Elwell v. Cumner
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Contract upon a promissory note for $400, dated August 4, 1875, payable on demand to the order of the plaintiff, and signed by the defendant.
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Contract upon a promissory note for $400, dated August 4, 1875, payable on demand to the order of the plaintiff, and signed by the defendant. Writ dated February 26, 1883. Answer, a discharge in bankruptcy, granted on August 3, 1880, from debts existing on April 20, 1878. The case was submitted to the Superior Court, and, after judgment for the defendant, to this court on appeal, upon agreed facts, in substance as follows: The defendant has received his discharge in bankruptcy, and has not, since said discharge, paid any debt which he owed before the discharge was granted. The discharge is a…
1Opinion of the CourtC. Allen, J.
The assurances contained in the two latest letters were conditional, and there was no evidence of the defendant’s ability to pay. Randidge v. Lyman, 124 Mass. 361. The plaintiff, however, places his reliance on the letter of August 18, 1878, which contained the following: “I shall pay you all and the interest, but you will have to give me time.” We *104regard this rather as an expression of the defendant’s intention and expectation, than as a distinct and unequivocal promise, such as is necessary to support an action. United Society v. Winkley, 7 Gray, 460.
Judgment affirmed.
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Randidge v. LymanMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1878
3Cited by15 opinions
- Lawrence v. . HarringtonNew York Court of Appeals · 1890
- Herrington v. . DavittNew York Court of Appeals · 1917
- Bigelow v. NorrisMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1885
- Coe v. RoseneWashington Supreme Court · 1911
- Stewart v. JohnsonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1925
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