by John Marshall

“ The principle is, that a contract, made by copartners, is several, as well as joint, and the assumpsit is made by all, and by each. It is obligatory on all, and on each of the partners. If, therefore, the defendant fails to avail himself of the variance in abatement, when the form of his plea obliges him to give the plaintiff a proper action, the policy of the law does not permit him to avail himself of it, at the trial.
The course of decisions, since the case of Rice vs. Shute, has been so uniform, that the principle would have been considered as too well settled for controversy ”

“ That Judge supposed, that if the defendant had no notice in the previous stage of the proceedings, which might inform him of the nature of the action, he was guilty of no negligence in failing to plead in abatement, and ought not to be deprived of his defence at the trial.
But the declaration never gives this notice, where the suit is brought against one, only, of the partners. He is always proceeded against, as if he were the sole contracting party; and if the declaration were to show a partnership contract, the judgment against the single partner could not be sustained. ”

“ The proprietors themselves, or either of them, might have made the same acknowledgment; and we perceive no reason why the acknowledgment of the manager, so far as respects the form in which it is made, should not be of the same obligation as that of the proprietors. ”