Cragin v. Lovell

Citations

• 109 U.S. 194
• 3 S. Ct. 132
• 27 L. Ed. 903
• 1883 U.S. LEXIS 957

Syllabus

<p>Action — Contract—Default—Equity—Error, writ of — Judgment—Louisiana Code — Principal and Agent — Promissory Note.</p> <p>A defendant, against whom a judgment has been rendered on default by a circuit court of the United States in an action at law, cannot maintain a bill in equity to avoid it, upon the ground that the plaintiff at law falsely and fraudulently alleged that the parties were citizens of different States, without showing that the false allegation was unknown to him before the judgment.</p> <p>Upon a negotiable promissory note, made by an agent in his own name, and ■ not disclosing on its face the name of the principal, no action lies against the principal. t</p> <p>In an action at law, the declaration alleged that the plaintiff sold land to a third person, who gave his notes for the purchase money, secured by mortgage of the land that afterward the defendant, in a suit by him against that person, claimed the ownership of the land, and alleged that the other person, acting merely as his agent, illegally made the purchase in his own name, and that he was liable and ready to pay for the land ; f1 he was thereupon adjudged to be the owner of the land, and took possession thereof ; and that by reason of the premises the defendant was liable to the plaintiff in the full amount of the notes: Held, that the declaration showed no cause of action, even under art. 1890 of the Civil Code, and art. 85 of the Code of Practice of Louisiana.</p> <p>Á judgment, rendered on default, upon a declaration setting forth no cause of action, may be reversed on writ of error, and the case remanded with directions that judgment be arrested.</p>