Special verdict from Camden. The Jury found for the Plaintiff, and assessed his damages lo £200, subject to the opinion of the Court upon the following case. The Plaintiff,' Shepherd, started a boat loaded with brick, from Richmond, on Pasquotank river, down to Davis’s bay, a distance of about seven or eight miles; the boat was rowed by a white man and several negroes, among whom was the fellow Jacob, hereafter mentioned.
Cited by 1 later decisions — most recently October 1974
1 federal appellate ·
Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know
¶2
It is submitted to this Court to decide, whether, upon the facts found by the Jury in this case, the Plaintiff be entitled to recover ? It is not contended that this case falls within the purview and meaning of any act of. Asr sembly passed in this State, for the purpose of suppressing unlawful gaming; and there can he no doubt, but that the Common Law (which is the Law of this State) interposes no obstacle to a recovery.
Marshall,
on Insurance, 96, says, “ Innocent wagers have long had the sanction of the Common Law; — (11
Rep.
876 — 1
Lev.
33 — 5
Bur.
2802) — they are only deemed illegal when they are prohibited by statute ; when they tend to create an improper influence on the mind in the exercise of a public duty ; when they are
“ contra bonos mores,”
or in any other manner tend to the prejudice of (he public, or the injury of third persons” — (6
Term
499 — 1
Term
56— 2
Term 610
— Cotvper 729.) And to the cases referred to by
Marshall,
may be added the case of
Good
v.
Elliott,
(3
Term
693.) These authorities are conclusive. Let judgment be entered for the Plaintiff.
