On the same principle that
requires something more than an act followed by damage to make a
man liable, we constantly find ourselves at liberty to assume a
co-ordinated series of acts as a proximately simple element, per
se indifferent, in considering what further circumstances or
facts must be present before the conduct in question is at the
actor's peril. It will save confusion and the need of repetition
if this is borne in mind in the following discussion.
The chief forms of liability in which fraud, malice, and intent
are said to be necessary elements, are deceit, slander and libel,
malicious prosecution, and conspiracy, to which, perhaps, may be
added trover.
Deceit is a notion drawn from the moral world, and in its popular
sense distinctly imports wickedness. The doctrine of the common
law with regard to it is generally stated in terms which are only
consistent with actual guilt, and all actual guilty intent. It is
said that a man is liable to an action for deceit if he makes a
false representation to another, knowing it to be false, but
intending that the other should believe and act upon it, if the
person addressed believes it, and is thereby persuaded to act to
his own harm. This is no doubt the typical case, and it is a case
of intentional moral wrong.
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