Noah Haynes Swayne

“ The thirty-second section of the Judiciary Act of 1789, declares that the courts of the United States, 'respectively, shall proceed and give judgment according as the right of the cause and the matter in law shall appear unto them, without regarding imperfections, defects, or want of form in such writ, declaration, or other pleading, return process, or judgment, or course of proceeding whatsoever, except those only in case of demurrer, which the party demurring shall specially set down and express, together with his demurrer as the cause thereof.' The effect of this provision is decisive. ”

“ The court found the facts specially, and gave judgment for the plaintiffs below. The findings of the court are set forth in the record, and are to be regarded as a special verdict. The court found, among other things, that the iron had not been delivered within the contract time, but that it had been agreed between the parties, in September, 1854, that the plaintiffs should allow the defendants eight hundred pounds, on account of past delays, and that the time for the further deliveries should be extended to the first of December following ”