T h e pur-
chafer becomes
proprietor
o f
goods fold
upon compulsion.
An acknowledgment
extorted
by
compulfion i:
invalid;
ment;— unlefs the compelled be a .perfon of rank, to whom fuch a
decree of beating or confinement would appear detrimental or dif-
o-raceful; for with refped to fuch a perfon compulfion is eftablifhed
by this degree o f violence, as by it his volition is deftroyed.)— In the
fame manner, alfo, an acknowledgment extorted by any of the above
modes of compulfion is invalid ; becaufe acknowledgment is a fpecies
of proof, inafmuch as truth is more probable, in acknowledgment,
than falfehood; but in a cafe of compulfion falfehoed is molt probable,
as a man will acknowledge falfely where, by fo doing, he may avoid
injury*
W here a perfon fells goods by compulfion, as above Bated, and
makes delivery of them under the influence of fuch compulfion, the
purchafer becomes proprietor of them, according to our doctors.
Ziffer maintains that he does not become proprietor, becaufe a fale by
compulfion depends, for its validity, upon the affent of the feller, and
a fale fo circumftanced cannot endow with a right of property until
fuch affent be fignified. The- argument o f our doctors is that, in the
cafe in queftion, the pillar of fale (fignified by propofal and acceptance)
has proceeded from fit perfons with relped to a fit iobject; the fale
being merely invalid, from a want of one of the effentials of fale,
namely, the mutual confent of the parties; and the purchafer, in an
invalid fale, becomes proprietor of the article upon obtaining poffeffion
of i t ; whence it is that if a perfon take poffeffion of a flave purchafed
under an invalid contrad, and then emancipate him, or perform fuch
other ad with refped to him as cannot afterwards be annulled, it is
valid, and he muff pay the feller the value,, as is the rule in all cafes
of invalid fale.— After thé compulfion has ceafed, however, if the
feller fignify his affent, the fale then becomes lawful and valid, becaufe
by fuch affent the caufes of invalidity (namely, compulfion. and.
unwillingnefs) are removed..
W here
W here a perfon thus fells his property by compulfion, he has hut the feller
Bill a right, as long as he does not fignify his affent to the fale, to the article,
take back the article, although the purchafer lhould have fold it into does'noffigthe
hands of another perfon.— It is otherwife in all other cafes o f in- mfy his affent
' r . __ . • • to the fale.
valid fale; for in thofe, after the purchafer has fold the article, the
feller has no fight to take it back; becaufe the invalidity of fale in
thofe Cafes is on account of the right of the l aw ; and when the
purchafer fells the article to any third perfon, the right o f that perfon
becomes involved in this fecond contrad; and his right precedes the
right of the l aw , as the individual is neceffitous, whereas the l aw
is not fo.— In a cafe of compulfion, on the contrary, the invalidity of
the fale is on account of the right o f the feller; and as he is an individual,
-it follows that, in this cafe, notwithfianding the right of the
fecond purchafer be involved in the fecond contrad, Bill both rights
are upon a par, as being both rights o f the individual; and confe-
quently, the right of the firB cannot be annulled by the right o f the
fecond.
I t is to be obferved that fome confider a Waff a. fale * to be invalid, cafe of a
in. the fame manner as a compelled fale, and apply to it the rules o f fale
by compulfion; whence (according tb them) if the purchafer in a
Waffa fale fell the' article purchafed, the fale fo made by him may be
broken through, as the invalidity of the foie, in this cafe, is on account
ó f the non-confent of the feller, in the fome manner as in a
cafe of compulfioru-fe/Fö^b fale is where the feller fays to the purchafer
»“ I fell you this article in lieu of the debt I owe you, in this
“ way, that upon my paying the debt the article is mine.”— Some
determine this to be, in fad, a contrad of pawn; for bet’ween it and
pawn there is Ho manner of difference, as, although the parties denominate
it a fa le, Bil'1 the intention is,’ in effed, a pawn. Now in all
* Literally “ a ficu rity fale ■ ” fo termed becaufe by it the feller infures to the pur-
chalêr the debt he owes him.