10 



lIOnSE WARRANTY. 



Socond re- Tlic socoiul oxcoptioii or requisite, mentioned 

 pajTnciitof aLove, to satisfy the Statute of Frauds, is giving 

 ®'^™*^ ' something in earnest, or in part pa}Taent. This, 

 as a custom, prevails in many parts of Ireland, in 

 the Isle of Man and parts of Scotland, and, locally, 

 no bargain would be deemed complete •without 

 some such payment being made. The custom docs 

 not prevail so much in English fairs. The earnest 

 should be some coin in current iise, and the con- 

 tract will be as valid, if ratified liy a sixpence as 

 by a sovereign. The coin, however, should be 

 retained by the vendor. 



There are two old cases in the reports on tho 

 point — lidcli V. Otvcn (//) and Goodall v. SkcHon (/). 

 In the first of these cases, the earnest given was a 

 halfpenny. The facts were as follows: — Tho 

 plaintilf and defendant exchanged horses. It was 

 agreed that the i»laintiff should i)ay the defendant 

 four guineas more on the 17th December follow- 

 ing, and also that plaint ilf should keep the colt, 

 }io was selling or exchanging, until September of 

 the following year. The defendant, to make tho 

 contract binding, paid tho plaintiff one halfpenny, 

 as «'arncst of tho Imrgain. It was held, that tho 

 l)aymcnt of the halfpenny vested tiie i)roperty of 

 tho colt in tho defendant. A pretended pay- 

 ment of tho oamest will not do. In lilrnkinaop y. 

 Clayton (A), tho purchaser of a horse drew tlie 



Eanicfit 

 muHt bo 

 Bomc cur- 

 rent coin. 



{h) 5 T. K. loy. (i) 2 II. Bl. aiG. (/.) 7 Tiiunton, 597. 



