Morrill v. Richardson
Morrill v. Richardson
Opinion of the Court
afterward drew up the opinion of the Court. The plea in bar is manifestly defective in substance, as well as in form. There is no averment of the performance of a material part of the condition ; nor any sufficient excuse alleged for the non-performance.
The substance of the condition is, that the defendant with Boies and Chickering, as assignees of the goods and estate of Eliakim Morrill, an insolvent debtor, should sell and dispose of the goods and estate, and distribute the proceeds among the several creditors who had become parties to the assignment, in proportion to their several claims.
The plea alleges, that the defendant and the other assignees named in the condition, did well and faithfully dispose of the goods, effects and estate assigned to them ; but it is not averred that the proceeds have been distributed among the creditors according to the condition ; on the contrary, it is implicitly admitted that no such distribution has been made. The excuse alleged for the non-performance of the condition in this particular is, that the creditors, if any, entitled' to a proportional distribution of the proceeds, had not exhibited and proved their claims before the assignees or commissioners in such manner as that they could liquidate the same, and make the proportional distribution. This is a material part of the plea, and it is both uncertain and defective ; uncertain, because it does not admit that there were any creditors except the assignees, enti
Where the concurrence of both parties becomes necessary for the performance of a condition, the party who attempts to excuse the non-performance, in pleading, must allege that he lias done, or was ready to do, all that he was bound to do on his part; or that he was discharged from the performance by the other party.
See 1 Chitty on Pl. (7th Am. ed.) 352 et seq.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.