Henry Baldwin

“ Whether a bill in equity contains any ground for relief, or, what is called in the language of its courts 'equity,' is not a question of jurisdiction, but of merits: the inquiry is, has the petitioner set forth a cause of action in his complaint, has he averred any matter which, if true, entitles him to the relief prayed for, or any relief, or set it forth in the manner required by the rules of equity? If he has, the respondent must plead some new matter in avoidance ”

“ All are bound to respect a judgment till appealed from, however erroneous; while any one may disregard it, even as prima facie evidence of any fact professed to be adjudicated, if the judgment is void. If the course of this court is consistent with the rules of law, then the final decree of the circuit court would be as much a nullity after the expiration of the five years limited for an appeal, as it is now; and if a nullity in this court, it must be so in every other. ”

“ As the circuit court has hitherto been so unfortunate as to have been ignorant of the effect of the domicil, in relation to a will personal property, and as one of the judges has the misfortune to dissent again on the subject, it is much to be feared that, as there may have been, possibly, three or more places of domicil in so long a period, at least one, if not more, final decrees may be reversed, because the proper one may not have been designated in their opinion. ”

“ Inasmuch as their whole action has been on a summary motion to reverse, solely for the want of an averment in the bill, which the court most cautiously avoid deciding to be material to the merits of the cause, otherwise than in the event of an unascertained and possible conflict of laws not asserted to exist, and wholly refuse to decide any one matter put in issue by the parties, as to either law or fact. The mandate of reversal must be referred to some other than their appellate power, as granted by the constitution, defined, limited and regulated by congress ”

“ If he relies on an objection to the substance of the averment, or its variance from the proofs in the case, he must make it appear to the satisfaction of the court, that the bill contains no equity on its face, that no cause of action is set forth, nor any circumstances from which the conclusion of an averment of one, could be drawn conformably to the evidence adduced. ”

“ The circuit court could not adjudicate on their claim, before it was presented for adjudication, and when so presented they had no longer any power of adjudication over it, but on a bill to reverse the original decree by review for error apparent, or on an original bill which the petitioners had a right to file. The bill of review for new matter, is a matter of favour and discretion, which, in the case presented, they could not permit without the utter disregard of the oldest and best established rules of the law of equity ”

“ Had it been objected, that the situs of the property, or the place of the testator's death or of administration, had not been averred, the necessary amendment would have been made; though the pleadings had averred the domicil, that must have been deemed immaterial according to the then doctrine of this court, which was that personal property had a situs without any reference to the domicil of an intestate. It follows that if an averment of the situs was indispensable, that of the domicil could not be, as the rules of distribution would be different by the local laws. ”

“ If it once becomes the established rule of this court, that the decree of a circuit court shall be annulled on a motion, without an examination of the record; because it does not set out an averment of a collateral fact or circumstance bearing on the intention of the testator by inference merely; then every such fact or circumstance must be averred distinctly, of which domicil is but one of many. The state of a testator's family and property, is always referred to, to ascertain the devisee or thing devised ”

“ The house of lords act as an appellate court by their own authority without an act of parliament, but have been assumed any original jurisdiction on appeals in equity causes, or reversed the decree of a chancellor, because an issue before him will not enable the lords to make a satisfactory decree ”

“ Such are the appellate powers of the circuit and supreme courts of the United States; they are of limited jurisdiction-necessarily incompetent to act by any prerogative or inherent power; as the creatures of the judiciary act, they are not at liberty to exercise any power over the proceedings of inferior courts, by any general supervisory power, such as has been assumed by the king's bench and house of lords. Their supervision is only by writ of error, or appeal, and such writs as congress have authorised them to use ”

“ The mandate admits of no other conclusion, than that the action of the circuit court on a bill or petitions like the present, is wholly without legitimate power or jurisdiction, and their whole proceedings 'coram non judice;' if so, it follows that their decree is not a judicial act, entitled to the least respect in any court. ”

“ The appellants asked a reversal and a decree in their favour; they have obtained a reversal indeed, but it is of every step they have taken to submit their rights to the final adjudication of this court; the cause is open to indefinite litigation, by each of the three hundred claimants to the fund in the hands of the executor, as well as those now ordered to be added to the suit, who may be not the least troublesome, at least to the appellants. ”

“ But it is most confidently asserted to be against all rules, and without precedent, to reverse a decree and declare all previous proceedings void for such a cause; no court of original jurisdiction in equity, can annul its own decrees without a bill of review even for error apparent ”

“ The execution of the will was duly proved, the sanity of the testator was admitted, the fund was in the hands of the respondent, who admitted the trusts, submitted to the jurisdiction of the court; ready to abide their decree, he held the money for such person as they should decree to be the person entitled under the will, which was an exhibit in the case. The only question depending was, who was the person that filled the description of the devisee or legatee ”

“ There is no power so dangerous as that which can be traced to no definite or authoritative source, or which is exercised without a reference to some fixed principles, it is in the nature of that which is assumed by any department of government, to be capable of no other limitation than such as it may choose to prescribe to itself ”

“ To them it is no consolation, that these effects have been produced by an objection of mere form, not deemed by the counsel of either party, worthy of being noticed or guarded against; for the action of an appellate court on a judgment at law, or a decree in equity, can be of no middle character. A reversal annuls it to all intents and purposes ”

“ It must, therefore, be taken as a rule of constitutional law, binding on this court, that if it takes cognizance of a cause on appeal under the twenty-second section, it must be by re-examining the decree, reversing or affirming it; and by the twenty-fourth, on reversal, to give such decree as the circuit court ought to have rendered, or remanding it for final decision as the case may be. There can be no other course pursued ”

“ The party in whose favour the decree has been rendered, appears here pursuant to the citation, with an equal right to defend his interests, to demand an affirmance of the decree, with a mandate for its execution. ”

“ These parties suffered the time to elapse long before they thought proper to make any claim, without in any way denying notice of the pendency of the suit, or accounting for their delay in applying to become parties before the final decree. ”