Supreme Court of the United States

“ By the Court:—It would occasion infinite trouble and consusion were the defendant’s doctrine to be admitted, and it is impossible to say where the mischief would end. It is true, that before a jury, proof may be made of the consideration, and of the time of delivering a bond; but this Act of Assembly which, in particular cases, grants a delay of execution to the defendant, upon the tender of the interest and costs, must, surely, at the same time, recognize the written instrument as conclusive evidence of the contract; and we can enquire no father. ”

“ He premised, that though the several states, which form our federal republic, had, by the confederation, ceded many of the prerogatives of sovereignty to the United States, yet these voluntary engagements did not injure their independence on each other; but that each was a sovereign, “with every power, jurisdiction, and right, not expressly given up.”
He then laid down two positions. First: that every kind of process, issued against a sovereign, is a violation of the laws of nations; and is in itself null and void. Secondly: that a sheriff cannot be compelled to serve or return a void writ. ”

“ The counsel for the plaintiff insisted, that though Virginia was a sovereign state, yet this ought not to exempt her property in every case from the laws and jurisdiction of another state. That sovereignty should never be made a plea in bar of justice: and that the true idea of prerogative, was the power of doing good, and not, as it had sometimes been expressed, “the divine right of doing ill.” ”

“ What is a reasonable time for departure, may, perhaps, be properly left to the determination of a court and jury. But whether a man should be suffered to join a party, or nation, at open war with the country he leaves, is a question of a singular magnitude. ”

“ Hard is the doctrine, that a servant, who apparently acts in the best manner for the interests of his master, should be liable for unavoidable failures, especially when they originate, not in himself, but in others : It is sufficient to deter all men from accepting a trust.
This authority to cruise with Prole and Thompson, certainly means something : but, if it will not justify Angus's conduct on this occasion, it is totally insignificant and void ; and an authority to cruise with others, is an authority to do nothing ; that is, no authority at all. ”

“ There is certainly no precise form of words necessary to constitute a Bill of Exchange, yet from the earliest time to the present, merchants have agreed upon nearly the same form, which contains few or nor superfluous words, terms of negotiability usually appearing to make a part of it. It is indeed generally for the benefit to trade that Bills of Exchange, especially foreign ones, should be assignable ; but when they are so, it must appear to be a part of the contract, and the power to assign must be contained in the Bill itself. ”

“ If then the State which has passed the law of confiscation, has forborne to reduce the Defendants debt into possession, and the State where the debtor resides has no power to do so, it necessarily follows, that the debt, remaining on its original footing, is liable to the Plaintiff’s demand. When, indeed, the act of Connecticut was passed, the Defendant resided in that State; but when this suit was insituted he had removed hither; and the law is clear, that the debt follows the person in every instance, except that of a distribution in the cafe of intestacy. ”

“ The council for the plaintiff, in reply, admitted the law in England as laid down by the defendant in the case of bonds; and, that before the statute, promissory notes were only evidence of debt; there was no property transfered; but that the act of assembly and act of parliament, being made pari materia, are to receive the like construction. That the construction made by the defendant, would render the act nugatory—That merely to give the assignee a right of suing in his own name, unless some solid advantage attended it, was trifling, nor would it at all encourage trade and commerce. ”

“ Prisoners have here a right to the testimony of their witnesses upon oath, and to the assistance of counsel, as well in matters of fact, as of law; which was not the case in England in the year 1353, when that statute was enacted. We do not think, indeed, that granting a medietas linguæ, will, at all contribute to the advancement of justice; and we know it is a privilege which the Citizens of Pennsylvania cannot reciprocally enjoy, as, at this day, there are no juries in any part of Europe, except in the British dominions. ”

“ Therefore, if the river Delaware is out of the body of any county, we think it clear, that it is within the Admiralty jurisdiction. And the Court would endeavour to enlarge its jurisdiction, rather than a place should remain subject to no control. The place when the fact was done which is complained of as an injury, is expressly alledged in the libel, to be within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty.—This is not contradicted in the answer; and we must take up the matter as it stands upon the libel, not on the evidence; because there is no opportunity to traverse. ”

“ That sovereigns, with regard to each other, were always considered as individuals in a state of nature, where all enjoy the same prerogatives, where there could be no subordination to a supreme authority, nor any judge to define their rights, or redress their wrongs. ”

“ The recitals, of, or, in deeds, with respect to a pedigree are evidence.
A bare perception of profits will not oust a tenant in common; and for the statute of limitations to operate as a bar, the prossession must be adverse.
An interlineation, if made after the execution of a deed, will avoid it, though in an immaterial point; nor is it to be presumed to have been made before; the presumption is the contrary, unless otherwise proved.
Verdict for the plaintiff, as to one third of the lot in question, and for the defendant, as to the other two thirds. ”

“ The prisoner, at the time of passing this act, was not an inhabitant; nor had he since voluntarily become one. He does not, therefore, owe allegiance to the State, and cannot be denominated a subject of Pennsylvania.—With respect to the act of the 6th March, 1778, on the authority of which the present proclamation issued, it is evidently an ex post facto law, and as such, contrary to the words, and spirit of the Constitution. But if the prisoner never was a subject of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, this law cannot operate against him in the decision of the issue before the court. ”

“ It has been said, that it is obligor’s fault not to have the payment indorsed on the bond: but it is not in his power, for the money must be paid before he is entitled to a receipt; and then, if the obligee is a bad man, he may refuse to indorse it.
We are, therefore, clearly of opinion, that an assignee takes the bond at his own peril; and that he stands in the same place as the obligee, so as to let in every defalcation which the obligor had against the obligee, at the time of the assignment, or notice of assignment. ”

“ To which the plaintiff’s council answered, that they undertook to prove, that the defendant is no more than a lessee from the heirs of Pemberton; and the possession of the Lessee, is the possession of the person entitled to the reversion. But for the defendant it was still urged that his title is not to be made out by the plaintiff; that he rests upon his possession; and that till the plaintiff can make out a good title of his own, the defendant’s possession is good against him; for the plaintiff must recover upon the strength of his own, and not upon the weakness of the defendant’s title. ”

“ Quer:—At the end of the war Backhouse will be entitled to his action against the plaintiffs for recovery of the money due on the contract; because, though all rights and credits belonging to the subjects of any power at war with another, are during the war suspended, as against the subjects of that power, with whom their sovereign is at war, still on the restoration of peace, those rights and credits are revived, and the subjects of each nation, are in the same situation with respect to debts due to and from each other, as they were before the war. ”

“ That the construction, contended for by plaintiff, would open a door to numberless frauds; that a satisfied bond might be passed away, and the obligor compelled to pay it twice; that even a forged bond might pass in the same manner; that the preamble has little weight in the construction of a law, being often made by the clerks in Parliament; that trade and commerce would be best promoted by their construction, as it would only impose a duty on a person taking a bond, to enquire in what state it stood. ”

“ In support of the prosecution, it was urged, that the attempt to prevail, constituted the crime; and that it was like the case of a man’s sending intelligence to the enemy, which was as act equally criminal in the sender, whether the intelligence was received, or not. ”

“ SHIPPEN,President, in the charge to the Jury, delivered it as the clear opinion of the Court, that the right of pursuing and seizing goods after their removal, was confined to the goods of the Lessee, from whom the rent was really due ; and that the goods of a stranger could only be distrained while they were on the premisses. ”

“ If the administrators had recovered from the Defendant, it would certainly have been sufficient to bar the Plaintiff’s claim; but, when the State allowed the debtor to remove from its jurisdiction, an implied power was given to the creditor to pursue him elsewhere. Should a husband neglect during his life time to recover choses in action belonging to his wife, she is entitled to them afterwards, and not his executors or administrators; for, the law will never favor negligence. The reasoning in this case will apply as well with respect to nations as individuals. ”

“ But on the present complexion of the transaction, we think no interest ought to be allowed.
In Ventris, it is said, that no interest is lawful, and, in many other cases, that it cannot be recovered, unless given by a positive statute. When the St. of H.7. c. was passed, a question arose, whether interest might be allowed pending a writ of error; and it was refused. In the case of promissory notes, however, where a day certain is fixed for payment, interest is allowed from the day of payment; and, where no day is fixed, it is payable from the time of demand. ”

“ If, then, the Virginia law might have been given in evidence in that country, of which there can be no doubt ; it was the duly of the Court in Pennʃylvania to have received information of the rule, or law, of Virginia, from the fame fource that would have been fatisfactory to the Judges there. Every country has a right to promulgate its laws as it pleafes; and whatever printed authorities are received in a foreign country as evidence of its laws, are, in my opinion, evidence of the fame laws to a Court and Jury in Pennʃylvania. ”

“ The question arises upon the 30th Section of the bankrupt law, which enacts, “That every creditor having security for his debt by judgment, speciality, or other security, whereof there is no execution served and executed upon the lands, goods, and estate, of the bankrupt before such time as he shall become a bankrupt, shall not be relieved upon any such judgment, &c. for any more than a rateable part of their debts, with the other creditors.” ”

“ If, also, a conquered country is ceded, the old possessors are entitled to their estates; and when any country is conquered, the possessors are not deprived of their estates, but only change their masters. This is clearly the case between two independent powers; but how will the case be between this country and Great Britain at the close of the war? ”

“ Awards at common law differ so widely from reports under our act of Assembly, that scarce any authority upon the subject of the first, is applicable to the second. In the first case, terms may be imposed before the Court will grant attachments ; but here the report is equivalent to a verdict, and the sole point now, is, whether, if it were truly a verdict, judgment could be entered upon it. ”

“ It would be of very dangerous consequence, if it was establifhed, that a commercial agent was not amendable as a witness in a Court of Justice, in a cause against his constituent. It is straining the matter of privilege too far: and the law makes him a witness, we are too fond of getting at the truth, to permit him to excuse himself from declaring it, because he conceives, that, in point of delicacy, it would be a breach of conscience . ”

“ If this conveyance passed a fee to the son Abraham Vandergrift, then judgment must be for the defendant; but if an estate for life only, then judgment must be for the lessors of the plaintiff: For, suppose the will of Johannes Vandergrift, which was executed prior to the conveyance, is taken into the case, yet the son Abraham had thereby only an estate-tail, which is spent by his death, without heirs of his body lawfully begotten. ”

“ For, the burthen of the war ought to be equally borne by all who are interested in it, and not fall disproportionately heavy upon a few. These general principles are fortified by the explicit language of the Declaration oƒ Rights, Sect. 8. which provides, that “no part of a man's property can be justly taken from him, or applied to public uses, without his own consent, or that of his legal Representatives.” In the present cafe the Appellant did not voluntarily surrender his property, nor was it taken from him by any legislative fanction. ”

“ This, therefore, necessarily leads to the consideration of a very important subject. In civil wars, every man chuses his party; but generally that side which prevails, arrogates the right of treating those who are vanquished as rebels. The cases which have been produced upon the present controversy, are of an old government being dissolved, and the people assembling, in order to form a new one. ”