Belt

delivered the opinion of the Court. Previous to the commencement of this action, the plaintiff and defendant, who had been partners in mercantile business, by articles of agreement, dissolved the partnership, adjusted the debts, and distributed the assets of the firm. After the dissolution, the plaintiff brought his action in the Court below to recover the sum of $5,273.50, which sum he alleged had been fraudulently and falsely entered in the books of the firm to the credit of the defendant, and charged to the plaintiff, and was allowed by him through ignorance and mistake, in the settlement of the partnership accounts. The Court below, sitting as a jury, found the fact of mistake, but that there was no evidence of fraud; and rendered a judgment for the defendant.

It appears from the opinion of the Court, as well as from the testimony, that the defendant was an illiterate man, unable to *160 write, and that all the entries were consequently made hy his clerk. The books were kept in an irregular manner, and the plaintiff, who was a good business man, had access -to, and was in the habit of inspecting them. Mistake or ignorance of fact is said to be the proper subject for relief…