Woodward v. Cowing
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Assumpsit for money had and received by the defendant, to the use of the plaintiff. The facts agreed by the parties were as follows.
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Assumpsit for money had and received by the defendant, to the use of the plaintiff. The facts agreed by the parties were as follows. The defendant, .having shipped as a prizemaster on board an American privateer, duly commissioned to capture British property on the high seas, and, as such prizemaster, being entitled to several shares of the property that might be captured, on the 9th of February, 1815, in consideration of $25, sold to the plaintiff one quarter of a share of all captures that might be made by the privateer during the cruise on which she was then bound. On the 12th day of the…
1Opinion of the Court
Curia.
Where money has been paid upon a consideration which has failed, it may certainly be recovered back by the party who shall have paid it. But such, in our opinion, was not the case before us. There were many risks, equally known to the parties, and which must be presumed to have been considered by them, when making their contract. The return of peace must have been one. The plaintiff purchased a chance to obtain money by captures from an *178existing enemy. The government of their country annihilated that chance, by making such captures unlawful. We have no hesitation in saying, that the…
2Cited by6 opinions
- Robinson v. Bright'sCourt of Appeals of Kentucky · 1860
- Hill v. BakerMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1910
- Cocheco Manufacturing Co. v. WhittierSuperior Court of New Hampshire · 1839
- Boldt v. BakerOhio Court of Appeals · 1920
- Beckner v. WillsonIndiana Supreme Court · 1879
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