IN SEARCH OF A HORSE. 263 



sions of the statute, for of course a man cannot set 

 up his own wrong doing, as a defence in a court of 

 law : but in this case it is to be noticed that the 

 buyer was not aware of the profession of the dealer. 



It must be borne in mind, that although the con- 

 tract may be void by reason of its being made on a 

 Sunday, yet if a purchaser makes a subsequent pro- 

 mise to pay, the value of the horse may be reco- 

 vered, not upon the original contract, but on the 

 subsequent undertaking : Williams v. Paul, 4 M. and 

 P. 532. 



Another general rule of law is, that no title can be 

 made to stolen property, and that no contract is valid, 

 founded upon fraud. 



In Lofft's Reports, 601, it is decided that trover 

 will not lie for goods which, upon the facts proved, 

 appeared to have been feloniously taken ; and in 

 Grimson v. Woodfall, 2 Carrington and Payne, page 

 41, it was further decided, that if a party has good 

 reason to believe that his goods have been stolen, he 

 cannot maintain trover against the person who bought 

 them of the supposed thief, unless he has done every 

 thing in his power to bring the thief to justice ; but 

 these cases do not take away the loser's right to ob- 



