Bell v. Thompson
Illinois Supreme Court
Writ of Error to the Circuit Court of Mercer county, Hon. C. B. Lawrence, Judge, presiding. This was an action of assumpsit brought by the defendant in error against the plaintiffs in error, as partners, upon a promissory note signed Bell and Thompson. The defendant, Thompson, made default. The defendant, James Bell, pleaded in abatement denying the partnership. The defendant, Charles H. Bell, pleaded the general issue.
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Writ of Error to the Circuit Court of Mercer county, Hon. C. B. Lawrence, Judge, presiding. This was an action of assumpsit brought by the defendant in error against the plaintiffs in error, as partners, upon a promissory note signed Bell and Thompson. The defendant, Thompson, made default. The defendant, James Bell, pleaded in abatement denying the partnership. The defendant, Charles H. Bell, pleaded the general issue. On the trial the plaintiff, having made a preliminary affidavit under the statute, called the defendant Thompson as a witness to prove the partnership, and against the…
1Opinion of the CourtJustice Beckwith
At common law, parties to the record were not required to testify on the ground of expediency; to avoid temptation to commit perjury. It was considered unjust to require a person to charge himself civilly, or criminally, by his own testimony; and the hardship of such a requirement was thought to he so great as to offer an improper temptation to commit crime. From a tender regard for the rights of a party to the record, and the obligations of liis conscience, the law did not require him to occupy a position in which he might he. called on to sacrifice the one, in order to maintain the other.…
2Cases cited3 opinions
- Johnson v. BlackmanSupreme Court of Connecticut · 1836
- Paine v. TildenSupreme Court of Vermont · 1848
- Hurd v. BrownIllinois Supreme Court · 1861
3Cited by2 opinions
- Winslow v. NewlanIllinois Supreme Court · 1867
- Brown v. HurdIllinois Supreme Court · 1866