal rate is six per cent. If
ten per cent. is the legal rate, his ignorance
of the fact will not excuse him from paying
the ten per cent.
When well-known legal words are used in a
contract, with a mistaken idea of their mean-
ing, they are binding, in their legal sense, upon
the person using them.
If land is decided to man and to his heirs,
he receives the estate absolutely, although
both parties intended that he should only have
the estate during his own life.
Some mistakes of law put an end to agree
ments on the ground that they are rather mis-
takes of fact than of law. An executor of a
will pays money to a person whom he thinks
is an heir. If the supposed heir be an impos-
tor, the money can be recovered IT. under a
complicated will, person buys rights which
are his already, he may get back what he paid
for them.
Mistakes of law in civil cases only cost mon
ey but mistakes of the criminal law have
more serious effects, in the loss of respectable
ity and reputation. Here the plea of igno-
rance of the law will not be accepted. a
criminal must suffer the penalty of his deed,
though he thought it lawful when he commit
ted it.
Formerly an outlaw might be slain by any
body but if a private person should now kill
an outlaw, with the idea that he had the right
to do so, it would be punishable as murder.
An old law book gives curious instance of
the plea of ignorance. Sir John Johnstone, a
Scotchman, was tried for stealing and marry
ing one Mary Wharton, an heiress, 'to the
great displeasure of Almighty God, to the
great disparagement of the said Mary, and to
the utter sorrow and aftliction of her friends. "
When he was found guilty and sentenced, he
asked, with surprise, if it was hanging mat
ter. He was told that it was, and he was SEN
fenced and "executed on a gibbet, before his
lady's door, in Great Queen Street."
Happily the days of harsh and cruel laws are
past, and penalties are now imposed to reform
the offenders rather than to avenge the offense.
Youths Companion.