Sprague v. Craig

Citations

• 51 Ill. 288

Syllabus

<p>1. Evidence—breach of promise to marry. It is competent, in an action for a breach of promise of marriage, for the plaintiff to prove that she appeared to be sincerely attached to the defendant.</p> <p>• 2. Same—admissibility of—in mitigation of damages. And where the plaintiff, in such case, had introduced evidence to prove that the defendant was a man of large wealth, for the purpose of increasing the amount of damages sought to be recovered, it was competent for the defendant to offer, in rebuttal, evidence of the fact that property belonging to the defendant had, without his consent, been sold since the commencement of the suit, to satisfy pre-existing indebtedness, under a mortgage given to secure the same prior to a breach of the contract for which this suit was brought.</p> <p>3. It is also admissible for the defendant, in such case, to introduce evidence, in mitigation of damages, of the fact that he was afflicted with an incurable disease, at the time of the breach of the promise to marry.</p> <p>4. Same—-of general chm'acter—when admissible. Where a defendant, in an action for a breach of promise of marriage, to avoid a recovery of damages for the breach, and in justification of the breach, introduces evidence that the plaintiff has been guilty of the crime of procuring an abortion, or of acts of unchastity, it is admissible for the plaintiff', in such case, to rebut such testimony by evidence of general good character, and thereby render it improbable that the charge is well founded.</p> <p>5. Breach op promise op marriage—e¡fecí of unchastity. When a party enters into an engagement to marry, with a knowledge that the other party was unchaste, he will be deemed to have waived the objection, and , can not afterward set it up as a reason for his refusal to comply with his/ promise. But if either party shall be guilty of acts of unchastity subsequent to the engagement, the other party is absolved from the contract, whether-such subsequent acts be known to