by John Marshall

“ The court seemed also to think that where the title to land in the state was acquired by a British subject prior to the revolution, the right of such British subject to transmit the same by descent, to an heir in esse at the time of the revolution, continued unaltered and unimpaired; the case of a revolution or division of an empire being an exception to the general rule of law, that an alien cannot take by descent. ”

“ The same court has also determined, that where a British subject died seized of lands in the state in 1752, leaving daughters in England who married British subjects, and neither they nor their wives were citizens of the United States; even if the marriages were subsequent to the revolution, such marriages would not impair the rights of the wives, nor prevent the full enjoyment of the property according to the laws of the marriage state, especially after the 5th provision in the 9th article of the treaty of 1794. ”

“ Godfrey, 4 Cranch, 321, it was held that a person born in England before the declaration of independence, and who always resided there, and never was in the United States, could not take lands in Maryland by descent. ”