John McLean

“ Goodwin, before and after her husband's death, and about the time the deed was executed, were examined by the defendant, to prove that she was of capacity to contract generally. Some of these witnesses had business with her, and speak of her acuteness and uncommon smartness. Others say, that she was a woman of more than ordinary intelligence; that on religious subjects, she was very well informed. One of the witnesses speaks of her as a remarkably sensible woman; heard her speak of the defendant as having been injured by her husband, and that it was right he should be made secure. ”

“ And yet we are called upon to denounce this whole class, and hold them incapable of making a contract with those who are under their pastoral charge, and who, like Mrs. Goodwin, are distinguished for their piety. Why not give them the same measure of right which is enjoyed by others? If any minister should become a traitor to his master, and disgrace his high and holy calling, by using, for fraudulent purposes, his influence over the weak or unwary, the laws affords a remedy ”

“ Called to give consolation to a female overwhelmed by the sudden death of a husband, to whom, with all his imperfections, she was tenderly attached, and that husband lying a corpse in the house, or just deposited in the grave; can it be supposed, without the strongest evidence, that a wretch exists, so lost to all the better feelings of the heart, as to use such an occasion to extort from the widow the payment of a debt? Both Mrs. Goodwin and the defendant have gone to their last and solemn account, and are alike beyond the reach of censure or praise ”

“ The appellants, who are the devisees of Maria Goodwin, brought their bill to set aside a bond and mortgage executed by Maria Goodwin, and her trustee, Kenneth Jewell, to the defendant, on the 5th of January 1829, to secure the payment of $3000. The bill represents that the mortgage was given without consideration; that shortly after the decease of Thomas Goodwin, the husband of Mrs. Goodwin, which took place in February 1828, the defendant stated to her that he had a demand against her husband, to whom she had been much attached, and who had treated him extremely ill ”

“ It would, indeed, exhibit a most singular spectacle, if this court, by its decision, should fix this stain on the character of a class of men, who are generally respected for the purity of their lives, and their active agency in the cause of virtue. They are influential, it is true ”

“ Some years before the mortgage deed was signed, Mrs. Goodwin did belong to the church under the charge of the defendant; but this relation had ceased long before the death of Goodwin: but if this relation existed in fact, it is not charged in the bill. Does the profession of a clergyman subject him to suspicions which do not attach to other men? ”

“ An agreement was executed by the defendant, declaring that the bond and mortgage were given as collateral security, &c. With the exception of the execution of the bond and mortgage, the defendant denies all the material allegations of the bill.
The counsel for the complainants contend, that the proof sustains the charges in the bill; and that they are entitled to the relief prayed for, on the following grounds: 1. That there was no consideration for the bond and mortgage. 2. That they were executed by a weak woman; who, at the time, was incapable of making such a contract. 3. ”

“ Jones, or myself, shall come into court with that certificate, that you would be in danger of being sentenced to hard labor.' Goodwin became alarmed, and stated, that he would sell the property and make good the deficiency, if the defendant would not expose him. ”

“ Goodwin, which can affect the contract? That he relied on the repeated assurances given by her to indemnify him, is clear. During the lifetime of her husband, he does not appear to have resorted to any means to compel payment; and after the death of Goodwin, he did not obtrude himself into the house of mourning, as a creditor. He was there, but to perform the office of a comforter; and there is no evidence, which shows any improper anxiety on his part to secure his debt. Until a short time before the execution of the mortgage deed, so far as the history of the case is known, Mrs. ”

“ Goodwin, her trustee, and the defendant, were present when they were signed. Much conversation was had on the subject of the papers, and Mrs. Goodwin was very attentive to the business. She did not seem to be laboring under any remarkable feebleness of body or mind. The mortgage was intended as collateral security; and the defeasance was drawn on a separate paper. Since the commencement of the present suit, the defeasance was handed to the scrivener by the defendant, who said, he had borrowed it from the office; the paper had not been called for by the trustee. Jewell, the trustee of Mrs. ”

“ Goodwin was the first to introduce the subject; and on one occasion expressed no small anxiety to give the indemnity. It was not until the covenant was found to be invalid, that he became active in the business ”