Averett v. Garrigue

I concur.While explanation of a contract by reference to the circumstances under which it was made and the matter to which it relates is authorized by section 1647 of the Civil Code, such evidence is never admissible in connection with a written contract to add or take away anything from the agreement. This rule of evidence is applicable only in cases where upon the face of the contract itself there is doubt, “to dispel that doubt, not by showing that the parties meant something other than what they said, but by showing what they meant by what they said” (United Iron Works v. Outer Harbor…