Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SPECIFIC TORTS. PART I. BREACH OF DUTY TO REFRAIN FROM FRAUD OR MALICE. CHAPTER I. DECEIT. § 1. Introductory. Statement of the duty. A owes to B the duty to forbear to mislead Mm to his damage by false and fraudulent representations. 1. Deceit is a ground of defence to the enforcement of a contract, and is also ground for proceedings by the injured party to rescind a contract. In such cases the same facts, apart from the wrongdoer's knowledge of the actual state of things, are necessary for establishing the deceit as are necessary to an action of or for deceit.1 Hence, with the exception mentioned, authorities concerning the proof of deceit in cases of contract are authorities in regard to actions for damages by reason of deceit. 2. The action at law for damages by reason of deceit is called indifferently an action of deceit or an action for deceit. In order to establish a breach of the duty above stated, and to entitle B to civil redress therefor, B, unless he come within one of the qualifications to the rule, must make it appear to the court (1) that A has made a false representation of material facts; (2) that A made the same with knowledge of its falsity; (3) that B was ignorant of its falsity, and believed it to be true ; (4) that it 1 King v. Eagle Milla, 10 Allen, 548 ; Wilder v. De Cou, 18 Minn. 470. was made with intent that it should be acted upon; (5) that it was acted upon by B to his damage.1 But each of these general elements of the right of redress must be separatel)' examined and explained, and any qualifications to the same presented. The designation of the parties as A and B may now be dropped, and B will be spoken of as the plaintiff, and A as the defendant. § 2. Of The Representation. It is proper first to consider the meani...