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3 1924 064 734 95

DATE DUE

Cornell University Library

The

original of

tiiis

book

is in

the Cornell University Library.

There are no known copyright

restrictions in
text.

the United States on the use of the

http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924064734951

BRIEF SURVEY
OF

EQUITY JURISDICTION
BEING A SERIES OF ARTICLES REPRINTED FROM

THE HARVARD LAW REVIEW-

BY

C. C.

LANGDELL,
in

LL.D.

Dane Professor of Law

Harvard University, Emeritus

>J.

SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED

CAMBRIDGE
THE HARVARD LAW REVIEW ASSOCIATION
1908

-v

Copyright,

1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1891, 1892,

By The Harvard Law Review Publishing Association.

Copyright,

1896, 1900,

By the Trustees of the Harvard Law Review.

Copyright,

1904, 1905, 1906, 1908,

By The Harvard Law Review Association.

THE UNIVERSITY

PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.

PUBLISHERS' NOTE.
Professor Langdell's articles upon Equity Jurisdiction, which have appeared from time to time in the " Harvard

Law

Review," have formed, for several years, part of the

course in Equity at the

Law

School of the University of

New

York.

To make

these essays
of that

more

accessible to his

students,

Dean Ashley

School suggested that they

In complying with this

be brought together in a volume.

suggestion, in

1904, the publishers were confident that

they would

gratify, also,

the unexpressed wish of those

who had the good fortune to begin their study of Equity under the personal guidance of Professor Langdell, and
of

many other lawyers as well. The book in its present form

contains
life,

five

articles

written in the last years of the author's

and a

carefully

prepared index.

The

reader will find in this volume the same power of

analysis,

historical research, of critical

and

of

illuminat-

ing generalization that flistinguished Professor Langdell's

"

Summary of Equity
work

Pleading," a

book recognized

at

once

^as the

of a great
1908.

master

of the law.

Cambridge, October

i,

CONTENTS
Table of Cases
vii

A
Article
I.

BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION

Page
i

Classification of Rights

II.

Classification of

Wrongs

19

III.

Specific Performance

40
73

IV.

Bills for an

Account

V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.

Bills of Equitable Assumpsit

Creditors' Bills

99
125

Creditors' Bills

{continued)

154
192

Real Obligations
Classification of Rights and
Classification of Rights and

IX.

Wrongs

...

219 239 260

X.

Wrongs

{continued)

XL Equitable Conversion
XII.
XIII.

Equitable Conversion
" "
" "

{continued")

282

" " " "

"

"
"

304
330
359

XIV.

XV.
XVI.
XVII.

"
"

377 394

"

"

Index

409

TABLE OF CASES.
Abbis
Abell
v.

Winter
v.

PAGE J74
i8i 264, 300, 330, 333, 334> 33S~3S8> 359

V.

Screech

Ackroyd
In re
Alleyn
J/. z*.

Smithson

Adams and
AUfrey

the Kensington Vestry,

270, 27

Alleyn

AUfrey Ambler v. Lindsay Amphlett v. Parke Angell V. Haddon Angus 7). Dalton Anonymous (l Leon, 266)
(Keilw. 77 a, 77 b, pi. 25) (II Mod. 92) (Gary (ed. of 1820), 29) (Dyer, 264b) (Dyer, 271 a, pi. 25) (I Atk. 491) (3 Atk. 572)

311 120 186 288, 292 160 246, 247

80 85
87 9; 98 151 156 168 178 383 209 igo, 286, 287 373 174 225 385 124
349, 351, 356. 357

(i2Ves. 4)

Marsh Apsden v. Seddon

V.

Arnold

v.

Chapman

Ashby
V. V.

V. Palmer Pocock

White

Atcherley v. Vernon Atherley v. Evans Attorney General v. Holford

V.

Lomas

via

TABLE OF CASES.
FAGB
V.

Foley Cogaii V. Stephens V. Stevens Coleman v. Mellersh Collet V. Jaques CoUett V. Collett CoUiiigwood V. Row

Cocks

213 334 355

120 213 399 269 288, 333 169 382, 399 79 92, 93 92 279 283, 290 302

Dowdeswell v. Dowdeswell Drant v. Vause Duke of Bridgewater . Edwards

FAGS 186 270 213

Duke
In

of Cleveland's Settled Estates, 372, 375, 386

re

Duke

of Leeds v.

New Radnor

Collins V.

Wakeman

V. Powell Duncuft V. Albrecht

Coliinson v. Ballard Colwall V. Shadwell Commonwealth v. Berry V. Foster V. Stearns

Duppa
V.

V.

Mayo

Durour v. Motteux Dyer v. Dyer

Kearsley

213 213 48 203 296, 300. 333. 336 302

177

Cook

Duckenfield Co. Cooke V. Dealey Coombes v. Mansfield

V.

V. Stationer's

v. Coventry 390 Eason v. Henderson 95 64 Edwards v. Countess of. Warwick 322, 323,

Earl of Coventry

Cooper

w.

Jarman

Cooper's Trusts, In re

315 290
311

V.

West
v.

Coppin w. Coppin Cory V. Thames Iron Works

building Co.

&

Elliott V. Fisher

Ship43. 45

Erablyn

Emuss

V.

Freeman Smith

400 270 395 286, 334

270, 271

Couch

V.

Steel

225, 240

Counter v. Macpherson Court V. Buckland Coventry v. Coventry

Erving v. Peters 60 Eyre v. Marsden 298, 300 Eyre's Case

390 185 178 382, 398 214 176, 312 275, 355

130 342 402

Cowper
Cupit Curre

V.

Blissett
v.

Coysgarne
V.

Jones
v.

Cunningham
v.

Moody

Farley

v.

Craig

Jackson

Bowyer

Curteis v.

Wormald

Dale
Darby

v.

SoUet

v.

Darby

Davenhill v. Fletcher Daveson, / re

Davie v. Beardsham Davies v, Ashford

V.

89 364 190 281, 393 38s 403

152 161 150 179 95 213 146, 152 3'5 120
v.

Churchman
Nicolson

V.
V.

Topp Davis . Combermere

V.

Johnston
V.

Davy
V.

Davy

Pepys Day, In re

Dawson v. Dawson Dean & Chapter of Exeter

nard

Trewin138 327 198 98

Deeth

v.

Hale

Demandray v. Metcalf Dent V. Dent

Devaynes
v.

Noble

Dietrichsen v.

Cabbum

Digby
Dixon
V.

V.

Legard
v.

Diiiwiddie
V.

Bailey

69, 70, 71 334. 336. 340. 369 90, 94, 108

Dawson
Russell

Gayfere
v.

265 403
197

Duane

Dollond V. Johnson Donnell v. Bennett Dorchester v. Webb

174

Doughty
Douglas

V. Bull V.

Clay

70.71 136 354. 390 75

TABLE OF CASES.
rAGE

IX

Graves's Minors Greaves's Settlement Trusts, In re

273
372,

Ingersoll
Irby
V.

v.

Sergeant

209
75

Irby

Green
V.
V.

v.

Farmer

375. 386 III

292, 339

Isaacs,

In re

270

Jackson Smith
v.

310 Jackson

v.

Harrison

Greenhill

Greenhill

Greenwood v. Taylor Greig v. Somerville Griesbach v. Freemantle

Griffith V. Ricketts

\^ 187
161

V.

Hurlock

403
369. 370, 395

Griffiths V.

Anthony

V. Pruen Golder v. Golder Guidot V. Guidot

139 297 184 304, 386, 390 Johnson

V.

V. Leaf Jaques v. Miller Jemott V. Cawley Jennings v. Rigby Jermy v. Preston Jessopp v. Watson v.

203 290 178 43 203 174 267

329. 342. 346. 348, 356. 369

Compton

Woods
V.

i8s 342, 347

Jones

Hackwell
Hamilton
v.

V.

v.

Eastman

Davies Jukes
Mitchell

266
175
288, 291

96
342, 348, 357, 369

V.

Foote

Hamond

v.

Ward

V.

Newhall

50

Hancocke v. Prowd Hanson v. Gardiner

V. Stubbs Harcourt v. Seymour Hardcastle v. Chettle
,

"23 135
31

Kemble. Kean

174
177

Kemp

69,71
19S
291, 296

V.

Westbrook
v.

403 Kennell

Hardey

v.

Hawkshaw

Hardy, Ex parte Harrison v. Beecles Hart V. Herwig Hartley v. Pendarves

Abbott Kennington v. Houghton 364 Kenyon v. Worthington 354 Kimberley v. Jennings 137 King V. Rossett 49 V. Smith
King,

108 176
69, 71 92, 108

187

301
181
189, 190

Harvey v. Harvey Haslewood v. Pope Hatfield v. Prime

Ex parte
v. v.
v.

402
121

329. 342, 348,

Kinsman Kirkham Kirkman

V.

Barker
Peel Miles

92
390, 403 152

Hawkes

356 Knight
v.

Knight

Barrett

172

Hawkins v. Parker Haynes v. Haynes Hayward v. Constable

75 225 172
Soc,
209,

Lady Fohane's Case

Lamine v. Dorrell Lane v. Newdigate
Langford
v. Pitt

Haywood v. Brunswick Building

Henchman
v.

3iS 85
37

Attorney-General

286, 287

Henderson v. French Henley v. Webb Henningham's Case

Heptinstal! v. Gott Hereford v. Kavenhill Hewitt V. Wright
Hill V. Cock Hills V. Croll

'39
382. 383. 384

146 290 390 287 369 339. 342,^355.

69, 70, 71 146, 147

Hinde v. Lyon Hinton v, Parker Holstcomb V. Rivers Holt V. Holt

139
82,

90 3'4

Hood

V.

Hood

Hooper v. Brodrick V. Goodwin Hopkins v. Hopkins

Horner's Estate Horrell v. Waldron

Howard v. Howard Hudson V. Cook Hughes V. Morris

Humphries v. Brogden Hutcheson v. Hammond Hyett V. Mekin

Gomm 2JJ 71,72 Lord Castlemaine v. Lord Craven 66 362 Lord Dacres' Case 345. 349. 350. 85 339 Lumley v. Gye 3, 6, 241 266 V. Wagner 69, 70, 71 Lytton V. Railway Co. 47
156

3"

Lashley v, Hogg 160 Law V. Rigley 178 Lawes v. Bennett 269, 270 Lechmere v. Earl of Carlisle 322, 323, 390, 405 Lee V. Bowler 82 Leonard v. Simpson 130 Lincoln v. Parr 87 Lingen v. Souroy 321, 323, 383, 403 Liverpool Borough Bank v. Turner 64 Livingstone &. Whiting 113 Lockhart v. Hardy i jg London & Great Western Ry. Co. v.

62
221, 246 287, 291
354. 366

Mackenzie
Makepeace
Mallabar
v.

Mara

v.

v. Johnston 92 Rogers gi, 112 Mallabar 296, 300, 333, 336 Quin 139 v.

TABLE OF CASES.
PAGE

Martin

v.

Martin

185, 186

Mary Shipley's Case Mary Smith's Mortgage Account, In Mason v. Bogg

V.

135
re 266 187

Hill
v. v.

Matthews

Newby
Mason

156
279. 296. 342. 356, 369, 390

Maugham

May

V. V.

King
Selby
v.

McCalmont
McKellar
ji.

Rankin

Wallace

124 185 64 119

M'Mahon v. Burchell Meek v. Devenish

Meredith v. Vick Michael Dent's Case
Mills V.

95 403 403 96
53
309i

Haywood
.

Branh Milward v. Ingram Mitchell V. Dors

v,

Milner Milnes

Mills

3"
209 124
31

Mitchelson v. Piper Morrice v. Bank of England Morris v. Colman Moxon V. Bright Mutlow V. Bigg

175 173, 180

71 94, 108

403

Neale
Neve
V.

v.

Gripps

33
182

Weston

Newberry's Trusts, In re Newman v. Norris Nicholas v. Nicholas Nicolls V. Crisp

290 179 156 369

291 135 15S

Noel
Noell

V. V.

Lord Henley Nelson

!<.

Norman

Baldry
v.

North V. Strafford N. E. Railway Co.

Martin

213 icg

Ogle

v.

Cook

TABLE OF CASES.
Sir

XI

W.

Pelham's Case

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY

JURISDICTION. V
Classification of Rights.

EQUITY
as
it is
it

jurisdiction

is

a branch of the law of remedies

and

affects, or is affected by,

nearly the whole of that law,

it

impossible to obtain an intelligent view of

first

as a whole with-

out

taking a brief view of the law of remedies as a whole.

all

Moreover, as

their objects the enforcement and protection of rights,

sible to obtain
first

remedies are founded upon rights, and have for it is impos-

an intelligent view of remedies as a whole, without

relative.

considering the rights upon which they are founded.

Rights are either absolute or

as do imply correlative duties.

Absolute rights are such

Relative rights are such

as do not imply any correlative duties.

Absolute rights are of two kinds or classes First, those rights which constitute ownership or dominion, as distinguished from rights in the property of another, jura in re aliena ;
:

of property

secondly, personal rights

i.e.,

those rights which belong to every

person as such.
Relative rights, as well as their correlative duties, are called
obligations
correlative
;

we have but one word for both the right and its duty. The creation of every obligation, therefore, is
i.e.,

the creation of both a right and a duty, the right being vested in the obligee, and the duty being imposed upon the obligor. Undoubtedly the word " obligation " properly expresses the duty,
1 I

Harv.

L.

Rev.

55.


A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and the use of the same word to express the right is a defect of nomenclature which is unfortunate, as it has given rise to much
confusion of ideas.
Obligations are either personal or real, according as the duty is An obligation may be imposed upon a person or a thing. imposed upon a person either by his own act, namely, by a contract, or by act of law.^ An obligation may be imposed upon a thing either by the will of its owner, manifested by such act or acts as the particular system of law requires, or by act of law. It is in such obligations that those rights of property originate which are called rights in the property of another, jura in re aliena. Instances of real obligations will be found in servitudes or easements, in which the law regards the servient tenement as owing the service also in the Roman pignus and hypotheca, in which the res, pignorated or hypothecated to secure the payment of a debt, was regarded as a surety for the debt. The pignus has been adopted into our law under the name oipawn ox pledge. The hypotheca has been rejected by our common law,^ though it has been adopted by the admi;

ralty law.

A lien

is

another instance of a real obligation in our

law, the very words "lien"

and "obligation," having the same meaning and the same derivation. A familiar instance of a real obligation created by law will be found in the lien of a judgment
1 Strictly,

or recognizance.*
every obligation
it is

is

created by the law.

When

it

is

said that a contract

creates

an

obligation,

only meant that the law annexes an obligation to every contract,

A contract may be well enough defined as

obligation.
Strictly, also,

an agreement to which the law annexes an

a tort gives

rise to

obligation to repair the tort or to

make

the law imposes upon a tort-feasor

the

an obligation as much as a contract ; namely, an satisfaction for it ; but this is an obligation which merely by way of giving a remedy for the tort. In
rise to a

same way the breach of a contract gives

new

obligation to repair or

make

satisfaction for the breach.

2 It

would, however, be more correct to say that our law does not permit the owner

it at his own will and pleasure; for hypothecations created by law do exist with us, as will presently be seen. * Such a lien is an hypothecation created by law. It is what civilians call a general hypothecation, because it attaches to all the land of the judgment debtor or recognizor, whether then owned by him or afterwards acquired. Instances of hypothecations of goods created by law will be found in the lien given to a landlord on the goods of his tenant to secure the payment of rent, and in the lien on beasts damage feasant, given to the person injured to secure satisfaction for the injury

of property to hypothecate

done.

These
all

liens are enforced

by

distress.

The former

is

in a sense general;

i.e., it

attaches on

the goods which are

on the demised premises when the rent becomes due.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Relative rights differ from absolute rights in this, that the former add nothing to the sum or aggregate of human rights for what an obligation confers upon the obligee is precisely commensurate with what it takes from the obligor. Absolute
rights, therefore,

make up the
is

entire

sum

of

human
is,

rights.

Every
gation.

violation of a right

either a tort or a breach of oblitherefore, a tort.

Every

violation of an absolute right

So

every violation of a right arising from an obligation {i.e., of a relative right) which does not consist of a breach of the obliis

gation.

Hence every
by a

act

committed by any person

is

in violation

of a right created

real obligation

a tort

for such an act

cannot be a breach of the obligation.

Whether a
violated

right
act

by an

created by a personal obligation can be which constitutes a tort, i.e., by an act which
is

does not consist of a breach of the obligation,

volved in

a question inGye,^ and in

in the affirma-

much doubt and

it

difficulty.

In

Lumley

v.

Bowen
tive
;

v.

Hall,^ this question

was decided broadly

each of those cases that it was a tort maliciously to procure an obligor to break his obligation. In each of them, however, the Court was divided in Lumley v. Gye
for

was held

in

there was a very powerful dissenting opinion, which was fully

adopted by one of the judges in Bowen v. Hall and, though the writer is not at present prepared to say that the decisions were wrong, yet neither is he prepared to admit that they were right.^ An obligation may, however, be so framed as to make it possible for the obligor or a third person to destroy the obligation before the time for its performance arrives. For example, if the performance of an obligation be made conditional upon the happening of an event which is subject to human control, any act which prevents the happening of that event will destroy the obligation and there can be no doubt that such an act, if done for the purpose of destroying the obligation, will constitute a
; ;

2 El.

&

Bl. 216.

" N. B.

Any prevention of

"6 Q. B. D. 333. the completion of an obligation {stricto sensii) caused by

obligee, or, if it

a third party would be no violation of a right in the

violation of a distinct right.

would, would be a

stranger

who employs a

builder to undertake an ex.

tensive work, or

wounds

or

maims him

(thereby, in either case, preventing

him from

completing a previous contract with myself) violates no right in

is

against the builder- for the breach of contract with myself.

me ; and my remedy stranger who inveigles

my

servant violates, not

my

jus ad rem under the

contract, but

my jus

in re.

The

servant himself, indeed, does ; and for this breach of his obligation {stricto sensu) I

may

sue

him on the

contract."

Ausiin, Jurisprudetue (4th

ed.). Vol. i, p. 402, note

4
tort.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Nor does the
writer see any reason to doubt that
it

would

also be a tort maliciously to procure another person to destroy an

even though the person committing the act of destrucwere the obligor.^ For most practical purposes, however, it may be said with sufficient correctness that a right created by a personal obligation is subject to violation only by a breach of the obligation, and hence only by the obligor for it will very seldom happen that any question will arise as to the violation of such a right by any person other than the obligor, or in any way other than by a
obligation,

tion

breach of the obligation.

has thus far been said of rights and their violation has in no element of equity. The rights which have been described may be defined as original and independent rights, and equity has no voice either in the creation of such rights or in deciding in whom they are vested. Equity cannot, therefore, create personal rights which are unknown to the law nor can it say that a res, which by law has no owner, is a subject of ownership, nor that a res belongs to A which by law belongs to B nor can it impose upon a person or a thing an obligation which by law does not exist nor can it declare that a right arising from an obligation is assignable, if by law it is not assignable. To say that equity can do any of these things would be to say that equity is a separate and independent system of law, or that it is superior to law. If there is no element of equity in a right, neither is there in the violation of that right for what is a violation of a right depends If, therefore, equity could entirely upon the extent of the right. declare that a right has been violated when by law it has not, it could thus enlarge the right of one man and curtail that of
it
; ;

What

another.

When, however,
question,
it

it is

said that equity has

no voice

in

a given

must not be inferred that a judge

;

sitting in equity has

no such voice. An equity judge administers the same system of law that a common-law judge does and he is therefore constantly It, therefore, sometimes called upon to decide legal questions. happens that courts of equity and courts of common law declare the law differently and a consequence of this may be that courts of equity will recognize a certain right which courts of common
;

See the observations of Professor Ames,

Harv.

L. Rev. io.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

law refuse to recognize but it does not follow that the right thus recognized is properly an equitable right. So courts of equity may treat an act as a violation of a legal right, which courts of

common law
act
is

treat as rightful

but

it

does not follow that such an

properly an equitable
is

tort.

well-known instance of such

called equitable waste.

an act

found in what
if

is

commonly
life,

For

example,

a tenant for

without impeachment \of waste, cut

down ornamental

trees, or pull

down

houses, a comrt of equity

says he has committed waste, while a court of comnipn^ptw says

he has not. Either court may be wrong, and one ofMHem fnust be for the question depends entirely upon the legal effect to be given to the words "without impeachment of waste," and that cannot depend upon the kind of court in which the question happens Yet the practical consequence of this diversity of view to arise. is, that there is a remedy in equity against the tenant in the case supposed, while there is none at law and this gives to the act of the tenant the semblance of being an equitable tort. In truth, however, the act is a legal tort, if the view taken by courts of equity is correct, while it is a rightful act, if the view taken by courts of
; ;

common
There

law
are,

is correct.

however, true equitable rights, and also true oguita-

ble wrongs, the latter being violations of equitable rights.

A true
derived

equitable right

is

always derivative and dependent,

i.e., it is

from, and dependent upon, a legal right.

exists when a legal right other person, either wholly or in part.
is

true equitable right

held by

its

owner for the benefit of anSuch a right may be deIt

is

fined as an equitable personal obligation.

an obligation

and because it is relative, i.e., it it is not ownership cannot exist without a correlative duty and it is personal because the duty is imposed upon the person of the owner of the res {i.e., And yet courts of of the legal right), and not upon the res itself.
because
;

equity frequently act as

if

such rights were real obligations, and

they were ownership. Indeed, it may be said that they always so act when they can thereby render the equitable right more secure and valuable, and yet act consistently with the fact

even as

if

That

is, it is

not ownership of the thing which

is

is

the subject of the obligation.

is

For
not

example,
as

when land

held by one person for the benefit of another, the latter

properly owner of the land even in equity.

is

Of course the
;

equitable obligation itself

much

the subject of ownership as

is

is

such ownership
is

not recognized by courts of

(<'.;.,

a legal obligation and the only reason why common law is that the thing itself which
is

the subject of the ownership

the equitable obligation),

not recognized by them.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

that such right

For exis in truth only a personal obligation.. ample, a personal obligation can be enforced only against the but an equitable obligation will obligor and his representatives
;

follow the res which

is

the subject of the obligation, and be en-

forced against any person into whose hands the res may come, In until it reaches a purchaser for value and without notice.

other words, equity imposes the obligation, not only upon the person who owned the res when the obligation arose, but upon all

persons into whose hands

fication just stated.

it

afterward comes, subject to the qualiit

But the moment

reaches a purchaser for

;

value and without notice, equity stops short

for otherwise

it

would

convert the personal obligation into a real obligation, or into ownership. Why is it, then, that equity admits as an absolute limitation

upon

its jurisdiction

a principle or rule which

it

yet seems always

to be struggling against, namely, that equity acts only against the

person,

cequitas agit in personam

One

reason

is (as

has already

appeared) that equity has no choice or option as to admitting Another reason is that if this limitation upon its jurisdiction.
equitable rights were rights in rem, they would follow the res into

the hands of a purchaser for value and without notice a result which.would not only be intolerable to those for whose benefit
;

equity exists, but would be especially abhorrent to equity

itself.

Upon
in

the whole,
if it

it

may be

said that equity could not create rights

it

rem ^

would, and that

would not

if it

could.

The Roman pignus and

hypotheca were rights in rem.

The

pignus was admitted into our law because it affected chattels only, and because it could not be effected without delivery of but the hypotheca was rejected because it affected possession
;

Here

again,

when
is

it is

said that equity cannot create rights in rem, reference

is

had

to the res,

which

the subject of the equitable obligation.

Regarding the equitable

obligation itself as the res, there can be

legal obligation, always creates a right in

no doubt that an equitable obligation, like a rem {i.e., an absolute right), as between the
it

obligee and

all

the rest of the world except the obligor; for

can create a right in per-

sonam

{i.e.,

a relative right) only as between the obligee and the obligor.

is to

To

say, there-

fore, that

an obligation can create a relative right only,

say that

whatever, except as between the obligee and the obligor.

can create no right Moreover, if an obligation

it

does not create an absolute right,

V. Hall,

it is

impossible to support

Lumley
its

v.

Gye and Bowen

is

though the converse does not necessarily follow.

equitable obligation creates a right which (in one of
it

As an
of course
a

aspects)

absolute,

follows that such a right

If,

may be

the subject of a purchase

right
first

new

equitable obligation.
it

then, the

owner of such a
sell it to

and sale, or of incur an obligation

notice of the pre-

to hold

for the benefit of

A, and afterward

B,

who has no

vious obligation to A, will

be bound by the obligation to

A?

Prof.

Ames

has clearly

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

land,

"J

and did not require any change

effects.

of

possession.^

Equity

introduced the hypotheca without any violation of law, and with

the most beneficial
it

Why

Because equity introduced

created without limitation,

as a right in personam only.

Legal personal obligations

for which, they are created,

may be

either in respect to the persons between

whom,
;

or the purposes
illegal.

provided the latter be not

But it is otherwise with equitable obligations for, as they must be founded originally upon legal rights, so they can be imposed originally only upon persons in whom legal rights are vested, and
i.e., only for the purpose of imposing upon the obligors in favor of the obligees some duty in respect to such legal rights. But the original creation of

only in respect of such legal rights

equitable obligations

is

subject to

still

further limitations, for

it

is

not

all

legal rights that can be the subjects of equitable obliga-

tions.

Only those can be

so

Of absolute

rights, therefore,

which are alienable in their nature. none of those which are personal
all

can ever be the subjects of equitable obligations, while nearly

rights which consist in ownership can

be the subjects of such obligations. Relative rights can generally be the subjects of equitable obligations, but not always. For example, some rights arising from real obligations, are inseparably annexed to the ownership of certain land, and, therefore, are not alienable by themselves. So, also, some rights arising from personal obligations are so
inalienable.

purely personal to the obligee as to be obviously

It
is

only necessary to mention, as an extreme case,

the right arising from a promise to marry.

What

has thus far been said applies to equitable rights as

i.e.,

originally created,

to equitable rights
;

which are derived imFor,

mediately from legal rights

but there are equitable rights which

only mediately.

are derived from legal rights

when an

shown, as the writer thinks, that he will not. i Harv. L. Rev. 9-1 i. To hold otherwise would be to hold that equity will not aEord the same protection to property of its own creation that it does to property not of its own creation; which would be not
only absurd in
itself,

hut contrary to the principle that equitable property

is

governed

by the same rules as legal property. If Prof. Ames's doctrine is correct,

hands of a purchaser
so; for of course, as
for value

it

proves the statement in the text, namely, that

{i.e.,

equity will not create a true, real obligation

one which

will follow the res into the

it

and without

notice),

even when

has the power to do

between conflicting
2,

rights of its

own

creation, equity

may do what-

ever justice
1

is

supposed to require.
note
3.

See supra, page

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

equitable right has once been created

may
its

the subject of a

new
;

equitable right,

i.e.,

in its turn become owner may incur an

equitable obligation to hold his equitable right for the beneiit of

some other person

each new

and

this

process

may go on ad

infinitum,
still

equitable right becoming in

all

its

turn the subject of

another equitable right, and

the equitable rights being derived

from the same legal right, the first immediately, the others mediately. It is to be observed that these equitable rights are created without any alienation or diminution of the rights from which they are derived. For it is not the nature of an obligation, real or personal, legal or equitable, while it remains an obligation merely (that is, while it remains unperformed) to alienate or diminish in any way any right vested in the obligor. In the case, therefore, of a succession of equitable rights derived from one legal right, the legal right remains undiminished in its original owner, and so does each equitable right, and yet the equitable rights add nothing to the sum of human rights,^ the aggregate of the legal right and all the equitable rights only equalling the legal right. So if the legal right be destroyed {e.g., by the act of God),
the equitable rights will fall to the ground. It is to be further observed that the legal owner is bound only to the original equitable owner, and the latter to the second equitable owner, and so
all

the legal owner and the equitable owners be conceived of as standing in a line, one behind the other, in the reverse order of
on.
If

the time of the creation of their rights,

it

will

be seen that each

bound to the one immediately before him, and to no one else, and hence that there are as many equitable bonds as there are persons in the line, less one, the one
one
in the line is equitably

standing in front being, of course, subject to no bond. The foregoing method of deriving an indefinite succession of equitable rights from one legal right may be termed the method

by sub-obligation. Another method

is

for the first equitable obligee to assign his

equitable right, at the

same time receiving from the assignee a new

equitable obligation.
to a

He may
;

then assign his

new

equitable right
latter still

new

assignee, at the

same time receiving from the

and
this operation
in the

another equitable obligation

indefinitely.

This method takes place

1

may be repeated common case where

See supra, page

3.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

land
is

mortgaged
;

in the ordinary

way

to several persons in suc-

cession

for in that case each successive

mortgage has a twofold

operation, namely, that of an assignment or transfer to the mort-

gagee, and that of imposing an equitable obligation on the mort-

gagee in favor of the mortgagor. For example, the first mortgage has the twofold operation of assigning or transferring the land to the mortgagee, and of creating an equitable obligation in the latter to reconvey the land to the mortgagor on payment of the mortgage debt and in this way the first or original equitable right is created. Then a second mortgage has the twofold operation of assigning this original equitable right, and of creating in the assignee an equitable obligation to reassign it to the mortgagor on payment of the second mortgage debt. In this way a second equitable right is created, which in its turn may be assigned by a third mortgage, the third mortgagee incurring an equitable obligation to reassign it to the mortgagor on payment of the third mortgage debt and this operation will be repeated as often as a new mortgage is given. If, upon the making of the first mortgage, the mortgagor and the first mortgagee be conceived of as standing one behind the other, the effect of a second mortgage will be to place the second mortgagee between the mortgagor and the first mortgagee, and thus to separate. the two latter for the second mortgagee, as assignee
; ;
;

of the mortgagor, steps into the shoes of the latter as to the

first

mortgagee, becoming
as
if

in effect

the mortagor as to the latter, just

he had purchased the equitable right of the mortgagor {i.e., his equity of redemption), absolutely. As the mortgagor thus ceases to have any relations, for the time being, with the first mortgagee, of course he must give up his place to his successor, the second mortgagee. Still the mortgagor does not stand aside as a mere stranger, as he would do if he had simply sold his equity of redemption but he takes his place next to the second mortgagee by virtue of the new equitable obligation {i.e., equity of redempFor the same reasons a tion) running from the latter to him. third mortgagee will take his place between the mortgagor and the second mortgagee, and so on. Therefore, the mortgagor will always be at one end of the line, and the first mortgagee at the other end, the latter always remaining stationary, but the former moving, as often as a new mortgage is given, to make room for the new mortgagee.
;

lO

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

question, however, still remains, namely, is the first mortgagee to be placed in front, with the several other mortgagees, and the mortgagor behind him in the order of time, or is the mortgagor to be placed in front with the several mortgagees behind him in the reverse order of time ? The answer depends upon whether the mortgagees and the mortgagor are to be placed with reference to the operations of the mortgages as transfers or assignments, or with reference to their operation as creating equitable obligations. If the
if the latter, the first mortgagee should stand in front mortgagor should stand in front. And, as we are now considering

former, the

mortgages, with reference to their operation in creating equitable

obligations, it is clear that the mortgagor and the mortgagees should be placed with reference to that operation. Thus, we have the same final result, whether a succession of equitable obligations be created by successive mortgages, or by successive sub-obligations, though this result is produced by different machinery. In both cases there are as many equitable obligations as there are persons In both cases every person in the line, exin the line, less one. cept the first and the last, is both an equitable obligor and an equitable obligee, the first being an equitable obligee only, and the The only differences are, first, that, last an equitable obligor only. in the case of successive mortgages, each successive equitable obli-

gation

is

made the

subject of a

new

equitable obligation

{i.e.,

of a
;

sub-obligation), not

by the

original obligee, but

by his assignee

and, secondly, that

the successive equitable obligations are made in favor of the same person, namely, the mortgagor, the latter
all

always acquiring a

new

equitable obligation the

moment

that he

relinquishes an old one.

There are

still

other modes in which an

indefinite

number

of

namely : first, the owner of the legal right, instead of incurring one equitable obligation as to the whole of the legal right, may incur an
equitable rights
right,

may be

derived from

one legal

indefinite

number

of equitable obligations, each as to

;

some

aliquot

part of the legal right

table right

secondly, the

owner

of the original equi-

may

assign that right to an indefinite

aliquot part of
it

number of persons

by assigning some

to each.

With

respect to the

modes means

in

obligations differ widely from legal obligations.

which they are created, equitable Most legal obli;

gations are created by

of contracts

i.e.,

a person promises

(expressly or by implication), or covenants

to do or not to

do

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

II

something, and the law annexes to the promise or covenant an

obligation to do, or refrain from doing, according to the terms of

the promise or covenant. not be

But a purely equitable obligation can-

I say " a purely equitable obligation," because an obligation is frequently annexed to a promise or covenant both by law and by equity, i. e., the law annexes a legal obligation, and equity annexes an equitable obligation. But equity cannot annex an obligation to a promise or covenant to which the law refuses to annex any obligation.^ In a word, there is properly no such thing as an equitable promise or covenant, and no such thing as an equitable contract. The reason, therefore, why a contract cannot result in creating a purely equitable obligation is, that a contract always results in creating a legal

made

in that way.

obligation.

How, then, are purely equitable obligations created For the most part, either by the acts of third persons or by equity alone. But how can one person impose an obligation upon another. By giving property to the latter on the terms of his assuming an At law there are only two means by obligation in respect to it. which the object of the donor could be at all accomplished, consistently with the entire ownership of the property passing to the donee, namely first, by imposing a real obligation upon the secondly, by subjecting the title of the donee to a conproperty
.'

dition subsequent.

The

first

of these the

law does not permit

the second

is

entirely inadequate.

Equity, however, can secure

most

of the objects of the donor,

real obligations,

and yet avoid the mischiefs of by imposing upon the donee (and upon all per-

sons to

whom

the property shall afterwards

this is

come without value

or with notice) a personal obligation with respect to the property

and accordingly
all

trusts are created,

what equity does. It is in this way that and all equitable charges made (/. e., equita-

ble hypothecations or liens created)

In this way,
in

by testators in their wills. most trusts are created by acts inter vivos, except those cases in which the trustee incurs a legal as well as an
also,

equitable obligation.

In short, as property

is

the subject of every

is the only person be the means of creating an obligation in Moreover, the owner of property can respect to that property.

equitable obligation, so the owner of property

act or acts can

whose

See supra, page

4.

12

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

create an obligation in respect to

in only

two ways

first,

by

incurring the obligation himself, in which case he

incurs a legal obligation
;

commonly

also

secondly,

by imposing the obligation

he does in the way just

upon some
explained.

third

person

and

this

But suppose a person, to whom property

his incurring

is given on the terms of an equitable obligation in respect to it, is unwilling

to incur such obligation, shall

will
?

Certainly not,
;

ing

it

it be imposed upon him against his he employs the proper means for preventbut the only sure means of preventing it is by refusing
if
;

for no /. e., to become the owner of it person can be compelled to become the owner of property even by way of gift. If he once accept the property, the equitable obligation necessarily arises, and he can get rid of the latter only

to accept the property,

tion

by procuring some one else to accept the property with the obligaand even this he cannot do without the sanction of a court
;

of equity.

may, however, incur an equitable obligafounded upon his own act and intention, and yet make no contract, nor incur any legal obligation. For example, if an owner of property do an act with the intention of transferring the property, but which fails to accomplish its object because some other act is omitted to be done which the law makes necessary, equity will give effect to the intention by imposing an equitable obligation to do the further act which is necessary to
of property
it,

An

owner

tion in respect to

effect the transfer, provided a valuable

consideration was paid

when made, will be and not a voluntary transfer. So, if an owner of property, thinking that he has the power to hypothecate it merely by declaring his will to that effect, declare, for a valuable consideration, that such property shall be a security to a creditor for the payment of his debt, though he will not create a legal hypothecation, nor incur any legal obligation, yet he will create an equitable hypothecation or an equitable lien i. e., equity will give effect to the intention by creating an equitable obligation to hold the property as if it were legally bound for the payment of the In both the cases just put, equity proceeds upon the prindebt. ciple that the act already done would be effective for the accomplishment of its object in the absence of any positive rule of law to the contrary and in both cases equity gives effect to the intenfor the act already done, so that the transfer,
for value,

a transfer

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

tion without

pels a performance of every act

for, in the first case, equity comwhich the law requires, while, in the second case, equity merely creates a personal obligation which violates no law, in lieu of a real obligation, which the law refuses

any violation of law

to create.

Many
alone
;

equitable obligations are created and imposed by equity

this is done upon the principle that justice can thereby be best promoted. For example, it is by force of equity alone that an equitable obligation follows the property which is the subject of the obligation until such property reaches a purchaser for value and without notice. The obligation may have been created originally through the act or acts of the owner of the property but it is by force of equity alone that this obligation is imposed upon subsequent owners of the property who had no part in its original creation. So also all that large class of equitable obligations commonly known as constructive trusts are created by equity alone. For example, where property is obtained by fraud, unless (as seldom happens) the fraud be of such a nature as to prevent the legal title from passing, the only legal remedy will be an action for damages against the party committing the fraud; but equity, by creating an equitable obligation, can and will follow the property itself (until it comes into the hands of a purchaser for value and without notice), and compel a specific restoration of it. If it be asked why a legal obligation to restore the property is not created, and how equity can go beyond the law, the answer is that the right is created in such a case merely for the sake of the remedy, and that the common law never contemplates any remedies other than those which the common law itself affords. The common law does not, therefore, create an obligation to restore the property, because it would regard such an obligation as useless. It could and it can only give damages for a breach of the obligation Moreover, the equally well give damages for the fraud itself. equitable obligation is generally conditional upon the restoration
;

and

by the person defrauded of the consideration received by him, and courts of common law have no adequate machinery for dealing with conditions of such a nature.

Another large

class of equitable obligations created

alone are those (already referred to) imposed

favor of mortgagors.
defeasible

by equity upon mortgagees in

of

mortgage

is

a transfer of property, either

by a condition subsequent, namely, by the payment

14

A BRTEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the mortgage debt on a day named, or accompanied by an agreement to reconvey the property upon a condition precedent, namely, In either the payment of the mortgage debt on a day named.
case,
if

the condition, his right to have the property restored to

tirely
;

the mortgagor suffer the day to pass without performing him is en-

and absolutely gone at law and it is at the very moment that the mortgagor loses his legal right that his equitable right arises, namely, to have the property reconveyed to him (notwithstanding his failure to perform the condition agreed upon), on payment But how is it that of the mortgage debt, interest, and costs. equity can create such an obligation, it being not only without any warrant in law, but directly against the express agreement of Because, while the mortgagor has lost his right to the parties the land, the mortgage debt remains wholly unpaid and consequently the mortgagee can at law keep the land, and yet comIn a word, the pel the mortgagor to pay the mortgage debt. mortgagor loses (i.e., forfeits) his land merely by way of penalty and though this is by the exfor not performing the condition press agreement of the parties, yet equity says the only legitimate object of the penalty was to secure performance of the condition and, therefore, it is unconscionable for the mortgagee to enforce the penalty, provided he can be fully indemnified for the breach of the condition and, the condition being merely for the payment of money, the mortgagee will, in legal contemplation, be fully indemnified for its breach by the payment of the mortgage debt (though after the day agreed upon) with interest and costs. In short, equity creates the equitable obligation in question upon the ancient and acknowledged principle of relieving against penalties and forfeitures.
.-'

Still

another important class of equitable obligations created

by equity alone are those commonly known as rights of subrogation. For example, a debtor becomes personally bound to his creditor for the payment of the debt, and also pledges his property to the creditor for the same purpose. A third person also becomes personally bound to the creditor for the payment of the same debt as surety for the debtor, and pledges his property to the creditor for the same purpose. In this state of things justice clearly requires that the debt be thrown upon the debtor, or upon the pledge belonging to him, and that the surety and the pledge belonging to him be exonerated from the debt, provided this can

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

IS

be done without interfering with the rights of the creditor. The latter, however, has the right to enforce payment of his debt in whatever way he thinks easiest and best, i. e., in whatever way he chooses and equity cannot prevent the exercise of that right
;

without a violation of law.

If,

then, the surety or his property

should be compelled to pay the debt, the legal consequences

would

be, first, that the debt

would be gone, and the debtor's

personal obligation to the creditor extinguished, for payment by

the surety or by his property has the same legal effect as payment

by the debtor or by

his property secondly, that, the personal obligation of the debtor being extinguished, the real obligation of his
;

property would be extinguished

sory to the former, and hence
it

also, for

the latter

is

only accesit.

cannot exist without

Morethat

over, other legal consequences to the surety

would

be,

first,

the surety would lose the benefit of any legal priority that the
creditor might have had over other creditors of the

same debtor

secondly, that the surety would have no

means

of obtaining in-

demnity from the debtor unless he could prove a contract by the latter (either express or implied in fact) to indemnify him. But here equity employs a useful fiction in aid of the surety for it treats the latter as having (not paid, but) purchased the debt. Hence, it treats the debt as still subsisting in equity until it is paid by the debtor or by his property. In other words, payment by the surety or by his property does not extinguish any of the rights of the creditor in equity, though it does at law and yet, after payment by the surety or by his property, the creditor holds
;
;

his rights, not for his

own
is

surety.

This, therefore,

benefit, but for the benefit of the an instance in which equity creates

one equitable right (namely, in the creditor), in order to make it the subject of another equitable right (namely, in favor of the
surety).

There are other cases

are several persons

in

which the object

contribution,
in justice

of subrogation

is

to

obtain not exoneration, but

namely, where there

to contribute equally

who ought

towards the discharge of a debt or other burden.

case
or

Such

is

the

when there are several co-sureties for an when several persons incur a debt jointly.

insolvent debtor,

There is a class of cases in which the doctrine of subrogation seems to have been unwarrantably extended under the name of marshalling. For example, if the owner of houses A and B

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

$10,000 and and then mortgage
it is
;j5

(worth, respectively,
to

5,000) mortgage

them both
and then

for $5,000,

A to D

for $10,000,

become

insolvent,

said that

D may throw

the whole of C's

mortgage on B, and thus obtain payment in full of his own mortgage out of A, though the consequence be that unsecured creditors of the insolvent will receive nothing and the principle upon which this is held is generalized by saying that when one of two creditors has the security of two funds, and the other has the security of only one of those funds, the latter creditor may throw the debt of the former creditor wholly upon the fund which is not common to both (provided, of course, that fund be sufHcient to pay it), in order that he may obtain payment of his own debt out of the fund which is common to both. This doctrine had its origin in efforts of courts of equity to prevent the harsh and unjust discriminations which the law formerly made between creditors of persons deceased, whose claims were in equity and justice equal and it seems that the doctrine, as a general one, cannot be sustained upon any principle. For example, in the case just supposed, the doctrine of marshalling assumes that, in equity and justice, house B ought to exonerate house from the first mortgage, whereas, in truth, they ought to bear the burden of the first mortgage equally. As between secured and unsecured creditors, equity clearly ought to favor the latter class, if
;

either.

Lastly,

still

another instance of an equitable obligation created

by equity alone, is the equitable hypothecation or lien given to a vendor, upon land which he has sold and conveyed, to secure the payment of the purchase-money. Reference has been already made to cases in which a contract
results in an equitable as well as a legal obligation.

Why is

this

Because the legal obligation is not sufficient for all the purposes In what contracts, then, do the purposes of justice of justice. require an equitable as well as a legal obligation } Chiefly in those which consist in giving {dando) instead of doing [faciendo).

What
tracts

.'

are the defects in the legal obligation annexed to such conChiefly these : First, although an obligation to give a
said to confer

thing

is

on the obligee a right to the thing, a jus ad

rem, yet this right can be enforced only against the obligor personally. consequence of this is, that, if the obligor become

insolvent after receiving the price of the thing, but before the thing

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

17

will

and its price go to the creditors of the insolvent. Of course justice requires that, the obligor having obtained the price of the thing, the obligee should obtain the thing itself and this an equitable obligation enables him to do. Secondly, a legal obligation can never be enforced against any person other than the obligor or his personal representative. If, therefore, the owner of a res who has incurred a legal obligation to give it to A, choose to give it to B, or if he die, and the res, being land, descends to his heir, it will be imposto obtain any relief except damages, however sible for inadequate such relief may be. But if an equitable obligation has to obtain the res itself, also been incurred, it will be possible for notwithstanding the death of the obligor, and also notwithstanding the transfer of the res to B, unless the latter be a purchaser for value and without notice. Thirdly, a legal obligation creates a right {i.e., a relative right) in the obligee alone, and this right must remain in the obligee until his death, unless it be previously assigned either by his own act or by act of law and upon the death of the obligee, the right must vest in his personal representWhen, therefore, a contract is made with A to give a thing ative. to B, it seems impossible to enforce the contract effectively by virtue of the legal obligation annexed to it for it can be enforced alone, and he can recover no more than nominal damages. by Equity will, however, annex to such a contract an obligation and hence the latter can obtain in equity without directly to B difficulty, the benefit intended to be secured to him by the conSo, if a legal obligation be incurred to convey land to the tract.
actually given to the obligee, both the thing itself
;

obligee,

and the

latter die before the land is

conveyed, the sole

go to the personal representaright to enforce the clearly the heir ought to have the tive of the obligee and yet, for land, though the personal representative ought to pay for it sucji would have been the effect of the performance of the obligaTo meet tion but for the accident of the death of the obligee. this difficulty, therefore, equity will create an equitable right in the obligee, which, upon the death of the latter, will go to his heir. Having thus treated with sufficient fulness of equitable rights, it remains to speak briefly of the violation of such rights. In
obligation will
;

respect to their violation,

obligations are, however,

equitable obligations are

as
legal

subject to

nearly the same observations

obligations.

Equitable

more subject

to violation

by

tortious

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

acts than are legal obligations

for,

as an

equitable

obligation

always has some legal or equitable right for

tious injury to, or destruction
of,

its subject,

any

tor-

this latter right, or

any wrongful

transfer of

it,

will, it

seems, be a tort to the equitable obligee.

Thus, a trespass committed upon land or upon a chattel which is the subject of an equitable obligation, is, it seems, a tort to the
equitable
obligee,

though,

as

it

is

also

a tort to the
as to

legal

owner, and as

the equitable obligee

can,
tort

rule,

obtain

redress only through the legal owner, the obligee seldom attracts attention.

the equitable

So it seems that any wrongful extinguishment by the obligee of an obligation which is itself the subject of an equitable obligation, though it is a breach of the equitable obligation, is also a tort to the equitable obligee. So it seems that the alienation by its owner of any right which is the
subject of an equitable obligation, in disregard of such obligation,
is

a tort to the equitable obligee.

This completes what

rights

and their

was proposed to say upon the subject of violation, and the way is thus prepared to treat of
it

remedies.

ARTICLE
II.

IV

Classification of Wrongs.
because rights exist and because they are sometimes that remedies are necessary. The object of all remedies is the protection of rights. Rights are protected by

IT

is

violated

means

of actions or suits.

The term "remedy" is

of

applied either

to the action or suit

by means

which a right

is

protected, or to

the protection which the action or suit affords.

An

action

may

protect a right in three ways, namely, by preventing the violation

by compelling a specific reparation of it when it has been and by compelling a compensation in money for a violaThe term " remedy " is strictly applicable only to the tion of it. second and third of these modes of protecting rights for remedy literally means a cure, not a prevention. As commonly used in law, however, it means prevention as well as cure and it will be In equity the term "relief" is commonly so used in this paper. of " remedy " and, though relief is a much more used instead technical term than remedy, it has the advantage of being equally
of
it,

violated,

applicable to

all

the different modes of protecting rights.

Though

remedies, like rights, are either legal or equitable, yet

is

the division of remedies into legal and equitable

not co-ordinate

with the corresponding division of rights

1
I

for,

though the reme-

Harv.

L.

Rev. hi.

20

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

may be

dies afforded for the protection of equitable rights are all equitable,

the remedies afforded for the protection of legal rights

either legal or equitable, or both.

Actions are either in personam or in rem.

are founded upon

torts, actual or threatened, or

Actions in personam, upon breaches of

personal obligations, actual or threatened.

They

are called in

personam because they give

sonally,
i.

relief

only against the defendant per-

the plaintiff has no claim to or against any res. Actions in rem are founded upon breaches of real obligations, or
e.,

upon the ownership of corporeal things, movable or immovable. Actions founded upon breaches of real obligations are called in Actions founded rem, because they give relief only against a res. upon the ownership of corporeal things are called in rem, because
the only relief given in such actions is the possession of the things Actions in rem, as well as actions in personam., are themselves.

form against a person. The person, an action in personam, is brought, is fixed and determined by law namely, the person who incurred (and consequently the person who broke or threatened to break) the obligation, or the person who committed or threatened to commit the tort, while the person against whom an action in rem. is brought is any person who happens to be in possession of the res, and who resists the plaintiff's claim. The relief given in actions in personam may be either the prevention or the specific reparation of the tort or of the breach of obligation, or a compensation The relief in money for the tort or for the breach of obligation. given in an action in rem, founded on the breach of a real obligation, is properly the sale of the res, and the discharge of the The relief given in obligation out of the proceeds of the sale. an action in rem, founded on the ownership of a corporeal res, is the recovery of the possession of the res itself by the plaintiff. Actions in rem founded upon ownership are anomalous. As every violation of a right is either a tort or a breach of obligation, it would naturally be supposed that every action would be founded
(except in

admiralty)

in

however, against

whom

upon a tort or breach of obligation, actual or threatened and if this were so, the only actions in rem would be those founded upon breaches of real obligations. But when a right consists in the
;

ownership of a corporeal thing, a violation of that right may consist in depriving the owner of the possession (and consequently of the use and enjoyment) of the thing. If such a tort had the

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

21

effect of destroying the owner's right, as the physical destruction

from other torts in respect would then become the owner of its former owner would recover its value in money as a compensation for the tort. And by our law, in case of movof the thing would,
it

would not

differ

remedy the thing, and

to
its
;

for the tort-feasor

able things, the tort often has the effect practically of destroying

the owner's right, sometimes at his

election of the tort-feasor.

own

election,

sometimes at the

But, subject to that exception, the

tort leaves the right of the owner untouched, the thing still belonging to him. He can, indeed, bring an action for the tort, and

recover a compensation in
fered

money

for the injury that

;

down

to the time of bringing the action

he has sufbut the compensa-

tion will not include the value of the thing, as the thing has not, in legal contemplation,
tort

been lost. If, therefore, an action for the were the owner's only remedy, he must be permitted to bring
;

successive actions
to exist
for the injury

for in that

ad infinitum, or as long as the thing continued way alone could he obtain full compensation

which he would eventually suffer. But, as the law abhors a multiplicity of actions, it always enables the owner to obtain complete justice by a single action, or at most by two
actions.

him to recover the value of the by making the tort-feasor a purchaser of the thing at such a price as a jury shall assess, or it enables him to recover the possession of the thing itself in an
Thus,
it

either enables
tort,

thing in an action for the

action in rem. He is, however, further entitled to recover the value of the use and enjoyment of the thing during the time that
its possession, together with compensation for any inj ury which the thing itself may have suffered while in the defendant's possession and this he recovers, sometimes in the same action in which he recovers the thing itself or
;

the defendant has deprived him of

its
1

value,

and sometimes

in a separate action.
that by our law

The reader should be reminded, however,

an owner of immovable

property

who has been dispossessed

{i.e., disseised)

of it, can recover damages in an action

of tort only for the original dispossession; he cannot recover damages for the subse-

quent detention of the property until he has recovered

that a loss of the possession or seisin of

its

possession.
is

The

reason

is,

immovable property
is

technically a loss of the

ownership, and the acquisition of possession or seisin

though

it

may be

wrongful.

Hence, a

disseisor ceases to

an acquisition of ownership, be a trespasser the moment his

disseisin is completed.

When, however,
all

his recovered seisin relates

the original owner recovers back his lost seisin, back to the time of the disseisin, the law treating him as

having been in possession

the time. Hence, he can then recover damages for the wrong-

ful detention of the property.

22

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

It

seems, therefore, that an action in rem, founded upon ownership, may be regarded as a substitute for an infinite or an indefinite number of actions founded upon the tort of depriving the
action

the possession of the res, which is the subject of the and that such an action may, therefore, be regarded as in a large sense founded upon the tort just referred to, and the replaintiff of
;

covery of the thing itself as a specific reparation of that tort. Thus far, in speaking- of actions and remedies, it has been, asthat the law of any given country is a unit i. e., that there but one system of law in force by which rights are created and governed, and also but one system of administering justice.
;

sumed

is

Whenever, therefore, any given country has several systems, whether of substantive or remedial law, what has been thus far
said
is

intended to apply to them

all in

the aggregate,

not

to

each separately.

Thus, in English-speaking countries there are

no less than three systems of substantive law in force, each of which has a remedial system of its own namely, the common law, the canon law, and admiralty law. There is also a fourth system of remedial law, namely, equity. What has been said, therefore, of actions and remedies applies to all of these systems in the
;

aggregate.
It follows, therefore, that

in

English-speaking countries

civil

jurisdiction is parcelled out

among

the four systems just referred

to

and

it is

the chief object of this paper to ascertain what por-

and for what reasons. But here an important question arises as to the nature of equity jurisdiction. If we have three systems of substantive law, each exercising jurisdiction over those rights which are of its own creation, and if equity is a system of remedial law only, how does it happen that equity has any jurisdiction Do not the other three
tion of this jurisdiction belongs to equity,
.'

systems divide among themselves the entire

.-

field of jurisdiction,

and how then is there any room for equity The answer is that the term "jurisdiction," as applied to equity, has a very different meaning from what it has as applied to courts of law and the
;

failure to recognize that fact has

caused
is
it is

much

confusion of ideas.

As

applied to courts of law, the term

;

proper sense

as applied to equity,

used in its primary and used in a secondary and

For example, when two courts of law, created by the same sovereign, are independent of each other, the jurisdiction of each is either exclusive of the other, or concurrent with it, or it
improper sense.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

23

partly exclusive and partly concurrent.

If
it

ince which belongs exclusively to the other,

(if

one invades a provacts without right

sovereign.
if

not without power), "and ought to be restrained by the common If a particular province belongs to them both {i.e.,
it),

they have concurrent jurisdiction over

it,

each

is

entitled to
;

enter

while neither

is

entitled to interfere with the other

and

hence questions of priority are liable to arise between them, i. e., questions as to which of them first obtained jurisdiction over given controversies. But the terms " concurrent " and " exclusive " have no proper application to equity, or rather they do not correctly describe the relations between equity and the other three systems. On the one hand, equity never excludes either of the other systems.
of
It is true that equity alone exercises jurisdiction
;

over equi-

table rights

but that

is

not because equity claims any monopoly

it is because the other systems decline to such jurisdiction, On the other it, they not recognizing equitable rights. hand, equity is never excluded by either of the other systems;

exercise

and hence equity exercises jurisdiction over legal rights (as well as over equitable rights) without any external restraint. Since, however, one or more of the other systems has jurisdiction over
every legal right, the jurisdiction of equity over legal rights
certain sense concurrent, but never in any proper sense
;

is

in a

and not

unfrequently

it is

in fact exclusive in the sense of being the only

It is

jurisdiction that is actually exercised.

not properly concurrent,

because there is no competition between the two jurisdictions. Courts of law act just as they would act if equity had no existence, just as in fact they did act before equity had any existence.

Nor does
any

equity ever complain of their so acting, or seek to put

restraint

of their acts
straint,

upon their action, or question the validity and legality and yet equity acts with the same freedom from reeven when dealing with legal rights, that courts of law do
;

when

dealing with rights of their

own

creation.
is
it

What
power

has thus far been said, however,

calculated rather to

stimulate than to satisfy inquiry.

ject has equity in

How

is

that equity has the

.'

to invade at will the provinces of other courts

What
it is

ob-

assuming jurisdiction over rights which

?

the

special province of other courts to protect

of that jurisdiction
will
?

What

is

the extent
a pre-

The answer
;

to the

first of

these questions
is

be found

in

the fact that the jurisdiction of equity

/. e.,

rogative jurisdiction

it is

exercised in legal contemplation by

24

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the sovereign, who is the fountain from which all justice flows, and from whom, therefore, all courts derive their jurisdiction. The answer to the second question is that the object of equity, in assuming jurisdiction over legal rights, is to promote justice by

The answer

supplying defects in the remedies which the courts of law afford. to the third question is that the jurisdiction is coits

extensive with

object

that

is,

equity assumes jurisdiction over

can be thereby proBut then the question arises. How does it happen that the protection afforded by courts of law to legal rights is insufficient and inadequate, and how is it that equity is able to supply their short-comings ? The answer to these questions, so far as regards the largest and most important part of the jurisdiction exercised by equity over legal rights (namely, that exercised over common law rights), will be found chiefly in the different methods of protecting rights employed by courts of common law and courts of equity respectively, i. e., in the different methods of compulsion or coercion employed by them. court of common law never lays a command upon a litigant, nor seeks to secure obedience from him. It issues its commands to the sheriff (its executive officer) and it is through the physical power of the latter, coupled with the legal operation of his acts and the acts of the court, that rights are protected by the common law. Thus, when a common-law court renders a judglegal rights so far,

and so

far only, as justice

moted.

ment

in an action that the plaintiff recover of the defendant a

certain

sum

of

money

as a compensation for a tort or for a breach

of obligation,
sheriff,

it

follows

up the judgment by issuing a writ

to the

under which the

it

latter seizes the defendant's property,

and

either delivers

to the plaintiff at an appraised value in satisit,

and pays the judgment out of be seen, satisfaction of the judgment is obtained partly through the physical acts of the sheriff, and partly through the operation of law. By the former, the property is seized and delivered to the plaintiff, or seized and sold, and the proceeds paid to the plaintiff. By the latter, the
faction of the judgment, or sells

the proceeds of the

sale.

Here,

it

will

defendant's

title to

the property seized

is

is

transferred to the plaintiff,

or his title to the property

title

transferred to the purchaser, and his

to its proceeds to the plaintiff.

So

if

a j udgment be rendered
plaintiff.

that the plaintiff recover certain property in the defendant's possession,

on the ground that the property belongs to the

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

2$

and that the defendant wrongfully detains it from him, the judgment is followed up by a writ issued to the sheriff under which the latter dispossesses the defendant, and puts the plaintiff in possession. This is an instance, therefore, in which a judgment is If, enforced through the physical power of the sheriff alone. however, the property be movable, and the defendant remove or
conceal
it

so that the sheriff cannot find

it,

the court

is

powerless.
is

So, under a judgment for the recovery of money, the court

powerless,
find

if

the defendant (not being subject to arrest) have no

is

property which
;

capable of seizure, or none which the sheriff can

of seizure
arrest, his

and

it

matters not

he

may

have.

how much property incapable Even when the defendant is subject to

;

and imprisonment are not regarded by the law as a means of compelling him to pay the judgment but his body is taken (as
arrest
his property
is)

in satisfaction of the

judgment.

peculiar in its method of protecting same method substantially is and always has been employed in most other systems of law with which we are acquainted. Nemo potest prcecise cogi ad factum was a maxim of the Roman law, and it has been adhered to in those countries whose systems of law are founded upon the Roman law.
is

Nor

our

common law

rights

for the

Equity, however, has always employed, almost exclusively, the

very method of compulsion and coercion which the

like

common
;

law,

most other legal systems, has wholly rejected for when a person is complained of to a court of equity, the court first ascertains and decides what, if anything, the person complained of ought to do or refrain from doing then, by its order or decree, it commands him to do or refrain from doing what it has decided he ought to do or refrain from doing and finally, if he refuses or neglects to obey the order or decree, it punishes him by imprisonment for his disobedience. Even when common law and equity give the same relief, each adopts its own method of giving it. Thus, if a court of equity decides that the defendant in a suit ought to pay money or deliver property to the plaintiff, it does not render a judgment that the plaintiff recover the money or the property, and then issue a writ to its executive officer commanding him to enforce the judgment but it commands the defendant personally to pay the money or to deliver possession of the property, and punishes him by imprisonment if he refuse or neglect to do it.
;

26

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

This method was borrowed by the early English chancellors from the canon law, and their reasons for borrowing it were much the same as those which caused its original adoption by the The canon-law courts had power only over the souls canonists. of litigants they could not touch their bodies nor their property. In short, their power was spiritual, not physical, and hence the only way in which they could enforce their sentences was by putting them into the shape of commands to the persons against whom they were pronounced, and inflicting upon the latter the punishments of the church (ending with excommunication) in If these punishments proved insufficient to case of disobedience. secure obedience, the civil power (in England) came to the aid of the spiritual power, a writ issued out of chancery {de excommunicato capiendo), and the defendant was arrested and imprisoned. When the English chancellor began to assume jurisdiction in equity he found himself in a situation very similar to that of the As their power was entirely spiritual, so his was spiritual courts. entirely physical. Through his physical power he could imprison men's bodies and control the possession of their property but neither his orders and decrees, nor any acts as such done in pursuance of them, had any legal effect or operation and hence he could not affect the title to property, except through the acts of its owners. Moreover, his physical power over property had no perceptible influence upon his method of giving relief. Even when he made a decree for changing the possession of property, it took the shape, as we have seen, of a command to the defendant in possession to deliver possession to the plaintiff and it was only
; ; ; ;

as a last resort that the chancellor issued a writ to his executive

officer,

commanding him

to dispossess the defendant

and put the

plaintiff in possession.

Such, then, being the two methods of giving relief, it is easy to understand why that of equity has supplemented that of the common law for the former is strong at the very points where the latter is weak.
;

It

equity over common-law rights

has been said that the extent of the j urisdiction exercised by is measured by the requirements
.'

of justice. But what are the requirements of justice In order to answer that question we must first know definitely in what partic-

ulars the

common

law

fails to

give to

common-law

rights

all

the

protection which

it is

possible to give, and which, therefore, ought

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

to be given
direction
law,
if
;

27

and we

shall

we

classify all the

have taken an important step in that remedies furnished by the common

classification before

and compare them with the

made

of

judicial remedies generally.

Common-law

actions, like actions generally, are either in perso-

nam

Common-law actions in personam are founded upon the actual commission of a common-law tort or the actual Common-law breach of a common-law personal obligation. actions in rem are founded upon the ownership of corporeal things, The relief given in a common-law movable or immovable. action in personamis always the same namely, a compensation in money for the tort or the breach of obligation, the amount of which is ascertained or assessed by a jury under the name of damages.-^ The relief given in common-law actions in rem is also
or in rem.
;

always the same, namely, the recovery of the res

but, then,

it is

to

be borne in mind that the only action strictly in rem. that lies for a movable res is the very peculiar action of replevin and, when that action cannot be brought, the only available actions are trover, in which the value of the res in money can alone be recovered, and detinue, in which either the res itself or its value in money is Indeed, as has been recovered, at the option of the defendant. already seen, the common law has not generally the means of enabling a plaintiff to recover the possession of a movable res against the will of the defendant. In replevin that object is accomplished by dispossessing the defendant of the res, and placing the same in the plaintiff's possession, at the very commencement of the action but that would be obviously improper except when the defendant has acquired the possession of the res by dispossess;
;

ing the plaintiff of

possession of the res

it.

The

obstacle in the

way

of recovering

an action of detinue does not arise from the nature of the action, but from the common-law mode of
itself in
1

of the debtor; to

Our law regards a debt as a specific thing belonging and hence the remedy specially provided

to the creditor
for the

and in possession

breach of an obligation

this is the only

pay a debt, namely, the action of debt, is technically an action in rem. Sometimes remedy; but in most cases the creditor has an election between an action

itself, and an action of assumpsit or covenant, founded upon the contract by which the debt was created. In the former action, the judgment is that the plaintiff recover the debt itself as a specific thing; in the two latter, the judgment is that the plaintiff recover damages for the detention of the debt. Still, this is only a technical distinction, for the same amount is recovered either way, and the mode of enforcing the judgment is the same.

of debt, founded upon the debt

28

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Detinue is in its nature an action purely rem; and it only ceased to be so in practice because a judgment in rem was found to be wholly ineffective and consequently a judgment was rendered in the alternative, namely, for the recovery of the res itself or its value in money. If, now, we compare the foregoing common-law remedies with the scheme of remedies generally, as previously given, we find that
enforcing a judgment.
in
;

the

common
it

law does not attempt

(as

indeed

it

could not) to prevent

;

either the commission of a tort or the breach of an obligation

attempt to give a specific reparation for either, except so far as the recovery of the res in an action in rem. may be so considered nor does it give any action whatever for the breach

nor does

of a real obligation

nor does

it

things to recover the possession of

from him, except in those cases

enable the owner of movable them when wrongfully detained in which replevin will lie. Of

first two are the most conspicuous and it is chiefly for the purpose of supplying those two defects that equity has assumed jurisdiction over torts {i.e., legal torts) and over contracts, the two largest and most important branches of the jurisdiction exercised by equity over legal rights. The jurisdiction over torts has been assumed chiefly for the purpose of supplying a remedy by way of prevention that over contracts for the purpose of supplying a remedy by way of The former is commonly treated of under the specific reparation. head of Injunction the latter, under the head of Specific Per;

these four defects in common-law remedies, the

formance.

The mode of giving relief in equity is not only peculiarly adapted to the purpose of preventing the commission of wrongful acts, but it is the only mode in which such a remedy is possible. No mode of giving relief is, however, alone sufficient to make such
a remedy effective
suit,
i.e.,
;

for relief cannot be given until the

until the question of the plaintiff's right to relief has

in the plaintiff's favor
;

end of a been
so pre-

tried

and decided
arrive,

and, long before that

time can
vention

the wrongful act

If,

may be committed, and

it

made

impossible.

therefore, a court

would prevent the

its

doing of an

act, it is

indispensable that
trial of

interpose

authority,

not only before any

the question of the defendant's right to do the act, but at the very commencement of the suit, and"
frequently without any previous notice to the defendant ; and accordingly equity does so interpose its authority by granting an

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

injunction against the doing of the act until the question

29
is tried

and decided. Such an injunction is called a temporary injunction, and is not technically relief. If the question is finally decided in the plaintiff's favor, the injunction is then made perpetual, and becomes relief. Upon the whole, therefore, the equitable remedy by way of prevention is as effective as such a remedy can possibly be made and it is also as effective and as easily administered as any remedy in equity is. Moreover, the remedy by way of prevention, if it
does not come too
late, is

always the easiest, as well as the best,

in case of a tort
;

remedy that equity can give

never an answer to a
bill for

and, therefore,

it is

an injunction to prevent the commisof a tort, that the tort, if committed, can be specifically sion repaired by the defendant; and the only question of jurisdiction that such a bill can ever raise is this Will more perfect justice be done by preventing the tort than by leaving the plaintiff to his This, however, is a very complex question, deremedy at law pending partly upon the nature of the tort, and partly upon other
:
.'

considerations.

In respect to the nature of the

tort, also,

there are

For example, some torts cause no others cause injury which, though it is specific, specific injury can be specifically repaired by the person injured; others cause injury which, though specific and incapable of specific reparation,
several distinctions to be taken.
;

can be fully paid for in money. On the other hand, a tort may cause an injury which is specific, and which cannot be specifically repaired (or can be specifically repaired only by the tort-feasor),

and which cannot be fully paid for in money. So, too, the injury caused by a tort, though not specific, or though capable of being specifically repaired by the person injured, or though capable of being fully paid for in money, yet is of such a nature that it is impossible to ascertain or estimate its extent with any accuracy. Whenever, therefore, a tort will cause an injury which is specific, and which the person injured cannot specifically repair, and which cannot be paid for in money, or an injury the extent of which it is impossible to ascertain or estimate with any accuracy, there is a prima facie case for the interference of equity to prevent the commission of the tort otherwise the remedy at law is adequate so
;

far as regards the nature of the tort.

If a plaintiff

make

out a

prima facie case

one of the two ways just indicated, he will be entitled to the interference of equity unless the defendant can show
in

30

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

damage which
will

the act will so

be caused to him by the prevention of the damage which will be caused to the plaintiff by the doing of the act that the interference of equity will not be promotive of justice. If the defendant can show that, the
that the

much exceed

plaintiff

should,

it

seems, be

left

to his

remedy

at law.

One
is

objection to the interference of equity under such circumstances

that
it is

not likely to have any other effect than that of compelling

the defendant to purchase the plaintiff's acquiescence at an exorbitant price.

It

though,

must be confessed, however, that the foregoing distinctions, it is conceived, they will throw much light upon the jurisfully
it

diction actually exercised, will not

affirmatively or negatively, even

account for

it,

either

depends wholly upon the Questions of jurisdiction do not receive the nature of the tort. same careful and constant attention which is bestowed upon questions of substantive right and therefore, in dealing with such
;

when

questions, the elements of haste, accident, caprice, the habits of

lawyers, the leanings of individual judges,

temper

of public opinion,

and the ever-changing have been factors of no inconsiderable

importance.

The

jurisdiction of equity over torts in particular

;

has grown up by slow, almost imperceptible degrees

jurisdiction exercised over

and the one class of torts has often had little influence upon the exercise of jurisdiction over other and analogous
classes of torts.

diction actually exercised

becomes necessary, therefore, to inquire briefly into the jurisby equity over different classes of torts. There are two large and important classes of torts over which equity practically assumes no jurisdiction whatever, namely, torts to the person and to movable property. Its jurisdiction, therefore, is substantially limited to torts, to immovable property, and to incorporeal property. Torts to immovable property are waste, trespass, and nuisance. Torts to incorporeal property may, it seems, all be classed as nuisances, though it is usual to treat torts
It

to certain lawful monopolies, not relating to land (e.g., patent-rights

and copy-rights), as constituting a class by themselves under the

name of infringements of the rights violated. Waste is a tort committed by the owner of
land, the person inj ured

a particular estate in

being the remainder-man or reversioner. It is, therefore, a tort to the land, committed by a person in possession of the land, and whose possession is rightful, against a

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

person

31

neither the possession nor the right of possession. not a trespass, the essence of which is always a wrongIt ful entry, and which is always an injury to the possession. always consists in injuring or destroying something upon the land

who has
it is

Hence,

which belongs to the owner of the fee. A nuisance to land is any injury to it which is committed without making an entry upon the land, and which, for that reason, is
not a trespass.
as a trespass

Any

injury to incorporeal property

is

a nuisance,

can be committed only against corporeal things.

Therefore, an act which would be a trespass to a corporeal thing

be only a nuisance to an incorporeal thing. For example, an obstruction by of a right of way which B has over the land of C, is a trespass to C, but only a nuisance to B. Over all the foregoing torts, namely, waste, trespass to land, and nuisance either to la:nd or to incorporeal property (including infringements of such lawful monopolies as patents and copyrights), equity exercises a jurisdiction of greater or less extent and it may be stated as a general rule, that, whenever the injury caused by a tort belonging to either of these classes will be of a serious and permanent character, equity will interfere to prevent it but that for injuries which are only technical, or slight, or temporary, or occasional, the person injured will be left to his remedy at law. Thus, the injury caused by waste is necessarily permanent, being an injury to the inheritance; and in the great majority of cases the -injury is of a substantial character. Accordingly, equity interferes to prevent waste almost as of course. If, however, the acts complained of, though technically waste, do not in fact injure still more, if they actually improve it, the land, the remainderman or reversioner will be left to his remedy at law. Acts which will constitute waste when committed by the owner of a particular estate, will, of course, be (not waste, but) trespass when committed by a stranger but such acts clearly ought to be prevented equally in either case. Accordingly, the rule now is, that equity will interfere to prevent destructive trespass to land, or trespass in the nature of waste but it will not interfere to prevent trespasses which injure only the present possession and, indeed, the first instance in which equity interfered to prevent destructive trespass was in the time of Lord Thurlow.-^
will

Flamang's case, cited in Mitchell

v. Dors,

6 Ves. 147, in Hanson

Gardiner, 7

Ves. 305, 308, in Smiths'. Collyer, 8 Ves. 89, and in

Thomas

v,

Oakley, 18 Ves. 184, i86.

32

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

In cases of waste there
is

seldom any controversy about the

title to

the land.

Acts

in the nature of waste, however, frequently

;

raise questions of title for such acts may be committed by a person who claims to own the land, but whose title is denied by another person who also claims to own the land and in such a case
;

If the acts be committed by the one out of possession, he can always successfully defend an action of trespass by showing that the land is his. If the acts be committed by the one who is in possession, the one out of possession has no remedy at law, except an action of ejectment to recover the land itself. If he succeed in ejectment, and recover

either of the adverse claimants

may be in possession.

possession of the land, the other's acts will then (but hot

till

then)

become trespasses by relation, and damages may be recovered for How, then, will equity deal with such a case, if applied to by either of the claimants to prevent acts of the other in the
them.
nature of waste
trial of
.''

The

chief difficulty arises

from the fact that the

the

title

does not belong to equity.

Each claimant has a

jury.

right to have the title tried at law

and by a

Equity
will it

will not,
.'

do If no serious difficulty. Equity will entertain a bill, as in other cases, and will grant a temporary injunction; but the injunction will not be made perpetual until the plaintiff has recovered in an action of trespass and if the plaintiff fail to bring such an action promptly, or to prosecute it with diligence, the injunction will be dissolved on the defendant's application. So, if the action be defended successfully, the bill in equity will be dismissed. If a temporary injunction be obtained before a:ny trespass has been committed, of course the plaintiff in equity cannot maintain trespass upon the actual facts; but equity will get over that difficulty by directing the plaintiff to bring his action, and to declare in the usual form, and by directing the defendant not to traverse the declaration, but to
title.

therefore, interfere with the trial of the

What

the plaintiff in equity

is

in possession there

is

plead only his affirmative defence of

title.

When
much

the plaintiff in equity is out of possession the difficulty is greater. The acts of the defendant are not then trespasses,

or torts of any kind, until

made

so by fictitious relation.

How,

then, can equity grant an injunction against acts

which confessedly,

upon the facts before the court, are not wrongful } Our law may be open to criticism for making no provision (except such as is made by the statutes against forcible entry and detainer) for

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

trying questions of possession in a

33
is

summary way
is

but equity
in

not a lawgiver.
case,
it

Moreover,

if

equity

to interfere
its

such a

must,

it

seems, either strictly limit

entire litigation into
if

interference to the

granting of an injunction during the pendency of an ejectment, or

its own hands, assuming conone has been already brought, or directing one to be brought and prosecuted under its control and either of these courses is open to serious objection. In point of authority courts of equity have almost invariably refused to interfere in such cases, though several judges have expressed surprise and regret that the jurisdiction had not been exercised; and intimations have been thrown out that it would be exercised whenever a sufificiently strong case should be presented. In one case, also, a temporary injunction was granted but the facts sworn to were very strong, and the defendant, though served with notice, did not appear to oppose the motion.-^ As nuisances consist, for the most part, in so using one's own.
it

must take the

trol of

the action of ejectment,

land as to injure the land or some incorporeal right of one's neighbor,

it

follows that the injuries caused

less

by nuisances are generally

more or

permanent

and, hence, they not unfrequently call

Yet such interference has been found to be attended with great difficulties. An act which is wrongful in itself may be adjudged wrongful before it is committed as well as afterwards nor is there any question as
for the interference of equity to prevent them.
;

to the extent of the wrongfulness, for the entire act

is

wrongful.

But an act which is in itself rightful, and which is wrongful only because of some effect which it produces, or some consequence which follows from it, can seldom be proved to be wrongful by a priori reasoning, or otherwise than by actual experience and even when it does sufficiently appear that a given act done in a given way will be wrongful, it does not follow that some part of it
;

may

not be rightfully done, or even that the entire act

in

may

not

be done

such a

way

as to be rightful.
it

For these and

similar

reasons a court of equity frequently finds

in case of a nuisance until the act

impossible to interfere

which constitutes the nuisance is either fully completed, or at least far advanced towards completion and, in either of the latter events, it will often be found that the damage to the defendant which the interference of the court
;
'

Neale

v.

Giipps, 4 K.

& John.

472.

34
will

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

cause will be out of
all

proportion to the

damage

to the

plaintiff

which

it

will prevent.

A distinction must be taken, however, between things

;

erected or

constructed on one's own land which are in themselves a nuisance to one's neighbor, and those which are so only because of the uses to which they are put for, in cases belonging to the latter
class, there
is

occasion for equity to interfere until injury actually caused, nor is it ever too late to prevent a nuisance for

may be no

the future without causing anything to be undone. So, too, when a nuisance is caused by the carrying on of an
offensive trade, equity finds no especial difficulty in interfering, unless expensive works have been constructed for the express pur-

pose of carrying on that trade, and which the abandonment or removal of the trade will render wholly or nearly worthless. The most difficult of all nuisances for a court of equity to deal with are those caused by the erection of massive and costly buildIn such cases, if there is danger of a wrong ings in large cities. being done, and yet the court does not see its way to granting an
injunction, a convenient course
is

for the court

to require the

building to be constructed under

its

own

supervision,

the defendant to lay his plans before the court,

by directing and obtain its

approval of them before proceeding.^ The interference of equity to prevent the infringement of
patents and copyrights
culties
is

which so often occur in cases

attended with none of the peculiar diffiof ordinary nuisance ; and,

though a single infringement does not of itself produce any perinjury, yet the example of successful infringement is contagious and pernicious and, as it is extremely difficult to prove the extent of the infringement, and so the remedy at law is very inadequate, equity interferes by way of prevention as a matter of course.

manent

Such are the cases

;

in

which equity

will interfere for

the preven-

tion of a tort on account of the nature of the tort, or of the injury

caused by it but there are other cases in which it interferes for a wholly different reason, namely, to prevent the necessity of bringThus, if commit a ing a great or indefinite number of actions.

tort against B,

which

is

capable of indefinite repetition,

and

bring an action and recover damages, and

standing in committing the
tort,

A
650.

persist

notwith-

a court of equity will entertain a

H.

'

stokes

V.

City Offices Co., 2

& M.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

bill for

35

an injunction

for otherwise
If,

might have
will

to bring

an

indefinite

number

of actions.

indeed, there be a question of

right involved between

and B, equity
it

not necessarily

interfere after a single trial at law, but

will interfere as

soon as

it

thinks the right has been sufficiently tried.

So

if

many persons

are severally committing, or threatening to commit, similar torts

against one, and each tort involves the same questions, both of

one may file a bill against the many (or against a few of them on behalf of themselves and all the others), and obtain an injunction for otherwise he would have So, too, if one perto bring a separate action at law against each. son is committing, or threatening to commit, torts against each of many others, each tort involving the same questions of fact and law as every other, the many (or a few of them representing themselves and all the others) may file a bill against the one, and obtain an injunction; for otherwise each of them would have to bring an In such cases the bill is commonly called a action against him.
fact

and

law, as every other, the

bill

of peace.

When

a court of equity

is

applied to for a

remedy by way

of

prevention, the defendant

of the acts of

may have
is

already begun the commission sought, or the plaintiff's case

which a prevention

may be merely

that the defendant will

commit them unless pre;

vented by an injunction. In the latter event the plaintiff may for a court of equity encounter a difficulty in the way of proof cannot interfere to prevent the commission of an act, however
wrongful, merely because the defendant
is

liable to
;

commit

it,

nor even because other people think he will commit it it must be And yet an intention to satisfied that he intends to commit it.

commit a wrongful act

to prove, as a person

is

apt to be one of the most difficult things

intention
;

who has such an

is

not likely to pro-

claim

beforehand by words or deeds and yet these are the only means by which the intention can be proved. If the remedy by way of prevention is not made effective until
it

the commission of the acts sought to be prevented has been begun, the
plaintiff, of course,

needs a double remedy

If
it is

namely, prevention

as to the future,

and

specific reparation or a

compensation in

money
compel

for the past.

a case in which equity can and will

specific reparation, of course the plaintiff will obtain

plete relief in equity, both as to the past

and as to the

future.

how

will

it

be

if

(as

commonly happens) the

plaintiff

comBut can have

36

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

money
bill

only a compensation in

for the past? for the

;

equity will not entertain a

compensation in money for a past tort secondly, first, the remedy at law is perfectly effective On the other hand, if equity does equity cannot assess damages. not give relief for the past tort in the case supposed, the burden of two suits will be imposed upon the parties. To avoid this evil,
namely,
;

On the one hand, mere purpose of giving a and this for two reasons,

therefore, equity will give relief for the past tort

if

the plaintiff will

accept such relief as equity can give.

equity to give relief for a past tort by
of

It

is,

indeed, possible for

way

of

damages

but

it

can

only do so by sending the case to a court of law for an assessment

damages, and that is quite as objectionable as a separate action. however, the tort be one by which the defendant obtains a direct and immediate profit, equity can and will compel him to account
If,

with the plaintiff for such profit

ferred to an action for damages.

and

this relief is

commonly

pre-

Accordingly, in cases of waste,

destructive trespass, and infringement of patents and copyrights,

it is

the constant practice for the plaintiff to pray for an account

as well as an injunction. In cases of nuisance, however, an account

is

direct

seldom asked for, as there are seldom any profits sufficiently and immediate to be accounted for. The next question is, In what cases will equity compel the specific reparation of torts already committed This question can arise, of course, only in reference to such torts as are in their nature capable of being specifically repaired and it does not often arise, except in reference to torts committed by the defendant on
."

his

own

land

{i.e.,

nuisances)

for in other cases the plaintiff

may

generally as well recover damages of the defendant, and then repair the tort himself.
It

must be confessed that the ordinary mode

is

equity

vention.

of giving relief in not as well adapted to specific reparation as it is to preIt is scarcely possible, in the nature of things, for a

tive acts, unless

court successfully to compel the performance of specific affirmathey be of a very precise and definite character,
such, for

example, as

paying

money, producing

documents,

delivering possession of property, and executing conveyances of property and clearly a court ought to be very cautious about
;

it cannot successfully carry out. It is singular, therefore, that courts of equity have confined themselves so exclusively to their favorite mode of giving relief. In cases where

attempting what

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the
to
title
;

37

to property

them

but, in cases

power, courts of
for
tort should

to be affected, no other mode is open which involve only the exercise of physical equity have all the resources which it is possible
is

any court to have. When, therefore, justice requires that a be specifically repaired, it would seem to be much more feasible for a court of equity itself to undertake the repair of it, at the expense of the tort-feasor, than to attempt to compel the latter to repair it. For example, specific reparation in the case of a nuisance is an abatement of the nuisance and there seems to be no good reason why a court of equity should not
;

if justice require its abatement. The ancient law regarded abatement as the proper remedy for a common nuisance and though damages alone can be recovered at law at the present day, that may be only because the actions anciently provided have been superseded by the action on the case.

abate a nuisance,

Courts of equity have shown

little disposition,

however, to try

and hence they seldom attempt to give a remedy for a tort by way of specific reparation. There is believed to be but one instance (and that an ancient one) in cases of waste,^ no instance in cases of trespass, and but few instances in cases of nuisance,^ in which an English court of equity has attempted to give such a remedy. Moreover, notwithstanding what has been said in favor of the abatement of nuisances, it is undoubtedly true that such a jurisdiction should be exercised in modern times with great caution. In many cases of nuisance there is no reason for imputing any intentional wrong to the defendant and it must not be forgotten
of giving relief
;

new modes

that the rights of the latter are as sacred as those of the plaintiff

and,

if

courts of equity find insuperable difficulties in the

arresting an expensive
will

way of work when near completion, much more

difficulties in

they find insuperable

completed.
v.

the

way

of pulling

it

down

when
1

The mere

cost of abating such a nuisance

may

Vane

(the case of

Lord Barnard, 2 Vern. 738; S. C. nom. Lord Barnard's case, Ch. Prec, 454 Raby Castle). According to the report in Vernon the decree directed the

master to see the castle repaired at the defendant's expense.

ever performed or not does not appear.
It is said

Whether the decree was

the defendant's
"

life.

not to have been performed during See Rolt v. Lord Somerville, 2 Eq. Cas. Abr. 759.

The

first

instance

ed.) 588, 2 Cox, 4, Dickens, 703.

Blakemore

v.

of such relief

v. Lord Byron, i Bro. C.C. (Belt's Lane v. Newdigate, 10 Ves. 192, and Glamorganshire Canal Co. I M. & K. 154, In very recent times instances have been much more common.

was in the case

of

Robinson

Then

followed

38
easily

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

exceed in amount the damage which will be caused to the Upon the whole, its being suffered to remain. therefore, it cannot be expected that a court of equity will ever make a decree that a costly building, which has been completed, be pulled down and, if such a decree shall ever be made, there is
person injured by
;

it will be executed. however, an obstacle in the way of obtaining a remedy at law for a permanent nuisance, which has not yet been adverted to. Such a nuisance is a continuing tort, /. e., it is a new tort every

little

likelihood that
is,

There

moment

and the only damages that can be recovered for such a such as have been already suffered and hence the person tort are injured, if he would obtain full indemnity, must sue periodically so
;
;

long as the tort continues.

right to continue

Moreover,

if

he

lets too

long a time

elapse without suing, the tort-feasor

may

acquire a prescriptive

what was at first a tort. If, therefore, a permanent nuisance has been erected, and it cannot be abated, justice would seem to require that the person injured by it .should at least recover at once, and by a single action, a full compensation in money for the injury, and this measure of justice equity may, it seems, grant for, though equity cannot itself assess damages, yet it may have the full amount of the damages which will be caused by the nuisance assessed by means of a feigned issue, and it may then make a decree that the defendant pay the damages so assessed and if the defendant, having paid these damages, shall be afterwards sued at law, he may obtain an injunction against the
; ;

prosecution of the action.

that every tort as such dies with the person and therefore no action at law founded strictly upon a tort ever lies against an executor or administrator as such, or against an heir as such. If, however, the deceased tort-feasor has been enriched by his tort, and his ill-gotten gains have gone to his representatives, justice clearly requires that the latter should restore them to the person injured and accordingly they may be recovered by an action at law, if there be an action, not founded upon the tort, which is adapted to the circumstances of the case. Thus, if a tort-feasor have converted the fruits of his tort into money, an action for money had and received will lie against his executor or administrator. So if the tort consisted in wrongfully taking or detaining property, and the property so wrongfully taken or detained has gone to the executor or administrator, or to the
It is well

known

committing

it;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

heir (as the case

39
of

may
it

be)

of the tort-feasor,

an action

will,

course,

lie

to recover

back.

Frequently, however, there will be

no action at law which will be adapted to the circumstances of the case and in all such cases it seems that equity ought to interfere by compelling a restoration to the person injured of any fruits of the tort which can be found in the possession of the representatives of the tort-feasor. This, however, is not entirely clear upon
;

authority.^
It

has been assumed hitherto that every tort consists in misfeas-

In fact, however, some torts consist in nonfeasance merely whenever the law imposes a duty upon a person, which does not amount technically to an obligation, any failure to perform that duty by which another person is injured (as it is not a breach of
ance.
for
obligation)
tort,
is

tort.

It is generally true that a

misfeasance
;

is

and a wrongful nonfeasance a breach of obligation but the converse is also sometimes true for, as a nonfeasance may be a tort, so a misfeasance may be a breach of obligation. There is,
;

however, a broad distinction, in respect to equity jurisdiction, between misfeasance and nonfeasance and this fact may suggest the propriety of dividing the jurisdiction over torts and contracts into cases of misfeasance and cases of nonfeasance. It certainly is not convenient to consider those torts which consist in nonfeasance, until those nonfeasances are considered which consist of
;

breaches of contract

but neither

is

it

convenient to consider

those breaches of contract which consist in misfeasance until those

breaches of contract which consist in nonfeasance are considered.

Therefore, both classes of cases will be postponed until the jurisdiction over affirmative contracts
is

disposed

of,

i.

e.,

those con-

tracts the breaches of which consist in nonfeasances.

See Bishop of Winchester v. Knight, i P. Wms. 406; Thomas v. Oakley, iS Ves. per Lord Eldon; Pulteney v. Warren, 6 Ves. 72; Phillips v. Homfray, 24 Ch. D. 439.
1

184, 186,

ARTICLE
III.

III.*

Specific Performance.

IT has been stated on a previous page^ that, while equity

remedy by way of prevention,
it

assumes

jurisdiction over torts chiefly for the purpose of supplying a

assumes jurisdiction over contracts chiefly for the purpose of supplying a remedy by way of specific This latter remedy is, indeed, constantly termed spereparation. but that is in strictness a misnomer. The cific performance
;

remedy by way

of prevention is the true specific performance; for

is

to prevent a violation by the defendant whenever the remedy is successful, that But to prevent a defendant object is completely accomplished. from violating a plaintiff's right is to compel him specifically ( i.e., strictly and literally ) to perform his duty to the plaintiff. There " and is, indeed, this difference between the terms " prevention

the object of that remedy

of the plaintiff's right, and,

" specific performance," namely, that the former

is

negative, while

and hence when equity enforces performance of a negative duty, the remedy is properly called prevention, while, if equity did in truth enforce performance of affirmative duties, the remedy would properly be called specific performance. But, in truth, equity does not attempt to enforce performance of affirmative duties, and therefore it does not attempt to enforce performance of contracts, i. e., affirmative contracts. What is comthe latter
is

affirmative

1 I

Harv.

L.

Rev.
28.

355.

2 Supra,

page

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

41

monly called the specific performance of contracts is the doing of what was agreed to be done, but not at the time when it was agreed to be done i.e., not till after the time when it was agreed to be done is past, and hence not till the contract is broken. In order to obtain strict performance of a contract, a bill would of course have to be filed before the time for performing the contract arrived but in fact a bill will not lie ( any more than an action at law will lie ) upon an affirmative contract until the contract is
;
;

broken.
is the reason of this sharp distinction between negand affirmative duties, namely, that a bill will lie to prevent ative a breach of the former, while a bill will lie only to enforce a specific reparation of a breach of the latter.' First, it is a fundamental principle of procedure that, before any application can be made

What, then,

to a

court for relief in

respect

to a right, the
is

right
all

must be
systems
jurispru-

actually violated.
of law

This principle

so universal, in

known

to

Western

civilization, that writers

upon

dence assume^ ( if they do not state ) that no substantive right, whether absolute or relative, will ever support an action that every action is founded upon a right resulting from the violation of a substantive right, the law imposing upon every person who violates a substantive right an obligation to indemnify the person injured, and of course vesting in the latter a correlative right to be indemnified for the injury and hence that the violation of some substantive right is always a sine qua non of the maintenance of an action. It follows, therefore, that all remedies by way of preventing the violation of rights are exceptions to an acknowledged rule and exceptions to an acknowledged rule must never be so extended
;
;

as to destroy the rule itself.

Secondly,

it

tive duties could not

has already been seen^ that the violation, of negabe effectively prevented, unless the court

could provisionally restrain their violation during the pendency of suits to prevent their violation i. e., unless the court could provi;

sionally restrain defendants from doing

certain acts before the

court knows or can know that the acts are such as ought to be restrained. The same thing is equally true of the violation of affirmative duties ( though for somewhat different reasons ) for an
;

affirmative duty
'

is

violated the

moment

a certain length of time

13.

See Holland, Jurisprudence (3d ed.), ch.

'

Supra, pages 28-29.

42

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

happens without
its

elapses, or a certain event

being performed

and, in the great majority of cases, the time for performance would
arrive before a decree for

performance could possibly be obtained.

Could, then, a court of equity restrain the violation of an affirmative duty provisionally and before any trial of the right, as it does
in

case of a negative duty

Clearly not

for

the only
is

way

of

restraining the violation of an affirmative duty

performance of it affirmative duty

and hence any restraint

(/. e.,

of

by compelling the violation of an

final.

is

of necessity (not provisional, but)

To

impose such a

restraint, therefore

to

compel performance of

the duty), before the hearing of the cause, would be to decide the

without any trial, and thus to render though a trial should be had, and should result in establishing that no performance was due to the plaintiff, yet the court could not undo what it had done. It will be seen, therefore, that there is a very broad distinction, in respect to the power of a court of equity to interfere before between restraintrial, between affirmative and negative duties, ing a defendant from acting, and compelling him to act. And yet For example, this distinction has sometimes been lost sight of. where a court of equity is called upon to compel a defendant to undo a tort which he has already committed, i. e., to make specific reparation for a tort, what is required of the defendant is the performance of an affirmative duty and therefore the court cannot properly interfere until the cause is heard, and a decree made in the plaintiff's favor. And yet courts (misled perhaps by the fact that the subject of the suit was a tort) have sometimes compelled defendants to act in such cases by order, made upon motion and not indeed directly, but indibefore the hearing of the cause, rectly, i. e., not by commanding them to undo the tort, but by commanding them not to omit undoing it, as if the distinction between It is affirmative and negative were merely a distinction of words.^ idle to attempt to support such orders by calling them mandatory injunctions, for the reason why an injunction can be granted before not mandatory. the hearing is that it is prohibitory, There is another reason why it is not practicable for a court of equity to enforce strict performance of an affirmative contract, namely, that there is but one day when such performance is possible, i. e., the day when performance becomes due and while it is
cause, and decide
it finally,
;

a trial entirely futile

for,

See cases cited supra, page 37, note

2.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

43

frequently possible for equity to compel a defendant to do an act

against his
it

will, it is quite out of its power to compel him to do on a particular day previously appointed. Finally, it has already been seen-' that equity will not entertain a bill to prevent a breach even of a negative duty, unless it appear that a breach is actually contemplated by the defendant and, as a breach of an affirmative duty consists merely of inaction, it is comparatively seldom that an intention to commit a breach of an affirmative duty can be proved. Upon the whole, therefore, equity never attempts to compel strict performance of affirmative contracts, but contents itself with compelling reparation for breaches of them. This reparation, as we have seen, equity makes specific, so far as possible namely, by compelling the thing to be done which was agreed to be done, though the time when it was agreed to be done is past. Such a reparation will, however, presumptively be incomplete, for the plaintiff will have been kept out of his right from the time when performance was due to the time when it is actually obtained and he will therefore be entitled to compensation for that The measure of such compensation, in case of unilateral injury. contracts, will generally be the actual value of the use and enjoyment of the thing due to the plaintiff during the time that he has been deprived of its use and enjoyment. In case of most bilateral contracts, as the plaintiff is not required to perform until the defendant performs, the measure of the plaintiff's compensation will generally be only the difference, if any, between the benefit that he has derived from the delay in performing his own side of the contract, and the injury that he has suffered from the defendIn an action ant's delay in performing his side of the contract. at law this compensation would be given by a jury in the shape and, as a judge in equity cannot perform the funcof damages tion of a jury in assessing damages, cases may arise in which the plaintiff's compensation for delay in performing the contract will have to be assessed by a jury.^ In most cases, however, equity will be able to ascertain the compensation to which the plaintiff is
; ;

Supra, page

35.
it is

'

For example, when

held that the plaintiS

is

entitled to special
this, see

defendant's delay in performing the contract.

For an instance of

damages for the Cory v. Thames

Worksand Ship-building Co., W. R. 589, L. R. 3 Q. B. 181. In Jaques v. Mil6 Ch. D. 153, special damages, to which the plaintiff was held to be entitled, were assessed by the judge in equity; but this was done under the authority of a statute.
Iron
lar,

44
entitled

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

by its own method, namely, by computation and account. For example, in the common case of a contract for the purchase and sale of land, the proper compensation for delay in paying the purchase-money is legal interest on the purchase-money, while the
proper compensation for delay in conveying the land is the rents and profits of the land. Accordingly, in a suit by a vendee, if the rents and profits of the land exceed the interest on the purchase-

money, the vendee

the vendor,
if

will recover

the difference.

So, in a suit

by

the interest on the purchase-money exceed the rents

and profits of the land, the vendor will recover the difference. This mode of ascertaining the compensation to which a plaintiff is entitled seems not to require any special justification, as it seems that a jury ought, in most cases, to act upon the same principles in assessing a plaintiff's compensation by way of damIn fact, however, equity acts upon a very clear principle of ages. its own, namely, that what ought to have been done shall be conFor example, in case of a contract sidered as having been done. for the purchase and sale of land, if the purchase be completed under the decree of a court of equity, the rights of the parties will be regarded as the same in equity that they would have been at law, or, if the purchase had been completed pursuant to the contract in other words, the completion of the purchase will be held in equity to relate back to the time when by the contract it ought to have been completed. But if the purchase had been completed at the time stipulated for in the contract, the vendee would have had the use and enjoyment of the land, and the vendor would have had the use and enjoyment of the purchase-money from that time and hence it follows that the vendor, having had the use and enjoyment of the land when the vendee ought to have had it, must account to the vendee, and the vendee, having had the use and enjoyment of the purchase-money when the vendor ought to have had it, must account to the vendor. It has been assumed hitherto that the plaintiff alone can recover compensation for delay in performing the contract and yet a a mutual accounting, on the principles before stated, may result in a
;

balance in favor of the defendant.

event recover the balance in his favor

Shall the defendant in that

.'

It

may be

objected,

first,

that a decree cannot be rendered in favor of a defendant as such,

and
file

that,

if

a defendant would have a decree in his favor, he

;

must
file

a cross-bill

secondly, that, even

if

a defendant

should

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

cross-bill,

45

he never could be entitled to a decree in his favor, as he

stands before the court in the light simply of a wrong-doer, and

therefore
is not in a condition to set up any claim in his own favor. Neither of these objections, however, is valid. First, in a suit for

the specific performance of a bilateral contract, the two sides of

which constitute mutual and concurrent conditions, there is, as will be seen presently, no difference between the plaintiff and the defendant as such, i. e., they are both plaintiffs and both defendants, ani any decree which is made is in favor of both and against both.
Secondly, in such a suit
after, that
it

the defendant

does not follow, as will be seen herestill less that the defendant alone

has broken the contract. The contract may have been broken by both parties, or it may have been broken by the plaintiff alone.

Whenever,

any distinction is to be made between the it must be, not between the plaintiff and defendant as such, but between the one who has broken the contract and the one who has not. In most cases, however, no distinction should be made between the parties, so far as regards the mutual accounting, but the vendee should be charged with legal interest on the purchase-money, and the vendor with the rents and profits If, however, a vendee have his of the land, as before stated. money ready at the day fixed for the performance of the contract, and the performance be delayed through the default of the vendor, and the vendee keep himself in constant readiness to perform by letting his money li& idle, he will not be required to pay interest. In such a case, however, the vendee ought to notify the vendor and it would be prudent for him to that the money is lying idle deposit the money in a bank to a separate account, and to notify the vendor that he had done so.' So if a vendor be ready at the day to perform on his part, and the performance be delayed through the default of the vendee, the vendor will seldom, if ever, be liable beyond the rents and profits actually received by him but if performance be delayed through the "default of the vendor, he will be liable for such rents and profits as he might with reasonable diligence have received and if the property have been injured, or have deteriorated in value, through his fault, he will be required to compensate the vendee in damages for the injury or deterioration in value and these damages will frequently have to be assessed by a jury. ^
therefore,

parties to such a suit,

See Cory

v.

Thames Iron Works and

Ship-building Co., supra.

46

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

When

equity enforces specific reparation for the breach of a

bilateral contract, the

two sides
it

of

which constitute mutual and

;

encounters a difficulty of procedure which for, as by the contract is unknown to courts of common law neither party is bound to trust the other, but each may insist that both shall perform at the same moment of time, and as equity enconcurrent conditioris,
forces performance of the contract in every point except that of

time,

it

follows that equity cannot enforce performance

by the
If this

defendant unless the plaintiff also performs concurrently.

were

all,

there would be no serious difficulty, so far as regards

;

procedure
ant,

for then

it

would only be necessary for the court by its

decree to appoint a time and place for performance by the defend-

and to direct him to perform, provided the plaintiff also perThat, however, would be unjust to the defendant for it would impose upon him the burden of making all the necessary preparations, and holding himself in readiness for performing his part of the contract, and yet leave him in a state of complete uncertainty, up to the last moment, as to whether the plaintiff would perform his part. Accordingly, equity says the plaintiff shall not be permitted to blow hot and cold, but that, having elected to have the terms of the contract carried out, notwithstanding the time stipulated for is past, he shall be bound by his election, and shall therefore be compelled to perform on his part. But how can performance be enforced against a plaintiff, against whom no complaint is made, nor any relief asked, and who would not be before the court at all, had he not come before it voluntarily, seeking The difficulty might perhaps be relief against the defendant 1 met by the defendant's filing a cross-bill, praying that, if he be compelled to perform, the plaintiff also be compelled to perform But clearly the defendant is not concurrently with the defendant. bound to file a cross-bill he does not wish to have the contract performed, and he is not bound to assist the plaintiff in his endeavors to compel the performance of it nor will the defendant's
formed.
;
;

a cross-bill justify the court in making a decree against the defendant which, but for such refusal, would be unjust.
refusal to
file

However, courts
difficulty

of equity

have succeeded in surmounting this

without any stretching of their powers, and without doing any inj ustice to either party for they make it a condition of
;

giving relief to the plaintiff that he shall submit to have a decree made against himself also, and indeed they treat a plaintiff as so

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

submitting by implication.

47

made

Accordingly, whenever a decree is performance of a bilateral contract, the two sides of which constitute mutual and concurrent conditions, the court will, if necessary, appoint a time and place for performance, and wiH require both parties to perform at such time and place concurrently and, if either of them refuses or neglects so to perform, he will be punished for contempt on the application of the other. Having thus seen how equity exercises jurisdiction over affirmafor the
;

tive contracts (and

tracts
is

what

is

true in this respect of affirmative conaffirmative obligations,

equally true of
not),

all

whether created
af-

by contract or

we

are prepared to inquire over what

firmative contracts or obligations equity will

assume

jurisdiction.

And

here

it

must be borne

in

mind that we are now dealing only

means
of creating

with the legal rights created by contracts and other obligations.

When
alone
;

contracts or other obligations are the

equitable rights, such rights can, of course, be enforced

by equity and hence equity assumes jurisdiction over such rights as In what cases, then, will equity assume jurisdiction over of course. the legal rights created by affirmative contracts and other affirmaIn all cases in which these two questions can be tive obligations answered in the affirmative, namely First, will a compensation in money be an inadequate remedy for a breach of the contract or other
.'

obligation

.'

Secondly, can equity enforce a specific reparation of

.'

the breach
questions
in

It will
;

be convenient to consider the second of these

first

first

for the

question will arise only in those cases

which the second can be answered in the affirmative. The second question can be easily answered with sufficient accuracy If a contract consists in giving (dandd), for most purposes. equity can enforce a specific reparation for a breach of Accordingly, if it consists in doing {faciendo), it cannot.^ it equity will assume jurisdiction, e. g., over all contracts for buying
;

'

Of course

it is

not meant that

it is

impossible for equity to enforce any contract which

is likely to

consists in doing; but only that the

enforcement of such contracts in equity

not attempt to enforce them.
if

involve so
are,

much

difficulty that equity will

To

this rule there

however, exceptions.

For example, in England

a railway

company purchase land

over which to construct

its line,

and agree, as a part

of the consideration for the sale, to

construct certain works on the land purchased, either with a view to rendering the railway
less injurious to the vendor, or with a

view to affording

facilities to

the vendor for using

the railway, equity will compel the railway

company
is

to construct the works.

Lytton

v.

The Great Northern Railway

Co., 2 Y.
rSlilway

Co., 2

Kay & J.

&

Coll. C. C. 48.
is

This exception

394; Storer v. The Great Western Railway supported by very strong reasons first, the
:

company

paid in advance for constructing the works; secondly, the vendor

48

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and selling and for exchanging one thing for another, if a commoney be an inadequate remedy for a breach of them but it will not assume jurisdiction, e.g., over contracts for services or building contracts. In what cases, then, will equity deem a compensation in money an inadequate remedy for the breach of a conHere again a distinction must be tract which consists in giving ? taken between those contracts which consist in giving something which is specified and identified by the contract, and those which consist in giving something of the kind, quality, or description specified in the contract. In cases belonging to the second class, it seems that a compensation in money will always be an adequate
pensation in

remedy

for a breach of the contract

for the thing contracted for

cannot be worth more to any one than the sum of money for which it can be purchased in the market, and that sum will be the measure of the compensation which a jury will give for a breach
of the contract.
It cannot, therefore,

be very material to the per-

who has contracted for the thing whether he receive the thing itself or a sum of money with which he can purchase the thing.^
son

In cases belonging to the first class, on the other hand, there is but one thing in existence which will satisfy the contract. If, therefore, that one thing has a value in the eyes of the person who contracted for it, which cannot be measured by money, or a greater

money

value than

it

can properly have in the eyes of a jury,

it is

clear that a compensation in

money will not be an adequate substitute

is

is more amenan ordinary private individual. Another exception (founded however upon very different reasons) is where an informal agreement is made to enter into a formal contract. Although the informal agreement, in such a case, consists in doing, yet it is as easily enforced as any contract which consists in giving; for all that the defendant is required to do is to sign (or sign and seal) and deliver the formal contract, when the latter has been drawn up (under the direction of a Whenever, therefore, Master, if necessary) in conformity with the informal agreement. damages will not be an adequate remedy for a breach of the informal agreement, equity will compel an execution of the formal contract. Accordingly, an informal agreement to

cannot construct the works himself; thirdly, an English railway company

able to the authority of a court of equity than

insure

(j.^., to

issue a policy of insurance) will be enforced in equity;

for, if

the insured

should bring an action at law, he would recover only nominal damages.

It is possible,

indeed, that the insured might recover for a loss in an action at law without a policy; but,

even if he could, the loss would constitute a separate and distinct cause of action, and would not affect the right of the insured to have a policy. 1 The English courts have, however, made one extraordinary exception to the rule that such contracts will not be enforced in equity, namely, in the case of contracts for the purchase and sale of shares in companies. This exception was first established by the case of Duncuft V. Albrecht, 12 Sim. 189. That case has not generally been followed, however, in this country.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

for the thing itself.

49

But here an important question arises, namely, whether the jurisdiction of equity will depend upon the nature of the thing contracted for, or upon the views and intentions of the person who contracts for it in the particular case. If it depends upon the former, it is a question of law, and it should be the subif it depends upon the latter, it is a question ject of settled rules of fact, and hence the fact must be tried as often as the question Unfortunately, the question cannot be answered unqualiarises. but, for the most part, the jurisdiction of equity fiedly either way undoubtedly depends upon the nature of the thing contracted for. To make it depend upon the actual views and intentions of one of the contracting parties would be subject to two very serious objecfirst, that the decision of the question of jurisdiction would tions involve a ruinous expense both to the parties and to the public secondly, it would involve an inquiry which a court of justice can seldom enter upon with much chance of getting at the truth, and which, therefore, it should never enter upon except from necessity. Upon the whole, it may be said that the jurisdiction will depend exclusively upon the nature of the thing contracted for, wherever the court can see its way to laying down an absolute rule but where it cannot, it would be too much to say that all evidence as to the views and intentions with which the thing was contracted
; ; : ;

for in the particular case will be excluded.

In what cases, then, will equity assume jurisdiction over a contract

nature of the thing

on account of the do so, first, whenever the thing is land, or any interest in land, or any incorporeal thing material to the enjoyment of land secondly, whenever the thing is a vessel,
in giving a specified thing
It will
.'

which consists

or any interest in a vessel

thirdly,

whenever the thing

It

is

chattel for which no substitute can be obtained, or for which a

substitute can be obtained only with great difficulty.

must be

confessed that this

also, there are

last rule

is

somewhat vague

but

we must

choose between a vague rule and no rule at all. Unfortunately, but few precedents by which the application of this

rule can be illustrated.

One

in the peculiar rule of our

reason of this will doubtless be found law respecting the sale of chattels (other

than vessels)

namely, that the

moment

that a contract

is

made

for

the sale of a chattel, the

1

title to

the chattel passes from the seller

statement in the text assumes that the juris-

Hart

V.

Herwig, L. R. 8 Ch. 86o.

is

The
4

diction of equity

not interfered with by registry acts.

See infra, page 62, note 2.

so

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

In consequence of this rule, the right of a puris commonly a right of property from
a right resting upon contract.

to the purchaser.

chaser of a specific chattel the beginning,

not

There

is,

however, a rule of equity jurisdiction, which is so strictly analogous to the one under consideration, that the precedents which illustrate
the application of the former will illustrate the application of the latter also, namely, the rule that a bill in equity will lie to recover the possession of a chattel wherever a compensation in

money

would be an inadequate remedy.

hereafter.
It is

That

rule will be considered

obvious that contracts which consist in giving specified

;

and yet it is commonly only one of the parties to the contract who is to give a specified thing; and even if a specified thing is to be given by each party, yet the thing to be given by one may be of such a nature as to give a court
things are almost invariably bilateral
of equity jurisdiction over the contract, while the thing to

be given

by the other
which
over
is

is

not.

How,

then,

is

the question of equity jurisdic-

tion to be dealt with in case of a bilateral contract, one side of

of such a nature as to give a court of equity jurisdiction
.'

but the other is not It must first be whether the two sides of the contract are or are not mutually dependent upon each other. If they are not, they are to be regarded, for the purposes of the question now under consideration, as two separate unilateral contracts for in such a case the two sides of the contract can never be the subject of any one suit (unless, indeed, a suit and a cross-suit be regarded as one suit), and therefore the question whether equity has jurisdiction over one side of the contract is always independent of the question whether it has jurisdiction over the other side of the conIt is upon this ground that the decision rests in the importract. tant case of Jones v. Newhall ^ for, though performance by the plaintiff was there dependent upon performance by the defendant, yet the converse was not true on the contrary, performance by the defendant was a condition precedent to performance by the plaintiff. Consequently, though the defendant, on paying or tendering the purchase-money, could have maintained a bill in equity for a conveyance of the land, yet the plaintiff could not maintain
the contract,
ascertained
; ; ;

bill to

fectly adequate

recover the purchase-money, his remedy at law being pernor could he, it seems, even though performance
;
I-

115 Mass, 244.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

by him had been a condition precedent
defendant
;

Si

to performance by the though he could not in that case have recovered the purchase-money at law until he had conveyed the land, even though he were prevented from conveying the land by the defendant's refusing to accept it, and could only recover special damages for the breach of the contract by the defendant by which he was prevented from conveying the land, yet it seems that special damages are always an adequate remedy for a breach of contract by a vendee which prevents performance by the vendor. When, however, the two sides of a bilateral contract are mutually dependent upon each other, as they almost invariably are in contracts for the sale of property, equity cannot, as we have seen, enforce performance of one side of the contract, unless it enforces performance of the other side also. Therefore, if one side of such a contract be of such a nature that equity cannot enforce it, then it cannot enforce the other side either. If, therefore, A and B agree that shall serve B for one year, and that B shall convey to A a certain piece of land, and B break the contract by refusing to permit A to serve him, yet A can have no relief in equity, as equity cannot compel performance by A. It is true that, in this case, the two sides of the contract happen not to be mutually dependent, because performance by A is a condition precedent to performance by B ; and if could perform his side of the contract without the
for

cooperation of

(i.

e., if

equity would enforce performance by

first

could not prevent performance by A), B at the suit of (A having

performed on his part), though it could not compel performance by A at the suit of B. But, as B can prevent performance {i. e., as cannot perform without B's cooperation), the case by

is

if the two sides of the contract were mutually dependent upon each other. On the other hand, if both sides of the contract be of such a nature that

the same in respect to equity jurisdiction, as

equity ought to enforce

equity can enforce them, and one side be of such a nature that it, then equity will enforce both sides,

though the other side consist merely, e. g., in the payment of money and this equity will do, not only at the suit of the party who is entitled to come into equity from the nature of the thing for which he has contracted, but at the suit of the other party as well.
;

Accordingly,
as

it

has never been doubted that a vendor of land has

much

right to enforce performance of the contract in equity as

the vendee.

This right of the vendor cannot, indeed, be demon-

52
strated.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Equity might have refused to assume jurisdiction, except at the suit of the vendee, without committing any absurdity, and Courts perhaps without doing any clear injustice to the vendor. of equity have preferred, however, in this as in other cases, to adhere to their favorite

maxim

that equality

is

equity.

what cases equity will assume jurisdiction over contracts, it remains to inquire under what circumstances equity will give relief to a plaintiff who sues upon a contract. As such a plaintiff founds his suit upon a legal right, the circumstances under which he is entitled to recover are generally the same in

Having thus seen

in

equity as at law, but not always.

It is

always in the discretion of

;

a judge in equity whether he will aid a legal right

and hence he

may

refuse relief to a plaintiff

who

sues upon a contract, though

It follows, there-

the plaintiff's right to recover at law be conceded, and though equity confessedly have jurisdiction of the case.
fore, that

more may be required

fact.

of a plaintiff

who

sues in equity
;

upon a contract than would be required of him at law

is

and more

required in

First,

it is

not sufficient in equity that a conit

tract

be under

seal,

nor even that

;

be supported by a sufficient

.must also be supported by a consideration which equity regards as sufficient. Generally a considit

common-law consideration
is sufficient

eration which

at law will

be

sufficient in equity also,

but but

not always.
at

For example, one

dollar

is

a sufficient consideration
;

law to support a promise to convey the largest estate

it

equity would not enforce performance of such a promise, even

though

were under

seal.

So a consideration which
sufficient at

is

sufficient

in equity will generally

be

law

also,

but not always.

For example, a desire

to reconcile a father to the marriage of his

son will be a sufficient consideration in equity for a promise to convey an estate to the son, though it is no consideration at law.^ If,
therefore, such a promise be under seal, equity will enforce
it

be not under seal, equity will not enforce it, because it is In short, as by the civil law an agreement must not valid at law. have a "cause" {causa) in order to create an obligation,^ so in equity it must have a " cause " in order to be enforced in equity
but
if it

and

this " cause " is not precisely the

same thing
if

as our " consider-

ation."

Secondly, equity will not enforce a contract

1 ^

its

enforcement

Wiseman

v.

Roper,
Traitfe

Ch. Rep. 84.

See Pothier,

des Obligations, 42-46.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

will

S3

not be conducive to justice.

If it appear, therefore, that

the

has overreached the defendant, or has taken advantage " of his ignorance or inexperience, or has driven a "hard bargain
plaintiff

with him, in short, if it appear that he has not exercised entire good faith towards the defendant in obtaining the contract, though he have been guilty of no such fraud as would prevent his recovering at law, yet equity will leave him to such damages as a jury
will gi-ve him.

Thirdly, equity considers

in uncertainty

it

as unjust for a defendant to

will

and suspense as to whether he

;

perform the contract or not as to whether, e. g., estate or convey it to the plaintiff. In particular, equity considers
it

be kept be required to he is to keep his

as unjust for the plaintiff to speculate at the defendant's ex-

pense,

to sue

at

law or

in equity, according as

events happen-

ing after the breach of the contract render specific performance or

damages most

for his interest.

is

If,

therefore, there is satisfactory

seeking specific performance only because of events which have happened since the contract was
evidence that a plaintiff
broken, the
bill will

be dismissed.
plaintiff's
it

And, even
bill

any such evidence, a

will

ground of laches, unless

was

filed

absence of be dismissed, on the promptly, and has been

in the of

prosecuted with diligence.^

according to circumstances
tiff

The amount

delay which will

it

constitute laches cannot, indeed, be precisely defined, as

;

varies

who

but the only safe course for a plaindesires specific performance is to use as much diligence
of a

as

is

reasonably practicable.
court of equity to enforce specific perform;

The power
ance
is

by the defendant's ability to perform nor can a defendant be imprisoned for not performing a decree which he is unable to perform, as he is guilty of no contempt. If, therefore, the cooperation of a third person be necessary to the perof course limited

formance of a contract, it is a sufficient excuse for the defendant that such third person refuses to cooperate, even though the defendant expressly bound himself to procure his cooperation and this rule holds, even though the third person be the defendant's
;

is not an inability which any court and therefore inability is never an excuse for not performing a decree for the payment of money.

wife.

Mere

poverty, however,
;

can recognize

1 If,

rale stated in the text will not apply.

however, a vendee of land be in possession of the land under the contract^ the Mills v. Haywood, 6 Ch. D. 196, 202.

54

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

An

inability in a

vendor to make a good

;

title is

a legal (not a

and therefore it is no excuse in the mouth of the vendor for not doing all the physical It is an exacts necessary for the performance of the contract. cuse, however, in the mouth of the vendee for not performing the contract on his part. Moreover, the court takes upon itself the burden of ascertaining whether the vendor has such a title as the vendee is bound to accept and that, too, whether the vendor or the vendee be plaintiff in the suit. Thus, if the vendor be plaintiff, he is not required either to allege or to prove that his title is good, nor is the vendee required to allege or prove the contrary but the pleadings and proofs assume that the plaintiff is able to make a good title and, if the questions raised by the pleadings and proofs be decided in the plaintiff's favor, a decree is made that the contract be specifically performed, provided the plaintiff be able to make a good title, and that the cause be referred to a Master to ascertain and report whether a good title can be made. So, though the vendee be the one who seeks specific performance, he is not regarded as submitting to perform on his part, except upon condition that he can have a good title and, therefore, if a decree be made in his favor, it must be in the same form as when the vendor is plaintiff, unless the vendee declare himself satisfied with the vendor's title, and waive any reference to a Master in regard to it. The result is, therefore, that a reference as to title is an incident to every specific performance in equity of a contract for the purchase and sale of land, unless such reference be waived by
physical) inability to perform the contract
;

the vendee.

make a good title to a part of the land not to the remainder, the vendee will be entitled, at his sold, but
If

a vendor be able to

and to have the deducted from the purchase-money. So if the vendor's title be defective as to the whole of the land, and the vendee elect notwithstanding to have the contract performed, the latter will be entitled to have a deduction made from the purchase-money on account of the defect of title, provided the amount to be deducted can be ascertained with reasonable accuThus, if the land be merely subject to a pecuniary encumracy. brance (e. g., an ordinary mortgage), the vendee will be entitled to
option, to a specific performance as to the former,
relative value of the latter

have the amount of the encumbrance deducted from the purchasemoney, he indemnifying the vendor against the encumbrance. So

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

if

55

a vendor,

who has contracted

life

to

only an estate for

or lives, or for years, the

convey the fee-simple, have amount which

ought to be deducted from the purchase-money, on account of the But where the defect of title, can be ascertained without difHculty. defect in the vendor's title is of such a nature that' there are no definite data by which to estimate the amount that ought to be deducted from the purchase-money on account of it, the vendee will not be entitled to specific performance, except upon the terms of paying the full amount of the purchase-money.^ vendor may be unable fully to perform his contract in consequence of something that has happened to the property since the making of the contract, as where the subject of sale is land and

making of the contract, the buildings are In such a case the vendee will be entitled, at his option, to have a conveyance of the land, with a deduction from the purchase-money of the relative value of the buildings.
buildings, and, after the

destroyed by

fire.

who cannot recover on have a specific performance in equity 1 To say that there are such cases would seem at first sight to be equivalent to saying that a plaintiff who has no legal right may sometimes recover in equity upon the ground that he has a legal right. The law may, however, refuse to recognize a right, because, if a right were recognized, the law would have no adequate means of enforcing it, or no means of enforcing it without giving the plaintiff more than he would be entitled to, and thus doing injustice to the defendant and, in such a case, if the reason why the law refuses to recognize the right does not exist in equity, the right may be recognized in equity without any violation of law, though in strictness the right will then be equitable, not legal. At all events, there is an important class of cases in which
Are there any
cases in which a plaintiff,

a contract at law, can nevertheless

equity, rightly or wrongly, gives relief to the party in

legal right created

whom

the

by the contract

is

vested, though, confessedly,

at law.

such party could not recover in an action

ferred to are those in which, the

The

cases re-

the covenant or promise of the defendant is subject to the implied condition that the plaintiff's covenant or promise shall be performed either before the defendant's or concurrently with it. If
bilateral,

contract

being

the condition be express, and the plaintiff break his covenant or

promise

{i. e.,

break the condition on which the defendant's cove1

See infra, page

58.

56

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

nant or promise depends) in ever so slight a degree, he can never recover against the defendant, either at law or in equity. The reason is obvious, namely, that by the terms of the contract no performance is due to the plaintiff. And the rule at law is the
same, though the condition be implied, so long as no part of the But if the plaintiff have performed contract has been performed. his covenant or promise in part before committing any breach of
is then modified, and only requires the perform his covenant or promise so far as is essential and the only effect of a breach by to its main scope and object the plaintiff in points not essential will be (not to disable the plaintiff from enforcing the defendant's covenant or promise, but) to
it,

the implied condition

plaintiff to

enable the defendant, to recover damages against the plaintiff for the breach.
tiff

In equity, on the other hand, a breach by the plain-

it be only in points not from enforcing the defendant's covenant or promise, even though no part of the plaintiff's covenant or promise have been performed, unless performance by the plaintiff be made by the contract an express condition of performance by the defendant. In justification of this difference between law and equity, it may be said that when a plaintiff, who has broken his own covenant or promise, is permitted to enforce at law the covenant or promise in his favor, no allowance can be made to the defendant for the plaintiff's breach, but the plaintiff will recover as if he had fully performed on his part, and the defendant must indemnify himself by suing the plaintiff in turn. In equity, on the other hand, the compensation in money to which the defendant is entitled for the plaintiff's breach will be ascertained in the plaintiff's suit, and will be deducted from the amount to be paid by the defendant, or added to the amount to be paid by the plaintiff (as the case may be); and this, too (on the principle

of his

own covenant

or promise,

if

essential, will not disable the plaintiff

already explained), without the necessity of the defendant's filing

any
in

cross-bill.

If this difference in

why the common law

procedure were the only reason has a different rule from that which prevails

equity, the justification of equity

may be

alleged in support of the

common-law

would be complete; but it rule (with what

presume to say) that courts are just as an implied condition as they are by an express condition, unless some event has happened since the making of
force the writer will not

much bound by

the contract which introduces a

new element

into the case.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

S7

The rule in equity being, however, as stated above, it often happens that bills for specific performance are filed by parties who have themselves broken the contracts on which they sue and as often as this is the case the question arises whether the plaintiff's breach goes to the essence or not. In case of an obligation merely to pay money, a breach can never go to the essence, as interest on the money is always, in legal contemplation, full compensation for Therefore, a purchaser of land can never lose the the breach. right to specific performance by a mere breach of the contract, though he may easily lose it by delay or laches. In case of an obligation to give a specified thing, a breach by the plaintiff may consist either in a failure to give the thing on the day when by the
;

contract

it is it

due, or in a failure to give

in the condition in

or to give

which

it

some portion of it at all, was agreed to be given.

A breach of the first

kind is a breach in time merely, and generally such a breach does not go to the essence. For example, it is not

presumably of vital importance to the purchaser of an estate whether he get the estate to-day or to-morrow, or even whether he It is always open, however, to a purchaser get it this year or next. to show that he purchased the estate with a particular object in view, which object was known to the seller, and that that object has been defeated by the seller's delay in performing the contract and then the seller's breach will go to the essence. So time may, it seems, be of the essence of a contract for the purchase and sale of property from the nature of the property, e.g., where the property
is

constantly diminishing in value, as a

life interest,

or constantly
if

increasing in value, as a reversionary interest.

So
;

a contract
its

contain an express declaration that time shall be of

essence,

such declaration will be binding upon the court for the only ground upon which a court can hold that any given breach does not go to the essence (or rather, perhaps, that any given breach of an implied condition by the plaintiff does not disable him from
enforcing the contract against the defendant)
parties, actual or
is

the intention of the

Such a declaration has, therefore, the same effect as that of making the performance of the contract by each party expressly conditional upon its performance by the
presumed.
other party.
It is often said that

time
is of

is

not of the essence of a contract in

;

equity, as

if

equity differed from law in that respect

but that

is is

a mistake.

Whatever

the essence of a contract at law

S8
of
its

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

essence in equity
the question
is

also.

It

would be strange

if

so, since

entirely one of construction,

it were not and the con-

struction of a contract ought to be the

real difference
;

same

in all courts.

The

between equity and law is the one already adverted to namely, that at law it is not material whether a breach goes to the essence or not, unless there has been part-performance. If a breach of an obligation to give a specified thing consist in
a failure to give

some portion
it

of the thing at
to

all,

or to give

it

in

the condition in which

be given, there is no presumption that the breach does or does not go to the essence but it seems that the defendant will always have to satisfy the court
;

was agreed

that the breach does go to the essence, in order to protect himself against specific

performance.

The question
case
is

is

always referred
plaintiff,

to a Master.

The most common

is
;

where the

a ven-

unable to perform the contract as to part of the land for want of title and in that case the Master is directed to

dor of land,

inquire whether the part of the land to which the plaintiff has no
title is If

"material " to the enjoyment of the residue.

title fails

a vendor of land be unable fully to perform his contract,

as to a part of the land, but because there which extends to all the land, the breach will always go to the essence, however small the flaw may be, unless, indeed, it be so small as not to be a flaw at all in legal contemplaIn other words, a purchaser of land will never be compelled tion. to accept a defective title, with a compensation in money for the defectiveness of the title. The reason seems to be that it is impossible to measure a flaw in a title by a money standard.^ If A and B make an agreement with each other for the purchase and sale of land,- and A commit a breach of the agreement by failing to perform at the time agreed upon, B will be entitled at law to rescind the contract and he will be entitled to rescind it in equity also, unless A have a right to specific performance on the ground that the breach committed by him did not go to the essence. B, therefore, immediately upon his committing a breach, may file a bill to have the contract rescinded and A can resist a decree for rescission only by obtaining a decree for specific performance and, in order to obtain such a decree, he should file a
is

not because his

a flaw in his title

cross-bill.
j

If

a contract be

made

for the purchase

1

and

sale of land

which

See supra, page

55.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

has buildings on
stroyed by
clearly fall
it,

59

and, after the

making

of the contract, but

before the conveyance of the land, the buildings be casually de-

At law it will fire, upon whom will the loss fall? upon the vendor in all cases. The buildings belong to the vendor, and res perit suo domino. If the loss happen before the time fixed for completing the purchase has arrived, the vendor will be unable to perform the contract on his part, and, therefore, he can never enforce it against the vendee. The vendee will not,
indeed, be able to enforce the contract against the vendor either, because the act of God will excuse the latter from performing his contract qua contract, though it cannot relieve him from the consequences of failing to perform it qua condition. The contract, therefore, will never be performed, nor will any liability be incurred for not performing it. Each of the parties to the contract will, therefore, be in the same situation as if the contract had never been made. If, on the other handjthe loss happen after the time fixed for completing the purchase is past, it will equally follow that the contract will never be performed, for it will have been broken by either the vendor or the vendee, or by both. If broken by the vendor, his liability in damages will not be reduced by the loss if broken by the vendee, the vendor's right to damages will not be enlarged by the loss if broken by both parties, of course neither will be able to recover against the other, and it will be as if the contract had never been made, or as if it had been rescinded by mutual consent.
; ;

What is the rule in equity in such a case Clearly it ought to be the same as at law, if the loss happen before the time fixed for completing the purchase has arrived for in that case the consequences of the loss will be the same in equity as at law, namely, that the vendor will be unable to perform the contract on his part.
.'

It is true that

equity

may enforce

the contract against the vendee,

;

notwithstanding the destruction of the buildings

but

if it

does,

it

must do so because the breach of condition by the vendor did not go to the essence of the contract, and hence the performance by the vendee must be with compensation for the loss of the buildings, i. e., the value of the buildings must be deducted from the purchase-money to be paid by the vendee. If, on the other hand, the fire happen after the time fixed for completing the purchase is past, the loss will in equity fall upon the vendee i.e., the vendor will be able to throw the loss upon the vendee by enforcing
;

6o
specific

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

performance of the contract in equity, assuming, of course, The reason that he is in a condition to enforce such performance. contract is enforced in of this is that, when performance of a equity, the performance is held to relate back to the time fixed by the contract for its performance and hence, if performance be enforced in the case supposed, equity will regard the land as having
;

belonged to the vendee when the loss happened.

Such

is

the rule which ought to prevail in equity, and which

;

formerly did prevail

for they
1

but, since the time of

courts of equity have drifted into great confusion

now

hold^ that a loss by

fire

Lord Eldon, English upon this subject, which happens any time
am
P.

" If I should buy an house, and, before such time as by the articles I
for the house."

to pay for

the same, the house be burnt

pay
220.
is

/Vr

Sir

down by casualty of fire, I Joseph Jekyll, M. R., in

shall not, in equity,

be bound to

Stent

z/.

Bailis, 2

Wms.

217,
It

The same rule was

till

acted upon by Lord Eldon in Paine v.

tjie

Meller, 6 Ves. 349.

true that the purchase there was to be completed on

29th of September, while the

fire

did not happen

the igth of

December

following;

but the time for completing the

purchase had been extended by the mutual consent of the parties; and Lord Eldon held
that the vendee

must bear the

loss,

provided he had been put in default by the vendor

before the loss happened, but not otherwise.

2

Poole
first

V.

Adams, 12 W. R. 683; Rayner

rule;
for

the the

of these cases, Kindersley,

common-law

In v. Preston, 14 Ch. D. 297, 18 Ch. D. 1. V. C, seems to have supposed that he was following he said it was " clear that the contract remained good at law
fire

[i. e.,

notwithstanding a loss by

before the time for performing the contract arrived],

for breach, in refusing to

and that the purchaser might have been sued

his purchase-money."
It

complete and pay

just cited

seems impossible

to reconcile either of the

two cases

Macpherson, 5 Moo. P. C. 83. In the latter case, there was an agreement for a lease of land and buildings by the plaintiff to the defendants. Before the
with that of Counter
v.

lease

was made, the buildings were partly destroyed by fire.

The

fire

happened after the

day fixed for performing the agreement, i. e., for making the lease, but the time had been extended by mutual consent (as in Paine v. Meller, supra), and at the time of the fire there had been no breach of the contract by either party and the court held that the plain;

upon the terms of restoring the buildings to the condition in which they were before the fire, and in other respects performing the conHence it was held that the loss fell upon the plaintiff as well in equity, tract on his part. as at law; and the court declared that upon such a question equity had no rule of its own, but followed the law. It is true that the defendant's obligation to perform was conditional on performance by the plaintiff, but so it was in all the cases in which this question has arisen. In all of them alike, too, the condition was implied, not express. This was emphatically the case in Counter v. Macpherson, as there was there no formal writing whatever, the agreement having been made out entirely by letters written by the parties respectiff

was

entitled to specific performance only

tively to

each other.

It is also true that the

agreement in Counter

precedent, to be performed by the plaintiff;

eration, there
is

no difference

Macpherson contained a condition under considbetween a condition precedent and a concurrent condition.
v.

but, in respect to the question

Moreover, every vendor of land has a condition precedent to perform, according to the English practice, namely, that of showing a good title.
Finally,
it is

true that one of the conditions to be performed

by the

plaintiff in

Counter

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

after the

making oi the contract

falls

upon the vendee, thus holding

performance of a contract enforced in equity relates back to the time of making the contract. Such a doctrine appears sufficiently extraordinary without adverting to its consein effect that the

quences.

When

an act done at one time

is,

relates to a different
;

time, the relation

of course, a legal fiction

is

and the only

that

justifi-

cation for the adoption of a legal fiction

perfect justice can be done.

thereby more

In regard to the performance of a

its

its being performed at performance; and therefore the reason is obvious why a performance enforced in equity should relate to that time but what possible reason can exist for making such a performance relate to the time of making the contract, i. e., to a time when neither party was bound either ta perform or to accept performance Such a relation is, in its consequences, much worse than no relation at all for the worst consequence of the latter would be that the law would not succeed in doing perfect justice, while the consequence 'of the former may be that the law will inflict the greatest injustice. For example, what greater injustice could be inflicted than by shifting the consequences of an act of God from A, upon whom it has fallen, to B, upon whom it did not fall, who was confessedly in no way responsible for the act, and who has done no wrong whatever to A, whether by committing a tort or by breaking an obligation } Moreover, the English courts do not carry out their doctrine to all its legitimate consequences. For example, to be consistent, they ought to require a vendor to account to the vendee for the rents and profits of the land from the time of making the contract, and they ought to require the vendee to pay interest on the purchase-money from the same time and yet the time from which they actually require both is

contract, the perfection of justice consists in

the time fixed in the contract for

.'

V.

Macpherson was of a kind not often found except in agreements

for leases, namely,

the repairing of the existing buildings and the erection of a

new buildingj but that intro-

duced no new element into the case. Had there not been such a condition, there woiJd have been another, namely, that of leasing the property in the condition that it was in at
the date of the agreement; and the effect of
is

damage by fire upon each of these conditions

fire.

the same, namely, that of making

it

impossible for the owner to perform the condition

without repairing the damage caused by the

Upon
was a

the whole, there appears to have been but one material distinction (though that
v. Macpherson and Paine v. Meller; namely, that in had apparently performed upon his part, and the defendant was in while in the former the plaintiff had not fully performed on his part, and so, of the defendant was not in default.

decisive one)

between Counter

the latter the plaintiff

default,

course,

62

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

It
is

the time fixed for the performance of the contract.

difficult to

not

understand why they have not gone wrong upon these

latter points.

To

require a vendee to pay interest on the purchase

is

money

before the principal

due, would be too palpable a dis;

to require the vendor to account for the rents

and of course it would not do and profits of the land, unless he is to receive interest on the purchase-money. Moreover, the computing of interest on purchase-money and the
regard of the terms of the contract taking of accounts of rents and profits of lands are matters of daily experience in cases of specific performance, as to which the practice has

never changed, and as to which the established forms of

decrees have prevented the courts from going astray.

But what

has blinded the courts to the obvious fact that, in cases of specific
is to be computed, and accounted for, is the time to which the perthe rents and formance relates ^ One answer to this question may be found in the notion which has extensively prevailed, that a contract to convey land is in equity an actual conveyance that there is in equity no difference between an actual conveyance and a contract to convey.^

performance, the time from which interest

profits
.''

" If in equity these premises belonged to the vendee, he would have a

profits at

title

to the rents

Michaelmas by relation; and he must pay the purchase-money with interest from that time." Per Lord Eldon, in Paine v. Meller, 6 Ves. 349, 352. ^ The obstinacy of this error is strikingly illustrated by the case of Hughes v. Morris, 2 De G., M. & G., 349, where it was decided that a purchaser of shares in a British vessel

and

could not have specific performance of the agreement for the purchase and sale, because

such agreement did not conform to the requirements of the Registry Act respecting the
actual transfers of vessels, the court holding that specific performance

would make the

purchaser a part-owner of the vessel in equity from the date of the agreement, and thus violate the provisions of the statute. Knight-Bruce, L. J., said (p. 355) : " What the legis-

was not merely the passing or not passing of what we call the legal whenever property in a vessel should be changed, it should be changed in a particular way. Now, whether there is a sale, or a contract for a sale, can make no difference. A contract for a sale is, in the view of a court of equity, a sale; whether an actual transfer is made is of no consequence, if a transfer is agreed to be made, because that which is agreed to be done is, in the view of a court of equity, for many purposes, held to be done." Lord Cranworth, L.J., also said (p. 358) "The provision of the act being that a transfer shall not be valid for any purpose whatsoever, the argument is that a
lature

had

in view

estate, but that

may make a party to it the owner in That would be to get rid of the whole policy of the statute,- namely, that there should be the means of tracing from the original grand bill of sale the ownership for But if the doctrine be right that is contended for, this need not appear in any all time. document from the very first sale." It will be seen, therefore, that the view of the court
contract, although not valid to transfer the property,
equity.

was that to allow specific performance of agreements fo r the purchase and sale of British vessels would be to enable owners of such vessels to nullify the Registry Act by separating the beneficial from the legal ownership, just as owners of land formerly nullified the

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

63

But how did such a notion ever become prevalent ? It derives no countenance from anything that is actually done in suits for specific performance and yet it is only in suits for specific performance that it can ever be maintained that the ownership of land has been changed in equity by a mere agreement to change it. Perhaps the notion originated partly in a mere misunderstanding of the rule that a performance of a contract enforced in equity relates back to the time when it ought to have been performed for it has been common to express that rule by saying that whatever is agreed to be done is considered by equity as done. It is believed, however, that the notion had its chief source in the doc;

trine of equitable conversion,

i.e.,

in the doctrine that land will

sometimes be regarded by equity as converted into money and money into land, though no conversion have in truth taken place. This doctrine has been adopted for the purpose of giving effect to the intentions of the owners of property in regard to the destination of their property after their deaths.
his will direct a certain piece of land to

Thus, if a testator by be sold after his death,

law relating to the legal ownership of land by separating the use of the land from the land itself. And if it be true that an agreement to convey is, in equity, an actual conveyance, the view of the court was right. It is certain, however, that a mere agreement
to convey is very far from being, in equity, an actual conveyance. It is only by specific performance that equity ever converts an agreement to convey into an actual conveyance. By specific performance, however, equity converts an agreement to convey into an actual conveyance at law as well as in equity. How, then, can specific performance impart to

an agreement to convey any further effect or operation in equity than it has at law ? Only by making the performance of it relate back. Even, therefore, if equity made every
performance (whether compulsory or voluntary) of an agreement to convey relate back to the date of the agreement, it would by no means follow that an agreement to convey
would, in equity, be an actual conveyance.

The

operation of such an agreement in equity

.., it
it

would

still

be wholly dependent upon

its

operation at law,
Since, then,

could never operate in

equity unless

and

until

it

operated at law.

is

only such conveyances as

are actually enforced in equity that relate back,

are

made (even
If
it

of land), not

an agreement

to convey is

and since, of all the conveyances that one in a million is enforced in equity, the statement that in equity an actual conveyance seems extraordinary.

be said that the actual decision in Hughes w. Morris does not involve the proposition that an agreement to convey is in equity an actual conveyance, and that the decision

may be

supported upon the ground that the agreement there in question,

enforced, would have

become by

relation a conveyance in equity

if it had been from the date of the

would thus have violated the

fiction,

agreement, or at least from the time fixed for the performance of the agreement, and statute, the answer is, that such a relation, as it is a mere
created by equity for the purposes of justice,
is

entirely within the control

of equity;

in equity,
therefore,

lowed; in

of a conveyance enforced by no means a necessary incident of such a conveyance; that whenever, such a relation would work injustice or violate a statute, it should be disalshort, that if such a relation was the only objection to specific performance
is

that such a relation, though a usual incident

64

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

its

but make no disposition of either the land or

will in equity

proceeds, though

the land will at law descend to the testator's heir, yet the executor

be entitled to have it sold, and, when sold, the purchase-money will in equity be part of the personal estate. And even though the testator, in the case supposed, devise " all his
of the agreement in question, the consequence was, not that specific performance should

be refused, but that specific performance pure and simple should be granted, i. c, specific performance without any relation back. Such, it seems, should have been the decision for
;

as the statute prohibited

in equity, except in the

any

transfer of ownership in a British vessel, whether at law or

mode

prescribed,

it

followed that the contract in question could

not create any equitable ownership in the vessel (McCalmont v. Rankin, 2 De G., M. & G.

403; Coombes v. Mansfield, 3 Dr. 193; Liverpool Borough Bank v. Turner, I J. & H. 159, 2 De G., F. & J. 502) ; but if, as the court assumed, the contract created a legal right, it was no more a violation of the statute to enforce that right in equity by
giving specific reparation than to enforce
it at law by giving damages. seems that the court, in dismissing the bill, did proceed upon the idea that an agreement to convey is in equity an actual conveyance; that the consequence of enforcing the agreement in question would be to make it an actual conveyance

Upon

the whole,

it

in equity from its date,

and

that, too, jiot

by

relation, but

independently of relation; that

the operation of a contract as a conveyance in equity was not a consequence of specific

performance, but that the latter was a consequence of the former; that the question,
therefore,

which the court had

to decide

was not whether equitable

relief

should be

given for the violation of a legal right, but whether the agreement could, without a

an equitable right in the plaintiff, and impose an equitaupon the defendant, i. c, create between the plaintiff and the defendant the relation of trustee and cestui que trust. It would seem to be a sufficient answer to such a view to say that, if it be well founded, a vendee of land has no occasion to file a bill for specific performance, promptly or otherwise that he may always base his right to go into equity upon his
violation of the statute, create

ble obligation

character of cestui que trust; that, instead of filing a bill for specific performance, he

an account would possess at it would rei. e., that the plaintiffs right to an account would not be at all affected by the fact that he had not paid the purchase- money. There is however a difference in respect to the question under discussion, between such agreements and a unilateral agreement to convey property. It seems that an agreement of the latter kind, i.e., an agreement to convey property already paid for (see Rayner v. Preston, 14 Ch. D. 297, 18 Ch. D. 1), would have the effect of changing the equitable ownership of the property immediately, by making the vendor a trustee for the vendee and, therefore, any subsequent injury to the property by the act of God would fall upon the vendee. The latter has parted with his money, and he has acquired nothing in exchange for it but a right to a conveyance of the property. If the vendor be ready and willing to execute such conveyance in proper form, that is all that the vendee can require of him and the fact that, since the payment of the money and the
may,
e. g.,
file

bill

for

an account.

Indeed, a

bill for

one signal advantage over a bill quire no performance by the plaintiifF,

least

for specific performance, namely, that

making

been injured by the act of God will not enable the vendee either to recover back his money, or to recover damages for a breach of the agreement. A bill to compel the performance of such an agreement has indeed the characteristics of a bill by a cestui que trust against a trustee, rather than of a bill
for the specific performance of a contract.

of the agreement, the property has

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

land " to A, yet

6$
the

A will

take no more than a naked legal

title to

piece of land directed to be sold.

Nor

is

a will the only means

by which an owner
of
it.

He

of property can effect an equitable conversion can also convert his land into money by a contract to

'tract to

'

money into land by a conbuy land and if he died intestate after making such a contract, though before performance of it, his heir may, in the one case, be compelled by the executor to convey the land, though the purchase-money will go to the executor, while, in the other case, the executor may be compelled by the heir to pay for the
sell

the former, and he can convert his

;

land,

though the land

will

be conveyed to the

heir.

Moreover,

this equitable conversion undoubtedly takes place the moment the contract is made i. e., the conversion, when actually made, will
;

back to the time when the .contract was made. Why Because the equitable conversion depends upon the intention of the owner of the property, as shown by his making the contract. But this, surely, has nothing to do with the relations between the vendor and the vendee, and consequently nothing to do with the question whether the ownership of the land has passed from the vendor to the vendee. It is a matter entirely between one of the contracting parties and his representatives, and in regard to which the other contracting party neither has any right, nor is subject to any duty. In a word, it is not the contract qua contract that effects
relate
.'

the equitable conversion, but the contract as expressing the intention of one of the parties to
it

in reference to a matter within his

exclusive control.

We

J
to the subject of the jurisdiction of equity over

now come

which do not amount to obligations. Although any perform a duty of this kind (as it is not a breach of obligation) is a tort, yet, as it consists merely in non-feasance, it is closely analogous, in respect to equity jurisdiction, to a breach of
legal duties
failure to

an affirmative contract or other affirmative

ample, as equity cannot prevent the

obligation.

For
it

ex-

latter, so

neither can

the

former
latter.

and therefore

specific reparation is the

it is

utmost

relief that

equity can give in respect to the former, as

in respect to the

There

are,

however, important differences in respect to

equity jurisdiction between affirmative contracts and legal duties, whether the latter amount to obligations or not. For example,
all

legal duties (or at least all that equity

would ever attempt to

enforce) are unilateral, and therefore the enforcement of

them
to

never involves any of those

difficulties
5

which are peculiar

66

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

On
the other hand, legal duties generally

bilateral contracts.

consist only in doing, while affirmative contracts consist in giving

as well
is
;

and, as the jurisdiction of equity over affirmative contracts

it

mostly confined to those which consist in giving,

follows that

the exercise of this latter jurisdiction will seldom furnish a precedent for equity's assuming jurisdiction over legal duties. Indeed,
the difficulty which equity experiences in enforcing a specific repa^
ration

which consists

in

doing

is

precisely the same, whether the

thing to be repaired be the breach of an affirmative contract or of

of course, that the latter

a legal duty, or be a tort which consists in mis-feasance, assuming, is one which is in its nature capable of
;

being specifically repaired and, therefore, the rule, as to equity's assuming jurisdiction, ought to be, and generally is, the same in And hence it follows that, as equity will seldom all these cases. enforce specific reparation of a tort which consists in mis-feasance, or of the breach of an affirmative contract which consists in doing, so it will seldom enforce a specific reparation of a breach of a legal For example, an owner of a particular estate in land is subduty. the legal duty of keeping the estate in repair, and a breach ject to
of that duty constitutes that species of
;

tort called

permissive

waste but as equity will not enforce specific reparation of a breach of a contract to repair, so it has been long settled that equity will not enforce specific reparation of permissive waste.^ It has been shown on a previous page ^ that equity might enforce specific reparation of torts

which consist

in

mis-feasance in
so,

many

cases in which

it

has hitherto declined to do

and that

it

ought to do so whenever a specific reparation is necessary for the purposes of justice. And the same argument is applicable to breaches of affirmative contracts which consist in doing,^ and
to breaches of legal duties.

In the foregoing observations upon the jurisdiction of equity over legal duties, reference has been had to such legal duties only There are important legal as are imposed by the common law. duties imposed by the canon law but the jurisdiction of equity
;

upon different considerations from those hitherto presented, and the treatment of it will therefore be postponed until we come to the jurisdiction of equity over canon-law
over these depends
rights.
1

See Lord Castlemaine

Lord Craven, Z2 Vin. Abr. 523,

i

pi.

n.

a
'

Supra, pp. 36, 37. See Clark v. Glasgow Ass. Co.,

MacQueen, 668, 670.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

As

6;

non-feasance

the jurisdiction of equity over those torts which consist in {i. e., negative torts) is analogous to its jurisdiction

over affirmative contracts, so the jurisdiction of equity over those contracts which consist in non-feasance {i.e., negative contracts)

analogous to its jurisdiction over torts which consist in mis-feasance (i.e., affirmative torts). In respect to the mode in which equity exercises its jurisdiction over them respectively, the analogy between a negative contract and an affirmative tort is perfect. Thus, the ordinary mode of exercising equity jurisdiction over each is by granting an injunction to prevent a breach of the one or a commission of the other, and it is this mode alone which measures the extent of the jurisdiction which equity will exercise over each. So if a negative contract have already been broken, or if an affirmative tort have already been committed, the only relief that equity can give (except incidentally), either for the breach of contract or for the and the reasons for giving or withholdtort, is specific reparation
is
;

Finally, if an injunction be granted to prevent the breach of a negative contract or the commission of an affirmative tort, equity will incidentally give relief, in the one case, for any breach of the contract already committed, and, in the other, for any tort already committed, if the case be one which admits of any relief which equity can give, e.g., an account of profits and the principle upon which equity gives such incidental relief is the same in each case, namely, that of pre;

ing that relief are the same as to each.

venting a multiplicity of
1

suits.

-^

In respect to the jurisdiction of equity over breaches of contract already comis no analogy between affirmative and negative contracts. In strictness there can be but one breach of an afifirmative contract, as the slightest breach of such a contract is a breach of the entire contract, and puts an end to it. There can, in
mitted, there
strictness, therefore,

once been broken.

ance of a series of

be no performance of any part of an affirmative contract which has This is true even of those contracts which require the performapparently independent of each other.

acts,

For example, though

a contract for the purchase and sale of chattels provide for a delivery in instalments, yet a breach as to any instalment will be a breach also as to
all subsequent instalments. one breach, so it can create but one cause of Therefore, if an action at law be brought for a breach of an affirmative contract, action. damages will be given upon the whole contract, and the judgment in that action will be

As an

affirmative contract admits of but

a bar to any future action.

all, it

Hence,

if

equity assume jurisdiction over such a contract at

full
relief.

must assume jurisdiction over the entire contract, and give

It

cannot

give relief as to a part of the contract,

and leave the

plaintiff to

sue at law as to the

remainder.

It

made the

subject

would be a wrong to a defendant to permit a single cause of action to be Moreover, equity can never permit an of two actions against him.

action at law to be brought

upon a cause of action which has been the subject of a

decree in equity.

68

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

In respect, however, to the extent of the jurisdiction exercised

by equity over them respectively by way of prevention, and the reasons for which it is exercised, there is little analogy between a negative contract and an affirmative tort. If, indeed, a negative contract consist in not doing an act the doing of which equity would prevent as a tort, then equity will also prevent the doing of For example, if a tenant covenant with it as a breach of contract. his landlord not to commit waste on the demised premises, the landlord can have an injunction against the committing of waste by the tenant, either on the ground that it would be a tort, or on the ground that it would be a breach of contract. But the converse
of this does not hold
;

for equity will frequently prevent the breach

it

of a negative contract, though

is

consist in not doing an act

is

which

not such a tort as equity will prevent, or (which

is

generally

the fact)

not a tort at

all.

Nor
cised

is

there

much analogy between negative and

affirmative

contracts, in respect either to the extent of the jurisdiction exer-

by equity over them, or the reasons

itself

for its exercise.

It is

doubtless true that the mere fact

is

of a contract

never in

a reason
it
;

why

being negative equity should not exercise

cases

jurisdiction
in

over

and,

therefore,

may

possibly arisp

which equity

will enforce a negative contract,

is

independently of the fact that the contract

cases will be very rare.

and yet proceed negative but such

;

yet the jurisdiction exercised by equity over negative contracts is much more extensive than that
exercised over affirmative contracts.

And

Whenever, therefore, equity

it will be found to be almost invariably true that the jurisdiction rests entirely upon

exercises jurisdiction over a negative contract,

the fact that the contract

that

is negative. In what cases, then, will equity assume jurisdiction over a contract upon the single ground
it is

negative

.'

First,

it

seems that equity will always restrain

if
it

a breach of a unilateral covenant or promise,

for, if

be negative

a covenant or promise

is

unilateral,

it

follows that the con-

negative contract, on the other hand,

may be capable of an

breaches, each breach constituting a separate

indefinite number of and independent cause of action. In such

a case, therefore,
in future,
It

does not follow, because equity has jurisdiction to prevent breaches has jurisdiction, also, over breaches already committed. must be admitted that legal duties are analogous to negative contracts in respect
it

that

it

to the

number

of breaches of which they are capable.

duties,

Yet, as equity seldom assumes

of them,
it

jurisdiction over legal

and never prevents breaches

will rarely
is

happen

that the jurisdiction of equity will be affected by the fact that a legal duty

capable of

an

indefinite

number

of

breaches.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

sideration for
it

69

has already been received,

fully paid for
;

i.

e.,

that the covenant

or promise has been

and, as equity can restrain a

breach of a negative covenant or promise without difficulty, it is not thought consistent with justice to permit a person who has given such a covenant or promise, and who has the consideration
for
it in his pocket, to break his covenant or promise at his pleasure, and thus to leave the covenantee or promisee to such indemnity as a remedy which may he can obtain by an action for damages, prove worthless, after the expense of obtaining a verdict and judgment has been incurred, because of the insolvency of the defendant.i Secondly, though a negative covenant or promise constitute one side of a bilateral contract, yet if the negative covenant or promise be not dependent upon the covenant or promise which constitutes the other side of the contract, it seems that equity will

In such a case, as the performance of the negative covenant or promise is absolutely due to the covenantee or promisee, the effect is the same as if the negative covenant or promise were unilateral, so far as regards the question now under consideration.^ Thirdly, though a negative covenant
restrain a breach of the former.
I admit it. I remember a go on the stage, and his uncle gave him a large sum of money in consideration of his covenanting not to perform within a particular district the court would execute such a covenant on the ground that a valuable consideration had been given for it." Per Sir L. Shadwell, V. C, in Kimberley v. Jennings, 6 Sim. 340,
1

" 1 1 is said that the contt may execute a negativ e contract.

case in which a

nephew wished

to

351.

And

see the

observations of Lord Cotteuham in Dietrichsen v. Cabburn, 2 Ph.

52, 57-

A common instance of a covenant which is negative

fore, equity will enforce, is

and

unilateral,

and which, there-

a covenant not to carry on a particular trade or business

within a particular

district.

Williams v. Williams, 2 Swanst. 253, 332;

RoUe

v. Rolfe,

i5Sim.88; Swallow .Wallingford,i2jur. 403; Whittaker . Howe, 3 Beav. 383. And see Lumley v. Wagner, i De G., M. & G. 604, 610-611. It seems that the defendant's agreement was unilateral in Hills v, CroU, 2 Fh. 60. See See also the report of the case in I Real Prop, and reporter's note, pp. 62-63. Conv. Cases, $4', 553- Undoubtedly the defendant would have been at liberty to purchase acids elsewhere, unless the plaintiff would supply him with acids; but that seems to have been no valid objection to granting an injunction against the defendant's purchasing acids elsewhere, provided the plaintiff would supply him. See I Real Prop, and Conveyancing Cases, 541, 555.

The

case of Catt v. Tourle, L, R.

held to be enforceable in equity, because

4 Cb. 654, furnishes another instance of a covenant it was negative and unilateral. There, also,

the defendant would be entitled to obtain beer elsewhere, if the plaintiff did not supply him with beer of good quality and at a fair price. Hence the observation just made upon Hills V. CrolL in respect to the form of the injunction, is applicable also to this
case,

Thus

in

Kemble

v.

Kean, 6 Sim. 333, the defendant made an absolute and binding

January, 1829, not to play in

promise to the

plaintiff, in

London during the then

current

70

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

or promise constitute one side of a bilateral contract, and be dependent upon the covenant or promise which constitutes the other side of the contract, yet, after full performance of the latter, equity will restrain a breach of the former for, when one side of a
;

bilateral contract is fully performed, the other side

lateral.

becomes

uni-

Fourthly, though a negative covenant or promise constitute one side of a bilateral contract, and be dependent on the covenant or promise which constitutes the other side of the con-

if the latter have been performed in part, and there have been as yet no breach of it, equity will restrain a breach of the former;^ but if an injunction be granted in such a case, and afterwards there be a breach of the covenant or promise which constitutes the other side of the contract, the injunction will have to be dissolved, unless the covenant or promise which constitutes the other side of the contract be of such a nature that equity can enforce it.^ Fifthly, if a negative covenant or promise constitute one side of a contract which is partly unilateral and partly bilateral, the negative covenant or promise will be independent of the other side of the contract, unless it be made expressly dependent and

tract, yet,

It it seems that that promise would have been enforced by injunction. must be admitted, however, that such a case is not so strong as that of a purely unilateral

season; and

covenant or promise.
'

Dietrichsen v. Cabburn, 2 Ph. 52.

It seems, therefore, that the plaintiff

it

was

entitled

to an injunction in Hills v. Croll, supra, though

on the part of the plaintiff, upon performance by the plaintiff.

be assumed that there was a promise and even that performance by the defendant was conditional
See reporter's note, pp. 62, 63-64.

For the reason stated in the text, it seems that the plaintiff was entitled to an injunc. See infra, p. 71, note 2. tion in Fothergill v. Rowland, L. R. 17 Eq. 132.
It

seems

to

be a

fatal objection to the decision in

Lumley

v.

Wagner,

604, as well as to that in Donnell v. Bennett, 22 Ch. D. 835, that there

DeG., M. & G. had been no

part-performance by the
2

plaintiff,

Wedderburn, 3 Kay & J. 393. There may be instances in which the practice stated in the text may be applied to affirmative covenants and promises, provided For example, in Brett v. the latter be of such a nature that equity can enforce them. E, I. & L. Shipping Co., 2 H. & M. 404, if the only breach committed by the defendants had been in omitting the plaintiff's name from their advertisements, it would seem that
See Stocker
v.

the court might have

made

a decree requiring the defendants to insert the plaintiff's

name
to

in their advertisements, leave being given to the defendants to apply to the court

be relieved from such decree, in the event of there being a breach of the contract by
In Peto . B. U.
acts

the plaintiff.

was that the

& T, W. Railway Co., I H. & M. 468, the obstacle in the plaintiffs way which he sought to have restrained were not a breach of the defendants' If there had been a covenant or promise by the defendants not to do the acts contract. in question, it seems that the plaintiff would have been entitled to an injunction.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

if

71

independent,

equity will restrain

a breach

of

it.^

Sixthly,

though the foregoing propositions are in terms limited to the case where a negative covenant or promise constitutes the whole of one
side of a contract, yet
it is

immaterial, so far as regards the ques-

tion of equity jurisdiction, whether a single negative covenant or

promise or several negative covenants or promises constitute one side of a contract. Seventhly, it will be no objection to enforcing a negative covenant or promise in equity that such covenant or promise constitutes only a part of one side of a contract, theremainder being affirmative, if the latter be of such a nature that equity can enforce that also ^ or if the negative part be so separate and distinct from the affirmative part that the former ought to be performed, whether the latter be performed or not ^ or if there have been as yet no breach of the affirmative part;* but if an injunction
;

negative covenant in a lease

is

an instance of

this.

Barret v. Blagrave, 5 Ves. 555,

6 Ves. 104; Hooper v. Brodrick, 11 Sim. 47. In W. & W. Railway Co. I1. h. & N. W. Railway Co., L. R. 16 q. 433, the defendants were in effect lessees of a line of railway, the
plaintiffs

being the
supra,
if

lessors.

In Hills V.

Croll,

the contract was not purely unilateral,

it

at least partly so, in

consequence of the payment of the;^zcxj by the

plaintiff;

seems that it was and if so,

the plaintif{ was for that reason entitled to an injunction.

2 It

seems that equity had no jurisdiction over the affirmative part of the defendant's

contract in
*

W, & W. Railway

Co.

1/.

L.

&

N.

W.

Railway Co., supra.

Such was

in terms the nature of the negative promise in

if

Kimberley
it

Sim. 340; but the court held that,

such was
it.

its

true construction,
v.

v. Jennings, 6 was so hard a

it

bargain that equity would not enforce

In Rolfe

Rolf e,

15

Sim. 88,

does not ap-

pear that there was an affirmative covenant by the defendant, William Rolfe, to serve the
plaintiff as a cutter;

but,

even

if

there were, the negative covenant was wholly distinct

from

it.

In

W. & W. Railway
v,

Co. v. L.
I.

&

N. W. Railway
it

Co., supra, in Donnell v.

Bennett, supra, in Brett v. E.

supra, and in Fothergill

&

L. Shipping Co., supra, in Hooper v. Brodrick,

Rowland, supra,
that

seems that the affirmative covenants

the

covered

all
;

the

ground

was covered

by

negative

covenants,

but

not

that alone

that, therefore,

though every breach of the negative covenant in each of

those cases would be also a breach of the affirmative covenant, the converse was not true.

In

all

such cases,

it

seems that equity may enforce the negative covenant, though the

affirmative covenant be broken,

*

and equity be not able to enforce

that.

Morris v. Colman, 18 Ves. 437; Dietrichsen v. Cabburn, supra. In Kemble v. Kean, supra, and in Lumley v. Wagner, supra, the defendant's covenants

were both

affirmative

and negative, both the

affirmative

and the negative parts had been

broken, the court had no jurisdiction over the affirmative parts, and the affirmative and
negative parts were so inseparably connected that the latter could not properly be en-

The decision, therefore, in Lumley v, Wagner Kemble v, Kean. A consequence of the decision in the plaintiffs favor was that a part of the contract was enforced after the contract was at an end, and after a right had accrued to the plaintiff to recover full damages
forced unless the former were performed. ought,
it

seems, to have followed that in

for its breach.

Moreover, the defendant

still

remained

liable for full

damages

at law,

notwithstanding the decision against her in equity.

72

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

be granted on this latter ground alone, it will have to be dissolved in the event of the affirmative part being afterwards broken.^ Care must be taken not to assume unwarrantably that a contract contains a negative covenant or promise for it does not follow, because a breach of a covenant or promise may consist of acts of mis-feasance, that therefore the covenant or promise is negative. Accordingly it seems that there was no negative promise in Smith V. Fromont ^ and that fact alone was a sufficient ground for refusing an injunction. Whether a covenant or promise is affirmative or negative does not necessarily depend, however, upon the terms in which it is expressed for it may in truth be negative, though it contain no negative terms. For example, in Clarke v. Price,^ if the true construction of the contract was, that while the defendant was not bound to report cases for publication, yet if he did do so the plaintiff was entitled to publish them on the terms specified in the contract, it would seem to follow that the defendant's promise was purely negative, i. e., not to employ any other person than the plaintiff as a publisher, and not to be his own publisher and hence that an injunction ought to have been granted.* The same observation is also applicable to the case of Baldwin v. So. for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.^ So, in Hills v. CroU, the defendant's promise would seem to have been purely negative, namely, to buy of no one but the plaintiff, and to sell to no one but the plaintiff and, if so, the injunction clearly ought to have been In Hooper v. Brodrick there would seem to have been granted. an implied negative agreement not to use the house for any other business than inn-keeping, provided a license could be obtained. In W. & W. Railway Co. v. L. & N. W. Railway Co., though the agreement was wholly affirmative in form, it was partly negative in effect and the same thing is true of Fothergill v. Rowland. Finally, in Catt v. Tourle, the agreement, though affirmative in
; ; ; ; ;
;

form, was wholly negative in effect.

I *

See supra, page 70, and note The agreement between the

2.

* 2

Swanst. 330.

'

2 Wilson, 157.

parties, as finally modified,

was

for the sale to the

plaintiff of all the cases that the

defendant should report, at a fixed price, namely,

for every sheet of 16 printed pages.

'

9 Sim. 393.

ARTICLE
IV.

IV}

Bills for an Account.

IT
its

may have

occurred to the reader to ask

why

the jurisdiction
is

exercised by equity over contracts and other obligations

jurisdiction

designated as specific performance, since equity always exercises

by compelling performance, and always makes

such performance as specific as it is practicable to make it, and since the performance which equity enforces, in cases of contracts and other obligations, is no more specific than it is in other cases.

The answer

performance by equity, but to indicate the reason and the object of the juristhe reason being that a compensadiction assumed by equity, tion in money is an inadequate remedy, and the object therefore

to this question seems to be that the term " specific " is used, not to indicate the nature of the relief given

being to afford a remedy by way of specific performance or specific reparation. In other words, the term " specific perform-

ance " is used, not to indicate that such cases differs from the relief cases, but to mark the distinfction equity and the relief given at law

the relief given by equity in which equity gives in other between the relief given by
in

such cases.

Accordingly,

when
tracts
'

(as is often

the case) equity assumes jurisdiction over con-

-..

and other

obligations, not because a compensation in ,.

I

money
,

I.

.1

..

^ 2

Harv.

L. Rev. 241.

74
is

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

an inadequate remedy for a breach, but for some other reason,

when

in fact the relief given is the same in equity as at law, the jurisdiction is never namely, a compensation in money, designated by the term "specific performance." The precedingiarticle comprised all that it was proposed to say upon the subject of specific performance but it remains to speak

of three

important classes of cases in which equity assumes juris-

diction over contracts or other obligations,

relief
;

and yet gives no other

than a compensation in money namely, first, bills for an account secondly, bills in the nature of an action of assumpsit, or
;

bills of

equitable assumpsit

thirdly, creditors' bills,

i.e.,

bills filed

by creditors

of persons deceased against the executors or adminis-

trators of the debtors to

compel the payment of the debts.

Bills for an Account.

gation to render an account.

an account must be founded upon an obliWhat then is the nature of such an obligation, and when does it exist ? In strictness this question does not belong to the subject of these articles but the obligation to render an account is so little understood, It was that a knowledge of it cannot properly be assumed. formerly well enough understood by common-law lawyers, but, with the disuse of the action of account, nearly all knowledge of It might be supposed that what comit has been lost by them. mon-law lawyers ceased to know in this regard, equity lawyers would have learned but such is not the fact. Partly from an in-

Every

bill

for

disposition

among

equity lawyers to study common-law learning,

which common-law lawyers regard as obsolete, and partly for another reason, the obligation to account has never been well understood by equity lawyers. The other reason is the wide, indeterminate, and vague sense in which the term "account" has always been used in equity. It has been usual to call all bills in equity which may involve a reference to a master to take an account of any kind or for any purpose (and such bills are many in number and very diverse in character) bills for an account, especially as often as it has been found necessary to give them
that

name

in order to sustain

them

in point of jurisdiction;
bills

and

the fact has not been recognized that such

are true

bills for

an account only when they are founded upon a legal obligation to render an account, and that in all other cases they rest upon some other principle in point of jurisdiction.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

The
tract,

7$

obligation to render an account

is

is

not founded upon con-

Of course terms a promise or a covenant to render an account, or a bond may be upon the condition that the obligor render an account, and such promise,^ covena^t,^ or bond^ may support an action at law, but neither of them will ever create an
but
created by law independently of contract.
in

there

may be

obligation to account, any

more than a promise

debt
;

to pay a definite

sum

of

money

will create a

for

if

the facts from which the

law raises such an obligation do not exist, the obligation will not exist, notwithstanding such promise, covenant, or bond and if such facts do exist, the law will raise the obligation to account independently of the promise, covenant, or bond, and the latter will be entirely collateral to the former.* What then are the facts which must exist in order to induce the law to raise an obligation to account ? First, the person upon whom such an obligation is sought to be imposed (and whom we will call the defendant) must have received property of some kind not belonging to himself for otherwise he will have nothing to account for or to render an account of. At common law there are only three classes of persons who can incur an obligation to account namely, guardians, bailiffs, and receivers and a guardian, a bailiff, or a receiver is a person who receives property belonging to another. As to a guardian or a receiver this is obvious and it is equally true as to a bailiff. Indeed, "bailiff" has the same derivation and the same meaning as " bailee," each of them signifying a person to whom property is bailed or
; ;
; ;

delivered.
If

such be the rule at

common
;

law, of course the rule in equity

for
it

must be the same

tion of equity.

in substance

is

the
it

common

law that

creates the obligation, the enforcement of

It is not,

being alone the func-

indeed, necessary in equity to describe

bailiff,

a defendant as a guardian, a
maintain a
bill
is
v.

or a receiver, in order to
;

against

show
1

that he

an account nor is it necessary to one of these rather than another but it is indisfor
;

him

Spurraway
Barker
v.

Rogers, 12 Mod. 517; Wilkin

v.

Wilkin,

Salk. 9,
i

Show.

7'>

Comb.
2 8 *

149, Carth. 89;

Owston
I 5, I

v.

Ogle, 13 East, 538;

Topham v,

Braddick,

Taunt. 572,

Thorold,

Wms.

Saund. 47.
i

Vere
I

v. Smith,

2 Lev.

Ventr. 121; Anon,

pi. 5,

L. P. R. (ist ed.), 32.

I

Rol. Abr.,

Accompt (A),

8;

Hawkins

v. Parker, 2 Bulstr. 256,

pi. 14.

Rol. Abr.,

Accompt (A),
pi. 60.

pi. 15, I

Rol, Rep. 52; Anon., Dyer, 51,

See Bro. Abr., Accompt,

76

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

all

pensable that he have in truth the qualities of one, of two, or of three of these classes of persons.

between a bailiff and a receiver are important. one who receives money belonging to another for the sole purpose of keeping it safely and paying it over to its owner. If the thing received be anything else than money, the receiver is a bailiff and so he is, though the thing received be money, if he have any other duty to perform respecting it than that of keeping it safely and paying it over, if, e.g., he be bound to employ it for the profit of its owner and hence the rule that a receiver ad merchandisandum is a bailiff.^ Moreover, whether a person be accountable for property as a bailiff or as a receiver depends upon the original receipt, and not upon the state of things existing at the time when the question arises. Therefore, one who has received property as a bailiff is still a bailiff, though the property have all been converted into money, and the only duty remaining be to pay the money over to its owner.^ In short, "once a
distinctions
is

The

A receiver
;

bailiff,

always a

bailiff " is
is

the rule.

The term

"bailiff"

not in popular use in this country; and

even in England its popular use, as applied to persons who are under an obligation to account, is confined to persons who have charge of land belonging to others, and who are accountable for the rents and profits of such land.^ Still, in law, both in England and in this country, every factor or commission-merchant is a bailiff in respect to the goods consigned to him for sale.* Secondly, the person seeking to impose the obligation (and whom we will call the plaintiff) must be the owner of the property in respect to which the obligation is sought to be imposed. In other works, ownership by the plaintiff must concur with possession by the defendant. Until these two things co-exist, the obligation to account cannot exist and when they cease to co-exist, the obligation to account will cease to exist. If, therefore, the property be received by the defendant under such circumstances that it be;

Rol. Abr.,

Accompt

(O), pi. 4, 5.

" If a writ be against the defendant as receiver,

for which

a declaration upon a receipt

is

ad merchandisandum,
2).

he

is

chargeable as

bailiff,

not good."
" I '

Rol.

Com. Dig,, Accompt (E. Abr., Accompt (F), pi. 2, 3;

Bro. Abr., Accompt,

pi. 53.

And

this

popular meaning seems to have once been the legal meaning.

See

Vin.

Abr., Account (X),pl. i;

4

Anon., Keilw. 114,

pi. 51.

See Godfrey
as a

v.

Saunders, 3 Wilson, 73, where a factor was sued and declared

against

bailiff.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

comes
his

77

belonged to the plaintiff up to that moment, no obligation to account will ever arise. Thus, when the defendant receives money belonging to the
the
receives
it,

own

moment he

though

it

plaintiff,

but receives
it

it

under such circumstances that he has a

right to appropriate

to his

own

use,

making himself a debtor to

a debt,

the plaintiff to the same amount, and the defendant exercises such
right, the receipt of the

money

will

create

not an
it

obli-

gation to account.

So

if

the plaintiff's

title

to the property be

transferred to the defendant, after the latter has

received

and
the

become accountable
defendant
sell

to the plaintiff for

it,

the defendant's accountcease.

ability for the property will

from that moment

plaintiff's

Thus,

if

property as the

factor, receive the pro-

ceeds of the sale and appropriate them to his

own
;

use, debiting

himself with their amount, his accountability will thereupon cease,

provided he had a right to do what he has done

thenceforth be a debtor only
;

i. e.,

he

will
his,

moment when
he

the property became

and he will be accountable up to the and from that moment

be accountable and will become a debtor. Thirdly, the defendant must not receive the property as a mere
will cease to
If,

bailee.

therefore, the property consist of land or of goods, the

it

defendant must receive

either for the purpose of

converting
it

it

money way that it may yield

into

by sale, or for the purpose of

employing
is

in such a

a profit or income for the benefit of the owner. the more

it

When

the property consists of goods, a sale

common

object of the defendant's employment;

when
is

consists of land,

the more

common

object
is

is

the receipt of the rents and profits. the defendant

When

the object

sale,

accountable for the

is

corpus of the property received;

when the
is

object

the receipt of
is

the rents and profits or other income, the defendant only for the
latter.

accountable

When

the object

a sale, the only measure

of the defendant's accountability is the property received

by him

when the

object

is

the receipt of the rents and profits or other

is measured by the length employment has continued, as well as by the property received by him. If the property received consist of money, the defendant must not be bound to restore to the plaintiff the identical coin received by him for, if he is, he will be a mere bailee, e. g., if the money be sealed up in a bag.^ So he must not, as has been seen, have

income, the defendant's accountability

of time; that his

"If one receive

lie

to iriy use

money

sealed

up

in a bag, as

my

servant, account does

not

against him."

F.

N. B. 116Q,

n. (d).

"

If ; 40 is delivered to

render account

78

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

money
received to his

a right to appropriate the

own

use, for

then

he can be only a debtor. But he must receive the money either to keep for the plaintiff, or to employ for the plaintiff's benefit and yet his obligation must be capable of being discharged by returning to the plaintiff (not the identical money received, but) any money equal in amount to the sum received. For money cannot possibly be employed so as to yield a profit or income, without losing its identity and though it may be so kept as to preserve its identity, yet the duty of so keeping it will, as has been Moreover, such a mode of seen, make the keeper a mere bailee. keeping money is very unusual, and such a mode of keeping another person's money would presumptively be very improper, for the recognized mode of keeping money is to deposit it with a banker and yet by so depositing it its identity is lost, for the
;

moment
latter
It will

it is

deposited

it

becomes the property

to the depositor in the

of the banker, the

same amount. be seen, therefore, that in respect to the question under consideration, money differs from land or goods in at least three particulars first, a receiver of money frequently becomes a debtor instead of a bailee, though the object for which he is made receiver is safe custody merely, as in the case of a banker secondly, a receiver of money, not being a banker, may be, and commonly is, accountable for the money received, though he receive it for safe custody merely, because, though not a debtor, yet he is not bound
:

becoming indebted

to preserve the identity of the

of

money

received

thirdly, a receiver
cor-

money,

if

accountable at
is

all, is

always accountable for the

pus, since

it

impossible that a receiver of

money should be

bound

to account for profits

money received, and yet be bound made by employing the money. One who receives money for which he is accountable may
to return the identical
it

always deposit

who

receives
lies

money

with a banker, and in that respect he is like one for which he becomes a debtor but, unlike
;

account

well; but

if it is

delivered to re-bail
pi.

not, but detinue."

Bto. Abr., Accompt,

51.
to

when defendant is required, account lies " If money be delivered to render an

keep
until the plaintiff shall require it " In account as receiver, it is a good

account, account

lies;
lie,

but

if it

was delivered

account doth not

but detinue."

Brownl. 26.

plea in bar that the money was delivered to him to carry to London to a Lombard, to make exchange, and to receive letters of exchange, and to send them to plaintiff, which he had done accordingly. For this is equivalent to saying that he never was bis receiver
to render account;
for this

was delivered to him

pi. 7.

to

count."
pi. 14.

Rol. Abr.,

Accompt (M),

Compare

exchange, and not to render aci Rol. Abr., Accompt (N),

See, also, F. N. B. 119 D, n. (d).

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY

the
latter,

JURISDICTION.

79

able with his

he must never mix the money for which he is accountown money and, therefore, he must always deposit
;

the former to a separate account.

The measure
receiver
is

of accountability in case of
is

safe custody merely

the amount

of

money received for The money received.

he has no authority to

not accountable for

profits, for
is

employ the money.^

i.e.,

Of course he
;

not bound to pay interest,

of accountability
it

out of his

own pocket
is

for

an obligation to pay interest

would imply that he

in case of

a debtor.

The measure
money

money

received for the purpose of employing

is

for the

benefit of the plaintiff

the amount of

received, and also

the length of time that the defendant has had

Fourthly, in order that one

it.

may be

accountable for property, he

must have received

is

it

into his possession

and under

his control
it

it

not sufficient that he merely have the custody of

as the

servant of the owner.^ Nor does this distinction depend at all upon whether the servant be of low grade or of high grade. He may be a menial servant, or he may be the chief financial officer
of a corporation, of a municipal body, or even of a sovereign

State
is

yet,

if

his only possession

is

his employer's possession,

he

not technically accountable.^

One
is

need, however, have possession only of that for which he

If,

accountable.

therefore,

one

is

accountable only for the rents

and

profits or other

income

of property,

he need not have the

Indeed, a
bailiff
itself,

legal possession of the corpus of that property.

of land, as such, never has the legal possession of the land

but he does have the possession of the rents and profits received
1

In account as receiver, where he

aliter, if the receipt
I

is

not to merchandise, he

is

not to account for

profit;

was

to merchandise, for then

pi. 14, 15.

he hath a warrant to gain or

lose. ^

Rol. Abr.,

Accompt (O),
lie
.

where a man has only a bare custody as a shepherd." Com. Dig., Accompt (D) "In account against a bailiff, it is a good plea that he was servant to the plaintiff to drive his plough, and had his cattle for the drawing of his plough,

Account " does not

absque hoc that he was his

occupation."

other manner, because he is not accountable for this Accompt (L), pi. 5. ' The subjects of larceny and embezzlement furnish good illustrations of the distinction between possession and custody. One cannot be convicted of larceny, though he may be convicted of embezzlement, in respect to property of which he has the legal posbailiff in
i

Rol, Abr.,

session.

On

the other band, one cannot be convicted of embezzlement, though he

may

be convicted of larceny, in respect to property of which he has the mere custody as the servant of the owner. Commonwealth v. Berry, 99 Mass. 428.

8o

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

him.i

by

So one may be authorized

it
;

to sell

and convey

land,

to deliver possession of

to the purchaser, without ever

and having

and yet he will be accountable for he be authorized to receive them into his possession and he do receive them accordingly. In such a case, however, it seems that the obligation to account does not
possession of the land himself

the proceeds of such sale

if

arise until the proceeds of the sale are received, or at least not

till

the sale

is

made.

Lastly, there must be a fiduciary relation between the plaintiff and the defendant, or, as the books of the common law express it, there must be a privity between them. This requirement disposes at once of all cases in which the defendant has acquired his

possession wrongfully, or in assertion of a right to the possessionj^ or even without the plaintiff's permission, though without

any wrongful or hostile intention.^ If, however, he obtain possession on the plaintiff's behalf, and as his representative, though without any actual authority, the plaintiff may adopt and ratify his acts, and thus establish privity between him and the plaintiff.* So if A collect a debt due to me, it has been held that I may elect whether I will compel the debtor to pay the debt to me, notwithstanding that he has paid it to A, or whether I will adopt the act of A, and compel him to account to me for the money collected ;* for, though A has received the money, yet he has not
1

Though a

bailiff

of land is accountable only for the rents

it

and

profits of the land,

and not

for the land itself, yet

is

not necessary, in order to render

him accountable,
h'e is

that he should have actually received rents

able, not only for the rents

and

profits.

The reason

is,

that

account-

and

profits actually received

by him, but for what, with reasonB, he must have received

able diligence, he might have received.

To

that extent, therefore, a bailiff of land is an

exception to the rule that, in order to render

possession of property belonging to B.
2

A accountable to
lie

Anon.,

Leon. 266.

" Account does not

where a man claims the property."

Com. Dig., Accompt (D). 8 Tottenham v. Bedingfield, 3 Leon. 24, Owen, 35, 83. *" Where a man takes upon him of his own head to be my bailiff, account lies." Bro. " If a man claims to be guardian of an infant, and is not, and Abr., Accompt, pi. 8.
enters and occupies, action of waste lies, and therefore action of account, as it seems; and contra where he enters as trespasser. Note a difference." Bro. Abr., Accompt " If a man enter into my land to my use, and receive the profits thereof, I shall pi. 93. have an account against him as bailiff." F. N. B. 117 A.
'

"If a

man

receive the rent

1

due from

my lessee

for life, or
pi.
2.

my

tenants, account lies

against
rent of

him

as receiver."

Rol. Abr.,

Accompt (H),

" If a

man

receive

my

my

tenants without

my
J.

assent, yet I shall charge

him by the
i

possession

and by

the receipt.

Per Bryan, C.

And

so see that never his receiver to render account shall

not serve in this case for him."

pi. 7,

Bro. Abr., Accompt, pi. 65;

Yin. Abr., Account (A),

note,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

done any wrong to me, as it is not my money until it is paid to me; and when no wrong is done to me, I may make a privity by

my

consent. 1

livered

to B in order that it may be deto B to the use of be dehvered by If, held that B will be accountable to C. C,^ it has often been money to C, he will be accountable however, he fail to deliver the
If

money be
by B

delivered

by
it

to C,2 or

if

for

it

to

A*
be accountable to B, and

be accountable to C, this does not make A accountable to C for want of privity. Therefore, if B be the bailiff or receiver of C, and A be the deputy of B, A will be accountable to B alone, and B will be accountable to C, just as if there were no deputy.s The privity required by the common law to support an obligation to account was so strictly a personal relation that neither the right created nor the duty imposed by the obligation could be transferred even by an act of law and hence, upon the death of the obligee, the obligation could not be enforced by his executor or administrator and upon the death of the obligor, the obligation could not be enforced against his executor or administrator. As
If
;
;

1 3

Tottenham
"I

v. Bedingfield,

3 Leon. 24, per

Manwood,

J.

command you

to receive

my

account against you; yet he did not bail the money."

Keterich, Dyer, 152, note.

"

If
i

account for this against you.''

to Lord Dyer, he shall have Per Lord Brooke, in Paschall v. a man deliver money to you to pay to me, I shall have Rol. Abr., Accompt (A), pi. 6; i Yin. Abr., Account

rents

and deliver them

(A),
'

pi. 6.

"

A man shall have

bailiff

a writ of account against one as

if

bailiff

or receiver, where he

was

man receive money for my use, I shall have an account against him as receiver; or if a man deliver money to one to deliver over to me, I shall have an account against him as my receiver." F. N. B. 116 Q. "If ;io be paid to W. N. to my use, I may have account against W. N. of it." Bro. Abr., Accompt, pi. 61. And see Cocket v. Robston, 3 Leon. 149, Cro. Eliz. 82.
not his
or receiver; for

it was delivered to deliver over, to whom he hath delivered he was never accountable for it but conditionally; namely, if he " In account defendant said I Rol. Abr., Accompt (M), pi. 2. did not deliver it over." they were bailed to him to bail over to J. S. which he had done. Plaintiff said that, after the delivery to defendant, and before the delivery over, he commanded him to bail

" It

is

a good plea that

it

accordingly, because

it

to

him; and a good replication by the best opinion ;

for

by the delivery to the defendit;

ant, J. S. has no property in it, this delivery to defendant, J. S.

and therefore

plaintiff
if
it

may countermand

and

yet

by

may have

account,

be not countermanded."

Bro.

Abr., Replication, pi. 65.

^

JLeon. 32; s. C,

F. N. B. 119 B; I Rol. Abr., Accompt (E),pl. 4; The Queen and Painter's Case, 4 nom. Sir W. Pelham's Case, 4 Leon. 114.

82

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

was
ab-

to the executor or administrator of the obligee, this rule

rogated by early statutes

of the obligor,
it

;i

remained
the

in force until the

but as to the executor or administrator passage of the wellof the

known

act'^ for

amendment

law in 1705.

It

seems,

however, that equity would enforce such an obligation against the executor or administrator of the obligor even before the passage
of that statute. 3
It is
is

worthy

of observation that while the obligation to account

created by law, yet the privity without which such an obligation

is,

cannot exist

as a rule, created

by the parties
;

to the obligation.

There

are,

however, exceptions to that rule

is

for, in

the case of

guardians, the privity

created by law,* and in one class of cases

;

it is created by the statute just referred to namely, where one of two joint-tenants, or tenants in common, receives "more than comes

to his just share or proportion."

from which the law will raise an obliis, How can such an obligation be enforced, or what is thq remedy upon such an obligation? It is obvious that the only adequate remedy is specific performance, or at least specific reparation. An action on the case to recover damages for a breach of the obligation, even if such an action would lie, would be clearly inadequate, as it would involve the necessity of investigating all the items of the account for the purpose of ascertaining the amount of the damages, and that a jury is not competent to do. In truth, however, such an action will not lie.* If, indeed, there be an actual promise to account, either express or implied in fact, an action will lie for the breach of that promise but as such a promise is entirely collateral to the obligation to account, and as therefore a recovery on the promise would be no bar to an action on the obligation, it would seem that nominal damages only could be recovered in an action on the promise, or at most only such special damages as
facts

Such then being the

gation to account, the next question

^ '
V.

Westm. 2 (13 Ed. I.), 4 Anne, c. 16, s. 27.

Co. Litt. 90 b,
Rivers,
i
11.

v;.

23; 25 Ed. III., stat. 5,

c.

5; 31 Ed. III., stat.

i, t.

11.

5 (by

Hargrave); Lee
i

v.

Bowler, Cas.
11.

t.

Ch. Cas.
"

127,

Eq. Cas. Abr. 5; Burgh

Finch, 125; Holstcomb Wentworth, Cary (ed. of

1650), S4i " To maintain an action of account, there must be either a privity in deed by the

consent of the party, for against disseisor, or other wrongdoer, no account doth
or a privity in law, ex praviUone Itgisi

lie;

made by

the law, as against a guardian, etc."

Co. Litt. 172

'

a.

Spurraway

v. Rogers, 12

Mod.

517.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

83

the plaintiff had suffered by the breach of the promise.^ Besides, the first instance in which an action on such a promise was sustained was as late as the time of Lord Holt,^ while the obligation
to account has existed and

Accordingly, the
action of account

common
and the

been recognized from early times. law provided an action whose sole
relief afforded in that action consisted

object was the enforcement of obligations to account, namely, the

;

in compelling the defendant to account with the plaintiff.

It is

true that this

is

a kind of relief for which the machinery and the

ill

methods
at

of the

common-law courts are very

fitted,
;

and which,

the present day, they never attempt to give

it

but they did

ordinary

attempt

in early times in the^ instance of the action of account,

there being then no courts of equity.

actions at law, consisted of two stages.

The action, unlike The object of

;

the

first

stage was to ascertain and decide whether or not the defendant

was bound

to account with the plaintiff

and, accordingly, to that

declaration charged the

point, the pleadings

were directed.

The

defendant with being the

plaintiff's guardian, bailiff, or receiver.

either deny the charge (?. e., deny that he had ever been such guardian, bailiff, or receiver, and hence that he had ever incurred an obligation to account with the plaintiff), or he might plead an affirmative defence, namely, that the obligation which confessedly once existed had ceased to exist, e.g., that it had been extinguished by a release, or that it had been performed by an actual accounting with- the plaintiff. This latter defence was set up by a plea of plene computavit, as it was called, i.e., that the defendant had fully accounted with the plaintiff and to establish this defence the defendant must show that he and the plaintiff had agreed upon all the items of the account, and had struck a balance for an accounting must either b^ before a competent court, or by the act and agreement of the parties. If the pleadings resulted in an issue of fact, it was tried by a jury, as in ordinary cases if in an issue of -law, it was tried by the court. If the issue was decided in the defendant's favor, a final judgment in his favor was rendered if in the plaintiff's favor, an interlocutory judgment was rendered, namely, that the defendant do account, quod computet. Upon this judgment being rendered, the defendant, unless he gave bail, was committed to prison, and
; ; ; ;

The defendant might

Wilkyns v. Wilkyns, Carth. 89. Wilkyns V. Wilkyns, supra.

; ;

84

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION:

final

kept in prison until the account was taken, a

rendered, and that judgment satisfied.^

judgment

The account was taken by auditors appointed by the court, who always consisted of two or more clerks of the court. The account commonly consisted of two classes of items, namely, items of charge and items of discharge. The former consisted of sums of money received by the defendant, and with which he was consequently chargeable. The latter consisted (besides charges for services) of sums of money paid out by the deplaintiff's account, and which were therefore to be allowed to the defendant, i.e., deducted from the amount The theory with which he would otherwise be chargeable. of these items of discharge was that they were paid by the defendant, not out of his own pocket, but out of the money in his hands belonging to the plaintiff and hence they did not constitute independent claims in favor of the defendant and against the plainand the only way in which tiff, but were mere items in the account the defendant could enforce them or avail himself of them, was by procuring them to be allowed in his account. And this was so, even though, as sometimes happened, the defendant's payments exceeded his receipts, so that the balance was in the defendant's favor in which case the defendant was said to be in surplusage to the plaintiff. This would seem to show that a person subject to an obligation to account, who had authority to make payments on behalf of the obligee, was entitled to bring an action of account

fendant on the

against the latter, alleging that

there was a balance in his favor

but this is doubtful

If

upon authority .^

the

money

or other property for which the defendant

fault,

was

ac-

countable had been lost without his

and therefore proof that good account.

it

he was not liable for it had been so lost always constituted a

When
final

livered into court,

a proper account had been taken by the auditors and deif it showed a balance in the plaintiff's favor, a
;

judgment was rendered that the plaintiff recover such balance the account showed a balance in the defendant's favor, all that the court could do for him was to dismiss him with costs j it
but
if

iRobsert

v.

Andrews, Cro.

Eliz. 82;

Pierce v. Clark,

Lutw

58.

2F. N. B. 116Q, n. (c). s Vere v. Smith, 2 Lev. 5;

Ventr. 121.

; ;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

could not render a judgment that he recover such balance, as
could render such a judgment only in favor of a
plaintiff.

8$
it

Since,

however, the taking of the account had converted the balance in the defendant's favor into a debt, the defendant could enforce pay-

ment of it by an action of debt ^ or of Are there any other common-law

indebitatus assumpsit

actions that will lie upon an obligation to account ? The only other actions which it has ever been supposed would lie are debt and indebitatus assumpsit but to sustain either of these actions, a debt is indispensable and to say that an obligation to account can ever constitute a debt is a plain contradiction. An obligation to account may, indeed, be converted into a debt and when that is done, of course debt or indebitatus assumpsit will lie. Thus, if a defendant, having money in his hands for which he is bound to account to the plaintiff, appropriates or converts such money to his own use, the plaintiff, if the amount of the money be definite and certain, so that no account is necessary to ascertain its amount, may adopt and sanction the defendant's wrongful act, and thus convert the defendant into a debtor ^ and it seems that a demand of payment by the plaintiff, and a refusal or failure to pay by the defendant, will establish a conversion, and thus enable the plaintiff,
;

In this misconduct of the defendant enables the plaintiff to elect between holding the defendant to his obligation to account, and converting him into a debtor. There is also a class of cases in which the obligor has an election to convert an obligation to account into a debt, namely, the
class of cases, therefore, the class of cases, before referred
specific
to, in
is

at his option, to maintain debt or indebitatus assumpsit.

which one who has received

property, for which he

is

accountable, and has converted

the same into money,

entitled to appropriate the

money

to his
is still

own

use,

and does

so.

In such cases, however, the plaintiff

entitled to

enforce the obligation to account for the purpose

of ascertaining the

amount

for

which the defendant

is

liable,

though
1

it

is

only as a debt that he can enforce payment of the

1

Gawton

v.

Lord Dacres,
pi.

Leon. 219;

s.

Bro. Abr., Accompt,

ii

62, Dette, pi. 130, 182,

over,

Lamine o. Dorrell, 2 Ld. Raym. 1216. and he doth not, but converts the money

c, nam. Lord Dacres' Case, Owen, 23; Ley Gager, pi. 62, 65. "II I deliver money to a man to deliver
to his

own

use, I

may

elect to

action of account against him, or an action on

my

case; but a stranger hath

C. J.

have an no other
77 b,
pi.

remedy than an action of account."

25, Mich. 21

Per Frowyk,

Anon., Keilw. 77
,

a,

H.

7.

86

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

rightfully appropriated to his

amount which the defendant has

use.

own

Of course both
shall retain, as his
in

parties to an

obligation to account

may

always

convert such obligation into a debt, by agreeing that the obligor

own, the property for which he is accountable, exchange for it shall become indebted to the obligee in an agreed amount. In this way the obligation to account is wholly extinguishecj, and hence the obligee can never bring any action of Moreover, the parties often bring about this result withaccount. out any actual intention to do so, namely, by settling the account between them, and striking a balance for in this way the obligation to account is completely performed and extinguished and if an action of account be afterwards brought upon it, such action may be defeated by the plea of plene computavit. The balance therefore necessarily becomes a debt, and can be recovered only In ancient times such a balance was recovered by an as such. action, called an action of debt for the arrearages of an account. In modern times it may be recovered by an action of debt or of indebitatus assumpsit upon an insimul computassent or account

and

stated.

All the foregoing observations are, as will be seen, entirely con-

an obligation to account will support no an action of account and that rule is believed to be subject to no exception whatever. Undoubtedly, the distinction between a debt and an obligation to account is one which there is some danger of losing sight of, and this danger has been much increased by the disuse of the Moreover, this distinction has been much obaction of account. scured by the prevalence of the indebitatus count in assumpsit for money had and received. That count, indeed, seems to have been framed in entire forgetfulness that any such distinction existed, for it alleges a legal impossibility, namely, that the defendant is indebted to the plaintiff for money had and received by the desistent with the rule, that

common-law

action, except

fendant

to the plaintiff' s use.

If,

in truth, the

defendant

is

indebted

money had and received by the defendant, it follows that the money was received by the defendant to his own use and if the money was in truth received by the defendant to
to the plaintiff for
;

the

plaintiff's

use,

it

follows that

it

is
it.

the plaintiff's money, and

that the defendant

is

accountable for

And yet this inconsistency

Less

in the language of the count has never attracted attention.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

mischief, however, has resulted from
it

87

than might have been antici-

pated

for English lawyers, acting with their usual practical

good

sense, have treated the count as alleging an indebtedness for

money

had and received, and the words "to the plaintiff's use" have been disregarded. Much looseness of ideas prevailed, indeed, during the time of Lord Mansfield, and doubtless the instances have been numerous since his time in which assumpsit for money had and received has been allowed where account was the only proper action. The distinction between these two actions has, however, generally been recognized and maintained whenever attention has been properly called to it, and especially whenever substantial Thus in Lincoln v. Parr,^ the court rights depended upon it. " declared their opinion that no evidence of account will maintain indebitatus, as on money delivered to a factor, who often have discharges of greater value, and so involve the court, which they will not allow " " and it was said so to be ruled in Guildhall last sitting." In Sir Paul Neal's Case,^ it was decided by all the judges of England that case would not lie against a bailiff, where allowances and deductions are to be made, unless the account had been adjusted and stated; and in Farrington v. Lee ^ the same doctrine was held in regard to a factor and, in the latter case, North, " If, upon an indebitatus assumpsit, matters are C- J., said,*
;

allow them to be given in evidence." In Anonymous,^ Powell, J., having said, " If I give money to another to buy goods for me, and he neglects to buy them, for this breach of trust I shall have election to bring
offered in evidence that lie in account, I do not

debt or account," Holt, C. take

J.,

answered,

" If the party did not

it as a debt, but ad computandum or ad merchandisandum, it must be an account, and he shall have the benefit of an accountant which is, he may plead being robbed, which shall be a good
;

plea in the last case, but not in

wall ^
1

the

first."

In Poulter

v.

Corn-

it

was

virtually admitted

by the court that a count

Freem. 23a

in indebi-

2 Keb. 781.

" Cited 8 I

by North, C.

J.,

in Farrington v. Lee,

Mod. 268, 2 Mod. 311, Freem. * I Mod. 268, 270. '11 Mod. 92. I Salk. 9. Though the decision

229, 234, 242.

in this case

was

in the plaintiff's favor, yet

it

was

rendered on a motion in arrest of judgment, and was based entirely on the ground that the declaration was cured by the verdict, " for it must be intended there was proof to the
jury that the defendant refused to account, or

had done somewhat

else that

had rendered

him an absolute debtor."

88

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

tatus assumpsit for money had and received by the defendant ad computandum was bad on demurrer. Finally, in Thomas v. Thomas J it was held, upon great consideration, that indebitatus assumpsit for money had and received would not lie by one

tenant in

common

against his

co-tenant, to recover the plaintiff's

share of rents received by the defendant for the land held in com-

mon. In order to appreciate the force of this decision, it must be borne in mind that the plaintiff would have had no remedy at all at common law, unless he had appointed the defendant as his bailiff of his share of the land that, without such an appointment, not even an action of account would have lain, for want of privity but that the want of privity had been supplied by statute,^ and hence that the defendant was liable as the plaintiff's bailiff, just as if he had been actually appointed. The decision was, therefore, to the effect that indebitatus assttmpsit for money had and
;

received will not

lie

against a

bailiff to

recover

money

received by

him

as

bailiff.

Allowing indebitatus assumpsitiox money had and received to lie upon an obligation to account, involves one of two false assumptions, namely, either that such an obligation constitutes a debt, or that such an action will lie, though there be no debt. If the first assumption be made, the defendant will be deprived of the defence that the fund has been lost without his fault and he will also be deprived of the defence that the fund, or some portion of it, has been expended by the defendant for the plaintiff and by the plaintiff's authority unless another false assumption be made, namely, that money paid by the defendant out of the fund constitutes a debt in his favor, and so a defence by way of set-off or counter-claim. If the false assumption be made that indebitatus assumpsit for money had and received will lie upon an obligation to account, though such an obligation constitute no debt, that is equivalent to saying that such action shall be allowed to perform the function of an action of account, or of a bill in equity for an account. If the reader ask why not, and be not satisfied with the answer that to allow this would be to allow a plaintiff who has alleged one thing to recover upon proving a wholly different thing, it may be added, first, that nothing whatever would be
; ;

4 Anne,

s Exch. 28. ch. 16,

s.

27.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

89

gained by such a perversion of remedies that the action of account eventually proved a failure, not because it was badly
or defectively constructed, but because
plish
it

attempted to accom;

what was beyond the powers

of

common-law courts

sec-

ondly, that the enforcement of an obligation to account necessarily

involves two successive stages of litigation, with two sets of pleadings and two trials
;

and that only the

first

of the

two

trials is

before a jury, even at

cial officers,

common

law, the second being before judi-

namely, before auditors.

To

attempt, therefore, to

enforce such an obligation by an action which has but one stage

of litigation, but

one set of pleadings, and but one

trial,

would be
in-

not only to involve the court in incredible confusion in point of

procedure, but to compel the defendant to account before an

competent and illegal tribunal, namely, a jury. Yet this seems to have been the idea of Lord Mansfield, if we may judge from the case of Dale v. Sollet.^

The

next question

is.

obligations to account.'

What The

is

the jurisdiction of equity over

action of account seems to have

proved a failure before any regular system of equity was established. Certainly equity never regarded that action as an adequate remedy, and therefore it always permitted an obligation to account to be enforced by bill. At first, therefore, and for a long time, courts of equity had (what is improperly called) a concurrent jurisdiction with courts of law over obligations to account. Actions of account were for a time revived to some extent in England during the present century, but, with that exception, they have been constantly on the decline and now, so far as the writer is aware, they are everywhere either abrogated or wholly
;

plaintiff's agent,

4 Burr. 2133. The defendant in this case had collected ; 2,000 for the plaintiff as the and he had paid over to the plaintiff all but ip, which he claimed to recompensation
for his services.

tain as a

This latter sum the plaintiff sought to recover in

received.

an action

of assumpsit for

money had and

The defendant having pleaded only

that issue, the defendant could not
his claim for ser:

the general issue, the plaintiff objected that,

avail himself of his right of retainer, but that

upon

he should have pleaded

vices as a set-off.
plaintiff

This objection, howrever, was overruled, Lord Mansfield saying

is

" The

can recover no more than he

in conscience

and equity
is

entitled to

which can

be no more than what remains after deducting

all just

allowances which the defendant

not in the nature of a crossof

has a right to retain out of the very sum demanded.

This

demand

or njutual debt

it is

a charge, which, makes the

sum

plaintiff's

use so

much

less."

There

is

but one criticism to be

money received for the made upon this very char-

acteristic language,

namely, that the action was indebitatus assumpsit,

not account.

90

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Obligations to
sole

obsolete.

account
is

now

therefore

furnish

an

instance of an important legal right with no legal

ever,

remedy whatequity for

and hence the

remedy
is

in equity.

A bill in

an

account, therefore,

simply a substitute for the action of

bill

account.

The proceedings upon

main
are
outline, to those in
all

for an account are similar, in their,

those differences which distinguish

an action of account. Of course there all proceedings in a suit

in equity

from those

in

an action at law, but such differences do

not require to be noticed here.

ant
is

The

question whether the defend-

by a judge, instead by a jury. If, however, this question should be found to turn upon controverted facts, it would seem to be the right of either party to have it sent to a court of law to be tried by a jury.^ If it be decided that the defendant shall account, the court makes a decree, referring the cause to a master to take the

bound

to account

is,

of course, heard

of being tried

account, instead of appointing auditors as at law.

to be in surhe is entitled to a decree against the This is upon the same plaintiff for the balance due to him. principle upon which the defendant may have a decree in his favor upon a bill for specific performance, and which has been already explained.^ It would seem to follow, therefore, that a
If,

upon the accounting, the defendant be found

plaintiff,

plusage to the

person subject to an obligation to account, and who claims to be in surplusage to the obligee, may himself file a bill against the obligee

and to have a decree for the payment such balance as shall be found to be due to him ;^ for otherwise he would seem to be without remedy, in case the obligee do not choose to file a bill.
to have his accounts taken,
of

Note to Holstcomh v. Rivers, I Eq. Cases Abr. J. See supra, pages 46, 47. ' There is, however, a singular dearth of authority upon the proposition stated in the text. In Dinwiddie v. Bailey, 6 Ves. 136, the plaintiff's counsel said (p. 139) " There have been many bills of this nature [i. e., bills for an account] by stewards for an account between them and their employers, as to receiving rents and paying sums of money.
i
5
:

The defendants must make out

an account at and though no authority was cited in support of the statement that there had been many bills for an account by stewards, yet the accuracy of that statement was not questioned either by Lord Eldon or by the defendant's counsel.
that the court will not entertain a bill for

the suit of an accounting party."

Though

the decision was against the plaintiff,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

91

defendant to a

bill for

an account, as well as a defendant

all

in

an

action of account,

may

account fully by showing that

the

property for which he was accountable has been sold, and its proceeds received j that, upon receiving such proceeds, he was
entitled to appropriate

them

to his

own

use, debiting himself

;

and
but
for,

crediting the plaintiff with their amount, and that he did so

the consequences of such an accounting upon a

bill for

an account
;

are different from what they are in an action of account

while in the

latter, as

we have

seen, the plaintiff can obtain noth-

ing but the accounting, and must bring a separate action of debt
or indebitatus assumpsit to recover the debt, upon the former, the

be followed up by a decree for the payment of the done for the purpose of avoiding a multiplicity of actions, equity never sending a plaintiff to a court of law to iinish what equity has begun. It remains to inquire against what classes of persons a bill for an account will lie. The two most ancient as well as most typical classes are guardians (including committees of lunatics and other persons of unsound mind), and agents, stewards, or bailiffs of landed estates, i Bills against the first of these two classes are much less common in this country than in England, as such persons in this country more frequently settle their accounts in probate courts or in other inferior and local courts. Bills against the second class of persons are also much less numerous in this country than in England, because such persons are themselves much less numerous. In England, much the greater part of all the landed property in the kingdom is managed by such agents. They reside upon the estate for which they are agent, have an office or counting-house, keep a set of books, and represent the
accounting
;

will

debt

and

this is

owner

of the estate in all business transactions

between him and

agents they keep an account with their banker, to the credit of which they deposit all rents collected from the tenhis tenants.

As

ment

ants of the estate, and against which they draw cheques in payof all expenses incurred on behalf of the estate. What

remains represents the net income of the estate, and of course belongs to the owner of the estate and any mixing by such agents of the owner's money with their own is a fraud on their part.^
;

"

Makepeace

v.

Rogers, 4
l

De

G., J.

&

S. 649.

See Salisbury .Cecil,

Cox, 277.

92

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

The
largest

against

whom

bills for

and most important class of persons, however, an account will lie, are agents who make it
it,

their business, or at least a part of their business, to receive the

property of others into their possession for the purpose of selling

and who are paid

proceeds of sales

for their services

made by them.

by a fixed commission on the Agents of this class comprise,'

('.

not only factors or commission merchants,^ but auctioneers ^

e.,

when they
sold

receive into their

^

own
(i.e.,

possession the property to be

by them), stock-brokers
of

when employed

to sell stocks,

shares, or securities), bill-brokers

sell bills
(z.

e.,

or note-brokers,* employed to exchange or promissory notes, and book-publishers * when they publish a book for its author, and sell it for him

on commission). It may be regarded as clear that all agents of the kind just referred to have a right, when they receive the proceeds of property sold by them, to appropriate such proceeds to their own use, debiting themselves and crediting their principals with the amount so received and appropriated. The business of such agents is uniformly conducted on the theory that they have such a right, ar.d it would not be practicable for them to conduct it on the opposite theory for if they were bound to regard the proceeds of all goods sold by them as belonging to the owner of the goods, it would be necessary for them to open a separate bank-account for
;

every customer.
agent, and he

This right, however,

is

strictly personal to
it if

the

not be said,

he choose. It cantherefore, as matter of law, that the proceeds of every

Johnston, 4 Madd. 373. v. Stearns, 2 Met. 343.
33, the plaintiff

may

refrain from exercising

Mackenzie

v.

Commonwealth

sit seems therefore that, in Kingz/. Rossett, 2 Y. & J. an account of the stock sold by the defendants for him.

was

entitled to

See infra, n.

6.

'Commonwealth
6 It

V, Foster,

107 Mass. 221.

Barry v. Stevens, 31 Beav. 25S, the plaintiff was entitled an account. In that case, as in King v. Rossett, supra, if there was thought to have been no good reason for filing the bill, the court could have met the justice of the case by requiring the plaintiff to pay costs. In each case, the plaintiff's chief object probably
that, in

seems therefore

to

was to obtain an injunction against an action at law brought by the defendant to recover a balance claimed to be due to him; and clearly the plaintiff was not entitled to that in
either case.
8

Scott

V.

Surman, Willes, 400;

"Dxaass,,

ex parte,

Atk. 232,

234; Kirkham

w.

44 L. T. Reports, N. s., 195; Commonwealth view was expressed by Lord Cottenham, in Foley v.
Peel,
entirely obiter.

v. Stearns,
Hill, 2

2Met.J43.

different
it

H. L. Cas.

28, 35, but

was

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

sale

93

agent the

made by such agent become ipso facto the property of the moment they are received by him. Still, there is a

presumption that they do, because there is a presumption that the agent exercises his right of making them his own. Consequently the principals of such agents have a choice of two remedies for recovering the proceeds of their property sold by their agents namely, a bill in equity for an account of the property sold, or an
action of debt or indebitatus assumpsit for the recovery of the
debt.-^

If

there

is

a controversy as to the

amount which the

prin-

former is the proper remedy; if there is not, the latter is abundantly sufficient. What is said in the preceding paragraph, however, has no apcipal is entitled to receive, the

plication to an agent

who

is

specially

employed to
;

sell

property,
is

and not as a part

property
itself.^

of his regiilar business

for such an agent

ac-

countable for the proceeds of the property sold as well as for the

A stock-broker
ceived by

who

is

employed

to

buy

stocks,

shares,

or
re-

securities is not accountable to his customer for the

money
is

him

for the latter

for the course of business

for the

broker to buy in his

sibility,

own name and on

his

own

credit
;

and respon-

and to debit his customer with the price and then, when is received from the customer, the latter is credited with the amount received. And even if the customer furnish the money in advance of the purchase, yet the course of business is the same, i.e., the broker credits the customer with the amount received from the latter, and when the purchase is made, he debits him with the price so that the relation between the two is never any other than that of debtor and creditor. When a book is published and sold by the publisher on his own account, under an agreement by him with the author to pay the latter either a fixed sum for every copy sold, or a fixed perthe

money

centage of the gross proceeds of sales, the publisher is not accountable to the author, for the books sold (and hence their proceeds) are the property of the publisher

the

money payable

to the latter

right in the books sold.

lisher

creditor.

and the author in The same is

1

not of the author; and merely the price of his copyThe relation, therefore, between the pubsuch a case is merely that of debtor and true also of a manufacturer who works a
is

Wells

V,

Ross, 7 Taunt. 403.

v. Foster,

Commonwealth

107 Mass, 221.

94

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

him a royalty
If

patent, under an agreement with the patentee to pay

on

all

the patented articles manufactured and sold.^

indeed

the author or the patentee were by the agreement entitled specifically to a share of the net proceeds of sales,^ he would be a co-owner of

such net proceeds with the publisher or manufacturer, and, as the

agreement would establish a fiduciary relation between the former and the latter, the former would be entitled to an account and pay-

ment

of his share.

An insurance

broker, according to the practice at Lloyds,

is

not

accountable to his principal for

underwriters in payment of losses
;

money

received by him from

for the broker effects all insur-

ances on his
loss happens,

own

responsibility, crediting the underwriters

iting the assured with the

he debits

and debpremiums and, when a the underwriters and credits the assured

amount

of the

with its amount. The broker therefore deals as a principal both with the underwriter and with the assured, and his relation with

each

is

simply that of debtor and creditor

relation

and the underwriter and

customers
is

the assured are strangers to each other.^

The

between a banker and

his
is

so plainly

that of debtor and creditor, that one

surprised at finding that

;

the former was ever supposed to be accountable to the latter

yet a case was carried
to

and Lords mainly on that question.* Money deposited by a customer with his banker must either become the banker's own money or it must be a special and in neither case would the banker be deposit in his hands accountable for the money, for in the one case he would be a mere debtor, and in the other he would be a mere bailee. Co-owners of property as such are not accountable to each other. Before the statute of 4 Anne, c. 16, s. 27, if land, owned (e. g^ by two persons in equal but undivided shares, was under lease, and
the

House

of

one of them received all the rent without the authority of the and, other, the other had no remedy at law, for want of privity though he had a remedy in equity, it was by a bill in the nature of a bill for partition, and not by a bill for an account. If he received the other's share of the rent by his authority and appointment, he was bound to account for it to the latter as the latter's
;

1 2 '

Moxon

-v.

Bright, L. R.

4 Ch. 292.
1

Such was the

Dinwiddie
Foley
V. Hill,

fact in the late case of Pratt . Tuttle,

36 Mass. 233.

v. Bailey,

6 Ves. 136.

2 H. L. Cas. 28.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

bailiff.

95

If the property was not under lease, and one of the coowners alone occupied it, he might occupy the other's share as his bailiff, or he might occupy alone, simply because the other did In the first of these not occupy, or he might exclude the other. cases, the one occupying was bound to account with the other as

his bailiff for the profits of the other's half of the property.^

In

the second case, the one occupying was not liable to the other in any way, either at law or in equity.^ He was not accountable to

the other, not only for want of privity between them, but also beIn the cause he had received nothing belonging to the other.
third case, the one occupying

was

liable to

the other for a

tort,

but of course he was not accountable to him. In only two of the five cases just stated, therefore, could either an action of account or
a
bill

for an account

be maintained before the

statute.

In which of
bill
.'

the other three cases did the statute enable the action and the
to be maintained
?

Only

in the first of the five.

Why

in that

Because the only obstacle before the statute was want of privity, and that obstacle was removed by the statute.^ Why not in the Because in that case there was an addilast but one of the five } tional obstacle which was not removed by the statute, namely, that the defendant had received nothing belonging to the plaintiff, and hence that he had not, in the words of the statute, received more than came to his just share or proportion.* If one of two co-owners of property authorize the other to sell his share and receive the proceeds of the sale, and the latter do so, of course he will be accountable to. the former for the share sold and the case will not be altered if the one who receives the
;

authority sells the entire interest in the property,

i.

e.,

his

own
sale

share as well as the other's share

in

for

he

will

then

make the

two

capacities,

i.

e.,

he will

sell his

own

share as owner and the

It is on this principle that, one country consigns goods to a merchant in another country to be sold on the joint account of the consignor

other's share as the other's agent.

when a merchant
1 It is

in

on

this principle that the

managing owner of a vessel

(called the ship's

husband)

is

accountable to his co-owners.

Johnston, 4 Sim. 539.

Maclachlan, Merchant-Shipping (2d ed.), 175; Davis

V,

^"Two
cept
29,
^ *
it

joint-tenants; the one takes the whole profits; no remedy for the other exwere done by agreement or promise of account." Anon., Gary (ed. of 1820), p.

June 8, 1602, 44 Eliz. v. Thomas, 5 Exch, 28. Eason v. Henderson, 12 Q. B. 986, 17 Q. B. 701
See Thomas

M'Mahon

v.

Burchell, 2 Fh. 127.

96

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

latter is accountable to the

and the consignee, the

former for the

is

former's share of the goods.

Such a transaction

commonly

known as a joint his own share of

other's share.-^

adventure.

The consignee

acts for himself as to

the goods, and as the other's factor as to the

If one of two co-owners of property sell the property without any authority from the other, the sale will be effective as to his own share only (and hence the other co-owner will not be affected by the sale),^ unless the property be of a kind which passes by delivery, and as to which possession proves ownership, e. g., money or negotiable securities. If the property be of this latter kind, and hence the title of the other co-owner is devested by the sale, he will be entitled to the same share of the proceeds of the sale that he had in the property before the sale and, therefore, he can
;

maintain a

bill

for a division of such proceeds

but he cannot,

even

in that case,

maintain a
c.

bill
s.

for an account for

it

want

of privity,

the statute of 4 Anne, to such a case.^

that, while

16,

27, being,

seems, not applicable

Copartners differ from co-owners in this respect, among others, one of two co-owners is sometimes accountable to the

other, one of

two copartners never

it

is.

The

reader

may be

sur-

prised at this statement, but

iHackwell

is

believed to be strictly true.*

v. Eastman, Cro. Jac. 410, I Rol. Rep. 421; I Vin. Abr., Account (E), In such cases the consignor often incurs, in the first instance, the entire expense of the consignment, purchasing the goods with his own money or on his own credit, or furnishing them out of his own stock, and debiting the consignee with one half of the
pi. 2, note.

cost in the one case,

and of the value in the other, as well as with one half

of the inci-

Under such circumstances, therefore, the consignee incurs a double liability to the consignor, /. e., he becomes indebted to him for his own half of the goods, and accountable to him for the
dental expenses of the consignment incurred by the consignor.
consignor's half.

and
In

all

the

difficulties in that

Such were the circumstances in Baxter v. Hozier, 5 Bing. N. C. 288; case arose from not attending to the distinction just stated.

Instead of bringing an action for fact, the consignors misconceived their remedy. an account of their own share of the goods (as to which there was no controversy), they should have brought an action of debt or of indebitatus assumpsit to recover payment for the consignees' share, the latter claiming that the goods were consigned to them, not on the joint account of the consignors and themselves, but solely as the factors of the
consignors.

ley or the like, the

was holden clear upon the evidence that if two men buy corn jointly, as barone shall not have account against his fellow for the disposal of this." Michael Dent's Case, Clayton, 50, August, 13 Car. 1, coram Berkeley, J. But see the observations of Willes, C. J., in Wheeler v. Home, Willes, 208, 209.
2

"

It

8 *

See Lindley, I'artn. (4th ed.), p. 64. " No instance of an action of account brought by one partner against another
to the writer."

is

known

Lindley, Partn. (4th cd.), p. 1022, n. k.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

97

There are. insuperable objections to a bill for an account by one of two copartners against the other. First, the property of which an account is sought is as much in the possession of the plaintiff
as of the defendant.

Secondly, the plaintiff

is

neither the sole

of any fixed What, then, shall he have an account of Thirdly, if one of two copartners is accountable to the other, the other, pari ratione, is accountable to him and hence we have two persons accountable to each other for the same thing and at the same time. Fourthly, an account by one of two copartners with the other will establish nothing, nor produce any result, unless the other also account with him. The truth is, the ordinary bill by one or more partners against the other or others is not a bill for

owner

of the partnership property, nor the

it.

owner

share of

.'

an account, but a
nership assets
that such a
bill

bill

for the partition or division of the part;

partners and this explains the fact cannot be maintained without a dissolution of In order to ascertain how the assets shall be the partnership.^ divided, there must, indeed, be an accounting (so called) but it
;

among the

an accounting between each partner, on the one hand, and the firm, considered as a distinct person, on the other hand; and the relation between the several partners and the firm is that of debtor and creditor, and is not a relation created by an
is

obligation to account.
relation between a commercial traveller and his employer merely that of debtor and creditor, even though the former be paid for his services by a commission on the sales made through him ^ but if, by the agreement, he were entitled specifically to a share of the proceeds of such sales, he could maintain a bill for
;

The

is

an account.^

an obligation to account with his income but this obligation is merely equitable, and therefore a bill by a cestui que trust against his trustee is never a bill for an account in point of juriscestui que trust for the trust property or its
;

A trustee is obviously under

diction.

An

executor or administrator

is

under a

legal

duty to pay or

deliver over the personal property of his testator or intestate, after

payment

of debts, to the legatees or next of kin,

1

and the

latter

Roberts

v.

Eberhardt, Kay, 148, 157-8.

2
*

Smith

V.

Leveaux, 2

De

G., J.
2.

& S.

I.

See supra, p. 94^ and n.

98

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

maintain a
bill is bill

may

to

compel a performance
for an account.

of this duty; but

such a
tion,

not a

bill
is

The

reasons

why

it is

not

are several, but there

one which

is

alone sufficient in this connecbills

If,

namely, that the jurisdiction over such

was derived by

equity from the canon or ecclesiastical law.

however, a testator

by

his will give to

the proceeds of certain land which he directs

and the executor sell the same accordingly, and receive the proceeds, though there is no doubt that A can maintain a bill against the executor to recover such proceeds, it is not so clear what will be the true nature of such a bill in point of jurisdiction. The question depends upon whether the case would formerly have belonged to the common-law courts (in which case the remedy would have been an action of account), or to the ecclesiastical courts, the gift being regarded as a legacy. It seems to be pretty well settled that the former is the correct view.^ An attorney-at-law who collects money for a client is bound to pay it over to his client at the earliest opportunity and in the mean time he must not mix it with his own money. A bill for an account will therefore lie against him. So, it seems, a sheriff is accountable to the judgment creditor for the proceeds of property levied upon and sold by the former under an execution.^ In the case of a sheriff, however, as well as in that of an attorney, there is a summary remedy in the court out of which the execution issues, or of which the attorney is an officer, which renders an action or suit against either seldom necessary. Moreover, if an action or suit is to be brought, an action of indebitatus asstimpsit will generally be more convenient than a suit in equity and to render such an action available, it seems only necessary for the
his executor to sell,
;
;

plaintiff to

make

a
is

demand before

suing.

stakeholder

clearly not entitled to debit himself with the

is

stakes received by him, and therefore he

erally

accountable for them;

and, though here also an action of indebitatus assumpsit will gen-

vious

be more convenient than a bill for an account, yet a predemand ought to be a necessary condition of maintaining

such an action.

Paschall

v.

Keterich, Dyer, 151 b; Barker v. May, 9 B.

v.

&

Cr. 489.

But see Anon.,

Dyer, 264 b; Dens

2 *

Dens,

Bulstr. 153.
1

Speake

v.

Richards, Hobart, 206;

v.

Vin. Abr., Account (D), pi. 9.

Baynton

Cheek,

Styles, 353.

ARTICLE
V.

V.>

Bills of Equitable Assumpsit.

REFERENCE
" account "
is

was made,

in

the preceding article,^ to the

wide, indeterminate, and vague sense in which the term

and it was observed that it has been which may involve a reference to a Master, to take an account of any kind or for any purpose, bills Accordingly, it has been usual to call the bills for an account. now to be considered, bills for an account. Indeed, this is the only name by which they have ever been known and no clear distinction has ever been taken between these bills and the class of bills
used in equity
bills
;

usual to call

all

in equity,

treated of in the preceding article.

Moreover, the writer

is

not

aware that it has ever been doubted that the former constitute true To call them, therefore. Bills of Equitable bills for an account.
Assumpsit,
bills
is is

undoubtedly a novelty

but

it

is

a novelty which
case.

is

believed to be justified

by the circumstances of the

That the
and
it is

treated of in the preceding article are true bills for an account,

is

a fact which
that

not supposed to be open to doubt

hoped

the present article will convince the reader of the

necessity of finding another

1

name

for the bills

now

to be con-

Harv.

L. Rev. 237.
7 5.

See supra, page

lOO

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

" Equitable Assumpsit "
it is

sidered.

may

not be the best

name

that

can be found, but

believed to be open to no serious objection,

strictly analogous to the name given to another class of namely, " Equitable Ejectment." It may be proper, however, to remind the reader that the term " equitable," in this connection, means, not that the claim on which the bill is founded is

and

it is

bills,

equitable, but that the suit instituted

by the

bill differs

from an

action of assumpsit only or chiefly as a suit in equity necessarily

from an action at law. an account have been pretty fully described in the As preceding article, it will be convenient, in the present article, to point out in what particulars bills of equitable assumpsit differ from First, then, while, ^s has been seen, a bill for bills for an account. an account is founded upon an obligation to render an account, a bill of equitable assumpsit is founded upon a debt and, while it is the object of a bill for an account to compel performance of an obligation to account, it is the object of a bill of equitable assumpsit to compel payment of a debt. Secondly, though the final relief upon both classes of bills is the same, namely, the payment of a debt, yet, while upon a bill for an account, such final relief is strictly consequential upon the taking of an account, which constitutes the primary relief, upon a bill of equitable assumpsit the payment of a debt constitutes the In other words, the debt finally recovered entire relief sought. account has no legal existence until the account upon a bill for an is taken and a balance struck, and therefore the accounting is always the cause of the debt, while the debt recovered upon a bill of equitable assumpsit exists when the bill is filejd, and the bill is founded upon it, and the cause of the debt varies with the consequence of this transaction out of which the debt arose. distinction is that, in a bill for an account, it is necessary only to state facts which constitute an obligation to account, and that an
differs
bills for
;

accounting
bill

will

show

a balance in the plaintiff's favor, while, in a

it

of equitable assumpsit,

is

necessary not only to state facts

which constitute a debt, but

This
latter rule is

also to

show the amount of the

debt.

not, indeed, so strictly applied as to require a

plaintiff to state the

precise

amount due
it

to him, at the peril of

from recovering more than he claims. If the amount originally due to the plaintiff has been reduced by payments, he may either claim
having his
bill

dismissed, but

effectively prevents a plaintiff

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the
full

lOI

the defendant must set

due to him (in which case, of course, up the payments as a defence pro tantd), or he may, at his option, claim only what remains due to him after deducting the payments. Before taking this latter course, however, the plaintiff must make sure that what he allows as a payment, is in truth a payment, and nota cross claim or set-off; for, if he allows as a payment what is in truth a cross claim or set-off, the consequence will be that he will reduce the amount of his own claim, and yet leave the defendant's cross claim in full force. Whenever, therefore, there exist cross demands between two persons, and one of them files a bill of equitable assumpsit against the other, the only safe course for the plaintiif is to claim the full amount of all the items in his favor, paying no attention to the items in the

amount

originally

defendant's favor, but leaving the defendant either to avail himself

of the items in his

own

favor in the

same

suit,

or to

make them

the subject of a separate suit, at his option.

Thirdly, while the jurisdiction of equity over bills for an account
is

founded on the nature of the obligation sought to be enforced, coupled with the fact that there is no remedy at law for the en-

forcement of such an obligation, the jurisdiction of equity over bills of equitable assumpsit is founded on the fact that the claim

sought to be enforced is too complicated in its circumstances to be tried by a jury. While, therefore, a bill for an account involves primarily but one question, namely, is the defendant under an obligation to account to the plaintiff, a bill of equitable assumpsit involves two questions, namely, first, isthe defendant indebted to
the plaintiff
a jury
? ?

secondly,

is

the case too complicated to be tried

is

by

an account has the afifirmative of but one question to establish in order to entitle him to a decree, and hence it is impossible for him
that, while the plaintiff in a bill for
fail

A consequence

to

except upon the merits of his case, a

plaintiff in a bill

of

equitable assumpsit has the affirmative of two questions to establish,

one involving the merits of

question of jurisdiction
will
;

his case, the other involving only a

if

he fail to establish either, his bill be dismissed. In short, while a bill for an account never properly involves any question of jurisdiction, a bill of equitable
assumpsit always involves a question of jurisdiction.
a plaintiff must always state in his
bill

and

Moreover, as whatever he will be required to prove at the hearing in order to obtain a decree, it follows that a plaintiff in equitable assumpsit must state facts showing not only

I02

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

bill
is

the existence of the cause of action on which the

founded,

but also that

diction
;

it is

a cause of action of which equity will take juris-

and

for this latter

purpose

it

will

not be sufficient to allege

that

much complication cannot be properly tried by a jury but facts must be stated from which the court can see that such complication exists.
generally that the cause of action involves so
it
;

Fourthly, in equitable assumpsit, whatever money the defendant has paid, either to the plaintiff or on the plaintiff's account and by
his authority, will constitute either a defence /ra tanto, to

be

set

up

as such in the defendant's defensive pleading, or a cross claim in

the defendant's favor, of which the defendant

may

avail himself in

the same action or in a separate action, at his option.

for

Upon

bill

an account, on the other hand, whatever money the defendant has paid, either to the plaintiff or on the plaintiff's account, has been paid in legal contemplation out of the plaintiff's own money
in the defendant's hands, and, therefore,
it

defence to the
as shall

plaintiff's

claim (which

is

constitutes neither a only for such balance

be found

in the plaintiff's favor

a cross claim in the defendant's favor.

upon the accounting), nor Such payments, therefore,

should not properly be noticed in the defendant's pleadings, but will be allowed to him on the accounting as items of discharge.
Fifthly, a bill of equitable assumpsit, as well as a bill for

an

account,
stated
;

met by the defence of an account but the defences known by this name in the two classes of
successfully
is

may be

As the object of a bill for an compel performance of an obligation to account, of course it is a good defence to such a bill that the obligation has been performed. Moreover, as the obligation is only to account, -^ not to account and pay, it follows that an account stated is a complete legal defence to a bill for an account, as it was formerly
cases differ widely from each other.

account

to

(under the

name

of plene computavit)
it

Such a defence, though

has been actually

to an action of account. does not show that the plaintiff's claim

changed, that

satisfied,
it

does show that

its

legal nature has

been

has been converted from a

demand

lying in

account into a debt.

In equitable assumpsit, on the other hand,

the defence of an account stated does not

show that the defendant's

nature of the
plaintiff's

obligation has been performed, nor that the legal

plaintiff's

claim was and it is the same debt still; and an account stated simply shows that the amount of the debt has been ascerclaim
originally a debt,

has been

changed.

The

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

tained and settled.
plaintiff's claim.
bill.

I03

Clearly, therefore,

it is

no

legal defence to the

And

yet

it

is

a good equitable defence to the

Because it is a complete answer to a necessary allebill, namely, that the plaintiff's claim is too compliIt is a good defence, therefore, going cated to be tried by a jury.
gation in the
Sixthly, though the
sit,

Why?

to the jurisdiction of the court.

first

decree upon a

bill

of equitable assump-

like that

upon a

bill

for an account, directs a reference to a

Master to take an account, yet the account to be taken in the one case differs widely from that in the other. Upon a bill for an account, the object of the decree in directing an account is to comwhile, upon pel performance by the defendant of his obligation
;

bill

of equitable assumpsit, the object

is

to ascertain the

amount
case,

of the defendant's indebtedness to the

therefore, as the defendant
is

plaintiff.

In the

first

be compelled to do what he ought to have done voluntarily and without a suit, all the burden of the accounting should be cast upon him. Accordingly, he is required to make up his account in proper form and bring it into the Master's office, making oath to it before the Master and if the plaintiff can show that the account so brought in is defective, either in form or in substance, the defendant must supply its defects, unless he can show that it is impossible for him to do so. Nothing short of impossibility will exempt him from a full performance of his If he attempt to justify an imperfect account by obligation. saying that he cannot make it more perfect without consuming an excessive amount of time, and incurring great and unreasonable labor and expense, the conclusive answer will be that he has bound himself to account fully. In the second case, on the other hand, all the burden of the (so called) accounting rests upon the plaintiff. The only obligation which the defendant is under to the plaintiff is that of paying him the debt he owes him and to the performance of that obligation the ascertaining of the amount of the debt is a condition precedent to be performed by the plaintiff.
to
;
;

In short, the ascertaining of the

case,

amount

is

a part of the

plaintiff's

and the

plaintiff, like

other plaintiffs, must

make out

his case.

To

aid

him

in

doing

this

he

is,

like other

plaintiffs,

entitled to

i.e., he can compel the defendant to under oath what he knows as to the amount of the debt, and also to produce under oath any books or documents in his possession which will aid the plaintiff in proving the amount of the debt;

discovery from the defendant,

state

I04

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

but this

the limit of the plaintiff's rights.

If,

indeed, the

of the debt originally due to the plaintiff has been reduced

amount by

payments, such payments constitute, as we have seen, a defence pro tanto, and so the defendant, of course, has the burden as to them. So if, as often happens in equitable assumpsit, the defendant sets up a cross demand, i.e., while admitting that he owes
the plaintiff, claims that the plaintiff also owes him, and
that the debt due from the plaintiff to

demands

be applied in payment and extinguishment of the debt due from him to the plaintiff, of course, the defendant will be plaintiff as to the debt claimed to be due to him, and so he will have the burden as to In a word, the so-called accounting before a Master in equithat. table assumpsit is a substitute for a trial by jury, and hence it is to be governed by the same principles as the latter, mutatis
shall

him

mutandis.
Seventhly, though the final decree
like that in equitable assumpsit, is for the

while in the latter

upon a bill for an account, payment of money, yet, the recovery of money is the primary and
it

direct object of the suit, in the former

relief.

is

only consequential
is

When, upon

bill

for

an account, the defendant

ad-

judged to have fully accounted, the whole object for which equity assumed jurisdiction of the suit is accomplished. The plaintiff's claim has, by the accounting, been converted into a debt recoverable at law ; and the only principle on which equity proceeds to
decree payment of this debt
suits. It follows, therefore,
is

is

the avoiding of a multiplicity of

bill

that a bill for an account, unlike a

always liable to involve two successive namely, first, a suit for an account, and, secondly, suits in one a suit in the nature of an action of debt to recover the balance
of equitable assumpsit,
;

found

in the plaintiff's favor.

bill for

It is true

that a

bill

of equitable

an account, always requires two decrees, as well as a reference to a Master, but that is merely because it is not the practice for the judge who hears a cause to occupy his time in ascertaining the amount due to the plaintiff. He contents
assumpsit, like a

himself with ascertaining that the plaintiff has a cause of action,

i.e.,

that he

is

entitled to recover something,

and delegates to one

of his
for the

assistants

the duty

of ascertaining the

amount of the

is merely purpose of completing the trial, which is left unfinished at the hearing. If the trial were completed at the hearing, there

plaintiff's claim.

The

reference to the Master, therefore,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

105

would be no reference and only one decree. Upon a bill for an account, on the other hand, the trial is finished at the hearing, and the decree then made is in its nature a final decree, and the reference ordered is for the purpose of obtaining an execution of that decree. The fact, therefore, of there being two decrees upon a bill for an account is due entirely to the double nature of the suit
just referred to.

Were

it

not for this latter circumstance, there

suit

would be but one decree, and the

of the account.
final in their

would end with the taking

As

it is,

the two decrees which are

made

are both

nature (each of them disposing of the whole subwhile the

first

ject of

one
is,

suit),

decree upon a

bill

of equitable

assumpsit

name, interlocutory. Lastly, an injunction to restrain the defendant from suing

in its nature as well as in
is

at

law

a very
it is

common
is

incident of a bill of equitable assumpsit,

bill for an account. The reason one view plain enough. No action at law will lie on an obligation to account, and hence equity can have no occasion to enjoin such an action. On the other hand, whenever a bill of equitable assumpsit will lie, an action of debt and, therefore, equity will have occaor assumpsit will also lie sion to grant an injunction as often as a plaintiff sues at law when he ought instead to have filed a bill of equitable assumpsit. But how can it be said that a plaintiff, who confessedly has a legal right upon which an action will lie, ought to enforce that right in equity, and not at law? The reason why equity enjoins the prosecution of an action at law generally is, not that the plaintiff ought to have sued in equity (for generally in such cases he could not have sued in equity if he would), but that he ought not in justice to recover at all, or, at least, ought not to recover so much In other words, the reason is that the as he would recover at law. defendant has an answer to the action, or to some part of it, which in justice and equity ought to prevail, but which for some tech-

while

never an incident of a
in

of this distinction

nical reason

is

unavailable at law.
is

In the case

now supposed,

no element of injustice in the plaintiff's claim and even if there were, it would not follow that the plaintiff ought to have refrained from suing at law, and to have sued in equity inhowever, there
plaintiff never even has a right (much less duty) to sue in equity on a legal claim, merely because,

stead.

is

it

his

if

he sue

at law,

he

will get

sues in equity

what he ought not to get. upon a legal claim, he does so,

When

a plaintiff

as a rule, in the

I06

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

he
is

exercise of a privilege, not in the performance of a duty;

his tribunal with a

permitted, not required, to sue in equity, and therefore he selects

view to

to the defendant's interests,

and

his

own

interests,

not

with a view

the latter has no voice in the

Accordingly, even when actions of account were in though a plaintiff was permitted to file a bill for an account, on the ground that an action of account was an inadequate remedy yet, if he chose to bring an action of account, the defendant could not obtain an injunction, though he might prequestion.
use,
;

account in equity. How is it, then, that the case now under consideration forms an exception to the general rule? The answer to this question illustrates the very peculiar ground upon which equity assumes jurisdiction in this class of cases, namely, the unfitness of a common-law court for the trial of them.
fer to

course as

be tried? the defendant is of and therefore he is entitled to be heard before being forced to go to trial in a common-law court in a case for which he deems the common-law mode of trial unfit. Where then can he be heard? Not in the common-law court where the action is brought, for such a court
In the question.
shall a case

How

much

interested as the plaintiff,

cannot decline jurisdiction of a case regularly brought before

it,

and its only way of disposing of the case is by trying and deciding Moreit, and its trial and decision will be final and conclusive. over, such a court has but one mode of trial, namely, by a With the consent of both parties, indeed, it can and will jury. refer a case to an arbitrator, if it be deemed unfit to be tried by
a jury
;

but without such consent the court

then,
is

is

powerless.
to be tried

A court of equity,
by

the only place in which the defendant

is fit

can be heard upon the question whether the case

a jury; and accordingly he

the equity of such a bill, and what relief- will it seek? If the defendant have no cross demands, it seems that the equity of the bill will be only this, namely, that the defendant is prosecuting an action against the plaintiff which is unfit to be tried by a jury, and the only relief prayed will be a perpetual injunction against the prosecution of the action. At the hearing, therefore, the only question to be tried and decided will be whether the action is fit to be tried by a jury. If that question be decided in the affirmative, the bill will be dismissed if it be decided in the negative, a decree will be made for

obtaining such a hearing.

may file What will be

bill for

the purpose of

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

a perpetual injunction.
at law will

107

proceed

in the latter, the plaintiff at law, if

file

In the former event, of course the action he wish to

a
bill

enforce his claim, will have to

of equitable assumpsit, as

he ought to have done in the first instance. If the defendant at law have cross demands against the plaintiff namely, at law, his bill may, at his option, have a double equity first, that he has demands against the defendant in equity which are unfit to be tried by a jury; secondly, that the defendant in equity is prosecuting an action at law against him which is unfit to be tried by a jury; and accordingly double relief may be prayed, namely, first, that the defendant in equity be compelled to satisfy
;

the

demands of the

plaintiff in equity;

secondly, that the prosecuIn short, the

tion of the action at law be enjoined.

the double character of a

enjoin an action at law.

bill

of equitable assumpsit

If the bill

assume

this

may have and a bill to double character,

bill
its

the subsequent stages of the suit will vary according to circumstances.

Thus,

if

the defendant resist the suit in both

;

aspects,
first,

there will be two questions to be tried at the hearing

namely,

whether the claim set up in the bill is fit to be tried by a jury; secondly, whether the action at law is fit to be tried by a jury. If the first question be decided in the affirmative, so much of the bill as seeks a recovery against the defendant will go for nothing. If the second question be decided in the affirmative, so much of the bill as seeks an injunction will go for nothing. If both questions be decided in the affirmative, the bill will be dismissed. If the second question be decided in the negative, a perpetual injunction will be granted, and the plaintiff at law will have to file a bill of equitable assumpsit, if he wish to enforce his claim. If the first question be decided in the negative, it will follow that the plaintiff in equity is entitled to enforce his claim in equity and accordingly a decree will be made, referring the cause to a Master to take an account of the plaintiff's claim, i.e., to ascertain its amount. When the amount has been ascertained, the cause will be brought on again, and a final decree will be made that the defendant pay the plaintiff the amount found due to the latter. If both questions be decided in the negative, of course the plaintiff will be entitled to both branches of relief just indicated. The defendant in equity may, however, think it not for his interest to resist the suit in equity; and in that case he will submit to an injunction, and will set up his cross claims, either in his
;

I08

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

answer to the plaintiff's bill or in a cross-bill; and the suit in equity will then assume the character of a suit and cross-suit, and
the cross claims

(when

severally ascertained) will be set off against

will

each other, and a decree

be

made

in favor

of the party in
to

whose favor the balance

balance.

is

found to be for the payment of such

it

Indeed, the defendant in equity will generally find

his cross claims in the suit
resist that suit, in

up against him, even though he

be
for his interest to set
in

brought

order that, in the

event of his resistance proving unsuccessful, he

the

may

try his claims

same

suit in

which the claims of the

plaintiff in

equity are

and thus have the former set off against the latter. As to what will constitute sufficient complication to render a case unfit to be tried by a jury, no certain rule can be laid down, and hence much must necessarily be left to the discretion of the judge before whom the question comes.^ There are one or two considerations, however, which will be found to be of much service in guiding a judge's discretion, and in leading him to a correct decision of the question. First, the burden should be cast upon him who denies the competency of a jury to try the case for trial
tried,
;

by jury
ondly,
it

is

the constitutional

mode

of trying legal rights.

Sec-

should not be deemed sufficient for the party who has the burden to show that the mode of trial provided by equity He should be will be better in the given case than trial by jury.
required to show that a jury cannot try the case properly, and,
therefore, that there
is

a necessity for providing

some other mode

of
in

nothing short of necessity can justify an equity judge depriving either party to a legal controversy of his constitutional
trial;

for

right to a trial

by jury.

Thirdly, the temptation should be guarded

against of letting the decision turn

upon the number of items

involved

than

much more depends upon the character of the items upon their number. In many cases, where the items are
;

for

For cases in which a bill of equitable assumpsit has been entertained, see KenningHoughton, 2 Y. & Coll. C. C. 620 TafE Vale Railway Co. v. Nixon, \ H. L. Cas. III. For cases in which there has been held not to be sufficient complication to warrant a bill of equitable assumpsit, see Dinwiddle v. Bailey, 6 Ves. 136; King v. Rossett, 2 Y. & Jer. 33 Phillips v. Phillips, 9 Hare, 471 Padwick v. Stanley, 9 Hare, 627 Smith V. Leveaux, 2 DeG., J. & S. i Moxon v. Bright, L. R. 4 Ch. 292. In Foley v. Hill, 2 H. L. Cas. 28, which was a bill by a customer against his banker, there were only three items involved, namely, a deposit of ;f6,ii7 los., and two checks for ;^i,70oand ;'2,ooo, respectively; and it was held that the bill would not lie. The case involved another question of jurisdiction otherwise, it would have been too clear for argument.
1

ton

V.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

numerous, they are yet so simple
alike,

IO9

in their character,

and so much

plicated.

at all commost cases between bankers and their customers, where the items, however numerous, constitute but two simple classes; namely, money deposited with {i.e., paid to) the banker by the customer, and money paid by the banker to the customer, or to others by his order, i.e., in payment of the Moreover, it is scarcely possible, in such a customer's checks.

that their

number does not render the case

Of

this description are

case, that the controversy should not turn entirely

upon a small The truth of this last observation is strikingly illustrated by the case of Bayley v. Adams,^ where a bill of equitable assumpsit was filed upon a claim which involved but one controverted fact, and that too a fact eminently proper to be tried by a jury. Fourthly, the degree of complication which a suit involves may depend upon the nature of the defence, as well as upon the nature of the claim. Thus, when the defence is payment, the payment may be made up of a great number of items, and items of payment are as likely to

number of

items,

the others being involved in no doubt.

involve complication as items of claim.

It

has been held ^ that a case

may

be so circumstanced as to give
bill

the plaintiff an absolute choice between a

of equitable as-

sumpsit and an action at law, i.e., that a bill of equitable assumpsit, if he choose to file one, will be entertained, and yet, if he choose to bring an action at law, such action will not be enjoined
in other words, that a case

may be

so complicated as to authorize
either party ever has a right

the plaintiff to
require

come
do
so.

into equity,

and yet not so complicated as to

if

him

to

Doubtless,

to choose between an action at law and equitable assumpsit, that

right

must belong to the

if

plaintiff;
is

but,

if

what has been said

jury, each party
is

in

the preceding paragraph

right; for,
titled

correct, neither party ever has that

the case can be tried

it

by a
it.

en-

to have

so tried, and

if it

cannot, neither party has a

It

right to

make

the attempt so to try

seems, therefore, that

equity, in assuming or declining jurisdiction in this class of cases,

jurisdiction be invoked

should always be governed by the same principles, whether by the plaintiff or by the defendant.

its

When
1 2 S.

there are cross

demands between two persons, and one

&
G. 8 ; and see N. E. Railway Co.

6 Ves. 586.
E. Railway Co.
v.

Brogden, 3 M.

v.

Martin,

z Ph. 758.

no

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

files

of them

bill

of equitable assumpsit against the other, and

the latter sets up the claims in his

in a cross-bill (in

own

favor, either in his

answer or
in-

which

latter case the suit

and

cross-suit are heard

together and as one suit), of course the

volve twice as

trial will

presumably

much

complication as
;

if

the items in the

plaintiff's

favor were alone to be tried

and that

fact has led to the opinion

that the question, whether equity shall

assume jurisdiction

in a

given case, depends largely upon whether there are cross demands.^ That opinion, however, seems to be erroneous. First, the question
is,

not what complication a suit in equity

trial at

may

involve, but

what

complication a
the

law will involve.

Secondly, cross demands

one action only when the defendant sets up by a plea of set-off, or (in the modern and whether a defendant statutory systems) by a counter-claim in an action shall avail himself of items in his favor by way of setcan be tried at law
in

demands

in his favor

off or counter-claim, or

by a separate

action,

is

entirely at his

option.

Suppose, then,
exist,

dema,nds

one of two persons between brings an action at law on the items

whom

cross

in his favor,

and thereupon the other files a bill of equitable assumpsit and for an injunction. First, the defendant in equity may demur to the bill as a bill of equitable assumpsit, and if he do, his demurrer must be allowed, unless the plaintiff in equity can show that the demands in his favor are too complicated to be tried by a jury; and in deciding this question, clearly no notice can be taken of
the

demands
and
if

in favor

of the defendant in equity.

to the
bill

Secondly, the

defendant in equity
tion,
plaintiff in equity

may demur

as a bill for an injunc-

at law is here again no notice can be taken of the demands in favor of the plaintiff in equity, for he has not set them up in the action at law
;

he do, his demurrer must be allowed, unless the can show that the demands on which the action founded are too complicated to be tried by a jury and

he could not make that fact a ground If both demurrers be allowed, on demands of neither party are too complicated the ground that the to be tried by a jury, and thereupon the plaintiff in equity plead and even
if

he had done

so,

for asking for an injunction.

the

demands

in his favor

by way of

set-off or counter-claim to the

it may happen that the demands of both parties will make the case too complicated to be tried by a jury, though the demands of neither party alone would

action at law brought against him,

But see

infra, p. 112, n. I.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

have that
law,
effect.

Ill

plaintiff at law

If such an improbable event should happen, the would clearly be entitled to abandon his action at

and file a bill of equitable assumpsit, setting forth his claim, had brought an action to enforce it, and that the defendant to the action had set up therein demands in his own favor by way of set-off or counter-claim, and had thus rendered the action too complicated to be tried by a jury. It is true that the existence of cross demands would thus become indirectly the cause of equity's assuming jurisdiction, but the direct cause would be the fact of the defendant's insisting upon having the demands in his favor tried in the same action in which the plaintiff's were tried. It is possible also that the plaintiff might take another course namely, file a bill to restrain the defendin the case just supposed ant from giving any evidence, on the trial of the action, in support of the demands in his favor, and thus making it impracticable to Whether such a bill would lie or not, would seem try the action. to depend upon whether the right of the plaintiff to have his case tried by a jury, or the right of the defendant to have his demands set off against the plaintiff's demands; should be deemed the more
that he
;

sacred.

Much of the uncertainty and confusion to be found in the books on the subject of cross demands are due to the inveterate habit,
prevailing

among

lawyers as well as

among laymen,

of applying

unconsciously to cross demands the civil-law doctrine of compensation

(^compensation
ipso jure,
;

namely, that cross

are the larger)

demands extinguish
(in favor

each other

and hence that only the balance

is

of

the party whose

^

demands

due.^

If the

doc-

more than one such reason can

mistake could scarcely become so prevalent without some special reason ; and First, the doctrine of compensation is easily be found.

founded in natural justice. " Natural equity says that cross demands should compensate each other by deducting the less sum from the greater; and that the difference is the only sum that can be justly due. But positive law, for the sake of the forms of proceeding and convenience of trial, has said that each must sue and recover separately in separate The natural sense of mankind was first shocked at this in the case of actions. bankrupts, and it was provided for by 4 Anne, c. 17, 11, and 5 Geo. II., c. 30, 28. Where there was no bankruptcy, the injustice of not setting off (especially after the death of either party) was so glaring that Parliament interfered by z Geo. II., c. 22, Per Lord Mansfield, in Green v. 13, and 8 Geo. II., c. 24, 5 [Statutes of Set-off]." Farmer, 4 Burr. 2214, 2220-1. Secondly, the system of merchants' accounts, which had its origin in countries where the civil law prevailed, and which is in use all over the world,
. . . . . .

has
of

made every mercantile man

familiar in practice with the doctrine of compensation.

is

According to that system, there

no

difference

between the payment of a debt and a loan

money.

In the case of either, the person receiving the

money

is

made debtor

for

it.

112
trine of

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

compensation were a part of our law, it would, of course, follow that cross demands could never be separated from each other, and that they would always have to be the subject of a single trial, and hence that demands in favor of a defendant would always have the same effect in rendering a trial complicated as

demands

in the plaintiff's

favor.^

In short,

by the doctrine of

compensation every demand

in a defendant's favor operates as a

payment of the demands

observations

in the plaintiff's favor until the latter

are extinguished, and hence every such

demand

is

subject to the

made

in a previous

paragraph on the defence of

payment.^

demands do not with us extinguish each other may be made to do so by the parties to them, that too by a mere agreement, and without any physical act and Thus, if A owe B $i,ooo, and B owe A $500, and being done. they agree that the two demands shall be set off against each other, the debt due to A and one-half of the debt due to B will thereupon be extinguished, and a debt of $500, due from A to B, will alone remain.^ That this result would be produced by the
cross
ipso jure, yet they
while the person from
is

Though

made

creditor for jSioo in the

whom it is received is made creditor. books of B, and B is made

Thus, if

A lend $100 to B, A

debtor for $ioo in the books

of A.
is

Then, when B pays the debt, B is made creditor for $100 in the books of A, and A made debtor for Jioo in the books of B. Thus, A and B are each both debtor and
;

on the books of the other for $100 and then, by the operation of the doctrine due by each to the other is extinguished by the debt due to him from the other and, according to merchants' accounts, it is in this way alone that
creditor
of compensation, the debt
;

a debt can ever be paid.

last

And this accounts in part, at least, for the opinion which has been combated in the paragraph but one. Indeed, Lord Justice Turner, who went the length of holding that bills of equitable assumpsit are confined to cases of cross demands, based his opinion Thus, in Phillips v. Phillips, 9 Hare, 471, entirely upon the doctrine of compensation.
1
:

he said " A bill of this nature will only lie where it relates to that which is the subject of a mutual account and I understand a mutual account to mean, not merely where one of two parties has received money and paid it on account of the other, but where each of two parties has received and paid on the other's account. I take the reason of that distinction to be, that, in the case of proceedings at law, where each of two parties has received and paid on account of the other, what would be to be recovered would be the balance of the two accounts, and the party plaintiff would be required to prove, not merely that the other party had received money on his account, but also to enter into evidence of his own receipts and payments." And see, to the same effect, Padwick v Stanley, 9 Hare, 627 and compare Makepiece v. Rogers, 4 DeG., J. & S. 649.
;
;

See supra, p. 109. "If obligor or feoffor beTjound by condition to pay 100 marks at a certain day, and at the day the parties do account together, and for that the feoffee or obligee did owe zo
'

to obligor or feoffor, that

sum is allowed, and the

residue of the 100 marks paid, this

is

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

13

payment of $500 by B to A, and the immediate repayment thereof by A to B, is plain but such payment and repayment would be an idle ceremony, and therefore the same result may be produced without performing that ceremony. So when two persons, between whom numerous cross demands exist, state an account
;

(as

it

is

called)

and
side,

strike a balance, the effect

is,

that

all

the

demands on one
ascertain

and
;

all

those on the other side, except such

balance, are extinguished

for,

by

stating the account, the parties

to the other,

and agree upon the amount due by each

and by striking a balance they agree that the cross demands so ascertained and agreed upon shall be set off against each other. There is, however, a material distinction between the operation of law in extinguishing cross demands and the operation of an agreement of the parties in producing the same result; for the
former, while
it

makes

it

a condition of enforcing the demands of

either party that the amount' of the

demands of each party be

of satisfying that condition,

ascertained, does nothing in the

way

but leaves the amount of each party's demands just as uncertain and as it would be if no extinguishment of them had taken place doctrine of compensation to cross hence the application of the
;

demands always
ones.

increases the complication of a

trial,

for

it

intro-

duces new elements of complication without removing any old

In short, while the law can by its own operation cause cross demands to extinguish each other, so that the difference, if any, between them will alone remain due, it cannot ascertain the amount of such difference,
if

any, nor in favor of which party

it

exists.

On
good

the other hand, an agreement between two parties to set off

their

mutual demands against each other

satisfaction
;

will

seldom be made,

and no payment was made " If the condition of an a. obligation be to pay 100 marks at a day, and at the day the obligor and obligee account together at another place, and because the obligee owes to the obligor ;^2o by another contract, the obligee allow the 20 in payment of the 100 marks, this is a good satisfaction of the condition, for this is all one as if the obligor had paid the obligee, and he had repaid him. 12 R. 2, Barre, 243. This is a payment by way of retainer.'' : Rol. Abr. 471, pi. 5. " The way in which an agreement to set one debt against another of equal amount,' and discharge both, proves a plea of payment, is this If the parties met, and one of them actually paid the other in coin, and the other handed back the same identical coin in payment of the gross debt, both would be paid. When the parties agree to consider both debts discharged without actual payment it has the sajjne effect, because in contemplation of law a pecuniary transaction is supposed to have taken place by which each debt was then paid." Per Lord Campbell, C. J., in Livingstone v. Whiting, 15 Q. B. 722. And see, to the same effect, Callander v. Howard, 10 C. B. 290.
in action,
Litt.

and yet the ;^20 was a chose

thereof but by

way

o retainer or discharge."

Co.

213

114

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

and, even if their unless the amount of such demands be known amount be known, such an agreement will seldom be made except by implication, and as an incident to or a consequence of some

other agreement or transaction.

parties to set off mutual

Thus, an agreement between two

demands, as to the amount of which there has never been any dispute or uncertainty, will seldom be made, except as incidental to the payment of the difference between them, and even then the only evidence of such an agreement will commonly be found in the fact that the parties treat such difference as the only debt existing between them. So also an agreement between two parties to set off mutual demands, the amount of which has been the subject of dispute or uncertainty, will seldom be made, except as a consequence of the ascertainment and settlement of such amount; and even then the only evidence of such an agreement will commonly be found in the fact that the parties strike a balance, and treat such balance as the only debt existing between them. Hence, a set-off of mutual demands, by agreement between the parties thereto, so far from introducing any new element of complication, removes any complication which previously existed, and, so far from giving to either party a right to go into equity, it takes away any such right that previously
existed.

When an account is stated of cross demands between two parties, and a balance struck, it seems that the implied agreement to set off the cross demands against each other will remain in force, though the statement of account be afterwards impeached and set and the effect, therefore, will aside, e.g., on the ground of fraud be the same as if an agreement had been made to set off the cross demands against each other without any statement of account, or as if the cross demands had been set off against each other by mere operation of law; and hence, though a balance only will remain due, yet, before such balance can be recovered, the amount of it must be ascertained, and to which of the two parties it is due and therefore the agreement to set off the cross demands against each other may result in the necessity of ascertaining, in a single suit, the amount due to each party from the other before any setoff was made, and thus, by increasing the complication, confer
;

jurisdiction

upon

equity.

agreement between two parties to set off cross demands against each other may, however, relate to cross demands not then

An

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

existing, but thereafter to arise
;

II5

and in that case it seems that the agreement will operate upon the cross demands and cause their mutual extinguishment the moment they arise, provided neither of the parties have given any notice to the other to the contrary for, in the absence of such notice, the parties will be conclusively presumed to remain of the same mind they were of when the agreement was made, and therefore the effect will be the same as if the agreement had been made at the moment when the cross demands arose. It is as true, however, of such an agreement as it is of an agreement to set off existing cross demands, that it will seldom be made otherwise than by implication and the implication in this latter case will generally arise, if at all, from the nature and the course of the dealing between the parties. Moreover, the agreement will arise the moment it is called for by circumstances, i.e., the moment that cross demands come into existence, and not till then and as often as new cross demands arise, a new agreement to set them off against each other will arise. The cross demands, therefore, and the agreement to set them off against each other, will always co-exist, and hence there can be no doubt that the agreement will operate upon the cross demands and cause
;

their actual extinguishment.

And

yet the

amount of the
;

respective

remain to be ascertained and therefore such an agreement will have the same effect in increasing complication as an extinguishment of cross demands by operation of law. It is, it seems, on the principle just explained, that cross demands between a banker and his customer extinguish each other. Indeed, if there be cross demands between a banker and his customer, there can be no doubt that they extinguish each other, and they can do this only in the mode just explained or by operation of law. Do cross demands, then, arise between a banker and his customer in the ordinary course of business? That every deposit by a customer with his banker creates a debt in favor of the former and against the latter, of course there is no doubt. Does every payment by the banker of a check drawn by the customer create a debt in favor of the former and against the latter? The
cross
will

demands

general opinion seems to have been that

constitutes a

it

does not, but that

it

payment /w

to the customer.^

due from the banker This opinion, however, seems not to be well
tanto of the debt
See Devaynes
v.

Noble,

Mer. 529.

Il6

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

The
question does not depend upon the intention of

founded.

the parties, but

upon the

legal operation of a check.

check,
in the

which

is in

effect a bill of

exchange, does not

call for

the

payment

of a debt, but for the payment of the

sum

of

money named

check on the customer's account; and therefore the payment, when made, constitutes a debt for money paid by the banker to the customer's use. The check calls for the payment by the banker of the amount named in the check, without regard to the state of the account between the banker and the customer; but if the payment which it calls for were the payment of a debt due from the banker to the customer, it would be payable only to the extent of the debt then actually due from the former to the latter, and any payment beyond that amount would be made without authority. Indeed, payment of a check by a banker would be an admission by him that so much was due from him to the customer. Moreover, on the supposition just made, a check would operate as an assignment pro tanto of the debt due from the banker to the customer, and would thus give to the payee a right in equity to recover against the banker without any acceptance of the check by the latter; and yet it is well known that a check does not so operate. Upon the whole, therefore, it seems that the items on the banker's side of his account with his customer constitute cross demands in his favor, or rather that they would do so but for the
fact that they are set off against the items in the customer's favor

the

moment

that they

come

into existence.^

However,

it

is

not

material

to the

present inquiry whether they constitute

cross

demands or payments, for in either case they must equally be taken into account in considering whether a case between a banker
and
a
his

customer
equity.

is

suflSciently

complicated to warrant the

filing

of

bill in

Though an agreement between two parties that their mutual demands shall be set off against each other will cause an actual
set-off to take place, yet

their

mutual demands

shall

an agreement between two parties that be extinguished will not cause an exde-

It is scarcely

necessary to observe that, as a banker credits his customer with

all

posits

made by

the latter, so he debits

latter.

him with all checks drawn by the customer on the

in

banker, and paid by the

But for the reason stated

no inference can be drawn from

this circumstance that the

a previous note (p. iii, u. l), items on the debit side of the

customer's account constitute cross demands, and not payments of debts.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

II7

tinguishment to take place, unless the agreement can be construed as an agreement to make a set-off; for no debt or demand can be
extinguished by a mere agreement.

When,

therefore, an extin-

guishment of cross demands takes place by way of set-off, it is immaterial, in respect to the extinguishment, whether the cause of
the set-off be the agreement of the parties or the operation of law.
It follows, therefore, that

the extent of the extinguishment which

takes place

demands are set off against each other, and hence the question to which of the parties, if to either, a balance remains due, as well as the amount of such balance, depend upon the amounts actually due from the parties respectively to each other before the set-off was made, and not upon the amounts agreed by the parties to be due. When, for example, an account is stated of cross demands between two parties and a balance struck, the statement of the account has no effect upon the cross
cross

when

demands, and hence

it

does not follow that the balance struck

it

is

the

true balance, nor does the striking of

make

it

the true balance.

And

yet the statement of the account will be binding as an agree-

ment (assuming, of
is

course, that it has the ordinary requisites of a binding agreement), and hence the party in whose favor the balance

struck may recover such balance by reason of the agreement, but he must do so by an action on the agreement, and if he attempt to recover it as a part of the old debt still remaining due to him, the defendant may show that in truth the old debt has been wholly

paid by means of the

set-off.

So,

if

either of the parties sue the

other for any part of his old debt in violation of the agreement, the

defendant will not be able to set up the account stated as showing that the debt sued for is not due,^ and his only resource will be
either to obtain an injunction against the action, or to set

up the

agreement as a defence by way of preventing circuity of action. From what has been said in the preceding paragraph, it follows that, in respect to the extinguishment of cross demands, there is no difference in law between the striking of a balance as the result of stating an account, i.e., of ascertaining the amounts actually due from the parties respectively to each other, and the striking of a balance as the result of a compromise of uncertain, doubtful, or disputed demands. In either case the balance struck may be right, and in either case it may be wrong, the true balance depending in
1

Therefore, in Perry

v.

see cases cited infra, p. 124, nn. 2

Attwood, 6 El. and 3.

&

Bl. 691, the

seventh plea was bad

and

Il8

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

each case, not upon the statement of account or the compromise, but upon the facts which existed before the account was stated or
the

compromise made. In respect, however, to the agreement upon which the striking of the balance is based, there is a material
difference

between a statement of account and a compromise.

is

The
it

former
little

is

a regular and ordinary transaction, which generally takes

place periodically and which

regarded by the parties to

as

more than
its

routine.

special in

nature.

The latter, on the other hand, is entirely The former is in itself not an agreement,

agreement; and the only agreement which often accompanies it is such as it carries with it by implication. compromise, on the other hand, is in itself an agreement and nothing else, and this is equivalent to saying that it is an express agreement. What the agreement is, therefore, in the case of an account stated, generally depends entirely upon implication or construction, and this implication or construction is of course always the same and hence the question is one of law. In the case of a compromise, on the other hand, what the agreement is depends entirely upon what the parties have expressed, there being no basis upon which to make any implication or construction and hence the question is one of fact. What agreement then is to be implied in the case of an account stated? Clearly it must be an agreement that the account stated shall be taken to be true, at least prima facie, for otherwise the stating of an account would go for nothing. On the other hand, it clearly would be wrong to imply an agreement that the account stated shall be taken to be true absolutely, i.e., that neither party shall be permitted to show that it contains any mistakes or errors, or that anything has been omitted from it which ought to have been included in it for the object of stating an account is not to make a bargain, but to find out the truth. When an account has been stated, therefore, the parties to it, if they be honest, suppose it to be true, and hence any implication of an agreement respecting it must be on the supposition of its being true. If, therefore, that supposition fails, the agreement also fails. How, then, can an account stated be given that binding effect, without which it would be a nullity, and yet be prevented from having a binding effect which the parties to it never contemplated, and which therefore would work injustice? Clearly by implying a conditional agreement, namely, that the account stated shall be
but a transaction which implies an

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

119

taken to be true, unless (and except so far as) one of the parties to it shall prove mistakes or errors in it, or omissions from That such a condition ought to be implied is proved by the it. prevailing practice of placing at the foot of every account the
a practice which is words, " Errors and omissions excepted," believed never to be departed from, except through inadvertence, or because an express exception is supposed to be unnecessary.^

In the case of a compromise, on the other hand, as there is no implied agreement, so there can be no implied condition; and,
therefore, in the absence of an express condition, a
is

compromise

absolutely binding.

in

Moreover, such a condition as is implied the case of an account stated, would be inconsistent with the
;

nature of a compromise

for a

compromise

is

a bargain, the object

supersede the necessity of investigating the facts a bargain, the very which are the subject of the compromise, essence of which consists in an agreement that certain facts,
of which
is

to

supposed to be uncertain or doubtful, shall be conclusively taken, Of as between the parties to the agreement, to be thus and so. course the motive of each party in making a compromise is the promotion of his own interests, namely, by obtaining better terms than he thinks he has an even chance of obtaining otherwise, or by saving trouble and expense, or in both of these ways but whatever the motive, each party acts upon his own knowledge and judgment as to all doubtful facts, and he acts at his peril.^
;

" It

is

common

to add to a statement of accounts,

'

Errors excepted

; '

I think tliat

such exception must be understood, even where not expressed." C. J., in Perry v. Attwood, 6 El. & Bl. 691, 700.
s"

Per Lord Campbell,

settle those

" Parties having accounts between

them may meet and agree to

;

accounts

by the ascertainment

of the exact balance

and,

if

they

mean to

ascertain the exact bal-

ance, it may be necessary for that purpose, and probably is necessary in most cases, that vouchers should be produced, and that all the information which is possessed on one and, if it side and the other should be furnished in the settlement of those accounts afterwards turn out that there are errors in the account, it is a sufficient ground for open;

ing the account and for setting

it

right in a

Court of Equity.

If,

on the other hand,

is

persons meet and agree not to ascertain the exact balance, but agree to take a gross

sum as

the balance

sum which one is

;

willing to pay,

and the other

content to receive
is entirely

as the result of those accounts

it is

obvious that the production of vouchers

out of the question, and errors in the account are so also, for the very object of the
parties is to avoid the necessity for producing those vouchers,

there are or

may be

errors in the account so settled

therefore,

upon the assumption that it is either an account

stated and settled in the formal sense of that expression, or, it is the case of a settlement by compromise. In either case it may be vitiated by fraud." Per Lord Kingsdown, in McKellar v. Wallace, 8 Moo. P. C. 378, 401-2.

I20

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the

same transactions may be the subject of both a statement of account and a compromise for the parties may first
;

Of course

an account, and then they may agree that the account so stated shall be taken as absolutely true but in that case the
state
;

account stated

is

entirely superseded

by the compromise

and as

a compromise can be only by express agreement, of course a

compromise can never be

stated.

inferred as a consequence of an account

The

result, therefore,

is

that,

while a compromise can be im-

peached only

for fraud,

an account stated can be impeached either

for fraud or error. If either a compromise or an account stated be impeached for fraud, of course the plaintiff will have the burden of proof, and he will have to establish fraud at the hearing, or his bill will be dismissed. If he succeed in making out a case of fraud, a decree will be made setting aside the compromise or the account stated, and referring the cause to a Master to take an account, just as if no compromise had been made, or no account had been stated.^ If an account stated be impeached on account of errors or omissions, the plaintiff will also have the burden of proof,^ but he will not have to establish errors or omissions at the hearing of the cause.^ On the contrary, he will be entitled to a decree as of course, referring the cause to a Master to take an account; but the Master will be directed, in case he shall find
'

In AUfreyw. Allfrey,
is,

M.&G. 87, LordCottenhamsaid (p. 93)

"

The only question

whether the decree should be for an open account generally, or a decree to surcharge and falsify. Now the distinction between these two has not been accurately observed in some more recent cases. But if you look to the earlier cases, you will find the rule clearly laid down. In the case of Vernon v. Vawdry, 2 Atk. 119, it is said 'If there are only mistakes and omissions in a stated account, the party objecting shall be allowed no more than to surcharge and falsify. But if it appears to the Court that there has been fraud and imposition, the decree must be, that the whole shall be
in this cause

opened.'
in
is,

have acted upon that doctrine, affirming a decree of Lord Langdale's,

v.

Wedderburn

strictly speaking, the doctrine

Wedderburn, 4 M. & Cr. 41. and principle of

Now

it

is

quite obvious, that that

this Court, because, if a transaction,

whether it be a deed, or an agreement, or an account stated and settled, which is only an agreement, be proved to be fraudulent, there is nothing on which it can stand the transaction itself is void." See also Coleman v. Mellersh, 2 M. & G. 309. ^ Dawson %i. Dawson, West, 171,1 Atk. i Pit v. Cholmondeley, 2 Ves. 565. There is a distinction, however, between errors and omissions. As to errors, the burden of proof is shifted from the defendant to the plaintiff by the agreement implied by the account stated. As to omissions, on the other hand, the burden of proof simply remains where it always was, namely, with the plaintiff. 8 This is because the items of an account are never investigated at the hearing of the cause, but are always investigated after the hearing and in the Master's office.
: ;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

an account stated between the parties, to
this decree, the plaintiff will
let

121

the same stand, but

to permit the plaintiff to surcharge or falsify the same.^

Under

be permitted to show that the defendant ought to be debited with certain items which have been omitted from the account; and such items as the plaintiff proves This is called surwill be added to the account by the Master. charging the account.* The plaintiff will also be permitted to show that the defendant has been credited in the accounts stated with certain items with which he ought not to be credited and such items as he proves to be erroneous will be stricken out by the Master. This is called falsifying the account.^ When the evidence is all in, the Master will make up the account, consisting of the account stated, with such additions and corrections as the proof requires, and report the same to the court. What has been said as to impeaching an account stated on account of errors or omissions, is applicable to an account which has been stated pursuant to an obligation to account, as well as to an account stated respecting cross demands, or respecting demands, all of which are in favor of the same creditor and against the same debtor, except that, in the former case, the account stated
is

a thing executed,

i.e., it

extinguishes the obligation to account,

in

and converts the balance found

favor of the obligee into a legal

;

debt, without regard to errors or omissions

while in the two latter

cases the account stated rests merely in agreement, especially as regards errors or omissions and a consequence of this difference is
;

1 Kinsman v. Barker, 14 Ves. 579 Fitzpatrick v. Mahony, 1 J. & La T. 84. The phrase " surcharge and falsify " is derived from the ancient mode of accounting in equity, according to which the items in every account were all reduced to two classes, namely, items of charge and items of discharge. This mode of accounting was perfectly adapted to an accounting upon a bill for an account, but it was not so well adapted to an account;

ing upon a bill of equitable assumpsit, i.e., as between debtor and creditor. When applied to this latter species of accounting, the items of charge consisted of the items which made up the indebtedness of the defendant to the plaintiff, while the items of dis-

charge consisted of the payments made by the defendant, with any other items of defence. Under this system a plaintiff and a defendant could not both be accounting parties in the same account. In the case, therefore, of cross demands, as the plaintiff and the defendant

were both accounting

classes of items.

parties, there

had

to

be two separate accounts, each with

its

two

This mode of accounting was abolished in England by the 6ist order of April 3, 1828, by which it was provided " that all parties accounting before the Masters shall bring in their accounts in the form of debtor and creditor." See Sanders' Orders, 725. 2 Pit V. Cholmondeley, 2 Ves. 565. Pit V. Cholmondeley, supra.

122

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

impeached
it is

that an account stated, in the former case, can be

for

errors or omissions in equity alone, while, in the two latter cases,

so far as

it

can be proved to be erroneous or defective,

invalid

both
It

at

law and in equity.'

remains to speak of an important distinction between an ac-

counting pursuant to an obligation to account, and a statement

of accounts respecting cross demands,

distinction

which has

already been alluded to more than once, but which requires to be

examined with more

obligation to account

particularity.
is

An
of
it.

accounting pursuant to an
It is, therefore, at

an extinguishment of one cause of action,

in lieu

and the creation of another

defence and a cause of action,

in the plaintiff's favor,

a defence to an action on the

is

once a
obli-

gation to account, and a cause of action to recover the balance found

which balance

a debt created

by the ac-

counting.

statement of accounts respecting cross demands, on

set-off,

the other hand, extinguishes nothing of the original demands, ex-

cept indirectly, namely, by means of a

right of action, except a right of action

ment, and the balance which

is

is

found

in

and creates no new on an executory agreefavor of one of the parties

set-off.

not a

new

debt, but a portion of that party's original debt,

much of it as One consequence of this

namely, so

has not been extinguished by the

distinction
is,

an action or suit to recover a balance found in the plaintiff's favor, such balance should be described, in the one case, as a debt due upon an account stated, in the other case, as a debt due for the same cause as the plaintiff's Another consequence is that if a claim be sued original demand.
that, in

for

which has been extinguished, either by or

in

consequence of

the statement of an account, the defence will be, in the one case,

an account stated, in the other, payment. Clear as this distinction is in principle, it has never obtained any recognition in equity, a fact which, considering that no distinction between the two kinds
of accounting has ever been recognized in equity,
is

not surprising.

What

is

surprising, however,

is

the fact that the distinction in

question has obtained

further fact that there

only partial recognition at law, and the

is

an absolute inconsistency between the

failure to recog-

recognition of
nize
it,

it

at law,

on the one hand, and the

on the other hand. Thus, it is perfectly clear that " accounts stated " was never a good plea at law, except to an action
1 Therefore, in Perry v. Attwood, 6 El. & Bl. 691, if the seventh plea had been good, the replication would have been a good legal answer to it.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

23

of account (in which case it took the name q{ plene computavii) and of course it follows that no action should lie upon an account stated, unless the account stated be one which might formerly have been enforced by an action of account. Yet, with extraordinary inconsistency, and through an extraordinary perversion of
;

the indebitaUis count in assumpsit upon an account stated,

that that count
is

it is

held

merely in all cases where an account has been stated respecting cross demands, but in all cases where there has been even a verbal admission by the defendant that he owed a certain sum to the plaintiff, though there have never been any cross demands, nor any formal statement of account between the parties. That this is a perversion of the count upon an account stated there can be no doubt. That count had its origin in the action of debt for arrearages of account, a form of action (or rather a form of count) devised expressly and exclusively for cases in which a balance had been found in the plaintiff's favor upon an accounting by the defendant pursuant to an obligation to account, and such balance remained unpaid, i.e., for cases in which the proper action would have been account, but for the fact that there had already been an accounting, and hence an action of account would be
available, not

met by a plea of plene computavii. When the action of debt on simple contract came to be superseded by indebitatus assumpsit, the count in debt for arrearages of account was converted into the count upon an account stated in assumpsit; and, therefore, the latter should have remained subject to the same limitations to which the former was subject; and so it did for a time.^ But
with the disuse of the action of account, the proper function of

upon an account stated was lost sight of, and hence its proper limitations soon came to be disregarded. One of the minor evils consequent upon this departure from principle has been that the count upon an account stated has ceased to be (what it once was) a test of the cases in which an action of account would
the count

formerly
lie.

lie,

and

in

which therefore a

bill

for

an account

will

now

When
beyond
1

the count upon an account stated had been thus extended

its

true bounds, consistency required that the defence of

v.

Hamond

Ward,

Styles', 287,

Lilly's Pr.

Reg.

30,

decided in Trinity Term,

stated, but the view of the court clearly was not based upon any supposed distinction between

1651.

The form

of the action appears to have been debt

upon an account

debt and assumpsit.

124

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

account stated should be extended in like manner for whenever a plaintiff is permitted to sue upon an account stated as a new cause of action, he ought to be precluded from suing upon the old cause of action which was the subject of the accounting; and
accordingly, in one case,^ in the time of Chief Justice North,
it

was held

to be a

good plea
;

to an action of indebitatus assumpsit

had been stated respecting the debts for which the but that decision was overruled in the time of Holt, the latter saying of it " The case quoted out of the Lord Moderns was the first of this kind, and by my consent shall be the last. And to plead it as an account is but argumentative of payment (which is direct), and therefore not to be allowed."^ Other cases,^ which soon followed, established conclusively that account stated is no plea, except to an action of account; and yet, in every case in which it was so decided, the court would have held that the plaintiff might have declared upon the account stated, and that the declaration upon it would have been supported
that an account

action was brought

by the evidence.
exist to attention.
this

And

this strange inconsistency

has continued to
attracted

day, and that too without ever having

1 Milward v. Ingram, i Mod. 205, 2 Mod. 43, Freem. 195. North, C. J., said (2 Mod. 44) " There are two demands in the declaration, to which the defendant pleads
:

an account stated, so that the plaintiff can never after have recourse to the first contract, sell his horse to B for ;^io, and, there which is thereby merged in the account. If

being divers other dealings between them, they come to an account upon the whole, and

is

found

in arrear ;^5,

must bring

his insimul computassent ; for

he can never

recover upon an indebitatus assumpsit."

2 '

May

Atherley

2 B.

&

King, 12 Mod. 538. v. Evans, Sayer, 269; Roades v. Barnes, Cr. 477; Callander v. Howard, 10 C. B. 290.
V.

Burr. 9;

Thomas

i".

Heathoni,

ARTICLE
VI.

I.i

Creditors' Bills.

are founded upon contracts or and yet are not called bills for specific performance namely, bills for an account, bills of equitable assumpsit, and The first and second of these have already been creditors' bills. treated of, and it is now proposed to treat of the third. A creditor's bill is a bill filed by a creditor of a deceased
obligations,

TT was stated in a former article ^ ^ classes of bills in equity which

that there are three important

debtor against the personal or the real representative, or against

the personal

and

the real representatives, of the

latter, to

compel
;

payment of the

debt.^

The

jurisdiction of equity over such bills

fact of the debtor's death

depends entirely upon the single

against a living debtor, as

for

such, equity never has jurisdiction,

while against the representatives

of a deceased debtor equity

always has jurisdiction

(i.e.,

in

England).

What

is

there then in

the mere fact of a debtor's death to give to his creditors a right

1
''

4 Harv. L. Rev. See supra, p. 74.

gg.

' It is

many)
kind of

scarcely necessary to remind the intelligent reader that, in some (perhaps of our States, the term " creditor's bill " is commonly applied to a very different
bill
;

from that which is the subject of the present article namely, a bill filed by a whose execution, issued upon the judgment, has been returned unsatisfied, in whole or in part, to obtain satisfaction of the judgment out of assets of the judgment debtor which cannot be taken upon execution. It will be found convenient to distinguish these two classes of bills from each other, by calling the latter " judgment
judgment
creditor,

creditors' bills."

126
to call

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

upon equity
to assist

them

in

enforcing payment of their

it

debts?

In order to answer this question satisfactorily

is

will

be

necessary to ascertain what obstacles a creditor

counter, as a consequence of his
to enforce

liable to en-

debtor's

death, in attempting

payment of
life

his debt

by an
is

action at law.

During the
creditor as

of a

debtor, the

only remedy of which his

against the person of the

such can avail himself

debtor.

It is true that, at

the present day, a debtor's property

generally constitutes the only means

enforce

payment of

his debt;

but

it

by which his creditor can is only by means of process

In

against a debtor's person that his property can be reached.

short, the creditor

must obtain a judgment for his debt against the debtor personally before he can compel payment of the debt out
of his debtor's property.
creditor's

remedy

is

gone.

When, The

therefore, the debtor dies, the

debtor's
it

property, to be sure,
unless the law furnishes

remains, but the creditor cannot touch

him with some new remedy. Indeed, when a debtor dies, his debts would all die with him did not positive law interpose to keep them alive for every debt is created by means of an obligation imposed upon the debtor, and it is impossible that an obligation
;

should continue to exist after the obligor has ceased to exist.

Whenever, therefore, a debtor dies, positive law has to interpose, first, to keep his debts alive and, secondly, to provide his creditors with a new remedy against his property. What is the nature of the remedy which positive law thus provides? If the question were a modern one, or if it were governed by modern ideas, we might expect a remedy to be provided which would be analogous to that which is provided against a bankrupt debtor or against an insolvent corporation. In other words, we might suppose that, in case the debts owing by a deceased debtor were not promptly paid, some court would be authorized, on the application of his creditors, to take his property into its own hands, and apply it to the payment of his debts, giving the surplus, if any, to the persons
;

entitled to receive

it.

The

question, however,

is

not a modern

governed by modern ideas. On the contrary, it is as old as the law itself, and the law relating to it is so bound up with the habits and customs of the people as not easily to admit of change. Accordingly, we shall find that the remedy provided by law for the creditors of deceased debtors is for the most part very
one, nor
is it

ancient
it

that, while it has been subject to changes, the changes in have been very slow and gradual and that it is almost a total
;

; ;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

stranger to
infused into

27

modern ideas, with the exception of such it by equity.

law, every

as

have been

By

the

Roman

human being who had

rights (other

than such as were merely personal), or was subject to obligations or duties (other than such as were merely personal), had two personalities {personas), one natural, the other legal, artificial, and fictitious
;

and

it

was

in

the latter that his rights were vested, and

the latter that his obligations and duties were imposed. It pecuHarity of the legal personality that, being the creature of law,

upon was a
it

continued to exist so long as there was any reason for its existence. It was not affected, therefore, by the death of the natural person,

but continued
heir (JtcBres)}

its

existence in the natural person's successor

oi:

It followed, therefore,

that every natural person

duties, at the time

who had
his rights

rights, or

was subject to obligations or

to all his obligations

of his death, necessarily had a successor or heir,

who

possessed

all

and duties. Moreover, every person's successor or heir was either such person as he himself appointed by his will (Jiceres factus), or, if he made no appointment, such person as was designated by law (Jiceres natus). An heir designated by law became such for his own benefit alone. An heir appointed by will was required to pay such legacies as were given by the will, subject to which he also took the inheritance for his own benefit. In respect to the obligations and duties to which the deceased was subject at the time of his death, there was no difference between the hcsres factus and the tuzres natus for such obligations and duties fell, necessarily and by operation of law, upon the one and the other, without distinction. So completely, indeed, was the heir of the deceased person identified with the deceased, that the law made no distinction between the estate of the one and that of the other, nor between the debts of the one and those of the other. If, therefore, an insolvent heir succeeded to a solvent inheritance, the creditors of the heir had as much right to be paid their debts out of that inheritance as the creditors of the deceased had and if a solvent heir succeeded to an insolvent inheritance, the creditors of the deceased had as much right to be paid out of the heir's own estate as his own creditors had and the only way of avoiding this last consequence of becoming a deceased person's successor was by refusing to accept the sucIt will be seen, therefore, that the remedy of a creditor

and was subject

See Maine, Ancient

Justinian, Inst., L.

Law

(4th ed.) 181-88.

;

2,

Tit. 19, 5

Gaius, L.

2,

162 et seq.

128

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

of a deceased debtor was very simple under the Roman law, i.e., he sued the heir of the deceased, just as he would have sued the deceased during his life, and with the same consequences; and this state of things continued without material change throughout the whole period of the
tinian.

Roman law, i.e., down to the time of JusJustinian introduced one important change, and only one, namely, that of allowing the heir the benefit of inventory (benefi;

cium inventarii) for he declared that such heirs as chose to prepare and file, within the time and in the manner directed by him,
an inventory of the estate of the deceased should be liable to the creditors of the latter only to the extent of such estate.^ From this time, therefore, an heir was liable under the old law or the new, according as he did or did not comply with the new law. If

he did, he incurred a liability only to account for the estate of the deceased if he did not, he remained personally liable for all the debts of the deceased as before. If an heir availed himself of the new law, of course he became bound to keep the estate of the deceased separate from his own estate. After the Roman empire became Christian, the Church by slow
;

degrees obtained control of the administration of the estates of all deceased persons. This result it finally accomplished by obtaining for
its

bishops the right to administer the estates of

In this

all
it

deceased

persons within their respective dioceses.

way

came

to

be the law, throughout Western Christendom at least, that the heir of every deceased person was the Ordinary, i.e., the bishop
of the diocese.

This, however, did not

mean

that the estates of

deceased persons were administered by the bishop personally, it only meant that they were administered by persons appointed

by him, who derived

accountable to him.
interfere with the

their

authority from him, and

who were
his

Nor

did this right of the bishop practically

immemorial right of every person to appoint

own
by

heir

by

will.

On

the contrary, this latter right continued to be

a sanction, however, which was seldom withheld.^

exercised as before, the only difference being that an heir appointed will must now obtain the bishop's sanction before he could act,
It

thus

came

about that the estate of every deceased person had to be administered by a person appointed by the bishop of the diocese. If the

1
'^

Inst., L. 2, Tit. ig,

Code, L.

6, Tit. 30, 22.

to

By the law of England the bishop was bound to give his do so, a mandamus would issue. 1 Williams, Executors

sanction, and,
(tst ed.) 214.

if

he refused

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

person so appointed was nominated
in

129

the will of the deceased, he

;

came
if

be known as the executor of the will (executor testamenti) the appointment was made without any such nomination, he was
to as the administrator of the estate of the deceased.

known

Practi-

cally, therefore, the

modern executor
is

is

the h(Zres foetus, as the

modern administrator
strictness,

the hceres natus, of the

Roman

law.

In

however, as already stated, the original right of adminisin the

tration

is

bishop

and

this

appears clearly from the fact

that his appointments of executors

effect as grants.^

and administrators always take

over the estates of deceased

The

transfer of the jurisdiction

persons from the secular to the ecclesiastical authorities indirectly

brought about two material changes first, heirship ceased to be a private right, and became an office, in the performance of which the heir as such had no personal interest; secondly, when heirship had ceased to confer any pecuniary benefit upon the heir, the absurdity of holding the latter personally liable for the debts of
:

the deceased

heir was so liable

became manifest; and hence the doctrine that an became entirely obsolete, while the exhibiting of an inventory ceased to be a privilege, and became a duty.

Two

further remarks are called for respecting the transfer of the

jurisdiction over the estates of deceased persons

to the ecclesiastical authorities, nani^ly,

from the secular England it extended only to personal or mova^e property, feudalism having secured complete dominion over land secondly, that it did not extend to the payment of debts, as to which executors and administrators have always been amenable to the secular authorities. We are now prepared to inquire what remedy was furnished by the law of England to a creditor of a deceased debtor against the
first,

that in

personal property of the

latter, at

sumed
action

jurisdiction over creditors' bills.

by the creditor against law it was an action against the heir. Secondly, the the executor was bound to pay the debts of the deceased out of his personal property, i.e., so far as such property would enable him to do so, but no further. He was not, therefore, regarded as personally owing the debt, and, though an action of debt lay against

when equity first asremedy was an the executor^ of the deceased, as by

the time
First, the

Roman

See

Ibid. 212-13, 268-69.

I

^^^ ^'so a learned and instructive

Rev. 252-67. be used.

article

by Mr. Henry

C. Coote,
2

Law Mag. and Law

term " executor ''

As there will be no

occasion hereafter to distinguish between executors and adminwill alone

istrators, the

130

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

detinet,

him, he was liable only in the

Thirdly, the executor
still

not
much

in the debet et detinet.

retained so

of the character of his

Roman heir, that the law always assumed that the hands were sufficient for the payment of debts, until the contrary appeared; and hence the creditor never had the burden of alleging ,and proving that the executor had sufficient assets to pay his debt:^ Fourthly, if the executor had not sufficient assets to pay the plaintiff's debt, he had to set up that fact as an affirmative defence and prove it. If he failed to set it up, or failed to prove it, and the plaintiff recovered in consequence, the verdict and judgment, or (if the judgment was by default or on demurrer) the judgment alone, established conclusively that the executor had sufficient assets, it being a universal principle that a defendant who fails to set up or to prove an affirmative defence at the proper time, loses the benefit of it, the law acting on the supposition that he has no such defence, and not permitting him to say to the contrary.^ Therefore, fifthly, the question whether the executor had assets to pay the plaintiff's debt was always settled conclusively at the trial. If it appeared that he had not, there was a verdict and judgment in his favor, and the plaintiff paid costs. If it did not so appear, there was (in the absence of any other objection to the plaintiff's recovering) a verdict and judgment for the plaintiff, in which event the executor had to pay the judgment, even though he paid it out of his own pocket. Still, sixthly, the judgment, in accordance with the legal theory of the executor's liability, was
prototype, the
assets in his

only that the plaintiff recover the amount out of the assets of the testator in the executor's hands, or, in technical language, the
not de bonis propriis. In short, judgment was de bonis testatoris, while the judgment established the liability of the executor conclusively, it did so, not by making the debt of the testator his debt, but by proving conclusively that he had assets of the testator sufSeventhly, when an execution was issued on a ficient to pay it. judgment against an executor, a failure by the latter to show to the sheriff goods of the testator out of which the amount of the judgment could be made, proved that the executor had wasted or converted to his own use a sufficient amount of the testator's assets to pay the judgment; i.e., that the executor had committed that
1

William Banes's Case, 9 Rep. 93

b.

Rock
V.

V.

Leighton,
I

Salk. 310,
;

Comyns,
v.
i

87,

Ld.

den

Jackson,

Atk. 292
v.

Erving
Waller,

Peters, 3 T.
689.

Raym. 589, 3 T. R. 690; RamsR. 685 Leonard v. Simpson,

;

2 Bing.

N. C. 176; Palmer

M. & W.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

species of tort

131

when an executor pay the testator's debts, to the extent of such devastavit, out of his own pocket. This liability could be enforced by a creditor who had already re-

known

as a devastavit.

Eighthly,
to

had committed a devastavit he was required

namely,, testatoris, in either of two ways by bringing a new action against the executor personally for the tort, in which action, of course, the judgment was de bonis propriis, or by issuing a scire facias on the judgment already recovered, calling upon the executor to show cause why the plaintiff should not have execution against the executor's own goods.^ The next question is, whether any sufficient reason can be

covered a judgment de bonis

found, in the matters stated in the preceding paragraph, for permitting a creditor of a deceased debtor to
file

bill

in equity

against the executor of the latter, instead of suing

at law.

him
it

in

an action
well

Before considering that question, however,

in

may be

to point out briefly the nature of the relief

upon

a creditor's

bill,

which equity gives order that the reader may compare such
law, as stated in the
its

relief with the

remedy given by the common

Equity takes
of
Justinian,

preceding paragraph.
Constitution

stand in effect upon the

the

by giving

executor

his

choice

between accounting for the testator's personal estate, on the one hand, and paying the testator's debts out of his own pocket, on
the other
heir that

hand.

Justinian's Constitution

said

to

the

Roman

he might avoid personal

liability for the

debts of the

deceased by accounting for the estate of the latter, i.e., by preparing and filing an inventory, which, of course, must be followed
up,
if

necessary,

by

full

executor against

whom

far as the plaintiff is

Equity says to the modern is filed, that he may, so concerned, avoid the burden of accounting
accounting.

a creditor's

bill

for the testator's estate

by admitting

in court sufficient assets to

pay the

plaintiff's debt,

and thus making himself personally

liable

for such debt.

And

equity requires the executor to

make
all

his

choice at the earliest practicable moment, namely, in his answer

to the
bill.

If the executor

admits assets in his answer,

is

that

prove his debt, whereupon a decree will be made that the executor pay the debt thus proved, and this decree will be enforced by the usual process of contempt. If the executor decline to admit assets in his answer, the only difference at the hearing will be that instead of a decree
to
See Wheatley

the plaintiff has to do at the hearing

v.

Lane,

Wms.

Saund. 216a, with Serjeant Williams's notes.

;;

132
for

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

immediate payment, a decree will be made that the executor render an account of the testator's estate before a Master. When

been done, and the Master has made his report to the and the report stands confirmed, the cause is brought on for a further hearing, and a decree is made that the executor pay to the plaintiff the amount which has been found due to him, if the assets found to be in the executor's hands are sufficient for that purpose, if not, then to the extent of such assets. It would be difficult to devise a course of proceeding more perfectly adapted to the exigencies of the case, more simple, more direct, or more conformable to justice, than the foregoing and there can be no doubt that, in all these particulars, it possesses a great advantage over the corresponding course of proceeding at common law. Still, the mere fact that the remedy furnished by the common law was not as good as it might be, while it might be a sufficient reason for demanding a better one, either from the courts themselves or from the Legislature, was scarcely sufficient to justify equity in assuming jurisdiction over a purely legal right. We must, therefore, go further, and inquire whether the case is one for which the common law cannot furnish an adequate remedy; and, in doing this, we may as well go at once to the point of chief difficulty, namely, the defence of want of assets. How shall a court of common law deal with this defence? How shall it find out whether an executor has sufficient Clearly there is but one way of doing this assets or not? properly, namely, by requiring an account from the executor of Can a court of law require such an the estate of his testator. court of law can, indeed, take an account after a account? but fashion, for it formerly did do it in the action of account then there was -special machinery provided in that action for taking an account, and the account was not taken before a jury. The action of account, however, would not lie for the recovery of a debt, nor any other action except debt or indebitatus assumpsit. Only debt and indebitatus assumpsit would lie, therefore, against an executor for the recovery of a debt due from his testator. But in neither of these -actions was there any machinery for taking an account. In each of them there was but one trial, namely, by a The judgment, moreover, was the next step in the action jury. after the trial; i.e., the trial ended in a verdict, and upon the If any account was to be taken^ verdict judgment was rendered. therefore, in either of these actions, it must be taken at the trial
this has

court,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and yet
it

133

was never claimed that an account could be taken by

or before a jury.

But the difficulty was not confined to the tribunal by or before which the account must be taken. It was more fundamental. An
account
is is

rendered, not for the benefit of the party rendering

rendered in discharge of an obligation to account. It it, but for

the benefit of the party to

whom
it

it

is

rendered, the latter having

It

acquired a right

to

have

rendered.

rendered voluntarily, just as any obligation

;

may, of course, be may be voluntarily

performed or it may be rendered by compulsion, i.e., by the compulsion of an action or suit. When rendered by compulsion, it is rendered pursuant to the judgment or decree of a court. This judgment or decree may be the result of a trial, or it may be pronounced upon the defendant's admissions, according as the
defendant denies
suit

or admits his obligation

is

to

account;

but in

either case the accounting

is

the primary object for which the

brought (the ultimate object being the payment of whatis

ever the plaintiff shall be entitled to receive as the result of the

accounting), and in either case, therefore, the accounting

by

way of relief When, however, an executor

sets

up a want of

assets in an

action of debt or indebitatus assumpsit brought against

creditor of his testator, he does so, as
affirmative defence,

we have

seen,

him by a by way of
is

and the setting up of an affirmative defence

a very different thing from rendering an account.

An

affirmative

defence
benefit.

is

always set up voluntarily, and for the defendant's

it

own

Instead of coming after a judgment or decree,

trial,

comes
to the

before the
trial.

and the setting of

it

up

is

a step leading

up

Instead of being an object of the plaintiff's action,

resists the action,

the

means by which the defendant

relief for

instead of

it is

one of

which the action was brought, it is a means of preventing the plaintiff from obtaining any relief. Moreover, an affirmative defence always consists of facts, of which truth or untruth may be predicated and when such a defence is set up in an action at law, as the truth of the plaintiff's declaration stands
being the
;

admitted, the

trial

turns entirely

upon the
If

truth or untruth, the

validity or invalidity, of the defence.

the defence turn out to be

if it

true and valid, the action will be wholly defeated;

turn out to
unless

be untrue or invalid,
his declaration

it

will

go

for nothing,

and the

plaintiff,

be bad

in law, will

recover his entire demand.

An
fail

affirmative defence, therefore, can never succeed in part

and

134

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

unless it is wholly successful, it must wholly fail, and such a defence consist of several facts, every one of those It follows, therefacts must be true, or the entire defence will fail. fore, that an affirmative defence must be so framed that the plaintifif can traverse it, and must consist of such matter that, if the plaintiff does traverse it, or any fact of which it consists, an issue may be joined, upon the decision of which the entire action will depend.
in part;

hence,

if

The question now under

consideration, namely, whether an ex-

ecutor has in his hands sufficient assets to pay a creditor of his

testator, will serve to illustrate

accounting and a defence.

some of the dififerences between an The object of an accounting by an

is

executor, at the suit of a creditor of his testator,

to ascertain

how much

and it is always the creditor who wishes to accomplish this object, and in order to accomplish it he must bring the proper action, or must properly frame his action. Moreover, as an action of account would not lie in such a case, there never was an action at law by which this object could be accomplished. On the other hand, the object of a defence of want of assets, to an action against an executor by a
assets the executor has in his
;

hands

creditor of his testator,

is

to defeat the action, and, of course,

it is

always the executor

the only

who

wishes to accomplish that object.

But

way

of making want of assets a defence to such an action,

and thus defeating the action, is by showing that the executor has no assets, or that he has none which are applicable to the payment of the plaintiff's debt, or that he has only a stated amount of assets, being an amount insufficient to pay the plaintiff's debt. If, then, the executor plead that he has no assets, and the creditor traverse the plea, and issue be joined upon the traverse, the
question at the
trial will

be, not

how much

assets the executor

has, nor whether he has enough to pay the plaintiff's debt, but whether he has any. If this question be decided in the negative, the plaintiff will fail in his action.^ If it be decided in the affirmative, the plaintiff will have a verdict and judgment for his whole demand.^ And it may be remarked that this result has at least one merit; namely, that it makes it very perilous for an executor, who must be supposed to know the facts, to plead falsely. Unless, therefore, it is very clear that he can show a total want of assets, it will stand him in hand to consider whether he will not adopt the third mode of pleading, in which case

Rol. Abr. 929 (B), pi.

2.

Rol. Abr. 929 (B), pi.

i.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the plaintiff

135

may admit

the plea to be true, and take judgment for

his debt, to be levied immediately to the extent of the assets ad-

mitted, the remainder to be levied of assets which shall afterwards

come

to the executor's hands {jquando acciderint'^') , or the plaintiff

assets than

may

traverse the plea; and in that case the whole action will turn

upon the question whether the executor has any more

he has admitted.
land, that an executor,

Formerly, however, it often happened, in Engwho was sued by a creditor of his testator,

had

assets in his hands, but they

were

all

applicable to the

payment

of debts of a higher degree than the plaintiff's, and which were, therefore, entitled to be paid before the plaintiff's; and in that
case the executor adopted the second

mode

of pleading

and he

was then required

nature than the

to specify in detail all the debts of a higher

plaintiff's, for

the

payment of which he claimed

that the assets in his hands were bound. that the executor had no assets

When

the executor's

plea took this shape, the creditor could either traverse the allegation

beyond the amount of preferred

debts set out in the plea, or he could traverse the existence of the
preferred debts, or of a sufficient portion of

them

to bring the re-

mainder within the

to so
little,

limits of the assets

admitted by the executor.

In short, the creditor could either deny that the assets amounted or that the preferred debts amounted to so much, as
conceived,
the true theory of the

the executor claimed.^

Such,

it

is

is

common-law

defence of want of assets, pleaded by an executor to an action

brought against him by a creditor of the testator; and there is believed to be no room for doubt that, in early times, theory and practice were in this respect in entire harmony with each other.^ There was, however, long since a departure from principle in one particular which introduced a great change in practice. Thus,
as early as the time of

James

I.,

in

a case reported
;^200,

by Lord
and
issue

Coke,* where the debt sought to be recovered was

was joined on the traverse of a plea of plene administravit^ and

See Noell v. Nelson, 2 Wms. Saund. 214. See Hancocke v. Prowd, i Wms. Saund. 328, with Serjeant Williams's notes. See infra, pp. 146-47. * Mary Shipley's Case, 8 Rep. 134 a. ^ An executor's plea of want of assets is commonly called a plea oi plene administravit, because it begins with an allegation that the defendant hath fully administered all the goods and chattels which were of his testator at the time of his death, but then the plea immediately adds, that the defendant hath no goods or chattels which were of said testator at the time of his death in his hands to be administered, nor had at the com1 2

136

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

amount of ;^I75
that the

the jury found that the executor had assets to the

only, the court, while holding that the plaintiff was entitled to judg-

ment

for ;^200,

besides

damages and

costs, intimated

plaintiff

would be
I., it is

entitled to levy only

17^; and,

in the

time of

Charles " When

af
tiff little

in

a case

similarly

circumstanced, the court said

assets,

found that the defendant hath some

although

value, so as he hath not fully administered, the plain-

shall have judgment for the entire debt, but he shall not have execution but of as much as is found, and shall not be barred for the residue; and if more assets come afterwards, he may have a scire facias to have execution thereof." ^ This is certainly an extraordinary doctrine, as it involves a plain

contradiction.
tiff

The

court, having given

judgment that the

the whole of
it

plain-

recover his entire debt, to be levied of the goods and chattels

(i.e.,

of the testator in the executor's hands

could,

to

be

so levied, and levied immediately), said, nevertheless, that the plaintiff

by

virtue of that judgment, have execution for a part of

his debt only,

and

that, in

order to obtain an execution for the

(i.e.,

remainder, he must bring a scire facias

effect),

new

and obtain a second judgment, -which, however, could be (and was) only a repetition of the first. And yet this doctrine continued to be recognized and acted upon until the time of Lord Mansfield.^ That it was, however, a departure from a more ancient practice, seems to be clear; for if the law had always been, in regard to the execution, as the court declared it to be in Dorchester v. Webb, the judgment would have been that the plaintiff recover his debt, to be levied immediately to the amount of the assets found in the executor's hands, and as to the
facts,

prove new

action in

mencement of

and this negative allegation is the material Reeves v. Ward, 2 Bing. N. C. 235. The plea was also formerly known as a plea of riens eniremains, and that seems to be a better name for it t\i3.n plene administravit. See infra, p. 146, 11. (i).
the action, or at any time since
;

part of the plea, and the part on which a traverse must be taken.

Dorchester v. Webb, Cro. Car. 372-373. Thus, in the great case of the Bank of England v. Morice, 2 Str. 1028, Cas. /. Hardw. 219, which was decided during Lord Hardwicke's chief justiceship, and in which the form of the judgment was specially considered and settled by the court, the jury found that the plaintiff's debt amounted to ;^28,993 8s. id., and that the defendant had
1

payment of the plaintiffs debt, amounting to ;^I4,659 12s. 9d. and the judgment was in effect that, inasmuch as the assets amounted only to the sum last named, therefore the plaintiff recover his entire debt, with costs amounting to ;f 200 7s. 7d., thus making in all ;^ 29,193 l Ss. 8d., to be levied de bonis testatoris I See Cas. t. Hardw. 230-31, where the judgment is given verbatim. It is not too much to say that this judgment is upon its face quite unintelligible.
assets, applicable to the
|

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the executor's hands

13/

remainder to be levied of assets which should afterwards come to and, if a change was to be made, the judgment should have been first changed, and then the corresponding change in the execution would have followed as a matter of course.
;

As

it

was, however, the execution was changed while the judg;

ment was permitted to retain its original form and it remained for Lord Mansfield to make the execution conform to the judgment by changing the form of the latter in the manner just suggested.^

Since this latter change was made, therefore, whatever

said of the

judgment and execution, taken together, they had the merit of consistency. This change in the execution caused an important change in the trial, and in the function of the jury for, as soon as it was decided that the plaintiff could have immediate execution for the amount only of the assets in the executor's hands, it became necessary for the jury to inquire, and find by their verdict, how much assets was in the executor's hands; and the only way of doing this was for the jury to ascertain, first, how much assets the executor had received, or would have received if he had done his duty then, how much he had justly and legally paid out, and how much, if any, he had lost without his fault and the difference between these two aggregates would be the amount in the exhave
at least
; ;

may be

ecutor's hands, either actually or in legal contemplation.

however,

is

neither

more nor

less

than taking an account,

This,
it is

the precise process which has to be gone through with in every

account that

is

taken.

The

courts, therefore, in thus

changing the nature of the

trial,

lost sight of the nature

of the action, of the defendant's plea, and

of the issue joined, and required the jury to do something very-

from trying the issue which they had been impanelled to try, and something which they were not competent to do properly. The matter must, however, be looked at from still another point
different

of view.

the issue joined

Independently of any of the changes before referred to, upon a traverse of a plea of plene administravit
This was an action of assumpsit, to which

At the trial, before Lord Mansfield, the and the defendant was found to have assets amounting to 2.^,. The plaintiff's counsel insisted that he was entitled to a verdict for his whole debt. Lord Mansfield said " The law was certainly understood to be so, and there are a hundred cases so determined. This struck me as absurd and wrong." Accordingly, the plaintiff had a verdict and judgment for 2<,, and a judgment of assets quando acciderint
plaintiff

' Harrison v. Beecles, cited 3 T. R. 688. the defendant pleaded plene administravit.

proved a debt of

;^8o,

for the residue of his debt.

138

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

in respect

always involved an anomaly

to the

That

issue was, as

we have

seen, whether the executor

burden of proof. had any

plaintiff's debt,

assets in his

hands applicable to the payment of the

having.
if

or any more than he had admitted

the plaintiff held the affirmative; for

Upon

this

issue

the executor had assets

which he denied having, that was an affirmative fact; and yet the executor had the burden of proof, for the issue was joined upon a traverse of his affirmative plea (i.e., affirmative in law, though negative in fact), and, therefore, he must prove his plea in order But how could the executor prove that to succeed in the action. or only a stated amount of assets? Of course he he had no assets, could show what assets he had disposed of, and how; but that would signify nothing until it appeared what assets he had received. How could this latter fact be made to appear? Only in one way, namely, by proof on the part of the plaintifif; and hence the anomaly just alluded to, and which consisted in this, namely, that, while the executor had the burden of proof, the plaintiff (the creditor) had to begin at the trial by proving the receipt of assets by the executor, and then the executor proceeded to show what had become of the assets with which the plaintiff's and this anomaly existed equally, evidence had charged him whether the jury were confined to a trial of the issue, according to what the writer conceives to have been the original and proper practice, or whether they were required to take an account, according to the modern practice.-' But how could a creditor of the testator prove what amount of assets the executor had received? Clearly, he could not do it (except by accident) without the and yet a common-law court had no means executor's assistance an executor to give such assistance to a creditor. of compelling The creditor could, of course, file a bill for discovery, but that would scarcely answer his purpose, as he could only by that means compel the executor to answer categorically specific charges or
; ;

interrogatories.

The

ecclesiastical
file
;

court,

indeed,

required the

executor to make and

in its registry a

testator's personal estate

and

this, if

sworn inventory of the properly done, would serve

In

Dean and Chapter

of Exeter v. Trewinnard, Dyer, 80 a, in the time of

Edward
;

VI., to a scire facias against an administrator

intestate,

on a judgment recovered against the the defendant pleaded plent administravit, on which there was an issue and
:

the reporter says

" In giving the evidence to the jury the defendant

it is

commenced

first.

Note

this, for I believe

is,

unusual, because he
his

is in

the negative, for the conclusion of

{riens entre

plene administravit

and so nothing within

hands

mains)."

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the creditor's purpose, at least

139

down

to the time

when

the inventory-

was sworn to;

for the inventory would of course be evidence

There were two reasons, however, why a creditor should not have been satisfied with such assistance from the executor as he would obtain through the ecclesiastical court: first, it was a hardship on the creditor to have to sue the executor both in an ecclesiastical court and in a common-law court, in order to recover a debt about which there was no controversy;^ secondly, the Court of King's Bench held (strangely enough) that the ecclesiastical courts had jurisdiction not to compel only to compel an executor to file an inventory, him to file a sufficient and proper inventory; and hence, if one of those courts attempted to do the latter, the King's Bench would grant a prohibition, on the application of the executor.^ The creditor, therefore, could only obtain such an inventory as the executor chose to swear to and exhibit. Such were the obstacles which a creditor was liable to encounter who sued the executor of his deceased debtor at law. Did they
against the executor as an admission

by him.

constitute a sufficient reason for permitting

him

to sue in equity?
First, justice

This question must be answered

in

the affirmative.

to the creditor and to the executor alike required that an account

should be taken of the assets received by the executor, unless

the latter was willing to admit that he had sufficient assets to pay

the plaintiff's debt.

attempted to take an account

Even, therefore, if courts of law had never in such cases, equity would have

been abundantly justified in assuming jurisdiction. Secondly, although the courts of common law attempted, in the manner
already explained, to convert the
terference of equity unnecessary,
for
trial

of a

common-law

issue into

the taking of an account, yet they did not thereby render the in-

they only changed the ground

such interference.

As

equity always held that courts of com-

mon
even

law were not competent to enforce an accounting properly, in an action expressly framed for that purpose, and in which

a special tribunal was provided for taking the account after a jury had decided that an account ought to be taken, it would be a waste
1

In Mara
it

v.

Quin, 6 T. R.

i, 6,

it

appeared

that, after issue

was

joined, the plain-

tiff

had

to cite the defendant in the ecclesiastical court to exhibit an inventory,

and

that

took him nearly two years to accomplish that object, during which time, of course,
Ovington, 3 Burr. 1922; Henderson Ad. & El. 623. That the ecclesiastical Morison, -^ Addams, 319.
v.

the trial
"^

u.

was delayed. Hinton v. Parker, 8 Mod. i68; Catchside French, 5 M. & S. 406; Griffiths v. Anthony,
v.

courts did not accept this view, see Telford

I40

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

of time and space to argue that they were not competent to do

in

a case where the form of action, the nature of the pleadings,

all forbade their mode of trial, even attempting to do it. Thirdly, justice to the creditor imperatively required that an executor, who refused to admit sufficient assets to pay him, should render an account of the assets received by him under oath, i.e., that he should make up and bring in an account, containing a full and minute enumeration and description

the question to be tried, and the

and items of discharge, the former consisting of the assets received by him, the latter of the payments, etc., made by him,^ and that he should make oath to the truth and completeness of such account, in particular that it omitted nothing of the personal estate of the testator which had come to the executor's knowledge;^ and, this having been done, justice further required that the executor should answer categorically and under oath all such proper charges and interrogatories as the creditor should make and propound. All these advantages the creditor
of the items of charge

who sued in equity obtained as a matter of course, while the creditor who sued at common law could obtain such of them only
as

might be afforded by the inventory which the executor could be

required to exhibit in the ecclesiastical court, and even that inade-

quate substitute for the assistance which equity would afford to

him, the creditor could obtain only at the expense of two
suits.

Such,
tified

it is

conceived, are the reasons

(still

existing) which jusbills

equity in assuming jurisdiction over creditors'

against

Another reason, however, formerly existed, which seems to have had considerable (though it is difficult to say how much) influence in establishing the jurisdiction; and, though it was a reason which has now ceased to have much force, even in England, yet it would be wrong to omit all mention of it. Debts are of three principal degrees or grades namely, simple contract debts, which are the lowest; debts created by specialty, which are the next higher and debts created by matter of record, including judgments, which are the highest of all. Formerly, moreover, when a debtor died, his debts were required to be paid
executors.
; ;

in

the order of their grade;

namely, debts by matter of record

all.

first,

specialty debts next, and simple contract debts last of

Specialty debts and debts

by matter of record had also other imwill

portant advantages, which

be mentioned hereafter.

For these

See supra,

p. 121, n. (i).

See supra,

p. 103.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

reasons,
it

141

was, of course, a matter of importance to a creditor

that his debt should be of as high a nature as practicable, and

therefore specialty debts and debts

by matter of record were incomparably more common than they are now. The form of specialty by which debts were created was almost invariably a bond with a condition, i.e., a bond by which the debtor acknowledged himself bound to the creditor for a sum larger than (generally twice as large as) the real debt, with a condition making the bond void on payment of the amount actually due by a day named. The larger sum was, therefore, in the nature of a penalty incurred by the debtor in the event of his failing to pay the smaller sum according to the terms of the condition and yet, upon breach of the condition, the larger sum became the actual legal debt. The matters of record by which debts were created were judgments, recognizances, and statutes. Judgments were rendered The object of confessing a either in invitum or upon confession. was to give a creditor the security afforded by a judgjudgment ment for the payment of his debt; and hence a judgment confessed was, like a bond, generally for a larger sum than was actually due, and so was in the nature of a penalty. A recognizance was (and is) an acknowledgment of a debt in a court of record, the acknowledgment thus becoming a record and it is usually given
;
;

an action or in some other legal proceeding (e.g., bail always become bound in a recognizance) and its object generally is to
in
;

secure the payment of a smaller sum, or the doing of

act.

Statutes

some other (now obsolete) were formerly very common in

England, and were either statutes merchant, statutes staple, or recognizances in the nature of statutes staple.^ They differed in
substance from bonds only in
this, that

they derived their efficacy,

not from being sealed and delivered by the debtor, but from being

acknowledged by him before a judge or other officer designated by statute, and thereupon becoming, by force of the statute, matters of record.
It will be seen, therefore, that all debts by matter of record, except judgments rendered in invitum, as well as all specialty debts, after the conditions on which they originally depended were

broken, were generally in the nature of penalties.

also (indeed
1

It will

be seen

it

has already been seen) that an executor

who was

Statutes merchant had their origin in the statute

;

statute 3

statutes staple, in the statute of 27

the nature of statutes staple, in the statute of

De Mercatoribus, 13 Edward I., Edward III. u. 9 and recognizances in 23 Henry VIII. u. 6.

;

142

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

sued at law by a creditor of his testator, and who had an amount of assets in his hands equal to the plaintiff's debt, might yet defend himself by showing that such assets would all be required for the
higher nature than the purpose debts which were in the nature of penalties only were as good as any other debts, for they were still legal debts. And yet, as equity would always relieve
his

payment of debts of
plaintiff's

testator of a

debt;

and

for this

against penalties,

all

that equity

would permit the owners of such

actually due; namely, principal, and costs. An executor might, therefore, defeat a creditor at law by means of legal debts of a higher nature which had no existence in equity, i.e., when there were assets enough to pay all debts of a higher nature which were due in equity, and also to pay the plaintiff in full. Creditors, therefore, who were met with such a defence were frequently driven into equity, not only as the
interest,

debts to recover was the

amount

sole

means of ascertaining the truth

estate
;

in

regard to debts of a higher

nature due from their debtor, but as the sole means of obtaining

payment from a solvent

penalties

namely, by compelling creditors of

a higher nature to extinguish the debts due to them

by way of

on receiving principal, interest, and costs.^ It will not have escaped the observation of the attentive reader that all of the reasons which have been given for permitting the
creditor of a deceased debtor to sue the executor of the latter in
equity, are confined to cases in which,
will
1

if

the creditor sue at law, he

be met with the defence of want of

assets.

Ought equity,

then,

According to the ancient mode of pleading, when an executor pleaded debts of a plaintiff's, and alleged that he had not more than sufficient assets to pay the former, it never appeared, upon the face of the defendant's plea, whether such debts of a higher degree were penalties or not. The case of Page v. Denton, i Ventr. 354, is said to have been the first in which a different mode of pleading was adopted. There, an executor pleaded a bond given by the testator to himself, and stated that the
higher degree than the

was to pay rent, and that, at the time of the testator's death, the sum of was due from the testator to the defendant for rent and the court commended the defendant's mode of pleading by saying " If men would plead their case specially, it would save many a suit in Chancery." This remark proves that creditors'bills,theobject of which was to ascertain, not the amount of assets, but the amount of preferred debts, were then well known. An instance will also be found in Pigott v. Nower, 3 Swanst. 534, note, of a creditor's bill, filed as early as February i, 1671, the object of which was to ascertain the amount of actual debt for which certain judgments had been confessed by
condition of it
jf 300
; :

the defendant as administratrix of her husband.

t.

In Parker

v.

Dee,

Ch. Cas. 200, Cas.

Finch, 123, 3 Swanst. 529, note, the plaintiff had first brought an action at law, to which the defendant had pleaded several judgments, which were upon penal bonds, and

that he
" to

had no assets

ultra, etc.

whereupon the
Cas.
t.

plaintiff filed

a.

bill (in

April, 1668),

discover the truth of the plea, and debts therein set forth, and the assets."
of

See also

Bank

England

v.

Morice,

2 Str. 1028,

Hardw.

219.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

to have entertained a
bill

43

by a

creditor

who gave no

reason for

supposing that he would be met at law by such a defence? In answer to this question, it may be observed that it would have been impracticable for equity to entertain the inquiry whether the defence of want of assets would be set up at law or not, as in numberless cases it would have been a matter of pure conjecture. The only way, then, of limiting the jurisdiction would have been to require every creditor to sue at law first, and to permit a creditor to sue in equity only when he had been met at law with the defence of consequence of such a course, however, would want of assets. have been that, as an action at law and a suit in equity cannot be

prosecuted concurrently for the same claim, a creditor, upon suing

must have discontinued his action he could have done only upon payment of costs.
in equity,

at law,^

and that
limited

To have

the jurisdiction, therefore, in the manner suggested, would have

imposed a heavy burden upon creditors as a condition of their suing in equity, and that, too, without any corresponding advantage to the estates of deceased debtors. It would also have placed in the hands of executors a powerful instrument of delay in precisely those cases in which the temptation to an executor to hinder and delay the creditors of his testator is strongest. Accordingly, it became settled at an early day that the jurisdiction of equity was subject to no condition or limitation whatever.^ It is further to be observed that the reasons which have been given for the jurisdiction relate entirely to the immediate relief
sought, namely, either an admission of assets or an accounting,

not at

all

to the final relief sought, namely,

payment of the debt

and yet it has never been doubted, since the time of Lord Nottingham,^ that the admission of assets or the accounting should be followed up by a decree for the payment of whatever the plaintiff is found entitled to receive and this decree is made
;

upon the
at

principle of avoiding a multiplicity of suits.

The

ulti-

^ In Parker v. Dee, supra, the plaintiff was compelled to elect whether he would sue law or in equity, and he elected to sue in equity. " If a man foresee that plene 2 In Pigott V. Nower, supra, Lord Nottingham said
:

administravit

may be

pleaded at law, and then come

first

into equity, as he may,

why

should not that avail him as

much

as

if

he had

falsified

such a plea ?
It is
is

bound
to a

to play an aftergame,

and stay

till

he be hurt by a plea.

For a man is not no cause of demurrer

bill

for discovery of assets, that fully administered

not yet pleaded."

In Parker v. Dee, supra, the plaintiff having obtained an account, the defendant pressed for a dismissal of the bill; but Lord Nottingham said (1 Eq. Cas. Abr. 130, " When this court can determine the matter, it shall not be a pi. 5, 2 Ch. Cas. 201)
:

handmaid

to other courts, nor beget a suit to

be ended elsewhere."

144

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

relief,

mate
bill

therefore,
bill

is

consequential upon the primary

relief,

a creditor's
for

against an executor being in this respect like a

an account.^

Creditors' bills against executors constitute

one of the oldest

heads of equity jurisdiction. At how early a date this jurisdiction was habitually exercised, it seems impossible to say. It was well established in the time of Lord Nottingham ^ and before his time few doctrines of equity were well settled, or can be accu;

rately traced.

We

must now inquire

call

into the rights of a creditor of a

deceased
of

debtor to

upon equity

to assist

him

in

enforcing payment

his debt out of the land of his debtor.

marked

that feudalism secured complete

It has already been redominion over the land

and that is the reason that the land of a deceased person descends to his heir, instead of going to his
of deceased persons;
executor.

What

effect

had

this

upon the

rights

of creditors?

The

chief object of feudalism was to secure the performance

by

tenants to their lords of the services for which the former held
their lands

from the

latter.
for, if

Hence feudalism did not

favor the

claims of creditors;

the creditors of a tenant could compel

payment of their debts out of the tenant's land, the latter might be unable to perform his services to his lord, and if the creditors of a deceased tenant could compel payment of their debts out of the land which had descended to the tenant's heir, the latter might be unable to perform the services to his lord, the obligation to perform which had descended to him with the land. Hence,
in

English-speaking countries, the rights of creditors against the

land of their debtors depend almost wholly upon statute.

judgment creditor could, indeed, at common law take in execution (by cutting and gathering) any crops which he might find on his debtor's land,^ but he could not acquire any right to the possession of the land, still less could he sell it, or become himself the owner of it.* And even when the Legislature interfered in

See supra, pp. gi, loo, 104. See Parker v. Dee and Pigott v. Nower, supra. This was done under the writ of levari facias, a writ which has long been obsolete, except in a few special cases. From it, however, we have derived the familiar term "levy," a term which is constantly applied, though not with strict accuracy, to a writ oi fieri facias. Thus under a writ oi fieri facias the sheriff is said to "levy" the amount due on the judgment, though the writ commands him to "make" that amount. 4 See Sir William Harbert's Case, 3 Rep. 11 b-\2a.
1

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

favor of judgment creditors (as
it

14S

did in the thirteenth year of

appraised, and the possession

Edward
of
it

I.),^

by giving them the

right to have their debtors' land

it

extended

{i.e.,

the annual value of

delivered to them, with the right to retain such possession

at the appraised value, until

by

that

means

their

judgments were

satisfied), such right was limited to one half of the debtor's land; and it was not till nearly six hundred years later (namely, in

1838)* that judgment creditors acquired in England the right to have the whole of their debtors' land thus extended and to this day they cannot, in England, either sell their debtors' land upon execution, or themselves become the owners of it. What were the rights, at common law, of the creditors of a deceased debtor against the land of the latter which had descended The answer is, that, as creditors of the deceased to his heir?
;

debtor, they had no rights whatever.

As, however, the heir had

a legal right to inherit

seised in fee, of

all

the land of which his ancestor died

which right the ancestor could not deprive him, by deed to bind his heir to the extent of the land which descended from him to the latter. Hence, whenever a bond was given by which the obligor in terms bound not only himself, but also his heirs, the consequence was that,
so the ancestor had a right

upon the death of the obligor, his heir became personally liable on the bond, just as if he had given it himself, except that his
liability

was limited to the land which descended

It

to him.

This

liability

of the heir was, however, limited to debts by specialty for

which the heir was expressly bound.

was a privilege

in

which
in re-

even debts by matter of record did not share.

And

even

spect to specialty debts for which the debtor's heir was expressly

bound, the right of the creditor to proceed against the heir became
for, first, if the heir sold the land which had descended to him before he was sued upon a bond of his ancestor (an action actually brought against the heir was notice to a purchaser), the right of the creditor was entirely defeated. He could no longer proceed against the heir, for his execution (as we shall see) was only against the land itself; and he could no longer have an execution against the land, for it had become the property of the purchaser. Secondly, after lands became devisable,* a debtor

very precarious;

could entirely defeat his creditors' rights against his land by

'

'

Namely, by statute of Westminster By 1 & 2 Vict. c. no, 11.

2, c. 18.

By 32 Henry VIII.

c. i.

10

146

A BRIEF SURVEV OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

devising the latter

for the creditor

would then have no right

his

against the heir, as the latter would inherit nothing from

ancestor,

and he would have no right against the devisee, as the latter would be under no obligation to him. These two mischiefs were, however, remedied soon after the English Revolution, by
3

&

Wm. & M.
the

c. 14.

law of a specialty creditor against an was very similar to his remedy against the executor, but in other respects it was materially different. First, the creditor brought an action of debt against the heir upon the bond ; but as the heir was personally liable, the action was in the debet et detinet, not in the detinet only, as in case of an action of debt against an executor. Secondly, if the heir had no assets by descent, he must plead that fact as an affirmative defence ^ otherwise it would be assumed that he had sufficient assets.^ If he did so plead, and the plaintiff traversed his plea, and issue was joined upon the traverse, the question at the trial was, whether the heir had any assets by descent. If the jury found that he had not, of course their verdict was in his favor but if they found that he had assets, to ever so small an amount, they must find a verdict for the plaintiff, on which the latter would have judgment for his entire debt against the heir personally.^ If the heir had some assets, but yet wished to guard against any liability beyond such assets, he must plead that he had no assets except what were specified in his plea, and then he must specify and describe the assets which he had by descent. If the heir so pleaded, and the plaintiff did not choose to controvert the truth of the plea, the latter could take judgment for his entire debt, his execution, however, to be limited to the
at

What was

remedy

heir?

In some respects

it

assets in the heir's possession.*

If,

however, the plaintiff traversed

the plea, and issue was joined on the traverse, the question at the
trial

mitted.
in

was whether the heir had any more assets than he had adIf the jury found that he had not, their verdict must be his favor, and hence the plaintiff lost the benefit of such assets

' The plea by which such a defence is set up is called a plea of riens per descent. See supra, p. 135, n. (5). 2 Henningham's Case, Dyer, 344a; Brandlin v. Millbank, Carth. 93, Comb. 162; Smith V. Angel, 7 Mod. 40, i Salk. 354; Ld. Raym. 783; Hinde v. Lyon, 2 Leon. 11
7.

Davy
'

Pepys, Plow. 438 a. 21 E. 3, 9 A, cited in Davy

V.

v.

Pepys, Plow. 438 a, 440.

v. Pepy.s,

Such a judgment

is

called

a^<rK-(z/

judgment against the

;

heir.

4 Anon., Dyer, 373 *, pi. 14 Davy a special judgment against the heir.

Plow. 438

a.

Such a judgment

is

called

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

as the heir admitted that he had.^
If the jury

47

found that the heir

had more assets than he had admitted, to ever so small an amount, they must find a verdict for the plaintiff, on which the latter would be entitled to a judgment for his entire debt against the heir personally.2 It will be seen, therefore, that judgments against heirs differed from judgments against executors in two particulars; namely, first, that a judgment against an heir was always for the full amount of the plaintiff's debt, though the execution might be limited to the assets in the heir's possession secondly, that, whenever a judgment against an heir rendered him personally liable, the judgment was against him personally in form, as well as in legal effect The reason of the first of these differences was that an executor who admitted a limited amount of assets in his hands, did not specify such assets, but stated their value in money and
; ;

hence the proper way of limiting the executor's liability to the amount of assets in his hands was by limiting the judgment to the amount of money admitted by the executor to be the value of the assets in his hands. An heir, on the other hand, who admitted a limited amount of assets, specified and described such assets, but did not state their value. Indeed, as we shall see presently, the only question, as to the value of such assets, was as to their annual value, and that was not ascertained till after an execution had issued and hence the only way of limiting the heir's liability was
;

by

limiting the

execution to the specific assets in the heir's

The reason of the second difference was that, as the heir was bound by the bond, and as the assets which he had received by descent were as much his own as any of his other property, there was no reason why a judgment against him should not bind him personally, in form as well as in legal effect,
possession.

unless he employed the proper the assets

means

for limiting the

judgment to

by descent

in his possession.

In respect to the
ecutor.

mode

in

which

it

was enforced, a judgment

i.e.,

against an heir differed widely from a judgment against an ex-

A general judgment against an heir,

to.

was not limited

it

the assets which he had

form or in was enforced, from ordinary judgments. On the other hand, a special judgment against an heir, i.e., a judgment which was
differ at all, either in its
1

a judgment which by descent, did not respect to the mode in which

See

Rol. Abr. 929 (B.),

v.

pi. 2.
J.,

Hinde

Lyon, 2 Leon. 11; per Holt, C.

in

Smith

v.

Angel, 7 Mod. 40, 44.

See supra,

p. 146, n. (3).

148

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

which he had by descent, could be enforced What was the nature of the execution which issued on such a judgment? At common law, as well as
limited to the assets

only against such assets.

by

statute in England, the only kind of execution against land

is)

was (and
at

an extent.^

Ordinarily,

as

has

been seen, the

land of a judgment debtor could

not be taken on execution

law, and even when an extent was given by was limited to one half of the land belonging to the judgment debtor; but a judgment against an heir on the obligation of his ancestor, i.e., when the judgment was limited to the assets which the heir had by descent, was an exception to the general rule in both of the foregoing particulars and the reason is obvious. If such a judgment could not have been satisfied out of the land which had descended to the heir, it could not have been satisfied at all, and so would have been worthless.^ Therefore, an extent could be issued on such a judgment at common law and whenever an extent issued at common law,* it went against all the land that was liable, the arbitrary limitation of an extent to one half of the debtor's land existing only by

common
it

statute

statute.

Such, then, being the remedy provided by the

ancestor,

common

law for

enforcing against an heir an obligation imposed upon him

by

his

was there any sufficient reason for permitting the owner of such an obligation to sue in equity? It may be admitted at once that the reason which had, perhaps, the greatest force in the case of an executor, namely, the incompetency of a jury to take an account, had but little force in case of an heir for as against an heir there was no account to be taken, and the question, what land an heir had by descent, was not an unfit question for a jury to deal with. There were, however, other reasons for permitting an heir to be sued in equity, which are believed to have been abundantly sufficient. First, when an heir alleged that he had not sufficient land by descent to enable him to perform an obligation
;

' See supra, The reader must not be misled by the name of a writ of elegit. p. 145. This name (which was taken from a word which the writ always contained when legal proceedings were in Latin) has nothing to do with the nature or legal operation of the Every elegit is an extent, though not every extent is an elegit. An extent made writ. under an elegit differs from other extents only, first, in being made under the authority of a statute, and, secondly, in being limited to one half of the land. 2 See Sir William Harbert's Case, 3 Rep. 11 *, 12 a. ' An extent at the suit of the king is the typical case of an extent at common law. Land could always be taken in execution to satisfy a judgment in favor of the king.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

I49

imposed upon him by his ancestor, justice required that it be ascertained what land he had by descent; and yet all that the common-law courts did, or could properly do, was to ascertain whether he had any land by descent, or any more than he had adSecondly, in order to ascertain how much land an heir had by descent, or whether he had any, or whether he had any more than he had admitted having, it must first appear of what land the ancestor died seised in fee simple, and that must be
mitted having.

shown by the creditor; and yet it is a fact which the creditor would not presumably be able to show without assistance from the heir. Justice, therefore, required that the heir should- state upon oath of what land his ancestor, to his knowledge, died seised in fee simple ^ and yet equity alone could compel an heir to do this, an heir not being amenable to the ecclesiastical courts, nor required
;

to exhibit

an inventory of

his ancestor's lands.

But, thirdly, the

strikingly inade-

part of the

common-law remedy which was most

quate was the execution.

execution at best
;

An

extent

is

a very unsatisfactory

for

it it

requires the creditor to take possession

(in effect) as a lessee, at a rent fixed

of the land, and hold

taining the rent ; and

by

a sheriff's jury, until he obtains satisfaction of his judgment by reit

may be

years before this object will be

accomplished.

As

against an heir, however, the inadequacy of

such an execution is still more marked. When a debtor dies, as it is then certain that the property which he leaves behind him constitutes the only means by which his debts will ever be paid,
justice
at

to

his

creditors

requires that his property be applied

once to the payment of his debts.

When,

therefore, a creditor

judgment which must be satisfied, if at all, out of his debtor's land, the judgment ought to be satisfied out of the corpus of such land, and there is no propriety in compelling the creditor to wait until he can obtain satisfaction out of the income. But
obtains a
is not all for, if there were several creditors, they could enjoy the land only in succession, and hence, when one had obtained a judgment and extended the land, all the others must

this

was satisfied, and the last one must wait till all the others' debts were satisfied and yet the corpus of the land might be sufficient to pay all the creditors in full. Fourthly, as an extent had no retroactive effect, there was no way, at common law, of reaching the income of the land between the ancestor's
wait
till

his debt

See supra,

p. 140.

ISO

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

death and the making of the extent and yet the land could not be extended until an action had been brought against the heir, and
a

judgment recovered. For the foregoing reasons,

it

seems never to have been doubted

that an heir could be sued in equity

by a

creditor of his ancestor.

Equity treated an heir just as it did an executor, mutatis mutandis, i.e., it held him liable only to the extent of assets which he had received by descent but it held that the corpus of such assets, as
;

well as the rents and profits produced

by them subsequently

to

the ancestor's death, should be applied immediately to the pay-

ment of those specialty debts of the ancestor for which the heir was bound. Accordingly, when, upon a bill filed against the heir by the owner of such a debt, the plaintiff had proved his claim, and the court had ascertained what land the heir had by descent, a decree was made that such land, or a sufficient portion of it, be sold under the direction of a Master, that the heir execute a conveyance pursuant to the sale, and that the proceeds of the sale be
applied, so far as
claim, the surplus,

necessary, to the
if

payment of the
^

plaintiff's

any, going to the heir;

and,

if

necessary, the

decree further directed an account by the heir of the rents and profits of the land between the death of the ancestor and the sale.^

have said that debts by matter of record did not share with specialty debts the advantage of being secured by the liability of the heir. The former, however, in turn had advantages of their own, which they did not share with debts of any other class. First, all matters of record (and therefore recognizances and statI

utes) stand

upon the same footing

as

judgments

in this respect

namely, that they neither require proof, nor can be impeached. Therefore, an execution can issue upon a recognizance or statute Secondly, the statute of Westminster 2 just as upon a judgment.
(13

Edward

I.), c. 18,

as well as to

judgment

having given to conusees of recognizances, creditors, a right to extend one half of the

land of their conusors or judgment debtors, this right was held to constitute a general Hen upon the land of the conusors or judg-

ment debtors, as well that which they owned when the recognizance was acknowledged or the judgment recovered, as that which they afterwards acquired and the death of a conusor or judgment
;

debtor did not affect this

1

lien,

or the right to issue an execution

See Seton, Decrees (ist ed.) 82 et seq.\ Eddis, Administration of Assets, i;. 7. Davies v. Topp, i Bro. C. C. 524 Seton, Decrees (ist ed.) 95-8 Stratford Ritson, 10 Beav. 25; Schomberg v. Humfrey, \ Dr. & W. 411.
2
;

v.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

to enforce
see or
it,

15

otherwise than by making

creditor
first

it

necessary for the conu-

Hence, such he could not maintain an action against the heir of the deceased conusor^ or judgment debtor, and had no claim upon more than one half of the land which had descended to such heir,^ yet he could (subject only to the condition of first issuing a scire facias') issue an execution, and

judgment conusee or judgment

to issue a scire facias.

creditor, while

have one half of such land extended, including not only the land which the conusor or judgment debtor owned at the time of his death, but also the land which he owned when the recognizance was acknowledged or the judgment recovered, or had owned at any time since, whoever might be the owner of it when the extent was made and this was a right of which the creditor could not be
;

deprived except by his own act. Conusees of statutes, in respect to their rights against the land of their conusors, had an advantage even over judgment creditors and conusees of recognizances for the statutes, from which the
;

were derived, authorized them to have all the land of their conusors extended instead of one half of it.^ Could then a judgment creditor, or a conusee of a recognizance or statute, instead of resorting to his scire facias and execution at law against the land of his deceased judgment debtor or conusor, As file a bill in equity against the owner or owners of such land ?
rights of the former

against any one but the heir or devisee of the judgment debtor or

conusor {i.e., as against any one who had acquired his title before the death of the latter), he clearly could not for as to such a person his position would not be at all changed by the death of the judgment debtor or conusor, nor would he have any equity against
;

him.

Could he

file

bill

against the heir or devisee of the de-

ceased judgment debtor or conusor to reach the land which had

to this question,

descended or been devised to him? In favor of a negative answer it may be said that the execution at law against land was not open to so great an objection in the mouth of a
creditor

for the rights of creditors

sive, priority
all

by matter of record as in the mouth of a specialty creditor; by matter of record were always succesof time giving priority of right, while the rights of
Still,

specialty creditors were concurrent and equal.

Sir

the ques-

W.

Harbert's Case, 3 Rep. \\b, 150; Anon., Dyer, 271

v.

a, pi.

25; Stileman v.

Ashdown,
2 "

2 Atk. 608.

See Stileman
Sir

Ashdown,

supra.
a.

W.

Harbert's Case, 3 Rep. \\b, 12

52

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

must be answered
in the affirmative, equity
is

tion

holding that every

all

creditor of a deceased debtor

entitled to have
it,

the debtor's

property, so far as he has a claim upon

the

applied immediately to

and therefore the relief given, in the case now under consideration, was the same that was given upon a bill by a specialty creditor, namely, a sale of the land (or of one half of it, as the case might be), with an account of the rents and profits, if necessary, until the sale took place.^ There is also another independent ground upon which the jurishis debt
;

payment of

diction of equity over creditors' bills against heirs or devisees

may

be sustained, namely, that of preventing a multiplicity of suits. To a bill by a creditor against an executor, an heir or devisee was never a necessary party but to a bill by a creditor against an heir or devisee as such, the executor was always a necessary party .^ The reasons for the difference are these: first, every creditor of a deceased debtor is entitled by law to be paid out of the debtor's personal estate, while only privileged classes of creditors are entitled to be paid out of his land and therefore every creditor who is entitled to sue the heir or devisee of his deceased debtor, is en; ;

titled

d.

fortiori to sue his executor, while the converse, of course,

does not hold.

Secondly, as between the personal estate and the

fall

land of a deceased debtor, the debts of the latter

the personal estate, and therefore the land
is

by law upon
be exliable

entitled to

onerated from the debts by the personal estate.

the land, even

In other words,
is

when

it

is

liable to the creditor,

is

by law

only as surety for the personal estate, which

Therefore, though the creditor
is

the principal debtor.

go against the land or he wish to go against the land in equity, he will be required to go against the personal estate at the same time, by making the executor a co-defendant to his suit, and praying relief against him as well as against the heir or devisee and thereupon the court will direct the personal estate to be applied in the first instance to the payment of the plaintiffs debt, and will direct so much only of the debt to be paid out of the land as shall remain unpaid after the personal estate has been exhausted.* If, however, an heir or devisee could not be sued in
entitled to

the personal estate, at his pleasure,* yet,

if

Stileman

v.

Ashdown, 2 Atk.

477, 481, 608,

;

Ambl.
v.

13.
;

2
I

Knight
G.
Quarles

V.

Knight, 3 P.
630.

Wms. 331

Plunket

Penson, 2 Atk. 51

Robinson v.

Bell,

De
'

& Sm.
v.

Capell, Dyer, 204 b, pi. 2

189.

Davy v. Pepys, Plow. 438 o, 439 a Davies

;

v.

Churchman, 3 Lev.
'

Seton, Decrees (ist ed.) 82 et seq.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

equity

S3

by a

creditor of his ancestor or testator,

it

would follow that

for the

three actions or suits might be necessary to accomplish what can

be accomplished without difficulty by one creditor might first sue the heir or devisee
utor at law or in equity for the remainder
equity, and recover
clearly, therefore,

suit in equity

at law,

and having thus

the heir or

obtained payment of his debt in part, he might then sue the exec;

and,

lastly,

devisee might, on the principle of subrogation, sue the executor in

back what he had been compelled to pay; whenever a creditor who sues an executor in equity, is entitled also to call upon the heir or devisee for payment of his debt, he may make the latter a co-defendant to his suit, on
the principle of preventing a multiplicity of suits.

ARTICLE

I 1.1

Creditors' Bills {Continued).

the preceding IN himself strictly
article the writer

was compelled to confine

has jurisdiction

to the question,

why Equity

over creditors'
jurisdiction.

bills;

and, therefore, nothing was said as to the

consequences which have followed from the establishment of that And yet those consequences are much more imnot more interesting, than the mere fact of the portant, if
existence of the jurisdiction or the reasons

upon which

it

was

founded.
will

To

those consequences, therefore, the reader's attention

in the present article.

be directed

Prior to the
bills

establishment of the jurisdiction over creditors'

equity had nothing to do

are, in

with the administration of the

the personal
estates of all
in equity;

estates of deceased persons.

Now,

deceased persons
the
first

England, administered
bills.

and

stage in this great legal revolution was the establishment

of the jurisdiction of equity over creditors'

The

administration of the personal estate of a deceased person

first in

consists

collecting the debts

due

to the estate,

and

in con-

verting the

specific
in

property, not

specifically bequeathed,

into

paying the debts due from the estate, in delivering the specific legacies, in paying the pecuniary legacies,

money; secondly,
in

and

paying the residue to the residuary legatee or next of kin, may be. The doing of these various acts constitutes the duty of the executor.^ If he does them voluntarily, and to
as the case
1
'^

5 Harv. As there

L.

Rev.

ioi.

are no material differences, for the purposes of this article, between an

it

executor and an administrator,

testator,

will generally

and that

his personal representative is

be assumed that the deceased person an executor.

is

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the satisfaction of
all

ISS

the persons interested in having

them done,

there will be no occasion for resorting to any court, and the estate
will

duty, or

be administered out of court. If the executor fail to do his if a claim be made against the estate which the executor refuses to admit, or if the persons interested in the estate cannot agree as to their respective rights, a court must be applied to. Of course, the court must be one which has jurisdiction over the subject of the application, and the application must be made by a person who has the legal interest in the subject, i.e., by a creditor,

a legatee, or a next of kin of the deceased.^

is

If the applica-

be made by a creditor, originally a court of common law could alone be applied to if by a legatee or next of kin, originally the proper ecclesiastical court could alone be applied to. As soon as equity assumed jurisdiction over creditors' bills, a creditor could, of course, apply to a court of common law or to But so long as the ecclesiastical a court of equity, at his option. courts could alone be resorted to by legatees and next of kin, equity could not fully administer the estate of any deceased person, unless it turned out to be insolvent, and so was wholly exhausted by creditors. The next step taken by equity was to assume jurisdiction over bills by legatees and next of kin, and this it did soon after its jurisdiction over creditors' bills was established. Of the reasons why this was done, little need be said in this place.^ Suffice it to observe that, in thus extending its jurisdiction, equity relied much upon the strong arm of the Court of Chancery (coupled with the weakness and unpopularity of the ecclesiastical courts) and little upon argument. Thus, on the nth day of May, 1682, a plea to a bill by next of kin, that the jurisdiction was in the Ordinary, was overruled by Lord Chancellor Nottingham, no reason being reported ^ and on the 6th of February following, in two cases, a demurrer to a similar bill met the same fate at the hands of Lord Keeper North, no other reason being given than " that
tion
to
; ;

Sometimes, as
bill is, in

will

be seen hereafter, the executor himself

may file
See

bill in

equity

but the
2

that case, in the nature of a bill of interpleader.

infra, p. 179.

Of course

this is

not the proper place to inquire into the jurisdiction of equity over

by legatees and next of kin. Such bills are, however, so intimately connected with creditors' bills that it has been found impracticable to avoid speaking of them incidentally in the present article. Moreover, every administration bill, by whomsoever filed, necessarily results in the application of the estate, so far as is necessary, to the payment of the
bills

debts of the deceased.

'

Pamplin

u.

Green, 2 Ch. Cas. 95,

1S6
the

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

spiritual court in

had but a lame jurisdiction." ^ As to the precise time when equity first assumed jurisdiction over bills by legatees, there seems to be an absence of evidence but there is little room for doubt that it was at an earlier date than that just named. There was, indeed, a serious objection to the jurisdiction of equity over bills by next of kin, which had no existence in the case of bills by legatees; for it was argued (and not without force) that the Statute of Distributions,'^ on which the rights of next of kin are founded, vested exclusively in the Ordinary the jurisdiction of compelling payment of distributive
that case
shares.

The Court
as often as
it

of Chancery was never content to share with the

any jurisdiction exercised by it, and, therefore, usurped the jurisdiction of the latter courts, it soon found the means of making its own jurisdiction exclusive and so The Court of Chancery it was in the case now under consideration. ever lent a willing ear to the complaints of executors who were sued by legatees or next of kin in the ecclesiastical courts and it did not hesitate to grant injunctions whenever it was dissatisfied with the mode in which justice was administered by the latter
ecclesiastical courts
; ;

and even when a final sentence had been given in an Court of Chancery exercised the right of examining it; and, if it disapproved of it, it treated it as a nullity.* The jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts over legacies and discourts
;

ecclesiastical court, the

tributive shares was, therefore, for all practical purposes, speedily

destroyed, and for the last two hundred, years equity has practically exercised

an exclusive jurisdiction over those subjects, the

jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts over the estates of persons

deceased having, for the same length of time, been practically limited to taking the probate of wills, granting letters testamentary

and of administration, and requiring the executors and administrators.

filing

of inventories

by

Equity, having thus acquired concurrent jurisdiction

1

{i.e.,

con-

v, Newby, i Vern. 133 ; Howard v. Howard, id. 134. 23 Car. II., c. 10 (1670). That the statute assumed that the ecclesiastical courts alone would have jurisdiction to enforce the rights created by it, was never

Matthews
22

'^

&
;

and the only answer that was ever given to the argument founded on the was that the latter contained no negative words, i.e., did not in terms exclude the jurisdiction of equity. See Matthews v. Newby, supra. ^ Vanbrough v. Cock, i Ch. Cas. 200; Horrell v. Waldron, i Vern. 26; Nicholas w. Nicholas, Ch. Prec. 546; Anon., i Atk. 491. But see Basset v. Basset, 3 Atk. 203.
doubted
statute
<

Bissell V. Axtell, 2 Vern. 47.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

current with courts of

$7

common

law) over the claims of creditors

of deceased persons, and exclusive jurisdiction over the claims of

legatees and next of kin, had jurisdiction to administer fully and

completely the personal estate of any deceased person, when a jurisdiction which no properly applied to for that purpose, one court had ever before possessed and the best justification of

the Court of Chancery in extending

its

jurisdiction to bills

by

legatees and next of kin will be found in the need there

was that

some one court should have

as to the claims of legatees

jurisdiction to administer the estates

of deceased persons in respect as well to the claims of creditors

and next of

kin.

The
culty

acquisition of the necessary jurisdiction was, however, only

it.

the beginning of the task which equity had before

The

diffi-

which it next encountered lay in the fact that it had no suitable machinery for administering the estates of deceased persons. The only (or rather the best) machinery that it had for the purpose was that furnished by an ordinary suit but that was neither adequate nor suitable. The only thing at all analogous which equity had been called upon to do was to administer the estate of a bankrupt debtor; but that was done, not by a suit, but by a proceeding specially provided for the purpose by statute. If it be asked why it was not sufficient for any creditor, legatee, or next of kin, whose claim was not satisfied, to bring a suit against the executor to enforce such claim, it may be answered, first, that it did not lie in the mouth of equity, in view
;

of

its

recent extension

of

its

jurisdiction,

to

say that nothing

law, the

further

was necessary, as a
the ecclesiastical

creditor, legatee, or next of kin could

always sue the executor, the former at

latter in

common
that

two
suit

courts;

secondly,

no one

by a

creditor, legatee, or next of kin, against the executor, to

enforce his individual claim, would

the estate, nor would

enable equity to administer

any number of separate suits of that kind. On the contrary, such a mode of proceeding would have assumed that every estate of a deceased person was to be administered out
of court, a court being applied to

only when some individual

claimant had
Thirdly,
if

some complaint
is

to

make

against the

executor.
it

an estate

to

be administered by a court,

must be

administered by some one suit or proceeding.

tion of an estate consists in dividing
it

The

-administra-

among
it,

the several persons

who have

interests in
;

it

or claims upon

according to their
it

respective rights

and, to enable a court so to divide an estate,

IS8

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

ascertain, not only

must

who such

persons are, but what are their

it

respective rights; and, in order to enable

to

do the

latter,

it

such persons before it (or at least it must give them all an opportunity to come before it) together; and this latter object can be accomplished only by means of one suit or pro-

must have

all

In short, when a court undertakes to administer an must consider the claim of every particular person in connection with the claims of all other persons, and it cannot dispose of any one person's claim separately and by itself. Fourthly, equity was called upon to provide some means of adceeding.
estate,
it

ministering the estates of deceased persons, as well to satisfy the

assuming complete jurisThat equity was called upon to do this in order to satisfy the demands of justice, in the case of all estates which were, or might prove to be, insolvent is plain but in truth the need was not confined to such estates. An estate might, indeed, be so clearly solvent that the executor would be perfectly willing to pay all debts and all specific and pecuniary
justice as to justify itself in

demands of

diction over such estates.

but an executor could scarcely ever be perfectly safe in paying over the residue without the authority of some court which had the power and the will to protect him, because he could never be sure that debts would not afterwards appear for which he would be liable.-' Moreover, in cases where the residue is undisposed of by will, it is frequently uncertain who are the next of kin and wherever that is the case, it must be ascertained and decided by adequate judicial authority who the next of kin are, before the executor or administrator can safely pay over the residue to any one.
legacies
;

The

question then recurs,

in

How

could equity so mould the pro-

make the latter serve the purpose of administering the estate of a deceased person? Equity has done this, and has done it with at least a fair degree of In order to understand clearly how it has done it, it will success. be well to proceed by stages. Let us then first take the simplest
ceedings

an ordinary suit as to

case, namely, that of a bill

by a residuary
first,

legatee against the

executor for an account and payment of the residue.

requires the court to ascertain,

the

Such a bill amount of the testator's

and pecuniary
legacies,
But see 22

personal
the
1

es,tate,

secondly, the amount of his debts, and, thirdly,

his will in specific
;

amount given by
Norman
c.

v.

Baldry, 6 Sim. 621

s,

2 Williams, Executors (8th ed.) 1354.

&

23 Vict.,

35,

29.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

because
is
it is

59

in this way that the residue to which the plaintiff be ascertained. Accordingly, the first decree will direct a reference to a Master to take an account of the testator's personal estate, debts, and legacies. The first and last of these three items will involve no special difficulty nor will the Master have any difficulty in taking an account of the debts, so far as they have come to the executor's knowledge but that is not sufficient. There may be debts which have not come to the executor's knowledge and, if there are, they must be provided for. Accordingly,

only

entitled can

the decree will direct the Master to publish advertisements for

creditors of the testator to

all

come

in before

him and prove

their

they must so come in

such advertisements the time within which and the decree will then declare that all creditors who fail to come in within the time so to be stated shall be deprived of any benefit from the decree. The decree having been made, the reference before the Master
debts,

and to

state in

will
it

next be proceeded with. As creditors bring in their claims, be the duty of the executor to see that they are fully proved, and to resist them if he thinks them not well founded. When, however, the suit is by the person entitled to the residue, he will
will
in1;erest in resisting

have the chief

fore, the

unfounded claims, and, thereresponsibility of deciding

executor
shall

may

leave to

him the

be resisted, and what resistance shall be made to them. If there is any room for doubt as to the solvency of the estate, every creditor will also be more or less interested in reduc-

what claims

ing the

amount of the debts

be
If a claim
if

as

much

as possible

and accordingly

every

creditor will

entitled to resist the claim of every other

be rejected, an opportunity will be given to he desire it, to bring an action or file a bill against the executor to establish his claim.^ So if a claim be contested in apparent good faith and on reasonable grounds, though unsuccessfully, the claimant will generally be required to bring an action
creditor.^

the claimant,

to establish

it,

if

the contestant insists

upon a

trial at law.^

When

all

the directions

contained in the decree have been

will

fully carried out, the

Master

make

his report to the court,

and

1 While the executor may, in the Master's office, resist any claim which he thinks unfounded, he cannot prevent a claim's being resisted by others, because he thinks it just, the decree having deprived him of the power of waiving any legal defence. He cannot,

therefore, waive the defence of the Statute of Limitations.

I

Shewen

v.

Vanderhorst,

R.
2

& M.

347.

'

See Lockhart v. Hardy, 5 Beav. 305. See Fladorg v. Winter, 19 Ves. 196.

l60

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

this report

when
to

has been confirmed, the executor will be required

pay

into court whatever

report shows to be in his hands,

is

money belonging to the estate the i.e., whatever money the executor

shown to have received, and is not shown to have paid out for some legitimate purpose, or to have lost without his fault. The court requires this of the executor upon the ground that he confessedly holds the money en autre droit, and that the plaintiff will
be entitled to what remains of it after prior claims have been satisfied. Moreover, if the report shows that any part of the assets consists of debts due to the estate, and which have not yet been collected, or of specific property which has not yet been converted into money, the executor will be directed to collect such debts, and to convert such specific property into money, as speedily as it may conveniently be done, and to pay into court the money
thus realized.^
Finally, when the estate has all been converted into money, and the money paid into court, and when all claims upon the estate, except claims for costs, have been adjusted, the cause will be set down for a further hearing, and a final decree will be made, directing the Master to tax the costs of all parties whose costs are to be paid out of the estate, and thereupon directing all claims upon the estate which have been established, including interest and costs, to be paid out of the money in court, and directing the residue of that money to be paid to the plaintiff.

Of

course

it

may happen
come
in

that

some

creditor

of the testator

has failed to

before the Master and prove his debt.

If such should be the case, what will be the rights of such creditor? At law, his rights will remain the same as if no bill in equity had ever been filed, and if the estate was sufficient to pay all creditors in full, he will still have a legal right to compel the executor to pay him but equity will not permit him to enforce that right; and he can, therefore,
;

avail himself only of

and

equity

will
If,

executor.^
in court,

such remedy as equity itself will give him, him no remedy whatever against the' however, he apply while the money still remains
give

he

will

be

let in

with the other creditors, and no other

his
of

penalty will be imposed upon him than the payment of such

costs as have
1

been occasioned by

coming
Aug.

in so late.*

But

if

This

is

by virtue of the 4Sth General Order

Smith, 2 B.

26, 1841.

See Sanders,
;

p. 886.

Farrell v.
'

&

B. 337.
;

Lashley

v.

Hogg,
144.

11

Ves. 602

Angell

v.

Haddon,

Madd. 529

Brown

v.

Lake,

DeG.

& Sm.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the

l6l

money be

that the court can do for

paid out of court before his claim is presented, all him is to permit him to file a bill against

the person or persons upon

it

whom his debt would have fallen, if had been paid, to compel him or them to pay his debt out of what he or they have received from the estate; and this it will But if the debt, in case it had been generally permit him to do. upon several persons, he will be permitted paid, would have fallen to recover only a pro rata share from each, and not the whole from any one.-' Here then is one instance in which equity completely administers the estate of a deceased person by means of an ordinary suit, and does so, as is believed, without introducing any anomaly, and without violating any of the principles of procedure. It is true that we have the spectacle of a suit, brought by A against B, being used as a means of satisfying a claim made by C against B, C being no party to the suit. Under ordinary circumstances, this would undoubtedly be inadmissible but, under the peculiar circumstances of the case now under consideration, it seems to be open to no objection. A cannot object because the payment of C's claim is a necessary condition of his obtaining the relief which
;

he seeks. B cannot object, as he is in no way prejudiced. If C's claim be not well founded, he will have a full opportunity to resist and if he cannot successfully resist it in A's suit, he may, as it has been seen, provided he can raise a reasonable doubt of its validity, require C to bring an action against him to establish it. B cannot object to being called upon to pay a claim of C in a suit brought for the sole purpose of compelling payment of a claim of A, for he has nothing to do with paying either. He pays the money into court in any event; and he has no concern with what afterwards becomes of it. Can C complain of being required to come in and prove his
;

claim in A's

suit,

at the peril

of the estate's being administered

It

without regard to his claim?

facilities for establishing his claim,

seems not. He has the fullest even to the extent of bringing

an action for that purpose, if necessary. It is true that the estate administered without his knowledge but that is no more than might happen if the estate were administered by the executor out of court. The administration of an estate cannot be delayed

may be

forever, because all claims against

1

it

may
v.

not have been brought

i

Gillespie v. Alexander, 3 Russ. 130

v.

Greig

Somerville,

R.

&

M.

338.

Com-

pare Davies

Nicolson, 2

DeG.

&

J.

693.
II

62

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and
if

in;

the executor wait a reasonable length of time, or as

all

long as the law requires him to wait, and use

precautions, or
all

other reasonable

such as the law requires, and then proceeds to distribute the estate, no claim of which he then had no knowledge can afterwards be enforced against him.^

Can
suit,

it

be said that

it

is

inconsistent with the true principles of

procedure, and, therefore, injurious to the public, to permit a

brought by

against B, to be used as a

means of compelling

payment

of a claim of

against
it

In the
not.
all

mode and under

It is

the

circumstances

now supposed,

seems

to be observed

that C's claim does not affect the suit at

into the Master's office.

until the latter gets

In the Master's office C's claim can cause

no

difficulty, as

the proceedings there are independent of the other

suit.

proceedings in the

The Master simply

carries out the direc-

and such directions are all that he need know of the suit. Nor is the reference to the Master caused by C's claim, as it would be necessary in any event. Of course
tions contained in the decree,

C's claim will cause

the reason before stated,

A some delay in the Master's office, but, for A cannot complain of that inconvenience.
The only thing that will remain to be made and confirmed, will
its

Will C's claim cause any inconvenience in the subsequent proceedings in the cause?
done, after the Master's report has been

be

for the court to

make

final

decree.

cardinal rule that the relief given in a suit

parties to that suit,
tiff
tiffs

Undoubtedly, it is a must be confined to the

or plaintiffs.

than one

in

and generally it must be confined to the plainMoreover, as a rule, when there are more plaina suit, they must, for all the purposes of the suit, and
each of several
plaintiffs;
its final

constitute a unit, as a court of equity will not give separate

independent
case
rate

relief to

and

yet, in the

now supposed,

the court must,

by

decree, give sepa-

and independent relief, as well to the plaintiff as to each of the persons who have established claims before the Master. The court would, therefore, undoubtedly encounter very serious difficulties in making its final decree, were it not for one circumstance,
namely, the payment of the assets into court.
;

That, however, removes every difficulty for, in consequence of it, the final decree becomes merely the direction of the court to its own officer as to
1

The
V.

proposition in the text was stated on the authority of Chelsea

i

Water Works

Co.

Cooper,

ported.
Vict.,
c.

Esp. 275; but it seems that it cannot, as a general proposition, be supSee 2 Williams, Executors (8th ed.) 1354; supra, p. 158. But see 22 & 23
s. 29.

35,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the disposition of the

163

money

in court.

In short, the case becomes

simply one of paying money out of court. The subject may be looked at in another light. Supposing the to be prosecuted to the end for A's sole benefit, what suit of would be the consequence } Clearly, the estate would have to be

administered to the extent of having it all converted into money, and the money paid into court ; but there A's reHef would have
to stop until
it

could be ascertained what claims there were upon

How would this be done ? the assets superior to A's claim. to present a petition to the court, enOne way would be for
titled in the

cause of

A A against

B, asking that the residue of the

be ascertained and paid over to him. The court would then make an order of reference to a Master, containing directions
estate

precisely like those contained in the

first

decree, as stated above,

except that the Master would not be required to take an account of the estate, that having been already done. The Master having made his report, and his report having been confirmed, the court would make an order for paying the money out of court in precisely the

before stated.

as if it had been done in the final decree, as Thus, the same result would be arrived at as before, and by means of one suit, but in a mode much less direct and much more dilatory and expensive.

same terms

So much
If the bill

for

an administration

bill filed

by a residuary

legatee.

be

filed

by the next of

kin,^ the residue

not having been

disposed of

from a

suit

by will, the suit will differ in only one material point by a residuary legatee, namely, that the court must be
next of kin, and the sole next of kin
the court be satisfied of this?
the next of kin of the deceased
?

satisfied that the plaintiff is

to the deceased.

question broadly
is,

How shall is. Who are

The
It

therefore, like the question.

?

Who

are the creditors of the delatter,

ceased

In the former case, too, as well as in the

the court

must find for itself the answer to the question, as there will be no one before the court who will be interested in furnishing a true answer, or upon whom the consequences of an erroneous answer On the contrary, those consequences will fall upon perwill fall. sons not before the court, and who, therefore, will have no opporAccordingly, the court will ascertain who are tunity to be heard. the next of kin of the deceased in the same manner that it ascer1

In order to avoid raising questions which are foreign to the main purposes of this

article, it will

be assumed that there

is

but one residuary legatee, and but one next

of kin.

l64
tains

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

who
are his creditors, namely,

by

referring the cause to a

Master, with directions to him to publish advertisements for the

next of kin of the deceased to come before him within a time to be limited, and make out their kindred, the court declaring that

be deprived of all benefit from purpose be made ? One might suppose, at first sight, that it would be most convenient to embrace in one reference everything that is to be done by the Master. In truth, however, the question, who are the next of kin
those

who do

not so

come

in will

the decree.

When

shall the reference for this

the answer to

preliminary question, as upon depend all the subsequent proceedings in the cause. It has, therefore, been found convenient to make the inquiry as to the next of kin the subject of a separate and preliminary reference and accordingly the first decree is confined to that

of the deceased,
it

is,

in its nature, a

will

object.^
bill will

If

the result of this reference

;

is

against the plaintiff, his

be dismissed

if

in his favor, the suit will

proceed

in the

by a residuary legatee. Regularly, therefore, there are three decrees in a suit by a next of kin, while there are only two in a suit by a residuary legatee. If the bill be filed by a pecuniary legatee for the recovery of his legacy, a somewhat different case will be presented. As the
same manner
as a suit
is for a definite sum of money, and he has no interest in the estate beyond the amount of his legacy, he will not be entitled to an account of assets, if the executor will admit them to be sufficient to pay the plaintiff's legacy but if the executor will not admit the assets to be sufficient for that purpose, he will be required to give an account; and, in that event, the first decree will be the same as upon a bill by a residuary legatee, i.e., the Master will be required to take an

claim of a pecuniary legatee

as

account, not only of the personal estate of the testator, but also
of his debts,

and of his specific and pecuniary

legacies.

An

account of the debts and specific legacies will be required for the same reason as upon a bill by a residuary legatee, namely, that debts and specific legacies have a priority over pecuniary legacies.

An account

of the pecuniary legacies will be required because all such legacies are payable pro rata, and no one pecuniary legatee is allowed to gain a priority over others by suing for his legacy; and, therefore, the court must have an account of the pecuniary
legacies, as well as of the personal estate, the debts,

and the spe-

See Seton on Decrees

(ist ed.) 72.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

cific

l6<,

legacies, before
is

it

can
full,

know whether
and,
if

or

not the

plaintiff's

legacy
it

to be paid in

not, then

what proportion of

is

to be paid.

Not only will the first decree be the same, in the case now supposed, as upon a bill by a residuary legatee, but all the subsequent
proceedings

be the same, with one exception, namely, that, as the party or parties entitled to the residue will not be before the court, such residue will remain in court until such party or parties
will

obtain
It

payment of

it

by a

petition to the court for that' purpose.^

it is

may

be asked, indeed, how

that the residue can be required

it

to be paid into court, as the parties entitled to

are not before

the court
Still,

and there
is

is

as the decree
estate,

some technical difficulty upon that point. made for the benefit of all parties interested

in the

except those entitled to the residue, and as the amount of the residue, if any, cannot be ascertained until the end of the suit, and as the payment of the whole fund into court must,
in legal in
it,

contemplation, be for the benefit of all parties interested and cannot injure the executor, the technical difficulty has

been disregarded.^ It must be observed, however, that no one can be bound by an accounting to which he was not a party, and, therefore, in the case

now supposed,
him
if

the party or parties entitled to the residue

may

require the executor to account over again

for that

upon a

bill filed

against

be at the peril of costs, they harass the executor with a second accounting without
;

purpose

but of course

it

will

cause.
If the executor
plaintiff's

admit that he has

full,

sufficient assets to

pay the

legacy in

the plaintiff will be entitled to no account,

need none; for he will be entitled to an immediate the executor personally for the amount of his But it should be carefully observed that such a decree legacy. will afford the executor no protection against either a creditor or any other pecuniary legatee; for the executor had no right to make such an admission, unless he had sufficient assets not only
as

he

will

decree against

to

pay

all

debts, but also to

pay

all

pecuniary legacies in
executor,
will

full.

In short, an admission of assets

by an

upon a

bill

by

a pecuniary legatee, means that the assets

1

be

sufficient, after

The

question, whether a

bill

by a pecuniary legatee can be so framed as to enable

the court to pay out the entire assets under the final decree in the suit, will be considered further on.
*

See
p.

infra, p. i8o et seq.

See infra,

i8o

et seq.

l66

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

all

payment of
It will

debts,

and
full.

all

specific legacies, if any, to

pay

all

pecuniary legacies in

be seen, therefore,

that,

upon a
is

bill

by a pecuniary
is

legatee

against an executor, the testator's estate will or will not be administered, according as the executor

or

not required to give

an account

and that he
while

will

he admits

assets,

if

be required to give an account unless he admits assets, he will not.

We now
a
bill

come

to the case of a bill

by a

creditor against the

is,

executor to recover his debt; and the question

the estate.

whether such

can be so moulded as to serve the purpose of administering At first sight, it may seem that such a bill does not

differ materially

from a

bill

by a pecuniary
is

legatee to recover his

legacy.

In truth, however, there

between the two,

present question.-'
the others
itors,

a very important difference

difference,

too,

which

is

decisive

of the
just

All pecuniary legatees must, as

for his legacy;

we have

seen, be paid ratably,

and no one of them can gain a priority over

but this
is

same degree. On the contrary, it is not only legally possible for any creditor of a deceased debtor to gain a priority by superior diligence over every other creditor of the same degree, but such is the inevitable consequence of any creditor's first recovering either a judgment That such is the law at law or a decree in equity for his debt. well known but it is doubtful if the reason of it is is perfectly very well understood. In particular, it is believed that judgments against an executor are often confounded with judgments against It is true that a judgment of either class gives to his testator. the person who recovers it a right to priority of payment by the
even of those

not

by suing

not true of cred-

who

are of the

executor;

but the reason

is

entirely different,

according as the

judgment belongs to the one class or the other. A judgment against a living debtor gives no priority to the creditor, except so far as the judgment is a lien upon the debtor's land ^ but the moment the debtor dies, his judgment creditors are entitled, at
;

common common
^ I.e.,

other creditors; and the reason

be paid out of his personal estate in priority to is that, when a debtor dies the law ranks his creditors according to the nature of th?ir
law, to
solely for the recovery of the plaintiff's debt.

assuming that the

is

bill is

See

infra, pp. 168-69.

2 If

an execution
399, note.

issued on the judgment, the creditor

may

also acquire a lien

v.

on

personal property of the debtor, but not otherwise.

See Finch

Winchelsea, 3 P.

Wms.

See also

Archbold's Practice (13th ed.) 522.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

debts, debts created

167

simple contract debts being the lowest.

fore,

by matter of record being the highest, and Judgment creditors, there-

of a deceased debtor have a priority, not because they have obtained judgments for their debts, but because their debts are

debts of record.

The ranking

of the

creditors of a deceased

debtor depends, however, entirely upon the nature of their debts at the moment of their debtor's death. Indeed, their nature cannot
afterwards

be changed without a destruction of them

therefore, the executor of a deceased debtor converts a debt

and if, due

by the
it,

latter into

a debt of a higher nature, he thereby destroys

and the new debt becomes his own. How is it, then, that a judgment against an executor always gives the creditor a priority? The answer has just been suggested, namely, the judgment binds the executor personally. Moreover, an executor cannot prevent the recovery of a judgment against him, if he has sufficient assets to pay the debt, after paying debts of a higher nature; and, as the law compels him to pay a judgment so recovered, even if he pays it out of his own pocket, of course it must protect him, to that extent, against the claim of any other creditor, the existence of whose debt would not have prevented the recovery of the judgment, i.e., against the claim of every other creditor whose debt, before the recovery of the judgment, was not of a higher nature than that of the judgment creditor. It is true that, in form, a judgment against an executor
is

commonly,

in the first

instance, de bonis

testatoris,

not

de

testatoris is conclusive

judgment against an executor de bonis proof that the executor has sufficient goods of the testator to satisfy the judgment, the judgment is in effisct de
bonis propriis ; but, as every

bonis propriis}

The

effect of a

decree

in

equity against an executor, at the suit

is

of a creditor of his testator, in giving the creditor a priority,

even more decisive than that of a judgment at law; for a decree in

equity binds the executor personally in form as well as in
effect.
is

The

executor, as in the case of a

to

bill

by a pecuniary

legatee,

admit assets or to give an account. If he admit assets (and an admission of assets in this case means only that he has sufficient assets to pay the plaintiff, after paying all
required either
1

What

is

said in the text suggests another important distinction between judgments

against an executor and judgments against his testator, namely, that the former have
priority according
to their respective dates, while the latter all stand

upon the same

footing.

l68

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

creditor will be entitled to an immediate decree against the executor personally. If the executor decline to admit assets, he will be required to give an account; but the account will be exclusively for the plaintiff's benefit, its object being merely to enable him to show that there are sufficient assets to pay him, after paying all debts of a higher nature. If the plaintiff succeed in showing this, he will be entitled, as before, to a decree against the executor personally. Indeed, equity was bound in self-defence to make its decrees against executors binding on them personally for otherwise such decrees would have had no other effect than to prove the existence of the debt (as to which there is commonly no question), and hence creditors who sued in equity would have been put at a great disadvantage as compared with creditors who sued at law. It may be thought that, upon a bill by a creditor, if the executor does not admit assets, there ought to be an account of all debts of a higher nature than the plaintiff's, and that the payment of all such debts ought to be provided for in priority to the plaintiff's and equity might, indeed, have taken that course, but
; ;

debts of a higher nature), the

in fact

it

has not.
if

On

the contrary, equity has in that respect

all

followed the analogy of an action at law, treating

debts of

a higher nature as
the executor to

they had

in fact

been paid, and so permitting

show them

One

reason for this

its

may

in his account as items of discharge.^ have been that equity did not think it
its

worth

while to go out of

a part only of the debts.

way to provide for the payment of Another reason may have been that
all

equity regards the claims of

justice,
assist

creditors as equal in point

of

and therefore it was not disposed to go out of its way to one class of creditors, upon the ground that they had a
a
bill

priority over other creditors.

It follows, therefore, that

by a

creditor to recover his

own

debt never involved providing for the payment of (and therefore never involved taking an account of) any other debts; and a
creditor

who

filed

such a

bill

had a right to
;

insist that

his suit

should not be incumbered or delayed by the claims of any other creditors with which he had nothing to do and for the court to

have made such a

suit the

means of providing
plaintiff's

for the claims of

other creditors, without the

consent, would have been

an act wholly arbitrary, and

in

plain violation of the plaintiff's

See Anon., 3 Atk, 572.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

rights.

169

Nor would

it

probably have been thought a boon to the

body of

the creditors of the testator to be permitted to

their debts

come

in

under a decree obtained by one of such creditors, if that one creditor must be paid in full before the others were provided for at all.

and prove

The

conclusion, therefore,

is

that,

upon a

creditor's bill against

an executor, the estate of the testator can never be administered without the plaintiff's consent. With his consent, however, it for his rights are the only obstacle which clearly may be done If, therefore, a creditor files a bill, expressly stands in the way. disclaiming any priority over other creditors of the same degree, and praying that payment of all the debts may be provided for, according to their legal priorities at the time of the testator's death, there is every reason why the prayer of the bill should be
;

granted

for

it

enables the court to administer the estate, and

it

is

also promotive of one of the

most cherished objects of equity, Moreover, this is precisely what takes place in the common case where a creditor files a bill against an executor, " on behalf of himself and of all the other creditors of the testator," the words quoted being held (and
namely, equality among creditors.
properly held) to

mean
first

all

that

is

stated above.

Accordingly,

ppon such a
and of
all

bill,

the

decree will direct an account of the estate

the debts of the testator, and

when the account has

been taken, payment into court of the balance in the executor's hands will be directed, as upon a bill by a residuary legatee, and the court will proceed in all particulars as upon a bill by a residuary legatee, except that no account of legacies will be taken, nor any payment of them provided for; but the residue of the personal
estate, after

payment of the

debts, will remain in court until paid

it.^

out on the application of those entitled to

The words which have been quoted

bill

in

the last paragraph have

;

for they convert the from a bill seeking a personal decree against the executor into a bill merely for the administration of a fund. It is clearly impossible upon such a bill for any one but the plaintiff to have a personal decree against the executor and it is as clearly impossible to give the plaintiff any relief which cannot also be given to all the other creditors. Accordingly, upon a creditor's bill, filed on behalf of the plaintiff and all the other creditors of the testator,
;

an effect even beyond what has been stated

See Gollinson

v. Ballard, 2

Hare, 119.

lyo

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

no personal decree is ever made against the executor'; nor, is any final decree whatever made against him, the estate being fully administered as to him when it has been converted into money, and the money paid into court. Moreover, as the bill seeks, not a personal decree, but the administration of a fund, there is no propriety in the execut9r's admitting assets (the only object of which is to lay the foundation for a personal decree) and still less will an admission of assets by the executor exempt him from giving an account. He is not, therefore, given the option of accounting or admitting assets, but he is required to account unconditionally.^ Of course the technical objection to requiring an executor to pay all the money in his hands into court, upon a bill by a pecuniary legatee, holds still more strongly in the case of a bill by a creditor on behalf of himself and all the other creditors but it has been disregarded in the latter case as well as in the former.^ As a creditor may file a bill on behalf of himself and all the other creditors, so a pecuniary legatee may file a bill on behalf of himself and all other pecuniary legatees. As, however, a bill by a pecuniary legatee involves the administration of the estate equally, whether it be filed for the plaintiff's exclusive benefit, or " on behalf of the plaintiff and all the other pecuniary legatees," unless, in the former case, the executor admits assets, the only effect of the words quoted is to convert the bill from a bill seeking
indeed,
;

a personal decree against the executor into a

tration of the fund,

bill for

the adminis-

and thus

to require the executor to

account
assets or

absolutely, instead of giving

him the option of admitting

accounting.

The

next question

is.

How

could creditors be induced to share

fruits

equally with other creditors the

of a suit prosecuted

by

themselves alone

That they were so induced is clear; for bills by creditors, except on behalf of themselves and all other creditors, are, and have long been, very uncommon. Undoubtedly, equity might originally have made it a condition of its entertaining
?

is

doubt whether his bill See Reeve V. Goodwin, lo Jur. 1050. In Woodgate v. Field, 2 Hare, 2H, where the bill was by a creditor, on behalf of himself and other creditors, there was not only an admission of assets in the defendant's answer, but, on that admission, the plaintiff was permitted at the hearing to take a personal decree against the defendant. It seems, however,
^ It
it

follows, therefore, that a creditor should never leave

in

for his

own

exclusive benefit, or on behalf of himself and other creditors.

impossible to support the decision.

^

See

infra, p. 180 et seq.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

a suit

171

by
it

a creditor, that other creditors should be permitted to

its

share in

benefits

for equity

may

always dictate the terms on

which

owners of legal rights the benefit of equiPerhaps, however, the absolute right of a creditor table remedies. to sue in equity was too well established to be drawn in question before it was perceived that such a condition was desirable.
will give to the

Perhaps, also, the imposing of such a conditicm, while the jurisdiction was new, would have had little other effect than to discourage At all events, equity never creditors from coming into equity.

imposed any such condition ^ and at length it became too late to do so. It became necessary, therefore, to find some other means of accomplishing the same object and other effective means were
; ;

at length found.

Of course
him
also
;

the fact that one creditor of a testator sues the execu-

tor of the latter, does not prevent

any other creditor from suing and the fact that one creditor sues him for his own exclusive benefit does not prevent another creditor from suing him on behalf of all the creditors. Moreover, if one creditor file a bill for his own exclusive benefit, and then another creditor file a bill on behalf of all the creditors, and the creditor in the second suit obtain
a decree for an accounting before the creditor in the
first suit

obtains
first

a personal decree against the executor, the proceedings in the

suit will

be stayed, and the creditor in that suit will have to come in and prove his debt under the decree in the second suit for it is a rule, the reason of which will be considered presently, that, after a decree is made under which an estate can be administered, no one who is entitled to come in under that decree will be permitted to
;

own exclusive benefit. Moreover, exwere encouraged to cooperate with any creditor who sued ecutors on behalf of all the creditors, and thus enable him to obtain a decree before any creditor who sued for his own exclusive benefit could gain a right to a priority of payment; and this was finally carried to such a length that an executor was permitted to comprosecute any suit for his

mit the absurdity of suing himself,

himself in the

i.e.,

of

filing a bill

against

name

of a creditor (whose consent, of course, he

must obtain), the same attorney confessedly acting for both plainand defendant.^ If, however, it was suspected that an executor was using this privilege as a means of delaying creditors and
tiff

See infra, p. iSj, n. 1. Paxton V. Douglas, 8 Ves. 520, 522, per Lord Eldon ton, 18 Ves. 469-470, /? Lord Eldon.
'

Gilpin

v.

Lady Southamp-

172

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

keeping the money in his own hands, it was open to any creditor to make an application to the court to have the prosecution of the suit committed to himself or to some other creditor, and such an application was always listened to with favor.^ An executor, however, who honestly desired to prevent any one creditor from gaining a priority over others by obtaining a personal decree against
himself, could easily
;

do so

in the

manner

pointed out in the last paragraph

and, therefore, a creditor

who

sued an executor for his own exclusive benefit was confronted with the moral certainty, not only of failing in his object, but also of
losing the benefit of conducting a suit for the administration of the
estate.
It is

not surprising, therefore, that

bills for

the exclusive
bills for

benefit of the creditor

who

filed

them were superseded by

the equal benefit of

It

all

the creditors.

must

not,

equity encountered in

however, be supposed that all the obstacles which its attempts to administer the estates of
It

deceased persons had yet been overcome.

had, indeed, been

shown

that suits

by

creditors of a testator could be so framed as

to serve the purpose of administering the testator's estate,

and

means had been found of compelling creditors so to frame their suits; and, incidentally, means had been found of defeating the attempts of particular creditors, by suits in equity for their own exclusive benefit, to gain priority over other creditors of the same degree. But it was still possible for one creditor to gain priority over others by obtaining a judgment at law against the executor and, unless some means could be found of preventing that, no creditor would find it worth his while to file a bill in equity on
behalf of himself and
tion of the estate,
all

the other creditors for the administra-

and every insolvent estate of a deceased debtor would be exhausted in a ruinous struggle among the creditors for priority, or at best every executor whose testator's estate was insolvent would be forced to give a preference to those creditors whom he most favored by either paying them in full (so long as he had assets for the purpose), or by confessing judgments in
1

Paxton

V.

Dougla^, 8 Ves. 520, 521-2, per Lord Eldon

458; Powell V. Wallworth, 2 Madd. 183; Spode V. Smith, 3 Russ. 511.

2

Hawkes
it

v. Barrett, 5

Sims v. Ridge, 3 Mer. Madd. 17. See also

appeared that an administration bill filed Feb. 11, and a decree made Feb. 12. In Hawkes v. Barrett, 5 Madd. 17, a bill was filed Dec. 15, the executors answered immediately, and a decree was made Dec. 22. One o the executors also was solicitor for both plaintiff and defendants, and the other executor was residuary legatee.
v.

In

Hayward
Feb.

Constable, 2 Y.

&

Coll. 43,

was

filed

8, that

the executor's answer

was

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

their favor.

73

In short,

it

was

in vain for equity to

prevent any one

creditor from gaining a priority over the others in equity, unless

he could also be prevented from doing the same thing at law. Could a creditor be so prevented? Clearly, only in one way, namely, by an injunction. Could, then, any principle be found upon which an injunction could be granted against a creditor who was seeking to recover his debt by an action at law An injunction was granted in such a case for the first time in Morrice v. The Bank of England ^ but it was upon a ground so special and so narrow that the decision left the jurisdiction of equity over the estates of deceased persons about where it found it. An executrix was there sued at law by many creditors of her testator after certain other creditors (whose debts were due only in equity) had
.'

obtained decrees against her in equity, in suits prosecuted for their own exclusive benefit and, on a bill filed by her, an injunc;

tion

was granted against the prosecution of the actions at law; but it was only upon the ground that the executrix was there placed between two fires. On the one hand no judgments which could be recovered against the executrix would protect her against the decrees, because the latter were made first, and equity
could not possibly permit
its

decrees to be disobeyed because of

what some other court had done since those decrees were made.^
Talbot, 217, 3 Swanst. 573, 2 Bro. P. C. (Toml. ed.) 465. v. Bank of England was decided successively in the plaintiff's favor by Sir Joseph Jekyll, M. R. (before whom it was argued for six days), by Lord Chancellor
1

Cas.

i.

Morrice

was argued for seven days), and by the House of Lords (before ; and it may, therefore, be thought presumptuous to criticise the decision. The writer has, however, found himself wholly unable to support it. The difficulty is, that the facts do not bring the case within the reasons given for the decision, a difficulty which does not appear to have been at all adverted to, either by counsel or by courts. The decrees did not bind the executrix personally, and were not intended to do so. A personal decree against an executor must be based either upon an admission of assets by him, or upon an accounting which shows the amount of assets in his hands but in Morrice v. Bank of England the executrix had neither admitted assets nor accounted. In her answer she had expressly declined to admit assets; and, though an account of the personal estate was directed by the decree, it had not yet been taken. If, therefore, the decrees had been so framed as to bind the executrix personally, they would not have been final (and, therefore, would not have bound her personally) until the account was taken, as it would not be known till then for what amount the executrix would be bound. The decrees were not, however, so framed. On the contrary, they simply directed the executrix to pay the plaintiff's claims out of the assets in her hands, and in a due course of administration. Although, therefore, the decrees were final, they did not bind the executrix personally. In truth, they had no other effect than to establish the plaintiff's claims and fix their amount. The plaintiffs seem to have supposed that any final decree would give them a priority, thus confounding judgments and
it

which

Talbot (before whom it was argued

for six days)

174

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the other hand, the decrees would
nothing.

On

be no protection to the
equity must insist upon
liability at law,

executrix at law, because, in the judgment of a court of law, a

decree in equity

is

In short,

obedience to

its

decrees; and, therefore, as the executrix could

not render such obedience without incurring

equity

must protect her against such

liability.

The

decision, however,

did not warrant an injunction until a creditor had obtained a personal decree against the executor in equity, and, therefore, not

which

had accomplished in equity the very purpose was the object of an injunction to prevent a creditor's accomplishing at law; and that is the reason why the decision
until a creditor
it

exerted so httle influence over the administration of assets

equity.

in

It was not, however, the fault of the court that the decision in Morrice v. The Bank of England was placed upon so narrow a ground for it has never been claimed that a suit in equity by a creditor, prosecuted for the plaintiff's exclusive benefit, could furnish any broader ground for an injunction. It is otherwise, however, of a suit in equity which is so framed that it will result in the administration of the entire estate for the first decree in such
;

a suit

is

in effect a declaration that the court takes possession

it;

of

the entire estate for the purpose of administering

fore,
it.

and, there-

no other court can be permitted to enforce any claim against

The moment that such a decree is made, the executor becomes amenable to the court which makes the decree, in respect to all
and hence that court will not thereafter permit any of the executor's official acts to be either directed or questioned by any other court. Such a decree has in fact the same
his official acts
;

effect, in

giving the court exclusive jurisdiction over the estate, that

It

the appointment of a receiver would have.

does not, indeed,

The
necesStiles

decrees against executors with judgments and decrees against living debtors.
latter,

of course, always bind the defendant personally

and, therefore,
final.

all that is

sary to give
Eyles,
i!

them

full

and complete

effect is that they

be

Smith

v.

Haskins

Atk. 385. But, as to judgments and decrees against executors, the question is not whether they are final (though they must indeed be final), but whether they require

pay absolutely or only out of assets. The case of Abbis v. Winter, 3 Swanst. 578, note, seems to show that the reason why a judgment or decree against an executor gives priority to the creditor who obtains it was not very well understood at the time when Morrice v. Bank of England was decided. In Smith v. Birch, 3 Beav. 10, the
the executor to

decree was neither binding on the executor personally, nor final. See also Ashley v. Pocock, 3 Atk. 208 ; Gaunt v. Taylor, 3 M. & Gr. 886 ; DoUond v. Johnson, 2 Sm. &
Gift. 301
;

Jennings

Hanson

v.

v. Rigby, 33 Beav. 198; Williams w. Williams, L. R. 15 Eq. 270; Stubbs, 8 Ch. D. 154.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

legal rights

75

and cannot, convert the executor into a receiver. Tiie executor's and legal duties remain unchanged, and the exercise of the one and the performance of the other are interfered with only
so far as the purposes of justice require.
tor
is

Accordingly, the executhe estate into money,

left

for the

most part
;

to convert

without interference

but when the estate has been converted into

itself

money, the court reserves to

and, therefore, the executor
into court,

the disposition of that money,

is

required, as has been seen, to

pay

it

he pays any of it out in the discharge of the testator's debts or legacies, he will do so at his peril, as the court will give him no other protection than to permit him to stand in the place of those whom he has paid.-' The conclusion therefore is, that as soon as a decree is made against an executor, under which the entire estate of his testator will be administered, or (in other words) under which the executor

and

if

will

be required to pay the proceeds of the whole estate into court, an injunction ought to be granted against the enforcement of any claim against the estate by an action at law and accordingly such has been the established rule for more than a hundred years. An
;

injunction was granted, under such circumstances, for the

first

time,

by Lord Camden,
tion

in 1767, in

the case of Douglas

a special ground

v.

Clay;^ but
executor

the reasons of the decision have not been reported, and the injunc-

may have been granted on

for the

was there sued at law by the very persons

decree in equity against him, and
held to have
first

made

their election

who who may, therefore, have been between law and equity. The
had obtained the

injunction that was granted expressly

upon the ground above

in 1782, in

explained was that granted by Lord Thurlow,

of Brooks
V.

the case

Reynolds

and though

it

is

doubtful whether that

Jones

V.

Jukes, 2 Ves. Jun. 518; Mitchelson

v.

Piper, 8 Sim. 64; Irby

v.

Irby, 24

Beav. 525. 2 Cited in Brooks

'
I

v.

Reynolds,

Bro. C. C. 183, 184;

s. c.

Dick. 393.

Bro. C. C. 183, Dick. 603. That was a bill by an executrix to restrain a credAn administration decree had been made itor of her testator from suing her at law.

by trustees under the testator's will. Possibly and Lord Eldon (in Perry V. Phelips, 10 Ves. 34, 39) speaks of the bill as having been filed by residuary legatees. Still, the trustees filed the bill professedly to obtain the directions and indemnity of the court in executing the trust, and all the cestui que trusts under the will, as well as the executrix and the testator's heir at law, were made defendants and, therefore, the bill seems to have been in the nature of a bill of interpleader. Dickens says (doubtless by mistake) the bill was filed by a creditor on behalf of himself and the other creditors. It may be further observed that the plaintiff's object in seeking an injunction conbill filed

against the executrix, upon a

the decree was right, as the trustees were residuary legatees

176

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

in

which the estate could properly be administered, yet a decree for the administration of the estate had in fact been made, and the correctness of that decree could not of course be questioned in a collateral proceeding. The decision in Brooks v. Reynolds was not, however, sufficient to settle the question for in the subsequent case of Kenyon v. Worthington,^ in which the question arose nakedly and upon its merits, an application to Lord Thurlow for an injunction was resisted by counsel of the greatest eminence. The resistance, however, was unsuccessful, and the injunction was granted. This was in 1786; and from that time the question was regarded as settled.^ The practice thus established involved from the beginning one danger (already adverted to in another connection), namely, that executors would sometimes make it a means of delaying creditors, and of keeping the assets in their own hands. This danger was, however, effectively guarded against by making it a condition of granting an injunction, that the executor make an affidavit as to the state of the assets, and pay into court whatever money was then in his hands.^ There was also a serious objection, in point of procedure, to the practice established by Lord Thurlow, namely, that it was expenfor it made it necessary for every executor sive and cumbersome against whom an administration decree was obtained, as often as he was sued at law by any creditor of his testator, to file a bill against such creditor {i.e., commence and prosecute a suit against him) for the sole purpose of obtaining an injunction; and the fact that administration suits were so very numerous made this objection all the more serious. Still, it was an objection which courts of equity could not themselves remove without introducing arbitrarily a great anomaly in procedure and it was, therefore, a proper case for legislation. It was not easy, however, a hundred years ago, to obtain legislation in England for such a purpose and, therefore, the question was, whether a serious practical inconvenience should be submitted to, or whether principle should be

was a case

fessedly was, not to prevent the defendant

itors (for the estate

from obtaining a preference over other credwas admitted to be solvent), but to protect against creditors a large amount of property specifically bequeathed to the plaintiff herself.
1

Dick. 668.

Paxton V. Douglas, 8 Ves. 520; Perry v. Phelips, 10 Ves. 34; Curre v. Bowyer, 3 Madd. 456; Clarke w. Earl of Ormonde, Jac. 108, 123-25. Cleverley v. Cleverley, cited 8 Ves. 521 Paxton v. Douglas, 8 Ves. 520; Gilpin v. Lady Southampton, i8 Ves. 469; Clarke v. Earl of Ormonde, Jac. 108, 125.
2
;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

sacrificed
;

177

and the latter alternative was the one adopted. In the' time of Lord Loughborough, the practice began of granting the injunction, without requiring any bill to be filed, i.e., upon a motion made by the executor in the administration suit;^ and this was in effect, not only giving relief upon motion, but it was giving relief upon a motion made in a suit in which such relief could not possibly have been given by decree for it was entirely foreign to the case made by the bill, and it was given, not to the
;

plaintiff in the suit,

but to the defendant

not
suit.

against the de-

fendant, but against a total stranger to the

Nor was
;

the anomaly limited to the granting of injunctions on

the application of the executor, without requiring him to file a bill for it afterwards became the practice to grant them equally

upon the application of the

still

plaintiff in

the administration

suit,^

greater violation of principle.

bill

The granting of them

in
itself,

without requiring a

to be filed

was

of course, a

violation only of the principles of procedure, but the granting of

them on the

application of the plaintiff in the administration suit

;

was a violation of the rights of the parties for the executor was the only person who had a right to an injunction " and if the plaintiff in the administration suit had filed a bill for an injunction against a creditor who was suing the executor at law, the bill would clearly have been bad on demurrer. In short, while the granting of the injunction on the motion of the executor was merely granting relief without a suit, the granting of it on the motion of the plaintiff in the administration suit was granting relief without a suit to a party who could not have obtained it by a
;

suit.

As soon
obtained

as

it

was

settled that all actions at law

by

creditors

against an executor would be stopped as soon as a decree was

against

him
it

for

the administration of

the
all

testator's

estate, of course

followed that, in the like event,

other suits

in equity against him, prosecuted

by

creditors for their

own ex-

clusive benefit, wo-uld also

1

be stopped.*

Nor

did the stopping

Paxton V. Douglas, 8 Ves. 520 Clarke v. Earl of Ormonde, Jac. 108, I2^,per Lord See also Hardcastle v. Chettle, 4 Bro. C. C. 163. 2 Clarke v. Earl o Ormonde, Jac. 108, 125 Dyer v. Kearsley, 2 Mer. 482, note. 8 Clarke v. Earl of Ormonde, Jac. 108, 122, per Lord Eldon. * There may be two concurrent suits in equity against an executor, both of which are for the administration of the testator's estate and in that case, while neither suit can be stayed until a decree is obtained in the other, it does not follow that, when a decree If the suit in which a decree is is obtained in one, the other will be stayed.
;

Eldon.

12

; ;

178

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

difJficulties

of the latter involve any such

the

of procedure as did

stopping of the former;

all

for

there was

but one Court of

by the different judges were branches of the Court of Chancery; and, therefore, when an administration decree was obtained against an executor in one suit, the proceedings in every other suit in equity against him were stayed upon a motion made by him in that suit. Moreover, since the passage of the Judicature Acts, what was always true
the courts of equity held

Chancery, and

of courts of equity has become true of courts of

well; for both
classes

common

law as
of one

of courts are

now but branches

is

Supreme Court.

An

injunction, therefore,

no longer necessary

to stay the proceedings in an action at law against an executor

made by the exsought to be stayed. At length, therefore, every executor acquired the means of having the personal estate of his testator administered in equity, and of having it divided among the several persons who had claims upon it, according to their respective rights as they stood at the time of the testator's death, and that too in spite of anyecutor in the action which
is

but a stay can be

obtained upon a motion

thing that the testator's creditors could do with a view to obtaining a priority over each other.
So, too, every creditor, legatee, and next of kin of a deceased person acquired the means of having the estate of the deceased administered in equity; but creditors never acquired the means of preventing an executor from giving a preference to one creditor

Executors such a preference at common law, and equity never discovered any means of preventing them from doing it until an administration decree was obtained against them,i and

of his testator over other creditors of the same degree.

right
to

had a

give

of
first

course

an executor could delay a creditor considerably in

obtained embraces everything which the other suit embraces, so that the plaintiff

can have everything that he seeks in his own suit by coming in under the Otherwise, the latter suit will be permitted to go on. And if that embraces everything which is embraced in the suit in which the decree has been obtained, the proceedings in the latter
in the latter

decree already made, then the proceedings in the other suit will be stayed.

See Coysgarne v. Jones, Ambl. 613 Law v. Rigby, 4 Bro. C. C. 60 & St. 206 Jackson v. Leaf, i Jac. & W. 229. 1 Waring u. Danvers, i P. Wms. 295. In the Matter of Radcliffe, 7 Ch. D. 733, Jessel, M. R., said the only way of preventing preferences by executors, before an administration decree was obtained, was by procuring the appointment of a receiver. A rewill

be stayed.

Pott

V. Gallini, i S.

ceiver cannot, however, be appointed uiiless there

12 Ves. 4)
legal
;

is misconduct in the executor (Anon., and the preferring of one creditor to another an act which is perfectly cannot be deemed misconduct.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

obtaining
creditor
is

179
a

such a decree.

If,

however, an
his debt,

executor

prefer

by paying him a part of

and afterwards a decree

made

for the administration of the estate, the creditor so pre-

ferred will not be allowed to receive anything tinder the decree

until the other creditors

have received the same proportions of

his.-'^

their debts that he has received of

Can the estate of a deceased person be administered upon a bill filed by his executor? To this question, the authorities furnish no certain answer ^ but, upon principle, it seems clear that the
;

answer must be in the negative. If an executor file such a bill, he must do so, not as a person having claims to enforce, but as a person against whom claims are made. He is, therefore, properly the defendant to such a bill and the bill is properly filed by a creditor, legatee, or next of kin. What right, then, has the executor to reverse this state of things? When a person against whom a claim is made, instead of waiting to be sued, brings a suit himself against the claimant to have the claim against himself disposed of, he must have some special reason for doing so. What reason is there in the case now supposed? If, indeed, there is a
;

controversy as to the persons

tions in

who

are entitled to the

estate of

a deceased person after his debts are paid, or as to the propor-

which the several claimants are entitled, the executor may undoubtedly file a bill against the claimants but such a bill is in the nature of a bill of interpleader, and clearly no creditor of the testator can properly be a party to it. Such a bill, indeed, as;

sumes that all the debts are paid and it is very doubtful not assume that all legacies about which no question
;

if it
is

does

raised

are also paid.

notion seems to have once prevailed that an executor whose

testator died insolvent

might maintain a

bill

against the creditors

of the

latter, for

the express purpose of procuring the estate to be

all

divided

among
V.

the creditors pro rata, with such preferences

only as existed

Buccle

by law at the time of the testator's death, and in Atleo^ a demurrer to a bill of that description was
Such a
;

bill would be primarily a bill to restrain the from suing the executor at law but as a consequence of that would be that the creditors would be deprived of

overruled.

testator's creditors

Wilson V. Paul, 8 Sim. 63. See Flelden v. Fielden, i S. & St. 255 Newman Higgs, 4 Ves. 638 Davis v. Combermere, 15 Sim. 394.
1
''

v.

Norris, Dick. 259

Rush

v.

2 Vern. 37.

l8o

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

remedy, equity must provide them with another remedy; and, therefore, the decree, after directing an injunction to issue, would refer the cause to a Master to take an account of the estate and of the debts, with a direction to the Master to advertise for creditors to come in before him and prove their debts.-* There would be but one objection to such a decree, but that would be conclusive, namely, that equity would be depriving creditors of
their legal

no other reason than that it disapproved of Accordingly, the notion that such a bill would lie has long been exploded.^ In spite of all that we have said in vindication of administration bills, it must be confessed that they still leave something to be desired. It has been seen that, upon a bill filed by a creditor on behalf of himself and all the other creditors, the final decree can direct payment to none but creditors, and that, upon a bill filed by a pecuniary legatee on behalf of himself and all other pecuniary legatees, the final decree can direct payment to none but creditors and specific and pecuniary legatees. It has also been seen that there is a difficulty in requiring all the assets to be paid into court in a suit, by the final decree in which they cannot all be paid out. Can, then, a bill by a creditor, or by a pecuniary legatee, be so framed that the final decree upon it can direct the distribution of the entire estate? In other words, can such a bill be filed on behalf, not merely of the plaintiff and the other members of the class to which he belongs, but of all persons who are
their legal rights for their having

such

rights.

Such a decree was made in Morrice v. Bank of England, supra, p. 173 and, therewas administered in a suit in which the executrix was plaintiff. Whenever equity restrains the owner of a legal claim from enforcing his claim at law, it must itself take cognizance of and enforce the claim. When, indeed, an administration decree has been made against an executor, and he thereupon files a bill to restrain a creditor from suing him at law, the court has no occasion to do more upon the latter bill than decree an injunction but that is because there is already a decree under which the
1
;

fore, in that case the estate

creditor can
2

come

in.
i

See Backwell's Case,

Vem.

152; Morrice v.

Bank

of England, Cas.

t.

Talbot, 217,

224-s, 3 Swanst. 573, 583, /. Lord Chancellor Talbot. In the latter case it appears from 2 Bro. P. C. (Toml. ed.) 465, 481, that a bill had been filed by some of the creditors
of Morrice, on behalf of themselves

and the other

;

creditors, to

compel a. pro rata division

of the estate

was allowed.

among all the creditors but the bill was demurred to, and the demurrer The difficulty in the plaintiffs' way was that they were in no condition to
According to the practice afterwards established, the
;

obtain an injunction.

plaintiffs

would have filed a bill simply for the administration of the estate but whether such a bill would have done them any good or not, ought to have depended upon whether
they could obtain an administration decree before those creditors
against the latter.

whom

the executrix

wished to prefer could, with the assistance of the executrix, obtain a personal decree

: ;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY

interested in the estate, or

JURISDICTION.

l8l

who have claims upon it ? It seems to have been generally supposed that it cannot. Why ? Because it has been generally supposed that a creditor or legatee who files a bill on behalf of himself and others represents those others in the suit, and hence that the latter are constructively plaintiffs in the suit; and if this were so, it would follow that all those on whose behalf the bill is filed must constitute a class for no one can be a constructive plaintiff in a suit who could not also be a nominal plaintiff, and all the plaintiffs in a suit, whether nominal or constructive, must be capable of acting together as a unit, and hence, if they have not all one right, they must at least have
;

one and the same case to establish. But is it true that all those, on whose behalf a creditor or a pecuniary legatee of a testator brings a suit against the executor, are
plaintiffs in the suit
?

It

seems

not.

First,

none but the nominal

as plaintiffs.

plaintiff or plaintiffs are treated

example, the first the Master to take an account of what

all

by the decree decree when the suit is by

is

For
and

a creditor directs
plaintiff

due to the

the other creditors of the testator, and, after directing the Mas-

ter to cause an advertisement to

be published

for the creditors to

come

him and prove their debts, the decree proceeds " but the persons so coming in to prove their debts, not parties to
in before

this suit, are, before

they are to be admitted as

creditors, to

con-

tribute to the plaintiff their proportion of the

expense of

this suit,

to

be

settled

either

by a

creditor or

by the Master." ^ So when the decree, in a suit by a pecuniary legatee, directs that all the
be paid out of the

parties to the suit shall have their costs, to

estate,

only the nominal parties are included.^

in

So too the

final

decree
all

a creditor's

suit,

while
in

it

provides for the payment of

creditors

who have come

named

before the Master and established

as parties to the suit, but refers

their claims, never speaks of

them

to them, as persons
ter's report.*
tiffs

as creditors in the schedule to the

Mas-

Secondly, none but the nominal plaintiff or plainfirst decree is made, none have anything to do with the any manner affected by it and those who do not

are plaintiffs in fact.

Until after the

plaintiffs

but the nominal plaintiff or

suit,

nor are

in

Seton on Decrees
Creditors

(ist ed.) 51.

who come in under an

Abell
v.

administration decree do not even receive the costs

j

of proving their debts.

Screech, 10 Ves. 355

58.

Harvey

v.

Harvey, 6 Madd. 91

Waite
'

V.

Waite, 6 Madd. no.

Seton on Decrees (ist ed.)

l82

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

choose to come
to the suit
;

in under the decree, forever remain total strangers and yet every one who is constructively a plaintiff in a suit is so from the beginning, and is interested in and bound by everything that is done in it, and he may, therefore, apply to the

court for leave to take part in

its

prosecution.

Even those who

under the decree in a suit by a creditor or legatee do not thereby become, constructively or otherwise, plaintiffs in the suit. It is true that, if their claims are investigated and rejected, they will be bound by the decision,^ but that is because their claims have been tried and though the trial may have been informal, Moreover, it is not the yet it was had on their own application. decree in the cause, but the Master's report and the confirmation That those who come in of it by the court, that binds them. under the decree are not represented by the nominal plaintiff or plaintiffs, appears also from the fact that, so far as they are represented in the suit at all, they severally represent themselves. So far are they, indeed, from being represented by the plaintiff, that they may contest the plaintiff's claim (as they may the claims of each other) in the Master's office. Thirdly, there is no necessity that all those on whose behalf the suit is brought should be conin
;

come

structive plaintiffs in the suit.

When

the suit

is

by a residuary

legatee or next of kin,

creditors

it

will

not be seriously claimed that the

tive plaintiffs in the suit

and legatees who come in under the decree are construcand yet those who come in under the
;

decree in such a suit stand in the same relation to the suit as those

who come in under legatee. The only

being
let in.

the decree in a suit

by a
is

creditor or pecuniary

difference that exists

in the

reason for their

In the one case they are

let in

because the letting of

them

is a sine qua non of the plaintiff's obtaining the relief he seeks, while, in the other case, they are let in because which the plaintiff voluntarily consents to their being let in. Fourthly, the creditors or pecuniary legatees of a testator do not constitute a class of persons in such a sense that they can all be made coplaintiffs in a suit, either constructively or nominally. That they cannot all unite as nominal plaintiffs is clear; for not only has each of them, presumably, a separate and distinct right, but the right of each, presumably, depends upon a wholly separate and distinct case. Indeed, if any two creditors or pecuniary legatees of the same testator (not being joint creditors or legatees) should

in

See Neve

v.

Weston, 3 Atk. 557; Teed

u.

Beeie, 28 L.

J.,

Chan., 782; Barker

v.

Rogers, 7 Hare, ;9;

Thomas

v. Griffith,

De

G., F.

&

J. 555.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

unite in filing a
bill

183

for the

legacies, their bill

would be bad

recovery of their respective debts or And yet for multifariousness.

the sure

mode

persons can
could

of testing the question, whether a given class of be made constructively co-plaintiffs (one of their
plaintiff), is to inquire
;

number being the nominal

all

whether they
suit,

unite as nominal co-plaintiffs

for there

is

but one reason

for permitting persons to

be made constructive parties to a

them

namely, that they are so numerous that it is inconvenient to make all nominal parties. But even if all pecuniary legatees, and all creditors whose debts are of the same degree, constitute each a class, for the purposes of the question now under consideration, it will not follow that
all

creditors,

whatever their degree, also constitute a

specialty differs as

class.

much, for the purposes of the present question, from a creditor by simple conand yet no one tract as the latter does from a pecuniary legatee will claim that creditors and pecuniary legatees can be made cocreditor

by judgment or by

plaintiffs, either

constructively or nominally.
is

To

claim, therefore,

that
itor

all

the persons on whose behalf a suit

are

brought by a credco-plaintiffs
is is

or a pecuniary legatee

constructive

to

claim that the practice which has always prevailed

for
bills
it

erroneous
file

has always been the practice for creditors to

all
^

their

on behalf of themselves and

;

other creditors, of whatever

degree

and,

indeed,

any other practice

priority

would
to
their

have

been

attended with the greatest inconvenience, so long as the debts of

deceased
degrees.

persons had

according
for

respective

two or more creditors or on behalf of themselves and all other creditors or pecuniary legatees; but that practice has arisen from the error of supposing that those who file the bill represent all those on whose behalf it is filed for it is well known
Undoubtedly,
it

has been

common

pecuniary legatees to unite in

filing a bill

that,
1

when the

plaintiffs in

a suit constitute a class of persons,

creditor can file a bill on Thus, in Burney v. Morgan, i S. & St. 358, 362, Sir John Leach, V. C, said " A mortgagee has no common interest with the creditors at large, and cannot sue on their behalf." So in White v. Hillacre, 3 Y. & Coll. 597, it was held that a mortgagee could not sue both as mortgagee and also on behalf of himself and all other creditors of the debtor, such rights of suing being inconsistent with each other.
It has, indeed, been

made a question whether a secured

behalf of unsecured creditors.

:

On

the other hand, in Skey v. Bennett, 2 Y.

&

Coll. C. C. 405, it

was held

that a mort-

gagee

may maintain a bill on behalf of himself and all the other creditors of mortgagor. And see infra, pp. 186-87.

the deceased

l84

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

are

some of whom

by representation, the bill not filed by more than one member of the class, in order that the court may have more security than the presence of a single member of the class would afford that the interests of those who are present only by representation will be
plaintiffs

made

only may, but should, be

properly cared

for.
it

Upon
who
files

the whole, therefore,

bill is filed

seems that those on whose behalf

by the person and therefore they need not constitute a single class of persons, but may comprise all persons who are interested in the estate to be administered, or who have claims upon it; and it seems desirable that, in many cases at least, administration bills should be filed on behalf of all the persons just named. Undoubtedly there is a wide distinction between creditors, on the one hand, and legatees or next of kin, on the other and there may be litigation or other causes of delay affecting the latter with which the former are not concerned, and by which, therefore, they ought not to be delayed in obtaining payment of their debts. It does not follow, however, because a bill is filed on behalf of legatees or next of kin, as well as of creditors, that the creditors must wait
an administration
the
are not represented
bill,
;

for the

payment of

their debts until the claims of legatees or

;

of kin can also be satisfied

for,

when the

first

decree

is

next made,
is

referring the cause to a Master, the Master

may be

directed to

make

a separate report as to creditors as soon as the reference

;

completed as to them
confirmed, the cause a decree

and, as soon as such report

is

made and
and

may

be set

down

for a further hearing,

made

for the

payment of the

creditors, leaving the cause

to proceed as to legatees or next of kin.^

If it be asked what inducement a creditor can have to file a bill on behalf of legatees or next of kin, it may be answered that he has the same inducement that he has to file a bill on behalf of

other creditors than himself, namely, the avoiding of the risk

of having his

bill

superseded by a

bill filed

or a next of kin, or even

by another

creditor

by a residuary legatee on behalf of the

legatees or next of kin as well as of the creditors.

Thus far it has been assumed that the creditors of a testator were seeking payment of their debts out of his personal estate alone. But bond creditors were always entitled to be paid out of
the testator's real estate,
if

his personal estate

proved deficient;

See Colder

v.

Colder, 9 Hare, 276.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and, therefore,

185

bill

to

when a bond creditor of a deceased debtor filed compel payment of his debt, he was entitled to make the
executor, a defendant to
so, if

debtor's heir or devisee, as well as his

the

bill,

and

it

was necessary for him to do

avail himself of his

remedy against the

file

real estate.

he wished to It was also

all

necessary that he should

creditors of the
testator;

his bill

on behalf of
heir or

the

bond
might

otherwise the

devisee

demur.^
sufficient

The reason of

heir or devisee,

was that such a bill, as against the was a bill to have the testator's real estate, or a part of it, sold or mortgaged, under the direction of the
this

court, for the

payment of the

testator's

bond debts

and, as this

was a proceeding which required considerable time, and involved considerable labor and expense, considerations of convenience and economy demanded that it should be gone through with once for all ^ and, therefore, no creditor was permitted to file such a bill solely for his own benefit. The bill ought also, for a reason which will appear presently,^ to be on behalf of the simple contract creditors as well as of the other bond creditors; but the only penalty that the plaintiff incurred by not so framing his bill was
;

the risk of having

it

superseded by the
It is

bill

of some other creditor

more properly framed.

entitled to

indispensable, too, that the executor

be a co-defendant with the heir or devisee, as the latter are have the personal estate exhausted before the real estate is resorted to and it is only by making the executor a co;

v. Leigh, Dick. 707 ; Johnson v. Compton, 4 Sim. 37 ; May v. Selby, i Y, C. C. 235 ; Ponsford v. Hartley, 2 J. & H. 736 ; Worrakerzi. Pryer, 2 Ch. D. 109; Fryer v. Royle, 5 Ch. D. 540. The better view, however, would seem to have been that
1

Bedford

& Coll.

all the bond creditors, whether the bill was in and that view appears to have formerly prevailed. Martin v. Martin, 1 Ves. 211, 213-14; White v. Hillacre, 3 Y. & Coll. 597, 610, note. As a bond creditor is entitled to a remedy in equity against the heir or devisee only on the terms of his permitting all other bond creditors to share in the benefit of his suit, the mere fact of his making the heir or devisee a defendant to his bill ought, it seems, to be deemed sufficient evidence, unless the contrary appears, that he intends his bill to be for the benefit of all the bond creditors. See Cowper v. Blissett, i Ch. D. 691 Worraker v. Pryer, The view stated in the text seems to have originated in the idea that, 2 Ch. D. 109. when the bill is in terms on behalf of all the other bond creditors, the latter become constructively co-plaintiffs in the suit, and hence that a bill which is not in terms on behalf of all the bond creditors is defective for want of parties. See supra, p. 180

the decree should be for the benefit of

terms on their behalf or not

et seq.
2 It is is

'

obvious, too, that real estate can generally be sold to

known from
8

the beginning

how much will have

to

be sold, or rather

much better advantage if it how much money

will

have to be raised. See in/ra, pp. 189-90.

86

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

defendant that

can be ascertained whether and to what extent

is

the personal estate

insufficient for the

bill to

payment of

debts.^
is

The first decree, upon a made a defendant, will first

sonal

which the heir or devisee

direct an administration of the per-

estate, just as if the executor were the sole defendant; and if the personal estate be found by the Master to be insufficient to pay the debts in full, he will be directed to inquire and report to the court what real estate, if any, the debtor left.^ If the Master report the personal estate to be insufficient to pay the debts, and that the debtor left real estate, the cause will be set down for a further hearing, and a second decree will be made directing the Master to cause the amount in which the personal estate is deficient to be raised by a sale or mortgage of the real estate, or a sufficient part thereof, and the money so raised to be paid into court and if the required amount cannot be raised by a sale of the real estate, the Master will be directed to take an account of the rents and profits of such real estate from the time of the testator's death to the time of the sale and when the amount of such rents and profits shall thus be ascertained the same will also be required to be paid into court. When the directions in the decree have been fully carried out, and the Master has made his report, and his report has been confirmed, the cause will be set down again, and a third and final decree will be made, the terms of which will be the same, mutatis mutandis,
; ;

as those of the final decree in a suit against the executor alone.

second decree is made, all proceedings at law be enjoined on the application of the latter, and for the same reason that all proceedings at law against the executor will be enjoined on his application as soon as the first decree is made ^ and it is somewhat remarkable that
as the

As soon

against the heir or devisee will

this principle

was established

as to heirs

and devisees before

it

was established

as to executors.*

creditor of a living debtor

who
he

has a lien upon the property

of the latter for the security of his debt

personally for the debt, and,
if

may

first

sue the debtor

in full

fail

to obtain

payment

Plunket

V.

Penson,

Atk. 51
v.

Article VI., supra, pp. 152-53; Rowsell v. Morris,

L. R. 17 Eq. 20 ;
3 Ch.
" "

Dowdeswell

Dowdeswell, 9 Ch. D. 294.

But see Ambler v. Lindsay,

D. 198. Seton on Decrees

(ist ed.) 134-35.

Sumner
Martin

v. Kelly, 2 Sch.
v.

&

Lef. 398.

See Farnham

v.

Burroughs, Dick. 63.

Martin,

Ves. 211, 213.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

by
that means, he

8/

may

then realize upon his security

or he

may

prove insufficient to pay the debt in full, he may then sue the debtor personally for what still remains due to him. If he be able to realize upon his security without a suit, an action at law against the debtor personally will give him, in either case, all the judicial assistance that he will
first realize

upon

his security, and, if that

need.

But
Qe.g.,

if

equity

he can realize upon his security only by a suit in where a mortgagee can procure a sale of the mort-

suit in equity for that purpose), a suit an action at law, will in each case be necessary and the only question with the creditor will be whether he will first sue at law and then in equity, or first in equity and then
in equity, as well as
;

gaged property only by a

at law.

What

is

thus true of a creditor of a living debtor

is

also true,

mutatis mutandis, of a creditor of a deceased debtor

who

has a lien

upon property of the

latter,

except that,

in

the case of a creditor

In

of a deceased debtor, one suit in equity against the representative

or representatives of the debtor will answer every purpose.

such a
itor

suit,

the

bill

may be

had no

security,-'

except that

framed just as it would be if it will pray (by way of additional

the cred-

relief) for a realization of the security

by a

sale

and, in anal-

ogy

to the case of an action at law

and a

suit in

equity

by

a cred-

itor of

a living debtor, he

may

either pray,

first,

that the debt

be paid by the representative or representatives of the debtor, if payment in full shall not be thus obtained, that then the security be realized; or he may pray, first, that the security be realized, and, if that prove insufficient to pay the debt in full, that the remainder be paid by the representative or representatives of
and,

the debtor.^
It

may be

inferred

from what has been said

that,

when
if

a debtor

dies insolvent, a creditor

who has

security for his debt

may

claim

dividends from the estate upon his whole debt, just as

security,

and may then resort to his security for due to him and such was formerly the law.* But, by the Judi;

he had no whatever remains

And,

therefore,
all

it

may be

either for the plaintiff's exclusive benefit, or

if it

on behalf of

the plaintiff and the testator,

it

the other creditors, though,

seek

relief against the real estate of

must, of course, be on behalf of all creditors

who are entitled to such relief.

But see

Leigh, Dick. 707. 2 Skey V. Bennett, 2 Y. & Coll. C. C. 405 King v. Smith, 2 Hare, 239. White V. Hillacre, 3 Y. & Coll. 597 ; Raikes v. Hall, cited 3 Y. & Coll. 605.
v.
;

See Bedford

See Bedford v. Leigh, supra. Mason v. Bogg, 2 M. & Cr. 443, overruling Greenwood

v.

Taylor,

R.

&

M.

185.

88

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

cature Act, 1875,^ the rule which has always prevailed in bankruptcy (according to which a secured creditor receives dividends
so much only of his debt as the security is insufficient to pay) was made applicable to the administration in equity of the estates of deceased persons. briefly of certain important incidental It remains to speak objects accomplished by equity through the instrumentality of objects which otherwise either would not administration suits, have been accomplished at all, or would have been accomplished only at a greatly increased expense and delay. These objects are chiefly, first, the promotion of equality among the creditors of

upon

deceased debtors; secondly, the application of the real estate of deceased debtors to the payment of all their debts; thirdly, the
carrying out of the intentions of testators as to the dispositions
of their estates.

has been seen that the common law ranked the creditors of deceased debtors according to the nature of their debts, and that it also empowered executors to make such preferences as
First.
It

creditors of their testators whose debts were of These preferences equity had no power to prevent, but it could and did greatly mitigate the injustice which they would otherwise have worked. The way in which equity did this was very characteristic (and well illustrates the methods by which equity accomplishes its objects), namely, by counteracting one preference by means of another preference, and thus bringing about an equality. Thus, if a testator, when he died, owed A and B $1,000 each by simple contract, and the executor has paid A $500 while he has paid B nothing, equity will first pay B $500,

they chose
the

among

same

nature.

The principle upon and then it will pay them both ratably.^ this is that, when it takes upon itself the adminwhich equity does istration of an estate, it succeeds to all the powers which the' executor previously had, and that it will wield those powers in
such manner as
however,
achieved
ciple,
will best serve

the purposes of justice.

did

It

was,

in
its

counteracting the preferences given by law that equity

greatest success
is
;

and

this

it

upon another
its

prin-

namely, that equity

entitled to deal in

own way

with

which are of its own creation. The estates of deceased persons were divided by equity into two great classes of assets, namely, legal and equitable. Legal assets were such as the perrights

38

& 39 Vict.,

c.

77,

s.

10.

See supra,

p. 179, n.

i.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

sonal and real representatives of deceased debtors were

89
by-

bound

law to apply in payment of the debts of the

assets

latter,

while equitable

were such as they were bound only in equity so to apply. Moreover, this latter class of assets (for reasons which it is not
necessary here to enter into) embraced a

much

larger

amount of

property than might

be supposed. Whenever, therefore, equity was called upon to administer an estate which consisted in part of equitable assets, it not only applied the latter to the payment of all debts equally, whatever their degree, but, if any creditors to whom the law gave a preference had availed themselves of that preference, the decree directed that such creditors should receive nothing out of the equitable assets until the other creditors were paid the same proportion of their debts out of the equitable assets that they had received out of the legal assets.-' Secondly. Equity could not make the real estate of a deceased debtor directly liable for his simple contract debts, without a violation of law but it exercised the right of throwing the whole burden of the specialty debts of deceased debtors upon their real estate, thus securing the whole of the personal estate for the simple contract creditors; and this it did by means of subrogation. Accordingly, in every administration suit in which the heir or devisee of the deceased debtor was a defendant, if there were or might be specialty debts, the decree directed that, in case the specialty creditors should exhaust any part of the personal estate
at first sight
;

in

payment of

their

debts, then

the simple contract creditors

should stand in their place, and receive payment pro tanto out of
the real estate.^
creditors

In thus acting, equity was mitigating the effect

injustice;

of an iniquitous rule of law, and was relieving simple contract

from a gross

and

if

the real estate had been

by law primarily

liable for the specialty debts, the personal estate

'being, as to such debts, only a surety for the real estate, equity

would, as a matter of course, have thrown the specialty debts wholly upon the real estate, in the manner just stated and even
;

if

the personal and real estates had each been primarily liable for
it

the specialty debts,

equity to have thrown upon the real estate

such debts.

In truth,
all

primarily liable for

1
2

would have been a matter of course for its pro rata share of however, the personal estate was by law debts, and it was only as a surety for the
go; Haslewood

Seton on Decrees

Seton on Decrees

Fielding, '2 -Vern.

v. Pope, 3 P. -Wms. 322. See Pott v. Gallini, i S. & St. 206 763, 10 Mod. 426; Gibbs v. Ougier, 12 -Ves. 413.

(ist ed.)

(ist ed.) 88.

Wilson

v.

190

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and
seems, therefore, impossible to justify equity, in
latter

personal estate that the real estate was liable even for specialty debts;
it

point of law, in relieving the personal estate from specialty debts

upon the real estate even for so worthy an payment of the simple contract debts.-' Thirdly. When a deceased person has left a will, by which he has divided his estate among various persons, or by which he has
by throwing the
object as that of securing

divided parts of
it

it

among

various persons, leaving other parts of

undisposed

of, it is

frequently a very nice question of construc-

upon which of the various beneficiaries under the will, and what order, the burden of the testator's debts and pecuniary legacies shall fall and this question must of course be decided before the estate can be fully administered. So long as debts and legacies are imposed only upon property which is by law liable for the payment of them, or which is made so liable by the testator, or upon property over which, being equitable assets, the court has full power no technical difficulty can arise, nor any difficulty as to the power of the court. Having decided the question
tion,

in

of construction, the court simply proceeds to direct such parts of

the estate to be applied in
cies as
it
it

payment of debts and pecuniary

It often

lega-

has decided ought to be so applied, and in such order as

has decided that they ought to be applied.^

specific
heir,
;

happens,

however, that the court goes beyond the limits just indicated.

For example, the testator gives and leaves land to descend to his
all

to exhaust his entire personal estate

and pecuniary legacies, and leaves debts sufficient but if the specialty debts be

thrown upon the land, the personal estate, not specifically bequeathed, will be sufficient to pay the simple contract debts and the pecuniary legacies. In such a case, the court by its decree will direct that in case the specialty creditors exhaust any part of the personal estate, the simple contract creditors first, and then the pecuniary legatees, shall stand in the place of such specialty creditors, and receive payment fro tanto out of the land.^ The argument, of course, is that the testator must have intended that his legacies should be paid if he left property sufficient to pay them, and that his heir should take only what was left after debts and legacies were paid. The answer is, that legacies are not by
See supra, pp. 15-16. Haslewood v. Pope, 3 P. Wms. 322; Arnold v. Chapman, i Ves. 108; Davenhill V. Fletcher, i Madd. Ch. Pr. (3d ed.), p. 768. ' Seton on Decrees (ist ed.) 93-4, 96-7 Davenhill v. Fletcher, supra.
1

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

191

law payable out of land any more than debts by simple contract are, It will be unless they are charged upon the land by the testator.
admitted that the court cannot

make

the land liable directly for the

;

payment of

any more than of simple contract debts and, therefore, it cannot do so indirectly. There seems to be no difference between the case of pecuniary legacies and that of simple contract debts, except in the object which the court seeks to accomplish, the object being, in the one case, to carry out the intention of the testator, in the other, to do justice to simple contract creditors, both undoubtedly worthy objects, but yet not sufficient
legacies,

to justify the court in violating the law.

ARTICLE
VII.

I I I.i

Real Obligations.

THE

last five articles

have been occupied with a consideration

of the jurisdiction of equity over personal obligations, and

those articles contain

this brief survey,

all that it is thought necessary to say, in on that branch of equity jurisdiction. The next topic to be considered, according to the classification
first

of legal rights stated in the

real obligations.

of this series of articles,

is

that of
this

The
is

jurisdiction of equity, however, over

it is

class of legal rights will not,

hoped, detain us very long.

real obligation

invented

by the law

for the

undoubtedly a legal fiction, i. e., a fiction promotion of convenience and the

advancement of justice. The invention consists primarily in personifying an inanimate thing, and giving it, so far as practicable, the legal qualities of a human being. The invention was originally made by the Romans, and it has been borrowed from them by the nations which have succeeded them. It may be doubted also whether modern nations would have invented the fiction for themselves
;

for

it is

less necessary, as well as

it

much

less obvious, in

mod-

was when the Roman State was founded. The reason of this will be found in the change which has taken place in respect to the legal consequences of personal obligations. An obligation, according to its true nature, can be enforced only against the person or thing bound by it, and, on the other hand, the person or thing bound by an obligation becomes thereby absolutely subject to the power of the obligee, in case the obligation is not performed and this was the light in which an obligation was
ern times, than
;

10

Haev.

L.

Rev.

71.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

originally regarded
tion,

193

by the Romans. Moreover, a personal obligaex vi termini, binds only the person {i. e., the body) of the obligor or debtor, and has nothing to do with his property. Consequently, by the Roman law, when a personal obligation was
broken the obligee or creditor originally had no legal means of procuring satisfaction from the debtor's property he could compel
;

satisfaction out of the debtor's property only indirectly, namely,

by exerting

It is plain, his legal power over the debtor's body. however, that the interests of debtors and creditors alike required

that a debtor should be able to give a creditor the

same

rights

against the debtor's property, or

obligation gave

some portion of it,

that a personal

him against the debtor's body, and no better or more obvious mode of accomplishing this object could be adopted than that of enabling a debtor to impose upon his property an
obligation in favor of his creditor, in analogy to the obligation

which he imposed upon his person, and accordingly real obligations were invented and came into use. In time, however, though indirectly and by slow degrees, creditors acquired the right, after obtaining judgments upon personal obligations, to have the same satisfied out of the debtor's property, and thus one reason for the existence of real obligations ceased. By still slower degrees, though directly and through the operation of positive law, the rights of creditors against the

bodies of their debtors

personal obligations

were curtailed,
ceased to exist.

until,

at the present

moment, they have almost

The

result, therefore, is that

have been so perverted that, while, according to their true nature, they can be enforced only against the persons of the obligors, they can in fact now be enforced for the most part only against their property; and a consequence of this has been, that not only the distinction between personal obligations and real obligations, but the very existence of the latter, as well as the nature and proper legal consequences of obligations generally, have been in great measure lost sight of. It is a great mistake, however, to suppose that there is no longer any occasion for real obligations, or that they have ceased
to exist.

On

the contrary,

many

of the reasons for their existence

still

are as strong as they ever were, and accordingly they are

daily use.
I.

in

his debtor
satisfied

Although a creditor, when he has obtained a judgment against upon a personal obligation, is entitled to have the same
out of the debtor's property, yet a personal obligation of
13

194
itself

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

gives the creditor no right as against the debtor's property,
it

nor does
the

at all limit the debtor's

it

power over

his property;

and

consequently
obligation

gives a creditor no priority over other creditors of

same debtor.
is

In short,

it

is

only in one event that a personal

the debt
is

a satisfactory security to a creditor, namely, that of

till

the debtor's being solvent, and so remaining

If,

paid.

payment of his debt, irrespective of the debtor's solvency, he must obtain some other security than a personal obligation, namely, a security upon property, either of the debtor or of some third person. Moreover, there are only two ways of accomplishing this object namely, first, by
therefore, a creditor wishes to secure the
;

transferring the ownership of the property to the creditor, or to

some other person for his benefit secondly, by creating an obligation upon the property in the creditor's favor. The second of these modes was the one exclusively used by the Romans in the
;

later periods of their history,

and

is

the one, generally at least,

in EngThe Romans had two ways of creating the obligation, namely, first, by the delivery of the property to the creditor, to be held by him till the debt was paid (^pignus) secondly, by a mere agreement between the owner of the property

used by the modern nations of continental Europe, while

land and with us both are used.

and the creditor, the property remaining in the possession of its owner (Jiypotheca) Originally, possession of the property by the creditor was indispensable, and so the pignus alone existed but, at a later period, the parties to the transaction were permitted to choose between a pignus and a hypotheca. So long as the pignus was alone in use, it is obvious that the obligation could be created only by the act of the parties, as they alone could change the possession of the property. But when the step had been taken of permitting the mere agreement of the parties to be substituted for a change of possession, it was another easy step for the law, whenever it saw fit, to substitute its own will for the agreement of the parties and hence hypothecations came to be divisible into such as were created by the acts of the parties (conventional hypothecations) and such as were created by the act of the law (legal or tacit hypothecations). Again, so long as a change of possession was indispensable, it is plain that the obligation could attach only upon property which was perfectly identified, and that there could be no change in the property subject to the obligation, except by a new change of possession. But when a change of possession had been dispensed with, and particularly when legal or tacit hypothe.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

cations had been introduced,
it

95

became

perfectly feasible to
all

make

the obligation attach upon

all

property, or

property of a cer-

tain description, either then belonging to the debtor or afterward

acquired by him, or upon

all

property, or

all

property of a certain

description, belonging to the debtor, for the time being; and hence

hypothecations came to be divided into those which were special

and those which were general. Except in the particulars just stated, there was no difference between the pignus and the hypotheca. Each was alike a real obligation and if, as generally happened, the debt was created by a personal obligation, the latter was the principal obligation, while the former was merely accessory, collateral, or incidental to the latter; and hence, whenever the principal obligation was extinguished, the accessory obligation fell with it; and this explains the fact that payment of the debt extinguished the creditor's rights in the property pignorated or hypothecated to him. .Moreover, if the property belonged to some other person than the debtor, the real obligation was regarded as an obligation of suretyship, the property being regarded as a real surety for the debt, just as its owner would have been a personal surety, if he had incurred a personal and hence the owner of the property had obligation of suretyship the same rights of subrogation, whether his property was a real surety, or he himself was a personal surety, for the debt. If the debt was not paid when it became due, the creditor's remedy upon the real obligation against the property was closely
; ;

analogous to hjs remedy upon the debtor's personal obligation against the debtor's body, i. e., he was entitled to proceed against
the property judicially, and have
it

condemned and

sold for the

payment of the

debt.
in respect to the

pignus has been a part of the or pledge, from time immeEnglish law, under the morial, so far as it is applicable to movable property, and it has never undergone any material change, either in England or in this country. As to immovable property, however, it has never been

The Roman law

name of pawn

admitted,

i.

e.,

it

in this country, to

has never been possible, either in England or impose an obligation upon land in favor of a

by simply placing the latter in possession of it. The Roman hypothecation has been admitted into the admiralty law of all modern nations, so far as the limited jurisdiction of adcreditor

miralty has rendered

rejected

its

admission practicable;

but

it

has been

by the English common

law, except in those cases in

which

196
it

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

created

is

First,

by the law when the debt is

itself.

What

are such excepted cases?

record, the creditor

by judgment or other matter of has a general hypothecation upon all land

created
;

belonging to the debtor when the debt is created, or which is afterwards acquired by him secondly, when the law permits a plaintiff,

on bringing an

action, to

attach property, such plaintiff has a

;

upon the property actually attached thirdly, by the law of England, and of many of our States, all movable property found upon leased land when rent becomes due, is hypothecated to the landlord to secure the payment of such rent. There is also a class of cases in our law in which debts are secured by movable property belonging to the debtor, and which have some of the characteristics of pledges, and some of the characteristics of hypothecations, but as to which it is doubtful whether
special hypothecation

they can be classed as either the one or the other, namely, cases

which the debts have been created by the performance of serby the creditor on the articles which furnish the security for the debts, and which articles have come into the possession of the creditor for the purpose of his performing such services upon them. The right of the creditor in all such cases is called a lien, and there is no doubt that all such liens are instances of real obligations. Indeed, the constant use by English and American lawyers
in

vices

of the

word

" lien

''

to designate the right of the creditor in these

and other cases of real obligations ought to have been a reminder to them that there are such things as real obligations. What are the remedies afforded by our law in cases of pledges, hypothecations, and liens, and to what extent, if at all, does equity assume jurisdiction over them? In cases of hypothecations which

come

within the jurisdiction of admiralty, courts of admiralty afford

the same remedy that was afforded by the

cases equity has no occasion to interfere.

Roman

law,

and

in

such

In cases of pledge, our

law affords no judicial remedy whatever, though our courts of law

hold that a pledgee has a power by implication,

paid
to

if

the debt

is

not

becomes due, to sell the pledge on giving due notice the pledgor ^ and this remedy sufficiently answers the needs of
it
;

when

the pledgee in the great majority of cases.^

In cases of liens, not only does our law afford the creditor no judicial remedy, but our

1
'^

Pigot

V.
is

Cubley, 15 C. B. N.

s.

701.

evident from the dearth of direct authority upon the subject of judicial sales, under decrees in equity, at the suit of pledgees. See infra, p. 197, 11. 3.

This

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

courts hold that he has no power of sale
;

97

and thus there

;

is

held
will

to be an important difference between pledges and liens

this

nor

be a cause for surprise when it is remembered that pledges are always made by the owners of the property pledged, while liens are
created

by the law
is

alone,

and that the implied power of

sale, in

the

case of a pledge,
the law alone, the

given by the pledgor.

all

In the case of

common
by
one

law hypothecations,

of which, as has been seen, are created

creates

same law which

them

also provides

or more remedies for their enforcement, and these remedies have,

except under special circumstances,^ been found sufficient. Will equity afford a remedy in the case of pledges or liens, either
to the creditor or the
is

owner of the property, when a judicial remedy

it should be premised where a creditor has real security for the payment of his debt, whether his title to such security be legal or equitable, and whether it consist of ownership of the property which constitutes the security, or of an obligation upon it, equity, if it enforces the security at all, has one uniform mode of doing so, unless (as in the case of ordinary mortgages) such a mode of enforcing the security is thought to be excluded by the agreement of the parties, namely, the Roman mode of directing a sale of the property, and a payment- of the debt out of the proceeds of the sale. Moreover, this is precisely the mode of enforcing the security which is called for by every consideration of justice and convenience in the case It would seem to be a case, therefore, in of pledges and liens. which there is a legal right without any legal remedy, and in which equity has a remedy which is perfect as well as easy and therefore equity should afford such remedy, unless a power of sale in the creditor be thought to render a judicial sale unnecessary, or the amount involved be too small to warrant the interference of equity. Upon authority, the question must be answered in the affirma-

necessary?

In respect to the creditor,

that, in all cases

tive

in

respect

to

pledges,* but in the negative in

;

respect to

1 Doane v. Russell, 3 Gray, 382 Briggs v. B. & L. R. Co., 6 Allen, 252 ; Busfield v. Wheeler, 14 Allen, 139, 143. 2 For an instance in which equity will direct a sale of land to satisfy a lien thereon by judgment or recognizance, see supra, pp. 151-52. ' There are numberless dicta to the effect stated in the text, and that such is the law there can be no doubt ; and yet, strange as it may seem, the writer has not found a single

authority directly in point. Kent says (2 Com. 582) the pawnee "may file a bill in chancery, and have a judicial sale under a regular decree of foreclosure; and this has frequently been done in the case of stock, bonds, plate, and other chattels, pledged for

the payment of debt."

All the cases which he

cites,

however, are cases of

bills

by

pledgors to redeem the property pledged.

198
liens,^

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

though there seems to be no good reason
is

for

such a

distinction.

There

not likely to be any occasion for equity to interfere in

a controversy between
for, if

favor of the owner of the property, in cases of pledges or liens,

unless there the
is

him and the

creditor as to

amount of the debt;

there be none, the former should

pay the debt, and then he can recover the property at law. If is such a controversy, however, or if for any reason the creditor refuses to accept payment, the owner of the property is entitled to file a bill to have the amount of the debt ascertained and declared, and to have the property restored to him on his paying or
there

tendering such amount.^

a tender has the

In the case of ordinary mortgages, indeed,

same

effect as actual
If

payment, so
the day

far as regards

in the mortgage deed, either payment or tender will devest the title of the mortgagee, and revest the title of the mortgagor, while, if made after that day, neither will have any legal effect upon the title to the mortgaged property; and the reason is that a mortgage is a conveyance of the legal title to the mortgagee, subject to its revesting in the mortgagor on performance by him of a condition subsequent, namely, making payment of the debt on the day named, and only in that event; and, though actual payment alone will be a performance of that condition, yet a tender and refusal will be a good excuse for non-performance, and so will have the same effect In the case of a pledge or lien, however, while as performance.^ the creditor never has any more than an obligation on the property, yet that obligation is an absolute and unqualified obligation to pay the debt, and hence nothing short of an actual extinguishment of the debt can release the property; and a tender and refusal, so far from extinguishing the debt, leaves it still due and payable.*

the mortgaged property.

made on

named

in this case is in point, the reason given for

Though the decision J. Ch. 714. so extraordinary (namely, that the lien did not confer upon the creditor a power of sale), that it ought not, it seems, to be
1

T.

I.

W. &

S. Co., Lim., v. P.

D. Co., Lim., 29 L.
it is

regarded as settling the question.

Presumably,

it

was because the creditor could not

make a

sale

by

his

own

authority that he applied to the court for a judicial sale.

2 Demandray v. Metcalf, Ch. Free. 419; Kemp v. Westbrook, i Ves. 278; Vanderzee V. Willis, 3 Bro. C. C. 21. ' " If borroweth loo of B, and after mortgageth land to B, upon condition for payment thereof if A tender the money to B, and he refuseth it, may enter into the

land,

and the land is freed forever of the condition, but yet the debi reniaineth, and may be recovered by action of debt." Co. Litt. 209 b. * See preceding note. To be sure, if the creditor sue the debtor for the debt, the latter may plead the tender and refusal, but, to make his plea good, he must also allege.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

ipg

A pledge, hypothecation,
the debt
is

or lien, as has been seen,

is

generally

accessory, collateral, or incidental to a personal obligation by which

created,

obligation.

real obligation

and which therefore constitutes the principal may, however, itself create a debt
;

and so be a principal obligation and, in that case, if there be also a personal obligation on the part of the owner of the property to pay the debt, the latter will be merely accessory to the real obligation. There are in English law two real obligations in particular which are always principal obligations, namely, rent and predial tithe. In each of these, the property bound is land and yet in each it is not the corpus of the land, but its fruits, or the income produced by it, that is bound. Each, therefore, according to the nomenclature of the law of Scotland, is a debitum fructuum, not a debitum fundi. Hence, each is payable periodically; and hence also, when a payment becomes due, it becomes a personal
;

obligation of the occupier of the land,

who has
is

received the fruits

out of which the rent or tithe

ferable, and,

in

question was payable.

real estate,
it

The
and
is

right
trans-

to receive either rent or tithe in future

upon the death of

its

owner,

goes to his heir in the

;

but the moment that a payment becomes due, its character changes, and it becomes personal estate and a chose en action, and consequently is not assignable, and on the death of its owner it goes to his executor or administrator. Hence, when an owner of rent or of tithe dies, his right to receive future payments goes in one direction, while the right to receive any payments that may be in arrear goes
case of rent, and to his successor in the case of tithe
in another direction.

Rent

is

created

by the
act

the rent issues.

The

ervation or a grant.

A
it

owner of the land out of which by which a rent is created is either a resrent is created by a reservation when the
act of the
life,

owner of land grants

to another person for years, for

in tail,

or in fee, reserving to himself a rent out of the same, the estate in

same duration as that granted in the land. A rent is created by grant when the owner of land grants a rent out of the same to another person for years,
the rent reserved being generally of the
for
life,

in tail, or in fee.

At common

law, there

was a sharp

line
i.

of demarcation between

a rent reserved and a rent granted,

that he has always been and
still is

Every ordinary grant of

and he must bring the same

accept
it.

into court, ready to

ready and willing to pay the money so tendered, be paid to the plaintiff, if he will

200
land at

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION,

common
law created between the grantor and the grantee

the feudal relation of lord and tenant, the latter holding the land

from the former, and the former having a reversion, or at least a and hence every rent reserved upon feudal seigniory, in the land was a rent payable by a feudal tenant to his feudal such a grant 2. Though the parties to that relation were liable at any time lord. to change, yet the relation itself was permanent, i.e., as permanent
;

as the estate granted in the land.

3.

The

rent was in the nature

of a feudal service, to be rendered by the tenant as such to the lord

such and hence it was necessary, not only that the obligation pay the rent should follow the land into the hands of any new tenant (which it of course would do, the land being the debtor), but
as
;

to

that the right to receive the rent should follow the reversion or

new lord and this latter object the annexing the right to receive the rent to the reversion or seigniory as an incident or accessory. In short, as the obligation to pay a rent reserved always followed the land out of which it issued, so the right to receive it always followed the reversion or seigniory to which it was annexed. It is true that the lord might at any time sever the rent from the reversion or seigniory by granting away either and retaining the other, or by granting away each to a different person but by so doing he changed the nature of the rent from that of a rent reserved to that of a rent granted. right to distrain was a legal incident of every feu4. dal service, and therefore of every rent which was in the nature of a feudal service. 5. As land could be conveyed at common law, even in fee, without a deed (". e., by livery of seisin), so, on a conveyance of land, a rent could be reserved, even in fee, without a deed. grant of a rent, on the other hand, neither created nor accompanied any relation between the grantor and the grantee it simply created the relation of obligor and obligee between the land out of which the rent was to issue and the grantee of the rent. The relation of the latter to the land was simply that of a creditor, holding
seigniory into the hands of any
;

law accomplished

fay

the land as security for the payment of his debt.

fore,

He

had, there-

no right to distrain, unless such a right was expressly given in the grant. Moreover, a rent could be granted only by deed. Such were the distinctions between a rent reserved and a rent granted at common law. An anomaly was, however, introduced by the statute of Quia Emptores ; ^ for it was a consequence of that stat1

18

Edw.

I. Stat. I, c. I.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and tenant between the grantor and the grantee, nor

201

ute that a grant of land in fee no longer created the relation of lord
left

any reversuch

sion or seigniory in the grantor, but operated simply as an assign-

ment

of the grantor's tenancy to the grantee

in short, that

a grant created no

new

feudal relation, but simply changed one of

It

the parties to an old one.

was

still

possible, notwithstanding

the statute, upon a grant of land in fee, for the grantor to reserve a
rent,

but the nature of a rent so reserved was changed by the

Indeed, a grant of land in

stat-

ute to that of a rent granted.

fee, re-

serving a rent, has had, since the statute, the

same

effect that

two

grants would have, namely, a grant of the land, and then a grant of

by the grantee of the land. The payment of either a rent reserved or a rent granted may be secured by the personal covenant of the grantee of the land in the
the rent

one

case,

and of the grantor of the rent

in the other,

and a rent

reserved
seen,
is

commonly

is

so secured.

accessory to

Such a covenant, as has been the obligation of the land, which is the
it it

principal obligation.

In order to understand to what extent

equity to assume jurisdiction over rents,
ascertain

may be
is

necessary for
first

necessary

to

what remedies the law provides for the recovery of rents, and to what extent such remedies are available and adequate. 1. At common law, whenever any person to whom a freehold rent was payable had become seised of it, and was afterwards disseised, he was entitled to bring a writ of assize to recover it but that remedy was never applicable to a rent reserved on a lease for years, or to a rent granted for a term of years, and the remedy itself no longer exists. 2. Upon a rent granted, a writ of annuity would lie at common law to compel its payment, but not upon a rent reserved. The reason why that writ would lie upon a rent granted was that a grant of a rent differed from a grant of an annuity only in being something more, and hence every grant of a rent amounted to the grant of an annuity, on the principle that omne majus in se minus continet. For the same reason, if a grant of a rent failed as such, e.g., because the grantor had no title to the land out of which the rent was to issue, yet the grant might be good as a grant of an annuity. The same grant could not, however, operate both as a grant of a rent and as a grant of an annuity; and while, therefore, the grantee of a rent always had the option of treating the grant as the grant of an annuity, yet, if he once elected so to treat it, he
;

202

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

could not afterwards treat

as a rent.

was a personal

obligation, while a rent

Moreover, as an annuity was a real obligation, a con-

sequence of an election by the grantee of a rent to treat the grant as a grant of an annuity was that the land was discharged, and the
grantee had to look to the personal liability of the grantor alone.

From what
of a rent
is

has been said, the reason

lie

is

obvious
;

why
it

a writ of

annuity would never

upon a rent reserved

for, as

a reservation

the act of the grantor of the land alone,

it
;

would be

absurd to say that

grantee of the land
is

can operate as a grant of an annuity by the and yet it must so operate if a writ of annuity
it.

would be equally absurd to say that the grantor of the land can by his own act impose a personal obligation upon the grantee of the land.
to
lie for

recovering

It

A writ
3.

of annuity, however, like a writ of assize, has ceased to

be an available remedy.
If the grantee of land,

upon the grant

to

whom

a rent

is

re-

served, or the grantor of a rent, covenant to

pay the
if

rent, of
is

course

the covenantee can sue upon the covenant,

the rent

not paid.

a question which
An

The value of such a covenant, however, in case of a rent granted, or in case of a rent reserved upon a grant of land in fee, depends much upon the question whether the covenant runs with the land,
will

be considered hereafter.^

would always lie for the recovery of rent, 4. either against the grantee of land, on the grant to whom the rent was reserved, or against the grantor of a rent, or against the assignee of either, so long as he held the land as such assignee. In the case, however, of a freehold rent, this action was of little value, as it would not lie until the last payment of the rent became
action of debt

due.
distress was available in all cases of where (since the statute of Quia Emptores) the reservation was upon a grant of the land in fee, and in all cases of rents granted, and of rents reserved upon grants of land in fee, provided a right to distrain was expressly given. 6. In all cases of rents reserved, even upon grants of land in fee, the estate granted could be made to depend, by means of a condition subsequent, upon payment of the rent, i. e., it could be pro5.

The remedy by way of

rents reserved, except

vided that,

in case

of failure to pay the rent, the estate of the

title

grantee in the land should cease, and the

to the land revest in

See Van Rensselaer

v.

Hays, 19 N. Y.

68.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the grantor.
sight
it

203
first

This remedy was of

;

less value,

however, than at

seems to be

for, ist,

the grantor could recover possession of

the land, against the will of the grantee, only

by an action of ejectworked a forfeiture of the grant, it was regarded by the law with disfavor, and hence the enforcement of it was surrounded by so many difficulties that it became wellnigh impracticable ^ 3dly, at any time before the grantee was
ment
;

2dly, as such a condition

actually dispossessed of the land, he could obtain from a court of

equity an injunction against any further proceedings at law, on

paying the rent in arrear, with interest and costs and, 4thly, even after he was dispossessed by means of an action of ejectment, a court of equity would not only restore him to the possession at any time on the terms just stated, but require the grantor to account rigorously for the rents and profits during all the time that he had held the possession.^ Moreover, such a condition could never be made in case of a rent granted, as there was in that case no grant of the land to which the condition could be annexed.
;

7.

grantor of a rent,^ however, as well as a grantor of land,

reserving a rent,* could couple with the grant or the reservation of

Duppa V. Mayo, i Wms. Saund. 282, 287, n. 16. In Jackson v. Harrison, 17 Johns. which was an action of ejectment by a landlord against a tenant to enforce a forfeiture for non-payment of rent, the plaintiff was defeated because he demanded the rent in the afternoon of the day on which it became due, instead of demanding it just
'

66,

before sunset.
2

The

statute of 4 Geo. II.

c.

28,

s.

2,

contains the following recital

"

Whereas

great inconveniences do frequently happen to lessors and landlords, in cases of re-entry

for non-payment of rent,

by reason of the many

niceties that attend re-entries at

is

common

law

and

for as

much

as,

when a

legal re-entry

made, the landlord or lessor must be

at the expense, charge,

actual possession of the demised premises

and delay of recovering in ejectment before he can obtain the and it often happens that, after such re;

entry made, the lessee or his assignee, upon one or more

possession, but likewise, pending the said suit, do run

bills filed in

the court of

equity, not only holds out the lessor or landlord by an injunction

from recovering the

in arrear, without
shall

much more

giving any security for the rents due,

when
112.

the said re-entry

was made, or which

or do afterwards incur."
8
*

Jemott
"

Cowley,
that,

Wms.
is

Saund.

Where
and

a feoffment
if

made

of certain lands, reserving a certain rent, etc.,

it

upon

such condition,
to enter,

the rent be behind,

shall

be lawful for the feoffor and his heirs

is

to hold the land until he

be

satisfied or paid the rent behind, etc., in this

case,

if

the rent be behind, and the feoffor and his heirs enter, the feoffee
this,

not alto-

gether excluded from

but the feoffor shall have and hold the land, and thereof take
;

the profits, until he be satisfied of the rent behind

and when he
as he held
it

is satisfied,

then

may

the feoffee re-enter into the same land, and hold

case, the feoffor shall
fied of the rent, etc.,

it

but in manner as for a distress, until have the land though he take the profits in the mean time to his own use," etc. " The case of Littleton cannot be maintained by i-eason, but only by the Litt., s. 327. authority of the author." Per Kelyng, J., in Jemott v. Cowley, T. Raym. 136.

before.

For in this he be satis-

204

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

upon the
and retain possession of it until, byall arrears of the rent were paid

the rent a grant or reservation of the right, in case of failure to pay the rent, to enter
land,

receipt of the rents and profits,

and,

by

virtue of this right, the grantee of the rent, or the grantor

of the land, or the assignee of either, could recover possession of the land by ejectment.

Moreover, as such a right did not operate

course a court of equity would not interfere however, the right granted or reserved was

by way of
with
its

forfeiture, of
If,

exercise.

and take the rents and profits thereof to his were paid by the grantor of the rent or the grantee of the land, the right would operate by way of forfeiture, not indeed of the land, but of its rents and profits between the time of entry and the time of payment of the arrears of rent; and hence equity would relieve against the forfeiture.^ Such was understood by Littleton to be the nature of the right in the case put by him in section 327 of his Tenures.^ It may be added that, at common law, an assignee of a rent, whether it were a rent created by reservation or by grant, was not entitled to any of the foregoing remedies, until the tenant or owner The necessity of attornment was, of the land had attorned to him. abolished. however, long since Of the seven remedies enumerated above, the first and second, as has been seen, no longer exist the third and fourth are merely personal remedies, not remedies against the land, and for that reason alone are entirely inadequate, being of little value except against a solvent defendant; the fifth is a remedy, not against the land bound for the rent, but against movable property found on
to enter
land,

upon the

own

use, until all arrears of rent

land, not by way of way of forfeiture for its nonpayment; and the seventh is a remedy against the land, as a means of obtaining payment of the rent. The last remedy, how-

the land

the sixth

is

remedy against the

obtaining payment of the rent, but by

ever,

is

one which

is

seldom provided
a

sons are familiar.

It is

for, and with which few perremedy too which can be enforced only

by an action of ejectment, and which will eventually involve an accounting in equity by the person who avails himself of it, unless
and it cannot therefore be deemed a very remedy. That none of the foregoing remedies have been regarded as fully adequate is evident from the legislation which has been enacted, both in England and in this country, upon the subject
the parties can agree
satisfactory
;

Co.

Litt. 203,

and

Butler's note.

'

Supra,

p. 203, n. 4.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

of remedies for the recovery of rents.

205

The aim of such

in the

legislation

has been materially different, however,

two countries. In England, legislation has been directed mainly to the improvement of two of the old remedies, namely, that by way of distress, and that by way of forfeiture. The former of these remedies seems always to have been the favorite one in England, as well with the Legislature as with landlords, and the constant aim has been to render it more efficient and available.^ The remedy by way of forfeiture has also been materially improved in England, in the
interest of landlords,

by rendering

its

prosecution less

difficult,

requiring tenants, as a condition of obtaining an injunction, to

all

by pay

arrears of rent into court, thus

tion to resort to equity for the

removing from them the temptamere purpose of delay, and by

to

disabling tenants from

resorting

equity,

except within six

months

they are dispossessed.^ In this country, on the other hand, the remedy by
after

way of
;

dis-

tress has not generally been regarded with favor; tenants have

claimed that

it

savored of feudal bondage and oppression

it

the

public have claimed that

favored one class of creditors at the

of our States
it it

expense of
in others
it

all

others

in

some

has never existed

has been abolished; and

it

is

believed that the tenit

dency
^

is

to abolish

in

those States in which

now

exists.^

At

is

II. c. 7 (reciting that "tlie ordinary remedy for arrearages of rents upon the lands chargeable therewith and yet nevertheless by reason of the intricate and dilatory proceedings upon replevins that remedy is become ineffectual ") ; 2 Wm. & M. t. 5 (reciting that " the most ordinary and ready way for recovery of arrears of rent is by distress") 8 Anne, c. 14; 4 Geo. II. t. 28, s. 5 (reciting that "the remedy for recovering rents seek, rents of assize, and chief rents, are tedious and difficult," and enacting that owners of rents seek, rents of assize, and chief rents shall have the like remedy by distress as owners of rents reserved upon leases)

See 17 Car.
distress

by

II

Geo.
2

II. c. 19, ss. i-io, 19-23.

II. c. 28, ss. 2, 3, 4.

4 Geo.

Lord Kames { Historical Law Tracts, 4th

:

of the last century, said to

ed., pp. 169, 170), writing about the middle " In the infancy of government, shorter methods are indulged

come at right than afterward when, under a government long settled, the obstinacy and ferocity of men are subdued, and ready obedience is paid to established laws and
customs.

By

the

Roman

law,

a creditor could

sell his

pledge at short hand.

With

us,

of old, a creditor could even take a pledge at short hand, and, which was worse than either, it was lawful for a man to take revenge at his own hand for injuries done him.

None

of these things,

it is

presumed, are permitted at present

in

any

civilized country,

England excepted, where the ancient privilege of forcing payment at short hand, competent to the landlord, and to the creditor of a rent charge, is still in force." In Farley v. Craig, 15 N. J. 191, 213, Ford, J. (sitting in a State in which landlords have always been entitled to distrain for non-payment of rent), said " By distraining, a man carves out justice, without judge or jury, for himself and it is well enough to have the
:

206
the

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

same time, there has been a tendency in this country not to regard a re-entry by a landlord for non-payment of rent as a forfeiture, but rather as a rightful termination by him of the relation existing between himself and the tenant for the default of the
tendency may be found in the fact that the only rents with which people have hitherto been familiar in this country are those which are reserved upon leases which constitute the only recompense made by for short terms, and which consequently the tenant to the landlord for the land, Hence, generally represent the full value of the use of the land.
latter;

and a

justification of this

it

has been the general aim of legislation in this country to convert

the landlord's
for

remedy by way of re-entry into a universal remedy non-payment of rent, ist, by providing very summary and
its

inexpensive proceedings for

enforcement;

2dly,

by

treating

the re-entry and resumption of possession

by the

landlord, not as

a forfeiture, but as a statutory termination of the lease, and therefore

3dly,

making such resumed possession unimpeachable in equity; by giving every landlord a right of re-entry for non-payment
It is believed,

of rent, whether any condition of re-entry be inserted in the lease

moreover, that the remedy thus provided is now more resorted to than all other remedies put together, especially in those States where a right to distrain for nonor not.^

payment

of rent does not exist.

man would use it without a great emergency, much less have such an odious measure forced on him as his only remedy. It is always harsh the blow comes without a word, on the tenant's property, like a bolt from the sky. It is the tiger's process in hunger. Tenants commonly elude it if they can by fraud or guile, and sometimes resist it by direct violence, such as it seems was preconcerted in this case, and in full readiness, if a distress had been attempted." 1 The legislation referred to in the text had its origin in the English statute of ii Geo. II. c. 19, s. 16, which (after reciting that " landlords are often great sufferers by tenants running away in arrear, and not only suffering the demised premises to lie uncultivated without any distress thereon, whereby their landlords or lessors might be satisfied for the rent arrear, but also refusing to deliver up the possession of the demised premises, whereby the landlords are put to the expense and delay of recovery in ejectment") provides that two or more justices of the peace may put landlords in possession of leased land in a summary manner, (a) where the rent is a rack-rent, or a rent of full three fourths of the yearly value of the premises; (b) where a year's rent is in arrear; (c) where the tenant has deserted the premises, and left the same uncultivated or unoccupied, so as no sufficient distress can be had to countervail the arrears of rent and (d) where by the terms of the lease the landlord is entitled to re-enter for non-payment of rent (Pilton, Ex parte, i B. & Aid. 369) and that, upon the landlord's being so put in possession, the lease shall become void. By 57 Geo. III. c. 52, the foregoing statute was extended to cases where only one half a year's rent was in arrear, and where the landlord had no right to re-enter.
option; but no prudent
;
;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

207

Such being the remedies furnished by courts of law for the nonpayment of rent, the question arises whether they are available and
adequate
it

will

in all cases that can happen. In answering this question, be convenient to distinguish rents into three classes, with

reference to the different purposes for which they

First,

may be created. made, reserving a rent, the object of the lessor is simply to obtain an income from property which he does not wish himself to occupy, i. e., from property which he holds as an investment, while the object of the lessee is to obtain the possession and enjoyment of property which he is unable to own, or which he does not wish to own. Secondly, when land, instead of being sold for a sum in gross, is granted in fee, or for a long term of years, with a reservation of an annual rent, such rent constituting the price to be paid for the
when an ordinary
lease
is

land, the object of the grantor

will be as permanent and much more secure, which will produce a fixed amount of income, and which will cost its owner the least possible care, anxiety, and trouble. An owner of land, moreover, may not be able to sell it for a sum in gross, except at a great sacrifice, and therefore, unless he submit to such sacrifice, he may have to choose between holding the land indefinitely and disposing of it in the manner just indicated, i. e., between making the land produce a regular income, and suffering it to cause a regular outgo. The object of the grantee, on the other hand, is to obtain the land on credit, either because he is unable to pay for it at once, or because he thinks he can put his money to a better use than that of paying for the land. Moreover, if he obtains the land with a view to improving it, and thus increasing its value, a perpetual ground rent ought to answer his purpose much better than a mortgage for, (a), a mortgagor incurs the constant or oft-recurring liability of being called upon to pay the principal (J?), the negotiation of every new mortgage loan is attended with a considerable expense {c), so great is now the desire for permanent and secure investments, which will produce a fixed income, that a well secured perpetual ground rent of one thousand dollars (e.g.} ought materially to exceed in value any sum of money that can be borrowed temporarily at an interest of one thousand dollars per annum. Thirdly, when a rent is granted, without any grant of the land out of which the rent is to issue, the object of the grantor is to raise money on the security of the land and he grants a rent,

kind of investment,
as land

an

is

to convert his land into another

investment which

208

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

instead of giving a mortgage, because he thinks he can thus obtain better terms in respect either to the rate of interest or to the mode

of payment.

The mode

of payment in particular, namely, by uni-

form annual instalments,

of a

may

be an attraction to him, especially

if

the instalments are liable to cease at any

moment by
;

the dropping

It is the object of the grantee, however, that is the chief life. cause of the transaction's taking the shape it does for he wishes to convert a sum of money which he has in hand into an annuity, commonly for his own life, and thus to increase his annual income

by sinking

his principal.

In such a transaction,

it is

obvious that
;

for, security should be the prime consideration with the grantee with the price of the annuity immeon the one hand, he parts

on the other hand, he has during the whole period that the annuity is
diately, while,

to trust the grantor

to run

and

in

many

cases the annuity will constitute the grantee's only

means of liveli-

hood.
rent,

If,

therefore, the annuity takes the shape of a grant of a

is merely for the sake of security; and hence it is a mere accident. The essence of the transaction is an agreement to pay a fixed sum annually, for the period of time agreed upon, in

that

consideration of a

sum

in gross

paid immediately.

For non-payment of rents of the first class, the remedies provided by law seem to be all that can be asked for, especially in places where the remedy by distress is given, in addition to the other remedies before enumerated; and even where that remedy is withheld, a landlord who can summarily dispossess a tenant who If it be said fails to pay his rent has not much to complain of. that this is no remedy for rent already due, it may be answered, 2dly, that 1st, that indirectly it is a very powerful remedy; court can give an effective remedy for an unsecured debt no If, indeed, the tenant does not against a debtor with no assets. annual rent, but partly by a rent pay for the land entirely by an and partly by a fine {i. e., a sum in gross paid at the commencea thing which is very common in England,^ ment of the lease), a difficulty arises for though very uncommon in this country, in such a case, if the law permits the tenant to be summarily dispossessed for non-payment of rent, and disables him from seeking relief in equity, it is unjust to the tenant, as he in truth loses his lease by way of forfeiture and, on the other hand, if the law

does justice to the tenant,

it

deprives the landlord of his

summary

Compare note

i, p.

206.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

remedy.
In this latter case, therefore, equity

209

may be

called

upon
is

to interfere in the landlord's favor, especially in places

where he

not allowed to

distrain.

The

cases in which reservations of rents of the second class will

be found desirable are chiefly those in which vacant land in or near cities and large towns is granted for the, purpose of being built upon. In such cases, grants of land in consideration of rents reserved will be likely to promote the interests, not only of the parties to the transaction, but of the public as well, and therefore they should receive all the support and encouragement that the law can afford them.

The
in

practice of granting land in fee for building purposes, in

it is

consideration of a rent reserved, has never,

believed, prevailed

England to any great extent

nor has

it

in

our States, with the

prevails very extenin

exception of Pennsylvania.
sively.
It is

In that State, however, as well as in

still

Scotland, this practice has prevailed, and

a significant

fact,

however, that

Pennsylvania the

statute of

Quia Emptores has never been

in force,^

and that no

similar law has ever existed in Scotland.^

The

practice, however, of leasing land (generally for terms of

considerable length and with provisions for renewal) for building

purposes has prevailed extensively in England and in

New

York,

and probably also in other parts of this country. Does the law afford adequate remedies for the recovery of rents
reserved upon grants of land in fee for building purposes, or upon
building leases, so that the interference of equity will not be neces-

sary?

In England, as has been seen,* the remedy by distress

is

always exists for the non-payment of rent of any kind, and

the

remedy generally resorted

to

and where a
;

sufficient distress

can

be found, it seems to be clearly adequate but where no sufficient distress can be found, it seems to be equally clear that the mere existence of a right to distrain ought not to prevent the interference of equity. Does the law of England afford any other adequate

remedy

in

the cases

now under

consideration?

It

seems

not.

The only
1

other remedies which can be claimed to be adequate are

Instances of such grants

v.

will

be found, however, in Milnes

Apsden

Seddon,

Ex. D. 496;

Haywood

w.

v. Branh, 5 M. & S. 41 1 Brunswick Building Society, 8

Q. B. D. 403.
^ Ingersoll w. Sergeant, *
*

See Clark
Supra,

v.

i Whart. 337. Glasgow Assurance Co.,

11.

McQ.

668.

p. 205,

I.

14

2IO

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

:

the sixth and seventh of those already enumerated

these
is

but as each of

them is likely to be followed by a suit by the rent-payer, the rent-owner ought to be permitted to In this country also it seems resort to equity in the first instance. equally clear that there is no adequate legal remedy, unless the remedy by distress exists, and there be a sufficient distress, or unless the rent-owner have a summary remedy for the recovery of Moreover, this latter remedy does not exist where the land itself. there is no relation of landlord and tenant, and therefore it does not exist (unless in Pennsylvania) where a rent is reserved upon a grant of land in fee and it ought not to exist in any case of a
slow, and as each of
in equity
;

building lease, as

it

will

have the

effect of depriving the tenant

definitively of all his interest in the land

feiture,

by way of penalty and

for-

and

will

thus not only work a great injustice to such tenant,

but also an injury to the public by discouraging the acceptance of

such leases.
Life

annuities are likely to be a favorite form of investment

is plenty and the rate of interest low ; but where and the rate of interest is high, they are likely to be in little vogue. Accordingly, they have always been in extensive use in England, while in this country, until within a very recent In the future, however, date, they have been almost unknown. they are likely to be as much in favor here as in England. When such annuities are granted in the form of rents, the question of equity's assuming jurisdiction over them is substantially the same in England as in the class of cases last considered. In modern times, however, when annuities are granted in England, special provisions are generally made in each case for their security ^ and therefore, when equity is applied to by an annuitant, it is seldom on the mere ground that the annuity constitutes a rent. In this country, the purchase and sale of annuities is never likely to be the subject of special bargains between private persons but the granting of annuities is likely to be confined to companies organized for that purpose (among others), and such companies publish the terms on which they will grant annuities, and these terms are uniform, and hence the granting of an annuity will never be the suband every annuity will be granted on the ject of a special bargain personal credit alone of the company granting it. In short, an annuity is never likely in this country to take the form of a rent.

wherever money

money

is

scarce,

See Lumley on Annuities 214.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Indeed, the practice of granting rents
existed, to
is

211

believed never to have

any appreciable extent,

in this

country

and

it is

not

likely to exist in the future.

Returning now to the general question of the jurisdiction of it may be said with confidence that the owner of a rent of any kind is entitled to have the same paid, if the income of the land out of which it issues is sufficient to pay it, and
equity over rents,
that
it

does not

lie in

the

mouth of the tenant of the land

to say

income is insufficient. It may be asked, therefore, why every owner of a rent is not entitled to invoke the aid of equity as of course upon showing that his rent is in arrear; and it may be answered, first, that the law of England has shown a full apprethat the
ciation of the claims of rent-owners

extraordinary and exclusive remedy,

tecting that

one,

by providing them with an

too,

themselves enforce without the aid of any court,

which they can and by pro-

remedy

carefully as well against the frauds of tenants

creditors,

as against the

competing claims of other

it

namely,

that of distress; and that

is

the clear policy of that law to

require rent-owners to exhaust the

remedy thus provided before

still

seeking a more specific one against the income of the land;

and

that, while the

law of such of our States as

is

retain the

remedy of

distress

much
it

the law of England, yet

pronounced in its favor than would be clearly against the policy

less in favor

of the law in

all

such States for equity to interfere

of

been exhausted. Secondly, that in most of our States, as has been seen, landlords can terminate, in a summary manner, their relations with tenants who fail to pay their rents, and that a rent-owner who has that power cannot invoke the aid of equity, since the law gives him all that equity can give him, and even more. Where, however, the right to distrain is not given, or where that remedy has been exhausted and still the rent is in arrear, and where the rent-owner
rent-owners before the
distress has
is

remedy by

not entitled by

summary proceedings
in equity,
it

to recover possession of

the land out of which the rent issues, and that too

by

a
is

title

unim-

peachable at law or

seems clear that he

rent.

entitled to

the aid of equity, for the purpose of securing the application of the
net income of the land to the
It

payment of the

remains to

call

the reader's attention briefly to the authorities

upon the subject of the jurisdiction of equity over rents. Equity began to interfere in favor of rent-owners as early as the reign of Elizabeth, and the time of Lord Chancellor Ellesmere. At first.

212

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

however,

confined

its

interference to the cases in which there was

some

obstacle (which equity regarded as technical and unsubstan-

the way of a legal remedy. Thus, in Web v. Web ^ (42 where a rent was given by will, without any right to distrain, or any right to enter for non-payment, and the devisee had not been able to obtain seisin, and consequently could neither have a writ of assize, nor a writ of annuity, nor an action of covenant, nor an action of debt (as the rent was undoubtedly for the life of the devisee at least), nor distrain, nor enter upon the land, it was decreed that the tenant of the land pay the rent, notwithstanding the want of seisin in the devisee. So in Ferrers v. Tanner ^ (44 Eliz.), which presented substantially the same facts, the plaintiff was relieved, though it is not clear what was the relief given. According to one book, the defendant was simply decreed to give
tial) in

Eliz.),

seisin to the plaintiff.

The

further fact

is

stated that the devisee

rent,

of the land promised the testator to

pay the
its

vented his taking other means of securing

latter

payment

and thus preand this

;

was regarded as strengthening the case in point of jurisdiction. Again, in Shute v. Mallory^ (S Jac. I.), where a lessor had assigned his reversion to the plaintiff, and the lessee (the defendant) refused to attorn. Lord Chancellor Ellesmere decreed him to attorn, and to pay the rent. In the foregoing cases, however, it is to be observed that the bill was not founded directly upon the ownership of the rent, but upon an equitable obligation {i. e., an obligation imposed upon the defendant by equity) either to give the plaintiff seisin and to attorn to him, or not to set up the defence of want of seisin or want of attornment. Therefore, in strictness, these cases do not belong to the present
fact

inquiry.
It is further to

be observed

that, in

such cases, according to

modern practice, if the merits of the plaintiff's case be controverted by the defendant, there must be a trial at law, under the
direction of the court of equity, before final relief can be given

and the court of equity, in decreeing a trial at law, will direct that the defendant do not set up the defence (e.g^ of want of seisin, or want of attornment. It will be seen, therefore, that the obligation which equity enforces in such cases is always negative. If, indeed,
equity should treat the obligation as affirmative, and decree the
1

2 *

Moo. Moo. Moo.

626.

626, pi. 85
805.

cited

Ch. Cas. 147 (nom. Ferris

v.

Newby), and 3 Ch. Cas.

91.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

defendant
(^e.g:')

213
it

to give the plaintiff seisin, or to attorn to him,

\vould stop there, and leave the plaintiff to sue at law indepen-

dently of equity, just as

if

he had obtained

seisin or an attorn-

ment without the

interferes at

aid

of equity;

declines to give such

all, it will

relief,

but in modern times equity and for very good reasons. If equity

insist

and if a trial under its own

If a rent

at

law

is

upon controlling the entire litigation necessary, it will insist upon its being had

direction.

e.g. out of tithes,^ or out of a

be reserved or granted out of incorporeal property, manor in which there are no demesne lands, and which consists, therefore, only of a seigniory or services,^ or out of tolls,^ as there can of course be no distress, a bill in equity to, enforce payment of the rent will be entertained. So if an owner of rent be unable to identify the land out of which the rent issues,
because of the uncertainty and confusion of boundaries, and therefore cannot distrain,

he

will

be entitled to come into equity to have

it

the boundaries of the land ascertained, and payment of the rent

enforced.*

So

if

the existence of a rent be clearly proved, but

cannot be ascertained what kind of rent it is, and hence the owner of it cannot distrain, he will be entitled to relief in equity.* There

seems to be the same reason of rent who has no right to

authority directly
thority

for giving relief in equity to

distrain,

an owner though there seems to be no

au-

upon the

point.*

The absence of English

no such question can have arisen in England since the statute of 4 Geo. II. c. 28, s. 5.' It has been held, in two cases,^ that the fact that no sufficient distress can be found on land out of which a rent issues, does not authorize the owner of the rent to resort to equity for relief; but it seems impossible to support these cases upon any principle. It is admitted that equity will interfere, if the right to distrain be rento the fact that
'

may be due

Thorndike

v.

AUington,
v.

Ch. Cas. 79; Busby

i

v.

Earl of Salisbury, Finch, 256,

cited (nom. Berkeley v. Salisbury), 2 Bro. C. C. 518.

2
8

Radnor, 2 Bro. C. C. 338. * Koreman v. Yeat, cited i Ch. Cas. 145; Cocks v. Foley, i Vern. 359; North Strafford, 3 P. Wins. 148 Benson v. Baldwyn, i Atk. 598 Duke of Bridgewater
of
v.
;
;

Duke Duke

of

Leeds Leeds

Powell,

Ves. 171.

Niw

v.
v.

Edwards, 6 Bro. P. C. (Toml. ed.) 368. 5 Collet V. Jaques, 1 Ch. Cas. 120; Cocks v. Foley, i Vern. 359. ' In Champernoon v. Gubbs, Ch. Prec. 126, the plaintiff's counsel said: "If the rent had been granted without any clause of distress, or any other remedy at law, he might have had relief here." f See supra, p. 205, n. i. 8 Davy V. Davy, i Ch. Cas. 144; Champernoon v. Gubbs, 2 Vern. 382.

214
dered

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

fruitless

and yet fraud does not seem to affect the question. The ground upon which a rent-owner must be relieved in equity, if at all, is the want of a sufficient remedy at law, and whether that ground exists or not, does not at all depend upon the conduct of the rent-payer. If, indeed, the supposed fraud could be made the ground of relief, the case might be different; but that seems to be impossible. To prevent a distress by fraud is, like any other fraud, a tort; and, such a fraud having been committed, the only way in which equity can relieve against it is by compelling
;

by fraud

the tortfeasor specifically to repair his tort

but

how can

equity

compel the specific reparation of such a tort? It was, indeed, prayed in one case^ that a sufficient distress be set out by the defendant, but the granting of such relief would clearly be out of
the question.

assume jurisdiction of a bill to enforce the payment of rent, what will be the relief which it will grant against the land out of which the rent issues? It was held in one well considered case''' that a sale of the land would be directed, and the proceeds of the sale applied to the payment of the rent. But there seem to be two serious objections to such a course: ist, such relief is not well adapted to a case where payments in annual, semiannual, or quarterly instalments are to be provided for, perhaps for an indefinite period 2dly, a rent, as has been already seen, is not in its nature a charge upon the corpus of the land out of which it issues, but merely upon its fruits and income and when a court of equity gives relief upon the foundation of a legal right, it cannot extend its relief beyond the legal right. It seems, therefore, that the appointment of a receiver, and the application through him of the net income of the land to the payment of the rent, is the proper
If a court of equity
;
;

relief against the land.

It

seems, however, that,

in

case of a rent
and, in case of

reserved, any deficiency of income in any year

must be made good

;

out of the surplus income of any subsequent year

a rent granted,
if for
is

a limited period of time,

owner of the rent

entitled to

seems that the receive the net income of the land

it

until all arrears of the rent are paid.

In one case,^ the plaintiff prayed the court to decree to him the
possession and enjoyment of the land until,

by

receipt of the rents

and

profits,

he should be paid what was due to him, and his coun1

Champernoon
Cupit
V.

v.

Gubbs, 2 Vern. 382; Ch. Free. 126.

^ '

Jackson, 13 Price, 721.

v.

Champernoon

Gubbs, supra.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY

sel cited

JURISDICTION.

ZIJ

two unreported cases in which he said such relief was given; but this seems to be inadmissible, as going beyond the plaintiff's legal rights; and even if such relief were admissible, the appointment of a receiver would be a much more judicious
course.

Although a rent-owner is entitled to go into equity only for the purpose of obtaining relief against the land, yet, if he obtain rehef
against the land, equity will give

him

relief also against the defend-

ant personally, so far as the defendant

for the rent.

defendant, in

is by law personally liable Great care must, however, be taken not to direct a general and unqualified terms, to pay whatever shall

be due to the plaintiff, unless the defendant is by law liable for the whole of the rent. If the defendant has absolutely covenanted to pay the rent, of course he is liable on his covenant, and no difficulty But if his liability is only by reason of his having been will arise. the assignee of the term on the creation of which the rent was reserved, or the grantee of the estate out of which the rent was granted, his Hability will begin only when the assignment or grant is made to him, and it will continue only so long as the term or and such a defendant can never be estate remains vested in him directed by the decree in general and unqualified terms to make payments of rent thereafter to accrue, for even if the estate remain
;

vested in

him when the decree

is

made,

it

will

be

liable to

be de-

vested, and his liability thus terminated, at

any moment.
all

On

the

other hand, he will be liable absolutely for

the rent that has

accrued during the time that the estate has been vested in him, and his liability will not be limited to his receipts. In short, the
defendant will either be liable absolutely, or he will not be liable at all; and, therefore, there would seem to be no propriety in
directing

him

to account for the rents

and

profits of the land.

it may be remarked that the latter, unhke the former, has ceased to be of much practical importance even in England, and hence the law applicable to it is chiefly interesting for the principles which it

Passing

now from

the subject of rent to that of tithe,

involves.

Attention has already been called to a few points in which rent

and

tithe are alike

but perhaps their differences are more imporFirst, rent, as

tant than their resemblances.

has been seen,

it,

is
its

created entirely

by

the acts of the parties interested in

and

See supra,

p. 199.

;;

2l6

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

form and incidents are such as the parties choose, within the limits it. In short, the law has no purpose of its own to serve, nor any policy of its own to promote, in regard to rent
of the law, to give

and
tithe

in this respect rents

it

may be
;

likened to contracts.
;

In regard

to tithe, however,
is

is

very different

for

every obligation to pay

by the law alone and hence the nature of the obsuch as the law makes it, while its form and incidents are such as the law gives it. Moreover, the law by which the obligation is created is uniform in its operation, and hence the nature of the obligation, and also its form and incidents, are always the
created
is

ligation

same

and therefore
less

it

follows that the subject of tithe

is

primarily

complex than that of rent. Indeed, the creation of the obligation to pay tithe is simply an act of sovereign power, exercised at the expense of private persons, but for the benefit of the
public.
it is

much

In truth, tithe

is

a species of tax; and the law governing

According to modern and applied by public authority but in fact the right to receive the tithes payable in each parish is vested in the parson of the parish as a private right: otherwise there would be no propriety in speaking of the subject of tithe in
a part of the public law of the State.
ideas, this tax should be collected
this place.
is generally payable in money, the and constitutes a debt in the strict Engpredial tithe is always by law payable in kind,^ /. e., lish sense, it consists of one tenth of the actual produce of the land. Hence it is necessary that the tenth part be separated from the other nine parts before the tithe-owner can receive his tithe but the moment that a separation takes place, the right of the tithe-owner undergoes a change for the title to the tenth part then vests in him as its owner, Moreover, the separation of the tenth part from the other nine parts was a duty imposed upon the tithe-payer {i. e., the occupier or owner of the land) and the performance of this duty (which was called the setting out of tithe, and which was the only duty or obligation imposed upon the tithe-payer) constituted the

Secondly, while a rent

is

amount of which

fixed,

payment of

tithe.

mere creature of the canon law payment of tithe was secured only by means of the personal duty before mentioned, imposed upon the tithe-payer, and enforced by ecclesiastical
Thirdly, tithe was originally the

and, as that law could not create a real obligation,

There seems to be no doubt that rent also was

in fact originally

payable in kind.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

censures, or

21/
at

by such other

penalties as the civil

power placed

the disposal of the canon law judge.

At

a very early day, however,

as early, indeed, as the time of the Heptarchy,^

the

right of
civil

the Church to receive tithe was recognized in England by the

power, and thus the right became a real obligation, though the

remained as before. civil power thus changed the nature of tithe, it did not provide any new remedy, except indirectly and by way of penalty,^ for enforcing its payment; and hence a suit in the ecclesiastical courts continued to be the ordinary remedy for enforcing the payment of tithe until comparatively modern times, when the jurisdiction of those courts was superseded by the Court of Chancery. This change of jurisdiction, however, caused no change in the nature of the remedy. The suit for tithe in the ecclesiastical courts was founded on the duty to set out tithe, and on the breach of that duty by the defendant, and the foundation of a suit in equity Since, however, a suit in equity for tithe is for tithe is the same. not founded, except indirectly, upon the real obligation to pay tithe, this is not the proper place to consider the nature and incidents of such a suit, or the reasons for equity's entertaining it. Fifthly, the result therefore is that we have the singular anomaly of a real obligation without any remedy against the land on which the obligation rests, and consequently without any " real " security The reasons for this, howfor the performance of the obligation.
personal duty
still

Fourthly, while the

ever,

are

not

exclusively

historical.

From

the

nature of the

obligation, as

has been seen, the remedy can be only against

the products of the land,

not against the land

it is

itself.

From

the

nature of the 'obligation also,

not easy to give the tithe-owner

any
part
tical

legal claim against the products of the land until the tenth
is

separated from the other nine parts.

Could the

ecclesias-

courts, or courts of equity, have enforced specific performance

tithe,

of the duty of setting out

or specific reparation of a breach

of that duty, and thus have afforded to the tithe-owner an effective

" real " security, at least from the

moment when
is

the tithe was set

out?

No, clearly

not.

First, there

only one time when tithe can,

set out, namely,

in the nature of things,

be effectively
Law

when the

2 BI.

Com.
2

25,

26

3 Burn's Eccl.
c.

(Phillimore's ed.) 679.

c. 7, s.

See

&

Edw. VI.
;

13, s.

\.

By 32 Hen. VIII.

7,

rent-owners were

authorized in certain cases to bring writs of assize and other appropriate real actions
to establish their rights
for the

and

it

was consequently held that ejectment might be brought

same purpose,

as a substitute for a real action.

2l8

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

crops have been severed from the soil, but still remain in the field where they grew and it is not practicable for any court to compel the doing of anything at any precise time. Secondly, for the same reason, specific reparation is out of the question. Thirdly, the setting out of tithe consists of so many particulars, and involves so much exercise of judgment, care, and honesty, that it would be very injudicious for any court to attempt to enforce
;

it

specifically.

therefore is that a compensation in money seems to be the only remedy practicable for a refusal or neglect to set out tithe, without a radical change in the nature of the

The conclusion

obligation

itself.

ARTICLE
VIII.

IX.^

Classification of Rights and Wrongs.

MORE than way by

vie;w,^

twelve years ago, the writer published in this Reof introduction to a series of articles on equity

jurisdiction, a classification of those rights

which

it is

the duty of

courts of justice to protect and enforce, and also of the wrongs

by

which such rights may be infringed. The views then stated, having only recently been adopted by the writer, were comparatively crude and undeveloped. Since that date, however, he has given considerable attention to the classification of rights and wrongs,
and has made his views upon that subject the basis of an elementary course of instruction on equity jurisdiction and the result has been that his views of twelve years ago have undergone some modification and much development. It has occurred to him, therefore, that a re-statement of the views now held by him might not be out of place, especially as some of his former pupils, now engaged in teaching, have done him the honor to make some use
;

of his former observations in their

own

teaching.

As
tect

those rights which

it is

the duty of courts of justice to proas well as legal rights,

and enforce include equitable

and as
it

each of these classes of rights requires separate treatment,

will

be convenient to begin with legal rights. Legal rights are either absolute or relative. An absolute right is one which does not imply any correlative obligation or duty.
1

13

Harv.

L.

Rev.

537.

"

See su^ra, pp. 1-39.

220

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

relative right

one which does imply a correlative obligation or

duty.i

Absolute rights are either personal rights or rights of property. personal right is one which belongs to every natural person as such. right of property is one which consists of ownership or dominion (^dominium).

Every personal right is born with the person to whom it belongs, and dies with him. Personal rights, therefore, can neither be acquired nor parted with, and hence they are never the subjects of commerce, nor have they any pecuniary value. For the same reasons, courts of justice never have occasion to take cognizance of them except when complaints are made of their infringement; and even then the only question of law that can be raised respecting them is whether or not they have been infringed. It follows, therefore, that all the knowledge that we have of personal rights relates to the one question, what acts will constitute an infringe-

ment of them. We can neither number them nor define them, and any attempt to do either will be profitless. There is, however, one personal right which differs so widely from most others
that
it

deserves to be mentioned, namely, the equal right of

all

persons to use public highways, navigable waters, and the high

seas.

In

all

the foregoing particulars, rights of property are the very

they

All such rights are acquired, and be alienated. They are all, therefore, the subjects of commerce, and they all have, or are supposed to have, a pecuniary value. For the same reasons, courts of justice take cognizance of them for a great variety of purposes, and they are all capable of

converse of personal rights.

may

all

being enumerated and defined.

Rights of property are said to be either corporeal or incorporeal.
In truth, however,
is

all

rights are incorporeal;

that the subjects of rights of property

either corporeal or incorporeal.

consists of

is meant owned) are A thing owned is corporeal when it

e., (J,,

and what
things

some portion of the

not.

material world, and incorporeal

several persons, and

when

it

does

A
^

single material thing

may be owned by

Writers upon jurisprudence generally use the terms in rem and in personam to
division of legal rights,

mark the primary

and

it is,

therefore, proper for

It will,

me

to explain

why

use the terms " absolute " and " relative " instead.

however, be more

convenient to do this after treating of the different classes of legal rights.

p. 229, n.
I.

See infra,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

that too without

221

any division of it, either actual or supposed, each person owning an undivided share of it; and in that case each owner has a right of property just as absolute as if he were the
sole

owner of the

thing.

In case of land also, the ownership, in-

stead of being divided into shares,

may be

divided

among

several

persons in respect to the time of their enjoyment, one of them having the right of immediate enjoyment, and the others having
respectively successive rights of future enjoyment.
ity in the

This peculiar-

Land ownership of land comes division of it itself is also peculiar in this, namely, that a physical among different owners is impossible and hence the land of A, for example, is separated from the adjoining land only by a mathefrom the feudal system.
;

matical line described

to the centre

upon the

surface, A's ownership extending

of the earth in one direction, and indefinitely in By our law, land is also capable of an imagithe other direction.

nary division, for the purposes of ownership, laterally as well as for one person may own the surface of the land, and vertically
;

another
a

may own

all

the minerals which the land contains.

Such

mode

of dividing the ownership of land certainly creates

it

many

seems to be persisted in notwithstanding, by our law, a building is capable of an imaginary division, for purposes of ownership, both lateral and vertical.^
legal difficulties, but
at least in England.^

In like manner,

Relative rights are either obligations or duties.

Strictly, indeed,

"obligation" or "duty"
relative right correlates
;

is

the

name
is

of the thing with which a

but such

the poverty of language that

we
is

have to use the

obligation
is

same word

also to express the right itself

An

either personal or real, according as the obligor

a person or a thing.

An
act,

obligation

may be imposed upon

a per-

son either by his own

or

i. e.,

by

contract (pbligatio ex contractii),

by

act of law {obligatio

ex

lege,

or obligatio quasi ex contractu).

a thing either

An

obligation

may be imposed upon

by

the law

alone, or

by the law acting concurrently with the

will of the

owner

of the thing.

In the latter case, the will of the owner must be

manifested in such manner as the law requires or sanctions.

By

our law,

it

is

sometimes

sufficient for the

owner of

a thing to im-

pose an obligation upon himself, the law treating that as sufficient evidence of an intention to impose it upon the thing also, when, for example, the owner of land enters into a covenant respecting

Humphries

v.

Brogden, 12 Q. B. 739, 755.

2 fiij,^

756-757.

222
it,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

and the covenant

way, however,

mon
to

in

The most comsaid to run with the land. which an owner of land manifests his will
it

impose an obligation upon

i. e.,

is

by making a grant

to the

intended obligee of the right against the land which he wishes to

he adopts the same form as when he wishes to transfer If, however, an owner of land, upon transferring the title to it, wishes to impose upon it an obligation in his own favor, he does this by means of a reservation, i. e., by inserting in the instrument of transfer a clause by which he reserves to himself the right which he wishes to retain against the land. An owner of a movable thing imposes an obligation upon it by deliverconfer,

the

title

to the land.

ing the possession of

it

to the intended obligee,

declaring the

which he does it, as when a debtor delivers securities to his creditor by way of pledge to secure the payment of the debt. real obligation is undoubtedly a legal fiction, but it is a very useful one. It was invented by the Romans, from whom it has been inherited by the nations of modern Europe. That it would ever have been invented by the latter is very unlikely, partly because they have needed it less than did the ancients, and partly because they have not, like the ancients, the habit of personifying inanimate things. The invention was used by the Romans for the accomplishment of several important legal objects, some of which no longer exist,^ but others still remain in full force. It was by means of this that one person acquired rights in things belonging to others (jura in rebus alienis). Such rights were called servitutes (i. e., states of slavery) in .respect to the thing upon which the obligatibn was imposed, and they included every right which one could have in a thing, short of owning it. These servitudes were divided into real and personal servitudes, being called real when the obligee as well as the obligor, i. e., the master (dominus) as well as the slave (servus), was a thing, and personal when the obligee was a person. The- former, which may be termed servitudes proper, have passed into our law under the names of easements and profits d prendre. The latter included the pignus and the hypotheca, i. e., the Roman mortgage, which was called pignus when the thing mortgaged was delivered to the creditor, and hypotheca when it was constituted by a mere agreement, the thing mortgaged remaining in the possession of its
purpose
for

owner.

Originally, possession

by the

creditor of the thing mort;

gaged was indispensable, and so the pignus alone existed

1

but, at

See supra,

p. 193.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

223

a later period, the parties to the transaction were permitted to

choose between a pignus and a hypotheca. So long as the pignus was alone in use, it is obvious that the obligation could be created only by the act of the parties, as they alone could change the possession of the property. But when the step had been taken of permitting the mere agreement of the parties to be substituted for a change of possession, it was another easy step for the law, whenever it saw fit, to substitute its own will for the agreement of the
parties
;

and hence hypothecations came

to

be divisible into such

as were created

by the

acts of the parties (conventional hypothe-

cations), and such as were created

tacit hypothecations).

by the

act of the law (legal or

Again, so long as a change of possession

was indispensable, it is plain that the obligation could attach only upon property which was perfectly identified, and that there could be no change in the property subject to the obligation, except by a new change of possession. But when a change of possession had been dispensed with, and particularly when legal or tacit hypothecations had been introduced, it became perfectly feasible to make the obligation attach upon all property, or all property of a
certain description, either then belonging to the debtor or after-

ward acquired by him, or upon

all

property, or

all

property of a

certain description, belonging to the debtor for the time being;

and hence hypothecations came to be divided into those which were special and those which were general. The pignus has passed into our law under the name of pawn, or pledge, as to things movable, but has been wholly rejected as The conventional hypotheca has been wholly rejected by to land. our common law, though it has passed into our admiralty law. The legal or tacit hypothecation, on the other hand, has been admitted into our common law to some extent, though under the name of lien (a word which has the same meaning and the same
derivation as "obligation").
I. c.

Thus, by the early statute of 13 E.

18,

a judgment and a recognizance (the latter being an ac-

knowledgment of a debt in a court of record, of which acknowledgment a record is made) are a general lien on all the land of the judgment debtor and recognizor respectively, whether then owned by them or afterwards acquired. So also, in many cases, the law gives to a creditor a similar lien on the debtor's movable
property, already in the creditor's possession
the features of

when

the debt ac-

crues, though, in respect to the creditor's possession, this lien has

2,

pignus rather than of a hypotheca.

224

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

not

There are also in our law other instances of what the Romans would have called personal servitudes, if they had existed in their law for example, easements and profits in gross,^ i. e., easements and profits which exist for the benefit of their owner generally,
;

to him.

some particular estate belonging Rents and tithes seem also to fall into the same category.^ Passing from obligations to duties, the first thing to be observed is that the latter are either public or private, according as they are imposed for the benefit of individuals as such, or for the
for the exclusive benefit of

benefit of the public, or of

some portion
little

of the public.

Duties have attracted very

notice either from courts or

been a general failure, as and also among writers on jurisprudence,* to discriminate between obligations and duties; and yet the distinctions between them are many and important.
writers.

from legal

There

has, indeed,
law,^

well in our law as in the

Roman

All duties originate in

tions originate either

commands of
in

the State; while

all

obligain

a contract between the parties, or

something which has been done or has happened to the gain of the one and the loss of the other, and under such circumstances as make it unjust for the one to retain the gain or the other to suffer the loss. It is true that every obligation (being a vinculuvi juris) has in it a legal element, and that those obligations which do not originate in contract are pure creatures of the law yet, in
:

creating obligations, the only object of the State

is

to see that

all

persons within

its
it

jurisdiction act justly towards others, while, in

acts

imposing

duties,

from motives of policy, or

at least
it

it

im-

poses them as a part of the system of law which

adopts, and

without reference to any particular case or any particular persons.

Moreover,
case,

in creating obligations,

and only

after the events

action necessary, and in

to the parties

the State acts in each particular have happened which render its each case its action has reference solely
the obligation
is

between

whom

created, while, in

1 2 '

See Gale on Easements, Part i, c. See supra, p. 199. Thus, in Justinian's Institutes, L.

i, s.

4 (Part

i, c. 2, s.

4 of the 6th and 7th eds.).

3, Tit. 27,

six instances are given of

tutelce,

what are
coinmuni

called obligationes quasi ex contractu (namely, negotiorum gestorum,

dividundo, familice erciscundce, ex testamento, solutio non debiti), only the

of
duties.
*

and last which seem in truth to belong to that category, the other four being instances of
first

brace

See Holland, Jurisprudence, Part 2, c. 12, in which obligations are declared to emall rights in personam {i.e., all relative rights), and in which obligations and

duties are treated of indiscriminately.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

imposing
the
duties, the State issues
its

225

command once

for

all,

and

command

always precedes the duty.

its

In creating obligations,

the State acts generally through

courts of justice, while, in

imposing
ture,
i. e.,

duties,

it

acts directly or indirectly

through

its

legisla-

duties are

imposed by positive

laws.

In short, the neces-

is established by a posteriori reasonimposing a duty is established by a priori reasoning. To an obligation there must always be two parties or sets of parties, and neither of them can ever be changed except by authority of law. Of duties, on the other hand, parties cannot properly be predicated, as duties are imposed, not upon identified persons, but upon persons in certain situations, or occupying certain positions, and they are imposed also in favor of persons in

sity for creating

an obligation

ing, while the necessity for

certain situations, or

occupying certain positions, and, therefore,

be performed,
is

the person
in

who

is

to perform a given duty, as well as the person

to
liable to constant change.

whose favor

it is

The

cases in which duties are imposed, especially

by modern

statutes, are numberless,

them would be

futile.-'

and any attempt to enumerate or classify There are, however, many duties, most

of which are imposed

mon

by ancient statutes, or by rules of the comlaw or the canon law which have the force of statutes,

which are well known, and some of which it may be well to mention. Probably the most ancient instance to be found is the duty imposed upon an executor to pay legacies. It was originally imposed by the Roman law upon the predecessor of our executor,
Couch V. Steel, 3 El. & Bl. 402, it was held that the statute of 7 & 8 Vict. c. 112, makes it the duty of a ship-owner to keep on board a sufficient supply of medicines suitable to accidents and diseases arising on sea voyages that the duty is both public and private that for a breach of that duty the only remedy of the public was the penalty provided by the Act, the common-law remedy by indictment being by implication taken away but that a seaman, serving on board a ship at the time of the breach, was entitled to the common-law remedy of an action on the case, notwithstanding the
1 111
s. 18,
;

penalty.

By The Lands Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. 18), after a railway company has given to a land-owner a notice that it will require his land for the purposes
imposed upon the company and paying the purchase-money. See Haynes v. Haynes, i Dr. & Sm. 426, and cases there cited. The decision in the celebrated case of Ashby v. White, 2 Ld. Raym. 938, i Smith's L. C. (2d ed.) 105, involved two propositions, namely, first, that the plaintiff, being a burgess of the borough of Aylesbury, was entitled as such to vote for two burgesses to represent that borough in the House of Commons secondly, that the duty was imposed upon the defendants, at an election held for electing such burgesses, of receiving and counting the votes of the electors, and that for a breach of that duty the plaintiff was entitled to maintain an action on the case.
its line,
s.

of

in accordance with

i8 of the Act, the duty

is

of taking the proceedings provided for by the Act for acquiring the land

IS

226

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

namely, the heir appointed by the will of a deceased person

but
at

when

the

Roman empire became

Christian, and the

Church

length obtained exclusive jurisdiction over the estates of deceased

persons,
it

was by a law of the Church that the duty was imposed.

This duty constitutes the only legal means of compelling an executor to pay legacies, as the assets out of which they are to be
paid vest in him absolutely, both at law and in equity.

A closely
^

analogous duty

is

that

imposed by the Statute of Distributions

upon administrators of the

estates of intestates to divide the estate

among

the intestate's next of kin.

Another ancient duty (which,

however, no longer exists in English-speaking countries) was the duty imposed by the canon law upon every tithe-payer to set out
the tithes payable

by him,

i. e.,

to sever the tenth part

from the

other nine parts, and to set apart the former for the tithe-owner.

was by means of this duty alone that payment of tithes could be enforced for, until tithes were set out, the title to the entire produce of the land was vested in the tithe-payer, but, when the
It
;

tithes

were

set out, the title to the tenth part vested in the tithe-

owner,

who had

accordingly, in respect to

it,

the same

common-

law remedies as any other owner of chattels.

Another ancient instance is the duty imposed by the common law upon the heir of a deceased person to assign dower to the widow of the latter. Here, again, the enforcement of this duty was the widow's only resource, as the title to all the land of which her husband died seized vested in the heir, both at law and in equity. Another very numerous class of duties consists of those which are imposed upon all persons who travel upon pubHc highways, or upon navigable
waters (including the high seas), with respect to other persons

with

whom

they come in contact.

It is

upon these

duties that the

rights of such persons as against each other wholly depend.

instances will be found in the well-known duties

Other imposed by the

common law upon common carriers and innkeepers,

towards
all

not only towards

the employers of the one and the guests of the other, but also those

who

guests of the other; also in the duty imposed

upon professional
exercise of special

employ the one or to become the by the common law men, and upon others whose callings require the
desire to
skill,

to exercise reasonable skill

on behalf of

all

those by or for
in the last

they are employed. In the cases mentioned sentence, there may, indeed, be a liability on contract
1

whom

22

&

23 Car. II.

c. 10.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

but,

22/

no

on the other hand, in many of those cases there may either be none that can be proved, while the duty is always never involves any difificulty as to proof. available, and Domestic or family relations give rise to a numerous class of duties, but most of them are moral rather than legal, or, at all events, are not such as any court of justice will enforce, and do
contract, or
not, therefore,

come

within the scope of this article.

Another very numerous and important class of cases consists of those in which duties are imposed upon joint-stock corporations towards their shareholders, and also towards those who
establish a right to

these duties furnish the only means

become holders of their shares. As by which these two

this rule,

a rule,
classes

There and one exception certainly is where a dividend has been declared (and the declaration of a for then the amount dividend is the performance of a duty) payable to each shareholder becomes a debt, and so, of course, an obligation. The class of cases, however, in which an alleged breach of duty becomes more frequently the subject of litigation than in all other cases put together, is that in which the duty imposed is to exercise care and diligence to secure the safety of others, or to avoid being Such a duty is imposed the cause of personal harm to others.
of persons can enforce their rights against the corporation.

may

be exceptions to

upon

all

persons to

whom

the personal safety of others

is

largely

and especially upon all carriers of passengers. A similar duty is also imposed upon all persons whose occupation involves special danger to the public, for example, upon railway companies, or who do or permit to be done, or keep or permit to be kept, upon their own land, what is fraught with a like danger. A breach of this duty is negligence, and whether such breach has been committed is the question to be tried in what is by far the most numerous class of litigated cases with which courts of justice are troubled. Negligence may, indeed, be a breach of contract, and it may also be one of the elements of an affirmative tort, namely, where one person by an affirmative act unintentionally causes harm to another, but might have avoided doing so by the exercise of reasonable care. It would not, however, be too much to say that, in ninety-nine out of every hundred of the reported cases involving a question of negligence, the alleged negligence was a
intrusted,

breach of duty.

We

are

now prepared

to inquire

why

it

is

that duties have at-

228

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

little

tracted so

attention.

Some

of the reasons certainly are not

far to seek.

In several particulars, duties bear a striking resemin the least

The latter are pure creatures of the law, dependent upon the will or the action of the person to whom they belong. The former also are pure creatures of the law, and are not directly (though they may be indirectly) dependent upon the will or the action either of the person upon whom the burden of them is imposed, or of the person entitled to have them performed. Personal rights accompany their owner from his birth to his death; and while that is not true of duties, yet it is true of every duty that it is a mere legal incident of certain situations, that a person can avoid incurring liability to a duty only by avoiding the situation to which such liability is incident (as he can free himself from a duty, to which he has once incurred liability, only by ceasing to occupy the situation to which such liability is incident) and that a person can acquire a right to the performance of a duty only by placing himself in a situation to which such right is incident, and will lose the right whenever he ceases to occupy that situation. personal right can neither be bought, nor sold, nor be the subject of commerce, nor have any pecuniary value and so also the right to have a duty performed <;an neither be bought, nor sold, nor be the subject of commerce, nor have any pecuniary value, except indirectly, as stated above. As courts of justice can have no occasion to take cognizance of personal rights, except when complaints are made of their infringement, so also the same thing is true of duties and though a duty, unlike a personal right, may be easily formulated, and the question of its existence is entirely distinct from the question of its infringement, yet the former, in comparison with the latter, very seldom arises, and, even when it does arise, there is little in it to stimulate inquiry beyond the mere practical question whether the person charged was bound to do the thing the not doing of which If an explanation be asked of the is the alleged cause of action. comparative infrequency with which any question as to the existence of a duty arises, it may be answered that a duty once existblance to personal rights.

and are not

ing continues to exist so long as the statute which imposed

it

remains

in force, or so
;

continues to exist

long as the situation which gave rise to it and that, while an obligation as a rule is capable

of but one performance and one breach, and, therefore,

when once performed or once broken, is at an end, the same duty may be imposed upon an unlimited number of persons, and may be per-

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

formed an unlimited number of times, and hence
unlimited
is

229

capable of an

number of breaches.^ Having now gone through with

it

the different classes of legal

is

rights,

is

next to be observed that a relative right

relative

only as between the person to

person
is

whom

the right belongs and the

who

is

subject to the correlative obligation or duty; and,

it

therefore, so far as such a right concerns the rest of the world,

an absolute right of the second class, i.e., a property right. Moreover, every relative right which has, or is supposed to have, a pecuniary value, does or may concern the rest of the world. What relative rights then have, or are supposed to have, a pecuniary value? Clearly, all obligations fall within that category; and though in strictness this cannot be said of any duty, yet some duties consist, in whole or in part, in transferring money, or other things of value, to other persons, and when that is the case, and especially when the duty furnishes the only legal means of compelling such transfer, the performance of the duty certainly confers a pecuniary benefit upon the person in whose favor it is performed, and yet, prior to its performance, the only legal right vested in the latter is the right to have the duty performed. Of this description is the duty of an executor to pay legacies, of the administrator of an intestate to divide the personal estate of the
'

now proceed

to

do what,
I

namely, to explain

why

in a previous note (p. 220, n. i), I postponed until now, used the terms " absolute " and " relative " to mark the pri-

mary division of legal rights, instead of the terms in rem and in personam. I. If I had used the latter terms, I should have required them both to designate relative rights, and should, therefore, have had nothing left for absolute rights for rights in personam would clearly have embraced only those rights which are created by personal obligations and duties, and, therefore, I must have used the term in rem to designate
;

those created by real obligations.

describes
all

2.

If the

phrase " rights in personam " perfectly

those rights which are created by personal obligations or duties, then the phrase " rights in rem " perfectly describes those rights which are created by real obli-

when considered as obligations and, should also correctly describe absolute rights.
gations,
;

if

so, it is clearly

impossible that

it

3.

The phrase

" rights in

rem " does

not, in fact, describe correctly either class of absolute rights. It might, indeed, be used, without any great impropriety, to describe ownership of corporeal things, but to use it to describe ownership of incorporeal things is certainly taking great liberties with lan-

seems to me to be in the highest rem and in personam are properly applicable to procedure only, and the use of them was limited to procedure by the Romans. 5. The terms "absolute '' and " relative," as used by me, require neither explanation nor justification, while the terms in rem and in personam, if used for the same purpose, would have required both. 6. The terms in rem and in personam, as applied to rights, are wholly foreign, while, in using the terms "absolute" and "relative" instead, I follow the example of Slackstone.
it

guage, and to use

to describe personal rights

degree absurd.

4.

The terms

in

230
latter
tithes.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

among
his

next of kin, and of a tithe-payer to set out

persons
will

Probably

many

be surprised at being told that the

legatees and next of kin of deceased persons have no right or

which their legacies and distributive Their surprise ought, however, to cease when they are further told that, by the Roman law, no one could directly dispose of any part of his estate by will that when a person died, whether testate or intestate, his entire estate vested absolutely and by operation of law in his heir, namely, in his hceres natus if he died intestate, and in his hmres /actus if he died testate that property could be given by will only in the form of legacies, and that legacies could be given only indirectly, namely, by directing the heir to pay them and, lastly, that our executor and administrator have respectively succeeded, as to personal estate, to the situation of the hceres factus and hmres natus
interest in the estates out of

shares are respectively to be paid.

of the Romans.

Hence

it

is

that, while the real estate of a de-

ceased person passes, upon his death, directly to his heir, no one

can acquire any interest

in his
i. e.,

executor or administrator,

personal estate except through his through the performance of a duty

imposed upon the latter. It follows from what has been said that all obligations, whether personal or real, and also such duties as have just been described, have two aspects, i. e., they are to be regarded as relative rights, or as absolute rights, according to the point of view from which
they are looked at, but with this difference, that, while personal obligations and duties are chiefly to be regarded as relative rights,
real obligations are chiefly to
It
is

be regarded
it

as absolute rights.

now necessary

to

return to the subject of incorporeal

things which

may

be owned,

of which
is

has thus far only been

is

said that they constitute no part of the material world, and that

no more Ownership of corporeal things

ation

than saying that they are incorporeal.

merely the result of appropriall

by

individuals to themselves, with the sanction of the law, of

;

portions of the material world

nature,

i. e.,

material things exist in

though their form and appearance may be indefinitely changed, and their value in consequence indefinitely increased or diminished. All that can be done, therefore, respecting them by human will or human action, is to change their form and appearance, and to make them the subjects of individual ownership. Those incorporeal things, however, which may be owned, have no

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

existence in nature, and are
all,

231

therefore,

of

human

creation.

Moreover, they are all created either by the State alone, or by A private person private persons with the authority of the State. can create incorporeal ownership either against himself or against things belonging to him. He does the former whenever he incurs a personal obligation, i. e., he creates in the obligee a relative right as between the latter and himself, and an absolute right as between the obligee and the rest of the world. So, too, a private person creates an absolute right against himself when he grants an annuity, and in that case there is no relative right. A private person creates an incorporeal property right against a thing whenever he creates a real obligation, i. e., imposes an obligation upon a thing belonging to him for, though the right thus created is relative as between the obligee and the thing upon which the obligation is imposed, yet it is also absolute, not only as to all persons other than the owner of the thing, but even as to him. In case of some duties, also, a private person may contribute to the creation of
;

incorporeal ownership, not against himself personally, nor against

things belonging to him, but against another person, though in

respect of things belonging to himself, as

his

when a testator directs executor to pay legacies to certain persons out of his personal

estate, or to sell certain land and pay the proceeds to persons named, the land not being devised to the executor, but left to descend to the testator's heir for in each of these cases the law makes it the duty of the executor to do as the testator has directed, and this duty the beneficiaries can compel him to perform and
;

this right in the beneficiaries is incorporeal property.

Another important
to another person

class of cases in
is

create incorporeal ownership,

which a private person may where an owner of things grants

title

an authority to transfer the

In the
first

to them, or to
is

use and enjoy them.

of these cases, the authority

technically called a power, and the acts authorized to be

done

would, without such authority, be inoperative and void.

In the

second
tious.

acts authorized to be

is and the done would, without such authority, be torThe grantor of a power may limit the persons in whose

case, the authority

commonly

called a license,

favor

it

may be
its

exercised (not including the grantee), or he

may

authorize

exercise for the grantee's

own

benefit.

In the for-

mer

case, the grantee of the

its

power

is

not entitled to receive any

pecuniary benefit from

exercise, while, in the latter case, the

power

is

practically equal to ownership of the things over

which

232
it

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

In point of law, however,
/. e.,

extends.

it

is,

in

poreal property,

it

is

no

less

than that in the

each case, incorfirst case, and

no more in the second. In the first case, the exercise of the p6wer may be discretionary or mandatory, and, if mandatory, its exercise will be a duty. Hcense is commonly granted for the benefit of the Hcensee, and in that case the right granted differs practically from ownerIt may, indeed, differ practiship only in being less extensive. but a grant by cally from ownership only in not being exclusive the owner of a thing of all his rights as such owner will be a grant of the ownership itself, though in terms a license only be granted.

good

illustration of a license will

be found

in the grant of a

right to
itself,

This is an instance, it, being granted. moreover, of a license in which the thing to be enjoyed, as well as the right to use and enjoy it, constitutes incorporeal property. Another good illustration will be found in a grant by an owner of
land of the right to dig in his land for minerals, and to appropriate
to the grantee's

work a patent nor any part of

for a

new

invention, neither the patent

own use

all

the minerals

dug and

carried

away by
this

case Care must be taken, however, not to confound minerals under with that of a grant by an owner of land of all the the land, the latter being, as has been seen, a grant of corporeal

him.

property.'

persons

Another instance of incorporeal ownership created by private is where a right is created which depends upon the hap-

incur an obhgation to B to pening of a condition. Thus, if pay him ^loo on the happening of some uncertain event, the obligation does not come into existence until the event happens, and in case the event yet B has a fixed right to be paid ^lOO by give B a legacy of $ioo in the event of B's happens. So, if attaining the age of twenty-one years, the gift will not take effect during B's infancy, but yet he will have a fixed right to have the legacy paid to him by A's executor, in case he attains the age of twenty-one years. So, if A give land to B, but declare that, if B die without issue then living, the land shall go to C, C will have nothing in the land during B's life, but yet he will have a fixed right, by virtue of which the ownership of the land will vest in

him on the happening of the event named.

There
is still

another kind of incorporeal property, created

by

See supra,

p. 221.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

private persons, which
is

233

very different from any hitherto men-

tioned, namely, the property

which an author, musical composer,

or artist has in his literary, musical, or artistic creations. or against things belonging to

This is not a right conferred upon one person by another against himself,

him nor is it a right against any dependent upon any person or any thing; but it is property which has a more independent existence than any corporeal thing whatever, which a person, by his own
;

person or any thing, nor

is

it

intellectual labor, creates in himself out of nothing.

It consists,

not in the ideas expressed (which cannot be the subject of ownership), but in the expression of them,
i. e.,

in the case of

or musical composer,
case of an

it

consists in the selection and

an author arrangement

of the words and signs by which the ideas are expressed,

artist,
it

in the
in

consists in

what the

artist

embodies

his

picture or statue.
It
is,

however, those classes of incorporeal property which are

created

by the

State that attract the most attention.

Blackstone

enumerates five of these, namely, advowsons, tithes, offices, digAn advowson is the right conferred by nities, and franchises, i. the State upon a person who has founded and endowed a church,

and upon

his heirs

and assigns
it

forever, of appointing the priest

who

is

to officiate in that church.

is

Though

this right

has no exist-

ence in this country,

a very important right in England, as

most of the parish churches in that country were originally founded and endowed by the lords of the manors in which they are respectively situated and hence it is that the parson of a parish is there generally selected, not by the parishioners, but by the lord of the manor. 2. " Tithes " mean either the things received under that name, or the right to receive them, and that right is created by the State, and is incorporeal property. Like other property rights, it may be temporary or perpetual. Presumably all the tithes payable in any parish are payable to the parson of the parish for the time being, and they ought always to be payable to, or for the
;

benefit

of,

either the parson of the parish, or other persons holding

if they had been, they would never have made an important figure as a species of incorporeal property. By an

spiritual offices, and,

abuse, however, they were permitted to be alienated in fee simple,

and vested

in

laymen

and hence they became subject

3.

to all the

usual incidents of private property.

Most

offices are not

only

2 Bl.

Com.

21.

234
created

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

by the
State, but the right to hold

them, as well as the tenure of them, is regulated by law; and, therefore, though they are in their nature incorporeal property, yet they are without some
of the most usual and important incidents of property, as they can
neither be

bought nor

sold.

They
title

are also usually held, especially

in this country,

only for short periods.

There

is

seldom, therefore,

it be elecand even then the only question which can often arise is, whether a person claiming it has been elected to it. Regarded as property, an office is peculiar in this, namely, that all the emolu-

a serious controversy as to the

;

to an office, unless

tive

ments which are incident

receive the one without

to

it

are conferred as a compensation for

duties to be performed, and that no one can

become

entitled to

becoming bound
is

to perform the other.

The

duties which the holder of an office

bound
;

to perform
so,

of course,

become

the subject of controversy

and

may, though less

to which he is entitled. 4. When and are held by a legal title, they also constitute a species of incorporeal property but their existence in a State implies that the people of that State are, to some extent, ranked and graded by law; and, as that is not the case in this country, it follows that dignities have no legal existence here. 5. A franchise is defined by Blackstone^ to be a royal privilege, or branch of the king's prerogative, subsisting in the hands of a subject, i. e., by virtue of the king's grant, or by virtue of an enjoyment so long continued as to be in law equivalent to a grant. It is only in exceptional cases that the king's prerogative can thus be vested in a private person, and the fact that it can be done in those cases calls for some explanation. The explanation seems to be that certain prerogatives are vested in the king merely for the For example, the convenience of benefit of the general public. that certain services should be performed for the public requires the benefit of all persons who require their performance, and who are able and willing to pay for it; and the problem is to secure the efficient performance of such services for a fixed and reasonable compensation. One way of doing this is for the government itself to assume the performance of the service; while another way is for the government to delegate the performance of the service to private persons or corporations, making it the duty of the latter to perform the service efficieritly in consideration of receiving a com-

frequently,

may the emoluments

dignities exist in a State,

2 Bl.

Com.

37.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

235

pensation, either fixed and agreed upon, or to be allowed by the government for the time being. Of course, it is assumed that the
principle of competition
applicable, there
for
is

inapplicable to the case

for

if it

were

would be no problem to be solved, nor anything the government to do. Moreover, it is further assumed that
is

the very opposite principle

for the State

applicable, namely, that of

all,

must

either not interfere at

it

or

it

monopoly must assert

to be provided for

must either leave the needs of the public by free and unlimited competition, or it must make it unlawful for any one to supply such needs except with the permission and under the authority of the State. Accordingly,
absolute control,
i. e.,

when

the State itself undertakes the performance of a service for

it

the general public,

for example, that of

person or corporation,

always maintains a monopoly of such service,

carrying the mails.

When,

therefore, the

State delegates the performance of a public service to a private

it ought to secure to the latter a monopoly commensurate, as nearly as possible, with the duty imposed. It is upon these principles that most franchises exist in England

at the present day.

is

First, a

vested in the Crown.

monopoly of a certain public service Then the Crown by its grant delegates
fair,

the performance of such service to private persons or corporations.

Grants of a right to keep a

a market, or a ferry, are the most

and every such grant carries with it by implication the exclusive right of keeping a fair, market, or ferry (as the case may be), within the district which such fair, market, or ferry is supposed to serve. Whatever belongs to the Crown in England of course belongs to the State in this country; and when the State delegates its power, it commonly does it, not by a grant, but by law, i. e., by a statute ^ and yet such delegations of the power of the State are
conspicuous instances;
;

commonly called franchises. Even in England, a grant from the Crown has, in modern times, been found inadequate in many cases in which the power of the State is delegated. Thus, when an ancient ferry is superseded by
it is yet thought desirable that the bridge should be and maintained with private capital, and that the capital thus expended should be returned in tolls, a statute is found necessary. So, when the policy was successively adopted of inviting the expenditure of private capital in building and maintaining highways,

a bridge, and

built

But see

infra, p. 237, as to patent rights.

236
canals,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and railways, a

statute was always indispensable, as all such enterprises involved the compulsory taking of the land of many persons. Lastly, the needs of large cities have, within recent times, introduced several species of public service which involve an interference with public streets, and hence the right to

perform such services can properly be delegated only by statute. In this country a strong disposition has been shown to delegate
the power of the State, not to particular persons or corporations
selected
rily

by the

legislature, but to

any persons who

shall volunta-

organize themselves into corporations, and comply with certain

prescribed conditions.

This
all;

is,

of course,

upon the principle of

all

granting equal rights to

but unfortunately the recognition

of that principle has been accompanied by an abandonment of

attempt to protect from unjust and ruinous competition those

who

have invested their money irrevocably in providing means and For example, when one set of facilities for serving the public. to B, the State does nothing to men have built a railway from prevent another set of men from building another railway between the same points, and as near to the former as they please. When the State has vested in a corporation a right, for example, to take tolls in consideration of duties to be performed, as such corporation cannot transfer to any one else the burden of the duties which it has assumed, so it cannot transfer to any one else

the right which was designed to furnish the means for discharging

those duties efficiently.

able*;

In other words, such a right

is

is

inalien-

and, therefore,
transfer
for

it

established in

England^ that a railway

its

company can
i. e.,

by way of mortgage only

its

surplus income,

what remains

creditors and shareholders after payment

Unfortunately, however, our State have lost sight of these principles, and have accordingly passed statutes authorizing railway companies to mortgage and hence receiverships and all their property and " franchises " re-organizations of railway companies, which are entirely unknown
of
all its

necessary expenses.

legislatures

England, have become disastrously familiar in this country. has been seen that the ancient franchises of fairs, markets, and ferries, as well as many modern " statutory franchises," for example, toll-bridges, turnpike roads, canals, and railways, have There are other delegations of in them an element of monopoly. sovereignty, however, which are monopolies pure and simple, i. e.,
in
It

Gardner

v.

London, Chatham and Dover Railway Co., L. R.

Ch. 201.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

open to

2 37

delegations of an exclusive right to do what before was free and

all. There are in modern times two classes of these rights, namely, patent rights and copyrights. They are peculiar, not only in the particular just stated, but also in being conferred, not in

consideration of duties to be performed to the public, but in consideration of services already rendered, as well as in being con-

ferred only for limited periods of time.

A patent right

is

conferred

by grant

England from the Crown, in this country from the United States), though under statutory authority. A copyright A copyright must be sharply is conferred directly by statute. distinguished from the common-law right of an author, musical
(in

composer, or

artist,

heretofore mentioned.

The

latter exists

only

before publication, the former only after publication.

Although a copyright is in strictness of law a pure monopoly, yet it ought to be regarded, not as a favor conferred, but as a partial atonement for the wrong done by the State in putting an end, upon publication, to the common-law right of an author,
musical composer, or
artist, in his
it is

own

creation.

Having now
poreal things,

said all that

it

thought necessary to say of incor-

in order to inquire what rights are affirmand what are negative. If, however, we can ascertain what rights are negative, and why, the inquiry will be
is

next

ative in their nature,

fully

answered.

What

is

a negative right?

Clearly,

it

is

a right

some person or persons, i. e., a right not to have something done by him or them. By whom can such a right be given? Clearly, only by the person against whom it is given, or by some one in whose power such person is, i. e., by the State. How can one person give another a negative right against himself? Only by incurring a negative personal obligation to that other. How
against

can the State give a negative right to one person against another?
It is

neither easy nor necessary to specify

this

all

the possible ways in

which
tive

can be done.
to

How

does the State in fact give a negaits

right
all

one person against another?

i. e.,

against

persons within the limits of

portion of that territory,

right, as

Only by giving it territory, or some by giving a monopoly or exclusive

already explained.

property rights, except those incorporeal rights by which the State confers a monopoly, and all relative rights, except negative personal obligaIt follows, therefore, that all personal rights, all tions, are affirmative.

If

it

be asked

why

a real obligation cannot

confer a negative right against the thing bound

by

it,

the answer

238
is

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is in the nature of things incapaimpossible that a real obligation should ever
;

plain: as an inanimate thing

it

ble of acting,

is

consist in doing (^faciendo)

and, though

it is

possible that such an

,

obligation should consist in not doing (non faciendo) yet an obligation not to

do what the obligor by no possibility can do, is absurd and unmeaning, and therefore, in legal contemplation, cannot Here again In what, then, does a real obligation consist? exist. the answer is plain it consists in permitting or suffering something to be done (^patiendd). But, though it seems so clear upon principle that there is no such thing as a negative real obHgation, yet it is far less clear upon authority for the Civilians all say there is such a thing, and, in so saying, they are supported, to some extent, by texts of the Roman law. Thus, in Justinian's Institutes,^ it is said there is a servitude, that one shall not build his house higher, lest he obstruct his neighbor's lights {ut ne altius tollat quis cedes suas, ne luminibus vicini officiatur). Upon this passage, however, it may be remarked, first, that what it actually expresses is a personal obligation binding the owner of the house, not a real obligation binding the house itself; secondly, that one is tempted to say that the passage is only an inaccurate mode of stating an affirmative servitude, namely, that the servient tenement is bound to
: ;

permit the light to pass over

If

it

without obstruction to the winnot be negative, as well as a per-

dows of the dominant tenement.

it

be asked

why

a duty

may
is

sonal obligation, the answer

that a person can deprive himself

of the right to do a thing only by conferring upon some one else

the right not to have
it

done,

which he can do only by incurring

;

a negative personal obligation in favor of the latter

a

but when the

it

State wishes to deprive a person of the right to do a thing,

has

and simple (and therefore a better) way of accomplishing its object than by imposing upon him a duty not namely, by commanding him not to do it, and so to do it, making the doing of it an affirmative tort; and, as the State is never supposed to do a vain and nugatory act, nor to do circuitously what it can do directly, it follows that the State can never be supposed to impose a negative duty.
direct

much more

z.

2, Tit. 3, s. 4.

ARTICLE
Classification of Rights and

X;

Wrongs

{continued).

SOMETHING
rights,

still

remains to be said upon the subject of

but

it

will

be convenient
infringed.'^

first

to consider the

wrongs

by which
into
is

rights

may be

Such wrongs

are divisible

two

classes,

disobedience to a

tort namely, torts and breaches of obligation. command of the State, and is affirmative or

negative, according as the

command
its

is

negative or affirmative, the

tort being in that respect the converse of the

command.
i. e., it

The

State
will
all

commands every person

such
acts.

within

limits to

do no act which

infringe an absolute right of

any other person,

prohibits

Moreover, such acts are the only ones which the State
It follows, therefore,
is

prohibits in the interest of private rights.

that every infringement of an absolute right

an affirmative

tort,

and that every affirmative

right.
It will

tort

is

an infringement of an absolute

right

is

equally an affirmative
;

be seen, therefore, that an infringement of an absolute tort, whether the right itself be

affirmative or negative

and the reason

is

that the infringement

constitutes equally, in either case, an act of disobedience to a pro-

hibitory
1

command

of the State.

The only important

whose
;

difference

13 Harv. L. Rev. 659. The reader must not suppose

that a person

right has

been infringed can

sue the wrong-doer directly for the infringement for that would be to punish him for his wrongful act, and he can be punished, if at all, by the State alone. All that the
State regards the person wronged as entitled to is a compensation for the wrong, and such compensation it will compel the wrong-doer to make. For that purpose, however, a new right must be created, and, accordingly, the moment an obligation is broken or a tort committed, the law imposes upon the wrong-doer an obligation, in favor of the person wronged, to compensate him for the wrong, and it is upon this that the latter sues. Such rights are created solely for the sake of the remedy, and are, therefore,

commonly

called remedial rights.

It is scarcely

necessary to say that they do not

come

within the scope of this article.

240

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

between the two cases

is

that, in the case of

an affirmative

right,

the right exists independently of the

tive right, the right has

command, and the command

until the

issued merely to protect the right, while, in the case of a nega-

no existence

command

is

issued,

and
right

it

is

the prohibitory

command

alone that both creates the

and makes the act of infringement tortious. This difference between an affirmative and a negative right is attended with some important consequences,^ but they do not relate to the nature of the act which will constitute an infringement of the right. The State also commands every person within its limits to do every act which the State makes it his duty to do. Indeed, to command one to do a thing, and to make it his duty to do it, are one and the same thing, each necessarily implying the other. Moreover, as all duties are affirmative, all commands to do one's duty are also affirmative, and these are the only affirmative commands which the State issues. It follows, therefore, that, as every breach of duty is a negative tort, so every negative tort is a breach
of duty.'^

An
seems
rest

necessarily be an affirmative act;

to lie in the fact that
little

impression seems always to have prevailed that a tort must ^ and the explanation of this
duties and
their true nature

have

received so

attention.

Certainly, the impression appears to

upon no more

solid foundation, for

for regarding disobedience to

an affirmative

no reason can be given command as any less

tortious than disobedience to a negative

command.

At

all

events,

there

is

This

is

no doubt whatever that every breach of duty is a tort. conclusively proved by the fact that the only action that

had been attended to by the authors of the original copyand the Act had accordingly been so drawn as to revest in the authors of published books the affirmative right which they were supposed to have lost by publication, instead of a new negative right, i. e., the exclusive right of multiplying copies, some serious evils would have been avoided. See infra, p. 249. As the infringement of a private duty is a negative tort, so the infringement of a public duty is a negative crime as the former is redressed by means of an action of See Couch v. Steel, cited tort, so the latter is punished by means of an indictment.
1

If these consequences

right

Act

(8

Anne,

t. ig),

'^

ante, p. 225, u.
8

i.

Accordingly, an attempt has been

made

to give the breach of a duty the appear-

ance of an affirmative tort by terming

breach of any duty which

ing to another as a
trespass, nuisance,
fifth

is

Thus, Blackstone considers the imposed upon one person for the benefit of land belongit

a subtraction.

species of injury to real property (the first four being ouster,

treats of

and waste), and he

"

such breaches In B.

3,

v,.

15,

which

chapter

is entitled,

Of Subtraction."

tithes, of legacies, of conjugal rights,

So the canonists ^eak and of church rates.

of the subtraction of

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

will lie for

241
this

a breach of duty

is

the Action on the Case

and

again

is

not the least convincing proof of the correctness of the

view heretofore stated as to the legal nature of a duty, and as to the radical difference between a duty and an obligation.^ It also

phenomenon which has caused much difficulty to courts and lawyers, namely, that, in certain classes of actions, in which for example, the defendant has committed no affirmative wrong,
explains a

actions against
sons,

the

common

carriers, innkeepers, or professional per-

plaintiff often

has an option between framing his acIt also

tion in contract and in tort.

classes of torts

explains the fact that certain

be affirmative or negative, according as they for examconsist of affirmative acts or of mere breaches of duty ple, any tort committed by a tenant for life or for years as such, and this may against the owner of the reversion, is termed waste consist either of affirmative acts which injure the reversion {i. e., wilful or voluntary waste), or in a failure to perform the duty of keeping the property in as good a condition as it was in when it
; ;

may

first

came

into the tenant's possession

(?'.

e.,

involuntary or permis-

sive waste).

The infringement by an
sonal obligation incurred
right

obligor of the right created

by a

per-

by him

is

the only infringement of a

which does not constitute a tort, and hence it is distinguished all others by being termed simply a breach of obligation. Hence also the remedy, for it is not (as for the infringement of all other rights) an action ex delicto, but an action ex contractu. This seems to prove conclusively that the State is not supposed to comfrom

mand

the performance, of obligations.

It also

proves the existence

of the wide difference between obligations and duties which has

been herein contended

for.*

As

torts are affirmative or negative, according as the

commands
one being

which they

infringe are negative or

affirmative, the

the converse of the other, so breaches of obligation are negative or affirmative, according as the obligation the one being the converse of the other.
It remains to speak of the infringement of relative rights regarded as absolute rights. Such infringements always constitute affirmative torts * but they chiefly occur in connection with real obligations. Indeed, as real obligations consist merely in author;

is

affirmative or negative,

*
*

See supra, p. 225, n. i. See supra, pp. 224-25. See Lumley v. Gye, 2 El.

See supra, pp. 224-25.

v.

&

Bl.

216
16

Bowen

Hall, 6 Q. B. D. 333.

242

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

which the obligor (being an inanimate thing) has no power to prevent or even obstruct, it
izing something to be done, the doing of

may be
broken
;

correctly said that a real obligation

is

incapable of being

and, therefore, every infringement of the right created

it

by
is
is

a real obligation, whether

be by the owner of the

res,

which

subject to the obligation, or

necessarily an affirmative tort.
It

by a stranger

to the obligation,

has been seen that, in the case of personal obligations and

is

duties, the infringement of the right

precisely the converse of

the right

itself,

and, therefore,

will necessarily

know what
will

one knows what

one knows what the right is, he be an infringement of it; and, if be an infringement of the right, he will also
if

will

know what

the right itself

is.

An

infringement

is

not necessarily,
perfect.

indeed, coextensive with the right, but, so far as the infringement

goes, the correspondence between
it

and the right

i.

is

In

which the infringement of the right is an affirmative tort,^ the correspondence is not between the right and its infringement, but between the latter and a prohibitory command issued by the State for the protection of the right. While, therefore, the fact that an affirmative tort has been committed is sure proof that the act which constituted it had been prohibited, and also that the right which it infringed was neither an obligation of the person committing the act, nor a duty imposed upon him, it does not necessarily furnish any
the case of absolute rights, however,
e.,

in all cases in

further proof as to the nature or extent of the right infringed.

will the

Nor

most perfect knowledge of the nature and extent of a right, any infringement of which will be an affirmative tort, necessarily enable one to say what acts will, and what will not, constitute an
infringement of the right.
It

follows, therefore, that, in order to

determine, in a given case, whether an affirmative tort has or has

not been committed, it may be necessary, first, to identify the right which has been infringed (if there have been an infringement), and to ascertain its legal nature and extent, and, secondly, to ascertain whether the act which has been committed is an infringement of that right; and the accomplishment of the first of these objects may afford no material aid in accomplishing the second. There is also another reason why an affirmative tort is apt to
involve greater legal difficulty than a negative tort or a breach of
obligation, namely, that
infringed,
1

it

is

more

difficult to

identify the right

and ascertain
is,

its

legal nature
this.

and extent.

Obligations

There

however, one-exception to

See infra, pp. 248-49.

;;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

243

and duties are all of human creation, and it is the business of those who create them to mark out their extent and, if they neglect to do so, they are liable to be visited with the consequences of their negligence. Hence it seldom happens, when an obligation or duty is admitted to exist, that any question arises as to its extent and it is scarcely possible in the nature of things that any question should arise as to its identity. Persons and other corporeal things, on the other hand, exist in nature, and the rights to which they give rise have always and everywhere existed, and the State has seldom done more than passively recognize their existence. As to personal rights, the State does not, as has been seen,^ attempt to
;

enumerate, define, or limit them, nor even to ascertain their exist-

ence further than is from time to time found necessary for the purpose of protecting them. As to corporeal things, other than human beings, the State recognizes individual ownership of them, and, as to movable things, this seems to be all that is necessary but individual ownership of land implies a division of it among its different owners, and accordingly the State recognizes any division which the owners may make, and, if they cannot agree upon a division, the State itself makes the division and thus the lateral extent of each person's ownership may be definitely ascertained. But it is also necessary to ascertain how far the individual ownership of land extends vertically, and, as to that, the State has
;

it extends downwards to the centre of the and upwards to the heavens (usque ad calum)} and also that this is presumptively the vertical extent of the ownership of every person who owns the surface of a given piece of land, though the contrary may be proved. The State also permits an owner of land, as such, as we have seen, to acquire rights in the land of his neighbor, which rights the State declares to be accessory, appendant, or appurtenant to his ownership of his own land, and which are known in our law as easements and profits. Perhaps the reader will think there is nothing in the foregoing to cause any uncertainty or confusion in regard to rights of property in land, and perhaps also he will be right in so thinking. Unfortunately, however, uncertainty and confusion do exist upon this subject, whatever may be their cause, and it is hoped that the following observations will have a tendency to lessen them. First. Ownership of Blackacre (for example) constitutes only a

established the rule that

earth,

See sufra,

p. 220.

gge supra,

p. 221.

244

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

It

single legal right.

gives to the person in

may be said, indeed, that such ownership whom it is vested a right to do a great
means
that
it

variety of things, but that only

it

enables

him

to

do

them without committing a

tort,

and that

renders tortious any act

which prevents his doing them, or obstructs him in doing them and it is by virtue of the one right of ownership that any act done by the owner of Blackacre is rightful, which without such ownership would be tortious; and it is the same one right that is infringed by any act which is a tort to the owner of Blackacre as such, and which, in the absence of such ownership, would be rightful as against

him.

If, therefore, the owner of Blackacre has two or more which are liable to affect the legal relations between him as the owner of Blackacre and the owner of Whiteacre, which adjoins Blackacre, it is because he has one or more rights in Whiteacre, which rights are appendant or appurtenant to such Moreover, such rights must have been acquired either ownership. by the present owner of Blackacre, or by some preceding owner, and they can have been acquired only in two ways, namely, either by grant from a person who had the power to create the right, i. e., from the owner of Whiteacre, or by prescription, i. e., by enjoyment

Secondly.

rights,

so long continued as to be in law equivalent to a grant.

It follows, therefore, that

the so-called right of support from

adjoining land, whether for land or for buildings, has no existence

as a right separate and distinct from the ownership of the land or

buildings to be supported, unless

it

be a right

in the land

which

is

to give the support, and that such a right can exist only

by

a grant

from the owner of such land or by prescription. It also follows that the so-called right of support for land from adjoining land, whether the support be lateral or vertical, has no existence as a right
in the land

which
it

is

to give the support, as

all,

it

is

admitted that

such

right, if

exists at

exists independently of either grant

from the owner of such land or of prescription. It also seems to follow that the so-called right to support from adjoining land for buildings, whether the support be lateral or vertical, cannot exist,
that, as

except as a right in the land which is to give the support, and such a right, it cannot exist by prescription, unless the support enjoyed be such as would have enabled the owner of the land giving the support, prior to the acquisition of the right, to maintain an action for an affirmative tort, and that is something

which practically never happens.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

245

It also follows that there is no such thing as the ownership of a stream of water which flows over one's land, or of that part of it which flows over one's land, separate from the ownership of the

land of which

it

forms a part, though there

may be

a right in the

land of one's neighbor, in respect of such stream, and such right

may

consist (for

example)
its

either in a right to prevent the natural

flow of the stream from the land above to one's

right to prevent

own

land, or in a

regular and natural flow from one's

own

land to

the land below.-'

While, however, the ownership of Blackacre constitutes only one

legal right, yet that right
just in

been seen,

for

may be infringed in many ways. It has example, that such ownership enables the person

whom it is vested to do a variety of acts, and it may now be added that the State forbids any other person either to do any of those acts, or to obstruct the owner in doing any of them, and any disobedience of this command will, of course, be an affirmative tort committed against the owner of Blackacre as such. Suppose, and B are adjoining owners of land, and then, makes an excavation in his land, and thereby causes the soil of B to fall

into the excavation.

Does

A thereby infringe

B's right of owner-

ship?

It is clear,
is

both upon principle and authority,^ that he does.

Clearly,
it is

What

the nature of the tort which he commits?

regit ; for,

though he does not personally f enter B's close, yet the physical effect of his act extends into it, and thus produces important consequences. Suppose A, by means of artificial support, prevents B's soil from falling into the excavation? Then A commits no tort; and this proves, if proof be needed, that B has no right in A's land. Suppose the excavation produces no effect upon B's land for two years, but at the end of two years
trespass quare clausum

B's soil

falls

into the excavation

is

It is settled

by the highest
and
first

authority^ that the whole tort

committed

at the latter date,

consequently that the Statute of Limitations then

begins to

Wright V. Howard, i Sim. & Stu. 190 Mason v. Hill, 3 B. & Ad. 304, Gale on Easements, Part 3, u. 4, s. 1, of the 6th and 7th eds., and Part
;

idem

i.

i, c. 6, s.

4,

subs.
'

of the previous eds.

v.

Bonomi

Backhouse, E. B.

&

E. 622, 646, 9 H. L. Cas. 503.

The decision of this

J.,

case in the Queen's Bench was in the defendant's favor, Wightman,

dissenting; but,

on error to the Exchequer Chamber, the judgment was unanimously reversed. On error to the House of lords, the judges were summoned, and they delivered their unanimous opinion in favor of affirming the judgment of the Exchequer Chamber, and for the reasons given by that court. The House itself also took the same view, and, therefore, the judgment was unanimously affirmed.

246
run

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

in favor

of

and

this

proves that the tort consists, not in

in

causing B's soil to fall into it, and consequently that the right infringed is B's ownership of his own land, and not any right of his in A's land.

making the excavation, but

Suppose the surface of certain land belongs

to

A, while

all

the

minerals under the surface belong to B, or that the upper part of

a house belongs to A, while the lower part belongs to B, and

so

conducts his mining as to cause A's

It

soil to sink,

or so conducts
fall ?

the repairs of his part of the house as to cause A's part to

must be regarded

as settled

to

in either case

and yet

it

by authority ^ that B will be liable is assumed that A has acquired no

;

right in B's part of the land, nor in his part of the house,

by

reservation, grant, or prescription

and, therefore,

that the causing of the surface of the land to sink,

whether must follow or of the upper

it

part of the house to

fall, is

a tort to A's right of ownership.

;

It

seems also to be so upon principle for, if the State is to permit so artificial and inconvenient a division of land or houses to be made between different owners, it must, in all reason, afford some protection to one who owns the surface only of land, or the upper part only of a house and, therefore, the State is supposed to forbid the owner of the minerals, in the first case, to do anything which shall cause the surface of the land to sink, and to forbid the owner of the lower part of the house, in the second case, to do anything which shall cause the upper part to fall. It seems also that the State is supposed to impose upon the owner of the lower part of the house the duty of keeping it in such a state of repair that it will afford a sufficient support for the upper part. Suppose A and B are adjoining owners of land, and B builds a house on his land extending to the boundary line between B and A, makes an excavation in his land, but leaves a space and then between the excavation and the boundary line which would have been sufficient to prevent B's soil in its natural state from falling, but which proves ihsufficient to support the land with the house on it, and consequently the house falls? It is generally admitted^ that is not to be regarded as having caused B's house to fall,
;

Humphries

v.

Brogden, 12 Q. B. 739, and see

Rowbotham

v.

Wilson, 8 H. L. Cas.

348.

However, in Angus v. Dalton, 6 A. C. 740, 804, Lord Penzance said " If tliis matwere res integra, I think it would not be inconsistent with legal principles to hold, that where an owner of land has used his land for an ordinary and reasonable purpose, such as placing a house upon it, the owner of the adjacent soil could not be allowed so to deal with his own soil by excavation as to bring his neighbor's house to the ground."
^
:

ter

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

24;

and so has not infringed B's right of ownership, and, therefore, that he is not hable to B, unless the latter has acquired by prescription or grant a right in the land of A to have his house supported by and it seems to be clear upon principle that no such right it; can be acquired by prescription, unless it can be shown that the
pressure of the house, prior to the acquisition of the right, caused such a disturbance of A's soil as to render B liable in trespass

but

cannot be asserted upon authority the owner of Blackacre have rights in Whiteacre, which adjoins If Blackacre, and the owner of Whiteacre commit an affirmative tort against the owner of Blackacre, how shall it be ascertained whether
this

.^

the right infringed

is the ownership of Blackacre, or some right has in Whiteacre? By ascertaining whether which such owner and this the tort was committed on Blackacre or on Whiteacre
;

depends, not upon

done, but where
consist in
it

where the act which constitutes the tort was produced its tortious effect. Thus, if the tort
in

making soap on Whiteacre, or

fertilizer,

manufacturing thereon

bones into a

or in burning bricks thereon, or in fouling the

water of a stream which flows through Whiteacre, and thence into Blackacre, and sending it into Blackacre in its foul condition, or in making a dam in a stream which flows from Blackacre into Whiteacre,
is

and thereby flooding Blackacre,

is is

in

each of these cases,

it

plain that, while the tortious act

tortious effect
is

its

committed on Whiteacre, yet produced wholly on Blackacre, and hence the

right infringed
if

the ownership of Blackacre.

On

the other hand,

the tort consist in erecting a house on Whiteacre

by which the
is

access of light and air to ancient windows on

Blackacre

ob-

1 Angus V. Dalton, 3 Q. B. D. 85, 4 idem 162, 6 A. C. 740. In this case, it was finally held that a right to lateral support from adjoining land may be acquired by twenty years' uninterrupted enjoyment for a building proved to have been newly built, or altered so as

to increase the lateral pressure, at the beginning of that time

if
it

and that it is so acquired

the enjoyment

is

peaceable, and without deception or concealment, and so open that

is

There was, howby the judges, and still more in the reasons by which they supported them. In the Queen's Bench Division, one judge was for the plaintiff and two for the defendant in the Court of Appeal, two for the plaintiff and one And, though the judges who delivered opinions in the House of for the defendant.

must be known that some support

being enjoyed by the building.

ever,

much

diversity in the views expressed

Lords agreed substantially in their conclusions, yet they differed greatly in their reasons, and one of them (Lord Justice Fry), while holding himself bound by the authorities to declare his opinion in favor of the plaintiff, yet also declared the rule, which he conceived to be established by those authorities, to be absurd and irrational, and one member of the House (Lord Penzance) entirely agreed with him. These circumstances do not, indeed, derogate from the authority of the decision within the United Kingdom, but elsewhere it is conceived that they ought to affect its authority very materially.

248

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

way which
;

structed, or in obstructing a

the owner of Blackacre has

over Whiteacre,
act
is

it is

plain that the tortious effect of the wrongful

produced on Whiteacre

and, therefore, the right infringed

first

is

the easement of light and air in the

and the right of way in the second case.^ In the second case, also, the owner of Whiteacre, if he wishes to contest the right claimed by the owner of Blackacre, may, instead of obstructing the way, sue the owner of Blackacre for trespass quare clausum fregit ; and then the owner of Blackacre will have to set up as a defence the right of way which he claims. In case of some easements, moreover, this is the only course open to the owner of Blackacre. Thus, in the case just put
case,

of fouling the water of a stream, as well as in that of erecting a

dam

across a stream in Whiteacre, and thereby flooding Blackacre,

the owner of Blackacre has no means of preventing the act which

he claims to be wrongful, and, therefore,

course open to him
is

if

he wishes to contest

the right of the owner of Whiteacre to do as he has done, the only

to sue the latter, and thus

compel him

to set

up

as a defence the right

which he claims.
things differs, in respect to
foi-

The ownership
infringed only
;

of incorporeal

its

infringement, from that of corporeal things,

the former can be

enjoyment of the how many and what ways such a right can be infringed, one must ascertain in how many and what ways it can be enjoyed. The common law right of an author in his literary creations furnishes a good illustration of this. An ordinary literary composition can be enjoyed by its author to his profit in only one way, namely, by printing and selling copies
interfering with the owner's

by

thing owned

and, therefore, in order to ascertain in

of

it

and, therefore,

it is

only by multiplying copies of

it

without

the author's leave that his right can

be infringed.
it

The author of
to his profit in

a dramatic composition may, however, enjoy

another way, namely, by producing

his right

it

on the stage, and, therefore,

position, or

is

by multiplying copies of his comon the stage, without his leave. There is, moreover, one species of incorporeal ownership which like a relative right in this respect, that it can be infringed in
infringed either
it

may be

by producing

1 These distinctions were lost sight of by Sir L. Shadwell, V. C, in delivering his judgment in Sutton v. Lord Montfort, 4 Sim. 559, 564; for while the case before him was one of obstructing an easement of light, and while the question he was considering was one which could arise only in cases in which the right infringed was an easement or other incorporeal right, yet he referred to the case of the owner of Whiteacre committing a nuisance against Blackacre, by making soap or grinding bones, as in point.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

249

one way only, and that its infringement is precisely the converse of the right itself, namely, a monopoly or exclusive right granted by the State, i. e., a negative absolute right for, as such a right consists merely in the power to prevent any one else from doing what
;

the grantee of the monopoly has the exclusive right to do,

it is

only

by doing something
monopoly
is

to

which the monopoly extends that the right

In this respect, therefore, a

of such grantee can be infringed.

strictly

analogous to a negative personal obligation.

By

incurring a negative obligation, the obligor deprives himself of

;

the right to do something as between himself and the obligee

by
its

granting a monopoly the State deprives

limits,

all

persons within

except the grantee of the monopoly, of the right to do somer thing as between them and such grantee. For example, a copyright is simply a monopoly of the right of multiplying copies of a
it is no infringement of an author's copyright in a published drama to produce such drama on the stage. It follows, therefore, that a copyright in a published drama is by

printed book; and, therefore,

no means equal, even while it right in an unpublished drama.

the right which the
title
^

lasts,

to an author's

common

law

Of

course, the State might have

revested in the authors of published books, for a limited period,

it

declared them to have lost

by

publication,

and

of the original copyright act 2 indicates that the legislature which passed it supposed that that was what it was doing but
;

all

that the act really did was to vest in authors of published

books

the exclusive right of multiplying copies of

them

and a conse-

quence was
the stage.

that, for

more than

a century,* the publication of a

drama deprived its author of all exclusive right of producing it on Another consequence was, that it required two statutes, and the creation of two rights, to replace, for a limited period, the one common law right which the author of a drama was held to have lost by publishing the drama. It may be further remarked

common law only because of their limited duration, but also because they do not extend beyond the limits of the State which creates
right, not

that the two statutory rights are inferior to the one

them, while the

1

common

law right

is

good everywhere.

"

An

in the
2

Act for the encouragement of learning, by vesting the copies of printed books authors or purchasers of such copies, during the times therein mentioned."

8 Anne, c. 19 (1709). " Shall have the sole right and liberty of printing such book and books for the term
S.
I.

of," etc.
*

Namely, in England, until 1833, when 3 & 4 Will. IV. c. 15, was passed; United States, until the passage of the Act of 1856, c. 169. 11 Stats. 138.

in the

250

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

torts

There are some affirmative

which are clearly infringements

of rights of property, but which consist, not in injuring anything

which belongs to another, but in wrongfully depriving another of something which belongs to him, or in wrongfully intercepting something which would otherwise come to another, and yet under such circumstances that the person injured cannot be restored to what he has thus been wrongfully deprived of, and, therefore, he must content himself with a compensation in money, i. e., damages. In such cases, therefore, while the tort is clearly to property, yet it is not a tort to any particular thing, nor has it properly any relation to any particular thing. It is, therefore, a tort to the estate
of the person injured in the aggregate,
estate (as the

to the universitas of his

it

Romans
poorer.

called

it),

consisting, as

does, in

making

him

so

much

Of

this description are

many

species of

fraud, for example, the so-called infringement of a trade-mark, or

of good-will,

which

consists in wrongfully

and fraudulently de-

priving another person of customers whose patronage he would

otherwise have received.

In
all

such cases,

it is

very important that

it

be clearly underfor,

stood that the tort

is

not to any specific thing;

otherwise,

danger of deceiving himself as to the nature of the right injured, of persuading himself, indeed, that the injury is to a right which in truth has no existence. Thus, in cases of infringement of trade-mark or good-will, it has often happened that, as it was assumed that some specific thing must be injured, so it was concluded that a trade-mark or good-will is a species of incorporeal property, a notion which clearly has no solid foundawill

one

be

in

There may, indeed, be other reasons for the notion than the one just stated. For example, it has been found convenient to apply to trade-marks the nomenclature which had become familiar in connection with patent rights and copyrights, and the practice of doing so has suggested and made plausible the idea that the former were analogous to the two latter. So, also, trade-marks and good-will have often been spoken of and treated as proper subjects of purchase and sale. It is, however, only by a figure of speech that either of these can be said to be purchased or sold, and what is called a purchase and sale of a trade-mark or good-will is in truth only a contract, by which (for example) the so-called seller agrees to retire from business, and to introduce the socalled purchaser to his former customers and to the public as his
tion.

successor.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

What
it

251

in

has thus far been said of rights and their infringeme;it has no element of equity. The rights which have been described may be defined as original and independent rights, and equity has no voice either in the creation of such rights or in deciding in whom they are vested. Equity cannot, therefore, create personal rights which are unknown to the law nor can it say that a thing, which by law has no owner, is a subject of ownership, nor that a thing belongs to A which by law belongs to B nor can it create an obligation or impose a duty which by law does not exist nor can it declare that a right arising from an obligation is assignable, if by law it is not assignable. To say that equity can do any of these things would be to say that equity is a separate and independent system of law, or that it is superior to law. If there is no element of equity in a given right, neither is there any in the infringement of that right for what is an infringement of a right depends entirely upon the extent of the right. If, therefore, equity could declare that a right has been infringed when by law it has not, it would thus enlarge the right of one man, and
;

curtail that of another.

When, however,
question,
it

it

is

said that equity has

no voice

in a

given

must not be

inferred that a judge sitting in equity has

no such
called

voice.

An

law that a

common

equity judge administers the same system of law judge does and he is therefore constantly
;

upon to decide legal questions. It, accordingly, sometimes happens that courts of equity and courts of common law declare
the law differently; and a consequence of this

may

be that courts

of equity

will

recognize a certain right which courts of

;

common

law refuse to recognize

recognized
treat

but

it

does not follow that the right thus

is properly an equitable right. So courts of equity may an act as an infringement of a legal right, which courts of common law treat as rightful but it does not follow that such an act is properly an equitable tort. well-known instance of such an act is found in what is commonly called equitable waste. For example, if a tenant for life, without impeachment of waste, cut down ornamental trees, or pull down houses, a court of equity says he has committed waste, while a court of common law says he has
;

not.

Either court

may be wrong, and one

of them must be

for

the question depends entirely upon the legal effect to be given to

the words, " without

impeachment of waste," and that cannot depend upon the kind of court in which the question happens to arise. Yet the practical consequence of this diversity of views is,

252

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

that there

remedy
is

in equity against the tenant in the case

none at law; and this gives to the tenant the semblance of being an equitable tort. however, the act is a legal tort, if the view taken by equity is correct, while it is a rightful act, if the view
supposed, while there
courts of

the act of

In truth,
courts of

taken by

common
in

law

is

correct.

As
rights

legal rights

have

have in them no element of equity, so equitable them no element of law. In short, legal rights and
its

equitable rights are entirely separate and distinct from each other,

each having a source and origin of

the creatures of the law,
ble rights, and
in the
is
i. e.,

own,

legal rights being

of the State, and equitable rights be-

ing the creatures of equity.

What

then

is

the nature of equita-

how

can equitable rights and legal rights coexist

same State?

This question suggests another, namely, what

the nature of equity, and

how can law and

equity coexist in the

same State?

As law

is

the creature of the State, so equity was

supreme executive of the State, i. e., of the king. What then was the power of the king which enIt may be answered that he had abled him to create equity? in him the sole judicial authority, as well as the sole executive power, but none of the legislative power (i. e., he could not alone exercise any portion of the latter). By virtue of his judicial power, he had entire control over procedure, so long as the legislaand this it was that enabled him to create ture did not interfere equity. As he had no legislative power, he could not impart to his decisions in equity any legal effect or operation, but when he had, by the exercise of his judicial authority, rendered a decision
originally the creature of the
;

in equity in favor of a plaintiff,

he could enforce

it

by exerting
i.

his

executive power against the person of the defendant,

e.,

he could compel the defendant to do, or to refrain from doing, whatever he had by his decision directed him to do or to refrain from doing. The subject must, however, be examined a little more closely. The cases in which equity assumes jurisdiction over controversies between litigants may be divided into two great classes, namely,
those in which a plaintiff seeks relief in equity respecting
legal claim

some

which he makes against the defendant, and those in which he makes no such claim. In the first class of cases, the ground upon which equity takes jurisdiction is that the plaintiff either can obtain no relief at all at law, or none which is adequate
and, therefore, so far as regards this class of cases, equity consists

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

merely
in a different

253

mode
i.
;

of giving relief from that employed

in a different

by

courts of

common

law,

.?.,

mode

of protecting and

enforcing legal rights

and, therefore, the exercise of this branch

for.
of.

of the jurisdiction has already been sufficiently accounted

The
It

other class of cases, however,

is

not so easily disposed

may

be divided into those

right whatever, and those in

a defence to

some

legal

in which the plaintiff sets up no legal which the only legal right he sets up is claim which the defendant makes against
first

him.

In cases belonging to the

subdivision, equity interferes

upon the ground

remedial law)

that the substantive law (and not merely the

In cases is inadequate to the purposes of justice. belonging to the second subdivision, equity interferes upon the ground that justice requires that the plaintiff should be permitted
to take the initiative in the litigation,

and procure a decision of the

controversy in a suit brought by himself, instead of being compelled to wait the pleasure of the defendant in suing

him

at law,

and then to

set

up

his defence.

In one important particular, how-

two subdivisions are alike, namely, which they impose upon equity of creating a new right in the plaintiff's favor; for no action or suit can be maintained in any court without some right upon which to found it. Moreover, such right must consist of a claim to be enforced against the defendant, and not merely of the means of defeating a claim which the defendant makes against the plaintiff, i. e., of a
ever, cases belonging to these
in the necessity

defence.

How
not

then

is

the difficulty to be met?

In early times, prob-

ably, the difficulty itself

felt at all, it

was not much

in

felt.

Perhaps, indeed,

it

was
the

not being perceived that the king could properly

issue judicial

commands only

support of some right.

At

present day, however, the question whether any given action or

must be answered in one of three ways, namely, first, by showing some right in the plaintiff on which the suit can rest secondly, by saying that it will not lie or, thirdly, by saying it and the cases in which the plaintiff asserts no legal is an anomaly claim against the defendant are too numerous to be disposed of in
suit will lie
;
;

that way.

Can equity then

for the
it

create such rights as

it

finds to

be necessary

purposes of justice?

As

equity wields only physical power,

It

seems to be impossible that it should actually create anything. seems, moreover, to be impossible that there should be any
/. e.,

other actual rights than such as are created by the State,

legal

254
rights.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

So, too,
if

equity could create actual rights, the existence

of rights so created would have to be recognized by every court of

justice within the State;

and yet no other court than a court of

equity will admit the existence of any right created

It

by

equity.

seems, therefore, that equitable rights exist only in contemplai. e.,

tion of equity,

that they are a fiction invented

Still,

by equity

for

the promotion of justice.

rights

as in contemplation of equity such

do

exist,

equity must reason

upon them and deal with them

as

if

they had an actual existence.

Shutting our eyes then to the fact that equitable rights are a

and assuming them to have an actual existence, what is what their extent, and what is the field which they occupy? I. They must not violate the law. 2. They must follow the analogy of one or more classes of legal rights. 3. There is no exclusive field for them to occupy; for the entire field is occupied by legal rights. Legal and equitable rights must, therefore, exist side by side, and the latter cannot interfere with, or in any manner affect, the former. 4. They must be such as can be enforced by the exercise of physical power in personam ; for, as equity has no other means of enforcing rights, it would be in vain for it to create rights which could not be so enforced. 5. Propositions one and four prove that no equitable rights can be created, even by way of fiction, in analogy to either class of absolute rights, nor in analogy to real obligations and, though expressions are often met with which seem to indicate the contrary, yet they must be regarded as mere figures of speech. 6. All equitable rights must, therefore, be in the nature either of personal obligations or of duties. 7. Equitable rights clearly constitute but one class, and, therefore, they must all be classed either as personal obligations or as duties. 8. They bear some analogy to duties but more to personal obligations and, therefore, they must be classed as equitable personal obligations. They are analogous to duties in this respect, namely, that, as duties will be imposed whenever the
fiction,

their nature,

impose them, so equitable rights will be created, herein-before and herein-after stated, whenever equity finds it necessary to create them. In all other respects, however, they are analogous to personal obligations. 9. There is no division of equitable obligations answering to the diviState sees
fit

to

subject to the limitations

obligations into those which are ex contractu and those which are ex lege ; for a contract always produces a legal
sion of legal
obligation.

Therefore,

all

equitable obligations

may

be said to be

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

ex
csquitate.

255

10.

An

equitable obligation cannot impose a gen-

eral personal liability

upon the

obligor, as that
,

would be

in viola-

tion of law.

Therefore, while a covenant by a purchaser of land

with his vendor, that no building shall ever be erected on the land
other than a dwelling-house, will bind in equity
all

subsequent

owners of the land until it comes into the hands of a purchaser for value and without notice of the covenant, yet a covenant by such purchaser with his vendor, that a dwelling-house shall be erected on the land, within a specified time, at a cost of ;^ 10,000, will bind no one in equity whom it will not bind at law.^ ii. An equitable obligation, therefore, can bind the obligor only in respect of some right vested in him; and, therefore, every right created by an equitable obligation is derived from, and dependent upon, some Moreover, every original equiother right vested in the obligor. table right is derived from, and dependent upon, a legal right vested In short, every equitable right is derived, either in the obligor. mediately or immediately, from a legal right and, while an indefinite number of equitable rights may be derived from one legal right, yet they will all be dependent upon that one legal right. It is not, however, all legal rights that can be the subjects of Only those can be so which are alienable equitable obligations. in their nature. Of absolute rights, therefore, none of those which are personal can ever be the subjects of equitable obligations, while nearly all rights which consist in ownership can be the subjects of such obligations. Relative rights can generally be the equitable obligations, but not always. For example, subjects of some rights arising from real obligations are inseparably annexed to the ownership of certain land, and, therefore, are not alienable by themselves. So, also, some rights arising from personal obligations are so purely personal to the obligee as to be obviously inalienable. It is only necessary to mention, as an extreme case, the right arising from a promise to marry. If a legal right is capable of being the subject of an equitable obligation, the power of equity to impose an obligation upon the owner of it as such is subject to one limitation only, namely, that which is imposed by law. Under what circumstances, then, can
;

an equitable obligation be imposed upon the owner of a legal right

as such without violating the law?
1

Whenever the owner of the

Tulk
S.

V.

Moxhay,
R. Co.
V.

z Ph. 774

Haywood

v.

L.

&

W.

Gomm,

20 Ch. D. 562, 582, 586, 587

Brunswick Building Soc, 8 Q. B. D. 403 Austerberry v. Oldham,

;

29 Ch. D. 750.

2S6

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it by way of gift, but not for his own benefit, or by fraud or other wrong, or has received it by way of gift, or without payment of value, from one who was himself bound by an equitable obligation respecting it, or has received it

right has received

it

has obtained

for value from a person so bound, but with notice that the latter was so bound. So, also, if the owner of a legal right incur a legal

obligation respecting

it,

equity can, subject to the qualification

all

stated in proposition ten, enforce that obligation against

subse-

quent owners of the right, until the latter reaches the hands of a purchaser for value and without notice. So, also, if the owner of
a right has incurred a legal obligation to transfer
it

to another,

and everything has been done, and all things have happened, necessary to transfer the right, if it were equitable, equity will treat the right as having passed in equity, though not at law, and, therefore, will impose upon its owner an obligation to hold it for the
benefit of the legal obligee.

By

an unfortunate anomaly

it is

also

now held

that the

owner of

a legal right may,

by

mere declaration

in writing to that effect,

incur an equitable obligation respecting that right in favor of a person between whom and himself there has been no previous relaThis is as tion, and from whom he receives no consideration.^

much

in violation
it is

of law as the case mentioned in proposition ten.

enforcing an agreement which has no con-

Moreover,
If

in effect
it.

sideration to support

convey land to B, and the conveyance be expressed to be in money paid by B to A, but in fact the money was paid as a loan, and not as the price of the land, the inference will be irresistible that the conveyance was made merely to secure the repayment of the money lent; and, therefore, the moment the conveyance is made, B will incur an equitable obligation to hold the
consideration of

land for A's benefit, subject to his

If land

own

rights as A's creditor,

i. e.,

there will be a resulting trust in favor of the debtor.

be conveyed by a debtor to his creditor upon a condition title conveyed shall revest in the debtor on his paying the debt on a day named, or upon an agreement by the debtor to reconvey the land on payment of the debt on a day named, and the day be permitted to pass without paysubsequent, namely, that the

ment, equity
lost,

will,

the

moment

that the debtor's legal right

is

thus

impose an obligation upon the creditor to reconvey the land

Lewin on Trusts (loth

ed.) 68.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

upon being paid
;

257

gation will continue in force

" principal, interest, and costs and this obli" till equity itself puts an end to it.
this is that the

The

principle

upon which equity does

still

debtor has
equity

lost his legal right as a penalty for not

paying the debt on the day

if

named, that the debt

remains unpaid, and, therefore,

does not interfere, the debtor, having lost his land, will also be compelled to pay the debt, if he have the means of doing so, in which event he will receive nothing for his land. It may be ob-

jected that equity here violates the legal rights of the creditor by

converting a penalty, agreed upon between the parties, into a mere

security for the

objection comes too late, for equity has in this

against
all

payment of a debt; but the answer is manner

and
its

that the relieved

penalties from the earliest times,

action in that

by the legislature. For example, by the common law the obligor in a bond, who failed to pay on the day named in the bond, became in consequence liable to pay twice the amount of the original debt, but equity would always restrain an action to recover the penalty on payment of " principal, interest, and costs " and the interference of equity in this way was not only acquiesced in, but its view was adopted by the legislature, and became statute law, more than two hundred years ago.^ If payment of a debt be secured by a pledge of the debtor's property, and also by the obligation of a personal surety, and the surety pay the debt, equity will compel the creditor to deliver the
respect has been acquiesced in
;

legal right to receive

,

pledge to him, and not to the debtor, though the latter has a clear it, the debt being paid and extinguished i. e.,
;

equity destroys the legal right of the debtor, and converts the
creditor into a
trustee
is

for

the surety.

This

is

theory that the debt

him, and that he
of the debt.
is,

not paid

by the

surety, but

is

done upon the purchased by

moreover,

therefore, entitled to the pledge as an incident

is

This, however,
;

only a

fiction,

fiction,

which
tion,

is

contrary to law

for the

Equity does this and perhaps her best justification is that she borrowed both the name and the thing from the civil law. Equity has, moreover, followed the civil law in carrying the doctrine of subrogation still
guishes the debt.
'

payment by the surety extinunder the name of subroga-

further

for

it

permits a surety

who

has paid the creditor, and thus

extinguished the debt, to recover a

full

and that too on the theory that the debt

1

indemnity from the debtor, still remains due from

Namely, by 8

&

9 Will.
17

III. c. 11, s. 8.

258
the

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

latter,

and that the surety

is

enforcing the

rights

of the

creditor.

In

all

the foregoing cases the obligation imposed

is

by equity upon

the owner of a legal right

affirmative,

i.

e., it is

an obligation to

hold the legal right for the benefit of the equitable obligee, in

whole or
of equity

in part.
is

There are cases, however,

in

which the object

not to compel the owner of a legal right to hold the

same
ing
it

for the benefit of another,

but to restrain him from exercisis

for his

own

benefit;

and, whenever that

the case, the

if

obligation imposed will of course be negative.

Thus,

a debtor

fraudulently procure from his creditor a release of the debt, or pro-

cure such release for a consideration which he afterwards refuses

impose upon him an obligaby the creditor to recover the debt. So equity will impose upon a defendant to an action or suit an obligation not to use a defence which will prevent a trial of the case upon its merits, or by which the course of justice will otherwise be obstructed. So, if a legal claim be of such a nature that it may be the subject of an indefinite number of actions, and if it has already been litigated sufficiently to satisfy the purposes of justice, equity will impose upon the unsuccessful party an obligation not to prosecute the claim furor
fails to

pay or perform, equity

will

tion not to use the release as a defence to an action or suit

ther, or not to resist

it

further, as the case

may

be.-'
it

When
turn

an equitable right has once been created,

a

may

in its

become the subject of

new

equitable right,
it,

i. e., its

may
that
;

incur an equitable obligation in respect to

just

owner as the owner

of a legal right

may

incur an equitable obligation in respect to

and

this process

may go on

indefinitely,

right
right,

becoming
and
all

in its turn the subject of still

each new equitable another equitable

the equitable rights being derived from the

first

same

legal right, the

immediately, the others mediately.

be classed as obligations rather than as duties, it will follow that infringements of such rights are to be regarded as breaches of obligation. Perhaps, however, it is not very material whether they be regarded as breaches of obligation or as equitable torts for, whether they be the one or the other, it seems that the relief which equity will give will be the sanie. For
If equitable rights are to
;

The

to defend one's self against

relate

and the right an action, seem to be personal rights. If they are not, they See Holto procedure, and hence do not come within the scope of this article.
rights mentioned in the text, namely, the right to bring an action,
2, c. 15.

land, Jurisprudence, Part

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY

right,

JURISDICTION.

259

equity never gives damages for an infringement of an equitable

instead,

but makes the wrong-doer a debtor to the person wronged and proceeds upon the theory of compelling the former to

restore to the latter

tion in

what he has lost, or to place him in the situawhich he would have been if the wrong had not been committed.

ARTICLE

XL*

Equitable Conversion.

THE word
sitive.

" conversion " (conversio)

is

derived immediately from

in turn

the Latin verb convertere, which

Vertere

is

compounded

of

the prefix con- and vertere.

means
it

literally to

turn or turn

round, and, like our verb " turn,"

it is

As

a transitive verb, however,

the nature or form of a thing, and

variety of connections
;

it is

both transitive and intranmeans also to change used in this sense in a great
often
it is

and,

when

so used,

mutare.

So, too, our transitive verbs "turn" and

convertere, especially

synonymous with "change" are

transitively,

often used synonymously.

The compound verb

when used

has practically the same meaning as the simple verb, the prefix

having little, if any, other effect than that of adding emphasis to the simple verb. The simple verb vertere, as well as most of its derivatives,^ has been wholly rejected by us, but its numerous compounds, in their transitive signification, and their derivatives have not only been generally adopted, but are in constant use, and full of life and vigor and this is true of convertere and conversio. The latter is a verbal

noun or noun of
action expressed

action,

/'.

e., it

is

by the verb

convertere.

means

to turn or turn round, the

name given to the act or Thus, when the verb noun means the act or action of
the
in logic, a proposition
is

turning or turning round.

Harv.
Rev.

For example,
i.

i8

L.

Verse, versatile, versatility, and version are exceptions.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

said to be converted
ject

261
its

when

its

terms are transposed, so that

its

sub-

becomes

its

predicate, and

predicate

becomes

its

subject
is

and the act of thus transposing the terms of a given proposition

called the conversion of that proposition.

Hence

also the con-

verse of a given proposition

is

the

the same proposition with

act of

its

terms transposed.

same proposition converted, i. e., So, too, when-

ever the verb means to change the form or nature of a thing, the

making the change is called a conversion. Such a converin two ways, one of which may be termed direct, the other indirect. It may be made directly, either by the operation of natural laws, as when water is converted into ice by freezing weather, or by artificial means, as when cotton, flax, or wool is converted into cloth by the processes of spinning and weaving, and when iron is converted into steel by any of the processes employed for that purpose. So also land may be converted directly into a chattel by the physical act of severing a portion of the earth from the general mass, as where ore is dug from a mine. A conversion may be made indirectly by exchanging one thing for another, as when land is converted into money by selling the land, and thus receiving money in exchange for it, or (what is still more indirect) when land is converted into railway shares by selling the land for money, and then investing the money in railway shares.
sion

may be made

Of these two
It is

kinds of conversion,

it is

chiefly of the indirect that

the law takes cognizance.

obvious that every exchange of one thing for another

is

bilateral or two-sided transaction, as

every exchange of

money

for

land (for example)

is also an exchange of land for money. Moreexchange commonly has its origin in a bilateral or over, such an mutual contract, between the two parties to the exchange, to make

such exchange.

Sometimes, however, the c6ntract

the parties only binds himself to

is

only unilateral,

i. e.,

one of

make

the exchange, the other

it is

having an option to make

it

or not, until

actually made.-'

An

be made without any previous contract of any kind, i. e., the parties may arrange together the terms on which they will make the exchange, and then make it without either one's binding himself to make it. It is in this way that a tradesman commonly sells goods by retail over the counter. So when the owner of property creates a right in another person to have propalso
1

exchange may

See

infra, p. 269.

262

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

erty sold to satisfy a lien or charge thereon, but the sale can be

made only under a decree of a court of equity, it is necessarily made without any previous contract. To be sure, there are commonly all the forms of a sale by auction, but these forms do not
create a contract.

What

the buyer relies

relies

of the court, and the court

upon

its

upon is the good faith power to compel the

latter is

buyer to perform
binding.

his promise,

although the

not legally

For the present purpose, however, it may be assumed that every exchange is preceded by a bilateral contract to make the exchange.
In order, however, that such a contract

may

result in an actual

one of the parties to the contract must, at the time of making the exchange, be the owner of one of the things to be exchanged, and the other must be the owner of the other, or, if either of them be not such owner, he must be fully authorized by the owner to make the exchange. The owner of a thing may authorize another person to exchange it for something else, either by conferring upon him a power to make the exchange,
exchange,
it is

plain that

by make
or
is

vesting in

him the

legal title to the thing, with authority to

the exchange, and, in either case, he

may

confer merely an
it

to be made. It one of these two modes that an authority or direction is always given by a will to sell or purchase land. A mere authority to sell or purchase land, whether given by will or otherwise, has little to do with equitable conversion, while a direction by will to do either gives rise to some of the most important questions which the subject of

authority to
in

make

the exchange, or he

may

direct

equitable conversion involves.

will to sell or

As, therefore, a direction given

by

purchase land is always attended with two peculiarities, it is important that these peculiarities be carefully attended In respect to these peculiarities, moreover, there is no differto. ence between a direction to sell or buy land and a mere authority to do so.

The

first

of these peculiarities
that, at the

is

that such a direction does not

;

take effect for any purpose whatever until the testator's death
the second
is

moment

of the testator's death,

all

his

property devolves upon some one

will,

else, either

by the

effect of his

or

by operation of

law, and consequently the land

which a
;

testator has directed to be sold will, at the

moment

of his death,
else

descend to his

heir, unless

he has devised

it

to

some one

and

Sheddon

v.

Goodrich, i8 Ves. 481

Hooper

v.

Goodwin, 18 Ves.

156.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the
will, at

263

money with which a testator the moment of his death,

is

has directed land to be purchased

devolve upon his executor for the
it it

benefit of his next of kin, unless he has bequeathed

to

some one
devolve

who

not his next of kin, and,

in

the latter case,

will

upon the executor

for the benefit of the legatee.

As, therefore,

the sale or purchase of land directed

place until sometime after his death,
it

by

a testator cannot take

land to be sold, or the

money

cannot take place until the with which land is to be purchased,

has completely changed ownership in the manner just stated.

When,

therefore, a testator directs a sale or purchase of land after

he directs a sale of land which will not then be his, or a purchase of land with money which will not then be his, and hence the question at once arises whether the direction is valid. Before
his death,
this question

can be answered intelligently the effect of such sale

if

made, must be ascertained. When land is exchanged for money or money for land, the first effect is that he who before owned the land becomes owner of the money instead, and that he who before owned the money becomes owner of the land instead, except so far as the money for which the land is exchanged, or the land for which the money is exchanged, is otherwise effectively disposed of, and except so far as the money for which land is exchanged goes to satisfy a charge or charges on the land. Whenever, therefore, any question
or purchase,
actually
arises as to

who

is

entitled to the proceeds of a sale of land, for

example, the answer generally depends upon the answer to three preliminary questions, namely, 1st, who owned the land when the
sale

was made

2dly,

how much,

if

any, of such proceeds goes to

;

satisfy a

charge or charges on the land

is

3dly,

how much,
will.

if

any,

of such proceeds

effectively disposed of

by the

The second effect of an exchange of land for money, money for land, is that he who before was the owner of real

or of
estate

becomes the owner of personal estate instead^ and that he who before owned personal estate becomes the owner of real estate instead. If, therefore, he who owned the land before the exdie the next day after the exchange, the money change was made, which he has received in exchange will go to his personal representative, whereas, if he had died the day before the exchange, the land would have gone to his heir. So, if he who before owned the money die the day after the exchange is made, the land which
1

See Walter

v.

Maunde, 19 Ves.

424.

264

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

he has received in exchange will descend to his heir, whereas if he had died the day before the exchange was made, the moneywould have devolved upon his personal representative. It should be added, however, that this second effect of an exchange, though it is always and necessarily produced at law, is not always produced in equity, for, if a court of equity be of opinion that either party to the exchange ought not to have made the exchange, or that justice requires that the exchange should not produce this second effect as to the money or the land given in exchange, such court may, and sometimes will, reconvert such money into land, or such land into money, in the manner to be hereafter stated, i. e., treat the money, for the purposes of devolution, as if it were land, or the land as if it were money. The effects produced by an actual exchange of land for money, as stated in the last two paragraphs, are illustrated by the following cases.

Thus,

in

Flanagan

v.

Flanagan,^ where a testator devised her

land to her father and brother, subject to a charge for payment

of her debts, and after the testator's death the father died, and

then some of the land was sold

under a decree, but

it

turned

out that none of the proceeds of the sale were needed for the

payment of

debts, one half of such proceeds

to the father's heir,

clearly belonged though the same was held to belong to his

next of kin. On the father's death his one half of the land descended to his heir, and it continued to belong to him till the sale was made. If, however, the sale had been made during the father's life, his one half of the land would thereby have been actually converted into money, and such money would, upon his death, have devolved upon his executor for the benefit of his next of kin. question was sought to be raised whether, as the sale turned

out to be unnecessary, the

by equity
court,
for,

into land.

money ought not to be reconverted such question, however, was before the assuming that it would have to be answered in the

No

take

would be that the father's heir would and whether he would take it as money or land would not be material until it devolved from him upon some one
affirmative, the only effect
it

as land,

else.

So

in

Ackroyd

v.

Smithson,^ where a testator devised land

to trustees in trust to sell the same,

and divide the proceeds

2

Cited

Bro. C. C. 498.

Bro. C. C. 503.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

among

26$

fifteen legatees, two of whom died during the testator's and after the testator's death the land was sold, the shares of the two deceased legatees in the proceeds of the sale clearlybelonged in equity to the testator's heir, the land being his when it was sold, and the shares of the two deceased legatees being undisposed of; and the court so held, though not till after the celebrated argument of Mr. Scott (afterwards Lord Eldon) had induced Lord Thurlow to change his mind, he having announced, before Mr. Scott began his argument, that his opinion was in
life,

favor of the testator's next of kin,

two deceased legatees against the

enforce their claim.

who claimed the shares heir, and who filed the

v.

of the
bill

to

Ackroyd
where a

v.

Smithson was soon followed by Robinson

Taylor,^

testator devised his land to his executors in trust to sell

the same, and

make

certain

payments out of the proceeds, and pay

the interest of the residue to a person

named

for

life.

The

land

was sold accordingly, and, on the death of the legatee for life. Lord Thurlow held that the principal of such residue went to the testator's heir, though the same was claimed by his next of kin. So in Dixon v. Dawson,^ where a testator devised all his land to trustees to be sold to satisfy certain charges, and the same was sold accordingly, and produced a surplus, and the sale was held to have been properly made, it was also properly held that such surplus belonged to the heir, but that, the sale having been made in his lifetime, the surplus was money in his hands, and so devolved on his personal representative. In Wilson v. Coles,^ where land was directed by will to be sold, and the only valid gift of the proceeds of the sale was to the testator's wife for her life, and the testator died in 1 841, leaving two co-heirs, one of whom died in 1843, and the land was sold in 1857, and the wife died in 1859, it seems clear that the heir of the deceased co-heir was entitled to the latter's one half of said proceeds, though the court gave the same to her personal representative.

On

the testator's death the legal

title

to the land passed

to the devisees in trust, but the equitable

title

descended

to the

two descended to her

co-heirs,

on the death of one of

heir, in
all

whom

her one half of the land

the interests of

remained until the sale, when persons concerned were converted for all
it

whom

2 Bro. C. C. 589.

2 2

Sim.

&

S. 327.

28 Beav. 216.

266

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Until the death of the wife, the interests

purposes into money.

course reversionary.
If a

of the two co-heirs and of the heir of the deceased co-heir were of

mortgaged

estate

be sold by the mortgagee, under a power

of sale contained in the mortgage deed, any surplus which is produced by the sale will belong to the mortgagor. Why? Because

he was in equity the owner of the estate when the sale was made, If, however, the mortgagor the mortgage being a mere charge. die before the sale, still being the owner of the estate, and then the sale be made, the surplus will belong to the heir or devisee,^ though, if he had died after the sale, it would belong to his
executor.^

The
to the

real estate of a bankrupt,

still

though

its

legal title passes to

his assignees,

belongs

in

equity to the bankrupt, subject only

hen of his creditors, so long as it remains unsold. If, therefore, it be sold by the assignees during the bankrupt's life, any surplus will belong to the latter, and, on his death, will go to his personal representative, but, if it be sold after the bankrupt's death, any surplus will belong to his heir.* If a settled estate be subject to a mortgage which antedates the settlement, and the estate be sold to satisfy the mortgage, and produce a surplus, such surplus will belong to the persons to whom the equity of redemption belonged when the sale was made, i. e.,
it

will follow the limitations

of the settlement.*

If settled land
will

be taken by the state for public uses the effect be the same as if the land had been sold to satisfy a prior
title

charge, as the

acquired by the state will override

all

the limi-

tations in the settlement, and therefore the money which the state pays for the land will be subject to all those limitations, just as the land was before the state took it.^ If a settled estate be sold under a power, whether the power be created by the settlement, or afterwards by private act, the sale being made with a view to reinvesting the proceeds in other land, such proceeds will, immediately upon the sale's being made, follow all the limitations of the settlement, and that too whether the

Wright

In

re, I 2 '
* '

V. Rose, 2 Sim. Equity Reports, 57.

&

S.

323

Bourne
re,

v.

Bourne, 2 Hare 35
R. 799.

Gardner's Trusts,

Mary Smith's Mortgage Account, In

Banlcs
v.

W.

Scott, 5

Madd.

493.

See Jones v. Davies, 8 Ch. D. 205. Horner's Estate, In re, 5 De G. & Sm. 483.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

267

instrument creating the power directs the proceeds of a sale to

be reinvested in land or not.-^ In each of the three preceding cases, if the settlement does not exhaust the entire fee-simple in the land, the ultimate reversionaryinterest in the money which has been substituted for the land will vest in the person or persons in whom the ultimate reversion of the fee-simple in the land was vested when the latter was converted into money. In Jerniy v. Preston ^ by a marriage settlement, dated Oct. 4 and 5, 1751, land was limited to the intended husband for life, remainder to trustees for five hundred years, remainder, in the events which happened, to the husband in fee. The trust of the term was to raise ;^SOOO for the intended wife on the death of the husband. The husband died in January, 1752, having devised the land to the wife for life, remainders over. Afterwards the trustees of the term sold a part of the land for the said term for the purpose of raising the ;^5000, and the sale produced a surplus, which was paid into court, and had there remained ever since. The wife received the income of this surplus until her death, November 18, 1791, since which time, a period of more than fifty years, the income had accumulated, and the question was to whom did the principal and accumulated income now belong, on the supposition, ist, that it was money in equity as well as in fact, 2dly, that it was land in equity? On each supposition the total product of the sale, from
the

moment

of

its

receipt

by the

trustees, followed the limitations

in the
five

husband's

will,

subject to the

payment of the

;^5000.

The

which happened, and subject to the payment of the ;^5000, held in trust for the husband, he being the owner of the reversion expectant on the termination of that term. The only effect of the term in equity was, therefore, to create a charge on the land of ;^5000, and though in strictness of law this charge extended only to the term, yet for all practical purposes it extended to the entire fee-simple. Indeed, a charge so created differs practically from an ordinary charge on land,
in the events
its owner, only in this, namely, that the bind the land even in the hands of a purchaser for value without notice, while the latter will bind it only so long as it

hundred year term was,

created by the will of

former

will

remains

in the

hands of the person who created the charge, or of

the person or persons claiming under him,

who

received the land

without paying value for

1

it

or with notice of the charge.

In
re,

By

the

Duke

of Cleveland's Settled Estates,

[1893] 3 Ch. 244.

j^ Sim. 356.

268

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

will,

husband's

therefore, not only the legal reversion, expectant

on the termination of the term, but also the equitable ownership of the term itself passed to his devisees, subject to the charge. Consequently, when the sale was made, the money produced by it belonged to the same devisees, subject to the same charge, and, when the latter was paid off, the surplus which remained still belonged to the husband's devisees. Accordingly, as the wife had, by her husband's will, a life interest in the land sold, she rightfully received the income of the surplus money during her life. On her death the ultimate remainder in fee, created by her husband's will, vested in possession, and hence the owner of that remainder then became the absolute owner of said surplus, whether it had the quality of money or land. If it had the quality of money, it henceforth devolved as money, while, if it had the quality of land, it devolved as land. The court held that it had the quality of land, whether rightly or not, I shall inquire hereafter. If land which is exchanged for money belong to two or more co-owners, the money received in exchange will belong to them If, respectively in the same proportions as the land did before. however, the land belong (for example) to A for life, remainder to B in fee, the interest of each will be separate and distinct from that of the other, as if A owned Black Acre and B owned White Acre, and therefore, though they join in making a sale, A will be entitled to so much of the money as represents his life estate, and B will be entitled to the remainder.^ But if the land be held by a trustee for A and B, and be sold by the trustee, he will hold the money as he held the land, namely, for A for life, and then for B
absolutely.

'

There is one notable exception to the rule that when land is exchanged for money the money belongs to the person who owned for, when an ordinary bithe land when the exchange was made lateral contract is made for the sale and purchase of land, and, pending the contract, the vendor dies, and then the contract is performed, the land will have to be conveyed to the purchaser by the vendor's heir or devisee to whom it vvill have devolved on the vendor's death, and yet the money will have to be paid to the
;

vendor's executor.

Why

is

this?

Primarily,

it is

because the land

his

of a deceased person devolves upon his heir or devisee, while his personal estate, including his choses en
executor.
actiott,,

devoWes upon

Consequently, when a vendor dies, pending a contract

'

Pedder's Settlement, In re, s D. M.

&

G. 890.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

for the sale of his land, the land will devolve

269

on his heir or devisee, and he alone therefore can convey it to the purchaser, while the contract, in respect to the right which it confers upon the vendor as well as the obligation which it impdses upon him, devolves upon his executor, and therefore he alone is entitled to receive the money from the purchaser. Yet, if the executor attempt to enforce the contract at law, he will encounter an insuperable obstacle,

he cannot show a breach of the contract by the purchaser withown part, ability, willingness, and an offer to convey the land on receiving the money, and that, of course, he cannot show. His only remedy, therefore, is a bill in equity for specific performance, and equity permits him to file such a bill
for

out showing, on his

against the purchaser,

making the vendor's

is

heir or devisee a co-

defendant, and a decree

that the

made against each defendant, namely, purchaser pay the money to the plaintiff on receiving a

conveyance of the land, and that the heir or devisee convey the land to the purchaser on his paying the money to the plaintiff; and, though the plaintiff does not accomplish this result on the
strength of his legal right alone, yet the only principle of equity

which he has to invoke

is

the principle that the vendor's heir or

devisee, not being a purchaser for value of the land, stands in the

shoes of the vendor, and so must perform his contract to convey

the land.

As

the vendor's executor

may

file

bill

against the vendee,

making the vendor's "heir or devisee a co-defendant, and have a

decree as stated above, so, of course, the vendee
against the vendor's heir or devisee,

may

file

bill

making the executor a co-

defendant, and have a decree that the heir or devisee convey the

land to the plaintiff on his paying the

money

to the executor.

unwarrantably extended to a class of cases to which it is not at all applicable, namely, to cases in which an owner of land gives to another person an option of purchasing the land at a certain price and within a certain time, and dies, pending the option, and then the option is exercised and the land conveyed for it has been held that, while
has,
:

The foregoing exception

however, been

upon the heir or devisee of the deceased, and so must be conveyed by him, yet the money must be paid to the
the land has devolved
executor.^

In short,

it

has been held, as to the point

now under
7 Ves. 436,

Lawes

v.

Bennett, stated by Lord Eldon in Ripley

i

v.

Waterworth,
;

and
v.

afterwards reported in

Cox

167

Townley

v.

Bedwell, 14 Ves. 591

Collingwood

270

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

consideration, that there

no difference between an unilateral

contract giving an option of purchasing land, and the ordinary bi-

and purchase of land. There is, howand radical difference between these two species of contract, namely, that in the latter the vendor is not only under an obligation, but also has a correlative right, his obligation being to vest in the purchaser a good title to the land on receiving the purchase money, and his right being to receive the purchase money on performing his obligation, while in the former the giver of the option, though he is under an obligation, has no right whatever. There is this difference, moreover, between the obligations incurred in the two cases, namely, that the obligation of a vendor is generally subject to no condition, except that of a concurrent performance by the purchaser of the obligation resting on him (the performance of which obligation is a condition implied by law),^ while the obligation incurred by the giver of an option is subject to the condition of the concurrent payment of the purchase money, which is a condition pure and simple, and which is either
lateral contract for the sale

ever, this very important

express or implied in

fact.^

A notion seems
bound
notifies

to have prevailed that,

when an option of pur-

chasing land has been given, the receiver of the option becomes
as

soon as he decides to avail himself of the option, and

This,
is

the giver of the option that he has so decided.

assuming that an option, instead of being an unilateral contract, is an offer to make a bilateral contract, and that the giving of notice as above is an acceptance of the offer, and so completes the contemplated bilateral contract. An option, however, being an unilateral contract, can never become a bilateral contract,
however,

Row, 26

L.

J.,

Chan. 649; Weeding

v.

Weeding,

J.

&

H. 424; Isaacs, In
v.

re,

[1894]
122,

3 Ch. 506. In Drant

v.

Vause,
1

Y.

&

Coll. C. C. 580,

Emuss

Smith, 2

De

G.

&

Sm.

Walker,
follow

Ex parte,
v.

Lawes

Dr. 508, and Edwards v. West, 7 Ch. D. 858, the court declined to Bennett, holding it not to be applicable, though it seems very doubtful

whether the decision in either of them was consistent with Lawes v. Bennett. In In re Adams and the Kensington Vestry, 27 Ch. D. 394, the court also declined to follow Lawes v. Bennett, though without disapproving of it, and in truth Lawes z/. Bennett was not there an authority for either party, the question before the court being a wholly different one, namely, whether the right created by a contract giving an option devolves in equity, on the death of its owner, upon his heir or personal representative, a question which will be considered hereafter. 1 See my Summary of Contracts, s. 32. I shall not apologize to the reader for referring him to this little book while discussing the subject of " Options." 2 See idem.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and therefore
that
with.
it

271

is

differs entirely from an offer,^ and here it is assumed an " option," and not an " offer," that we are dealing

An

option, then, being a conditional unilateral contract, a

by the receiver of the option that he avails himself of it is, if it have any legal significance, the performance of a condition pure and simple. Moreover, while the giver of an option may
notice

with propriety require such a notice to be given, he will not be

entitled to

have

it

given unless he expressly require

'^

it

by the terms

of his contract,
contract, for,

i. e.,
;

the giving of such a notice can be only an

it be the only condition of such a performance would enable the receiver of the option, while himself remaining perfectly free, to compel the giver of the option to convey the land, not only without receiving the purchase money, but without having any remedy for recovering it. The concurrent payment of the money must, therefore, be a further condition, and that too by a necessary impUcation of fact, if it be not express.^ When, therefore, an option is exercised after the death of the person giving it, how can his executor obtain the money which the person exercising the option must pay in order to get the land?

express condition
if it

nor can
its

were,

My Summary of Contracts, written twenty-five

:

the following passage

years ago, contains, at section 179, " Care must be taken to observe a distinction which is apt to
is

be

lost sight of.

There

no doubt that

A may make

a binding promise to

sell certain

buy the property or not and such a promise will, in most respects, confer the same rights upon B as if he had made a counter-promise to buy. But such a case differs materially from that of a mere
property to
certain terms, while
is left

B on

perfectly free to

offer to sell property. It is not an offer contemplating a bilateral contract, but it is a complete unilateral contract. All that remains to be done is for B to perform the condition of the promise by paying the price, and for A to perform the promise. The contract will remain unilateral until it is performed, or otherwise comes to an end. Of

course
act of

A
B

and B together can at any moment substitute for

it

it

a bilateral contract, but

can this be done by an should subsequently make a binding promise to buy the property, the result would not be a bilateral contract, but two unilateral contracts the two promises would not be the consideration of each other, and each would have to be supported by some other sufficient consideration." In Emuss v. Smith, 2 De G. &
they cannot strictly convert
alone. into a bilateral contract
;

still

less

Even

if

Sm.
sell

tract of 1838

Knight Bruce, V. C, said " How this case would have stood if the conhad been an absolute or ordinary contract of sale, binding one party to and the other to buy, and not, as it was, a contract resting merely in the option of
722, 735,
:

the person with

whom

the testator entered into the contract,

life,

during the whole of the testator's

not, I
^

it remaining uncertain, whether the purchase would ever take place or

need not say.'' See idem, s. 32. ' Ibid. See also Weeding v. Weeding, i J. & H. 424, and in In re Adams and the Kensington Vestry, 27 Ch. D. 394, in each of which the payment of the money was made an express condition.

272

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

The deceased had no rights whatever under the contract, nor has The person exercising the option pays the money his executor.
voluntarily,

and

his only

the

land.

Why

inducement to pay it is his desire to obtain then should he pay it to the executor of the

deceased? Such a payment will not help him to get the land. Moreover, if he pays it to the executor, he cannot pay it to any one else, and yet he must pay it to some one else in order to get Why? the land, namely, to the heir or devisee of the deceased. Because the latter owns the land, and can alone convey it. Will equity compel him to convey it on receiving the money? Yes. Why? Because, having received it from the deceased without

paying any value

for

it,

equity regards him as standing in the

shoes of the deceased, and as subject, therefore, to the same obligation in equity to convey the land to which the deceased was Can equity compel the heir or devisee to convey subject at law.
the land without

payment

to

him of the money?

No.

Why

not?

Because it could not have compelled the deceased to convey it without payment of the money to him, and to compel the heir or devisee to do so would be to hold him to be under a greater obligation in equity than the deceased was under at law,

bound

absolutely, while thedeceased

is it

How
The

i. e., to be was bound only conditionally. then that the courts have held that the executor, and

not the heir or devisee,

first

is

the person

who

is

entitled to the

money?

answer is that the courts have never so held until the contract has been carried completely into execution by the payment of the money to the heir or devisee, and the conveyance of the land by him. The second answer is that, when the contract has thus been carried completely into execution, the courts have held that the executor is entitled to receive the money from the
heir or devisee.

Upon what

theory

is

this?

It

can be only upon

is

the theory that the

money, when

paid in exchange for the land,

relates
;

a part of the personal estate of the deceased, and that can be only

upon the theory that the exercise of the option

time when the contract giving the option was
ingly
it is

back to the and accordupon that ground that the courts have generally sought

made

to vindicate their decisions.

Nothing, however, could show more

conclusively that these decisions have no solid ground to rest

upon

than the fact that they can be supported by no better argument

than

this.

The

doctrine of relation

is

a legal fiction,

and a court

proceeding upon a fiction only when it is necessary for the purposes of justice, or at least when the fiction is
can be
justified in

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

273

promotive of justice. In fictione juris semper aequitas existit} If, however, the decisions in question are to be taken as representing the doctrine, this maxim ought to be so modified as to read, " In
fictione juris
that,

semper iniquitas existit"

for the reader will observe

up

to the time

when the money is paid and

the land conveyed,

the executor has no right whatever either to the

land,

money

or the

and yet the moment that the money is exchanged for the land, and the land for the money, the executor, though not a party to the exchange, nor in any way concerned with it, is, according to these decisions, entitled to the money, not merely in equity, but at law as well, for, as to such a right, there is no difference between law and equity.^ It may be added that the doctrine of relation involved in these decisions proves too much, for it proves that, if a rent be granted
in fee-simple out of certain land subject to a perpetual right in the

owner of the land

made, the money

for the time being to purchase the rent

tain terms, and, at the

will

end of belong

five

on cerhundred years, such purchase be

to the personal representative of

him

who

granted the rent.^

It is commonly assumed that the effects produced by an exchange of money for land are the same, mutatis mutandis, as those produced by an exchange of land for money, and that the effects would be absolutely the same, but for the fact that, when a person dies intestate, his money and land devolve upon different persons. In truth, however, there are other differences between money and land, in respect to their devolution, which are of much greater legal importance than the fact that they devolve upon different persons. It is often assumed, also, that the heir and next of kin of a

person

who

dies intestate are true analogues of each other, while,

in truth, there is

no person who occupies

in respect to

personal

estate the position occupied

by

the heir in respect to land.

When
it

a person dies intestate as to his land, the same descends instantly

and by operation of law to

absolutely and for his

his heir,

who becomes

the owner of

own

benefit, while the personal

intestate, instantly

property of

one who

dies,

whether testate or

and by opera-

See my Summary of Contracts, s. 7. When the option is given by will, the

courts do not hold that the exercise of the

option can relate back to a time prior to the testator's death.

In re Goodall, 65 L. J., Chan. 63. ^ See Graves's Minors, 15 Irish Chan. 357, where a rent was granted in 1709 and redeemed in 1862.

274

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

upon his executor or administrator, who becomes the absolute owner of it both at law and in equity, though only in his official capacity, and not for his own benefit. For
tion of law, devolves

whose

benefit, then,

does he hold
i. e.,

it?

First, for the benefit of the

creditors of the deceased,

subject to their right to have their

debts paid out of

it

the deceased, so far as he dies testate the next of kin of the deceased,
i. e.,

secondly, for the benefit of the legatees of thirdly, for the benefit of
;

the persons pointed out

by the
are
First,

Statute of Distributions,^ so far as he dies intestate.

What

the benefits to

which legatees and next of kin are entitled ?

specific legatees are entitled to receive the specific articles given to

them, unless their sale shall be necessary for the payment of debts secondly, pecuniary legatees are entitled to receive the amount of
their respective legacies in

money,

if

the assets are sufficient to

;

and specific legatees are satisfied thirdly, the residuary legatees or next of kin, as the case may be, are entitled to be paid in money any residue which remains, and for that purpose to have all the assets turned into money. It will be seen, therefore, that no legatee or next of kin can ever become owner of any part of the personal estate of the deceased, except through
after creditors

pay them

his executor or administrator,

ever entitled to
actual

become owner

and that a specific legatee alone is of any specific part of the personal
does a specific legatee become the

estate of the deceased.

When

owner of the thing

it,

specifically

bequeathed to him?
it

Only

when the executor

to his receiving

or administrator delivers

to him, or assents

and thus relinquishes his right to sell it for the How does the law secure to legatees and next benefits to which they are entitled? In case of legatees, of kin the by making it the duty of executors and administrators to do whatwhich duty equity will ever legatees are entitled to have done, In respect to next of kin, require them to perform specifically. the Statute of Distributions imposes a similar duty, and with simiMoreover, wherever a duty is imposed upon an lar consequences. executor or administrator in favor of legatees and next of kin, of

payment of debts.

is conferred upon the legatees or next of and it is by virtue of this correlative right that the performance of the duty is enforced. Suppose, then, a testator directs his executor to invest his residuary personal estate in land, and to settle the land on certain

course a correlative right

kin,

22

&

23 Car.

II., c. 10.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

persons for their
cessively in
tail

275

lives,

with remainders to their respective sons suc-

male, and that the executor does as thus directed,

the land purchased being conveyed to

seller,

him in fee-simple by the and then being conveyed by him according to the direction

in the will.

Of

course, the ultimate reversion in fee-simple, not

having been disposed of by the testator,

and
kin.

will
If,

will remain in the executor, be held by him for the benefit of the testator's next of

then,

all

the tenants for

life

die without issue,

all

the limi-

be exhausted, and the executor's reversion will become a fee-simple in possession, and the executor will still hold the same for the benefit of the next of kin. What, then, will be the rights of the latter? Simply to have the land sold by the executor and its proceeds divided among them according to the Statute of Distributions. Of course, it will be open to them to make an arrangement with the executor to convey the land to them, instead of selling it, but they will have no right to require him to convey it to them. If, then, one of the next of kin die intestate at any time between the original purchase of the land by the executor and the sale of it by him, how will his right devolve? Of course, it will devolve only as personal estate, as it is only a right to receive a sum of money, and so it was held to devolve by Sir W. Page Wood, V. C. (afterwards Lord Chancellor Hatherley), when the question arose before him, and for the first time, in Reytations of the settlement will

nolds

V.

Godlee.^

by
1

Sir G. Jessel,

M.

His decision was, however, afterwards overruled R.,^ who held that the land itself belonged to

John. 536, 582. Curteis v. Wormald, 10 Ch. D. 172.

The judgment

of Sir G. Jessel in this case,

the facts of which are substantially those supposed in the text, contains one or two things which require to be noticed.
his trustees,

and not

his executors,

trustees, to invest his

:

According to the report the testator directed though the same persons were both executors and residuary personal estate in laifd, and upon this Sir G. Jessel

for, although the same persons may remarks (174) " A testator directed his trustees have been appointed executors, they are for this purpose trustees and trustees only to lay out his residuary personal estate in the purchase of real estate." He afterwards says (175) " The executors have ceased to have anything whatever to do with the matter. They have paid over the legacy to the legatee, who happens to be a legatee-trustee, and who holds it by law under the Statute of Distributions, as trustee for the next of kin, and no one else." These statements are surprising. If the will had disposed of personal estate only, there would have been no possible reason for appointing trustees, nor is there the slightest reason to suppose that any would have been appointed. The will began, however, with devising the testator's real estate in strict settlement, and, having been made in 1818, it doubtless contained the usual limitations to trustees to support contingent remainders and the fact of there being trustees is thus accounted for. The use of the word trustees by the testator, however, in connection with his personal

276

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the next of kin in equity, and hence devolved as land, and his de-

was affirmed by the Court of Appeal in Chancery. I am, however, bound to express the opinion that Sir W. Page Wood was right, and that Sir G. Jessel and the Court of Appeal in
cision

Chancery were wrong. There is, however, one argument in favor of the decision in Curteis v. Wormald which, as it was not alluded to by Sir G.
was evidently a mistake, and should have been disregarded. The testator made no bequest of his personal estate to the trustees, nor could he have bequeathed it to the trustees as such, as it would already be in them in another character by operation of law from the moment of the testator's death, and must remain in them in that character until it was fully administered, and it had not been fully administered when the case was decided. How Sir G. Jessel gets it into the hands of the trustees as legatees, he does not explain. His object, however, in seeking to accomplish that result is plain enough, for he seeks to show that, when the executors have paid over the residue of the personal estate to themselves as trustees, they will have completed their administration of the estate and become fundi officio, and that henceforth they will hold first the money and then the land as trustees for the next of kin, subject of course The administration of an to the limitations of the settlement which the will directs. estate is not completed, however, until the property has all gone into the hands of persons who own it absolutely. If, therefore, a part of the estate goes into the hands of a person who has a. limited interest in it only, the consequence will be that the ultimate reversion will still be a part of the testator's estate unadministered, and will therefore be vested in his executor as such, and consequently, when that limited interest expires, the property must return to the possession of the executor in order that
estate

he may complete his administration of it. Even assuming, therefore, that Sir G. Jessel succeeded in getting the residue of the personal estate out of the hands of the executors as such and into the hands of the same persons as trustees, and that the latter acquired such residue absolutely at law, the result would be only a useless circuity, as there would be an immediate resulting trust of such residue to the executors, subject
only to the limitations of the settlement. In short, the trustees in their character of
trustees cannot be trustees for the next of kin, for they

must be
is

trustees for them-

selves as executors. (For this absurd phraseology Sir G. Jessel

himself responsible.)

lish,

however, another objection to the trust which Sir G. Jessel seeks to estabcestuis que tnist in such a trust. By next of kin Sir G. Jessel means (and properly so) next of kin as such, i. c, as creatures of the Statute of Distributions, and next of kin in that character have only such rights as the Statute gives them, and the only right which the Statute gives them is the

There

is,

namely, that the next of kin cannot be the

right to require the personal representative of the deceased to perform the duties

which the Statute imposes upon him as such. The Statute of Distributions was passed at a time when the administration of the estates of deceased persons was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the spiritual courts, the jurisdiction now and for a long lime past exercised by courts of equity not having been assumed till a later period. Accordingly the Statute makes not the slightest
reference to courts of equity nor to the subject of trusts,
to the spiritual courts as
it is

a subject as entirely foreign

So
far as regards the matters

to courts of

common

law.

now under
are obeyed.

consideration, the Statute simply lays

its

commands on

the personal repre-

sentative of the deceased and directs the spiritual courts to see that those

commands

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Jessel nor

277

by the judges of the Court of Appeal, I have not yet mentioned, but which it is proper that I should now state and
briefly consider.

Prior to the Statute of Distributions, executors owed no duty except to legatees, and if anything remained after debts and legacies were paid the executor was entitled to retain it for his own benefit. Nor was any change made in that respect by the

Statute of Distributions, as that Statute applied only to administrators.

After courts of equity, however, had assumed that juris-

diction over the estates of deceased persons which they have ever
since exercised, they soon

became impressed with the

injustice of

permitting executors to reap the benefit of every failure by their

testators to

make an
felt

effective disposition of their residuary per-

sonal estate, and

themselves authorized to follow the analogy

of the Statute to the extent of requiring executors to distribute

among

the testator's next of kin any residue of his personal estate

effectively disposed of,

which was not

the will evidence to

show that the

testator did not intend

whenever they could find in any such

benefit
;

residue to go to the executor for his

1830,

own

and, finally, in

by the Statute of 1 1 Geo. IV. & i Wm. IV., c. 40, the burden of proof was shifted from the next of kin to the executor, the Statute declaring that the next of kin shall be entitled to any residue of the personal estate which is undisposed of, unless it shall appear by the will that the executor was intended to take such residue beneficially.
While, however, the courts of equity followed the analogy of the
Statute in the relief which they gave, they acted inconsistently with

the Statute in

their

mode

of giving such

relief,

for,

instead

of

simply directing executors to distribute such residue among the next of kin, they declared them to be trustees of such residue for
the next of kin, and
1 1

Geo. IV.

& i Wm. IV., c. 40, followed

in the

footsteps of the courts.

Does then

this Statute

prove that in Curteis

executors ever held the land purchased

does, and

v. Wormald the by them, or the ultimate

reversion therein, not as executors, but as trustees?

if,

For,

if

it

during the time that they so held

it,

one or more of

the persons died

who were then

it

entitled to a share of the testator's

residuary personal estate,

will follow that

any person so dying

was

at the time of his

death a cestui que trust of such land, and

that his interest as such descended to his heirs, unless the deceased

had disposed of

it

otherwise

by

his will.

It is

submitted, howin

ever, that the question just put

must be answered

the negative.

278
I.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

no pretense for saying that the executors held the land any different character from that in which they held 2. The Statute must be so conall the residuary personal estate. strued, if possible, as not to make any change in the office of executor. 3. It must therefore be so construed, if possible, as to change the character in which an executor holds the residnot uary personal estate at an earlier date than that at which the testator himself could have directed such a change to be made.
There
in question in
4.

testator cannot direct that his executor shall cease to hold

his residuary personal estate as executor,

and thenceforth

shall

hold the same as trustee, until the estate shall have been fully
administered.
specific
5.

An

estate

is

not fully administered until

all

the

property has been converted into money, except such

articles as have been specifically bequeathed or such, if any, as have been taken by the residuary legatees or next of kin by mutual arrangement between them and the executor. 6. The purposes of the Statute will be entirely satisfied by holding that an executor ceases to hold an undisposed of residue as executor when it has all been converted into money, its amount precisely ascertained, and when it has consequently become his duty to pay it over to the

next of kin.
It may be added that the relation of trustee and cestui que trust can never exist between an executor as such and any other person

or persons whatever, and therefore that the next of kin in Curteis

V.

Wormald were
still

not cestuis que trust of the land in question,

held by the executors as such.
It

if

such land was

unless such

may

also be

added that a trustee as such never has power in equity to sell land, power be actually conferred upon him by the creator of the trust and therefore, according to the decision in Curteis v. Wormald, the executors, in their character of trustees, had no power to sell the land in question for the purpose of dividing the proceeds of the sale among the next of kin, however necessary a sale might be.
;

Returning now to the rule stated at page 263, it follows from if a testator's land be sold after his death, pursuant to a direction or under a power contained in his will, the proceeds of the sale will, except so far as they go to satisfy a charge or charges on the land,^ or are otherwise effectively disposed of by the will, belong to the testator's heir or devisee both at law and in
thence that,
1

Randall
252.

v.

Bookey, Ch. Free.

162, 2

Vern. 425; Stonehouse

v.

Evelyn, 3 P.

Wms.

;:

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

equity
;

279

such land be sold by a trustee to whom the testator sell it, the proceeds of the sale will, subject to the qualifications just stated, belong to the testator's heir in equity, though they will belong to the
^

and

if

has devised

it

with a direction or authority to

trustee at law.

It is plain, therefore, that

a testator has the power

to direct or authorize a sale of his land after his death only for

the purpose of making

sale,

some

disposition of the proceeds of the

or of

some

part thereof, or of satisfying

some charge or

charges on the land, either already existing or created by the will for, in the absence of any disposition of the proceeds of the sale,

and of any charge to be

satisfied

out of them, they, as well as the

land, will belong wholly to the testator's heir or devisee,^

and

therefore such heir or devisee alone can

it,

make an
its

effective sale of
sell
it,

or confer an effective

power or authority to
on the one hand, the

attempt by the testator to direct or authorize

valid

sale will

and any be in-

and inoperative.^

If,

testator in terms

^ In Pickering v. Lord Stamford, 3 Ves. 492, 493-494, Lord Loughborough said " Neither an heir at law, nor by parity of reason next of kin, can be barred by anything

but a disposition of the heritable subject or the personal estate to some person capable of taking. Notwithstanding all words of anger and personal dislike applied to the It is impossible to make a different rule as heir, he will take what is not disposed of.
to the personal estate with regard to
2

what

is

not disposed of."

Therefore the three farms in Carter

v.

Haswell, 26 L.

J.,

Chan. 576, belonged

absolutely to the testator's sister, and hence there was no authority to sell them.
* It

seems, therefore, that the trust for selling the land was invalid and inoperative

in

In

re

Gordon, 6 Ch. D.
V.

531.
(p.

In Cook
says,
'

Duckenfield, 2 Atk. 566, Lord Hardwicke said

heir shall sell the land,'

568)

" If a testator

and does not mention for what purpose, it is in the breast of the heir at law whether he will sell it or no, but when the testator appoints an executor to sell, his office shows that it is intended to be turned into personal assets, without leaving any resulting trust in the heir." It will be seen, therefore, that Lord Hardwicke admits that the direction to sell will be invalid if a consequence of a sale will be that the proceeds of the sale will belong to the heir. He is of opinion, however, in accordance with the notions which then prevailed, that the question whether such proceeds did belong to the heir, or went to the executor as a part of the testator's personal assets, depended upon the testator's intention, and accordingly he was of opinion that the fact of the testator's directing This opinion, his executor to make the sale showed the latter to be his intention. however, as to the efficacy of the testator's intention is clearly no longer law. It implies that a testator may give to the sale of his land, made after his death, the same effect that a sale by him in his lifetime would have had. In Chitty v. Parker, 2 Ves. Jr. 271, a testator devised her land and personal estate to be converted into money, but made no gift except of pecuniary legacies, and all these were paid out of the personal estate, out of which they were primarily payable, and hence the land was not sold, and the court held that the land went to thelieir as land. There was clearly no right in any one to have it sold. The bill was filed by the next of kin against the heir and was dismissed. The case of Maugham v. Mason, i Ves. & B.
I will

my

28o

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION. may

sell his land, his act will be a nullity, and be made under it will confer no title upon the If, on the other hand, the testator devise the land to a purchaser. trustee in trust to sell it, though the devise will be valid, and will vest. the legal title to the land in the trustee, yet the trust sought

confer a mere power to

any

sale

which

and the trustee will become, from the mere depositary of the legal title, moment which he will hold for the benefit of the heir, whose servant he He will have no power or authority over the land in will be. equity, and the only obligation resting upon him will be to convey the legal title as the heir shall direct. The heir will not even have
to be created will be void,

of the testator's death, a

the option of calling

upon the

trustee to

make

a sale of the land

according to the testator's direction. In short, the relation between the heir and the trustee will be the same as that which was created by the ancient use between the cestui qui use and the feoffee to

Such is always and necessarily the relation which exists between a trustee and a cestui qui trust who is in equity the absolute owner of the trust property, arid sui juris. There is also another reason why a direction by a testator to sell land is not valid unless he also make some disposition of the proceeds of the sale, or of some part thereof, or direct some charge on the land to be satisfied out of such proceeds, namely, that a direction is, in its nature, invalid unless it can be enforced, and such a direction as that under consideration cannot be enforced unless the testator create in some other person a " right " which will entitle him to enforce the direction, and the only way in which a testator can create such a right is by making a gift to some one
uses.

of

some portion of by the

the proceeds of the sale directed, or of

some

interest therein, or

by directing some charge upon the

land, either

created

will or

already existing, to be satisfied out of such

proceeds.-'
was also dismissed, was substantially like Chitty v. Parker, except was filed by a residuary legatee instead of the next of kin. The case of the next of kin would, however, have been even more hopeless. See next
410,

where the
bill

bill

that the

against the heir

note.
1

Strange as

it

may

seem, the principle stated

in

the text finds

little

formal recogni-

by will, whether for the sale of land or for any other purpose, depends, for its validity, upon nothing but the testator's intention, provided that intention be lawful. It seems to be forgotten that there can be no trust and no trustee without a cestui que trust, and that the sole test of the validity of a> trust is an ability in some person to enforce it. Thus, in Attorney-General v. Lomas, L. R. 9 Exch. 29, it was held that a testamentary trust for the sale of land was valid and binding, though all the gifts of the proceeds of the
tion in the authorities.
to prevail extensively that a trust created

An idea seems

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

281

For similar reasons to those just stated, a direction by a testator to sell his land, or to purchase land with his money, will not be valid if it be accompanied by an absolute gift of all the proceeds
all. the land to be purchased, to a single person sui juris, for an absolute gift of all the proceeds of a sale of land is also a gift of the land itself,^ and an absolute gift of all the land to be purchased with certain money is also a gift of the

of the sale, or of
is

who

itself, and hence the legatee, in the one case, becomes the absolute owner both of the land and the proceeds of its sale, and the devisee, in the other case, becomes the absolute owner both of

money

the

the land to be purchased with it, and it is therefore one to say whether the land shall be sold, and for the other to say whether land shall be purchased with the money. So also a direction to sell or purchase land, though originally valid and binding, will cease to be so whenever a single person
solely for the

money and

who

is stii juris

shall
all

become absolutely

entitled to all the

proceeds

of the sale or to

the land to be purchased.

So also if at any time several persons, all of whom are sui juris, become absolutely entitled to all the produce of land' directed by a testator to be sold, or to all the land directed by him to be purchased, they can make the direction inoperative by uniting in giving notice to the person directed to make the sale or purchase
not to do so.
If a testator

who

directs a sale or purchase of land also disposes

of a part of the proceeds of the sale, or of a part of the land to be

purchased, or directs a charge on the land to be satisfied out of

the proceeds of the sale, the direction to
valid, as
is
it

sell

or purchase will be
gift

will

then be merely an incident of the

also
it

by which

it

be followed by a gift of a limited interest only in a part or in the whole of the proceeds of
followed.
will

So

be valid

if it

the sale or of the land to be purchased.

So

it

will if followed

by

an absolute gift of all the proceeds of the sale, or of all the land to be purchased, subject to the qualifications stated in the two preceding paragraphs.
sale

specific

had failed. The and pecuniary

gifts in the will

which eventually took

effect consisted

only of

legacies.

It is true that

the pecuniary legacies were charged on

the land, including three contingent legacies, namely, one for 'y>oo and two for \ixxi
each, but
1
it must be assumed that they had all been paid. In re Daveron, [1893] 3 Chan. 421, 424,

See preceding note.

ARTICLE X

1 1.^

Equitable Conversion.
II.

should be taken to distinguish accurately between the two purposes for which a testator may direct a sale of his land, namely, that of disposing by the will of the proceeds of the sale, or

/'^ARE

^^

some interest therein, and that of satisfysame land, particularly when such lien or charge is created by the same will which directs the sale. Between these two purposes there is the same distinction as between being the owner of property and being a creditor of such owner. A lien
of

some

part thereof, or of

ing a lien or charge on the

or charge

is

in its nature a

real obligation,^
in

and

it

is

so

called

because

it

binds a thing

(?-^j)

the

same manner

as a personal

obligation binds a person.

The word
as the

meaning and the same origin

it is

" lien " has, indeed, the same word " obligation," though

A personal

which is real. imposes a burden on one person, confers upon another person a correlative right to have that burden carried. The burden which an obligation imposes is called a debt ^ (debitum), the person upon whom the burden is imposed is called a debtor (debitor^), and is said to owe the debt, while the person
to designate an obligation
it

commonly used only

obligation, while

^ '

i8 Harv. L. Rev. 83. As to real obligations, see 13 Harv. L. Rev. 539. The reader will perceive that the term " debt " is here used

in its

broad

Roman

sense, not in its technical and narrow English sense.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

upon whom the correlative right is conferred is called a and to him the debt is owed. Whenever, therefore, there
debtor, and each for the

283

creditor,
is

a debt

of any given amount, there must always be a creditor as well as a

same amount

as the debt,

either of the three ceases to exist, the other

also.

and whenever two cease to exist

is

Moreover, what

is

thus true of a personal obligation

also

true of a real obligation, except that in a real obligation the burden

imposed upon a thing. Accordingly, wherever there is a charge on land, there must necessarily be a person to whom the amount of the charge is owed, as well as land which owes it.
is

A
legal,

real
it

obligation

is

either

legal

or equitable.

When
it

it

is

binds the property even in the hands of a purchaser for

value and without notice;

to bind the property the

when moment

it

is

equitable

only,

ceases

the latter comes into the hands

it,

of a person

who pays
it

value for

and who
is

is

not chargeable

with notice that

is

is

subject to an obligation.

A
its

rent-charge

an instance of a real obligation which

will
is,

legal.

lien

or

charge on land created by

however, equitable only, unless

some

legal estate or interest be devised to secure

payment.
a

Where

a testator, instead of imposing a lien or charge on the

land which he directs to be sold, bequeaths to

some person
i. e.,

portion of the proceeds of the sale, the rights of the legatee will

be those of a co-owner, not those of a creditor,

they

will

be absolute rights, not relative rights.-' The rights of an owner of property are in some respects superior to those of a creditor of the same property, while in other respects they are inferior. For example, if the property increases in value the owner will enjoy all the benefit of the increase, while if it decreases in value all the burden of the decrease will fall upon him, a creditor, whose debt is a charge on the property, having no interest either in its increase or decrease in value so long as it is sufficient to pay his debt. So long as the payment of the debt is sure, the value of the creditor's rights is fixed and
invariable,

while

the

value

of the

owner's

rights

constantly

fluctuates with the fortunes of the property.

wishes to create a charge on his

of
1

it,^

which he generally does by naming

distinction

Hence, if a testator land, he must fix the amount

its

amount

in lawful

between absolute rights and relative rights, as those terms are L. Rev. 537, 546, n. i. * The amount of the charge need not, however, appear on the face of the will it is sufficient if the will furnish the means of ascertaining its amount. Thus, in Cook v.
here used, see 13

For the

Harv.

284

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

money,
portion

while
as

if

the land which

he wishes to give a portion of the produce of he directs to be sold he must designate such
fractional part of the whole. his land
If,

some

therefore, a

testator direct

his executors to sell

of

its
it

total
is

produce to A,

will

and pay one tenth be co-owner of such produce,

else,

and

impossible that he should be anything

while

if

the direction to the executors be to pay

^looo out of the produce of the land, the ^looo will constitute a charge on the land, and A will be a creditor of the land for that amount, and It will be seen, it is impossible that he should be anything else.^ therefore, that a pecuniary legacy is always and necessarily a charge, and so the legatee is in the nature of a creditor, though If a of course he ranks behind the testator's own creditors. pecuniary legacy be given, without any indication of the fund out of which it shall be paid, it will constitute a charge on the testator's entire personal estate, out of which alone it will be payable. If the testator declare that the legacy shall be paid out of the produce of his land, it will then constitute an equitable charge on the land, either in aid of the personal estate, or pro rata
with
it,

or exclusive of

it,

according to circumstances.

the produce of land which he directs to be sold, such one tenth exists independently of the testator, and of course independently of the gift which he makes of it, i. e., it exists in the form of land until the land is sold, and
If a testator give to

A one tenth of

then in the form of produce of the land.

Any

failure, therefore,

of the gift to A, whether because of his death during the testator's

life,

or for any other reason, will have no other effect

M.

upon the

Stationer's Co., 3
sell

&

K.

262, a testator devised his land to his executors in trust to

enough, with the aid of his personal estate, to purchase ;'io,70o of 3 per cent

consols.

The amount

of the charge, therefore,

would depend upon the price of consols

when
1

the purchase was made.

This case

is

also cited, infra, p. 290.

In Page

sell the

v. Leapingwell, 18 Ves. 463, a testator devised land to trustees in trust to same, but not for less than ;^io,ooo, and out of the proceeds to pay four

amounting in all to ;^78oo, and to pay the residue to A ; and the land having been sold for less than ;^io,ooo, Sir W. Grant, M. R., held that each of the five legacies must be deemed specific, i. c, n. fractional part of the ;^io,ooo, and therefore all must abate ratably. It seems, however, very difficult to sustain this view. i. It is not obvious what authority there was to sell the land for less than ;^io,ooo without the consent of all parties in interest. 2. If the land had been sold for more than ;i'lo,ooo, it seems clear that A would have been entitled to all that remained after deducting ;^78oo. 3. The testator says, in the most explicit terms, that the four legatees are to receive in the aggregate ;'78oo, and there is nothing in the will to raise a doubt that the testator meant what he said. He does not intimate what
legacies,

amount

will receive.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

one tenth intended
of A.
So,
if

28$

for

than to cause

it

to

remain with the

for the benefit

testator's heir, instead

of being taken from

him

the testator give to A, or to A, B, and

successively,

Hmited

whole of the produce of the land which he and make no further disposition of such produce, directs to be sold, the consequence will be that the reversionary interest therein, expectant on the termination of the interest of A, or of A, B, and C, will be undisposed of by the testator and so will remain with his heir. But if, on the other hand, a testator give to A ^looo out of the produce of the land which he directs to be sold, the jgiooo will be purely the testator's own creation, and therefore it will have no existence until the testator's death, and it will not come into existence even on the death of the testator, unless it then If, therefore, A die before the testator, or even before vests in A. the right to receive the $1000 vests in him, such right will never come into existence, and the land will devolve as if no such gift had been made by the testator. So, if the testator give to A, or to A, B, and C successively, a life interest in ^1000, and make no disposition of the ultimate interest, the consequence will be that the $1000 will cease to exist as a separate interest on the death of A, or of A, B, and C, and that, too, whether it had been actually raised or whether it still remain a charge on the land, the interest only having been raised and paid. If the $1000 have been raised, it will belong, on the expiration of the life interest or interests, to the owner of the land at whose expense it has been raised, though, of course, it will be money in his hands if it have not been raised,
interests in the
;

it

will sink into

the land for the benefit of

its

owner,

i.

e., it

will

cease to be a charge on the land.

In short, in the case of a testamentary charge on land, any
fail-

ure of the testator to

entire

make

a complete and effective gift of the

sum charged
itself;

will

also cause a failure to the

same extent of

and the fact that the money charged has been actually raised, if such be the fact, will have no other effect upon so much of it, or of such interest in it, as is not disposed of, than to convert the land to that extent into money, leaving the ownership of the money, however, where the ownership of the land would have been if the money had not been raised. It may be added
the charge

by a testator that a sum of money charged by be paid to his executor as such is not a valid disposition of the money charged, and hence it does not make the gift to one's own executor as such is, indeed, no charge valid.
that a direction
his land

him on

286

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

gift to oneself, and therefore amounts only to an and invalid attempt to cause one's land, to the extent of the gift, to devolve as if it were personal estate.-' The reader must not infer from what has been said that a debt, in order to be the subject of a testamentary charge, must be created by the will which creates the charge, nor even that it must be in existence when the will is made, for it is, in fact, not material how or when the debt is created, it being sufficient that it is in existence when the testator dies. Nothing, indeed, was formerly more common in England than for a testator, by his will, to

more than a
illegal

charge his land with the payment of

all his

debts, the reason being

that simple contract debts of a deceased, person were formerly not

payable by law out of his land, and hence must go unpaid, in case his personal estate was insufficient to pay them, unless he made
provision

by

his will for their

is

payment out of
all

his land.

For

simi-

lar reasons,

it

very

common

for a testator to

charge his land

generally with the

payment of

his

pecuniary legacies, such leg-

acies being otherwise payable out of his personal estate alone.

Plain as the foregoing distinctions

seem

to

be, they

have not

always been recognized or acted upon by the courts.

Thus, in Cruse v. Barley,^ the testator directed the residue of the proceeds of a sale of his land, with the residue of his personal estate, to be divided among his five children, the eldest son to receive ;^200 at twenty-one, and the remainder to be divided equally

among

the other four;

and the eldest son having died under

;'200,

twenty-one, the court held that the

so far as

it

consisted of

the produce of the land, went to the only surviving son and heir.
;'200 constituted a charge on the and hence must have been paid in full, though the other four children had received nothing, and the eldest son could not be a creditor of the estate for ;'2CXD and, at the same time, a part owner of it in respect to the same ;^20o. So in Emblyn v. Freeman,^ where land was conveyed by deed in trust to sell the same after the grantor's death, and divide the surplus proceeds equally among persons named, after deducting ;^20o which, however, was not disposed of, the court held that the It seems clear, however, that, as ;^200 went to the grantor's heir.
It is

clear,

however, that the

entire residue,

M.
i'

Arnold v. Chapman, & K. 485.

3 P. Wms. 20. Ch. Free. 541.

Ves. io8

Henchman

v.

Attorney-General, 2 Sim.

&

S. 498,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

28/

no disposition was made of the ;^200, there was no authority to deduct it for any purpose. In Arnold v. Chapman/ where the testator in terms charged
his land with the

sum

of ;^iooo, but

made no
went
if

valid disposition

thereof, the court held that the ;^iooo

to the testator's heir;

and yet
it

it

seems

certain,

first,

that no debt

was created, inasmuch

as there was no creditor, and secondly,

a debt was created, that

could not devolve by operation of law, nor otherwise than as

directed

by

the

will.

In other words,
v.

it

could not devolve upon

the heir.

In

Henchman

Attorney-General,^ which was like

Arnold v. Chapman, except that the testator left no heir, the court (which seems to have been much embarrassed by the decision in Arnold v. Chapman) was compelled to hold that the charge sank
for the benefit of the devisee of the land.

In Hutcheson

v.

Hammond *

it

was held that the amount of

a lapsed pecuniary legacy of ;^iooo, payable out of the proceeds of a sale of land directed by the testator, went to the heir, although
the will contained an

express bequest of the residue

of

such

proceeds.

In Hewitt v. Wright,* land was conveyed by deed to trustees, charged with ;^I500, which the trustees were to raise, on the death of the grantor and his wife, and invest and pay the interest, in the events which happened, to the grantor's daughter, D., for her life, and no further disposition was made of the ;i 500, which was raised, invested, and the interest paid as directed and it was held that on the death of D. the personal representative of the grantor was entitled to the ^^1500. This was equivalent to holding that the grantor, immediately on the delivery of the deed, acquired a right, on the death of the survivor of himself and wife, to have the .^1500 raised for his own benefit, subject only to the right therein of D. In truth, however, D. was the only person who ever had such a right, and it was only to the extent of her right that the ;^i500 was ever a burden on the land. Hence, if D. had died before the money was raised, the land would have been wholly discharged from the burden. Having been raised, therefore, the

money belonged
therein,

to the owner of the land, subject to D.'s rights and on the death of D. it went back to the land, i. e., to its

owner.
1 I

Ves. 108.
Bro. C. C. 128.
Bro. C. C. 86.

2 2

Sim.

&

S. 498, 3

M.

&

K.

485.

' 3
* I

See

this case infra, p. 291.

288

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

v._

In Collins

Wakeman,^ where a

testator

charged
it

his land

with ;^iooo, of which he

was held that the heir was entitled to the ;^iooo, the court assuming that there was no difference, in respect to the claim of the heir, between such a gift and a gift of one tenth (for example) of the produce of the land directed by the testator to be sold. In Jones v. Mitchell,^ where a legacy of ;^8oo, payable out of the proceeds of a sale of land directed by the testator, was given to trustees for charities, and the gift was therefore void, its nullity was held to inure to the benefit of the testator's heir, notwithstanddisposition,

made no

ing that the will contained an express bequest of the residue of

such proceeds.
In Amphlett
v.

Parke,

it

was held by Lord

C.,* that

versing the decree of Sir

sale of land directed

J.

Leach, V.
testator,

the

Brougham,^ reamount of certestator's heir,

tain lapsed pecuniary legacies, payable out of the proceeds of a

by the

went to the

notwithstanding that the will contained an express bequest of the

residue of such proceeds.

In

Watson

v.

Hayes,^ where a testator devised land in trust

to be sold, and the proceeds divided

among

his five children, after

reserving a sum, the interest of which would

pay an annuity

of

^^400 to his wife for her life, and the wife died before the land was sold, the court held that the sum which should have been reserved

went

to the heir.

It

seems

clear,

however, that the testator

in-

tended to give the land to his

charge of the annuity.

five

children, subject only to a

If, therefore, the land had been sold, and a sum reserved as directed, such sum would have belonged to the children, though the wife would have been entitled to have it held by the trustees during her life to secure the payment of her annuity. The land not having been sold, and the annuity having expired, the case in favor of the five children was still stronger. Even if it should be held that the gift to the five children did not include the sum to be reserved, it is not obvious what authority the trustees would have had to reserve any sum out of the proceeds of a sale, except to secure the payment of the

annuity.

In Burley
1

v.

Evelyn, where a testator gave ;^SOoo, out of the

2 Ves. Jr. 683.

' 2 '

& S. 290. & M. 221. S M. & Cr. 125.

I

Sim. R.

See this case infra, p. 291. See this case infra, p. 292.

Sim. 275.

,6 Sim. 290.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

proceeds of land directed by him to be sold, to

289
with

for

life,

remainders void for remoteness, and gave the residue of such produce to B, it was held that the void remainders went to the heir,

though the truth seems to have been

that,

on the

land's being sold,

the entire proceeds of the sale vested in B, subject to a charge

thereon of ;^SOoo, in favor of A, for his life. In Croft V. Slee,^ a testator gave the Swan Inn to his heir,

charged with
but, she

;^SOO in favor

of the testator's wife,

who however
had vested
filed

died before her interest, which was only for her

life,

being also residuary legatee, her executor

bill

against the heir to have the ;^500 raised and paid as part of the
testator's personal estate, and,

though the

bill

was properly

dis-

missed, yet Sir R. P. Arden, M. R., said that. If the wife had died
after

invested,

her interest had vested, and the ;^500 had been raised and it would have become, on the wife's death, a part of the
as such.

testator's personal estate,

entitled to

and the wife's executor would have been Moreover, Simmons v. Pitt,^ which does not differ substantially in its facts from Croft v. Slee, contradicts even the decision in the latter for in both cases alike a sum of money charged on land had not been raised, and in both the question was whether a sum of money, in respect of which the charge had failed, should be raised, and in Simmons v. Pitt it was held that it should. For what purpose? In order that it might be paid to the personal representative of him who created the charge and who died intestate. The fact that the charge was created by virtue of a power was not material, for the power itself was created by the person who exercised it. The settlor in a marriage settlement reserved the power to himself, and therefore it was just the same as if he had created the charge directly in the marriage settlement,
it
;

instead of doing

it

indirectly.

So

far,

therefore, as the gift of the

money charged on
failed,

the land was incomplete or invalid, the charge

and the

failure inured to the benefit of the

owner of the

land,

namely, the heir of him who created the charge. As has already * been seen, a charge on land is never of any efficacy, except so far
as there
is

an effective and valid

gift

of the

money

charged.

To

say otherwise would be to say there can be an obligation and an

obligor without an obligee.

On

the other hand, in Wright

v.

Row,*

it

was held that an an-

nuity charged on land in favor of a charity, and consequently void,

'

4 Ves. 60.

s *

L. R., 8 Ch. 978.

I

Sufra,

p. 285.

Bro. C. C. 6i.

19

290

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

sank for the benefit of the devisee of the land. Barrington v. Hereford,^ Jackson v. Hurlock,^ Baker v. Hall,^ Sutchffe v. Cole,* Tucker v. Kayess,^ and Heptinstall v. Gott are also to the same
effect.

where a testator devised his land enough, with the aid of his personal estate, to purchase ;^io,700 of 3 per cent consols, his gift of ;^3300 of which, being to charities, was void, and the testator gave all the residue of his property to his wife, it was properly held that the gift to the charities sank for the wife's benefit, though some of the reasoning of Sir J. Leach, M. R., is not very satisfactory nor very
in
v. Stationer's Co.,^

So

Cook

in trust to sell

intelligible.

In Salt

V.

Chattaway,

it

was properly held

that, while a
it

lapsed

share of the testator's residuary estate, so far as

consisted

of the produce of his real estate, went to the heir, the lapse of a pecuniary legacy inured to the benefit of the residuary legatee. In In re Cooper's Trusts, where a testator devised land, subject to a charge of ;^iooo in favor of his

died in 1816, and the

\QOO was

raised in 1840,

daughter E. for life, and and the daughter

died in 1844, it was properly held that the ;^iooo, when raised, belonged to the then owner of the land, subject to E.'s life interest
therein, but that
it

devolved henceforth as money.

In In re Newberry's Trusts,^" where land was charged by will in 1829 with the sum of \coo in favor, in the events which

happened, of the testator's daughter for life, and then of the daughter's husband for life, and the testator died in 1833, and the money was then raised, and the daughter lived till 1868, and her husband till 1869, it was held that the ;^iocx) from the time when it was raised belonged to the owner of the land, subject to the life
interests of the daughter and her husband, but that it was money in his hands, and hence, on his death in 1865, the money devolved

on

his personal representative.^^

Sometimes a testator who directs a sale of land combines the two objects before mentioned, i. e., first directs a fixed amount to
I

Cited 4 K.
3

Bro. C. C. 61.

2
4

Eden

263,

Ambl.

487.

12
' ' '

Ves. 497.

3 Dr. 135.
2.

M.

& J. 339. & K. 262.

G.,

This case
G. 757.
v.

is

6 2 J. & H. 449. also cited supra, p. 283, n.

3 Beav. 576.

10
II

4
5

De

M.

&

Ch. D. 746. See also Heptinstall

Gott, 2

J.

&

H.

449.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

291

be paid out of the proceeds of the sale in the form of pecuniary legacies or otherwise, and then gives the residue of such proceeds to some other person or persons, and in such cases, if any part of such fixed amount fails, by lapse or otherwise, the failure inures to
the benefit of the person or persons to

whom

the residue of the

would inure to the benefit of the testator's heir or devisee if such a residue had not been disposed of This principle ought to have been applied in the case of Kennell v. Abbott,^ where the testator gave the residue of
proceeds of the sale
is

given, just as

it

the proceeds of a sale of land directed

by him

to his niece, B. K.,

;

whom

he also made

his general residuary legatee

but the court

held instead that the latter took such residue as general residuary
legatee.

In Hutcheson

v.

Hammond ^

a lapse of a pecuniary legacy was

held to inure to the benefit, neither of the person to

legatee, but to the heir.

whom

the

residue of the proceeds of the sale was given, nor to the residuary

So in Jones v. Mitchell,* where a testator gave ;^8oo out of the proceeds of land which he directed to be sold to trustees for charities, and the residue of such proceeds to J. R., it was held that
the nullity of the
gift

of the ;^8oo inured to the benefit, not of J. R.,

but of the testator's heir.

In Page
v.

Leapingwell,^ in which ;^200 of the proceeds of a

sale of land directed

by the

testator

was given

to charities,

it

was
the

held that the ;^200 sank for the benefit, not of A, to

residuary devisee and legatee.

whom

residue of such proceeds was given, but to the testator's general

According, however, to the view adopted by the M. R., namely, that the gift to charities was not the fixed sum of ;^200, but one fiftieth of the entire proceeds of the sale, the consequence of the failure of the gift was that the one fiftieth went to the testator's heir. In Noel V. Lord Henley,^ where a testator devised land to

same and pay to his wife, whom he also appointed his residuary legatee, the sum of ;^5000 out of the proceeds of the sale, and the wife died during the testator's life, it was held successively, by the Court of Exchequer and the House
trustees in trust to sell the

' '

4 Ves. 802. 3 Bro. C. C. 128.

I

Sim.

&

S. 290.

See this case supra, p. 287. See this case supra, p. 288.

* 18

Ves. 463.
241, Daniel, 211, 322.

' 7 Price,

292

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

of Lords, that the ;^5000 sank for the benefit of the legatees of the
residue of such proceeds.
^ a testatrix devised land to her executors same, and pay legacies out of the proceeds of the sale, and then gave the residue of such proceeds to one of said trustees on certain trusts; and some of the legatees having

In Amphlett

v.

Parke

in trust to sell the

died during the life of the testatrix. Sir J. Leach, V. C, held, though for unsatisfactory reasons, that their legacies sank for the
benefit of

the residuary legatee

of such proceeds,

but Lord

Brougham, on appeal, held that the amount of the lapsed legacies went to the heir. There was an appeal to the House of Lords, but the case was compromised, the heir and the legatee of the residue
dividing the fund between them.

trust to sell the

Jackson ^ a testator devised land to his executors in same and apply certain specified sums to charities and the residue of the proceeds of the sale for the benefit of certain persons named, and the gift to the charities being void, it was held, though for unsatisfactory reasons, that the nullity of those gifts inured to the benefit of the legatees of the residue of the proceeds
In Green
v.

of the sale.

There

is

also another distinction

between a direction by a

tes-

tator to sell

his land for the purpose of

making a

gift

of the pro-

ceeds of the sale, and a direction by him to sell the same land for the purpose of satisfying a charge thereon, namely, that, in the

former case, the direction constitutes the sole authority for making
the sale, and
is

therefore indispensable to the validity of the

gift,

while, in the latter case, the

purpose of the testator will be entirely accomplished by making a gift of the money, and charging the same on the land, as he will thereby subject the land to a real obligation, and the regular and appropriate mode of enforcing such an obligation is by selling the thing which is subject to it. Still another distinction is that, in the former case, however small a
portion of the proceeds of the sale the testator
heir will have no
land, as
it is

may

give away, the

means of preventing a sale of the whole of the only by such sale that the amount of money to which
any of the land by paywhich the land

the legatee will be entitled can be ascertained, while, in the latter

case, the heir can always prevent a sale of

ing the
is

amount charged on

it,

as the obligation to

subject will thus be extinguished.

1
I

Sim. 275, 2 R.

5 Russ. 35, 2 R.

& M. 221. & M. 238.

See

this case supra, p. 288.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

As
the validity and effect of every testamentary direction to

293
sell

land and of every testamentary charge on land depends so largely

upon the testamentary gift or

of such sale and of the
to ascertain how,
i.

e.,

gifts which are made of the proceeds money so charged, it becomes important by what words, such gift or gifts can be

made.

A testamentary gift of the produce of land directed

of a
gift

by a

testator

to be sold partakes of the nature partly of a gift of land and partly

of personal property. On the one hand, the property is form of land when the testator dies, and therefore the executor has nothing to do with it. The land descends to the heir unless it is devised to a trustee to be sold, and remains vested in the heir until it is sold, and the legatee receives his legacy, either through the trustee to whom the land is devised, or through the person who is directed to make the sale. Moreover, a gift of the produce of land directed to be sold will include, by implication, a gift of the rents and profits of the land, until the sale is made, unless there be an express gift of such rents and profits. From the testain the
tor's

death also to the time of the sale a right

is

vested in the legatee

to have the land sold.

On

the other hand, the equitable ownership

of the land never vests

in the legatee,

but remains

in

the heir from

the testator's death until the sale, subject to the right of the
legatee to receive the rents and profits, as just stated, and the legatee receives the corpus of his legacy in the form of

money.

For most

practical purposes, therefore, the gift

is

a gift of personal

property, but of personal property which does not belong to the

testator at the time of his death.

By what form

of words, then,

can such a
It is

gift

be made?
will, as it is

the office of a

of a deed, to transfer property,

the most important difference between the two being that a deed

takes effect

upon
that

delivery, while a will takes effect only

upon the
it

death of the testator.

the

Presumptively a

will, like
all

a deed, produces, ever

moment

it

becomes
all
is

operative,

the effect that

produces,
the

i. e., it

transfers

the property which the testator, at

moment of

his death,

capable of transferring, and which he

shows an intention to

transfer.

transfer all the property

Moreover, to show an intention to which the testator shall at his death be

way is for him to use the fewest and most comprehensive words of description. Foi; example, these three words, " all my property," will be sufficient in every case that can happen. If, however, the testator expects his will
capable of transferring, the best

294
to

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

effect,

produce an

not at his death, but at some subsequent

if

time, and especially

the effect be such as the testator

for

is

not

capable of producing at the time of his death, he must declare his

intention

by

specific

and appropriate words.

If,

example, a

testator, instead of devising his land beneficially, which he could

do by the three words* just named, wishes to have the same sold after his death, and to have the money thus obtained divided among certain persons, he must give the requisite authority and direction to sell the land, and must then give the money to those whom he wishes to have it, or direct it to be divided among them, and if he should simply authorize and direct a sale of his land, and then say, " I give all my property to A, B, and C to be divided among them equally," A, B, and C would take all his property in the condition that it was in at his death, and his direction to sell his land would go for nothing. If, then, a testator should authorize and direct his executors to sell his land, and divide the proceeds of the sale among A, B, and C equally, and should appoint D his residuary legatee, and A should die during the testator's life, what would become of the one third of the proceeds of the sale of the land which the testator intended for him? I trust the reader will have no doubt as to how this question should be answered, namely, that the one third will go to the testator's heir. It is certain that D can make no claim to it; nor could he if the testator had said: " If any of my property shall not be otherwise effectively disposed of by this my will, I give the same to D," unless, indeed, such a gift would be a devise to D of one third of the testator's land. To enable D to say the testator had given to him the one third of the proceeds of the sale of the land which was intended for A, the gift to D must contain words showing that the testator had the proceeds of his land distinctly in his mind and intended to include them in his gift, so far as they should be otherwise undisposed of. Next, suppose a testator give to A, B, and C $1000 each, and charge the same on his land, either in aid of his personal estate, or concurrently with it, or exclusively of it, and appoint D his residuary legatee, and A dies during the testator's life. What will

become of

the legacy intended for

will

A? The
it,

true answer
will

seems

to

never have any existence. The only consequence of A's death will be that there will be more property by ^1000 for some one else than there would
as
it

be that nothing

become of

otherwise have been.

The

legacies to

A, B, and

differ

from

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

pecuniary legacies pure and simple only
in

295

having additional
fall

security for their payment, and in the fact that, so far as they

upon the testator's land, his executor as such will have nothing to do with them, and neither of these circumstances is at all material
for the present purpose.

A's death, therefore,

it

like the

death of

any pecuniary legatee before

his legacy vests, will leave everything

respecting the testator's estate just as

would have been would have

fallen

if

no
the

legacy had been given to A.

lapse of A's legacy inure?

To whose
far as
it

benefit, then, will

So

upon
his

the personal estate,

its

lapse will inure to the benefit of

i. e.,

residuary bequest will be so

much

larger.

So

far as

A's legacy
inure

would have

fallen

upon the

testator's land, its lapse will

i. e.,

by the extinguishment of the obligation to which the land would otherwise have been subject. If the land had been devised beneficially, of course the lapse would have inured to the benefit of the devisee instead of the heir. It could not possibly inure to the benefit of D, except as already stated. How could the testator have prevented the lapse from inuring to the benefit either of D or of the testator's heir? Only by giving to some one else a. legacy of the same amount as that intended for A, and charged on the land in the same manner. It will be seen, therefore, that a lapse, whether of a gift of a portion of the produce of land directed to be sold, or of a pecuniary legacy exclusively charged on land, will inure to the benefit
to the benefit of the testator's heir,

of the person to

whom

the land, subject to the direction to

sell

it,

or subject to the charge, shall devolve at the testator's death, unless

the testator shall do something to prevent such a result, though

the reasons in the two cases will be entirely different.

How
whom

then
the

can a testator divert the benefit of a lapse, or other

gift, in

failure,

of the

these two classes of cases, from the person to

land will devolve, to the testator's residuary legatee? the

gift
first

In cases of

so much,

as shall

by simply including in his residuary by the sale of his land, not be otherwise effectively disposed of by his will. But,
class

he can do

this

if

any, of the money, produced

though such an intention is not improbable, and may be easily expressed and in a great variety of ways, yet it must be expressed in some way, it can never be inferred. In cases of the second class, however, it seems that the testator cannot divert the benefit of the lapse, from the person to whom the land will devolve, to his residuary legatee as such for, as he can give the benefit of the lapse to another person only by giving him a legacy of the same

\-

296

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

amount, and by charging he give such a legacy to

take
it,

upon the land

in the

same manner,

if

his residuary legatee, the latter will

not

it

so that he will

as residuary legatee, but as 'any other person would take fill the two characters of residuary legatee and

pecuniary legatee.

The

fact,

therefore, that

one

is

a residuary

legatee will not aid him, in the least, in proving that he also has a

pecuniary legacy charged on land, and he must therefore adduce the same evidence that would be required of any other person, pecuniary i. e., he must show that the testator has given him a amount as that intended for A, and has charged legacy, of the same
it

upon
Such,

his land in the

it is

same manner.
authorities, however, are in a very unsatis-

conceived, are the principles which govern these two

classes of cases.

The
still

factory condition.

Unfortunately,

when the question

first

arose,

the erroneous view

prevailed that the produce of land directed

be sold constituted a part of the testator's personal estate at the time of his death, and devolved as such under his will, and hence the early cases erroneously decided that such produce, if not otherwise effectively disposed of, would pass under an ordinary

by

will to

residuary bequest;
selves have never

and, though the principle on which these

cases were decided was long since repudiated, yet the cases them-

been

in

terms overruled, and they have con-

tinued to exert a most mischievous influence even to the present

moment.
Thus,
in

Kennell

v.
;

Abbott,^ and Page

for, in

v.

Leapingwell,^ the old

view fully prevailed

the former,

it

was held that the pro-

ceeds of a sale of land directed by a testator, so far as the same was not otherwise disposed of by the testator, went to his general
residuary
directed
legatee;

and

in

Page

v.

Leapingwell,

in

which a

pecuniary legacy, payable out of the proceeds of a sale of land

by the testator, was void by statute, it was held that the amount of that legacy passed to the general residuary legatee and
devisee.

In Maugham v. Mason,* Sir W. Grant, M. R., held that a residuary bequest did not carry the produce of land directed by the testator to be sold, but his decision did not affect the authority of
the two earlier cases.
1

Mallabar

v.

Mallabar, Cas.

/.

Talbot, 78

Durour

v.

Motteux,

Ves. 320,

Sim.

& S.
^

292, . (d).

4 Ves. 802.
i8 Ves. 463.
I

V.

&

B. 410.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

In

297

Byam

v.

Munton,^

it

was held that a bequest of the residue

of the testator's personal estate included the produce of land

directed to be sold, but

the

was upon the strength of the context of also held, and for the same reason, in Griffiths V. Pruen.^ There seems, however, to have been nothing in the context to warrant the decision, except that it shows that
it

will.

The same was

the testator intended to dispose of

all his

property.

The proceeds

of a sale of his land were not, however, a part of his property

when he
The

died, and there was nothing in the terms of his residuary bequest to indicate that he intended to include such proceeds.

inference rather was that he thought the latter would con-

stitute a part of his personal estate

fore pass

and would theregifts were of pecuniary legacies, and it is clear that none of these could have been paid out of the proceeds in question, though the personal estate had been insufficient to pay them, and yet the testator clearly expected them to be paid out of his personal estate and out of such proceeds indiscriminately. There would seem to have been a much stronger reason for holding that the land itself passed by the residuary clause. It was not devised otherwise, but was simply directed to be sold and as there was no gift of the proceeds of the sale, the direction to sell was invalid and inoperative. Moreover, the residuary clause was in its terms equally applicable to real and personal estate. In Spencer v. Wilson^ it was held that the produce of land directed to be sold passed under the words " The residue of my said personal estate so converted into money," and this seems to have been a reasonable construction of the will. The testator directed a sale of all his land, and all the residue of his personal estate which did not consist of money, and payment of his debts, legacies, and life annuities, out of his money and the proceeds of Subject to these payments the residue of said persaid sale. sonal estate so converted into money was to go to the testator's four natural children, each to receive his share when he attained twenty-one, or, in the case of daughters, married, the income of the share of each to be applied for his benefit in the meantime. The fund was, therefore, to remain in the hands of trustees for a
died,

when he

by the residuary

clause.

All the previous

considerable time, and the gift of

to the trustees to

it

consisted entirely in directions

pay or apply
^

it.

In giving directions to his

>

Russ.

& M.

503.

II

Sim. 202.

L. R., 16 Eq. 501.

298

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

upon the property,

trustees, therefore, the testator naturally looked

would be at the time of his death, but as having the quality which he expected it to have as and when his directions
not as
it

became
residue.

operative.

In
it

fact,

the

mostly of land, and

had

all

property consisted testator's been sold and there was a large

In Court V. Buckland^ the testator directed his executors and

trustees to sell his land,

and so much of his residuary personal and get in the rest, and to dispose of the net money to arise from such real and residuary
estate as should be of a salable nature,

personal estate " according to the trusts hereinafter declared con-

cerning the same."

trusts
estate.

In

fact,

however, he afterwards declared no

Jessel,

of such net money, but only of his residuary personal

Still,
it

was held by Sir G.

M.

R., that the trust

thus declared included the proceeds of the sale of land, not be-

cause such proceeds were personal estate when the testator died,

but because he thought himself authorized so to change the

words
is

just

quoted as to make them read, " according to the trusts

hereinafter declared concerning

my residuary

personal estate."

It

submitted, however, that this was assuming a power which no

making a will when he has failed himself to make such a will as he intended to make. The truth seems to be that the testator, in his residuary gift, used the words " residuary personal estate " by mistake, instead of the words " the net money arising from my
court can rightfully exercise, namely, the power of
for a testator

real

and personal estate."^

singular case of
all,

The most

however,

is

that of

Watson

v.

Arundel,^ in which the Irish Court of Appeal in Chancery and the House of Lords, successively and unanimously, held, reversing the decree of the court below, that a residuary legatee as such took
the produce of land directed
will

by the will to be sold, though the contained in terms no disposition whatever of such proceeds, and afforded no evidence whatever that the testator used the term
" residuary legatee " in

any other than its legal sense. Upon this submit to the reader the following propositions: i. The testator gave pecuniary legacies to an amount much exceeding the total amount of his personal estate, and, though he said nothcase
I
I Ch. D. 605. According to the report, the testator used the phrase " net money " three times and the phrase " my residuary personal estate " five times, In his will. 8 Irish Reports, 10 Eq. 299, 1 1 id. 53 s. c. (nom. Singleton v. Tomlinson) 3 A. C. 404.

1 2

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

299

ing as to the property out of which such legacies should be paid,

yet there

no reason to doubt that he expected them to be paid out of the produce of his land, at least in aid of his personal estate, and both courts held that the land was by implication charged
is

with the payment of such legacies ratably with the personal

estate.
2.

The arguments

in favor

of the pecuniary legacies being

a charge on the land have no bearing on the question whether the

produce of the land was given to the residuary legatee. These arguments did, indeed, in the view that the courts took of them, have the effect of creating a fund for the residuary legatee by leaving for him a portion of the personal estate which would otherwise have been entirely exhausted by the pecuniary legacies but they did not aid the courts in the least in enlarging that fund by Imposing including in it the residue of the produce of the land. an obligation upon land is an entirely different thing from giving the proceeds of the sale of the same land.^ 3. The residuary clause contains in terms no gift of anything, but simply appoints a residuary legatee, the words being, " I constitute T. Tomlinson my residuary legatee." These, moreover, are the last words in the will, and, though they do not constitute an entire sentence, yet the previous part of the sentence has no connection with them in sense, it being merely a gift of certain specific articles to another person. Nor is the slightest light thrown upon the residuary clause by any part of the will, unless the direction to sell the testator's land be regarded as throwing light upon it. A direction by a testator, express or implied, to sell land is, indeed, a sine qua non of any gift of the proceeds of a sale of such land, but it does not constitute the smallest element in any such gift. 4. It inevitably follows that the residuary clause carried nothing except what was personal
;

In Wildes

v.

Davies, 22 L.

J.,

Chan. 495, a testator devised his land to his execuhis personal

tors In trust to sell the same,

estate,

and hold the proceeds, with the residue of

In
fact,

however, he afterwards declared no trusts, but simply gave pecuniary legacies and appointed residuary legatees. It appeared from the will that the testator intended that his pecuniary legacies should be a charge on his land, and the question was whether the residue of the proceeds of the
trusts thereinafter declared.

on the

go to the residuary legatees or to the heir and Stuart, V. C, between a charge on land and a gift of the proceeds of the sale of land, declared that, as the pecuniary legacies were payable out of the proceeds of the sale of the land, there was a gift of such proceeds to the pecuniary legatees to the extent of their legacies, and hence the testator must have used the term " legacy " as including the proceeds of the sale of his land. His conclusion was, therefore, that
sale of the land should
;

failing to distinguish

the residue of such proceeds went to the residuary legatee.

It is

submitted that the

will sufficiently
if

shows that the

testator regarded the giving

of legacies as a declaration of trust and,

so, all difficulty is

removed.

3CX)

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

prior to the
testator's death,

estate

and therefore the decision

sell
it,

proves that the testator's land was, by the direction to

before the will took effect.
If,

con-

verted in equity into personal estate during the testator's

5.

life, i. e.,

therefore,

full

effect is to

be

given to the decision,

it

places the law of the United

Kingdom
i.

where
time

it

was prior

to the case of
v.

Ackroyd

v.

Smithson,^
v.

e.,

at the

when Mallabar
it

Mallabar and Durour

Motteux were
and Watson

decided. In conclusion
V.

may be said

that Court v. Buckland,

Arundel are conspicuous illustrations of the adage that " Hard cases make bad law." I have hitherto treated only of the indirect mode of converting
land into personal property, namely, that of selling the land
;

but,
is

though

this

is

the most

common mode, and

the one which

is

attended with the most important legal consequences, and

the

only one which

is

is

connected with equitable conversion, yet there

a direct

mode

of converting land into personal property which

requires

some

attention, namely, that

which

is

effected

by severing

a portion of the land from the general mass, and thus converting
the severed portion into a chattel.

These two modes of conversion

only in the particular just adverted
also.

differ
to,

from each other, not

in

but

other particulars

The former not only

requires the mental and physical co-

operation of the respective owners of the things to be exchanged

for

each other, but also involves an interchange of the ownership

of each, and this requires, in addition to the co-operation of the

parties, the sanction of the law.

The

latter,

on the other hand,

involves only the physical act of severance, and that act

only be performed by a single person, but

total stranger to the land as well as

by

its

may not be performed by a owner, and hence maybe may

wrongful as well as rightful. For the present purpose, however, it will be necessary to consider only such acts of severance as are
rightful.

The most

familiar instance of converting land into chattels

by

from the general mass is the gathering of the annual crops. Until gathered, annual crops are a part of the land, but the moment they are severed from the land, they become personal property, and belong to the person by whom, or by whose authority, they are rightfully gathered. Rents also follow the analogy of annual crops, the reason probably being
1
I

rightful severance of a portion of the land

Bro. C. C. S03.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

portion of the crops.
land, but the

301

that the annual rent of agricultural land anciently consisted of a

moment

it

Hence rent not yet payable is a part of the becomes payable it is personal property.

When,

therefore, a landowner dies, the land, with all rent and income thereafter to accrue, goes to the heir, while arrears of rent, with other income already accrued, go to the executor.^ Another common instance of converting land into chattels by acts of severance is the cutting of timber. Timber differs from an

annual crop in
in the

this, that,

while the right to gather an annual crop,

and the ownership of the crop when gathered, are regularly vested
land, the right to cut timber,
cut, are regularly vested
in fee

person for the time being rightfully in the possession of the and the ownership of the timber when
only in the owner of the inheritance
(?'.

e.,

or in

tail) in
it

possession of the land.

deteriorating in

In the case of a settled

quality, or

estate,

however,

frequently happens that timber requires to be

it

cut, either

because

is

because
is

it

requires thinning, or for both of these reasons, and yet there

no

person in existence
possession

who is authorized commonly being only tenant

to
for

cut
life.

it,

the tenant in

In such cases,
to order the
in interest.^

therefore, courts of equity have

assumed jurisdiction
all
will,-

timber to be cut and sold, acting on behalf of

persons

The proceeds of
same
rule that
if

the sale of the timber

therefore, follow the

sale

would be followed by the proceeds of the

i. e., it

of the land,

the land were sold,

it

will follow the limitations

who has an estate of which moment it will vest in such person absolutely, but as personal property. Thus, in Hartley v. Pendarves,^ where timber on an estate vested in for life, with remainder to B in fee, was ordered to be cut, and the same was cut and sold, and the proceeds invested, and received the dividends till her death,* in October, 1888, and then B received them till his death, in June, 1894, it was held that the corpus of the fund devolved on his personal representative and it would have been the same though B had been only tenant in tail. And though, in Field v. Brown,^ where timber was cut, by the order of the court, on an estale vested in A for life, remainder
of the settlement, until

comes

to a person

inheritance in possession in the land,

at

2
8 *

See Williams on Executors, Pt. II. Bk. III. Ch. I. See Hartley v. Pendarves, [IigoiJ 2 Ch. 498, yxt. Cigoill 2 Ch. 498. See Tooker v. Annesley, 5 Sim. 235.
27 Beav. 90.

II. p. 724, 727 of 9th ed.

302

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

tail, remainder to B for life, remainder to his issue remainder to B in fee, and B died without issue, and his died as his heir, and then remainder in fee descended to without issue, it was held that the fund, in which the proceeds of

to her issue in
in tail,

the sale of the timber had been invested, passed with the land to A's heir, yet the decision was disapproved in Hartley v. Pendarves, where it was also intimated that the decision was inconsistent with the subsequent decision by the same judge in Dyer v. Dyer,^ and
that the judge committed the

he had previously committed

If a tenant for
life

same error in Field v. Brown in Cooke v. Dealey.^

sell

that

of a settled estate cut and

timber without

authority, the proceeds of the sale will follow the limitations of

the settlement, just as

if

the cutting and selling had been pursuant

life

to the order of a court of equity, except that the tenant for

will

not be permitted to derive any benefit from his wrongful acts, and hence the entire proceeds of the sale will go to those who shall be entitled to the estate in remainder or reversion.'

Another common instance of converting land

property by acts of severance
is

into

personal

the digging of mines.

This mode,

of severing a portion of land from the general mass does not seem, however, to have given rise to any questions requiring special
attention in this place.

the reader will have observed, while I have been writing under the title of " Equitable Conversion," I have in fact

Thus

far, as

occupied myself exclusively with actual conversion, and with certain legal questions and distinctions upon which actual conversion

and equitable conversion alike depend. Perhaps, therefore, the reader will say I have been wrong, either in the title that I have chosen, or in what I have written under that title and, with a view
;

to avoiding or mitigating such a criticism, I will state briefly

my

have taken. I do not think I have made any mistake in selecting my title. I regard it as indispensable that a title should be brief, and also If my title had been " Conversion," it would intelligible on its face. have been brief, but it would not have been intelligible. I doubt,
reasons for the course that
I

indeed,
I

if

many

readers would have had any definite idea of what

if I

proposed to write about

Moreover,

" Equitable Conversion," on the other hand,

ligible.

my

sole

had adopted that title. The term is both brief and intelobject has been, from the beginning,
Powlett

34 Beav. 504.

'

22 Beav. 196.

'

v.

Duchess of Bolton, 3 Ves.

374.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

to write

303

upon equitable conversion, and

my

only reason for admit-

ting other topics has been that a consideration of

facilitate the

there
title.

is

them would accomplishment of that object. I think, therefore, no doubt that " Equitable Conversion " was my proper
I

Nor do under the

think

have made any mistake

in
i.

what

have written
is in

title

of " Equitable Conversion."

As

equity

the

nature of a supplement to the

common

law,

no branch of equity

can be thoroughly understood, unless its relation to the common law is understood. 2. When any branch of equity is founded upon
or involves principles of law as well as principles of equity, every

student should acquire a knowledge of the former before he

at-

tempts to master the

involves
all

latter.

3.

The

subject of equitable conversion

the legal principles and distinctions which have been

4.

discussed in the preceding pages.

All the cases which have

in the

been cited and discussed are always treated

of equitable conversion.
fore,
5.

books as cases

The only

question open to me, there-

was whether I should deal with actual conversion and those and distinctions which are common to actual conversion and equitable conversion before taking up the latter, or
legal principles

whether, ignoring the subject of actual conversion,

table conversion,

should treat

those principles and distinctions as a part of the doctrine of equi-

and

it

seemed

to

me

there could be no doubt

that the former was

fore,

my

true course.

6.

regard the preceding pages as clearing the

The reader may, thereway for what may

articles.

be considered as the proper subject of this series of

ARTICLE

XIII.>

Equitable Conversion.
III.

THE way having been now proceed

article, I

cleared, as stated at the

end of

my

last

to consider the subject of equitable

conversion.

Equitable conversions, like actual conversions, are of two kinds,'

namely, those which are direct and those which are indirect; and
the reason for the

same

as

making this division of equitable conversions is that for making the corresponding division of actual
is,

conversions, namely, that a direct equitable conversion

as
it is

so far

a conversion at
in

all,

a direct or immediate change (or

case,^ calls a transmutation

what

Lord Hardwicke

one

and

in an-

other case^ a transubstantiation) of one thing into another, as, for example, land into money or money into land, while an indirect equitable conversion is, so far as it is a conversion at all, an exchange of one thing for another, as, for example, land for

money or money for land, and is therefore a change of land into money or of money into land only indirectly, i. e., through the medium of such exchange.

A direct

equitable conversion differs from a direct actual conis

version in this, namely, that while the latter

a pure fiction.
1
2

a fact, the former

is

To
Rev.

say, indeed, that a direct equitable conversion

i8 IIarv. L.

245.

Guidot

V.

Guidot, 3 Atk. 254, 256.

TrafEord

v.

Boehm,

3 Atk. 440, 448.

V.

Guidot and Trafford

v.

It must be confessed, however, that Guidot lioehm are both cases of indirect conversion.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

305

other than a pure fiction would be to claim for equity those

miraculous
themselves.

powers which

the ancient

alchemists claimed

for

In order to state the difference between an indirect equitable

conversion and an indirect actual conversion,

to remind the reader that, in the

it

is

necessary,

first,

making of an actual exchange of one thing for another, there are generally, though not necessarily,^ two stages, namely, first, the creating by the owner of the thing to be. exchanged of a right in another person to have the exchange made, with a correlative obligation to make the exchange, and; and, this being secondly, the actual making of the exchange needs only to be told further that whenborne in mind, the reader ever these two stages exist in the making of an actual exchange, the creating of the right, if it be one which can be specifically It may be added that enforced, causes an equitable conversion. this right is sometimes legal, and sometimes equitable only.
;

The immediate
to
its

object of the direct equitable conversion

its

is

to

cause a thing to devolve, on the death of

quality which equity,

owner, not according

true nature and quality, but according to the nature

and

example, to cause land to devolve as if it were money or money as if it were land. So also it is the immediate object of an indirect equitable conversion to cause the right to have an exchange made to devolve, on the death of its owner, not according to the legal
fiction, attributes to
it,

by a

for

nature of the right,

i. e.,

as a chose in action, but according to the

by the exchange, have land exchanged for money, to, devolve as if it were money, or to cause a right to have money exchanged for land to devolve as if it were land.
nature and quality of the thing to be acquired
for example, to cause a right to

The
mote

ultimate object of a direct equitable conversion

is

to pro-

justice, to aid the

owner of property

in

accomplishing an

object which he has

in

view respecting such property, or to

promote public

policy.

The

ultimate object of an indirect equi-

table conversion,

on the other hand, is to give more full and complete effect to an act done by the owner of property in respect to such property, and to carry out more fully his presumed inten-

tion respecting the same.

Of

direct

equitable

conversions
is

there

are

more than one

species.

The most

familiar

where an actual conversion of

Supra, pp. 261, 262. 20

3o6

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

made by some person
it

property has been

death of
its

other than

its

owner,

and under such circumstances that

owner,

justice requires that,

if

should devolve as

on the no such conversion had

purposes of devolution

been made, and accordingly equity

re-converts
it,
i. e.,

for the

by the adoption of a fiction, treats it as if it had been actually re-converted or as if it had never been converted, so that land into which money has been converted, though it will devolve at law as land, will devolve in equity as money, and money into which land has been converted, though it will devolve In short, equity at law as money, will devolve in equity as land. will declare the heir or devisee of the deceased, on whom the land
has devolved at law, to be a trustee thereof for the personal representative of the deceased,

and

will treat

declare the personal representative of the deceased,

him accordingly, and will on whom the

It will

money
that

has devolved at law, to be a trustee thereof for the heir or

devisee, and will treat

this

him accordingly.
trust,

species
trust,

of direct equitable conversion

means of a
in

be seen, therefore, is caused by

is

however, which
trust,
i.

peculiar,

first,

being an implied or constructive

e.,

a trust created,
itself,

not

by the owner of the property, but by equity

i. e.,

and,

secondly, in being precisely like the ancient use,

a simple or

passive trust, a trust in which the cestui que trust has the entire
control over the property in equity, and in which the trustee
is

merely the servant of the cestui que trust, and has no other affirmative duties to perform than to convey the property as the cestui que trust shall direct.
In
sion
all

these particulars this species of direct equitable conver-

differs

widely from an indirect equitable conversion,

is

for,

though a
trust,

trust

often the cause of the latter, yet

it

is

always a

trust created

trust also in which,

is

by the owner of the property, and is always an active if the trust be valid, the right of the
limited entirely to enforcing the specific per-

cestui que trust

formance of the trust. Moreover, it is not the existence of such a trust, but its capability of being specifically enforced in equity, that
is

indispensable to the creation of an indirect equitable conversion.

it

While, therefore,

is

the doctrine of trust that causes the direct

of,

equitable conversion last spoken

a trust being the machinery

its

by

which equity transfers property from

person,
it

legal

owner

to another

is

the doctrine of specific performance that causes the

a

indirect equitable conversion.

If

we look

little

more

closely into the nature of these two

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

kinds of equitable conversion, and observe a
differences
little

307

more

closely the
indirect
first

between them, we

shall find
first

that,

while an

equitable conversion constitutes the

step,

and the

step

only, toward an alienation of the thing to be converted, and an

acquisition

by the

alienor or
is

some other person, of the thing

into

be made, the direct equitable conversion now in question constitutes a complete alienation in equity of the thing said to be converted, and a complete acquisition in equity of the same thing by another person, though with a fictitious quality attributed to it. We shall also find that, while an indirect actual conversion is caused by the exercise of an absolute right of property, and hence the conversion itself is absolute, and an indirect equitable conversion is caused by the creation of a relative right, and is itself relative only, the direct equitable conversion in question is caused, not by the exercise of any right, but by the power of equity, and hence the conversion which is caused by the exercise of that power and the right which is created by its exercise are both absolute, in so far as it is in the power of equity

which the conversion

to

to

make them
There
is

absolute.'

also another particular in

which the direct equitable

indirect

conversion in question differs from an

equitable con-

version, namely, that as the former exists only for the purpose

of changing the devolution of the property which

into existence

it

affects,
is

so

it

exists only for an instant of time, while as the latter

brought

by the creation of a
it

right to

have an actual converis

sion made, so

continues to exist, until that right

specifically

enforced, or otherwise ceases to exist.

It follows, therefore, that,

when a

direct equitable conversion has once accomplished its purpose of causing money to devolve as if it were land or land as if it were money, the fiction ceases, and henceforth equity regards the money as money and the land as land. For the present, however, we shall be occupied exclusively with equitable conversions of the indirect kind, and my chief object in saying in this place what I have already said about direct

equitable conversions

is

to caution the reader against the

latter.

danger

of confounding the former with the

equitable conversion
is

As

the fact of a direct

much more

easily expressed than that of

an indirect one, the reader

will often find himself

under a sore

1 See infra, pp. For the sense in which the terms "absolute 309, 319, 323, 327. right" and "relative right" are used in this article, see 13 Harv. L. Rev. 537-538,

546, note.

3o8

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

when dealing with indirect equitable conversions, to money that it is land in equity when in fact it is merely to be exchanged for land, and of land that it is money in
when
it

temptation,

say of
liable

equity

is

merely

liable to

temptation, however, he must resist

serious errors.

be exchanged for money. This if he would avoid the most

actual conversions as
either direct or indirect, yet

He must remember that while

may be

well as equitable conversions

the only actual conversions which are

which are indirect

known to the law are those and hence direct equitable conversions have no actual conversions to correspond with them. If an actual conversion of land, for example, directly into money or of money into land were possible, it would be admitted by all that the nomenclature belonging to direct equitable conversions could be used only when the actual conversion which was to follow would also be direct. The fact being, however, that there is only one kind of
;

actual conversion

known

to the law,

it

is

equally true that the

nomenclature which belongs to direct equitable conversions can be used only when the equitable conversion is not to be followed

by any actual conversion; and

it

must not be supposed, because

there are two kinds of equitable conversion, and only one kind
of actual conversion, that therefore the latter stands in the
relation to each of the former.

When

land

is

same exchanged for

money, the land never becomes money, nor the money land, when the exchange is made, they both change owners, but the land remains land and the money remains money all the time, in equity as well as in fact; and the only reason why the land is said to be converted into money and
either in equity or otherwise
;

the

money into land is that he who before owned the land now owns the money instead, and he who before owned the money now owns the land instead and the only reason why the creation of a right to have money exchanged for land is said to cause a
;

conversion of the
devolves as
if it

money
money.

into land

in

equity

is

that this right

it

were land, and equity looks upon

as substituted

in the place of the

be made only broad sense it may be said that it can be made by him in one way only, namely, by creating in some other person a right to have an actual conversion made; and such a right, if it be one which equity will specifically enforce, will cause an equitable conversion. Why? Because, if the owner of such a right die during its
indirect equitable conversion can regularly

An

by the owner of the thing

to be converted,

and

in a

A BRIEF Survey of equity jurisdiction.

continuance, the right will devolve in equity,

309

have money converted into land, as

right to have land converted into

if it

if it be a right to were land, and, if it be a

it

money,

will

devolve as

if

it

were money.
looks upon
it

Why

will

the right so devolve?

Because equity

as sure to be specifically enforced, unless the cor-

be voluntarily performed, and w'hen the right is so enforced, or the correlative obligation is so performed, the result will be an actual conversion of money into land or of land into money, with all the consequences which follow such a and B enter into an ordinary conversion. If, for example, to B, we may assume bilateral contract for the sale of land by owns the that, up to the moment when the contract is made, land to be sold and B owns the money to be paid for the land, and and these are absolute rights.^ When the contract is made, a right to have B each acquires a new relative right, namely, money, and B a right to have land, and at the same time each of to convey the them incurs a correlative obligation, namely,
relative obligation shall

land and

to

pay the money

and, as equity regards

it

it

as certain

that both these obligations will be performed,

relative rights as

regards the

new

having superseded, for the purposes of devoluTo be sure, B's money will, in tion, the former absolute rights. case of his death, in form devolve upon his executor, but it will in payment for the be only a form, as it must eventually go to land. So A's land will in form devolve, in case of his death, upon his heir or devisee; but this again willbe only a form, as the land

will eventually

obligation.
in

have to be conveyed to B in performance of A's As, therefore, the new relative rights have superseded equity the old absolute rights, they ought to devolve, not as the

old absolute rights would have devolved, but as the

rights

new absolute
;

would devolve, if the sale had been complete and hence, if B die before the purchase is completed, his new relative right under the contract will devolve in equity on his heir or devisee.^ In the example just put, moreover, it is plain that B's money,
does not become land in equity for the purposes of devolution, for this money goes to A, as to whom no
in case of his death,

question of equitable conversion arises.

It is not, therefore,

B's

money, but his right to A's land, that is treated by equity as land. So also, in case of A's death, it will not be his land, but his right
See supra, page 307, note. Per Lord Hardwicke, in Gibson v. Lord Monttord, Mills, Mos. 123 ; Gamett v. Acton, 28 Beav. 333.
1

Ves. 485, 494

Milner

v.

3IO
to B's

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

money, that
equity, will treat as

money.

And

so

it is

in all

other cases of indirect equitable conversion.

How

can a right to have an actual conversion

In two ways, namely, either by a contract to

made be created? buy or to sell land,

or by a direction to another person to do so.

there are
that
is

Of such

contracts,

more than the one species already mentioned, though

one that is bilateral, and is believed to be absolutely the only one by which an equitable conversion is created both of land into money and of money into land, as well as the only one in which an agreement to buy or sell land is alone sufficient to create an equitable conversion. Such a contract is also believed to furnish the only instance of an equitable conversion which is always coextensive with the actual conversion which is agreed or directed to be made. As no right can cause an equitable conversion unless it can be enforced specifically, and as a bilateral contract for the sale and purchase of land cannot be enforced specifically at the suit of either party, unless it can be so enforced at the suit of each party, it follows that such a contract cannot cause an equitable conversion, either of land into money or of money into land, unless each party is capable of performing his side of the contract, and can be compelled to do so. If, therefore, the seller cannot make such a title to the land as the buyer will be compelled to accept, there will be no equitable conversion,^ unless the buyer shall choose to accept such a title as the seller can make, though, if the buyer so
practically the only

accept the
its

seller's title as to

prevent his afterwards objecting to

insufficiency, the effect of the contract will henceforth

same
his

be the had been good. So, if either party shall lose right to enforce specific performance by laches or delay, the
as
if

the

title

equitable conversion will then cease, unless the other party shall choose to waive the defense thus opened to him. Moreover, if a
seller

be unable to
is

make

good

title,

and the buyer die before the

purchase

completed, his executor

may

prevent a specific per-

formance by refusing to pay the purchase money, though the buyer's heir or devisee may wish to accept such a title as the seller can make, for the only person who can waive a defense to a claim is the person against whom the claim is made, and here that person is the buyer's executor, for it is he who must pay the
I Green v. Smith, Ch. D. i66.

Atk. 572; Broome

v.

Monck, 10 Ves. 597; Thomas, In

re,

34

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

purchase money.^

31

And

the same

will,

of course, be true of any

other defense against specific performance which was open to the

buyer when he died.

heir or devisee

So,

if

the seller die after the buyer has lost

his right to specific performance

by laches or

delay, the seller's

prevent specific performance by refusing to the land, though the seller's executor will, of course, wish convey specific performance to be enforced, in order that he may obtain
the purchase money.

may

buyer die before the purchase is completed, and his right to specific performance is afterwards lost without the fault of his heir or devisee, the general opinion has been that the heir or devisee, though he cannot have the land, will be entitled to receive the purchase money from, the buyer's executor. Thus, where the contract was binding on the buyer, but a power of rescission was reserved to the seller, and was exercised by him after the death of the buyer, who died intestate, it was held that the heir of the latter, though he could not have the land, was entitled to receive the purchase money from the buyer's executor.^ So in Whittaker V. Whittaker,^ where the buyer, after making the contract devised
If a

the land

by way of family
life,

settlement, the plaintiff being the

first

tenant for

but the buyer's right to specific performance was lost after his death, owing to a long-continued uncertainty as to whether he had left sufficient assets to enable his executor
to

pay for the land. Sir R. P. Arden, M. R., held that the plaintiff, though not entitled to have the purchase money paid over to him, was entitled to have it invested in other land, to be settled to the same uses to which the land contracted for had been devised. He rested his decision, however, not upon the contract, but upon the will, and, for that reason. Lord Eldon, in an elaborate judgment in Broome v. Monck,* while approving of the decision, rejected the ground upon which it was rested. So, if the seller die before the sale is completed, and his right to specific performance is afterwards lost without the fault of his executor, the general opinion
1 Langford v. Pitt, 2 P. Wms. 629, 632 Alleyn v. Alleyn, Mos. 262 Milner v. Mills, Mos. 123; Garnett v. Acton, 28 Beav. 333; Hood v. Hood, 3 Jur. N. s. 684. And, as the buyer's executor must pay the purchase money to the seller, if the latter be also the buyer's heir, he may keep the land as such heir, and yet compel the buyer's execuCum duo jura in una persona concurrunt, aequum tor to pay him the purchase money. Coppin v. Coppin, 2 P. Wms. 291. est acsi essent in div,ersis. 2 Hudson V. Cook, L. R. 13 Eq. 417.
; ;

4 Bro. C. C.
Ves. 597.

31.

* 10

312

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

latter,

though he cannot recover the purchase money from the buyer, can recover the land from the seller's heir or devisee.^ It seems impossible, however, to reconcile these views with any principle. Up to the moment of his death the buyer had only a right to the land, and that was on condition of his paying the purchase money to the seller, and he was also under an obligation to pay the purchase money on the condition of his receiving the land and, on his death, his right devolved in equity on his heir or devisee, and his obligation devolved on his executor. It is assumed that the seller refuses to convey the land and that he cannot be compelled to convey it, and hence that the buyer's executor cannot be compelled to pay the money to the seller. Therefore, it is said, he must pay it to the buyer's heir or devisee So also the seller, up to the moment of his death, had only a right to receive the money, and that was on condition of his conveying the land, and he was also under an obligation to convey the land on condition of his receiving the money; and, on his death, both his right and his obligation devolved at law upon his executor, though his obligation devolved also in equity, with the land, upon his heir or devisee. It is assumed that the -buyer refuses to pay the money, and that he cannot be compelled to pay it, and hence that the seller's heir or devisee cannot be compelled to convey the land to the buyer. Therefore, it is said, he must convey it to the seller's executor Could there be two
has been that the
; ! !

more palpable nonsequiturs?

a

A (the buyer's heir or devisee) files

bill against B (the buyer's executor) and C (the seller) to compel B to pay money to C, and to compel C to convey land to A. A is wholly defeated, and what is the consequence? That

his bill is dismissed with costs?

against C, but that a decree

is

No; that his bill is dismissed as made in his favor against B that he

that

pay the money directly to A. it has been found that he

Why? For
is

no other reason than

it

not bound to pay

to C.

So,

again,

(the seller's executor) files a bill against

(the seller's

heir or devisee) to C, and to

but, instead

and C (the buyer) to compel compel C to pay money to A. A

of his
bill's

B
is

to convey land wholly defeated,

is

being dismissed with costs, a decree

made
is

in his favor against

that, as

it

has been found that he

not bound to convey the land to C, therefore he shall convey

I In Curre v. Bowyer, 5 Beav. 6, note (b), where the seller had died, and the buver afterwards lost his right to specific performance, Sir John Leach held that the seller's

next of kin were entitled to the land.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY yURISDICTION.

the same to
!

313

A For neither of these conclusions, however, can any more than two reasons be given, namely, for the first, that the
buyer's heir or devisee has, without his
his expectation of getting
fault,

been disappointed
is

in

the land, and that the seller

not

entitled to the

money, and,

for the second, that the seller's execu-

tor has, without his fault, been disappointed in his expectation of

titled to the

money, and that the buyer's heir or devisee is not enland and none of these reasons are good. To make the first and third of any value it must appear that the disappointment was, in whole or in part, the fault of the buyer's executor and the seller's heir or devisee respectively, and this neither appears nor is assumed. As to the second and fourth reasons, it would be sufficient to say that the fact of A's not being liable to B
getting the
;

is
is

no reason

for saying

he
;

is

liable to C.

In this case, however,

it

possible to say

more

for the non-liability of the

is

executor of the
the latter lacks
in law, a total

buyer

to the latter's heir or devisee

much

clearer proposition

than his non-liability to the

stranger to the former.

seller, for his liability to

is,

only the performance of a condition, while he

devisee of the seller to the latter's executor
his liability to the latter lacks only the

So, also, the non-liability

is

of the heir or

much

clearer

proposition than his non-liability to the buyer's heir or devisee, for

performance of a condition,

while he

is,

in law, a total stranger to the former.

it

seems clear, on principle, that the executor bound, as such executor, only by his testator's contract of purchase, and that such contract binds him to do one thing only, namely, to pay the purchase money to the seller,
the whole,

Upon

of a buyer of land

is

and that he can be compelled to do this either by the seller, or by the heir or devisee of the buyer, by the latter, because the payment is necessary to enable such heir or devisee to obtain the

land

but that

if,

in a

given case, the seller

is

is

not entitled to

the money, the executor of the buyer

pay it to anyone, but is entitled seems equally clear that the seller's heir or devisee is bound only to convey the land to the buyer, and that he can be compelled to do this either by the buy^r, or by the seller's executor, by the latter, because the conveyance is necessary to enable him to obit

under no obligation to to keep it as such executor. So

tain the

money

but that

if,

in a

given case, the buyer

is

is

not

under no obligation to convey it to anyone else, but is entitled to keep it. If, in case of the death of the buyer before the purchase is com-

entitled to the land, the heir or devisee of the seller

314
pleted,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

be doubtful whether he has left sufficient assets to enable his executor to pay for the land, or if, in a suit for specific performance, his executor shall refuse to admit sufficient assets for that purpose, his heir or devisee may always secure the land by himself advancing the purchase money, and he may do this
with a certainty of being reimbursed,
if

the assets

left

by

the

be sufficient to reimburse him.^ contract for the sale and purchase of land has always been treated by the courts as creating an equitable conversion in favor of the seller as well as in favor of the buyer. In truth, however,

buyer

shall turn out to

as has been seen in a previous article,^ such a contract

conversion of the

seller's

land into

money on

legal principles,
it

works a and

without any other aid from equity than such as

affords

by

en-

forcing the contract specifically against the seller's heir or devisee.

In short, the right of the seller to receive the purchase of law, whereas,

money

in

exchange for his land will devolve on his executor by operation

in

order to create an equitable conversion,

it

must so 'devolve in equity alone. There is another species of bilateral contract which has been
held, in a few cases,^ to create an equitable conversion in favor of

one of the parties to it, namely, a building contract, i, e., a conbetween a land owner and a builder for the erection of a building by the latter on the land of the former. In case of the
tract

death of the land owner before the building

the builder, and, therefore, there

is

erected, his heir or

devisee will alone profit from the performance of the contract

is

by

strong reason

why

the land

owner's right to such performance should devolve in equity with

the land on his heir or devisee, though the performance must be
at the

expense of

his executor, for, if

its

such right should devolve,

with the obligation to pay

upon the executor, the contract would be certain not to be performed, as the executor would find it much cheaper to buy off the builder than to pay him for
price,

performing the contract. Still, there is a very serious obstacle to be removed before such a contract can work an equitable conversion, namely, the refusal of equity to enforce the specific performance of the contract. Why is it, then, that such a contract is
held to work an equitable conversion?
1

Because formerly, and

Per Lord Eldon, in Broome v. Monck, lo Ves. 597, 614-615. See 18 Harv. L. Rev. 10, supra, p. 269. ' For example, in Holt v. Holt, 2 Vern. 322, and per Lord Hardwicke Worth, I Ves. 460, 461.
"^

in

Rook

v.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

when
so

3 IS

the doctrine was settled, equity did enforce the specific perand in fact it never refused to do formance of building contracts,

till

since the time of

adhered to^ as the sine qua non of specific performance has failed, just as a contract for the purchase of land has been held to work an equitable

Lord Hardwicke ^ and the doctrine is still being established by authority, notwithstanding
;

conversion in favor of the heir or devisee of the buyer, notwithstanding the buyer's right to specific performance has been lost,
the court giving the

money

to the heir or devisee

when he cannot

have the land. Is, then, the doctrine that a building contract works an equitable conversion of the land owner's money into land, just as a contract for the purchase of land does, to be deemed erroneous on principle? Yes, unless equity shall consent to make an exception in favor of the heir or devisee of a deceased land owner, to its rule that a building contract will not be specifiwhich, it seems, equity might do. cally enforced, The only other species of contract which it will be necessary to notice, as causing an equitable conversion, differs very widely from the two species of contract already considered, it being the unilateral covenant often found in English marriage settlements and marriage articles, to lay out a given sum of money in the purchase of land, or to purchase land of a given annual value and Such a covenant is, therefore, to settle the land so purchased. make a settlement, the reason for making such a an agreement to covenant instead of an actual settlement commonly being that the person who is to make the settlement has not the land at the time of the marriage, or has not land which he wishes, or is in a

condition to settle.

The reader

will see, at once, therefore,

how

widely such a covenant differs from the ordinary agreement for

the purchase and sale of land.
It

does, indeed, involve a pur-

chase of land, and, therefore, an agreement for purchase and sale

of land, but such purchase
is

to be

made of some

third person,

not ascertained at the date of the covenant, and, of course, the

agreement to purchase must be made with the same person. What is, however, of much greater legal importance is the fact that the particular land to be purchased is wholly unascertained, nothing, in fact, being fixed, except the amount of money thus to be laid out, or the annual value of the land to be purchased. What is of still greater legal importance, however, is the fact that
1

See Rayner v. Stone, 2 Eden 128. Cooper v. Jarman, L. R. 3 Eq. 98

Day, In

re,

[1898] z Ch. 5x0.

3l6

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

the vital part of the agreement

chased.

to be found, not in the covenant

to purchase land, but in the covenant to settle the land

when

pur-

Without

this latter branch, indeed, the

all, for,

covenant would

not constitute a contract at

as

it

nant to purchase land with the covenantor's

would be simply a coveown money, the land,

when purchased, would belong absolutely to him, and, therefore, he would incur no obligation to make the purchase; or, to express the same thing in another form, without the covenant to
settle the land,

no right would be created in anyone to have land purchased, and, therefore, the covenantor could neither be compelled to make the purchase, nor to pay damages for not doing so. It is, therefore, the covenant to settle the land which requires What is meant by a settlement of land, or particular attention. by settled land? The phrases "settled estate" and "settled land " have become very familiar in English law during the last half-century, no less than six " Leases and Sales of Settled Estates" acts having been passed between 1856 and 1877, both inclusive,^ and no less than five " Settled Land " acts between
1882 and 1890, both inclusive.^ Under estate " or " settled land " is declared to
these acts, a "settled

be any estate or land

which stands limited to several persons in succession. The most familiar form in which land stands so limited in a marriage settlement is that of a limitation to the use of the intended husband for
life,

remainder, as to a part or
life,

all

of the land, to the use of the

in lieu of

intended wife for

by way of jointure and

first

dower,^

and other sons of the marriage successively in tail, or in tail male, remainder to the use of the daughters of the marriage as tenants in common in tail, remainder to the use of the intended husband in fee. Sometimes the first limitation of all is one to the use of trustees for a long term of years in trust to raise a certain sum annually, during the coverture, for the wife by way of pin-money and generally the first limitation after the death of the husband and wife is to trustees for a long term of years in trust to raise portions for daughters and younger sons of the marriage, in the event of there being a son
remainder to the use of the
;

37

21 & 22 Vict. c. 77, 1858 ; 27 & 28 Vict. c. 45, 1864; 39 & 40 Vict. u. 30, 1876 ; and 40 & 41 Vict. c. 18, 1877. 2 45 & 46 Vict. c. 38, 1882; 47 & 48 Vict. u. 18, 1884; so & 51 Vict. c. 30, 1887 52 & S3 Vict. t. 36, 1889 and S3 & 54 Vict. c. 69, 1890. ' Witliin recent times, the wife's jointure seems to be generally secured by limiting
1

19

&

20 Vict.
c.

c.

120, 1856
;

&

38 Vict.

33, 1874

to her, not an estate in land for her

life,

but a rent charge.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

of the marriage in

317

whom

the

first

estate tail shall vest.

The only

thing, however, that can be asserted broadly of marriage settle-

making of a provision and children of the intended marriage for, within the limits which that object prescribes, the limitations in such settlements vary, as the circumstances and the views of the paris

ments

that they have for their object the

for the wife

ties vary.

It follows, therefore, that a

covenant to make such a

settlement must state the limitations to be

particularity as the settlement
itself,

made with

the

same

so that the limitations in the

settlement will be a mere copy of those in the covenant.

Such a covenant
his father,

is

generally

made by

the intended husband or

and

is

made with

relatives or friends of the wife, as

trustees for the wife

land

and children, and it generally provides that the shall be conveyed to the same trustees in fee, and to the several uses specified. The covenant is also generally made in consideration of the intended marriage, and of a sum of money, paid to the husband or settlor by the wife's

when purchased

father, as the wife's

marriage portion.

Assuming the
it

limitations to be such as
that,

have been already

stated,

will

be seen
is

settlement,

when the covenant, and consequently the made by the intended husband, the covenant and
life

settlement do not extend to the

limitations being, in effect,

interest limited to the husis

band, nor to the ultimate fee which

also limited to him, those

mere reservations by the husband of a

portion of what would wholly belong to him, but for the covenant

and settlement. And even if the covenant and settlement be made by the husband's father, it seems that so much of the cove.

nant as

is

in favor

of the husband cannot be specifically enforced,

as the considerations

upon which the covenant

is

to the wife and the children of the marriage.

made extend only Whether, therefore,

the covenant be
as
is in

made by

the husband or not, only so

much

of

it

favor of the wife and children of the marriage creates rights

specifically enforced.
in favor

which can be
over,
it is

In the

first

instance,

more-

only

of the wife that such a covenant creates a

it

right, as the rights

which

creates in favor of children will

come
if

into existence only as children are

from time to time born

and,

there be no children of the marriage, the obligation created

by the

covenant will cease on the death of the wife, if the husband be the covenantor, and will cease, in any event, on the death of the hus-

band and

wife,

and the land,

if

purchased and

settled, will thence-

forth belong wholly to the settlor.

3l8

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY

JURISDICTIOI^.

Such, then, being the extent and nature of the rights created by the covenant under consideration, what is the extent of the equiThe limitations covenanted to table conversion which it causes?

be made

in favor

of the husband do not,

it

seems, cause any equiis

table conversion, even

when

the covenant

not

made by him,
it

there being no consideration for the covenant so far as

favor, and, therefore,

is

in his

no right to specific performance. There is also another reason why the right of the husband, as well as that of the wife, to a life interest can practically cause no equitable conversion, namely, that it expires with the life of its owner, and hence cannot devolve on his death. The only rights, therefore, created by such a covenant, which will devolve on the death of their owner, and which, being capable of being specifically enforced,
will'

devolve

like land, are

those created in favor of the chil-

Moreover, as no child is generally entitled to a greater estate in the land to be purchased than an estate tail, and as such an estate expires on the death of the tenant in tail without issue, it follows that the interest of a child will devolve on his death only when he leaves issue. It must also be borne in mind that a covenant to purchase and settle land will cause an equitable conversion only so long as the covenant remains wholly unperformed, for, the moment that the land is purchased, the conversion before covenanted to be made is actually made, and the
dren of the marriage.

be land for all purposes, and without invoking the aid of equitable conversion. It will be seen, therefore, that the interest of a child under such a covenant
interests of the children will henceforth

can devolve as land, by virtue of the principle of equitable conversion, only

when

the covenant remains wholly unperformed until

issue,

such child marries, has

and

dies.

As
have

it

is

not the right to have land purchased, but the right to

it

settled, that causes

an equitable conversion, of course

it is

the latter right, and not the former, that measures the extent of

the equitable conversion caused by a covenant to purchase and

no more than saying that, on the who has a right to have land which is to be purchased conveyed to him in fee-simple, such right will descend to his heir, and hence there will be an entire equitable conversion of the price of the land Into land and that, on the death of a person entitled to have land which is to be purchased conveyed to him in fee-tail, his right will descend to his issue in tail, if he leave issue, and to them alone, and hence there will be
settle

land.

This

is,

in

fact,

death, intestate, of a person

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

319

an equitable conversion of the price of the land into land for so long a time only as there shall continue to be issue of the deceased,

on the death of a person entitled to have land, which is to be purchased, conveyed to him for his life, no right whatever will survive the deceased, And hence there will be, for the purposes of devolution, no equitable conversion of the price of the land into land. Yet, in each of the three cases just put, the right of the deceased to have land purchased is the same, namely, to have a given sum of money laid out in the purchase of land in feesimple, or to have the fee-simple of land of a given annual value purchased. Why? Because it is of such land that the deceased is entitled to have the fee-simple, or a fee-tail, or an estate for life, conveyed to him. If, therefore, in marriage articles the intended husband covenant to purchase and settle land, in the manner before stated, while there may be an indefinite number of persons, each of whom will be entitled to enforce the covenant specifically, and to its full extent, yet, as the covenant will direct no limitation of the fee-simple in the land to be purchased, there will remain in the husband, in every event, an ultimate reversionary interest in the money to be laid out in land, as to which there will be no equitable conversion, and, if the covenant be performed, a corresponding interest in the land purchased and settled will remain in the husband, i. e., if the husband purchase the land, and convey it in fee to the trustees of the settlement to the several uses directed in the covenant, the last of those uses will be to the husband in fee. After what has been said, it can scarcely oe necessary to caution the reader against entertaining the notion that a single covenant to purchase and settle land can cause only a single equitable conversion, as it is obvious that each separate right, created by such a covenant, to acquire an inheritable interest in the land to be purchased, will cause an equitable conversion, provided the right be one which equity will enforce specifically; and even though the right be to acquire only an estate for life, there will in strictness be an equitable conversion during the continuance of that estate, though it will not be likely to be followed by any
while,
practical consequence.

sion there

Between an actual conversion and an indirect equitable converis the same difference as between an absolute right and a

relative right.^

An

absolute right exists for

*

all

purposes and as to

See sufra, page 307, note.

320
all

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

persons, while a relative right implies a relation between two

persons, one of

other of

whom

the right.

A
is

has the right against the other, and the under a correlative obligation to him who has relative right, therefore, as such, has no existence
is

whom

except in favor of the person

who

has

it,

and as against the per-

son

who

is

subject to the correlative obligation.

So
right,

also an actual

conversion
it

made

in the exercise of

an absolute

and therefore

aH purposes and as to all persons, while an indirect equitable conversion is merely an equitable consequence of a relative right, and is, therefore, necessarily subject to the same limitations Such an equitable conas the right of which it is a consequence. version, therefore, can have no existence except as to the person least of all can it have any of whose right it is a consequence, existence as to the person who is subject to the correlative obligation. When, therefore, an intended husband, for example, covenants, in marriage articles, to purchase land, and settle the same, in the manner before stated, such covenant will create
exists for

equitable conversions only as to the intended wife and the chil-

dren of the marriage,

not as

to the husband.

If,

therefore, the
all his

husband die

intestate before

performing the covenant,

per-

sonal property will devolve

upon

his executor, just as if

he had
will

made no such covenant;

also devolve

the only difference will be that the obli-

gation which the husband incurred

by making the covenant

In other words, the
will

upon

his executor.

personal

property

in the hands of the executor den of the covenant.

be subject to the bur-

Such are upon by

the covenant
table conversion

principle, as

it is

conceived, the effects produced

It is time,
is

now under
which
it

consideration in respect to the equi-

causes.

however, to inform

the reader that a very different view

for
it

presented by the authorities

has been held, from the earliest times, and without a disfirst,

senting voice,

that

any limitation directed by such a cove-

nant, "which confers a right to have the covenant fully performed,

the

causes an equitable conversion into land of the entire interest in money covenanted to be laid out in land, though the limitation

which causes the conversion be only for life, i. e., that the equitable conversion is measured by the actual conversion which the covenant requires, and is coextensive with it; secondly, that every such conversion is absolute, not relative, or, at least, that the money covenanted to be laid out in land is converted in equity
into land, not only as to the persons in

whose favor the land

to

be

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

purchased
;

321

is covenanted to be limited, but also as to the covenanand accordingly it is held that a covenant by an intended husband to lay out money in the purchase of land and to settle the land in the manner before stated will, immediately on the solemnization of the marriage, cause a complete equitable conversion of the money so covenanted to be laid out, not only as to the wife and the children of the marriage, but as to the husband also, sub-

tor

ject only to the condition of the wife's surviving the husband, for

the limitation covenanted to be

life will

made

in favor

of the wife for her

full

give her an undoubted right to enforce a

performance

of the covenant.

Thus, in Lingen v. Souroy,' where an intended husband covenanted to lay out an identified fund of ,\AcOO in the purchase of land, and to settle the land in the manner just stated, and there

was no issue of the marriage, and the husband died without having performed the covenant, and leaving his wife surviving him, and
all his real estate, with a certain exception, to his nephews, and bequeathed all his personal estate to his wife, whom he also appointed his executrix, and the nephews filed a bill

having devised

against the wife, claiming the ;^I400 subject to the wife's

terest therein,

life in-

Lord Harcourt made a decree in the plaintiff's favor, holding that the ;^I400 passed to them as land, under the husband's will, by virtue of the words " all my other lands in the city and county of York, or any other part of Great Britain and his decree was affirmed by Lord Cowper on a rehearing. .The
'' ;

plaintiffs, therefore,

accomplished the extraordinary feat of

re-

covering against the testator's wife on the strength of a right

vested in her by the covenant to have the

iipo

laid'

out in land

on her for life. It is to be hoped that such an instance of a damnosa haereditas would be sought for in vain elsewhere than in Lingen v. Souroy and other cases ^ which have followed its authority. If the husband had died intestate, his heir would have been relieved from a portion of the burden of proof which rested upon his devisees, for the latter had to prove, not only what the heir must have proved, but also that they had been put by the testator in the place of the heir, and it seems clear that, by the word " lands," the testator meant lands of which locality could be prediand
settled

cated,

i. e.,

actual land.

1 ^

P.

Wms.

172, 10

Mod.

39, Gilb.

For example, Walrond

v.

Rosslyn,
21

Eq. Rep. 91, Ch. Prec. 400. 1 1 Ch. D. 640.

322
In

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Edwards
v.

Countess of Warwick ^ an intended husband covenanted that ; 10,000, being a part of the intended wife's marriage

and which was to be deposited by the wife's father in the hands of trustees, should be laid out by the latter in the purchase of land, to be settled on the husband for ninety-nine years, if he should live so long, remainder to the first and other sons of the marriage in tail male, remainder to the husband in fee. The marriage took place, and the husband afterward died, leaving a son in whom the first limitation in tail male vested, but who afterward died without issue, and thereupon all the limitations covenanted to be made of the land to be purchased with the ;'io,ooo were exhausted, and the money had never been laid out. It would seem plain, therefore, that the husband's reversionary interest in the ;^io,ooo, which had been personal property from the beginning, and which, on the husband's death, had devolved on his personal representative, for the benefit of his wife and son, became an absolute interest on the death of the son, whose share therein devolved upon his personal representative for the benefit of his mother and his half-sister, i. e., his mother's daughter by a second husband. It was held, however, by Lord Macclesfield, that this reversionary interest was converted in equity into land, and, on the husband's death, descended to his son and heir, and, on the death of the latter, descended to his heir, namely, the plaintiff's wife, who was his father's sister, and his decision was affirmed by the House of Lords. In Lechmere v. Earl of Carlisle,^ the facts were substantially the same as in Lingen v. Souroy, except that the intended wife's jointure was by way of a rent-charge, instead of a life estate, and that the intended husband died intestate. The bill was filed by the husband's heir, and was for a specific performance of the husband's covenant to lay out ;f 30,000 in the purchase of land, and to settle the land and a decree was made in the plaintiff's favor by Sir Joseph Jekyll, M.R., which was affirmed by Lord Talbot on appeal. In one respect the decisions in the last two cases are even less
portion,
;

defensible than that in Lingen v. Souroy, for in the latter there

was a right
V.

in in

the wife to have the covenant specifically per-

formed, while

Edwards v. Countess of Warwick and Lechmere Earl of Carlisle there was no such right in anyone, either when
1

2 P.

Wms.

171,

Bro. P.

C, Toml.

ed., 207.

* 3 P.

Wms.

211.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the

323

In Edwards v. Countess bill was filed or at anytime afterward. of Warwick only one of the limitations which the husband cove-

nanted that his trustees should make ever took

effect,

and that

expired on the death of the son without issue, and it will, therefore, now be admitted that the equitable conversion which had

once existed had ceased to exist before the bill was filed.^ In Lechmere v. Earl of Carlisle the wife, on whose marriage the covenant to purchase and settle land was made, was still living, and was entitled to a jointure, but, as her jointure was to consist only of a rent-charge, she would not be entitled to any estate in only to a charge thereon, and, therethe land to be purchased, and, fore, she had no right to have land purchased and settled though it has generally been supposed that such a right would work an equitable conversion, and was expressly so held in Walrond v. Rosslyn,^ yet I shall endeavor to show hereafter that such a view cannot be supported. In Lingen v. Souroy, Edwards v. Countess of Warwick, and Lechmere v. Earl of Carlisle, it was alike held that there was an

equitable conversion in favor of the husband's heir or devisee,

and, therefore, in favor of the husband himself, and yet the hus-

band's only relation to the covenant which was assumed to have

caused an equitable conversion was that of covenantor and obligor,

he having no right whatever under the covenant, and no

rational person will claim that a covenant can

conversion, except
It

by

virtue of a right or rights

work an equitable which it creates.

and was

was

also necessarily held in each of these three cases,

v.

expressly held in Lechmere

Earl of Carlisle, that the husband's

heir or devisee could maintain a suit for the specific performance

of the covenant; and yet

the covenant.

it

was not possible that such heir or

devisee should, as such, derive any right of action whatever from

It was also necessarily held that a relative right and the correlative obligation ^ could coexist in and devolve from

the same person,

a thing plainly impossible.

The

reader will also bear in mind that the true question in each

of these three cases was, not whether the money in question had devolved from the husband upon his heir or devisee as if it were
" To keep on foot the notional conversion 1 Walrond v. Rosslyn, 11 Ch. D. 640. money into land, it is evident there must be a right in someone to insist upon the

of

actual conversion."
2

Lewin on Trusts, loth

ed., 11 58 (c. xxxii).

Supra.

See supra, page 307, note.

324

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

whether a right to have the money laid out in the purchase of land, and to have the land settled as stated in the covenant, had so devolved and if the court had taken that view, and adhered to it consistently, it could not have made the decision that it did make in either of these cases, for it could not have failed to see that no such right could devolve from the husband, as that his only right consisted in no such right was vested in him, the ownership of the money in question, and that that money could not possibly devolve from the husband as if it were land as a consequence of the specific performance of the covenant, since
land, but
;

the

such specific performance would necessarily involve a transfer of money from the husband to the seller of the land, and that such money could devolve from the husband as if it were land only by means of a trust created by equity itself, namely, by treating the personal representative of the husband as holding the

money as a trustee for the husband's heir By way of showing how radical were

or devisee.

the mistakes which the Chancery was capable of making at about the time when Court of the three cases now in question were decided, the case of Chaplin V. Horner ^ may be referred to, where an intended husband cove-

nanted in a marriage settlement to lay out ;^20oo in the purchase

of land to be settled on himself
father's

and

his heirs,

and

after his
bill,

death

the daughter and only child of the marriage filed a

as her

heir, against her mother, as his administratrix, for a performance of the covenant, and Sir Joseph Jekyll, M. R., made a decree in her favor; and yet the words in italics were wholly inoperative, and so the covenant was simply that the hus-

specific

band would lay out ;^200o of

land, and, as the land, like the

his

own money

in the

purchase of
his,

money, would be absolutely

the

covenant was a mere nullity. The only other mode in which an owner of land or money can cause an equitable conversion of his land into money or of his

money

by the creation of a trust or duty to sell his money. Such a trust may be created either by deed or other act inter vivos, or by will, though it is nearly always done by will. Instead of creating a trust, however, a testator may, by his will, simply direct a conversion to be made, i. e., he may confer a power upon his executor (I say executor, for he is nearly always the person selected) to sell his
into land,
is

land, or to purchase land with his

1 I P.

Wms.

483.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

land, or to purchase land with his

325

money, at the same time makduty to exercise the power.^ Why does the creation of For the such a trust or duty cause an equitable conversion? same reason that a contract causes an equitable conversion,
ing
it

his

namely, that equity

trust or duty.

will

enforce the specific performance of such

created

When
takes

such a trust
is

is

place the

moment
created

that the deed

by deed, the equitable conversion is delivered when such

;

trust or duty

by

will,

the equitable conversion takes

i.

place the

moment

that the testator dies,

If,

e.,

the

moment

that the

will takes effect.

however, the trust or the duty be subject to

equitable
eflfect,

a condition precedent, the

conversion will npt take

nor until the trust or duty

place until the deed or will takes

But the mere fact that the actual conversion is not to be made until some event which is certain to happen shall happen, for example, until such a person shall die, will not affect

becomes absolute.

the time

when

the equitable conversion will take place.

Why

Because the time when the equitable conversion takes place depends, not upon the time when the trust or duty is to be performed, i. e., when the specific performance of it may be
not?
enforced, but

performed

is

created.

upon the time when the right to have it specifically It is, as we have already seen, the creation
though
it is

of this right which causes an equitable conversion, and a right

may exist

presently,

not enforceable until a future day,

just as a debt

though it be not payable until have a right to-day to have certain land sold on the death of A, and one half of the proceeds of the sale paid to me, my right will be less valuable during A's life than it will be after his death, but its legal nature will always be the same, whether be alive or dead. When it is said that such a trust or duty as has been described creates an equitable conversion, no more is meant than that it We have already will do so if certain other things concur.
exist presently,

may
If I

a future day.

seen that a covenant, in a marriage settlement or marriage articles,

to lay out

money

in the

purchase of land

will not

cause an equiof a

table conversion, nor even create a contract, without the addition

of a covenant to settle the land

trust to sell or

when purchased

and. so

it

is

purchase land.

To

the creation of a trust a cestui

que trust

is

indispensable, and to the creation of a duty a person to

See 13 Harv. L. Rev. 549.

326

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

or in whose favor, the duty
is

be performed is indispenmust be followed up with some disposition of the proceeds of the sale, and a trust or duty to buy land must be followed up with some disposition of otherwise no trust or duty, still less the land to be purchased What such disposiany equitable conversion, will be created. tion must be in order that a valid and binding trust or duty may be created, we have seen in a previous article ;^ and it may now be added that any disposition which will be sufificient to render the trust or duty valid and binding will also be sufficient to cause an equitable conversion. What will be the epctent of such equitable conversion ? It will be precisely coextensive with the disposition made of the proceeds of the sale, or of the land to be purchased. Thus, if a trust or duty be to sell land, and divide the proceeds of the sale between and B, the entire fee-simple of the land will be converted in equity into money. If the trust or duty be to sell the land, and pay one half of the proceeds of the sale to A, the fee-simple of an undivided half only of the land will be converted in equity into money; and yet the entire interest in the land must be sold in order to ascertain the amount to be paid to A. While, however, the actual conversion will thus extend to the entire interest in the land, the trust or duty will extend only to this one half of the proceeds of the sale, and the remaining half of such proceeds will belong to the person or persons to whom the land belonged when the sale took place, and to whom the land would still belong if it had not been sold, and that, too, not because of any equitable conversion, or of any other principle of equity, but
to
sable.

whom,

A trust or duty, therefore, to sell land

;

by

virtue of

common

law principles alone, just as the entire proif

ceeds of the sale would have so belonged

or duty had devised the land to trustees

the creator of the trust

special trusts, and had given to the trustees a mere authority to sell the land, and had made no disposition of the proceeds of the sale, in which case such proceeds would belong at law to the trustees to whom the land belonged when the sale was made, and would be held by them on the same trusts on which the land was previously

upon

held.

on the other hand, the trust be to purchase land, and convey to A and B in fee, it seems that there will be no equitable conversion of the money into land, as A and B can each
If,

the

same

i8

Harv.

L.

Rev.

22, supra, p. 281.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

claim one half of the money, just as

327

could claim

all

the

money ,^

if the trust or duty had been to purchase land and convey it to him in fee, but if the trust be to purchase land, and convey the same to A for life, remainder to B in tail, remainder to C in fee,

there will be a conversion in equity of the entire interest in the

money
sion
is

into land.

In truth, the

medium through which an

it

indirect equitable conver-

be a contract, a trust, or a duty, always constitutes the first step towards an alienation of the thing to be converted, and an acquisition, by the alienor or someone else, of the thing into which the conversion is to be made.^ Moreover, this first step, while it does not in law or in fact complete either the alienation of the one thing or the acquisition of the other, yet it does do both in equity in a qualified sense, and it is for that reason For that purthat it is said to cause an equitable conversion. pose, however, the contract, trust, or duty must be binding and irrevocable, and must also be capable of being specifically enforced
in equity.
If

made, whether

the equitable conversion be caused

bilateral contract for the

constitutes the first

land,

by a mutually binding purchase and sale of land, the contract step by the seller towards the alienation of the

and the acquisition of money instead, and the first step by money and the acquisition of land instead, and the contract is said to cause an equitable conversion both by the seller and the buyer, because equity looks upon the seller as having already parted with his land, he having incurred an obligation to part with it which equity will specifically enforce, and because equity looks upon the buyer as having, for similar reasons, already parted with his money, but chiefly because the seller has acquired by the contract a legal right to have the money paid to him on his conveying the land, and the buyer has acquired a legal right to have the land conveyed to him on his paying the money, both of which rights, being specifically enforceable, devolve in equity, the one as if it were money and the
the buyer towards the alienation of his

were land. If, on the other hand, the equitable conversion be caused by an unilateral covenant to purchase and
other as
if it
^

Seeley

v.

Jago,

P.

Wms.

389.

In the converse case, however, of a trust to

sell

land,

and divide the proceeds of the sale among several persons, any one of the persons interested may insist upon a sale against the wishes of all the others. Deeth v. Hale, 2 Mol. 317 Trower v. Knightley, 6 Madd. 134. 2 See supra, page 307.
;

328
settle

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

land upon the covenantor's wife and the issue of the mar-

such covenant will constitute the first step towards an by the covenantor of the money to be laid out by him, and towards the acquisition, not by the covenantor, but by his wife and issue, of the land to be purchased. How are the wife and
riage,

alienation

issue

to

acquire

the land?

Of

course,

they are to acquire

;

it

through the covenant to settle it upon them and hence it is that the latter covenant is indispensable to the equitable conversion and hence it is, also, that the covenant to purchase and settle land causes an equitable conversion only to the extent of the right or rights which it creates to have the land settled. To that extent, however, a covenant to purchase and settle land constitutes a complete step towards the alienation of the money by the covenantor and the acquisition of the land by the wife and issue, and hence, to that extent, it causes an equitable conversion of the money into land. The reader will observe, however, that, under a covenant to purchase and settle land, a question always arises as to the extent of the equitable conversion which the covenant causes, while, under a contract for the purchase and sale of land, no such question can ever arise, a conversion in equity of the entire interest in both the money and the land being a necessary consequence of the contract. Finally, if the equitable conversion be caused by a trust or duty to convert land into money, or money into land, such trust or duty, each being unilateral, will constitute the first step towards the alienation by the creator of the trust or duty, of the thing to be converted, and also the first step towards the acquisition, not by the creator of the trust or duty, but by the cestui que trust, or the person for whom, or in whose favor, the duty is to be performed, of the thing into which the conversion is to be made, or of some interest in it. How, then, is such an acquisition to be made? Only by means of a gift from the creator of the trust or duty, and
this is

another reason why some gift by the creator of the trust or duty of the thing into which the conversion is to be made, is indispensable to the equitable conversion, and also

why
gift.

the equi-

table conversion can be coextensive only with such

To

the

extent of such

gift,

however, the trust or duty to convert land into

into land, constitutes a complete step towards an alienation of the thing to be converted, and an acquisition of the thing into which the conversion is to be made and hence, to that extent, it necessarily causes an equitable conversion of land into
;

money, or money

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

money, or of money
into land.

329

In this case also, as in that of a

question always arises as

covenant to purchase and

duty.

settle land, a

to the extent of the equitable conversion caused

by the

trust or

We

have seen that an unilateral covenant to purchase and

settle

land can, upon principle, cause an equitable conversion only in

favor of persons on

whom

the land

is

covenanted to be

settled,

not in favor of the covenantor, or those claiming under him.

also,

So

and

for the

same reason, an

unilateral trust or

duty to convert
principle, cause
irust,

land into money, or

the person for

money
or in

into land, can,

upon

an equitable conversion only in favor of the cestui que

formed,

or

not
in

whom,

whose

favor, the

duty

is

to be per-

in favor of the creator of the trust or duty, or of

those claiming under him.

We

have also seen, however,

that, in

respect to a covenant to purchase and settle land, the authorities

do not
out

at all

money

support this view, but hold that every covenant to lay the purchase of land, and to settle the land, causes

an equitable conversion of the money into land as much in favor of the covenantor and those claiming under him, as it does in favor of those on whom the land is covenanted to be settled and those claiming under them and it may now be added that the authorities present the same view in respect to equitable conversions caused by a trust or duty to convert land into money, or
;

money

into land.^

have also seen that according to the authorities the extent of the equitable conversion caused by a covenant to purchase and settle land is measured, not by the extent of the right or rights which the covenant creates in the land to be purchased, but by the extent of the actual conversion which the covenant makes necessary. How do the authorities answer this question in respect to an equitable conversion caused by a trust or duty to convert land Or, rather, how do they answer into money, or money into land? respect to such a trust or duty created by a will, for in it in respect to a trust created by deed they do not answer it at all.
1 Smith V. Claxton, 4 Madd. 484 (second devise) Jessopp v. Watson, i Myl. & K. 665 Hatfield v. Pryme, 2 Coll. 204 ; Clarke v. Franklin, 4 Kay & J. 257 ; Richerson, In re, [1892] i Ch. 379.
; ;

We

ARTICLE X

V.^

Equitable Conversion.
IV.

Ackroyd v. Smithson,^ it was held that an unqualified direction by a testator in his will to sell land, or to buy land with his money, created a complete conversion in equity of the land into money, or of the money into land,
to the case of

PREVIOUS

and that

this conversion

was

effective for all the

purposes of devo-

lution at the testator's death, so that land thus converted

would

were money, i. e., would go to the executor, in whose hands it would be money for all purposes, for example, for the payment of debts and legacies, and for distribution among the testator's next of kin; and so that money thus converted would devolve in equity as if it were land, i. e., would pass so that as land to the testator's devisee, or descend to his heir, it would neither be assets for payment of debts, nor liable for legacies, and the testator's next of kin would have no claim
devolve in equity as
if it

upon

it.

Upon what theory was it, then, that this equitable conversion by will of land into money or money into land was held to have
the effect of causing land to devolve in equity at the testator's

death as
plain,

if it were money, and money as if it were land ? It is and always was plain, that a will can produce no effect till the
If,

testator's death.*
1

then, a testator devise his land to trustees

2 i Bro. C. C. 503. Atk. 167, a testator by his will devised his land, in the

19

Harv.

L.

"

In Beauclerk

Rev. i. v. Mead,

events which happened, to his sister for

for
life,

life, remainder to A for life, remainder to B and he also directed the residue of his personal estate to be laid out in purchase of land to be settled to the same uses to which his land was devised. By a

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

331

in trust to be sold, but fail to make an effective disposition of all the proceeds of the sale, what will happen at his death ? Why, the trustees will acquire, under the will, the legal ownership of the land, while each person to whom any portion of the produce of

the land
sold,

is

given will acquire an equitable right to have the land

and

his share of the proceeds paid to him, as well as, inci-

dentally, a right to receive, until the sale

profits of so

is made, the rents and of the land as his share of the proceeds of the sale shall represent. On the other hand, so much of the land as

much

will

be represented by the undisposed of proceeds of its sale, descend in equity to the heir, and, when his title to the land shall be devested by a sale, he will be entitled to receive in exchange a like proportion of the proceeds of the sale. The pershall

have no more to do with the its sale, than he would have had to do with the land if the testator had died intestate. All this, moreover, is so plain that it seems that the courts must have proceeded upon some other theory in holding the contrary. Can they have proceeded upon the theory that, as a testator can dispose by his will of the proceeds of a sale of land which he
sonal representative
will, therefore,

testator's land, or with the

proceeds of

directs

devolve
least

by the same will, so such proceeds, if undisposed of, will upon his personal representative? No, clearly not, or at
;

no such theory can be maintained for such proceeds have no existence till after the testator's death, nor till after a sale is actually made, and it is only the property and rights of a person which are in actual existence that can devolve at his death on his
codicil

which happened, not to

lives
;

on the death of his sister, his land should go, in the events A and B successively for life, but to them jointly for their and, the question being whether the word " land," In the codicil, included the
he directed
that,
it

when the codicil was meant the same in the codicil that it did in the will, the residue of the personal estate, not, in truth, becoming land in equity till the testator's death. He said (page 169) " It has been insisted on for the plaintiif that if a man makes a will and disposes of lands, that such devise will pass, not only what the law will pass, but what equity passes likewise, which is money directed to be laid out in land. ... I allow that the rule laid down by the bar, that money directed to be invested in land, must be considered as land, is very right, but then it is truly said the will must be complete, for it is ambulatory till the for would not his personal testator's death, nor till then can it be considered as land estate have been subject to all intents and purposes to his debts, supposing there had been any, notwithstanding the devise that the surplus should be invested in land? Suppose the testator had given, by his codicil, all his lands to another person, and his heirs, can anybody doubt whether this would not have made a total variation as to
residue of the testator's personal estate, that being land in equity

made, Lord Hardwicke answered that

did not, and that

it

the devisees under the will?"

332

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

by operation of
in

representatives

law.

When
gift
is

makes a and there

gift
is

of such proceeds, the

future

a testator by his will and executory,

devolutions of property
there, then,

by operation of law
gifts.

nothing analogous to future and executory

which the courts may have adopted? In framing the question with which the last paragraph but one begins, I have used the words " causing the land to devolve in equity," etc., and I have used these words because, first, the equitable interest in the land is the only thing that can devolve by operation of law in the case supposed secondly, the equitable interest in the land is the thing that was in fact held to devolve as thirdly, there are only two possible alternatives, if it were money as the land must either descend as land to the heir, or it must devolve as money upon the personal representative; and, as it was held to do the latter, and as it could so devolve on the supposition that it had been directly converted by equity into money, and on that supposition alone, it seems that that must have been the theory upon which the courts acted. In other words, while an in-

What

other theory

is

direct equitable conversion

is

in truth only a first step

alienation of the thing to be converted,

and a

specific

towards an performance
is

of the contract or trust which causes the conversion

sable to complete the alienation, the courts acted
that such a conversion constituted in
itself,

indispen-

upon the theory

at the testator's death,

a complete alienation in equity of the thing to be converted from

the testator's heir to his executor, and from his executor to his

and hence that such a conversion of land was a conversion not only as to the executor, but as to the heir as well, and that such a conversion of money was a conversion of it, not only as to the heir, but as to the executor as well. In short, it was held that an indirect conversion, made by will, was an absolute conversion, in so far as it is possible for equity to make an
heir,

of

it,

absolute conversion, that land so converted became the absolute property of the testator's executor, in so far as it is possible for an
equitable owner to be an absolute owner, and that

money
owner

so conor

verted

became the absolute property of the

it

testator's heir

devisee, in so far as

is

possible for an equitable

to be an

absolute owner.^
It

treating indirect equitable conversions as

must not be supposed, however, that courts of equity in thus if they were direct, acted
1

See infra,

p.

343

p. 349, n. 6.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

consciously
;

333

for in truth they

have never recognized the division

all

of equitable conversions into such as are direct and such as are

indirect, but

have always assumed that

equitable conversions

constituted one class only, and

have never raised any question as to whether they are made directly or indirectly; and hence they have, not unnaturally, assumed that the effects produced by any equitable conversion will be produced by every equitable conversion, and that whatever is true of any equitable conversion is Hence, too, the courts, when true of all equitable conversions. dealing with an equitable conversion of one kind, have applied to it a mode of reasoning which is applicable to equitable conversions of that kind or which is applicable only to equitable conversions of the other kind, according as the one mode of reasoning or the other best supported the view which they were seeking to establish. More particularly, however, and for reasons stated in a previous article,^ they have been in the constant habit of applying to indirect conversions reasoning

which

is

applicable only to direct

conversions.

What were the authorities by which the foregoing view was supposed to be established? First, there were the two cases of Mallabar v. Mallabar^ and Durour v. Motteux,^ in e^ach of which the decision must have been in favor of the next of kin, but for the fact that there was a residuary bequest which was held to carry everything. There was also the case of Ogle v. Cook,* which was supposed by everyone to contain an actual decision in favor of the next of kin and against the heir, until Lord Loughborough, fifteen years after Ackroyd v. Smithson was decided, declared,^ as the result of an examination of the Registrar's Book, that, though the point was involved, it was not actually decided by the decree which was made, but was reserved for further consideration. Lastly, there was the case of Fletcher v. Chapman,^ which was the converse of Ackroyd v. Smithson, i. e., the testator had directed money to be laid out in the purchase of land, but he had disposed of a life interest only in the land to be purchased, and (according to Tomlin's head note) it was held by Lord
Somers, whose decree was affirmed by the House of Lords, that
the testator's heir was entitled to the money, subject to the
interest.
1

life

Lord Cottenham, however, when Master of the

" *

Rolls,

Sufra,
I

8
5

p. 307, 308. Ves. 320, I Sim. & St. 292, n. (d).

V.

Cas.
i

/.

Talbot, 78.
P.

Ves. 177.

Collins

Wakeman,

Ves. Jun. 683.

K.

C, Tomlin's

ed., i.

334

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

concluded, after a careful examination of the case, that the point

was not involved, and hence that the decision did not preclude him from deciding the point as he thought right.^ On the other hand, Digby v. Legard,^ which was the latest case cited in Ackroyd V. Smithson, having been decided within six years,^ was thought to be a very strong authority in favor of the heir and against the next of kin, and to be entitled to great weight. It had not, however, been reported when Ackroyd v. Smithson was argued and decided, nor was there then any statement of it in print. There was, indeed, a statement of it by Sir T. Sewell, M. R., in the then unreported case of Fletcher v. Ashburner,* and from that statement it was cited in Ackroyd v. Smithson. According to that statement, however, real estate only was devised, and hence the case was cited, in Ackroyd v. Smithson, as one which did not involve the blending of real and personal estate into one fund. When, however, it came to be reported, first by Mr. Cox, in his note to Cruse v. Barley ^ and afterwards in Dickens,^ it appeared that it did involve the element of blending; and therefore, in that respect, it was precisely in point for the heir in Ackroyd v. Smithson, though it had been supposed not to be so. For another reason, however, the report in Dickens shows that the decision was not any authority in favor of the heir, or against the next of kin, in Ackroyd v. Smithson; for it appears that the reason of the decision in favor of the heir was that the land was merely charged with the payment of the testator's debts and legacies in aid of the personal estate, and that no more of the land was directed or authorized to be sold than should be necessary to The case of Emblyn v. Freeman^ was also satisfy the charge. cited in Ackroyd v. Smithson as an authority in favor of the heir.

The

facts of that

case, however, are not

such as to render the

decision in favor of the- heir of

1

much

value.*

This opinion was expressed by Sir C. C. Pepys (afterward Lord Cottenham) in judgment in Cogan v. Stephens, decided Nov. 24, 1836. The judgment is given in full in an appendix to the first three editions of Lewin on Trusts. The case is also reported in 5 L. J. N. s. Chan. 17.
his
,

^ 3
8

P.

Wms.
V.

22,

ii.

2 Dick. 500.
in June, 1774,

Digby
I

Legard was decided

and Ackroyd

v.

Smithson in June,

1780.
*
15

3 P.

Bro. C. C. 497, 501. Wms., 4th ed., 22, n.

i,

cided just a year before Ackroyd

published in 1787. Fletcher v. Ashburner was dev. Smithson. Both cases were first reported by
in 1803.

Brown
6 2
'

in his second edition, published in 1790.

Dick. 500.

Dickens was published

Ch. Prec. 541.

Supra,

p. 286.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

335

Such, then, are the authorities in support of the view which, I have said, prevailed prior to Ackroyd v. Smithson and, though they are, upon the whole, stronger than they were supposed to be
;

when Ackroyd
to be decisive.

v.

Smithson was decided, they can hardly be said

been universal,

Whether decisive or not, however, the opinion has since Ackroyd v. Smithson was decided, that, prior
I

to that date, the law was as

have stated

it

to be.

What, then, was the change introduced by Ackroyd v. Smithson? The testator, in that case, by his will gave all his land, not therein before given, and all his personal estate to two trustees in trust to sell the same, and, out of the proceeds, to pay the testator's debts and pecuniary legacies, including a legacy to each of fifteen persons, and to divide the residue among the same fifteen persons in proportion to their respective legacies.
before the testator, and so the
gifts

Two
to

of these legatees died

;

them lapsed and, the property having been sold, the question was what should be done with so much of the money intended for them as was produced by It was claimed by the testator's next of kin the sale of the land. to belong to them, as having become part of the testator's personal
estate,

and they

filed

bill

against the trustees to enforce their

claim,

making the

thirteen surviving legatees

and the

testator's

heir co-defendants.

The

case was
i. e.,

M.

R.,

who gave

the entire fund,

heard by Sir T. Sewell, the produce of the land as well

first

as the personal estate, to the thirteen surviving legatees, where-

upon the
Thurlow,
sented

plaintiffs

appealed, and the appeal was heard by Lord

in favor of the heir. The latter was repreby Mr. Scott (afterwards Lord Eldon ^) who argued the cause fully at both hearings. His argument before Lord Thurlow is reported as written out by himself and furnished to the reporter.^ The heir in fact made no claim to the money, but, being a necessary party to the suit, he had to be represented by counsel

who decided

Mr. Scott and who had been only four years at the bar^) to represent him, and consent, on his behalf, to whatever decree the court should see fit to make, giving
at the hearing,

and accordingly

his solicitor instructed

old,

(who was then only twenty-eight years

Lord Eldon gave

in

a conversation, a

little

death, a very interesting account of his connection with

I

more than three weeks before his Ackroyd v. Smithson. See

Twiss, Life of Lord Eldon, Ii6-I20.

2
5

See

Bro. C.

C,

Belt's ed., 503, n.

1.

Lord Eldon

tells

us that during his

first

eleven months at the bar he received

half a guinea; see
i

nothing, that during the twelfth

month he received

Twiss, 100.

336

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

a fee of one guinea, that being the established fee for such a

him
was

service.

Mr. Scott, however, having

satisfied himself that the. heir

money, so advised him, and declined to. represent him unless he could argue the case; and the result was that he argued it at each Hearing without a fee, /. e., on receiving a fee
entitled to the

merely for consenting to a decree, the heir declining to increase his ^ fee and thus " send good money after bad." At the hearing before Lord Thurlow, the counsel for the next of kin contended ^ " that the testator had converted his real estate into money, out and out, that he had mixed two funds, and made all personal estate that the cases therefore of Mallabar v. Mallabar and Durour v. Motteux must govern the decision here, and that the blending the funds distinguished this case from that of Digby Mr. Scott also said ^ "If the interest of the deceased V. Legard." legatees had been an interest in the produce of mere real estate,
; :

not blended with the produce of personal

admitted,

estate,

it

has been
lapsed

upon both

hearings,

that the

benefit

of the
v.

devises would, according to the case of

Digby

Legard, and

Emblyn v. Freeman, and of many have accrued to the heir at law. It is admitted, and cannot be denied, that where a testator directs real estate to be sold for special purposes, if any of those purposes become incapable of taking effect, the heir at law shall take; because there is an end of the disposition, when there is an end of the purposes for which it was made: but it is contended here the testator had not a special intention, but that he meant the produce of his real estate
the principle of the case of
others,

should be considered as personal estate, that he intended to convert

it

out and out

that he has not kept the funds distinct, but

be incapable of being distinv. Motteux, and Mallabar v. Mallabar, are authorities in point, that the whole fund We admit that a person may decide what shall be is personal. the nature of his property after his death, so as to preclude all question between real and personal representatives." Such were
as to

that he has blended

them so

guished, and that the cases therefore of Durour

the views of the counsel for the next of kin, so far as

we know

them, and such were their admissions in favor of the heir and Mr. Scott's admission in favor of the next of kin. It was, therefore,
agreed between them that everything depended upon the testator's
intention.

How,

then,

was
2
I

his intention, as to the conversion of his

Twiss. ii8.

Bro. C. C. 505.

Bro. C. C. 506.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

land into money, to be ascertained?

337

way was,

According to Mr. Scott, the what purposes he had directed his land to be sold, and, secondly, to what extent those purposes had been effective for, as to such purposes, if any, as had failed to take effect, Mr. Scott insisted that it was the same as if those purposes had never been declared by the testator. He also argued, with great force, that the entire burden of proof was on the next of kin that it was not necessary, therefore, for the heir to show that the testator had any intention in his favor, it being sufficient for him that no intention had been shown in favor of the next of kin, while it was indispensable for the next of kin to show an intention in their favor, as their claim had no other foundation to rest upon. To the argument which the counsel for the next of kin founded upon the blending of the testator's land and personal estate into one fund, Mr. Scott made the same answer as to the rest of their argument, namely, that the testator intended that the two funds should be blended into one only for the purposes of the gifts which he had made of the blended fund, and, therefore, only so far as those gifts should be effective. It will be seen, therefore, that Mr. Scott came very near taking what is conceived to be the correct view, namely, that the extent to which the testator had converted his land into money in equity depended upon the extent to which he had made effective gifts of the proceeds of the sale which he had directed, and he never once alluded to the testator's direction to sell his land as measuring the extent of its conversion in equity. Indeed, he fell short of taking the view that the extent of the equitable conversion depended
first,

to inquire for

wholly upon the extent of the gifts just referred to, only by making those gifts the sole evidence of the testator's intention to
convert, instead of making, th,em the measure of the conversion

without regard to the testator's intention to convert.

There was one feature of the case, however, which Mr. Scott's argument thus far failed to meet; for, though the proceeds of the sale of the land had not all been disposed of, a sale of all the land was no less necessary than it would have been if all the proceeds of the sale had been disposed of, there being no other way of ascertaining what amount of money the thirteen surviving legatees were entitled to receive; and, though Mr. Scott had very skilfully diverted the attention of the court from the question whether a sale of all the land was necessary, and had directed it exclusively to the consequences to be deduced from the testator's

338

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

make an
it

failure to

effective gift

of

all

the proceeds of the sale, yet

to

upon authority
that caused
its

was the intention of the testator

have the land

it

sold, or the existence of a right created

by him

to have

sold,

conversion in equity, and the testator's failure to

all the proceeds of the sale was material only so far as showed an absence of such intention, or the non-existence of such a right. What was the testator's intention, then, in the events which had happened, as to the sale of his land? Clearly it was

dispose of
it

that
tion

it

should

all

be

sold.
it

To

be sure, the evidence of this intenif

was not
it

as direct as
gift

would have been

the testator had

made

an effective
but

of

all

the proceeds of the sale which he directed,

was no
it

less certain.

When

land which can be carried into effect only

a testator creates a trust as to by a sale of the land, the

law regards
tor, to

as certain that a sale of the land

was intended.

It is

equally clear also that there existed a right, created by the testa-

have

all

the land sold.

Indeed, such a right existed in each

of the thirteen surviving legatees.

It follows

then that, upon authority, there was a complete con-

version in equity of all the land into

money

and,

if so, it

also follows,

from Mr. Scott's own admission, that the next of kin were entitled to so much of the proceeds of the sale as would have gone to the two deceased legatees if they had survived the testator for, though in terms he admitted only that a testator " may decide what shall be the nature of his property after his death," yet it is by means of equitable conversion alone that a testator can decide that his land shall, after his death, have the nature of money, or that his money shall have the nature of land. Moreover, if a testator can do this by any equitable conversion which he can make, the testator did it in Ackroyd v. Smithson by the equitable conversion which he made. How, then, did Mr. Scott deal with the admitted fact that a sale of all the land was necessary? The answer is that, in terms, he did not deal with it at all, and his reason seems to have been that he regarded the fact that all the land had been actually sold as having rendered immaterial the fact that a sale of it all was necessary, and accordingly he dealt with the former fact instead of the latter. How did he deal with it? Simply by insisting that so much of the proceeds of the sale as was intended for the two deceased legatees was still land in equity. He said " Money undisposed of, arising from the sale of lands, in this court is land and, as such,
; :

the heir claims

it.

Suppose

all

the fifteen legatees had died in the

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

lifetime of the testator,

339

would
.

it

not have been competent to the

heir at law to have insisted, in equity, that no sale should be

made
it

of the real estate ?

tees

If then, in case all the residuary legasale,

had died, the heir could have prevented a

C. C. 507.

is

to

1 I Bro.

Lord Eldon also used similar language

Cock,
i

judicially,

more than
:

which he said " The only point, calling for decision under this bill, is whether the money arising from the sale of the real estate, which it is not necessary to apply for the only purpose expressed
thirty years later in the case of Hill v.

Ves.

&

B. 173, in

in the will, is to

be considered real or personal estate.

Where real

estate is directed

which purpose fails, either wholly or partially, in the former case though the estate has been converted, the whole produce of that conversion will still be real estate ; and in the latter, as far as the purpose fails, so far the money is to be considered realty, and not personalty. ... So much of the residue of this money as arose from real estate, must be considered as real and be declared to belong to the heir." Nor was Lord Eldon peculiar in this respect. In Green v. Jackson, 5 Russ. 35, 2 R. & M. 238, Sir J. Leach, M. R., said " If a testator directs his real estate to be sold, and the produce to be ap(p. 38) plied for a particular purpose only, and that purpose fails, the money intended for that purpose retains the quality of real estate, and belongs to the heir." So also as late as 1864 Lord Westbury, when Lord Chancellor, in moving the judgment of the House of Lords in Bective v. Hodgson, 10 H. L. Cas. 657, said (p. 666) " The decree [in Hopkins v. Hopkins, Cas. /. Talb. 44, which had been relied upon by the appellant] was governed by an error which then prevailed, namely, that personal property directed to be converted into realty was converted for all purposes whatsoever, not only the purposes of the will, but the purposes of ownership in every form and by every title. And accordingly it was held that that conversion would operate for the benefit of the heir, although the heir claims in default of disposition in consequence of there being no direction given by the will, and cannot by any possibility be made to claim under the will. That prevalent error was not corrected until the decision of the case of Ackroyd v. Smithson, which decided a point that of necessity involved this as its consequence, that conversion must be considered in all cases to be directed for the purposes of the will, and is limited by the purposes and exigencies of the will. If therefore the real estate be directed to be sold, with a view to a disposition made by a will, and that disposition fails, although the real estate has de facto been sold, yet
to be converted into personal, for a purpose expressed,
:
-

the proceeds will retain the quality of real estate, for the purpose of ascertaining the

ownership, that

is,

the

title

of the heir
it

to the heir, in the

hands of the heir

is

character of real estate.

land,

So, in like

although it is true that when you pay it over has the character of money, and no longer the manner, if money is directed to be invested in
;

and the land

disposed of by the

will,

and the money

is

so invested, but the

disposition fails, the investment thus

in altering the quality of the property

made
;

for the purposes of the will has

no

effect

but the property, even in the shape of lands,

retains its pristine

and

original quality of personal estate, for the purpose of determin-

ing the ownership."

The

instances also are

common

in

which judges speak of money

is

as being land in equity for no other reason than that the heir as such

entitled to

have it paid to him. The reason for the prevalence of this language seems to have been that a notion prevailed that an heir as such cannot be entitled to money unless It is true that money cannot descend to an heir unless it is land it is land in equity. in equity; but land which has descended to an heir is, of course, as liable to be converted into money as any other land, and the consequences of its conversion are the

same as

in other cases.

340

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

be said that because a sale must be made, he shall not have that part of its produce which the objects of the testator's bounty cannot take ? It is not true that where it is necessary that a sale should be made, to effectuate the testator's purposes which are capable of taking effect, that such sale will convert the nature of that part of its produce which cannot be applied according to the testator's intenTo this it maybe answered, first, that Mr. Scott's contion."^ tention that the money in question was land in equity, was not at all necessary for his case, as the heir had the same right to the money after the sale, that he had before the sale to the land which the money represented ^ secondly, the money in question could not be deemed land in equity for any purpose. The only way in which equity can regard money as land is by converting it directly into land, and, as the land in question had been actually converted into money by the direction of its owner, equity had no right what;

ever to reconvert

it

into land.

no had all been sold, but that its sale had been directed by the testator, and While, therefore, the to that fact Mr. Scott gave no answer. money in controversy clearly belonged to the heir, Mr. Scott did not succeed in proving that it belonged to him and, indeed, he attempted a feat, the performance of which was impossible, namely,
real difficulty,

The

however (upon authority,

for there is

difficulty

upon

principle), lies in the fact, not that the land

to establish his contention

by

authority."

Lord Thurlow's decision? From Brown's report of the case, one would infer that the decision was
What, then,
is

to be said of

rendered at the conclusion of the argument, but Lord Eldon

us that
his

tells

"Thurlow took three days

to consider"^ before delivering

According to the report he disposed of the case in He said,* " he fully approved the determination in Digby v. Legard he used to think, when it was necessary for any purposes of the testator's disposition, to convert the land into money, that the undisposed of money would be personalty; but the cases fully proved the contrary. It would be too much to say, that if all the legatees had died, the heir could, as he certainly might, prevent a sale; and yet to say that, because a
judgment.
a few informal observations.
;

2 Sup-a, p. 263. Page 508. " Well, Thurlow took three days to consider, and then delivered his judgment in accordance with my speech, and that speech is in print, and has decided all similar 1

'

questions ever since."

1
I

Twiss, 119.

Bro. C. C. 514.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

sale

34

of the produce.

was necessary, the heir should not take the undisposed of part The heir must stand in the place of the residuaryHe said legatees who died, as to the produce of the real estate. he approved the distinctions made in behalf of the heir." It will be seen, therefore, that, if Lord Thurlow is correctly reported, his original opinion in favor of the next of kin was founded on the fact that the purposes of the testator which had taken effect made Why then had he it necessary that all the land should be sold. abandoned that view? One reason was that he regarded Digby v. Legard as a direct authority against it but in that, as we have Another reason given by him was that, if seen, he was in error. all the fifteen legatees had died before the testator, all the land would have gone to the heir, and therefore it followed that, as some, but not all, of the legatees had so died, a proportional part of the land ought to go to the heir, though a sale of all the land would be necessary in the latter case, and none of it in the former. In other words, he had become convinced that the rights of the heir ought not to depend upon the mere question whether the tes;

tator's

purposes required a sale of the land.

It will

be seen, there-

fore, that

Lord Thurlow came very near accepting the proposition

sale of
it,

that a testator causes an equitable conversion of his land into

money, not by directing a

of the conversion,
if

but by making some effective

disposition of the proceeds of the sale,

and hence that the extent

is in

there be a conversion,

proportion to the

extent of the disposition of the proceeds of the conversion.

did not, however, accept that proposition, but professed to go
authority, and,

He
upon

upon

authority, the difference between the effect

all the legatees, and the deaths of some them only, is decisive. Moreover, it is very far from being clear, upon authority, that a sale of all the land would not have been necessary, even though all the legatees had died before the Hence both of Lord Thurlow's reasons for changing his testator.^ mind seem to fail. Nor do Lord Thurlow's reasons enable anyone to say upon what legal ground he decided in favor of the heir, and therefore all

produced by the deaths of

of

that he can be regarded as having decided

titled to

is

that the heir was enit

the
is

money

in controversy.

Hence
any

follows that the

decision

not properly an

authority for

legal proposition, but

has the authority of a precedent only.

1

As

a precedent, however,

See infra,

p. 353,

proposition 8.

342
it

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

an undoubted authority that where a testator directs a sale of his land, but dies intestate as to some portion of the proceed^ of
is

the sale, that portion of the proceeds, or so

represents, will

much

of the land as
;^

it

go

to the heir,

and not to the next of kin

the only case, since

and
v.

accordingly Phillips

v. Phillips^ is

Ackroyd

Smithson,

in

which, such a question as the foregoing being indecision

volved, the

has been in favor of the next of kin; and

the decision in that case, after being universally disapproved of for

twenty-one years, was at length formally overruled by Lord Cranworth in Taylor v. Taylor.^ Indirectly, however, the decision in Ackroyd v. Smithson was the means of establishing rules and distinctions theretofore unheard of. For example, after that decision it was no longer true that an unqualified direction in a will to sell land caused an absolute conversion of the land into money, irrespective of the purposes for which the sale was directed, or of the extent to which those purposes took effect for, as was said by Sir W. Grant, in Williams v. Coade,* " There could not be a more absolute direction for conversion than that in Ackroyd v. Smithson " and yet it was there held that there was not an absolute conversion of all the land, in the sense in which the term conversion was then understood, and hence there soon came to be a clear distinction between a conversion " out and out " and a conversion for the purposes of the will Thus, in 1787, Mr. Cox, in his note to Cruse v. Barley, said^' only. the several cases on the subject of equitable conversion " seem to depend upon this question, whether the testator meant to give to the produce of the real estate the quality of personalty to all intents, or only so far as respected the particular purposes of the will." Six years later, he added to the above the following:^
;

Robinson

v.

Usher, 11 Ves. 87; Smith Maugham v. Mason, i Ves.

son,
I

Taylor, 2 Bro. C. C. 589; Williams v. Coade, 10 Ves. 500; Berry v. v. Claxton, 4 Madd. 484; Hill v. Cock, i Ves. & B. 173;
;
;

& B. 410 Gibbs v, Rumsey, 2 Ves. & B. 294 Jessop v. WatEyre v. Marsden, 2 Keen 564 Williams v. Williams, 5 \j. J. (N. s.) Ch. 84; Fitch V. Weber, 6 Hare 145; Johnson v. Woods, 2 Beav. 409; Flint v. Warren, 16 Sim. 124; Gordon v. Atkinson, i De G. & Sm. 478; Shallcross v. Wright, 12
M.

&

K. 665

Beav. 505 Taylor v. Taylor, 3 De G. M. & G. 190 Christian v. Foster, 7 Beav. 540, 2 Ph. 161 Robinson 7/. London Hospital, 10 Hare 19; Taylor's Settlement, Inre, 9 Hare
; ; ;

v. Coles, 28 Beav. 215 Bagster v. Fack26 Beav. 469; Hamilton v. Foot, Ir. R. 6 Eq. 572; Richerson, In re, [1892] I Ch. 379; White V. Smith, 15 Jur. 1096; Bedford v. Bedford, 35 Beav. 584. 2 I Myl. & K. 649. 8 3 De G. M. & G. 190.

596

Hatfield v. Prime, 2 Coll. 204; Wilson

erell,

*
6

10 Ves. 500, 504.

'
i.

3 P.

Wms.

4th ed., 22, n.

\.

3 P.

Wms.

sth ed., 22, n.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

"

343

For unless the

testator has sufficiently declared his intention, not

only^that the realty shall be converted into personalty for the pur-

poses of the
not, so

will,

but further that the produce of the real estate

shall be taken as personalty,

whether such purposes take

will,

effect or
is

much

of the real estate, or the produce thereof, as

not

effectually disposed of

by the

at the time

of the testator's
will

death (whether from the silence or the

itself,

inefficacy of the

or from subsequent lapse) will result to the heir."

the death of the testator in

On
first,

different rights

Ackroyd v. Smithson, only three devolved from him relating to his land, namely, the legal ownership of the land, which devolved upon the
by the devise
to

trustees

them

secondly, the equitable ownership

;

of the land, which descended to the testator's heir

the right to have the land sold,
receive the
i. e.,

and, thirdly,

exchanged
it,

for monej',

and to

money

or some portion of

with the incidental right

to receive the rents and profits of the land until the sale

was made.
will,

This third right did not, indeed,

testator, for
it

in strictness

devolve from the

was never

in

him, but was newly created by his

it

and not
else.
It

till

the

moment

of his death, and

vested originally in

each of his thirteen surviving residuary

legatecis,

and

in

no one
it

could not possibly vest in the testator's next of kin, as

in their favor.
will

was not created

by the

in

As, therefore, no right was created favor of anyone to receive that portion of the

produce of the land which was intended for the two deceased legatees, it necessarily belonged to the heir, to whom the land which it represented belonged when the sale was made. How, then, could the notion ever be entertained that the next of kin stood in the place of the two deceased legatees? Such a notion, as I have already said,^ is intelligible only on the assumption that the case was a wholly different one from what it was in fact, namely, that that portion of the land, the produce of which was intended for the two deceased legatees, was, at the moment of the
testator's death,

converted directly into

of, it

money by
is

equity

itself,

and

hence, being undisposed

belonged to the next of kin.

It will

be seen, therefore, when the question

considered according to

the truth of the case, that the right of the heir did not depend

upon whether
will into

that portion of the land, the produce of which was

intended for the two deceased legatees, had been converted by the

money

in equity.

The only
1

difference was that,

if it

had

See supra,

p. 332.

344

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

not been so converted,

heir,
it

not only devolved in equity upon the

it was actually sold, while, if was so converted, though it still devolved upon the heir, yet he took it as money, and hence, if he had died the day after the testator it would have gone to his personal representative. The courts, however, seem to have thought the question between the heir and the next of kin depended upon whether there had been an equitable conversion or not, and that the latter question was purely a question of the testator's intention that accord-

but was land in his hands until

ingly, in
all his

Ackroyd v. Smithson, if the testator intended to convert land into money, the next of kin were entitled to stand in
if

the place of the two deceased legatees, but that,

the testator

intended a conversion only coextensive with the disposition which he had made of the proceeds of the sale, the heir was entitled to Thus far, therestand in the place of the two deceased legatees. fore, there was no conception of the idea of an heir's taking land by descent, and yet taking it- as money, the idea being that the heir took it, if it was land in equity, and the next of kin, if it was

money.

years after Ackroyd

that the heir

In Robinson v. Taylor,-* however, decided in 1789 (nine v. Smithson), Lord Thurlow started the idea^

must take unless the testator showed an

intention,
its

not merely that the' land should be converted, but that

conver-

sion should take effect as from a date prior to the testator's death,
it

being assumed that the testator's power to

sion was free from doubt.

make such a converThis idea, moreover, has since exerted

as to cause
effect, also,
it

a great influence, particularly in preventing testators from so con-

verting their land into

money

to devolve

upon

their

next of kin.

It

soon had the

of establishing the dis-

2 Bro. C. C. 589.
:

Lord Thurlow said (p. 594) "The difficulty is to find that an unsold residue of by any means, go from the heir at law. Inferences have been admitted, where the testator has not expressed himself clearly, to show that he meant to convert the real into personal estate. If it is once deemed sufficient that he meant it to be turned into money, to make it the same as if it had been money before his death, then you will have the testator declaring that he did so. In all the cases, it has been, where he ipeant it to be converted, out and out, that the testator meant it should become money, but the question is whether he meant it to be the same as if it had
2

real estate can,

been money before his death. It has not been held to be part of the personal estate, but to be disposed of as if it was part of the personal estate. The heir at law is entitled to the residue as a resulting

fund. ... I do not see how the personal represencan ever get at that which was not personal at the death of the testator, but by an express direction therefore, I think the heir at law, here, is entitled to the residue
tative

of the real estate as a resulting fund."

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION:

tinction

345
it

between an
for, if

heir's

taking land as land and taking

as to carry

as

money;
into
kin,
it

a testator

showed an intention
it

to convert his land

it

money, but not so

followed that
it

to convert

to the next of

must go to the heir, and yet he could take it only as money, as it would be converted into money in equity immediately on the testator's death. Suppose, however, it should turn out that, while Lord Thurlow's idea was adhered to in other respects, a testator had no power so to convert his land into money by will that the conversion would take effect before his death. Of course the consequence would be that the heir would take, whether there was an equitable conversion or not, taking the land as land if there was not an equitable conversion, and taking Moreover, that was virtually what hapit as money if there was. pened. Thus, in Sheddon v. Goodrich,^ where a testator, by a will attested by three witnesses, had directed his land to be sold, and had made a disposition of the proceeds of the sale, it was held by Lord Eldon that he could not by a subsequent will, attested by two witnesses only, change such disposition; and in Hooper v. Goodwin,^ where land was directed by will to be sold, it was held by Sir W. Grant, M. R., that the produce of the sale could not be disposed of by an unattested codicil; and, in neither of these cases was any inquiry made as to the time when the testator intended the equitable conversion of his land should take
After these decisions, therefore,
to contend that
it

effect.

seems to have been impossible

will

any equitable conversion by

Claxton,^ where a testator

could take effect

separate

before the testator's death.

case of Smith
v.

Accordingly, in the well-considered

made two

devises of two parcels of land in trust to be sold for purposes

which

totally failed, as to the land first "devised,

and which par-

tially failed, as to

the land secondly devised, and the testator's heir

died soon after the testator and before either parcel of land was
sold. Sir J. Leach,

V.

C.,

held that, in the events which had hap-

pened, the testator did not intend to convert the parcel of land
first

devised, and hence

it

it

descended

in equity to the heir,

and he
inter-

took

as land

but that he did intend to convert the entire

est in the land secondly devised, a sale of the entire interest being

necessary for the purpose which had taken effect, and, therefore, though the undivided half of the land, as to which the purpose of the sale had failed, had descended to the heir in equity, the
2

8 Ves. 481.

iS Ves. 156.

4 Madd.

484.

346

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

equitable conversion of

not coming in time to intercept

it,

its

de-

scent to him, yet the heir took

not as land, but as money.

So

also, fourteen years later, in the case of

the testator devised his land in

Jessopp v. Watson,^ where trust to be sold for the payment

of his debts, legacies, and annuities, and also for other purposes

which

totally failed, the

same learned judge, then Master of the

Rolls, held that, in the events which had happened, the testator

intended that the land should be sold, namely, for the purposes which had taken effect, and, therefore, though the land had descended to the heir, subject to debts, legacies, and annuities, yet he took it as money .^ The fact that land directed by a will to be sold, will descend to
the testator's heir, so far as the proceeds of
its

sale are not other-

wise disposed

of,

notwithstanding that the land has been entirely

will,

converted

in

equity by the

proves also that the testator's next

gift

of kin can never derive any benefit from land so directed to be

sold, unless the will

contain a direct

to them.

This

latter

proposition

is,

moreover, also directly established by authority.

Wills,^ the learned author, after
v.

Thus,
in

in

Jarman on

quoting that
this

portion of Mr. Cox's note to Cruse

Barley which was published

1787* says: "There seems to be no ground to except to

'

statement of the doctrine, provided that, by an intention to give to

real estate the quality of personalty

to all intents

'

we

are allowed

something very special and unequivocal, amounting in effect, not merely to a disposition of the fund as personalty to the legatees named in the will, but to an alternative gift to the
to understand

persons entitled by law to the personal estate, in the event of the failure of the intended disposition. Unless such an interpretation

be given to the terms of this proposition, it must, however respectable the authority from which it proceeded, be pronounced to be
not strictly accurate
;

at all events,
it

it

is

not an explicit statement

of the rule, and requires,

is

conceived, in order to be a safe

guide
that
1 2
I

in its application, the following

explanatory addition,
its

'

every conversion, however absolute in

Myl.

terms,

will

But be

K. 665. endeavor to show hereafter that there was, in truth, no equitable conversion in Jessopp v. Watson, whatever the testator's intention may be supposed to have been in regard to a sale of the land, as the debts, legacies, and annuities, for the payment of which alone a sale was to be made, constituted only a charge on the See also 18 Harv. L. Rev. 83-93. supra, pp. 282-292. land.
I

&

shall

'

Vol.

I.,

1st ed., p. 558,

p. 342.

published in 1843.

See supra,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

deemed
to

347

be a conversion for the purposes of the

will only, unless

the testator distinctly indicates an intention that

it is,

on the

failure

of those purposes, to prevail as between the persons on whom the law casts the real and personal property of an intestate, namely,
the heir and next of kin.' "
sidered case of Fitch
v.

So also, in the very carefully conWeber,^ Wigram, V. C, said " The next of kin are claiming property of the testator, which at his death was real estate, and, in order to substantiate that claim they must make out from the will that they are devisees of the property; not being mentioned in the will, they must make out a devise by implication, which might be sufficient, although Lord Thurlow, in Robinson v. Taylor, has said he did not see how the personal representatives could get at that which was not personal estate at the death of the testator but by express words.' The law is to
:

'

some extent

cle^r

convert real estate into

upon authority; a devise upon money is, in some sense, a

but
it

trust to sell

and

direction to turn

real into personal estate,

is

clear that such a devise will not

necessarily entitle the next of kin to claim

any portion of the pro-

by the terms of the will or The will in that case may in event, is or becomes undisposed of. determine the quality in which the property will devolve upon those who take it, but is silent as to the persons upon whom it shall devolve. The testator clearly means the real estate to become money after his death, but (as Lord Thurlow said in the case referred to) the question is, whether he means it to be the same as if it had been money before his death. ... In the simple case of a devise upon trust to sell, and no trust of the surplus declared, it has apparently been thought by some text-writers that the court
ceeds of the sale of real estate which,

would be driven to imply a trust for the next of kin but that has never been so decided, and if ever such a case should call for
;

decision,

it

such a case,

it

may deserve much consideration. However clear, in may be that the testator means his real to be treated
he
if it had been personal estate before Lord Thurlow observed) is the question." Woods,^ also. Lord Langdale, M. R., said " It is

as personal estate after his death, the question remains, does

mean

it

to be treated also as

his death?

that

(as

In Johnson v. undoubtedly practicable for a testator to say that his real estate shall be sold, and that the produce shall go to such persons as are by law entitled to his personal estate. When, therefore, it can be
:

6 Hare

145, 147.

2 Beav. 409, 413.

348

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

all

ascertained that a testator intended that the produce of real estate

should, to
intents

possessed by him at
intention."

and purposes, be treated as personal estate his death, so as to devolve upon the person
Warren,''

entitled to his personal estate, the court will give effect to that

In Flint v.

Shadwell, V.

C,

said:

"The

testatrix has directed

her real estates to be sold, and the net

proceeds to form part of her personal estate; but she has not

made any
is

gift

of that part.
it

As
"

then

it

is

not given away, there

nothing to take

from the
:

heir."

In Taylor v. Taylor,^ Lord

gives the estate to the heir

Chancellor Cranworth said

The law

notwithstanding the direction of the testator, unless the testator

it otherwise. Of course I do not mean might not so dispose of the proceeds of real estate as to make it go to the next of kin. ... In that case the next of kin would take, because there would be an express gift to them by the testator, but not as an interpretation of words of direction, such as we have here." In the cases cited in the note,^ in which it was also held that the testator's land was converted in equity into money by the will, and, therefore, that the heir took as money that portion of the land the produce of which was not disposed of, if the first proposition is correct, the second necessarily

makes

a valid devise of

to say that a testator

follows.

Upon

the whole, therefore,

as well as

it

may now be

considered as clear,
it

upon authority
his

upon

principle, that

is

not possible
that

for a testator so to convert his land into

money by
law,

will,

upon

death

it

will devolve,

by operation of

upon

his personal

representative or next of kin, and, therefore, Mr. Scott's admission, in Ackroyd v. Smithson, " that a person may decide what shall

be the nature of his property after his death, so as to preclude all question between real and personal representatives,"* is no longer It is still true, however, upon authority, true in its full extent.^
1 2 ^

i6 Sim. 124, 129. 3

De

G. M.
re,

&

G. 190, 197.

White v. Smith, 15 Jur. 1096; Taylor's Settle9 Hare 596; Bagster v. Fackerell, 26 Beav. 469; Wilson v. Coles, 28 Beav. 215; Attorney General v. Lomas, L. R. 9 Exch. 29; Hamilton v. Foot, Ir. R. 6 Eq. 572 Richerson, In re, [1892] i Ch. 379. For comments on the foregoing cases,
Hatfield . Prime, 2 Coll. 204;

ment, In

see infra, p. 355. * See supra, p. 336.

665, says (674)

John Leach, M. R., in Jessopp v. Watson, i Myl. & K. may, if he pleases, direct that the produce of his real estate which he orders to be sold, shall, in all events and for all purposes, be considered as if it had been personal estate at his death."
^

And

yet, as late as 1833, Sir

:

"

testator

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

that a testator

349

may by

his will

convert his land into money, not

will,

merely for the purposes of his the consequence of his so doing

i. e.f

but " out and out," though

not be the same as formerly,

will

instead

of causing the land to devolve

its

upon the personal

representative,

only effect

will

money
that, as

so

much

of the land as descends to him.

be to cause the heir to take as It may be added

it is no longer true, even upon authority, that a testator can so convert his land by will as to cause it to devolve, by operation of law, upon his personal representative, so it ought to be no longer true, upon authority, that a testator can so convert his

land into
will,

money by

will as to

cause

it

to devolve,

by the same

as personal estate, unless it appears on the face of the will that the testator intended " personal estate " to include the produce

of land directed

That

it

is still

that a testator

and out,"
prove.

by the will to be sold.^ true, upon authority, though not upon principle, may by his will convert his land into money " out
slight

glance at the authorities will sufficiently

v.

Thus in Berry Ackroyd v. Smithson,

intents

Usher,^ decided twenty-five years after

Sir

W.

Grant,

M.

R., said:

"If the charall

acter of personal estate was imposed upon the real estate to

and purposes, the mere appointment of an executor would

property to him, either for his own next of kin."
This shows that that
it

be

sufficient to carry that

benefit, or as trustee for the

learned judge then held the law to be as

by Mr. Scott
shows that he
the

in

Ackroyd

v.

was admitted to be Smithson; and Wright v. Wright^

later.

still

held the same opinion four years

And

yet the opinion thus expressed seems to be inconsistent with

decision of Lord Eldon, in Sheddon v. Goodrich,* made more than two years before Berry v. Usher was decided. So also in Hill v. Cock, decided in 1 8 13, Lord Eldon," in holding that the heir, and not the next of kin, was entitled to the undisposed of produce of land directed by the testator to be sold,
treated the question as being purely one of intention, notwith-

standing his

own

decision in

Sheddon
v.

v.

Goodrich, and Sir

W.

Grant's decision in
1

Hooper

Goodwin.^

In Attorney General

See 18 Harv. L. Rev. 97-101, supra, pp. 296-300.

II

2 * 8

Ves. 87, 91.

= ^

16 Ves. 188.
I

8 Ves. 481.

Ves.

&

B. 173.

For some reason which I have been unable to discover, Sheddon v. Goodrich and Hooper v. Goodwin have exerted much less influence over subsequent decisions upon equitable conversion than, as it seems to me, they ought to have exerted. They have seldom been cited to prove that a testator cannot by his will so convert his land

350
V.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

in land in trust to

Holford,^ decided in 1815, where a testator devised an interest be sold for purposes which wholly failed, the

court held that there was a conversion of the

out,"

land

" out

and
per-

and yet that

took
it

it

did not devolve in equity

upon the

upon a residuary devisee, who, howThomson, C. B., saying, if such devisee had died immediately after the testator, the land would have gone to his personal representative. In Bunnett v. Foster^ Lord Langdale, M. R., said " There is no sufficient reason for holding that a conversion out and out was intended. UnfortuBut the case of the nately this is a very vague expression. not require it to be laid down that there can in no heir does
sonal
ever,

representative, but

as personal estate,

case be
trust.
It

a
is

conversion, except for the

sufficient to

purposes of an express
is

say no intention

shown

to convert

for any other purposes than those specifically pointed out, and

into

money
;

as to cause

it

to devolve

by operation of law upon

his personal rRpresen-

tative

and yet they seem to

me

to constitute the only proof of that proposition of

which the courts could avail themselves consistently with the views upon equitable conversion to which they have constantly adhered. Nor is either of these cases cited once by Jarman in his chapter on equitable conversion, i Jarman, ist ed., c. xix.

While reading the proof

V.

of this article, a reason has occurred to

me why Sheddon

Goodrich and Hooper

v.

Goodwin have been so

little

cited in connection with

equitable conversion, namely, that the courts never held that equitable conversion cre-

p. 330, n. 3),

ated by will took effect prior to the testator's death (see Beauclerk v. Mead, supra, and, therefore, the decisions in Sheddon v. Goodrich and Hooper v. Good-

win respectively threw no new

effect.

light upon the question when such conversions take arose from ray not applying here what I said at the beginning of this article, when attempting to explain the theory upon which the courts held, prior to Ackroyd v. Smithson, that land converted in equity into money by will, de-

In

fact,

my

difficulty

volved, at the testator's death, upon his executor, if not otherwise disposed of, namely, not because they supposed the conversion took effect prior to the testator's death, but because they erroneously assumed that the conversion consisted in a fictitious transmutation of the land into money by equity itself, and hence they concluded that the testator's heir or devisee, on whom the land devolved at the moment of the testator's death, became, at the same moment, a trustee for his executor. See supra, p. 332

mind from the beginning that what a testator does, when money by will, is to direct the land to be exchanged for money, at the same time creating in some person a right to have the exchange made by giving him some of the money to be received in exchange, or some interest in such money, and that the equitable conversion is coextensive only with the right or rights so created, thfe view which prevailed prior to Ackroyd v. Smithson could never have come into existence, and if Lord Thurlow, when he decided Ackroyd v. Smithson, instead of temporizing as he did, had exposed and rooted out the misconception and error upon which the then existing view was founded, he would have rendered an
If the courts
is

had borne

in

he

said to convert his land into

incalculable service to the English-speaking world.

I I

Price 426.

7 Beav. 540, 543.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

which have
failed."

35

v. Smith ^ a testator devised land and then in trust for sale, the proceeds, after payment of legacies, to be invested, and the income to be applied to the maintenance of the children of said son, each child to receive his share at twenty-one and the son having died unmarried, and the land not having been sold, Knight-Bruce, V. C, declared the trust for sale to be absolute and unconditional, and hence the land to be converted into money in equity, without reference to the disposition of the proceeds of the sale, and, In Wall v. Colshead,^ therefore, the heir took the same as money.

In White
life,

in trust for his

son for

a testator devised
proceeds, divided

life

estates in certain lands, at the termination

of which he devised the same to his executors to be sold, and. the

among

the children of the tenants for

life,

who, however, died without issufe, and the court held that the land was converted into money " out and out," and, therefore, though it went to the testator's residuary devisees,^ yet they took Knight-Bruce, L. J., said: "I think the trust for it as money. sale was not conditional but absolute." Turner, L. J., said " The question is whether the testator intended a conversion out and out, or only for the purpose of division between the children of the
:

tenants for
all

life.

On

the death of a tenant for

life,

leaving children,

were under twenty-one, the trust for sale would arise, though the shares of the children would not be indefeasibly vested. By the clause immediately following the residuary gift in the will, if a tenant for life died under twenty-one, there was to be a sale for the benefit of other persons than the children of the tenant Therefore the testator has shown that he did for life so dying. not intend to limit the conversion to the case of there being children of the tenant for life of each property, and the trust for conversion not being limited to that event, I do not see how to limit
of

whom

be seen, therefore, that the court treated the question conversion was " out and out " or only for the purposes whether the
it."

It will

depending entirely upon the testator's intention as to the circumstances under which the property should be sold. Lastly, in Attorney General v. Lomas,* where a testator devised his lands to trustees in trust to be sold, but the purposes of the sale failed, the court held that the trust for sale was absolute, whether any effective disposition was made of the proceeds of the
of the
will,

as

IS Jur. 1096.

2 2

De G. &
v.

J.

683, 688, 689.

' *

See comments on Attorney General L. R. 9 Exch. 39.

Holford, infra, p. 356.

352

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

/. e.,

sale or not,

that the land

and out," and, therefore, as money. What, then, are the changes which the authorities show

was conVerted into money " out though it went to the heir, she took it
to

have

taken place, in respect to the equitable conversion of land into

money by will, since Ackroyd v. Sriiithson was decided? 1. As to what constitutes such equitable conversion there has
been no change.
It
is,

and always was held that the equitable

conversion of land into

this intention

money by

will is

caused by the declared

;

intention of the testator to have his land sold after his death

and

may

be declared by directing something to be done

it

with the land which will render a sale of

2.

necessary.

Smithson evidence of such intention seems to have been looked for only in such directions as the will contained respecting a sale of the land, and the mode of dealing with and managing the proceeds of the sale prior to, or independent of, any gift of the latter, while, since Ackroyd v. Smithson was decided, such evidence has been primarily looked for in the gift or and, as gifts which the testator makes of the proceeds of the sale evidence of an intention to have the land sold, a gift which does not take effect is regarded as no gift. 3. In the absence of evidence to the contrary it will be presumed that the testator intended to have so much only of the land
Prior to
v.
;

Ackroyd

sold as his effective gifts of the proceeds of the sale shall render

necessary, and hence so

in equity,

Ackroyd

v.

much of the land only will be converted however, which had no existence prior to Smithson.
rule,

Smithson, as no attention was paid to a testator's purpose or object in directing a sale of his land, and
4. Prior to
v.

Ackroyd

hence a direction to
to sell for
all

sell for

purposes, so a direction to

one purpose was treated as a direction sell for any purpose was

all purposes. Smithson, however, the doctrine has become established that an equitable conversion by will is presumptively

regarded

as

causing an equitable conversion for

v.

Since Ackroyd

coextensive only with the purposes for which the sale

is

directed,

and hence the distinction has become established between an equitable conversion for the purposes of the will only, and an equitable conversion " out and out " and as the presumption is that a testator intends the land to be sold only for the purposes which he expresses in his will, so the presumption is that he intends to create an equitable conversion for the purposes of his will only.
;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

5.

353

will to sell his land at all events will

has always been held that a direction by a testator in his be valid and binding, whether he make a gift of the proceeds of the sale, or of any part thereof, or any interest therein, or not. While, however, prior to Ackroyd
It
V.

Smithson any unqualified direction to

all

sell

was presumed

to be a
is

direction to sell at

events, since that case such a direction

presumed

be a direction to sell only for the purposes expressed in the will, i. e., only to such extent as the gifts which are made of the proceeds of the sale shall render necessary, and hence to cause an equitable conversion only to the same extent. 6. While it has always been held that a testator could by his will
to

require his land to be sold at

into

money

in equity "

all events, and could thus convert it out and out," yet a conversion " out and

out " has meant less since Ackroyd v. Smithson than it did before for, while such a conversion before Ackroyd v. Smithson caused

any portion of the land the produce of which was not disposed
to go to the testator's personal representative,
it

of,

now has merely

the effect of causing the heir to take the

7.

But, while the authorities clearly

same show

as

money.

that the effect pro-

duced by a conversion of land into money in equity has undergone 6, they give no satisfactory reason for such change, though the true reason seems to be that
the change indicated in paragraph
the courts
V.

now
will

recognize the
till

Smithson, nor

of land

by

fact, as they did not prior to Ackroyd long afterwards, that an equitable conversion can never come in time to intercept the descent of

the land to the testator's heir.

8.

The

authorities

show

that,

except so

far as the

contrary
is
still

is

indicated in paragraph 7, the intention of the testator

as

supreme in respect to equitable conversions by will as it ever was, and I am, therefore, now prepared to give an answer to the question with which my last article concluded,^ namely, what is, upon authority, the measure of the extent of the equitable conversion of land into money caused by a will? And the answer is that the only measure of such a conversion is the intention of the testator
as to the sale of the land
;

for

it

is

held that a testator can by his

will convert his land into

gift of the proceeds of the sale of such land, and consequently without creating any right in anyone to have the land sold, and though a sale

money

without making any

of the land will leave the ownership of the proceeds of the sale

where the ownership of the land was when the

1

sale

was made.

See 18 Harv. L. Rev. 270, supra, 23

p. 329.

3S4

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

g. In spite of what is said in paragraph 8, it has always been assumed, and within a recent period has been held,^ that a direction to sell is a sine qua non of every equitable conversion of land by will. Moreover, it has always been held that a conditional

no equitable conversion until the and the same is true of a direction to sell which is not intended to be imperative,^ /. e., that it can cause no equitable conversion. A testator may, however, make his direction to sell his land as absolute and as imperative as he pleases, and yet, if he makes no gift of the proceeds of the sale, his direction to sell cannot be enforced still less can it be specifically enforced. In short, we are told that a trust for sale is a sine qua non of every equitable conversion by will, and yet that there need be no cestui que trust, nor any power of enforcing the trust. It would seem, therefore, that the courts would have been more consistent if they had held intention alone to be sufficient to create an equitable conversion by will, though, in that case, consistency would be the only virtue that could be attributed to them. lo. On the whole, if regard be had to authority alone, the differences between the law as it stands to-day and as it stood prior to Ackroyd v. Smithson in respect to equitable conversion by will, are much less than they have generally been supposed to be; nor ought this to be a matter of surprise to anyone who reflects that
direction to sell land can cause

condition

is

satisfied '^

neither the counsel for the successful party in

son, nor the judge

Ackroyd

v.

Smith-

who decided

that case, founded their

argument

upon anything
ing authorities.

else

than the intention of the testator and the exist-

Nothing has hitherto been said as to the influence exerted by Ackroyd v. Smithson upon the equitable conversion of money into land by will, and not much need be said. The question whether the change effected by Ackroyd v. Smithson, as to the conversion by will of land into money, should be extended by analogy to the equitable conversion by will of money into land, arose, for the first
1 2

Hyett

V.

Mekin, L. R. 25 Ch. D. 735.

re,

Taylor's Settlement, In
L. R. 26 Ch. D. 601.

9 Hare 596; Hardy,

Ex parte,

30 Beav. 206; Raw,

In

re,

Stamper . Millar, 3 Atk. 212 Doughty v. Bull, 2 P. Wms. 320. It seems to have been generally supposed that a conditional direction to sell land, or a direction which is not intended to be imperative, does not cause an equitable conversion because it does not show an intention to have a sale made at all events ; but the true reason seems to be that such a direction creates no right to have a sale made, and imposes no obligation to make a sale.
;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

time, fifty-six years after

35

case of

v. Smithson was decided,^ in the was decided in the affirmative by Sir C. C. Pepys, M. R. (afterwards Lord Cottenham), notwithstanding an apparent decision to the contrary^ by Lord Somers and the House of Lords; and his decision has since been

Ackroyd

Cogan

v.

Stevens,^ and

followed.*

As the cases cited in this article have been considered almost wholly from the point of view of authority, it may not be out of place to make a few remarks upon some of them from the point of view of what is conceived to be principle. Thus, in Ackroyd v.
Smithson, there was, upon principle, no equitable conversion of

was intended for the two deceased legatees, as there was no one who had a " right " to have that portion of the land sold, and to receive the proceeds of nor can there ever be an equitable conversion in favor its sale of the person who makes such conversion, or in favor of his heir as such. Therefore, that portion of the land descended in equity, at the testator's death, to his heir, in whose hands it was land until its actual sale, when it became money for all purposes.^ The same also true in Robinson v. Taylor,** and Williams v. Coade.^ In is Wright,^ also, there seems to have been no equitable Wright V.
;

that portion of the land the produce of which

conversion, except, possibly, in favor of the testator's wife for her

life,

and, therefore, the land ought to have been held to have dein equity, at the testator's death, to his heir, subject to

scended

the
v.

testator's debts

and

to the

life

interest of his wife.

In Smith

Claxton,^ there was, for the reason already stated, no equitable

conversion as to the testator's heir as such, and, therefore,

erroneously held that he took as

it

was

money

the one-half of the land

secondly devised as to which the purpose of the devise had failed. In Hill V. Cock^" it seems there was no equitable conversion, the
land having merely been charged with debts and legacies."
1

The

This

may

serve to remind the reader that, since Ackroyd

v.

Smithson, equitable

conversions by will of
2 *

money

into land

have been infrequent, as compared with

i.

equitable conversions of land into money.

I

Beav. 482,
v. v.

n.

See also supra,

3 Bro. P.

p. 334, n.

Fletcher

Chapman,

C, Tomlin's

ed., I.

also, 18
6 6 '

v. Wormald, 10 Ch. D. Harv. L. Rev. 14-19, supra, pp. 273-278. See 18 Harv. L. Rev. 5, 6, supra, pp. 264, 265. 2 Bro. C. C. 589; and see 18 Harv, L. Rev. 6, supra, p. 265.

Reynolds

Goodlee, John. 536, 582; Cartels

172.

See

10 Ves. 500.

'

16 Ves. 188.
I

4 Madd. 484.
I shall hereafter

Ves.

&

B. 173.

endeavor to show that a direction to

sell land,

whether by

will or

3S6

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

Mason,^ except that the land was In Attorney General v. Holford,^ the correct view would seem to have been that as all the. purposes of the sale failed, the trust for conversion also failed, and, as there was no equitable conversion of the land, that consequently the equitable ownership of the land, the legal ownership

same

also true of

Maugham

v.

there charged with legacies only.

of which vested

in

the trustees, either descended to the heir, or

passed to the residuary devisee.

Under no circumstances can a

any part of such proceeds.*

residuary devisqe, as such, acquire a right to have land sold, and

to receive the proceeds of the sale, or
V. Watson there was no equitable conversion, as the purposes of the sale all failed, except the payment of debts, legaFor cies, and annuities, and the latter constituted a mere charge.^ the other reasons already given also, there was no equitable con-

In Jessopp

version as to the testator's heir, and, therefore, the latter took the

land as land.

In Phillips

v.

Phillips

it

was erroneous to hold that

if

the one-fifth of the land the produce of which was intended for the deceased brother, went to the testator's next of kin
;

for

no

other reason, because there was no equitable conversion of that

portion of the land.

The same
In Flint

is

also true, mutatis mutandis, of

Fletcher

v.

Chapman.''

v.

Warren *

it

seems clear that

testator's

there was no equitable conversion of the land into money, as the

will

merely charged the land with the payment of the

it

debts and legacies in aid of the personal estate, and

that the latter was

appeared
all.^

abundantly sufficient to pay them

In

was merely charged with debts and legacies, and, therefore, there was no equitable conversion of it into money. In Hatfield v. Prime ^^ the testator's heir land that portion of the land the produce of which had took as not been effectively disposed of, there having been no equitable conversion of it into money, nor, indeed, any equitable conversion of any of the land as to the testator's heir. In Wilson v. Coles '^
Shallcross v. Wright,^" also, the land
by deed, for the mere purpose of satisfying a charge or charges thereon, never causes an equitable conversion. And see i8 Harv. L. Rev. 83-93, s"P't PP- 282-291. 1 I Ves. & B. 410. See also supra, p. 279, n. 3.
^ ' 6
'
I

Price 426.
* '
I I

'

w
11

See supra, pp. 293, 294. See supra, p. 355, n. 11. 3 Bro. P. C, Tomlin's ed., i. See supra, p. 355, n. 11. 12 Beav. 505. See also supra,
2 Coll. 204.

Myl.

Myl.

& &

K. 665. K. 649.

14 Sim. 554; 16 Sim. 124.

p. 355, n. 11.
12

28 Beav. 215.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

wife,
life

357

there was no equitable conversion of the land, except as to the

and even,

as to her, there

was an equitable conversion

life

for her

only.

On

the testator's death, therefore, the land immediately

descended to

his

two

co-heirs, subject to the wife's

estate,

and

when one of

the co-heirs died, her share went to her heir, and was
its

land in the hands of the latter until

actual sale,

when
v.

it

became

money
right

for

all

purposes.^
in

In Attorney General

Lomas,^ no
there be any
if

was created

any one to have the land

sold, and, therefore,

there could be no equitable conversion.

Nor could

equitable conversion in favor of the testator's heir, even

there

were one in favor of others. In Hamilton v. Foote^ the testator's land descended at her death to her heir, subject only to the life estate devised to the testator's sister, and to the two legacies of There was no equitable conversion of any of the land ;^500 each. as to any person, nor could any of the land be sold, if the heir chose to pay the two legacies, nor could any more be sold, under any circumstances, than enough to pay those legacies. In In re Richerson* there was no equitable conversion of the testator's land, except as to the tenants for life respectively, and, even as to them,
only to the extent of their respective
tor's death, therefore, the land
life

interests.

At

the testa-

descended to his sister and heir, subject, however, to the life interests and to the right of the respective tenants for life to have the land sold. As to so much of the land as was actually sold between the testator's death and the
death of the
sale,
sister,

the latter's
title

she acquiring a

the death of the

sister,

descended to her heir, devolved upon her personal representative, and, as to so much of the land as was sold between the sister's death and the death of
the surviving tenant for
life,

to the land was devested by the purchase-money instead, and, on so much of the land as remained unsold and the produce of what had been sold
title

to the

the

title

of the

sister's heir to

the land

was devested, and he acquired a title to the purchase-money instead. In Wall v. Colshead,^ the purposes of the sale having all failed, there was no equitable conversion of the land, and the latter
passed, at the testator's death, to his residuary devisees,
it

who took

as land,
also,

So
1
8

though subject to the life interests of the tenants for life. in White v. Smith,^ the purposes of the sale all failed, and
2

See supra, p. 265. Ir. R. 6 Eq. 572.

l. r. g Exch. 29.
I

* [1892]

Ch. 379.

6 2

De

G.

&

J.

683.

See also supra,

p. 351.

p. 351.

15 Jur. 1096.

See supra,

358

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

hence the land descended to the testator's heir, who took it as In In re Taylor's Settlement,^ land, though subject to legacies. a testator devised his land in trust to be sold, and its produce divided among his seven children, and one of the children having
died before the testator,
it

was properly held that the one-seventh

of the land, the produce of which was intended for the deceased child, went to the testator's heir, but improperly held that the
latter

took

it

as

money .^
v.

9 Hare 596.

Bagster

Fackerell, 26 Beav. 469,

is

subject to the
it

same observa-

would seem, from the length of time that had elapsed since the testator's death, that the land must have in which case, of course, the heir would take the money as been actually sold, money. Compare also Ackroyd -u. Smithson, supra, p. 355, and Smith v. Claxton,
tions as Taylor's Settlement,

In

re.

In that case, however,

P- 355" In Clarke v. Franklin, 4 Kay & J. 257, where a trust for converting land into money was created by deed, but all the purposes of the trust failed ab initio, except the payment of six sums of 50/. each, and one sum of 20/., to persons named, it was held that

the equitable interest in the land resulted immediately to the grantor, subject only to the payment of those seven sums, but that the

same was money

in his hands, the

was delivered. by directing the land to be sold, /. e., exchanged for money, had immediately converted it into money, so that it became money in his own hands. This, however, was not merely a complete non-sequitur, i. e., a thing which did not in the least follow from the direction to sell the land, but it was a legal impossibility. On the delivery of the deed the legal title to the land passed to the trustee, the equitable interest remaining in the grantor and at the same moment, according to the decision, there was a transmutation of this equitable interest from land into money. Such a transmutation could be made, however, only by equity itself, and equity could make it only for an adequate cause, and it was not pretended that any cause existed. Moreover, such a transmutation would be entirely independent of the direction to sell the land, and inconsistent with it. It may be added that the seven persons, each of whom was to receive a small sum out of the proceeds of the sale, had nothing to do with the equitable conversion, having merely a charge on the land, for the amounts coming to them respectively.
land being converted into
in equity the

money

moment

that the deed

It was, therefore, held that the grantor,

ARTICLE X V.i
Equitable Conversion.
V.

AT
of his

the beginning of the preceding article,^

it

is

stated

that,

previous to Ackroyd
his will

v.

Smithson,

it

was held that the land

of a deceased person which had

money by

been converted in equity into consequence assets for the payment debts, and that the money of a deceased person which had

became

in

been converted in equity into land by his will ceased in consequence to be assets for the payment of his debts. To understand the full force of this statement, the reader must remember that
previous to 3

was not

in

& 4 Wm. 4, c. 104, the land of a deceased person England assets for the payment of his simple contract
is

debts, so that the effect of the foregoing statement

that a testator

could by converting his land into

money by

his will, enable his

simple contract creditors to obtain payment out of his land of what

was due to them respectively, though by law such creditors would go unpaid unless the testator left sufficient personal estate to pay them and so that a testator could, by converting his money in
;

equity into land

by

his will, deprive his simple contract creditors

of the right which the law gave them to be paid out of such

money

what was due to them

available for the
ing, but that

respectively.

That the courts should have

held that the conversion of land into

money by

will

made
is

the land

payment of all the

testator's debts

not surpris-

into land

by
1

will

they should have held that the conversion of money enabled a testator to deprive his simple contract
L. Rev. 79.
"

19

Harv.

Supra, p. 330.

36o

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

money

'

creditors of their legal right to be paid out of his

surprising.

is

very

That such was, however, held to be the law, there seems to be no doubt, though the reported cases ^ are not very Are these cases justified by the authorities which deconclusive. cided that land converted into money by will devolved as money at the death of the testator, and that money converted into land by will devolved as land at the death of the testator? No, it seems
not, for the latter did not involve holding that

an equitable conit

version

by

will takes

place prior to the testator's death, while

seems clear that the question whether any particular property of a

deceased person
is

or

is

not assets for the payment of his debts de-

pends upon the quality of that property when the testator dies. To hold, therefore, that the land of a deceased person is assets for the payment of his simple contract debts because it was converted in equity into money by his will, is to hold that the conversion took effect during the testator's lifetime, which is impossible. To hold that the money of a deceased person is not assets for the payment of his simple contract debts, because it was converted in equity into land by his will, is to hold that a testator can effect, by converting his money into land by his will, what he could not effect by a direct and absolute bequest of the money. In Sweetapple v. Bindon,^ in which a testator directed his executor to lay out ;^300 in the purchase of land, and to settle the land (as the court held) upon the testator's daughter in tail, and the daughter married and had issue, but she and her issue were both dead, and the money not having been laid out, her husband filed a bill to have the money laid out and the land settled on him for his life, as tenant by the curtesy, or to have the interest of the money paid to him during his life, the court decreed the money to be considered as land, and the plaintiff to have it for life as tenant by the curtesy. But, though the case seems always to have been regarded as well decided, it seems impossible to support it on principle. If the money had been laid out during the daughter's lifetime, of course there would have been no difficulty, even though the land had not been settled on the daughter as directed, but, after the death of the daughter and her issue, there was no one who could compel the executor to lay the money out,

Fulham

v.

Jones, 2 Eq. Ca. Abr. 250, pi.

3,

296, pi. 7, 298, pi. 10, note, 7 Vin.

v.

Abr. 44; Whitwick v. Jermin, cited in Earl of Pembroke 2 Vern. 52, 58; Gibbs v. Ougier, 12 Ves. 413. 2 2 Vern. 536.

Bowden, 3 Ch. [217]

115,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

361

not
The

the husband, as he was not one of those for whose benefit

courts would also undoubtedly have declared that, on the
in the
tail in

the duty was imposed upon the executor.

death of a husband,

who is entitled to have money laid out purchase of land, and to have the land settled upon him in

possession, his wife would be entitled to dower, but for the rule

which disables a wife from being endowed out of an equitable interest. This view is, however, open to the same objection as the decision in Sweetapple v. Bindon. In a former article, when speaking of the ordinary bilateral contract for the purchase and sale of land I stated ^ that that was the only species of contract " in which an agreement to buy or sell land is alone sufficient to create an equitable conversion. Such
a contract
is

also believed to furnish the only instance of an equi-

table conversion

which

is

always coextensive with the actual con-

version which
It

is

agreed or directed to be made."

seems desirable that the two statements contained in this paslittle enlarged upon. i. The only other species of contract in which it is certain that an agreement to buy or sell land forms an element in an equitable conversion is a unilateral covenant to lay out money in the purchase of land and to settle the land, or to sell land and settle the proceeds of the sale, and we have seen^ that a covenant to lay out money in the purchase of
sage should be a
sell land, will not cause an equitable conversion nor even constitute a binding contract, unless it be followed up by a covenant to settle the land to be purchased, or the proceeds of

land or to

between a biand a unilateral covenant to buy or sell land ? It is because of the different effect produced by the performance of the two contracts. The mutual performance of the bilateral contract causes a conversion, not only of the seller's land into money, but of the buyer's money into land, and also causes a transfer, not only of the seller's land to the buyer, but of
then,
is

the land to be sold.

lateral contract to

Why,

this difference

buy and

sell land,

the buyer's

money

to the seller.

On

the other hand, the perform-

from the fact that the covenant is only unilateral, cannot possibly cause more than one conversion nor more than one transfer. Does it do as much as that? It does
ance of the unilateral covenant,
cause a conversion of the covenantor's
land into money, and
it

money

into land, or of his

does, in a sense, cause a transfer of the

Supra, p. 310.

Supra, pp. 315, yd.

362

A brief' SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

or land, but not
in

the covenant a which a performfirst step towards such transfer; ance of the covenant causes is to a stranger to the covenant, and it may, therefore, in respect to the effect produced by the covenant and by its performance, be regarded as a mere accident for the reader must remember that the covenant is not to buy land

money

such a sense as to

make

for the transfer

of the covenantee, nor to

or to
sell

sell

land to him, but

is

to

buy land

of,

land to, some third person not a party to the covenant,

it.

nor ascertained by
nant

It is true

that the performance of the cove-

purchase or sale of land, and so will practically involve, not only the making, but the mutual performance,
will involve the

of a bilateral contract for the purchase or sale of land, but the only
effect of

such purchase or sale upon the covenantor

instead of the

will

be to

make

him the owner of the land

money, or of the money instead of the land, and thus to place him in a situation to settle the land or the money, just as if he had purchased or sold the land before he made the covenant, in which case the covenant would

of course be only to
the land sold.
lateral
settle the
It will

settle

the land purchased, or the proceeds of

that, in the case of a unisettle land,
it is

be seen, therefore,
sale,

covenant to purchase and

proceeds of the

or to

sell

land and

while

the purchase or sale of the settlement of the

the land which causes the conversion,

it

is

land or

money which

causes the transfer or alienation without

which the covenant cannot create an equitable conversion. In order, therefore, that a unilateral covenant to buy or sell land may cause an equitable conversion, it must be a covenant to buy land of the covenantee, or to sell land to him, or there must be added,

buy or sell land, a covenant to make a gift of some portion of the land to be purchased, or some interest therein, or of some portion of the proceeds of the land to be sold, or of some interest therein. The only instance of the latter that occurs to me is the covenant, already referred to, to lay out money in the
to the covenant to

purchase of land and to

the proceeds of the sale

land and settle and the only instance of the former that occurs to me is the unilateral contract to sell land which is commonly known as the giving of an option.^ Such a contract is a unilateral agreement to sell land at the price, and on the terms, stated in the contract, without any agreement by the other party
;

settle the land, or to sell

to the contract to purchase the land.

The payment of the

price,

Supra,

p.

26g

et seq.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

therefore, land.
is

363

Still,

merely a condition of the latter's right to have the such a contract would seem, in theory, to cause an

equitable conversion in favor of the holder of the option, but, in

the case of the latter's death, the only right that would devolve

upon any one would be the conditional

right to have the land

on

paying the price, and whether that right would devolve in equity upon the heir or the personal representative of the deceased is at least doubtful, and I am not aware that there is any authority on
the point.
2.
is

The other statement contained

in

the passage quoted above

that a contract for the purchase and sale of land furnishes the
is

only instance of an equitable conversion which

always coex-

tensive with the actual conversion agreed or directed to be made.

Why

is

the equitable conversion caused

by such a contract always

coextensive with the actual conversion which the performance of

the contract involves?

Because the reason why such a contract

causes an equitable conversion, or rather two equitable conversions, is that its performance involves two alienations as well as two actual conversions, and these two alienations and two actual conversions are made by the same two acts, one performed by each of the two parties to the contract, namely, a delivery of a deed of conveyance of the land by the seller to the buyer, and a delivery of the price of the land by the buyer to the seller. Plainly, therefore, the thing which the seller converts into money is the same as the thing which he alienates to the buyer, and the thing which the buyer converts into land is the same as the thing which he alienates to the seller. It may be added that these two acts regularly take effect at the same instant of time, and hence the two alienations and the two actual conversions are regularly

made

at the
is
it

same

instant of time.
is

Why

that no other equitable conversion

necessarily

coextensive with the actual conversion required to be

made by

the covenant or direction which causes the equitable conversion?

Because, in every other case, the actual conversion of land into

money, or of money
the

into land,

must be made before any

is

gift

of

money
it

or land into which the conversion

it is

made can take

effect;

and, as

the latter alone that causes the equitable conthat

version,

necessarily follows
is

the extent of the equitable

gift

conversion

measured by the extent of such

and not by the

extent of the actual conversion.

It is

proper, however, to mention another species of agreement

364

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

which has been held to cause an equitable conversion of land into money, namely, the agreement which is sometimes made by each of several co-owners of land with the other co-owners to join the If it is true th^t such an latter in making a sale of the land.^ agreement converts the land into money in equity, it seems to be
without any
verted,

another instance of a contract which converts land into money gift of the money into which the land is to be con-

seems also that the equitable conversion which it be coextensive with the actual conversion which is contracted to be made. It is clear, however, that such an agreement does not cause any equitable conversion whatever. To suppose that it does is to confound an agreement by each of
and
it

causes will always

several co-owners of land with

selling the land to

all

the others to join the latter in

ascertained,
all

some person not yet

to confound

such an agreement with an agreement by

sell

the land to
will

some ascertained person;

such co-owners to and even the latter

agreement

not cause an equitable conversion of the land into

the other party to the contract to
latter,

money without an agreement by

purchase the land.

Without the

the agreement will merely

its

give an option to purchase the land, and

utmost

effect, in

the

way of causing an equitable conversion, will be to convert the money of the person receiving the option into land in equity. The only way in which one can convert his own land into money in equity in his own favor is by procuring some one else to contract with him to purchase the land. Even in the case of a bilateral contract for the purchase and sale of land, it is, as we have seen,
the purchaser's side of the contract that converts the seller's land
into

money

in equity, while

it

is

the seller's side of the contract

into land in equity.
It is

that converts the purchaser's

money

a mistake, moreover, to suppose that the agreement in question

would be

sell the land. If it were, the next step convey the land, whereas, in fact, the next step is a bilateral contract between all the co-owners of the land and an ascertained purchaser for the purchase and sale of the land and,
is

a contract to
to

of course,

it is

this contract that causes

It

an equitable conversion of
that
it

the land into money.

may be added

is

by no means an
it

easy task so to frame an agreement, like that in question, that

can be enforced in a court of law, and

it

is

believed that no in-

1 Hardey 3 Dr. 495.

v.

Hawkshaw,

12 Beav. 552;

In

re Stokes, 62 L. T. 176;

Darby

v.

Darby,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

telligent

3^5

person

will seriously

contend that such an agreement can

be specifically enforced In a former article,^

tinctions,

in equity.

I have considered several important dishaving no direct connection with equitable conversion,

between a direction to sell land accompanied by a gift of the proceeds of the sale, or of some part thereof, or of some interest therein, and the creation of a lien or charge on the same land,
either with or without a direction to sell the land to satisfy the

There is, however, another important and radical between these two things which has exclusive relation to the creation of an equitable conversion, so radical indeed that, while the former always causes an equitable conversion, the latter never does. This being so, it is indispensable that the two Fortunately, things be accurately distinguished from each other. too, it is possible to distinguish them with entire accuracy, though they seldom, if ever, have been so distinguished. How, then, is the distinction to be made? gift out of the proceeds of a i. sale of land, though it may be of either a limited or an absolute interest, must always extend either to the entire proceeds of the sale, or to some fractional part thereof, and hence such a gift always makes a sale of all the land necessary, as it is only by a sale of all the land that the amount of money to which the gift will extend can be ascertained. 2. Where land is charged with the payment of money the amount of money which constitutes the charge bears no relation to the value of the land or to the price for which it will sell, and hence a sale of the land can never be necessary to ascertain the amount of the charge, nor will a sale of the land even aid in ascertaining its amount. How, then, shall the amount of the charge be ascertained? He who makes the charge must at his peril fix its amount or furnish the means of fixing it. For example, if the charge con.sists of a sum of money given, by the deed or will which creates the charge, to a person named, the usual and proper mode of fixing the amount of the charge is by naming the amount of the gift in lawful money. If the charge be made by will, and consist of all the testator's pecuniary legacies, the amount of the charge will be ascertained by adding together all the pecuniary legacies contained in the will and in the codicils thereto, if any. If the charge be created by a will, or by a deed of assignment, and consist of all the teslien or charge.

distinction

Supra,

p.

282

et seq.

366

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

amount of the charge
will

tator's or assignor's debts, the

be ascer-

tained by adding together such debts as the testator or assignor shall be proved to have owed when he died, or when he made the

deed of assignment. Or, instead of charging " all his debts " he may of course charge only such debts as he shall specify in the will or deed, and, in that case, the will or deed will be conclusive
both as to the number of debts and as to the amount of each. Why does a lien or charge on land never cause an equitable Because it never constii. conversion of the land into money?

any step towards the alienation of the land. When a sale is directed, and a gift is at the same time made out of the proceeds of the sale, to A, for example, and the land is afterwards sold pursuant to the direction, an immediate consequence of the sale is that the proceeds, to the extent of the gift, become the property of A, at least in equity, and that is of course,
tutes

of land

by

virtue of the previous gift to him, which, however, remains ex-

On the other hand, when land is till the sale is made. merely charged with the payment of money to A, for example, and the land is afterwards sold, whether for the purpose of satisfying the charge or not, the ownership of the proceeds of the sale will be just where it would have been if the charge had not been made, and no part of such proceeds will be the property of A, whose right against such proceeds will be precisely the same as his right against the land before it was sold, i. e., he will have a lien or charge on such proceeds for the sum of money coming to him. 2. If a charge of land with a payment of a debt causes an equitable conversion of the land to the extent of the debt, it must be because of the direction to sell the land^ which is supposed to accompany the charge; and yet such a direction is wholly unnecessary, the charge being complete without it. direction, indeed, to sell land, and apply the proceeds of the sale to the payment of a certain debt, will of itself constitute a charge of the debt upon the land, but it is only as evidence of an intention Besides, when to make a charge that such a direction is material. an owner of land charges the same with the payment of a debt, his power over the land is, to the extent of the charge, entirely suspended, and will remain suspended till the charge is removed,
ecutory

and, therefore, the addition of a direction to sell the land

1

is,

for

For

it is

only by an agreement or direction to

sell,

that land can be converted

indirectly

into
9.

money.

Hyett

v.

Mekin, 25 Ch. D. 735.

And

see supra, p. 354,

proposition

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

that reason, without meaning.

367

The owner of
is

the charge can re-

quire the land to be sold: whenever there

a default in the pay-

ment of the debt, but that

of a direction to
the
sell

is

because of the charge,

It

not because
it

the land.

cannot, therefore, be said, with any

propriety, that, in any case where an

owner of land charges

is

with

payment of a

debt, and the land

afterwards sold for the

satisfaction of the charge, the sale takes place

vious direction

by virtue of a preby the owner of the land; and hence the making of

the charge cannot cause an equitable conversion of the land into

land is charged with the payment of a debt independent existence, and that, too, at law as the debt has an So far from its being at all dependent upon well as in equity. the charge, the charge is so dependent upon the debt that it
3.

money.

When

cannot exist without

other effect
plicable to

it.

Nor does a

sale of the land

have any

upon the debt than to produce a fund which is apits payment and discharge. In short, the land has

nothing to do with bringing the debt into existence, nor with the only with its payment debt during the period of its existence,

and extinguishment. It is true that the debt is' personal property, but that is not because it is land converted in equity into money,
for
it is,

from

its

nature, personal property at law and in fact, as well

it owe its existence to the actual sale of the. would not come into existence till after the sale, whereas it is assumed that the purpose of the sale is the payment of the debt, and hence that the debt exists before the sale is made. As, therefore, a debt charged on land is personal property without reference to the question whether the land is, to the extent of the debt or debts charged upon it, converted in equity into money or not, it follows that the latter question is not a practical one, as no person can have any interest in maintaining either the affirmative

as in equity.

Nor can

land, for then

it

or negative of

it.

The only
money,
charge
for,

practical question, therefore,

is

is

whether land which

is

charged with debts

if
it
is,

thereby wholly converted in equity into of course any surplus over and above the

be converted into money in equity. As to this latter question, however, it may be observed, first, that, before the affirmative of it can be established, it must be proved that a
will

charge of land with debts converts the land into

to the extent of the debts

money

in

equity

charged upon
in

it,

and therefore the argu-

ments which

have urged

disproof of the latter proposition are

equally strong in disproof of the proposition that a charge of land

368

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

money
in equity;

with debts converts the surplus of the land into

proposition,

secondly, that, in order to establish the affirmative of this latter

it

must be proved that a person can, by a covenant

sell land,

or a direction to
as to himself,

convert such land into

money

in

equity

and as to those claiming under him, subsequent to a proposition which can easily be such covenant or direction, proved by authority, but the negative of which is very clear upon

principle
to sell

thirdly, that, a

charge of land with debts, or a direction

debts, authorizes a sale of so

land for the

payment of
is

much

of the land only as

necessary for the

payment of the debts

If,

charged, and, therefore, can not cause an equitable conversion of

the surplus of the land over and above such debts. the charge be
therefore,

made by deed, any

will still

surplus of the land over and

above the charge

belong, at least in equity, to the person

who made
If the

the charge, and such surplus will be land in his hands.

will,

charge be made by
will, at least in

any surplus over and above the

charge

equity, pass to the testator's heir or devisee,

be land in his hands. Accordingly, in the case of Roper was resolved by the House of Lords, reversing the decree of the Court of Chancery,

and

will

V. Radcliffe,^ it

" that though lands devised for payment of debts and legacies are to be deemed as money so far as there are debts and specific legacies to be paid,
yet
still

the heir at law has an interest in such lands by a resulting trust, so

far as they are of value after the

debts and legacies are paid

at law

may

properly

come

into a court of equity

and

restrain the

and the heir vendor

more of the lands than what are necessary to raise money sufdebts and legacies, and to enforce the devisee to convey the residue to him ; which residue shall not be deemed as money, Nay, the heir at law in neither shall it go to the executors of the testator. such case may properly come into a court of equity, and offer to pay all the debts and legacies, and pray a conveyance of the whole estate to him for the devisee is only a trustee for the testator to pay his debts and legacies. This is a privilege which has been always allowed in equity to a residuary devisee ; for if he come into court, and tender what will be sufficient to discharge all the debts and legacies, or pray that so much of the lands and no more, may be sold, than what will raise money to discharge them, this is
from
selling
ficient to discharge the

always decreed in his favor.

Therefore, though lands given in trust, or

devised for payment of debts and legacies, shall be

deemed
is

in equity as

money

in respect to the creditors

and

legatees, yet

it

not so in respect

to the heir at law or residuary devisee; for in those cases they shall be

deemed

in equity as lands."
1

9 Mod.

167, 170.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

So

369

iji Nicholls V. Crisp,^ where a testator directed all his land to be sold, and charged the proceeds with certain legacies, and, if the proceeds should exceed ;^3,ooo he bequeathed the surplus

to his natural daughter,

who

died before him. Lord Bathurst dethe heir would pay the legacies,
in

clared that, the object being to convert the land merely for the

purpose of paying the legacies,

the lands should not be sold.

if

Also

Digby

v.

Legard,^ where
to five

a testator devised his real and personal estate to trustees in trust

to sell to

pay debts and

legacies,

and to pay the surplus

persons equally, one of

whom

died before the testator, and the

question was whether her one-fifth was real or personal estate, the

counsel for the heir insisted that the testator charged and subjected her land to the

payment of her debts and

legacies, only in

case the personal estate were not sufficient, in which event alone

was the land to be sold, and only so much as should be necessary and that the five residuary legatees might have paid the debts and legacies, and then have called for a conveyance of the land and Lord Bathurst so held. While, however, the foregoing cases have never been overruled or even questioned, it must be confessed that the courts have, for the most part, failed to distinguish charges on land from gifts of the proceeds of the sale of land, and hence they have assumed that the former have the same effect as the latter in converting the land into money in equity. Cases arising upon wills, in which they have so assumed, have already been sufficiently stated.^ Cases in which a lien or charge on land is created by deed are generally cases in which debtors, in embarrassed circumstances, make an assignment of their property, both real and personal, for the benefit of their creditors. Such assignments, if they create any new
;

right in favor of the creditors, create in their favor a lien or charge

They do not, however, necessarily on the property assigned. * in favor of the creditors, and when they do create any new right not, the assignees, though they become the legal owners of the property, hold it simply as the agents of their assignors, whose servants they are, and who may, therefore, revoke their authority
1

Stated by Sir R. P. Arden,

Dick. 500.

M.

R., in Croft v. Slee, 4 Ves. 60, 65.

2
'

See supra, pp. 355-357; also 346, n. (2). The cases are Hill p. Cock, i Ves. Maugham v. Mason, i Ves. & B. 410; Jessopp v. Watson, i Myl. & K. 665 Flint p. Warren, 14 Sim. 554, 16 Sim. 124; Shallcross v. Wright, 12 Beav. 505, and Hamilton v. Foote, Ir. R. 6 Eq. 572. * See Biggs v. Andrews, infra, and Griffith v. Ricketts, infra. 24

&

B. 173;

37

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

far,

and require a reassignment of the property at any moment.' So however, as regards the question of equitable conversion, the courts have generally failed to recognize even this latter distinction. On the contrary, as an assignment for the benefit of creditors generally contains, in terms, a direction to the assignees to sell the

property assigned, the courts have generally assumed that this

direction alone

was

sufficient to convert
in equitj''.

any land included

in

in

the

assignment into

money

Thus,

where one Biggs conveyed and assigned all trustees in trust to sell the same, and pay his debts out of the proceeds, and hold the surplus in trust for himself, and he died before his land was all sold, it was held that all his property devolved, at his death, on his personal representatives; but, though there is reason to believe that the decision was in accordance with the wishes of the deceased, yet it seems to be very clear that it was wrong in principle for it appears that Biggs made the conveyance and assignment, not because he was insolvent, or supposed himself to be so, but because he was out of health, and wished to retire and accordingly he had selected the two at once from business It is clear, therefore, trustees to wind up his business for him. that, in making the conveyance and assignment he made himself the sole cestui que trust, no new right whatever being conferred upon his creditors; that the trustees were simply his agents, though clothed with the naked legal ownership of all the property, and, therefore, he could have revoked their authority at any moment, and required them to reconvey and reassign the property to him. They could also have given up the agency at their pleasure, and, therefore, could not have been compelled to sell any of the land. So also in Griffith v. Ricketts,^ where an equity of redemption was conveyed to trustees in trust to sell the same for the payment of the grantor's debts, any surplus to be paid to the grantor, " his executors, administrators, and assigns," it was held that, upon the grantor's death, the equity of redemption devolved in equity upon his personal representative, subject, of course, to any charge which the conveyance had created. The judgment, however, seems to rest chiefly, if not wholly, upon the words which I have placed within quotation marks. To me, however, it seems clear that those words have no bearing upon the question. The only thing that could cause an equitable conversion of the land into money
;

Biggs v. Andrews,' his property to two

5 Sim. 424.

2 y

Hare

299.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

3/1

was the direction to the trustees to sell the land and the words quoted could not even aid in creating an equitable conversion, unless they constituted a gift of any surplus which should be produced by the sale and it cannot be seriously claimed that they " The first quesdid constitute such a gift. Wigram, V. C, says ^ tion is how the case would be if the trustees had sold the land in the lifetime of the grantor, and had the money in their hands. In that case it would, I apprehend, clearly belong to the personal representative of the grantor." Undoubtedly it would, but the plain reason seems to me to be that it would be a part of the grantor's personal estate at the time of his death, and hence would
;
:

devolve like his other personal estate.^

Finally, in Clarke v. Franklin,^

where land was granted and conestate in the grantor, in trust to

veyed to trustees, subject to a

convert the same into

life

money

at the grantor's death,

and pay out

of the net proceeds six sums of .^50 each and one sum of 20, to persons named, or such of them as might be living at the grantor's

no valid disposition was made of the residue of the net was held that the land was converted into money in equity from the moment of the delivery of the deed of conveyance, and hence that it devolved in equity, at the grantor's death, as if it were money. It will be seen, however, that the deed in this case is of a very different nature from that in either of the two preceding cases for, instead of being an assignment for the benefit of creditors, it seems to have been a substitute for a will. Accordingly, the grant which it made was not to take effect in possession until the grantor's death. So also the several sums of money which were charged on the land appear to have been gifts, and would, therefore, have taken the form of pecuniary legacies, if the document had been a will. On the other hand, the deed took effect immediately on its delivery, and, unlike a will, was
death, and

proceeds,

it

irrevocable.

There

is

also another, but wholly different class of cases, in

which

money

is

directed to be laid out in the purchase of land, and yet

when purchased, will be just where the ownership of the money was when the purchase was made, namely, where land is settled, the legal ownership being vested in trustees,*
the ownership of the land,
1

Page

313.

See supra, pp. 263-268.

settle-

8
*

4 K. & J. 257. If the legal ownership

legal, the

is

not vested
is

ment are

same

object

in trustees, but the limitations of the accomplished by means of a power.

372

A BRIEF SURVEY OP EQUITY JURISDICTION.

latter are authorized to sell the land,

and the

but are directed to

invest the proceeds of the sale in other land,

and the land

is

accordingly sold, but, before other land

arises

is

purchased, the question

from the moment of the sale, converted and this question has always been answered in the affirmative,^ and seems never to have been supposed to be open to doubt; and yet it seems to be clear, upon principle, that it ought to have been answered in the negative. Neither the direction to reinvest the money in land, nor the actual reinvestment of it in land, causes any change in ownership of the settled estate, for, though no such direction, or even authority, had been given, yet, when the land was sold, the proceeds of the sale would have followed the limitations of the settlement, they taking the place of the land. The only reason, therefore, for directing
whether the money
in equity into
is,

land;

the reinvestment of the

estate to continue were land, notwithstanding the land is sold, as it will so devolve in any event. It has been seen, moreover, that, when money is converted in equity into land by a direction that it be exchanged for land, what actually takes place is this the person who gives the direction, at the same time creates a right in another person to have the exchange made, and then to have the land, or some portion thereof, or some estate therein conveyed to him and the money is said to be converted immedi-

land as an investment,

not that he wishes the

if it

money

in

land

is

that the settlor prefers

to devolve in equity as

ately into land in equity, because,

is

if

the person in

whom
it

created shall die, intestate, before the actual exchange

such right is made,

In
this

his right will devolve in equity

upon

his heir as if

were land.
nothing of

the case
kind.

now under

discussion, however, there

is

On

the contrary, each person

who

will,

under the

settle-

ment, have an interest in the land

when purchased,

has, in the

meantime, the same interest in the money, and the land will, when purchased, simply take the place of the money, just as, when the
original land

was

sold, the
will

money took
devolve as
in

the place of the land.

If,

therefore, this

money

if it

were land

in equity,
it

by

must be because in equity it is land, i. e., because it has, by a fiction, been transmuted by equity. In other words, if the money has been converted in equity into land, the conversion must have been direct,
its
I Chandler v. Pocock, 15 Ch. D. 491, 497, 16 Ch. D. 648; Walrond v. Rosslyn, 11 Ch. D. 640; / re Duke of Cleveland's Settled Estates, [1893] 3 Ch. 244; In re Greaves's Settlement Trusts, 23 Ch. D. 313.

reason of

having been converted

equity into land,

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

and yet there
conversion.^
is

373

no ground upon which equity can make a direct

into

As, however,

money

which

settled land has

been converted

will follow the limitations

of the settlement, whether such

money

be treated as money or as land, the reader may think the question which I have been considering is not of much practical importance. It is always important, however, that a legal question should not only be correctly decided, but that the reasons given for the decision should also be correct, it being impossible to foresee what mischiefs may result from erroneous reasons given for correct decisions. Moreover, if the money into which settled land has been converted be erroneously held to have been reconverted in equity into land, the result is not likely to be the same as if what is money in fact had been treated as money in equity also, unless
the equitable conversion of the
limitations of the settlement
;

money

into land

is

confined to the

and yet we have had too much occasion to see that, when money is covenanted or directed to be laid out in the purchase of land, and the land to be settled, the
.

courts always hold that the

money is converted

into land in equity,

not merely to the extent of the limitations in the settlement, but

also as to the reversionary interest retained

by the

settlor,
is

i. e.,

not

only as to the persons in whose favor the settlement

to be

made,

in the text, as well as for another reason, the case of Ashby Mer. 296, i Jarm. on Wills, ist ed., 527, seems to have been erroneously decided, though that was a case of converting land into money, not money into land. In that case, a testator, who was a widow, and had an infant daughter and only child, devised all her land to trustees in trust to sell the same for the payment of debts, and
*

For the reason stated

i

V.

Palmer,

for educating

and bringing up the daughter, and, when the

latter attained

twenty-one
still re-

or married, the trustees were directed to pay to her any proceeds of the sale

maining in their hands. The daughter became a lunatic before she attained full age, and so remained till her death, more than fifty years after the will was made. None of the land having been sold. Sir W. Grant, M. R., held that the daughter's next of kin were entitled to it. It seems to be clear, however; first, that the land descended in

had been sold, the proceeds of the sale any use which the trustees were authorized to make of them. Consequently, a sale of the land would have been attended with no alienation of the proceeds of the sale, and so the direction to sell caused no equitable conversion. Secondly, it seems equally clear that the trust was to cease on the daughter's attaining twenty-one or marrying, unless debts should still remain unpaid. Certainly, the trustees were not authorized to sell the land after the daughter attained her full age or married, except for the payment of debts. Assuming, then, that the direction to sell for payment of debts caused no equitable conversion, there ceased to be any equitable conversion when the daughter attained twentv-one, as
equity to the daughter, and, therefore, that,
if it

would have belonged

to her in equity, subject to

a direction to

sell

cannot possibly cause an equitable conversion after

it

has ceased to

confer any authority.

374

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

now under
consideration

but also as to the settlor and those claiming under him, and to
this rule the case in
is

no exception.

Thus,

Walrond v. Rosslyn,^ where, by marriage settlement, the intended husband settled land in the usual manner, and the settlement contained the usual power of sale and exchange, and, in case
sale, the proceeds were to be invested in other land, which was to be settled to the same uses to which the land sold was settled, and some of the land had been sold, but the proceeds had not been invested in other land, and all the limitations of the settlement had come to an end, except that in favor of the intended wife by way of jointure, so that the proceeds of the sale had confessedly become the absolute property of the settlor, subject only to said jointure, and the settlor had died intestate, it was held by Sir G. Jessell, M. R., that said proceeds must be treated as land in equity, and consequently that they devolved upon the settlor's heir; and yet such proceeds ought, upon principle, to have been held to devolve upon the settlor's next of kin, and that for three reasons first, the jointress had the same right in said proceeds that she would have had in land purchased with them, and hence there was no equitable conversion of said proceeds into land secondly, the jointress had only a charge on the land originally settled, her jointure being by way of a legal rent-charge, and, for that reason also, there was no equitable conversion of said proceeds in her favor; thirdly, in no possible view could said proceeds be converted in equity, except in favor of the jointress, nor even in her favor for any longer period than her life. So in Chandler v. Pocock,^ where, by a marriage settlement, the

of a

father of the intended wife settled land to the use of himself, the

intended husband, and the intended wife, successively for their

respective lives, remainder, in the events which happened, to such uses as the intended wife should by will appoint, remainder in default of appointment by her, to the settlor in fee, and the settlement contained a power of sale, the proceeds of the sale to be invested in other land, and the land was sold accordingly for

the wife

had not been invested in other land, and bequeathed all the residue of her personal estate and effects whatsoever, and the question was whether this bequest operated as an appointment of the consols under s. 27 of
consols, but the consols

by her

will

II

IS

Ch. D. 640. Ch. D. 491, 497, 16 Ch. D. 648.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the Wills Act.i
afterward

375

it was held, first, by Sir G. Jessell, M. R., and by the Court of Appeal, that it did. Was the decision correct? There seems to be no room to doubt that it carried out

the intention

if the consols were personal they were in fact, the question would not even have arisen. Yet both courts proceeded on the assumption that the consols had been wholly converted in equity into land, and, on that assumption, the decision involved the somewhat startling doctrine that the term " personal property," in s. 27 of

of the testator, and,

property

in equity, as

the Wills Act, meant " actual personal estate, though tonstructively

converted into land,"

section,

i. e.,

that the Legislature, in enacting that

wholly ignored the doctrine of equitable conversion. In In re Greaves's Settlement Trusts,^ by marriage settlement, the intended husband settled land on the intended wife for her
life,

retaining the reversion in fee in himself.

The

settlement con-

tained a

power to sell the land, the proceeds to be invested in other land and the land was accordingly sold, but the proceeds
;

were invested in new three per cents, and so remained the wife survived the husband, who bequeathed all his money in the public funds or elsewhere to his children equally, and Frye, Justice, held
;

that the

new

three per cents did not pass, the

same being con-

verted in equity into land, and the bequest not operating as an

appointment under
in

s.

therefore, of holding that the

27 of the Wills Act. The consequence, new three per cents were converted
this

equity into land, was that the testator's intention as to their

disposition

was wholly frustrated; though

it

was only because

the conversion was held to extend to the husband's reversionary

interest.

If

had been held either that there had been no

life

equitable conversion, or that the equitable conversion extended

only to the wife's

interest, the testator's intention

would have

been

fully carried out.

Duke of Cleveland's Settled Estates,^ where was vested in the Duke of Cleveland as tenant for life in possession, remainder to his first and other sons successively in tail male, remainder to said Duke in fee, and the same was sold under a power conferred by a private Act, which directed the proceeds of the sale to be invested in other land, but they were invested in consols instead, and the Duke afterwards died without issue, having devised his residuary real and personal estate to
Lastly, in In re the
settled land
1

Wm.

IV.

&

Vict.

c. z6.

23 Ch. D. 313.

[1893] 3 Ch. 244.

376

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Hay
family, the Court of

trustees in trust for the

Appeal held that

said consols passed under said residuary clause, but that they

passed as land
that passed

by
is

his will,

the decision

and yet the Duke's remainder in fee, which was all was entirely outside the settlement, and so open to the-same objection as the decision in the

preceding case.

ARTICLE XV

1.1

Equitable Conversion.
VI.

has often been declared judicially ITsion of money into land has the that

the equitable conver-

effect of vesting the equitable

ownership of the land in him in whose favor the conversion is made, and not unfrequently the same effect, mutatis mutandis, has been attributed to the equitable conversion of land into money. Moreover, the courts which have so declared, while they have generally had before them no more than a single concrete case of equitable conversion, have made the declaration broadly, and as
applicable to equitable conversions of every kind, or, at least, they have not intimated that the doctrine which they were declaring involved any division of equitable conversions into classes, nor that there was any class of such conversions to which the doctrine was not applicable. In order, however, to test the correctness of
the doctrine,
it is

necessary to consider

it

in its application to

each

of the two great classes of equitable conversions, namely, those

which are direct and those which are indirect; and, for the purpose of considering it in its application to such equitable conversions as are indirect, it will be desirable to separate the latter, as I have done in a previous article,^ into such as are caused by the common bilateral contract for the purchase and sale of land, those which are caused by a unilateral covenant to purchase ?r sell land, and those which are caused by means of a trust or duty to purchase
or
sell land.
1

19

Harv.

L. Rev. 233.

Supra, pp. 309-327.

378

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

a contrgict
is

When

entered into for the purchase and sale of

it

land, and the purchaser dies

pending the contract, been held, as we have seen/^ that his heir or devisee

has always
entitled to

is

enforce the contract against the seller for his

own

benefit,

and

at

the expense of the purchaser's executor, and this has been sup-

posed to involve the doctrine that the land passes

the seller to the purchaser the

in equity
is

moment when

the contract

from made,

and so passes on the death of the latter to his heir or devisee, though I have endeavored to show^ that it involves only the doctrine that, on the death of the purchaser, his right under the contract to have the land conveyed to him devolves in equity on his heir or devisee, just as the land would if the contract had been performed before the purchaser's death, though the purchaser's concurrent obligation to pay the purchase money devolves, both
at

law and

in equity,

on

his executor.

If I

am

right in this,

it

will

follow that the decisions which have been

made

in favor of the pur-

chaser's heir or devisee establish only that such heir or devisee

entitled to enforce the contract specifically for his

own

benefit,

is

not that he
stands

is

the owner in equity of the land purchased.

be,
it is

But,

however that may

important to ascertain

how

the question

upon

principle.

Clearly, the burden rests

upon those who

assert that the contract itself has the effect of passing the land in

equity, to

that effect.

show some principle of equity which gives the contract What do they show? They say equity considers as
is

Equity, however, has no such and the only one which resembles it is the principle that whatever is agreed to be done equity considers as done at the time when it is agreed to be done,^ and when, consequently,

done whatever

agreed to be done.

principle as that,

1 '

Supra, pp. 309-310. The case of Gibson

* Ibid.
v.

Lord Montfort,

Ves. 485,

is

very instructive in this con-

nection.

The question

there was whether the heir or the devisee of a deceased testa-

tor

was

entitled to certain land

to his will,

which the testator had contracted for before making

the

first codicil

which, however,
its

was made before the contract was

;

per-

formed, and even before the date fixed for

performance and the question between the heir and the devisee was supposed to depend upon whether the land passed to the testator in equity before the date of the first codicil and Lord Hardwicke said " The contract was before the first codicil, and went a great way to end the (p. 494) question. But the first codicil came before the time for the execution of these articles, which is the only difficulty for, though things agreed on are looked upon as executed here, yet this is not such an agreement as could be executed at that time, the time for execution not being come but that seems too nice, for, on a contract for lands, if the party die before the time for making the conveyance comes and without a will, the court considers it for the benefit of the heir that the land should be purchased for him, and, if so, why not for the devisee f " It seems plain, therefore, that Lord Hardwicke
;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

It

379

ought to be done, and

it

is

needless to say that that principle

furnishes no warrant for saying that the contract in question passes

the land in equity the

moment when

it is

made, especially

as a con-

siderable length of time always elapses between the

making and

the performance of a contract for the purchase and sale of land,

and the contract,

if

properly drawn, always names a future day

when

Moreover, the question is whether the land passes to the purchaser in equity at the moment not whether it passes to him at when the contract is made, any subsequent time, for it is confessedly at the moment when it is made that the contract works an equitable conversion, and it is because it works an equitable conversion that it is supposed to pass the land in equity, nor is it possible to assign any other time for the passing of the land in equity prior to the time fixed for the completion of the purchase. Finally, if, as will be shown to be the
the purchase shall be completed.

fact,

an equitable conversion of

money

unilateral covenant to purchase land or

to

into land by means of a by means of a trust or duty

that there

purchase land never passes the land in equity, this will prove is no necessary connection between the indirect equi-

into land and the passing of the title and that the former can take place without the latter; and yet practically the only reason why the courts have declared that a contract for the purchase and sale of land passes the land in equity is that they supposed that to be the only theory upon which the heir or devisee of a purchaser who dies pending Upon the the contract, can enforce the latter for his own benefit. whole, then, it seems pretty clear upon principle that a contract for the purchase and sale of land has no other effect in equity than it has at law unless and until it is broken by the seller's failure to convey the land according to his agreement, and unless the pur-

table conversion of

money

to the land in equity,

chaser die before any such breach, though, in the latter event, the
purchaser's right under the contract will devolve in equity
heir or devisee as before stated.
professedly decided the case upon authority, and not upon principle,
it

upon

his

i.

e.,

he regarded

as settled by authority that

if

the testator had died the day on which he

made the
if

codicil,
it

but without making

first

it,

the land would have descended to the heir, and,

so,

ought to pass by the

codicil to the devisee.

Lord Chancellor Talbot said (388) an estate, and agrees to convey it to another, in consideration of a sum of money engaged to be paid by that other person from the time the articles ought to be performed, the one becomes entitled to the estate, and the other a creditor for the purchase-money."
"

So in Goodwyn v. Lister, 3 Whenever one man enters into

P.

Wms.

387,

articles fbr the sale of

38o

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

is

What

the effect in equity of the contract for the purchase and

sale of land

upon the

seller's right to receive

the purchase money,

at

over and above the

that
it is

effect of the

same contract

law?

It

seems

nothing.

The

courts have, indeed, tried hard to persuade

themselves that, as such a contract passes the land in equity to the purchaser, so it passes the purchase money in equity to the seller.

them that, from made, the seller becomes a trustee of the land for the purchaser, and the purchaser becomes a trustee of the money for the seller; but they have never been able to show that the second part of this proposition has any meaning or has borne any fruit, nor, in truth, has it any meaning nor has it ever borne, nor can it ever bear any fruit, and the reason is obvious, namely, that, while the seller has the same right to have the purchase money paid to him that the purchaser has to have the land conveyed to him, there is this difference between the land and the money, namely, that the land is identified while the money is not, and that difference renders it impossible that the seller should own the money, either at law or in equity, while it remains in the hands of the purchaser, or that the purchaser should hold any specified money in trust for the seller as such. Before the seller can become entitled to be paid any specific money by the purchaser, there must be an appropriation of some specific money to the purpose of paying for the land, and such an appropriation can be made only by the combined action of the purchaser and
It

has (for example) been a favorite saying with

the

moment when such

a contract

is

the
I

seller.

have heretofore stated^ what will become of the purchase in the event of the seller's dying pending the contract, i. e., that his right under the contract will, like his other contractual

money

rights, pass, at his death, to his executor,

who

will, in all respects,

stand in the shoes of the deceased as to his right to receive the purchase money, and who will need only the same aid from equity

would have needed, namely, that of compelling an unwilling purchaser to pay for the land by enforcing the conthat the deceased
tract specifically, instead of leaving the seller or his

executor to

such special damages as a jury

bargain.

will give

him

for the loss of the

The

seller's

executor does, indeed, stand in greater need

for,

of this aid from equity than the seller does,

fail

-though the latter

to obtain specific performance,

he

will still

keep the land while,

>

Supra, pp. 268, 269.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

38

upon the death of the seller, the land will devolve, not upon his executor, but upon his heir or devisee and, though it has been held that, if the executor cannot compel the purchaser to pay for the land, equity will compel the heir or devisee to convey the land
;

to him, yet, as has

sible to discover
in

been seen in a previous article,^ it seems imposany principle which will warrant a court of equity

giving such relief

If a

in the
is

person covenants that he will lay out a given sum of money purchase of land and will settle the land in such manner as
if

stated in the covenant, or

it

a trust be created for the

same pur-

pose,

is

certain that no land will pass in equity to any of the

persons
is

in

whose favor the settlement

is

to be

made

until the land

actually purchased pursuant to the covenant or trust, for until

it

then
title

is

wholly uncertain what land

the land

will

be

settled.

That no

to land can pass from one person to another, either at law or

is

in equity, until
it

identified, is so plain a proposition that

requires only to be stated in order to gain the assent of every

intelligent person.
this instance, to rely

Fortunately, however,

it

is

not necessary, in

merely upon the

its

intrinsic merits of the prop-

osition for establishing

truth, for the proposition that

passes, in the case

now under

consideration,

is

established

no title by an

experience which no one can gainsay.

of land, the estates limited consist, as of estates for
life

In an English settlement
seen,^ almost wholly

we have

These estates, moreover, origifrom each other in respect to the rights of the tenant in possession, for the time being; and, though tenants in tail, if in possession and of full age, have now for centuries been able to exercise complete control over the estate, yet they can do so, even to this day, only by first converting the estate tall into an How can this be done? It can now be done estate in fee simple. by simply executing and acknowledging a disentailing deed, and having the same enrolled, but, prior to Jan. i, 1833, it could be done only by levying a fine or suffering a common recovery, i. e., by levying a fine a tenant in tail could cut off his issue in tail, and so convert the estate tail into a base fee, and by suffering a common recovery, he could cut off, not only his issue in tail, but also all those in remainder or reversion expectant upon the termination of the estate tail, and so convert the latter into an estate in fee simple Could a fine be levied or a recovery suffered, however, absolute.
and
estates
tail.

nally differed but

little

Supra, pp. 311-313.

'

Supra,

p. 316.

382

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

in tail

by a tenant
in

who was

Such a trustee? ing a fine or suffering a recovery, but his acts would be wholly inoperative at law, as courts of law would regard him as having
no estate whatever in the land. Courts of equity, however, could never have permitted equitable estates tail to be created, if a consequence had been that they would be inalienable and accordingly they held ^ that a fine levied or a recovery suffered by an equitable tenant in tail was perfectly valid in equity, i. e., that it had the same effect in converting the equitable estate tail into an equi;

so in equity only, the legal estate being a tenant could go through the forms of levy-

table estate in fee simple that a fine levied or a recovery suffered by a legal tenant in tail has in converting the legal estate tail into

a legal estate in fee simple. Suppose, then, a covenant or trust to have been created, any time in the eighteenth century, for laying out money in the purchase of land, and for settling the land, and
that, if the

covenant or trust had been performed, one A, a person

tail in

of

full

age, would have been tenant in

possession of the land,

did but that the covenant or trust had not been performed and not wish to have it performed, but wished to receive the money instead. Prior to the time of Lord Cowper, he could have obtained

payment of the money by filing a bill and obtaining a decree for its payment to him, but Lord Cowper refused to allow such bills, or rather to make such decrees,^ thinking them to be in violation of the rights of those claiming, or who might in future claim, under
the subsequent limitations of the settlement, covenanted or directed to be made, or of those who owned the reversion, if any, expectant

on the termination of
then could

all

the limitations of the settlement.

if it

How

A obtain the money, he wanted? for he was clearly entitled to obtain it in some way. If it was true that A's right under the unperformed covenant or trust already consisted in the ownership of land in equity he could suffer a recovery of his existing equitable interest, and then, having become the person solely interested in the performance of the covenant or trust, and having also destroyed the reversion, if
was money and not land that
1

Yet

fines are levied,

"Trust estates are by their nature incapable of the process of fines or recoveries. and recoveries are suffered of them and fines and recoveries are
;

as necessary to bar entails of equitable estates, as they are to bar entails of legal
estates."

Butler's note to Co. Litt. 290 b,

s.

XVI.

In Pearson

v.

Lane, infra,

p. 391,

the fine was levied, and in Henley v.

Webb,

infra, p. 383, the recovery

was
in

suffered,

by
.

one who had only an equitable estate

2

in the land.

Colwall

V.

Shadwell, cited in Short v.

Wood,

P.

Wms.

471,
v.

and

Chaplin
i.

Horner,

ibid. 485.

See aXsoper Lord Hardwicke in Cunningham

Moody,

Ves. 174.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

383

any, expectant on the termination of the limitations covenanted or directed to be made, he could elect not to have the covenant or

and require the money to be paid over to him. No, it seems never to have been supposed or claimed by anyone that it was but, on the contrary, it was admitted on all hands that the only way in which A could convert his right into an absolute ownership of the money was by first enforcing specific performance of the covenant or trust, and then suffering a recovery of the land, and, finally, selling the land and experience proved that the most feasible way of doing this often was for A to procure some landowner to convey an estate to the person or persons bound by the covenant or trust, on receiving from him or them the money covenanted or directed to that the latter be laid out in land, but under an agreement with should suffer a recovery of the land, and thereupon reconvey it to its original owner on receiving from him the money which he had received for the land. The first time that this device (which was called borrowing the estate in question) was resorted to, was in the case of V. Marsh,^ 1723, while the last which appears in print was Henley v. Webb,^ 1820. In the latter, the report states that Henley, who occupied the position which I have supposed A to occupy, obtained from Sir J. Webb, Sept. 15, 1781, at the price of 14,200, being the sum which Henley was entitled to have laid out in the purchase of land, a conveyance in fee of an estate, which Henley, on the same day, conveyed, at the same price, to the trustees of the 14,200, and soon afterwards suffered a recovery thereof, being equitable tenant in tail under the trustees and, having thus obtained the fee simple of the estate, he reconveyed it to Webb at the same price at which he had purchased it, having in fact agreed to do so when he made the purchase, the intent of
trust performed,

Was

this

course open to him?

the transaction being to

I trust

make himself master

of the ;^I4,200.

want any better proof than the foregoing case affords that Henley's right to have the ;^I4,200 laid out in the purchase of land, and to have the land conveyed to him
that the reader will not
in tail,

did not

make him a

tenant in

tail

of land in equity.

How,
fear

then, are

we

to account for the fact that

we

find the contrary so

I

constantly asserted or assumed by courts of equity?

shall

we

have to account for

it

in

the

same way

in

which we have

Reported by Peere Williams

in

a note to Chaplin

v.

Horner,

P.

Wras. 486.

* 5

Madd.

407.

384

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

many
errors,

already had to account for so

namely, by the fact

is

that the courts of equity constantly

is

assume that money which

in

only indirectly converted into land

directly,

equity
in

so converted

in

which case the money would

purposes of devolution.

truth be land in
v.

equity,
for

i. e.,

for the
if

In Henley

Webb,
that, at

example,

the fact had been that Henley had recently died,

and the court was called upon to decide, and did decide,
his death, the ;^ 14,200 devolved

upon

his issue in tail

its

and the

court thought

it

necessary to give a reason for

then, could not
its

decision, the

reason would undoubtedly have been that the ;^I4,200 was land
in equity.

Why,

Henley have suffered a recovery

of the ;^I4,200 in

quality of land, thus avoiding the expense,

vexation, and delay, and even the risk of failure

by

his death,

necessarily incident to the circuitous proceedings detailed in the

Because a recovery never could be suffered, even in what was in fact money, though it were, by means of a It was only of specific and idenfiction, deemed land in equity.-' tified real estate, i. e., real estate in fact, that a recovery could be suffered or a fine levied, and courts of equity differed from courts of law on that point only in holding that an equitable title to such real estate in the person levying the fine or suffering the recovery was sufficient to render the fine or recovery valid in equity. The reader will see, therefore, that, when money is covenanted or directed to be laid out in land and the land to be settled, it is when the money is thus laid out, and not till then, that any of the, persons in whose favor the covenant is made, or the direction given, first become, by virtue of such covenant or direction, owners of land in equity in any other than a purely fictitious sense, even assuming that the money may, by a fiction, properly be termed
report?
equity, of

land in equity before

it

is

actually laid out in land.

When

a covenant or

trust, instead

of being to lay out

money
is

in

the purchase of land, and to

settle the land, is to sell

it

land and
equally

make some
clear that

disposition of the proceeds of the sale,

in

none of those

whose favor such proceeds are to be

until the land is actually sold, as,

disposed of can possibly acquire the ownership, either at law or in

equity, of

any

specific

money

until then, there will

"

be no identification of any money.

This

fact,

fine

be settled

in tail;

cannot be levied of money agreed to be laid out in a purchase of land to but a decree can bind such mdney equally as a fine alone could have
this case,
I

bound the land in Benson o, Benson,

if

bought and settled."

fer

Sir

John Trevor, M, R.

in

P. Wins. 130.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

however,
created
is

385

not material in respect to the devolution of the rights

as those rights will devolve in
in equity, before the sale of the
sale,

by the covenant or trust, the same manner, both at law and

upon the executor of the deceased.

land as the proceeds of the sale will devolve after the

namely,

That

this

is

so as to the equi-

table conversion of the seller's land into

money, caused by the

ordinary bilateral contract for the purchase and sale of land,

we

have already seen,^ and the same thing is true of every indirect equitable conversion of land into money. In respect, therefore, to the devolution of property indirectly converted in equity, our
view need not be extended beyond the conversion of personal property into real property, and, in respect to devolution by will, In respect, indeed, to the equithe field is still more narrowed. table conversion of money into land, caused by the bilateral contract for the

contract in favor of the purchaser

that
it

purchase and sale of land, the right created by the is always devisable,^ and it seems
for,

will

pass by a specific devise of the land contracted

all

or

by
in

a devise of

the testator's real estate, or of

all his

real estate

such a place, provided the land contracted for is in that place, itself under any words of description which sufficiently identify it; but it seems that it will not pass under any words which are applicable only to personal estate, unless the testator so identifies the right as to show that he means
or by a devise of the right
to pass
it

by such words

for there will

be no equitable conversion
entitled, the right created
i.e.,

of the purchaser's

money into

land, unless he be entitled to enforce

if

the contract specifically, and,

he be so

by the

contract in his favor will necessarily be a hereditament,

a right descendible to the heir.*

1 2

Supra, pp. 269, 314.

Atcherley v. Vernon, 10 Mod. 518; Davie v. Beardsham, i Ch. Cas. 39,3 Ch. Rep. 4; Lady Fohane's case, cited in i Ch. Cas. 39; Greenhill v. Greenhill, 2 Vern. 679; Prideux v. Gibben, 2 Ch. Cas. 144; Potter v. Potter, i Ves. 274, 437, 3 Atk. 719; Gibson v. Lord Montfort, I Ves. 485.
'

In Rushleigh

v.

Master,

;'5,ooo,

a part of the wife's marriage portion,

in land to the use of the

Ves. Jun. 201, 3 Bro. C. C. 99, by marriage settlement, was vested in trustees in trust to lay the

husband for life, remainder to wife for life, remainwhich happened, to husband in fee and hence the money belonged absolutely to the husband, subject only to an equitable conversion of it in favor of the which she did. It was wife for her life in the event of her surviving the husband,
der, in the events
;

same out

assumed, however, that the money was wholly converted into land in equity, not only as to the wife, but as to the husband as well. In short, it was assumed that the money had ceased to have in equity the quality of money, having acquired the quality of land
instead; and accordingly, the husband having died intestate as to the ;^5,ooo,it was assumed that it descended to his heir as land and the question was whether it passed
;

386

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

money
into land
unilateral covenants

In respect, however, to equitable conversions of

by means of
first,

and

trusts, it is to

be observed,

that such covenants and trusts are nearly always for the purall

such cases the equion principle, confined to the estates for life and estates tail covenanted or directed to be limited by the settlement, and hence the rights created by such covenants and trusts are, on principle, never devisable, though the courts hold, as we have seen,^ that the entire interest in the money
chase and settlement of land, and that in
table conversion of the

money

into land

is,

is,

in

such cases, converted

in equity into land,

not only as to those

whose favor the land is covenanted or directed to be settled, but Secondly, a also as to the settlor and those claiming under him. devise of land which has any reference to " place " will not pass a right created by a covenant or trust to purchase and settle land,^ as there is, in such a case, no identified land, and yet the testator shows, by his reference to place, that it was only actual and identiin

he intended to devise. Nor can such a right, as it seems, pass under words of bequest, i. e., words which are applicable only to personal estate, unless the testator shows affirmafied land that

tively that

he intends to pass such right under such words

for

as land under the will of the heir, the same having never been laid out in land and it was held that it did so pass, namely, under the words " all other my messuages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments," Lord Thurlow saying that (i Ves. Jun. 404. a) if the testator had said, "all my estates in law and equity," this would have passed and the words " all my estates whatsoever and where soever" are equally strong. He also uses the word " hereditament," and this is a hereditament, for it is descendible.
; ;

Supra, pp. 320, 329, 353, proposition 8. I fear, however, this statement must rest upon principle rather than authority. In Giiidot V. Guidot, 3 Atk. 254, Lord Hardwicke decided that money which he held to be converted into land passed, under the will of the owner, by the words, "Lands
1 2

lying in Islington, and in Elsfield in Hampshire, or elsewhere."

I say "money which he held to be converted into laud," for Lord Hardwicke treated the money as converted " directly " into land, and therefore as having passed in its quality of land. He

" If it had not been for the locality, estates in Middlesex and Hampshire, no doubt could have arisen; but then follows or elsewhere,' which is the most comprehensive word he could have used. It is said the lands do not lie anywhere, for they
said (256)
: '

are not yet purchased.

When

people

make such

descriptions as the testator

;

here, they intend to pass everything they have in the world

now

the

money

had done is some-

where, and that by the transmutation of this court

If the case

is changed into land." had been one in which the testator had merely a right to have money exchanged for land, and to have some estate in the land conveyed to him. Lord Hardwicke's reasoning would clearly not have been applicable to it. Such a right is not situated anywhere, as it is incorporeal. The case of Lingen v. Sowray, i P. Wms. 172, involved the same point as Guidot v. Guidot, and was decided the same way. 8 Biddulph V. Biddulph, 12 Ves. 161 In re Greaves's Settlement Trusts, 23 Ch. D. 313, zi6,per Fry, J.; / r<r Duke of Cleveland's Settled Estates, [1893] 3 Ch. 244;
;

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the owner of such a right has no ownership of the which the land is to be purchased, even if such money

38;
with

money
is

identified.

Yet here again we are confronted with the

fact that the courts

unwarrantably extend the doctrine of the equitable conversion of money into land by means of directions contained in wills to cases
in

which no person has a right

to enforce such directions,

i. e.,

to

require an actual conversion to be

made

and, in

all

such cases,

the courts are forced to treat the equitable conversion which they

assume to exist as if it were created by equity itself, i. e., as if it were direct, and hence to treat the money, for the purposes of devolution, as if it were actually land in equity, instead of being merely liable to be exchanged for land, and, when that step has once been taken, it is not difficult for the courts to take another step and say that a testator who, if there were in truth an equitable conversion, would have only a right to have the money laid out in land, and to have the land settled, is the owner of the money itself,
and, therefore, that, while such of intestacy, yet
its

money

will

descend as land

in case

owner may devise it as land or money at his pleasure. This seems to be the only way of explaining the decisions of Sir G. Jessell, M. R., and the Court of Appeal in Chandler If the money in that case had been in truth indirectly V. Pocock.^ converted into land in equity, and the settlor's daughter had merely had a right to have land purchased with the money and settled, and the case had been so regarded, it would have been quite impossible for the courts to hold that such right passed under a bequest of all the daughter's personal estate. I have endeavored, however, to show, in another place,^ that there was no indirect conversion of the money into land in equity, and the same thing may be proved, even more conclusively, in another way for the daughter's father settled the original land only upon himself, the daughter's husband and the daughter, for their respective lives, retaining in his own hands the reversion in fee expectant upon the determination of those three life estates and, when the land was sold under the power contained in the settlement, of course the
; ;

proceeds of the sale took the place of the land, and, when the
Pocock, 15 Ch. D. 491, 499, where Jessell, M. R., after expressing himself " Not only is that covered by authority, but I should think that the question was not arguable at the present day, as the authorities

Chandler

v.

to the effect stated in the text, adds

are so old."
1

Supra,
15 Ch.

p. 353,

proposition

8.

D. 491, 499, 16 Ch. D. 648.

See supra,

p. 375.

388

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

will

daughter died and her

created

took

effect,

the last of the three rights

by the settlement came to an end, the husband and father having previously died. It was impossible, therefore, that anything should pass, under what was held to be an appointment by the daughter's will, except the fund produced by the sale of the land, and that was all that was held to pass and, though all the
;

difficulty arose

from

its

being held, erroneously, as

it is

conceived,

had been converted in equity into land, yet it was the assumption that the fund was land in equity that made possible a decision which would have been impossible on the supposition that the same fund, instead of being land in equity, was merely liable to be exchanged for land. When a contract, trust, or duty to convert money into land or land into money is not performed as soon as those in whose favor the conversion is to be made are entitled to have it performed, what compensation are the latter entitled to receive for the delay? In the case of a bilateral contract for the purchase and sale of land, neither party can claim any compensation for non-performance by the other until the latter is in default, i. e., has broken the contract, and, as the two sides of the contract are to be performed concurrently, neither party can put the other in default until he has done everything towards performing his own side of the contract that he can do without the co-operation of the other. If, therefore, either party desires a prompt performance by the other, he should, as soon as the time for performance arrives, seek the other, and notify him of his own readiness, willingness, and ability to perform his side of the contract, and should offer to do so if the other will concurrently perform his side, and, if the latter refuses or neglects to do so, he will be in default. If a place, as well as a time, for performance have been agreed upon, each party must at his peril, unless the contract have, in the meantime, been performed, or the other party put in default, be at the place agreed upon at the close of business hours on the day agreed
that that fund

upon, and,
default.
will

if

the other party be not there, he will then be in

either party is thus put in default, the other a condition to maintain an action at law for damages, or a bill in equity for specific performance, at his option, and, in case of the latter, he will, besides specific performance, obtain such compensation for the other's breach of contract as shall be just.

And when

be

in

In the case of a unilateral covenant to purchase land, the

covenant

will

be broken by any

failure

of the

covenantor to

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

perform
to
settle
it

389

according to
the land

its

terms, and,

if

there be also a covenant

when purchased, he who would have been

immediate possession and enjoyment of the land, purchased in accordance with the covenant, will be entitled, immediately on the breach of the covenant, to file a bill and obtain a decree for its specific performance, together with a compensation for the breach, and the proper measure of such compensation will, it seems, be the interest on the money covenanted to be laid out in land from the time when the plaintiff was entitled to have the land purchased to the time when it is actually purchased. If the breach shall consist only in not settling the land when purchased, the same person will be entitled to all the remedies incident to an equitable ownership of land. The reader must, however, bear in mind that such unilateral covenants are commonly contained in marriage articles and marriage settlements, made by the intended husband, and that the land to be purchased is almost always covenanted to be settled, and, therefore, there in the first instance, on the husband for life can be no breach of the covenant till the husband's death. In the case of a trust or duty to purchase and settle land, or to sell land and dispose of the .proceeds of the sale, it is plain that the creator of the trust or duty intends that those in whose favor the land to be purchased is to be settled, or in whose favor the proceeds of the land to be sold are to be disposed of, shall enjoy the money to be laid out in land from the time when it is first authorized to be so laid out to the time when it shall be actually laid out, or shall enjoy the land directed to be sold from the time when it is first authorized to be sold to the time when it is actually sold. How shall the creator of the trust or duty give effect to such his intention? Clearly, he can do so in one way only, namely, by making a gift of the money or the land, i. e., of the income of the one or the other, for the period of time just specified, to the person or persons who would have been entitled to receive the income of the land, if the money had been laid out in land, or to receive the income of the proceeds of the sale, if the land had been sold, as there would otherwise be a resulting trust as to such income in favor of the creator of the trust or of his representative, or, if a duty be created, instead of a trust, the land to be sold or the money to be laid out will continue to be the property
entitled to the
if
;

of the creator of the duty, or of his representative, both at law

and

in equity, until the land

is

actually sold or the

money

laid out.

39

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

all

Accordingly,

duties, contain

such a

well-drawn wills or deeds, creating such trusts or Suppose, however, gift in express terms.^

make any such gift? It seems to be clear that the gift ought to be implied.^ It may happen that the creator of a trust or duty, instead of making such a gift of the intermediate income of the money to be
the creator of a trust or duty omits to
laid

out in land or of the land to be sold, as is indicated in the preceding paragraph, directs that the money to be laid out shall

comprise not merely the principal sum named, but also the intermediate income thereof, or that the money to be disposed of shall comprise, not only the proceeds of the land to be sold, but also
1 Lechmere v. Earl of Carlisle, 3 P. Wms. 211 Guidot v. Guidot, 3 Atk. 254; Doughty V. Bull, 2 P. Wms. 320; Coventry v. Coventry, 2 Atk. 366; Thornton v.
;

Hawley, 10 Ves. 129; Williams

16:
V.
;

v.

Kirkman
i

v.

Miles, 13 Ves. 338;

ibid.
;

Ravenhill,

Beav. 481, 5

Coade, 10 Ves. 500; Biddulph w. Biddulph, 12 Ves. Maugham v. Mason, i Ves. & B. 410; Hereford Wrighlson v. Macaulay, 4 Hare 487 ; Batteste v. 51

Maunsell, Irish Reports, 10 Eq. 97, 314. 2 A gift of the proceeds of a sale of land to

for life is a gift to

him of

the rents

Ch. 829. This appears to be the true explanation of the decision in Earl of Coventry v. Coventry, 2 Atk. 366, where a testator, being seised in fee of the manor of A, and having a lease of the manor of B, directed his executors to exchange his manor of A for the reversion of the manor of B. The manor of B, of which the Church of Lincoln was seised in fee,

and

profits of the

land

till

sale.

In

re Searle, [1900] 2

was situated in Oxfordshire, while the manor of A was situated in Lincolnshire and near the Church of Lincoln, and, for this or some other reason or reasons, the testator seems to have had no doubt that the exchange which he directed would be for the advantage of the Church of Lincoln, and, in fact, he gives as a reason for directing the exchange that he desired " to be a benefactor to the Church of Lincoln " and it appears, therefore, not to have occurred to him that the Church of Lincoln might Nevertheless, the Church of Lincoln did so decline, decline to make the exchange. and its declination was the cause of the present suit. The testator had directed that, when the exchange was made, the reversion of the manor of B should be settled on his wife for life, remainder to his issue male by her in special tail, with divers remainders over and, under these limitations, the manor of B would, if the exchange had been made, have been vested in the plaintiff for life in possession, remainder to and, as the exchange could not be made, the plaintiff insisted his issue in tail male that he was entitled to the manor of A and it would seem that, on the principle stated in the text, he was entitled to the possession and income of the manor of A until the exchange could be made, and, if that time never arrived, he and those claiming under him would be entitled to hold possession of the manor of A in perpetuity and Lord Hardwicke so decreed, saying (369) " Where a sum of money is given by the
; ; ; ;
;

will of

a testator to be

laid out in the

purchase of lands, or of lands in a particular

county, and after they are bought to be settled

upon such and such persons,

if

bill is

brought here, the constant ordinary course is to direct a purchase, and the produce of This comes very near the present the money to go as the land itself, till purchased.
case.

there

... It is carried too far, when it is said, no exchange can ever be made, for is no time fixed for it, and therefore there may come a prebendary at Lmcoln,
to the exchange."

who may consent

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

;

391

the intermediate income of the land ^ and, in such a case, the income of the money or land must, of course, be accumulated till
the

money

is

laid out, or the land purchased.

it is

But, in the absence

clear that the interin the

of an express direction to the contrary,

mediate income
paragraph.

will

go

in the

manner indicated

preceding

In the case of Pearson

in trust to sell the

v.

Lane,^ land was t;onveyed to trustees

same, and lay out the proceeds in other land,

first
tail,

and settle the latter on the grantor for life, remainder to the and other sons of the grantor and his then wife successively in

remainder to their daughters as tenants in common in tail, remainTwenty-four years afterwards the der to the grantor in fee. grantor died, leaving two daughters, and thereupon, no sale of the
land having been made, the daughters and their husbands levied
fines of the land, and, twenty years later, the question arose whether the fines were valid, and had made the daughters equiAnd that was table owners of the land in fee simple absolute. supposed to depend upon whether the daughters had an equitable If the land had freehold in the land when the fines were levied. been sold, and its proceeds reinvested in other land, as directed, the daughters would have become, on their father's death, equitable tenants in tail in possession of the land purchased, under their father's deed of trust, and equitable owners of the reversion in fee by descent from their father.. Had they any estate in the land of which the fines were levied ? Clearly, the deed of trust gave them none, either at law or in equity. What, then, became of the equitable fee in that land immediately on the execution of the deed of trust? It resulted to the grantor, though subject to be devested a sale of the land, as directed, and, on the grantor's death, it by descended to his daughters, though subject to the same condition subsequent. By virtue of this equitable fee, the daughters could have levied fines, but. fines levied by them would not have destroyed nor affected the condition by which their equitable title was liable to be defeated, for, the title of the trustees being legal, the fines would have been inoperative and void as to them. There was, however, one way, and one way only, in which they could obtain a perfect legal and equitable title to the land, namely, by filing a bill against the trustees and compelling them to convey
1

Short

V.

Wood,

P.

Wms.

470; Pearson z/^Lane, 17 Ves. loi

Biggs

v,

Andrews,

5 Sim. 424. * 17 Ves. loi.

392

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION:

bill

the land to the plaintiffs, the ground for the

being that,

if

the

land were sold and other land purchased, the plaintiffs would be

have the latter conveyed to them in tail, remainder to them in fee, and then they could, by levying fines, convert their estate tail into a fee simple absolute, and, therefore, as they could not levy fines effectively of the land held by the trustees, they were entitled to have the latter conveyed to them in fee simple
entitled to

without the levying of

for fines.

fines, their bill

being a sufficient substitute

W. Grant, M. R., held, however, that the daughters and husbands had acquired a perfect title to the land by the fines which they had levied, he being of opinion that the daughters were equitable tenants in tail of the land when the fines were levied, and hence that the fines had made them equitable tenants in fee simple and, though it does not appear that they had obtained any conveyance of the legal title, yet no objection was taken to the title on that ground, nor does the case give any information as to the trustees or their acts subsequent to the conveyance of the land Upon what ground did Sir W. Grant hold that the to them. daughters were equitable tenants in tail of the land when the fines were levied? Upon the ground, first, that, though the deed of trust gave them in terms no estate in the land to be sold, yet, as the trustees took only a naked legal title, and the equitable title must be somewhere, a court of equity would ascertain where it was by inquiring for whose benefit the trust existed, i. e., who was the cestui que trust, and that here the grantee's daughters were the cestuis que trust, and consequently they took, under the trust deed, the same equitable estate that they would have taken in the land to be purchased, when purchased, namely, an equitable estate tail. To this, however, it may be answered that, though the daughters were cestuis que trust under the trust deed, yet they were to enjoy the land vested in the trustees only in the mode pointed out by the creator of the trust, namely, by its sale and the investment of the proceeds in other land, and that this was absolutely inconsistent with their having any interest in the land to be sold, except for so long as it should remain unsold. Sir W. Grant says ^ " Where money is given to be laid out in land, which is to be conveyed to A, though there is no gift of the money to him, yet in equity it is his and he may elect not to
Sir
their
;
: ;

1 F. 104.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

393

have

laid

out : so, on the other hand, where land

is

given upon

pay the produce to A, though no interest in the land is expressly given to him, in equity he is the owner; and the trustee must convey, as he shall direct."* Undoubtedly this Because A, being made the absolute owner of is true,^ but why? the land in which the money is to be laid out, or of the proceeds of the land to be sold, the direction to lay the money out in land, or to purchase land, is inoperative and void. As A alone is interested in the question whether the money shall be laid out in land, or whether the land shall be sold, so he alone has a voice in the
a trust to
sell,

and

to

decision

of that question.
gift to

It follows,

therefore,

that,

while in

which the money is to be laid out, or of the proceeds of the land 'to be sold, the gift to him is, in legal effect, of the money to be laid out, or of the land to be sold, the direction to lay out the one, or to sell the other, going for nothing. Why, then, does the law thus wholly change the subject of the gift, instead of simply giving effect to it according to its terms? Because the law cannot do the former for the reason just stated, and, therefore, it does the latter to prevent the purpose of the giver from being totally defeated. The law, therefore, changes the subject of the gift for the best of reasons, namely, ut res magis
terms the
is

only of the land

in

valeat
1

quam pereat.
gift of

the proceeds of a sale of land

is

an absolute

gift of the

land

itself.

In

re

Daveron, [1893] 3 Ch. 421, 424.

ARTICLE XVI

I.^

EQUITABLE CONVERSION.
VII.

WHAT
or,

is

the duration of an indirect equitable conversion of

land into

money

or of

money

into land?

It is
it

the same as

that of th^ contract, trust, or duty which brings

into existence,

which such made, and to receive some portion of the money or land into which the actual conversion is to be made, or some limited interest in such

more

strictly, it is

the

same

as that of the right,

contract, trust, or duty creates, to have an actual conversion

money
same
latter

or land

and the duration of

i. e.,

this right is

not always the

it,

as that of the contract, trust, or

duty which creates

as the

may be

conditional,

subject to a condition precedent,

and in that case the right is not created until the condition is performed or satisfied. A distinction must, however, be made between a contract, trust, or duty which is conditional and one which is not to be performed till a future day, for the mere fact that a contract, trust, or duty is not to be performed till a future day does not preit merely renders the right vent or delay the creation of a right,

incapable of being enforced until the time arrives

tract, trust, or

when

the con-

duty

is

to be performed.

If,

indeed, an indirect

equitable conversion were an equitable substitute for an actual conversion,

i. e.,

if it

land for money,

were an equitable exchange of money for land or it would follow that a contract, trust, or duty to

make an

table conversion before that

day could not cause an equiday arrived but, as an equitable conversion merely causes the right to have an actual conversion made
actual conversion at a future
;

19

Harv.

L.

Rev.

321.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

to devolve as the thing into which the conversion
is

395

to be
it is

made
plain

would devolve,
as the right
is

if

the conversion had been actually made,

that the equitable conversion should

created.
If,

soon conveyed by deed in trust to sell the same, and dispose of the proceeds as directed by the deed, the equitable conversion will take effect on the delivery of the deed, though the sale be not to be made till the grantor's
into existence as
therefore, land be

come

death.i

As

a deed takes effect the

moment

that

it

is
it

delivered, while a

will takes effect the

moment

the testator dies,

follows that, in the

absence of any suspensive condition, there will be a corresponding difference in the time when an equitable conversion will take effect,
according as
it

is
it

created

ated by a deed,
while, if created

will take effect

by a deed or by a will, i. e., that, if creon the delivery of the deed, and

consequently during the lifetime of the person

who
the

creates

it,

by

will, it will

not take effect

for

till

moment

of

the testator's death.^

There being, then, no room

equitable conversion

doubt as to when an indirect

begins, the only remaining question

upon

which the duration of such a conversion depends is, when does it end? This question, however, is much wider and incomparably more difficult than the question when does it begin, and the answer There is, indeed, a limit of time beto it is also much less certain. yond which it is not possible that any indirect equitable conversion should endure, namely, the time when the right which brought it into existence is extinguished by a performance of the correlative obligation or duty. It seems possible also, upon principle, to go a step further by saying that no equitable conversion can endure after the contemplated actual conversion is made, for an equitable conversion is always and necessarily superseded by the actual conversion in contemplation of which the equitable conversion was created. Moreover, though the right which brought the equitable
conversion into existence

may

not be entirely extinguished, yet

its

nature will then be changed.

Thus,

in

the case of the ordinary

contract for the purchase and sale of land,

the land without requiring the concurrent

money, his land will thereby be actually though the vendor will still be entitled to receive the money from
1

if the vendor convey payment of the purchase converted into money, and,

See Clarke
w.

v.

Franklin, 4

Kay &

J.

257.

And

see supra, p. 358, n.

2.

2 Elliott

Fisher,

12 Sim. 505.

See also the judgment of Wigram, V. C,

in

Griffith V. Ricketts, 7

Hare

299, 311-312.

396

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

it

the purchaser, yet his right to receive

ical

will

have undergone a rad-

change, the relations between the parties to the contract having

ceased to be those of vendor and purchaser and having become

that of debtor

and

creditor.

So

if

the purchaser voluntarily

pay

the purchase the land, his

money without requiring a concurrent conveyance of money will thereby be actually converted into land,

still be entitled to receive a conveyance of the land from the vendor, yet his right to receive it will have become that of an equitable owner of the land, and, in fact,

and, though the purchaser will

the contract which caused the equitable conversion, as also in the

come to an end. So if a covenant be made, or a trust be created to lay out money in the purchase of land, and to settle the land, and the land be purchased, the money will be actually converted into land, and though the person or persons in whose favor the settlement was to be made will still be entitled to have it made, yet he or they will be so entitled, not by virtue of the original right created by the covenant or trust, but by virtue of an equitable ownership of the land purchased, coextensive with the legal ownership which he or they would have acquired if the settlement had been made. Finally, if a duty be created to purchase and settle land, for example, if a testator direct his executor to lay out money in the purchase of land and to settle the land, and the executor purchase the land and receive a conveyance of it, the money will be thereby actually converted into land, and
case previously put, will have
the duty imposed
title

upon the executor

have vested

will

to the land will

in him,

be performed, the legal and he will hold it as

a trustee for those in whose favor the settlement was directed to

be made.

How may an indirect equitable conversion be ended without any performance of the contract, trust, or duty by which it was brought In the case of a contract for the purchase and sale into existence? of land, the equitable conversion in favor of each party to the contract will come to an end whenever the contract comes to an end, and how the contract may be brought to an end without being performed is a question which belongs to the subject of contracts rather than to that of equitable conversion. The equitable conversion in favor of either party will also be ended by a total breach of the contract by him, or by his losing the right to enforce the specific
performance of
it.

An

equitable conversion created

settle land, is

by a covenant,

trust,

or duty to

purchase and

seldom put an end to

in either of the

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

modes mentioned

397

in the last paragraph. It is, however, liable to be put an end to otherwise than by a performance of the covenant, trust, or duty, and. that, too, in modes which are peculiar to this class of covenants, trusts, and duties, and which constitute an important branch of equitable conversion. Such an equitable conversion will be put an end to by the complete exhaustion of the gift or gifts which are made, or covenanted to be made, of the land to be purchased. As no such equitable conversion can come into existence without some such gift or gifts, it necessarily follows that there will cease to be any such conversion when there ceases to be any such gift; and this propo-

sition rests

upon

authority, as well as

upon

principle, in the case

in

of a covenant to purchase and settle land,^ though,

a trust or duty created

the case of
authorities
to be pur-

same purpose, the do not recognize the necessity of any gift of the land
will for the

by

chased either to cause an equitable conversion or to keep it in existence.^ This, however, is not because the two cases differ at all in principle, but because the authorities applicable to the one case differ from those applicable to the other. How is the exhaustion of such gift or gifts liable to happen? By the death, or the death and failure of issue of all the persons When the equitable conversion is in whose favor they are made. caused by a covenant to purchase and settle land, the settlement
covenanted to be made
estates
tail,
is

generally limited to estates for

life

and

the ultimate reversion in fee simple being retained

by

the settlor, while, in the case of a trust or duty created

entire fee simple.

by

will for

the same purpose, the settlement directed generally extends to the

This difference, however, in the extent of the

settlement, does not affect the extent of the equitable conversion,

extend only to the estates for life and covenanted or directed to be limited, for, in respect to the equitable conversion, it is not at all material whether the ultimate fee simple in the land to be purchased be retained by the

which

in either case will

estates tail

be limitejd to someone else by way of be retained by the settlor, he will be the absolute owner of the money to be laid out subject only to the rights of those in whose favor estates for life or estates tail are to be limited.
settlor as a reversion, or

remainder.

If

it

So long

as there exists

any person, who

See supra,
Supra,
p. 323.

in case

the

money be

laid

1
2

p. 353,

proposition

8.

398

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

or in
tail in

out will be entitled to have the land conveyed to him for an estate
for
life

possession, that person alone will be entitled to

require land to be purchased with the

money and

settled.

When

there ceases to be any such person, the right of the settlor to the

money

be absolute, and though he, or anyone in whom his be vested, will be entitled to purchase land with the money if he chooses, it will be by virtue of his absolute ownership of the money, and not by virtue of any relative right, and it is a relative right alone that can cause an equitable conversion.^ Moreover, what is thus true of a settlor who retains the ultimate fee simple of the land to be purchased, is also true of a remainderman to whom such ultimate fee simple shall be covenanted or directed to be limited.^ The conclusion, therefore, is that every equitable conversion caused by a covenant, trust, or duty to lay out money in the purchase of land, and to settle the land, will necessarily come to an end as soon as there ceases to be any person who is entitled to have the money laid out in the purchase of land, and to have the land conveyed to him for an estate for life
will

right shall

or in

tail in

possession.

The
lay out

equitable conversion caused

by a covenant,

trust, or

duty to

money

in the

ests in the land, will

shall acquire

purchase of land and to settle limited interalso come to an end whenever any person

an absolute ownership of the money, though such

limited interests covenanted or directed to be settled in the land

to

be purchased be not exhausted and such absolute ownership money may now ^ be acquired by any person, of full age and sui juris, who is entitled to an estate tail in possession in the land to be purchased, and to have the same purchased immediately. How may such a person acquire an absolute ownership of the money? The answer to that question involves a little history. Prior to the time of Lord Chancellor Cowper, the Court of Chancery would decree the payment of it to him upon his filing a bill
;

of the

for that purpose.*

if

The theory upon which

this

was done was

that,

the land were actually purchased, he could convert his estate

1 '

Supra, pp. 307, 309, 319-320. At p. 327, I erroneously stated that, in the case of a trust to purchase land

and convey the .same to " A for life, remainder to B in tail, remainder to C in fee, there will be a conversion in equity of the entire interest in the money into land." a See 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 74. * /Vr Vernon, arguendo, in Chaplin v. Horner, i P. Wms. 483, 485; /^rLord Hardwicke in Cunningham v. Moody, i Ves. 174, 176.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY yURISDICTION.

tail into

399

an estate

in fee

simple by suffering a

common

recovery;

and, as a recovery could not be suffered of money, though con-

verted in equity into land, equity was bound to provide

stitute for
it,

some ^bto allow

and that a
it

bill in

equity was the only substitute that

equity could provide.

Lord Cowper, however, refused

such a

bill,^

thinking

an infringement of the rights of those

who

might become
sion expectant

entitled to the land

by way of remainder or

rever-

on the termination of the estate tail in question, was followed till the end of the eighteenth century, when the old rule was restored by Lord Eldon's Act," and the court was also authorized to grant the relief upon petiThat Act remained in force until tion without the filing of a bill. it was superseded by 7 Geo. IV.,^ which, however, differed from Lord Eldon's Act only in being more comprehensive. The latter Act was in turn superseded by 3 and 4 Wm. IV.,* which introduced very radical changes. The substitute for common recoveries which was originally adopted by the Court of Chancery, and restored by Lord Eldon's Act was, like common recoveries themselves, open to two very
and the
rule thus established

serious objections, namely,

of time to carry
it

first, it

required a considerable

amount

through, and in the meantime the person on

bill or petition was filed might die, and thus his purpose be wholly defeated. His loss would, of course, be the gain of the person next entitled, but it would be a gain for which he would be indebted solely to accident, and to which he would have no claim in justice. Secondly, the filing of a bill and obtaining a decree thereon was attended with a relatively great and unnecessary expense. Common recoveries being also open to the same two objections in at least an equal degree, they were abolished by 3 and 4 Wm. IV. c. 74, and disentailing deeds substituted in their

whose behalf the

place.

Moreover, by section 71 of the same Act, a disentailing

Colwall V. Shadwell, stated by Lord Parker in Short

v.

Wood,

P.

Wms.

470,

and by Vernon, arguendo, in Chaplin v. Horner, i P. Wms. 485. It does not appear in what year Colwall v. Shadwell was decided. It could not, however, have been earlier than 1714, as Cowper did not become Lord Chancellor until September of that year. The case of Benson v. Benson, Mich., 17 10, i P. Wms. 130, before Sir John Trevor, M. R., was therefore correctly decided in accordance with the old rule, though the learned judge seems to have made the singular mistake of supposing that a common recovery would not have been necessary to make the plaintiff the absolute owner in fee simple of the land to be purchased, and that a fine would have been suffiSee also Collet v. Collet, I Atk. 11 Calthrope v. Gough, 4 T. R. 707, n. a. cient.
471,
;

39

& 40

Geo. III.

c. 56-

* i" 4S-

* c. 74.

400

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

for a bill or petition in equity in

deed was provided as a substitute

case of

i. e., it was provided deed of assignment of the money, executed and delivered by a person entitled to have the money laid out in the purchase of land, and to have the land conveyed to him for an estate tail in possession, should transfer the absolute ownership of the money. Suppose one A tp have been entitled, prior to the Act just referred to, to have money laid out in the purchase of land, and to have the land conveyed to him for an estate tail in possession, with remainder, immediately expectant on the termination of such estate tail, to him in fee, or that he otherwise acquire the right to have the remainder or reversion in fee expectant on the termination of his estate tail, conveyed to him: It would still be true that A would not be the absolute owner of the money, as the estate tail would not merge in the remainder or reversion in fee.^

money converted

in equity into land,

that a disentailing

There are, however, one or two authorities, in the first half of the eighteenth cenwhich it seems impossible to reconcile either with the other authorities or with principle. Thus, in Edwards v. Countess of Warwick, 2 P. Wms. 171, where, by marriage settlement, the intended husband covenanted that ;^io,ooo, part of the intended wife's marriage portion, should be laid out in the purchase of land, and that the land should be settled on himself for life, remainder to the first and other sons of the marriage, successively, in tail male, remainder to himself in fee, and the husband afterwards died, leaving one son, issue of the marriage, who attained twenty-one, but died soon after without issue and intestate. Lord Macclesfield said (p. 174) " If there had been so much as a parol direction from the last Lord Warwick, for the payment of this ; 10,000 to his mother the Countess dowager, I should have had a regard to it; being of opinion that it was in the election of the last Karl to have made this money, or to have disposed of it as money." IE the money had been laid out in land, as the last Lord Warwick would have been tenant in tail male of the land, with remainder to himself 'in fee, he could, by levying a. fine, have made himself tenant in fee simple absolute. So also, though no fine were levied, his estate tail would have expired on his death without issue male, and his remainder would have become a fee simple in possession, and therefore he might have devised the land in fee simple, and the devise would have taken effect according to its terms, and, if he had conveyed away his remainder by deed, it would have become a fee simple in possession in the grantee at the moment of the grantor's death but the only way in which the last Lord Warwick could have made himself tenant in fee simple in possession of the land during his own life would have been by levying a fine, as stated in the text. It follows, therefore, that the only way in which he could make himself the absolute owner of the ,\o,<xa during his life was by filing a bill and obtaining a decree for the payment of it to him for, if he had obtained payment of it to himself without a decree, and had died, leaving a son, the latter could have required the money to be laid out in land for the purposes of the settlement, even though the father had disposed of it during his life. What Lord Macclesfield said, however, was only a dictum, no such case being before him. But so much cannot be said of the case of Trafford v. Boehm, 3 Atk. 440, where a
'

tury,

woman, about

to marry, assigned

money

to trustees in trust to lay th

same out

in

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

On
the other hand,

401

A could

put an end to his estate

i.

suffering a

common

recovery,

e.,

tail without he could, by levying a fine

tail into a base fee, which, by uniting with the remainder or reversion in fee, would form a fee simple absolute. fine could not be levied, however, any more than a recovery could be suffered, of money, even though it were converted in equity into land.^ Would then the Court of Chancery decree payment of the money to on his filing a bill for the purpose of obtaining such payment? So long as that court held such a bill to be an adequate substitute for a common recovery, it followed, a fortiori, that it must be held to be an adequate substitute for a

convert his estate

land,
lives

and to settle the land on her intended husband and herself for their respective and the life of the survivor, remainder to the first and other sons of the marriage
tail

successively in

male, remainder to the daughters of the marriage as tenants in

common

in tail general,

remainder to the survivor of husband and wife

in fee,

and

there were several children of the marriage, and, the wife being dead, and the

money
(as the

not having been laid out in land, and being in the husband's possession,

who

Lord Chancellor

said) regarded

it

as absolutely his own, he gave the

same by

his will

to his eldest son, giving legacies also to his other children; and, after his death, all

the children accepted the legacies given to them in full of

father's estate,

all

claims against their

and Lord Hardwicke held that these acts barred the claims, not only of all the other children under their mother's settlement, but of their issue as well, and made the eldest son the absolute owner of the money. and discharged
his executors
;

On the death of the father, his eldest son became entitled, under his mother's settlement, to have the money in question laid out in land, and Co have the land conveyed to him in tail male in possession, remainders over in tail to his brothers and sisters, and he was also entitled, under his father's will, to have the ultimate remainder in fee
in the land conveyed to him,

and therefore he might have made himself the absolute

owner of the money by filing a bill, making all his brothers and sisters defendants thereto, and obtaining a decree for the payment of the money to him, but it is not
perceived

how

his possession of the

money

could,'

without a decree, aSect the rights

of the issue of his brothers

and sisters. Lord Hardwicke says the fact that he already had the money in his own hands precluded his filing such a bill as I have mentioned. That difficulty was one, however, which he had to meet the best way he could, for example, by returning the money (which he had no right to the possession of) to his mother's trustees. Lord Hardwicke also says a court of equity decrees to a party only what he is entitled to before the decree is made. If, however, the bill and the decree
in question served as a substitute for a fine,
it

follows that they constituted an excep-

Lord Hardwicke's rule, and would have created a new right in the plaintiff. It may be added that the eldest son died without issue about six years after the death of his father and about six years before Lord Hardwicke's decision, and, about twenty months after the death of the eldest son, the second son died, leaving an infant son. The latter was, therefore, under his grandmother's settlement, entitled, on the death of his father, to have the money in question laid out in land, and to have the land conveyed to him in tail male in possession, and, of course, he was not bound by any of the acts which Lord Hardwicke held to have barred his right, even if he was living when those acts were performed. 1 See supra, p. 384, n. 1.
tion to

26

402
fine.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

When, however, Lord Cowper had
bill

successfully established

the rule that a

recovery, did
it

in

equity was not a substitute for a

it

common

or not follow that

was not a substitute

for a fine ?

That question appears to have first arisen in a case,^ before Lord Cowper's immediate successor, Lord Chancellor Parker (afterward Lord Macclesfield), and was decided by him in the negative, particular stress being laid upon the fact that a recovery could be suffered only in term time, while a fine could be levied equally well in vacation; and, though his immediate successor, Lord King, persistently refused^ to follow his decision, yet the authority of the latter was fully restored by Lord King's successors,^ and it was not only followed until the passage of Lord Eldon's Act, but furnished the rule which that Act applied by analogy to cases in which a common recovery would be necessary. Finally, 3 and 4 Wm. IV. c. 74,* in providing for cases in which money was converted into land in equity, made no distinction between those cases in which, if land had been purchased, a common recovery would have been necessary to convert an estate tail in the land into an estate in fee simple, and those in which a fine would have been
sufficient.

Whenever the execution money converted in equity

the person in whose favor

of a disentailing deed of assignment of

into land

it is

now has the effect of making executed the absolute owner of the

money, there is no doubt that it also has the effect of putting an immediate end to the equitable conviersion. So also whenever a decree or order of a court, of equity for the payment, to a person named, of money converted in equity into land formerly had the effect of making such person the absolute owner of the money, there is no doubt that it also had the effect of putting an immediI have hitherto assumed also ate end to the equitable conversion. that the mere fact of any person's becoming the absolute owner of
1

Short

V.

Wood,

P.

Eyre's case, 3 P. Eyre's case.

'

Wms. 470. Wms. 13; Onslow's

case, reported by

Mr. Cox in his note to

:

In the note just referred to, published in 1787, Mr. Cox says " The present pracconforms to the Lord Parker's opinion." In Ex parte King, a Bro. C. C. 158, decided in the same year. Lord Thurlow says (p. 160) " Where a man has a life estate in money, remainder to the heirs of his body, remainder to himself in fee, as he could,
tice
:

by levying a fine, the court would would not where a recovery was necesFinally, the recitals in Lord Eldon's Act state the then existing practice with sary." great fulness and in entire accordance with Lord Parker's decision, supra.
if

the estate

was

in land, obtain the absolute interest

order the

money

to be paid to him, though

it

< S. 71.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

money
putting an end to the equitable conversion.

403

converted in equity into land has the immediate effect of

The

courts, however,

do not so hold. They say the reason why the execution of a disentailing deed or the obtaining of a decree or order of a court of equity has the effect of putting an immediate end to the equitable conversion is that, besides making the person executing the deed or obtaining the decree or order the absolute owner of the money, it shows an intention on his part to put an end to the equitable conversion, and they hold such an intention to be necessary. Therefore, they lay down for a rule that in order to put an end to the equitable conversion there must not only be an absolute ownership of the money, but such owner must elect ^ not to have the

money converted into land. What is the theory upon which

sion, a thing done,

this

view rests?
is,

Evidently

it is

the theory that an equitable conversion

and

that,

an actual converas personal property which is actually

like

converted into real property will continue to be real property until it is actually reconverted into personal property, so personal property which
is

converted

in

equity into real property must continue

it

to be real property in equity until equity reconverts

into per-

sonal property.
that

money

Accordingly, the courts of equity constantly say which is converted in equity into land is impressed by

equity with the quality of land, and they constantly

impression so
authority

made must remain

it

until

it is

assume that the removed by the same

is

by which
is

was made.
i.

This theory, however, proceeds

not a thing

upon a

false analogy,

An

equitable conversion

done, but

mere consequence deduced by equity from a thing

it

agreed or directed to be done, and therefore

exist only so long as the
into existence remains in force.
2.

will

continue to
it

agreement or direction which brought

The theory erroneously assumes that a covenant or direction to lay out money in the purchase of land, and to settle the land, converts the money in equity directly into land, whereas it merely creates one or more rights to
have the covenant or direction performed, and equity causes such a right to devolve, on the death of its owner, as the land would
lingen v. Souroy, i P. Wms. 172; 10 Mod. 39; Crabtree v. Bramble, 3 Atk. 58o; v. Gee, Amb. 229; Biddulph v. Biddulph, 12 Ves. 161 ; Kirkman v. Miles, 13 Ves. 338; Davies v. Ashford, 15 Sim. 42; Harcourt v. Seymour, 2 Sim. N. s. 12; Dixon V. Gayfere, 17 Beav. 433; Griesbach v Freemantle, 17 Beav. 314; Brown o. Brown, 33 Beav. 399; Sisson v. Giles, 3 DeG., J., & S. 614, 9 Jur. N. s. 512, 951; Meredith v. Vick, 23 Beav. 559; Mutlow v. Bigg, i Ch. D. 385; Meek v. Devenish, 6 Ch. D. 566; In re, Gordon, 6 Ch. D. 531.
*

Bradish

404

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

if

have devolved
therefore
it is

the conversion had been actually

made; and

not possible that there should be any equitable con-

version after there has ceased to be possible that

any such right, and it is not any such right should continue to exist after the cov-

enant which created it has ceased to exist, or after the direction which created it has ceased to be in force. 3. The courts have acted inconsistently in holding that an equitable conversion of

money

into

land will continue to exist, notwithstanding that a

single person has

yet that an election

become the absolute owner of the money, and by such owner not to have the money actually
will instantly

converted into land

version, for that
is

put an end to the equitable con-

to hold that the continuance of an equitable

conversion ultimately depends upon the will of the person in whose

favor alone
it

exists,

and yet

it

is

as clear as anything in law can

be that the mere will of the owner of property as to what shall or

be done with that property has no legal significance, and will be duly, declared by him in his last will and testament. Moreover, the view which I have been controverting is as inconvenient in practice as it is wrong in principle for it often happens that an agreement or direction to lay out money in the purchase of land, and to settle the land, is never in fact performed, not because of any unwillingness or refusal to perform it, but because no one desires or cares to have it performed, and accordingly the money not being laid out in the purchase of land is invested in some other mode, and remains so invested, and no question ever arises in regard to the conversion covenanted or directed to be made, unless some person, perhaps fifty years after the covenant was made or the direction given, finds it for his interest to
shall not

cannot properly be a subject of legal inquiry, unless such

claim that the

money

is still

converted in equity into land, and,

is

if

it so happens, the question

depend, according to the doctrine in question, upon whether there has been an election not to have the conversion made, and that again is likely to depend
likely to

upon what
inquiry,

is the true inference to be drawn from a long course of conduct, the person whose conduct thus becomes the subject of

having probably forgotten, if he ever knew;, was ever made or such a direction ever given and such an inquiry is likely to be not only very vexatious and troublesome as well as very expensive, but also very fruitless, so
if still

alive

that such a covenant

far as regards the

ascertainment of truth.

Indeed, those

who have

the misfortune to be involved in a litigation

upon such a question

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

will generally find
it

APS

for their

mutual

interest,

whatever

may be
by

the value of the property involved, to decide the question

drawing ^ots. There is, however, one class of cases in which it is agreed by all that there will cease to be any equitable conversion, though the actual conversion covenanted or directed to be made has not been made, and though there has been no election not to have it made, namely, where the absolute owner of money which has been converted in equity into land has the money in his own hands, in which case the money is said to be at home; ^ and it seems not to be material whether he has possession of the money in his own right or as executor only. Moreover, it seems not to be indispensably necessary that he should be entitled to have the land conveyed to him in fee simple absolute, for, though he be entitled only to have it conveyed to him for his life, with remainder to him in fee simple absolute, and though these limitations in his favor are liable to open and let in a limitation in tail to any son of his who shall hereafter be born, for, if he get the money into his own hands, even as executor, it seems that the equitable conversion of the money into land will be suspended until he shall have a son, and, if he die without ever having had a son, the equitable conversion will never revive, and the money will devolve, at his death, as

money.

Both these points are illustrated by the great case of Darlington,^ in which Sir John Scott, Attorney-General, Mr. Charles Fearne, and Mr. W. Dundas struggled valiantly, but In that case Henry Guy, unsuccessfully, to reverse Lord Thurlow.
Pultney
v.

who

died in 1710, directed his executors to lay out the residue of

purchase of land, and to settle the land on William Pultney, afterwards Earl of Bath, for life, remainder to his first and other sons successively in tail male, remainder to Harry Pultney, brother of William, and his first and other sons in like manner, remainder to Daniel Pultney, a cousin of William and Harry, and his first and other sons in like manner, remainder to the father of William and Harry in fee. The father died in 1715, whereupon his right under the will to have the land conveyed to him in remainder in fee passed to William Pultney, his eldest son
his personal estate in the

and
1

heir.^

In 1731 Daniel Pultney died without issue male.

v.

In

Lechmere

Earl of Carlisle, 3 P.

Wms.

211, 224;

In re Gordon, 6 Ch. D. 531,

M. R. S3S. iyj'P"- Sir G. Jessell, 2 I Bro. C. C. 223, 7 Bro. P. C, Tomlin's ed. 530.
8 It

has always been assumed that this remainder in fee descended, on the deaths

406

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

Harry Pultney,
his

1764 the Earl of Bath died without issue male, whereupon his
right to said remainder in fee passed to said

brother and heir.

On

the death of the Earl of Bath, therefore,

Harry Pultney was

to

entitled,

upon the

facts

which have been stated,

have the residue of Henry Guy's personal estate laid out in the purchase of land, and to have the land conveyed to him for life, remainder to him in fee. He was not, however, even to the last moment of his life, entitled to have the money paid over to him,
for
if

land had been purchased and settled, the two limitations in

would have been liable to open and let in limitations in favor of his sons for, though he was about eiglity-six years old and a bachelor, yet in legal contemplation it was posand, though in fact he sible that he should marry and have sons did neither, yet, upon the facts thus far stated, the equitable conversion of the money into land remained in force till his death, and on his death his rights under the will of Henry Guy devolved as There was, however, another material fact, for the Earl of land. Bath was executor of Henry Guy, and Harry Pultney was the executor of the Earl of Bath, and by consequence executor of Henry Guy, and therefore, on the death of the Earl of Bath, the money was at home, and so remained till the death of Harry Pultney, when it devolved as money; and yet there had been no election not to have an actual conversion made, and could have been none, Harry Pultney not being the absolute owner of the property.' How may an equitable conversion of land into money, not caused by a bilateral contract for the purchase and sale of land, be brought Such an equitable conto an end without an actual conversion? version is generally caused by a direction in a will to sell land and
his favor, as above,
;

divide the proceeds of the sale

testator
;

among persons
sale, as

designated by the

and

it

is

plain that in such a case there will

in

seldom be

any unnecessary delay

the persons designated

making a

the interest of each of

by the

testator will be likely to

all

be promoted

by a

sale.

If,

however, in any given case

the persons desig-

nated by the testator shall be of one mind in preferring the land to

of its respective owners, to their respective heirs, as stated in the text.

On

principle,

however, it seems that the equitable conversion ^caused by the will of Henry Guy did not extend to the ultimate interest limited to the father of William and Harry Pultney, and therefore that ultimate interest ought to have devolved as money. See supra,
PP- 397-398^ The decision of the

House

of Lords

was made

in 1796, eightv-six
still

years after the

death of Henry Guy, when the residue of his personal estate was
in fact

personal estate

and had not

lust its identity.

A BRIEF SURVEY OF EQUITY JURISDICTION.

the proceeds of
its sale,

407

they may,

if

of

full

age and sui juris, re-

quire the land to be" conveyed to them, and thus put an end to the

So if, in any given case, the number of persons entitled to share in the proceeds of a sale of the land shall, by death or otherwise, be reduced to one before any sale of the land
equitable conversion.

made, a consequence will be that that one will be, in equity, the owner of the land in fee simple, and hence if the equitable conversion still exists it will be because he has not elected to take the land instead of the proceeds of its sale, and the courts, as we have seen, say it does still exist, notwithstanding the oddity of saying that land of which one person is the sole and absolute owner must be treated as converted in equity into money until such owner has elected not to have it actually converted into money pursuant to the direction of a deceased person whose direction has ceased to have any force whatever. Here ends all that I propose to trouble the reader with on the subject of the indirect conversion of money into land and land into money.
is

sole

INDEX.
A.

ACCOUNT STATED,
as
sit,

defense in 102-103.

bills

for

an account and

in

bills

of equitable assump-

distinguished from compromise of claims, 117-118, 119. implied agreement as to accuracy of, 1 18-119, 120^121. when impeached for fraud, 120. when impeached for errors and omissions, 120.

ACCOUNTS AND ACCOUNTING,

incidental relief in connection with injunctions, 35-36. doctrine of relation as basis of, in equity, 44. mutual accounting, resulting in balance for defendant, 44. nature and requisites of obligation to account, 74-82. true bills for an account founded upon obligation to account, 74. obligation to account not founded upon contract, 75. defendant must liave received property belonging to another, 75. guardians, bailiffs, receivers, 75-76. plaintiff must be owner of property to be accounted for, 76. account distinguished from debt, 77.

defendant must be more than mere bailee, 77. accountability of receiver of money, 78-79.
control of property essential to obligation to account, 79. extent of possession necessary, 79. fiduciary relation between plaintiff and defendant, 80. money delivered by A to B for C, St. deputy of bailiff accountable only to bailiff, 81. enforcement of obligation by or against representatives of original parties, 81-82. privity between parties, how created, 82. remedies for breach of obligation to account, 82-98. inadequacy of action on the case or on promise to account, 82-83. the common-law action of account, 83-85. debt and indebitatus assumpsit not applicable, 85-88. though obligation to account may be converted into a debt, 85-86. and balance of account becomes a debt. 86. confusion of indebitatus assumpsit with action of account, authorities, 86-88. false assumptions involved, 88. reason for failure of action of account, 89. bill in equity substituted for action of account, 89-98. procedure upon a bill for an account, 90. bill filed by obligor for surplusage, 90. defense that obligation to account has become a debt, 91. bills against guardians and bailiffs, 91. less common' in the United States than in England, 91. bills against factors, auctioneers, brokers, publishers, etc., 92. liability transformed into debt at option of obligor, 92-93. stockbroker employed to buy stocks, liability of, 93.

4IO

INDEX.
publisher of books, liability to author, 93. manufacturer, liability to patentee, 93-94insurance-broker, liability to underwriter and to assured, 94. banker, liability to customers, 94. cotenants, liability to one another, 94-95. liability upon sale by one of share of another, 93-96. copartners, not accountable to one another, 96-97. commercial traveller, liability to employers, 97.
trustee, liability to cestui

ACCOUNTS AND ACCOUNTING C^//,?^.

que

trust, 97.

executors and administrators, nature of obligation to legatees and next of kin, 97-98. attorney at law, liability to client as to collections, 98.
sheriff, liability to judgment creditor, 98. stake-holder, nature of liability, 98. distinction between bills for an account and bills of equitable assumpsit, 99. degree of complication necessary to give equity jurisdiction for bills of equitable assumpsit, 108-109.

See Bills of Equitable Assumpsit; Creditors' Bills; Crossclaims OR Set-off. ACTIONS. See Remeoies.

ACTIONS IN PERSONAM, 20, 27. See Remedies. ACTIONS IN REM, 20-22, 27-28. See Remedies. ADMINISTRATION OF DECEDENTS' ESTATE,
Roman law, 127-128. ecclesiastical authority, 128-129. in equity, through creditors' bills, 154. what constitutes administration of personal estate, 154-155. exclusive jurisdiction over, exercised by equity, 156. form of procedure in equity, 1 57-1 91. origin of duty to pay legacies, 225-226. duty imposed on administrators by statute of distributions, 226. relation between personal representative and legatees and next of kin, 230.
under

by

See Executors

ADMINISTRATORS.

and Administrators Creditors' Bills. J Executors and Administrators.

;

ADMIRALTY LAW,
adoption of

Roman

hypotheca

in,

195-196, 223.

ADVOWSONS, 233. AEQUITAS AGIT IN PERSONAM, AFFIRMATIVE DUTIES,

difficulty of

6.

proving intended breach of, 43. See Rights ; Negative and Affirmative Duties.
annual rents, 210.

ANNUITIES,
in relation to

ANNUITY, WRIT
ARTISTS,

OF,

for recovery of rent, 201-202.

rights in artistic creations, 233.

ASSIGNMENTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF CREDITORS,

as effecting equitable conversion, 369-371.

ASSIZE,

WRIT

OF,

for recovery of rent, 201.

ATTORNEY AND CLIENT,

obligation of attorney to client as to collections, 98.

ATTORNMENT,
to assignee of rent, 204.

INDEX.

411

AUCTIONEERS,
liability to

account

in equity, 92,

AUTHORS,
rights in literary creations, 233.

B.

BAILIFFS,
obligation
of,

to account, 75.

account

of, in equity, 91.

BAILMENT,
distinguished from account, 77.

BANKERS,
customers, 94. implied set-off of cross-claims between customers and bankers, 115.
liability of, to

BANKRUPTCY,
sale of real estate surplus, 266.

before and after deatli of bankrupt, devolution of

BILLS OF EQUITABLE ASSUMPSIT.

Bills of.

See Equitable Assumpsit,

BILLS OF PEACE,

35.

BONA FIDE PURCHASER FOR VALUE,

limitation of equitable obligation as to, 6. subject to legal real obligation, 283.

BOND CREDITORS,
recovery
of,

out of real estate of deceased debtor, 184-186.

CANON-LAW AND ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS,

as source of equitable procedure, 26. as origin of rights against executors and administrators, 98. jurisdiction of, over estates of deceased persons, 128-129. extent of jurisdiction with respect fo executor's inventory, 139. loss of jurisdiction over rights of legatees and next of kin, 155-156. predial tithes, creation and enforcement of, by, 216-217. duty to set apart, how imposed, 226.

CHARGE UPON LAND.

CHATTELS PERSONAL,

See Equitable Conversion.

contracts for, when subject of specific performance, 49. bill in equity to recover possession of, 50.

See Personal Property.

CLASSIFICATION,
of of of of of
rights, 1-18, 219-239.

remedies, 19-39.

common-law remedies,
wrongs, 239-250.
rents, 207.

27.

COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS,
relation of, to employers, 97.

COMMON

CARRIERS,

duty towards employers, 226.

COMMON-LAW REMEDIES,
classification of, 27.

412

INDEX.
civil

COMPENSATION,
law doctriQe
of, in

connection with cross-claims, 111-II2.

COMPROMISE,
distinguished from account stated, 117-118, 119. of cross-claims, impeachment for fraud, 120.

CONCURRENT JURISDICTION,
meaning
of,

as applied to equity, 23.

CONDITIONS PRECEDENT, IMPLIED.

Precedent.

See

Implied Conditions

CONSIDERATION,
in equity and at law, 52. sufficiency of, in connection with specific performance, 52.

CONSTRUCTIVE TRUSTS,
created by equity alone, 13. origin and creation, 255-256. as means of enforcing direct equitable conversion, 306.

CONTRACTS,
interference with, constituting tort, 3. creating at the same time legal and equitable obligations, 16-17. for the benefit of third persons, enforcement in equity, 17. to. convey land, devolution of equitable right on death of obligee, I7_. of railroa"ds to construct works to be specifically performed, 47, n. informal, to enter into formal contract, 48, n. negative and affirmative, analogous to affirmative and negative torts, 67. breaches of, 67, n., 241. distinction between, and torts, 241.

See Specific

Performance

Equitable Conversion.
Conversion.

CONVERSION. See Equitable CO-OWNERSHIP,

liability of

co-tenants to one another, 94-95. co-owner upon sale of property, 95-96. effect of tortious sale of property by co-owner, 96.
liability of

forms of, 221. sale of land subject to, disposition of proceeds, 268. agreement of co-owners to join in sale, not a cause of equitable conversion, 363-364.

CO-PARTNER.S,
not mutually accountable through
bill in

equity, 96-97.

COPYRIGHTS. See Patents and CORPORATIONS,

duties toward stockholders, 227.

Copyrights.

COVENANT,
recovery of rent by suit upon, 202.

CREDITORS,
ascertainment of, in administration of decedent's estate by equity, 159. of deceased person, priority gained by bringing suit, t66. See Creditors' Bills; Judgment Creditors; Secured Creditors.

CREDITORS' BILLS,
distinguished from "judgment creditors' bills," 125. foundation of jurisdiction in death of riebtor, 125-W6. effect of debtor's death upon creditor's remedy, 126. Roman doctrine of artificial legal personality, 127-12S. control of decedent's estate by ecclesiastical authorities, 128-129. legal remedy of creditor against personal property of decedent, 129-131. nature and form of equitable relief, 131-132.

INDEX.
CREDITORS'
'&\\XS

413

Continued.

inadequacy of legal remedy as against defense of want of assets, 132-142. accounting by executor at law, difficulty of, 132-133. account of executor as affirmative defense rather tlian performance
of obligation, 133-137.

accounting before jury, 135-137. burden of proving assets or lack of assets, 137-139.
Justification of equity jurisdiction over, in general, 139-140. based on principle of relieving against penalties, 140-142. where plaintiff at law is not met by defense of want of assets, 142-143.

connected with immediate rather than with final relief, 143-144. date of establishment of, 144. to enforce payment out of deceased debtor's land, 144-153. common-law rights, 144-148. influence of feudalism upon, 144. of judgment creditors, against crops, 144.

by way of extent. 145. of specialty creditors against heir

itance, 145-145.

when bound

to extent of inher-

judgments against heirs, 146-148. execution by extent, 148.

justification of equity jurisdiction over bills against heir, 148-150. procedure, 150. judgment creditors, common-law remedies of, against decedent's

land, 150-151. right to bill against owner of decedent's land, 1 51-152. prevention of multiplicity of suits as basis of equity jurisdiction, 152153consequences of the establishment of equity jurisdiction over, 154-157. administration of decedent's personalty in equity, 154. bills by legatees and next of kin, 155-157. procedure of equity in administering decedents' estates, 157-191. on bill of residuary legatee, 158-163. on bill of next of kin, 163-164. on bill of pecuniary legatee, 164-166, 170. on bill of creditor, 166, 170. priority of creditor recovering judgment or decree, 166-167. confusion of judgments against executor and against testator,

166-167.
bill filed

for benefit of all creditors, 169-171. for exclusive benefit of suing creditor, 171. injunction against creditor's action at law, 172-177. granted in administration suit, upon motion of executor, 176-177. upon motion of plaintiff creditor, 177. suits at law or in equity stayed upon motion and without injunction,
bill filed

on

by creditor

superseding

177-178. preference by executor, not prevented by equity, 178-179. whether bill may be filed by executor, 179-180. whether bill may be filed on behalf of all persons interested, 180-184. relation of plaintiff in equity to those on whose behalf he sues, 181-184. bond creditors, recovery out of decedent's realty, 184-186. executor to be made a defendant, 185. on behalf of all creditors, 185. procedure, 186. secured creditors, 186-187. procedure against living debtors, 1S6-187. procedure against estate of deceased debtor, 187-188. bankruptcy rule applied in case of debtor dying insolvent, 1871S8.

414

INDEX.
Continued.
incidental objects accomplished by equity, 1 88-191. promotion of equality among creditors, 188-189. equitable assets, 188-189. application of decedent's real estate to all debts, through subrogation, 189-190. fulfilment of testator's intention as to legacies, 190-191.

CREDITOR'S BILLS

CROPS,
common-law
severance
of,

rights of

judgment creditors in, 144. as conversion into personalty, 300.

CROSS-CLAIMS OR SET-OFF,
of defendant, to bill for an account, 90. in connection with bills of equitable assumpsit, loo-loi, 102, 104, 107-108. effect on complication of issue, i lo-i 11, 114. civil-law doctrine of compensation in connection with, 111-112. extinguishment by mutual agreement of parties, 112-113. distinguished from extinguishment by operation of law, 113-114. implied agreement of parties to set off, 1 14-115. in relations of banker and customer, 1 15. effect of agreement to set off, dependent upon actual amount of claims,

116-117.

compromise of claim distinguished from account stated, 117-118, 119. account stated, implied agreement as to absence of mistake in, 1 18-119,
120-121.

compromise or account stated, when impeached See Equitable Assumpsit, Bills of.

for fraud, 120.

D.

DAMAGES,
for interference with possession of movable property, 21. for interference with possession of immovable property, 21, n. for past tort, in form of accounting, 35-36. for permanent tort, 38. in connection with specific performance, assessment by equity, 43-44. assessment by jury, 45.

DEBT,
action of, technically an action in rem, 27, n. distinguished from account, 77. action of, not applicable to enforcement of obligation to account, 85. obligation to account transformed into, effect of, 91. as foundation of bill of equitable assumpsit, 100. degrees of, 140-142. recovery of rent by action of, 202. charged upon land, 286, 366-369.

DETINUE, 27-28. DEVASTAVIT, 131.

DEVISES,
of property equitably converted, 385, 386-388.

DIGNITIES, DISTRESS,

234.

incident of feudal service, 200. for recovery of rent, 202. sufficiency of remedy of, 21 r. development of, in England, 205. regarded with disfavor in the United States, 205. absence of, whether ground of equity jurisdiction, 213-214.

INDEX.
DISTRIBUTIONS, STATUTE OF. DOMESTIC DUTIES,
origin

415
Statute of Distributions.

See

and nature

of, 227.

DOWER,
duty of heir to assign, 226.

DUTIES,
distinguished from obligations, 224.

See Rights.

E.

EASEMENTS,
creation of, 222. origin in Roman servitudes, 222. nature and origin of, 244.

obstruction

of,

247-248.

in gross, relation to

Roman

servitudes, 224.

See Rights.

ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS.
Courts.

See

Canon Law and Ecclesiastical

ELDON, LORD,
argument
in

Ackroyd

v. Smithson, 335-342.

EMINENT DOMAIN, 235-236.

ENTRY, RIGHT OF,
as

remedy

for recovery of rent, 203-204. extension in the United States, 206.

EQUALITY,
among
creditors of decedent,

how obtained by

equity, 188-189.

EQUITABLE ASSETS,
used to produce equality among creditors, 188-189.

EQUITABLE ASSUMPSIT, BILLS

distinguished from
bills for

OF,
100.

an account, 99-107. founded upon debt rather than upon obligation to account, payment of debt the primary relief sought by, 100. bill must show amount of debt, 100.

cross-claims, loo-ioi. jurisdiction founded upon complication of circumstances (see below)

loi.
plaintiff's account, how pleaded, 102. nature of defense of account stated, 102-103. function of accounting before master, 103-104. interlocutory nature of decree for an accounting, 104-105. injunction against suit at law, common incident of bill of equitable assumpsit, 105-107. combined with bill of equitable assumpsit, 107. degree of complication necessary for equity jurisdiction, loi, 108-109. effect of cross-claims on complication of issue, iio-iu, 114. compensation, civil law doctrine of, in connection with cross-claims, 111-112. extinguishment of cross-claims by mutual agreement, 11 2-1 13. distinction between extinguishment by operation of law and by agreement of parties, 1 13-1 14. implied agreement to set off cross-claims, 114-11 5. in case of banker and customer. 11 5-1 16. effect of agreement to set oE dependent on actual amount of claims, 116-117.

payments on

4i6

INDEX.
distinction between compromise of claims and account stated, 1 1 7-1 20. fraud, effect of, in overthrowing compromise or account stated, 120. mistalce, effect of, in impeacliing account stated, 120-121. when account stated is in pursuance of an obligation to account,

EQUITABLE ASSUMPSIT, BILLS 0 Continued.

121-122.
distinction between accounting pursuant to obligation and statement of cross-demands, 122-124. perversion of indebitatus assumpsit, 123. defense of account stated not similarly extended, 123-124.

EQUITABLE CONVERSION,
actual conversion, derivation and definition of term, 260-261 direct and indirect, 261. indirect, originating in contract, bilateral or unilateral, 261-262. by sale, without previous contract, 261-262. testamentary provision for, form of, 262-263. not effective till testator's death, 262. devolution of both realty and personalty on testator's death,

262-263.
effect in general of actual

exchange of land and money, 263-264. re-conversion by equity after actual exchange, 264. illustrative cases, 264-268. sale of mortgaged estate before and after death of mortgagor,

266. sale of bankrupt's real-estate before and after death, 266. sale of settled estate subject to mortgage, disposition of surplus, 266, 267. seizure by the state of settled estate, disposition of proceeds, 266, 267. sale of settled estate under power, disposition of proceeds, 266, 267. sale of land subject to co-ownership, disposition of proceeds, 268. death of vendor of land pending contract, enforcement of contract and disposition of purchase price, 268-269, 3'4unwarranted extension of principle to case of options for the purchase of land exercised after death of owner, 269-273. supported by misapplication of doctrine of relation, 272-273.

differences between money and land in respect to devolution, as affecting results of exchange, .273-278. heir and next of kin, mode of succession to property of intestate,

273-274. devolution of residuary personalty directed by testator to be invested in land, authorities, 274-276. effect of statute, 276-278. testamentary direction, power or trust for sale of land, 278-281. disposition of proceeds in absence of testamentary provision, 278-279. nugatory nature of, without disposition of proceeds, 279-281.

when

valid and effective, 281. distinction between disposition of proceeds on sale and provision for satisfying lien or charge, 282. bequest of proceeds making legatee a co-owner, 283. form of gift, 283-285. result of failure of gift, 284. imposition of Han or charge, making legatee a creditor, 283. creating equitable real obligation, 283.

form of gift, 2S3-285.

result of failure of gift, 285.
gift

of

sum charged on land

to executor as such, 285-286.

INDEX.

417

EQUITABLE CONVERSION

Continued. charging debts and legacies, 286. authorities on lapsing of gifts charged upon land, 286-290. lien or charge combined with gift of residue, followed by lapse of gift charged, 290-291. authorities, 291-292. further distinctions between charge and disposition of proceeds of
sale, 292.

words necessary to constitute upon land, 293.

gift of

proceeds or gift charged

dual nature of testamentary gift of proceeds of land, 293. connection of words directing sale with words disposing of proceeds, 293-294. result of lapse of testamentary gift of proceeds of sale or moneys charged upon land, 294-295. how avoidable, 295-296. authorities, 296-300. direct, by severance, 300. not connected with equitable conversion, 300. of annual crops, 300. rents, following analogy of crops, 300-301. of timber, 301. ownership and right to cut vested in owner of inheritance, 301. intervention of equity for benefit of all concerned, 301-302. wrongful severance by life-tenant, 302. in mining, 302. justification of title, 302-303. legal principles preliminary to discussion of equitable conversion, 303. equitable conversion, 304-407. misapplication of doctrine of, in connection with specific performance of contracts after destruction of subject matter, 63-65. doctrine of relation back, 65. direct and indirect, 304, 306-308, 332-333. direct, equitable and actual, 304-305, 308. indirect, equitable and actual, 305.

immediate object and result of, 305. ultimate object and result of, 305. direct, caused by constructive trust, 305-306. indirect, based upon doctrine of specific performance, 306. caused by owner, by creating right of actual conversion, 308-309. arishig from contract to buy or sell land, 310, 327, 361, 363.
contract as
first

step in conversion, 327.

specific performance, 310-311.

dependence upon right of

right lost after death of buyer or seller, 31 1-313. remedy of heir in case of insufficiency of assets to
lancl,

pay for

313-314. erroneously treated as equitable as to seller, 314. arising from building contracts, 3r4-3r5. arising from covenants in marriage settlements, on principle, 31S-320.

covenant as
authorities,

first

step in conversion, 327-328.

320-324

arising from creation of trust or duty to sell or purchase land,

324-327trust or duty as first step in conversion, 328. time when conversion takes place, 325.

cestui que trust indispensable, 325-326. conversion should be co-extensive with disposition of proceeds, 326, 327. mistaken view of authorities, 329.

27

41

INDEX.
necessity that trust or duty be binding, 327.

EQUITABLE CONVERSION 0^zK^rf:

whether conversion
is commensurate with actual conversion required, 329-358. early doctrine of complete conversion, 330, 332-335.

upon

principle, 331.

theory of decisions, 332-335. confusion between direct and indirect conversion, 332-333Ackroyd v. Smithson, 335-343. consideration of, on principle, 343, 355. extent of conversion, dependent on intention, 344. intention to convert as from date prior to death,
344-34Sintention insufficient to effect conversion prior to death, 345. heir not deprived of converted land in absence of disposition of proceeds, 346-348. impossibility of testamentary conversion resulting in devolution by operation of law upon personal representatives, 348-349testamentary conversion, resulting in devolution of land as personalty, 349-351summary of decisions since Ackroyd v. Smithson, 352-

354equitable conversion not dependent on disposition of proceeds of sale, 353. effect of Ackroyd v. Smithson upon the conversion of money into land, 354-355. consideration of authorities, upon principle, 355-358. effecting creation or destruction of assets for the payment of debts, 359-360. effect of death of beneficiary on obligation to purchase land,

360-361
arising from bilateral contract for the purchase

and

sale of land,

361-363.

agreement alone
363-

sufficient to effect equitable conversion,

361-

from that of unilateral covenant in settlements, 361-363. equitable conversion necessarily co-extensive with actual conversion, 363. distinction from other cases of equitable conversion,
effect distinguished

363-

not caused by agreement of co-owners of land to join in sale, 363-364. efiect of testamentary disposition of proceeds of land to be sold as distinguished from creation of lien or charge, 365-371. lien or charge should not result in equitable conversion, 366369authorities, 369-371. not caused by settlement of land in trust to sell land, 371-372.

and reinvest in

contrary view of authorities, 372, 374-376. importance .of establishing true theory, 373. doctrine that equitable conversion results in equitable title, 377-386. when conversion is caused by bilateral contract for purchase and sale of land, 378-385. impossibility of applying doctrine to seller's right, 380. devolution of right by will, 385.

INDEX.

419

EQUITABLE CONVERSION CwAww^af.

when conversion
sell land,
is

caused by unilateral covenant to purchase or

381-388.

considered in relation to fines and recoveries, 381-384. persistence of misconceptions in the decisions, 383. covenants to sell land and dispose of proceeds, 384, 385. devolution by will, 386-388. failure to perform contract, trust, or covenant when authorized or enjoined, 388-393. compensation due to beneficiary upon breach of contract, 388. compensation due to beneficiary upon breach of covenant to purchase and settle land, 388-389. disposition of income pending performance of trust or duty, 389391.

duration of indirect equitable conversion, 394-407. co-extensive with right to actual conversion, 394-395. when equitable conversion takes effect, 394-395. termination of equitable conversion, 395-407. by actual conversion, 395-396. by termination of contract or right under contract, 396. by exhaustion of gifts made or covenanted to be made, 397-

by

398acquisition of absolute ownership in

money directed to be expended, 398-406. through fines and recoveries and substitutes therefor,
398-399-

through disentailing deed, 400-403. intention to terminate erroneously deemed essential, authorities, 403-404, 407. practical inconveniences resulting, 404-405. true theory, 403-404. when absolute owner of money converted into' land has possession, 405-406. when conversion is caused by testamentary direction to sell land and divide proceeds, 406-407.

EQUITABLE LIENS. See Liens. EQUITABLE OBLIGATIONS. See

tions
;

Equitable Rights and Obliga-

Equity.

EQUITABLE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS,

origin of, 252. a fiction existing only in the eye of equity, 253. extent and limitation of, and analogy to persdnal obligations, 5-6, 254. to what extent treated as real obligations, 5-6. aequitas agit in personam^ 6-7. Roman hypotheca, introduced by equity as right in personam, 6-7. dependent upon alienable legal rights, 5, 7, 255. derived from other equitable rights, 7-10, 258. indefinite succession of, derived by sub-obligation, 7-8. derived by successive mortgages, 8-9. numerous equitable rights with same relation to single legal or equitable
right, 10.

equitable obligations, when imposed upon owner of legal right, 11-12, 255256. resulting from declaration in writing by holder of legal right, 256. resulting from ineffective attempt to make legal transfer for value, 12. resulting trusts, 256. imposed by equity alone, 13-16. constructive trusts, 13. equity of redemption, 13-14, 256.

420

INDEX.
and penalties in general, 14, 256. subrogation, 14-16, 257. vendor's lien on real estate, 16. attached to contracts ol giving, 16-17. insolvency of obligor, 16-17. wrongful disposition or devolution of res, 17. contracts for the benefit of third persons, 17. contracts to convey land followed by death of obligee, negative, imposed by equity respecting legal rights, 258. violation of equitable rights, 17-18.
forfeitures

EQUITABLE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS G7//k^^.

1 7.

See Equity.

EQUITABLE WASTE.
EQUITY.

See

Waste.

cannot create original and independent rights, 4, 2;i. judges in, as interpreters of the common law, resulting conflicts, 4-5, 251.
equitable waste, 5, 251. origin of equitable rights, 252.

See

Equity Jurisdiction

Equitable Rights and Obligations.

EQUITY JURISDICTION,
meaning oi jurisdiction as applied to equity, 22-23. exclusive and concurrent, significance of terms as applied to equity, 23. power of equity to assume jurisdiction, 23. object of equity in assuming jurisdiction, 23-24, 28. extent of equity jurisdiction, 23-24. injunctions, 28-35. against trespass, waste, nuisance, 30-31. question of title, raised in connection with waste, 32-33. to prevent multiplicity of suits, 34-35. bills of peace, 35. accounting, in connection with injunctions, 36. with respect to damages, 38. to prevent unjust enrichment, 38-39. over affirmative contracts, for specific performance, 47. over obligations to account, 89. over bills of equitable assumpsit, loi, 108-109. over creditors' billsj 125-126, 132, 139-140. to relieve against penalties and forfeitures, 14, 141-142. over rights of creditors of decedent against heir, 148-150. over bills by legatees and next of kin, 155-157.
over rents, 21 1-215. over predial tithes, 217. based on inadequacy of legal remedy, 252. based on absence of independent legal right, 253. Equitable Assumpsit, Bills of See Creditors' Bills tions iVIULTIPLICITY OF SUITS.
; ;

Injunc-

ERRORS AND OMISSIONS EXCEPTED, EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION,

meaning
of,

119.

as applied to equity, 23.

EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS,

nature of obligation to legatees and next of kin, 97. accounting of, pursuant to defense at law of want of assets, 132-139. inventory of executor, 139, 140.

judgments against, by creditors of the

estate, distinguished from judgments against heirs, 147-148. duties of, 154-155. whether executor may file bill for administration of estate, 179-180. duty to pay legacies, origin of, 325.

INDEX.

421

EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS C^/^</.

duty imposed upon administrators by the Statute of Distribution, 226.
predecessors in Roman law, 230. of vendors of land, right to receive purchase money, 268-269. of owners of land subject to option, rights as to purchase money, 269273relation to estate, and to creditors, legatees, and next of kin, 274. statutes regulating disposition of residuary personalty undisposed of, 274, 277. duty of executors analogous to that imposed by Statute of Distributions, 277. as trustees of residuary personalty for next of kin, 277. personal representative as such never a trustee, 278. rights and obligations respecting contracts for land after death of buyer or seller, 311-313right of judgment creditor, 145. common-law execution against land, 148. inadequacy of remedy, 149. right of creditors by matter of record, 150-151.

See Equitable Conversion.

F.

FACTORS,
liability of, to liability of, in

account in equity, 92.

case of consignment on joint account, 95-96.
'

FIDUCIARY RELATION,
essential requisite to obligation to account, 80.

FINES AND RECOVERIES,

in relation to equitable estates tail, 381-384, 398-399.

FORFEITURE,
as remedy for non-payment of rent, 202-203. statutory extension of remedy for recovery of rent in England, 205.

FORFEITURES. See Penalties and Forfeitures. FRANCHISES AND MONOPOLIES,

incorporeal rights created by the state, 234-237.
in the United States, 236. inalienability of right, 236. how infringed, 249.

FRAUD,
equitable
to

remedy when property is obtained by, 13. impeach compromise of cross-claims or account stated,

120.

GOOD-WILL. GUARDIANS,
obligation
of,

See

Trademarks.

to account, 75.

account

of, in equity, 91.

H.

HAERES FACTUS, 230. HAERES NATUS, 230.

HEIR,
when
liable for specialty

debts to extent of inheritance, 145-147.

judgments of specialty creditors against, distinguished from judgments

against executor, 147-148.

422

INDEX.
heir or devisee made defendant to bill of creditors of decedent, 184-186. of succession to land, 273-274. rights and obligations respecting contracts for land after death of buyer or seller, 31 1-3 13.

HEIR Continued.
mode

See Equitable Conversion.

HYPOTHECA,
introduced into English law by equity, 6-7. in the Roman law, nature and development, 194-195, 222-223. collateral nature of obligation, 195. in English law, 195-196.

adopted in the admiralty law, 223.

HYPOTHECATION,
equitable, 12.

created by the

common

law, 195-197.

I.

IMPLIED CONDITIONS PRECEDENT,

breach
of,

not a bar to specific performance in equity, 55.

INADEQUACY OF LEGAL

REIVIEDY,

as basis of equity jurisdiction in general, 252. as basis of equity jurisdiction for specific performance, 47. in contracts of giving, 48.

INCIDENTAL RELIEF IN EQUITY,

in connection with injunctions, 35-36, 67. against tenant, 215.

INCORPOREAL PROPERTY,
rents granted out of, jurisdiction of equity over, 213.

INCORPOREAL RIGHTS,
any injury
to,

constituting nuisance, 31.

infringement of, 288. See Rights.

INDEBITATUS

ASSUiVIPSIT,

inconsistency of language, 86. not applicable to enforcement of obligation to account, 85, 86-88. against attorney at law or sheriff, 98. perversion of count to cover cases of accounts statSd, 123. respecting cross-demands, 123. origin of count, 123.

INJUNCTIONS,
foundation of jurisdiction, 28-30. temporary, 28. against waste, trespass to land, nuisance, 30-33. against acts in the nature of waste, pending settlement of title, 32-33. against nuisances, difiiculties involved, 33-34. against infringement of patents and copyrights, 34. to avoid multiplicity of suits, 34-35. bills of peace, 35. against threatened torts, 35. against use of legal cause of action or defense, 258.

mandatory, 42.
as specific performance of negative duties, 41. ordinary mode of exercising jurisdiction over affirmative torts and
ative contracts, 67.

neg

INDEX.

423

INJUNCTIONS Continued.
against suit at law, in connection with bills of equitable assumpsit, 105. combined with bill of equitable assumpsit, 107. by creditors against executor, 172-177. granted in administration suit upon motion of executor, 176-177. granted in administration suit upon motion of plaintiff creditor, 177, against suit at law against heirs or executors, 186.

INNKEEPERS,
duty toward guests, 226.

INSURANCE BROKERS,
liability to

underwriter and to assured, 94.

INTELLECTUAL CREATIONS,
form of incorporeal property, 233.

J-

JUDGMENT CREDITORS,
rights in crops upon deceased debtor's land, 144. right to have deceased debtor's land extended, 144-145. priority of creditor recovering judgment or decree

against executor,

166-167.
distinction

between judgments against executors and against debtors,

166-167.

JUDGMENTS,
creating debts of record, 141. constituting lien on land, 223.

JURISDICTION,
meaning of term as applied to equity, 22-23. .3V Equity Jurisdiction.

L.

LACHES,
as

ground

for refusing specific performance, 53.

LAPSE.

See Equitable Conversion.

right, 244-245.

LATERAL SUPPORT,
from adjoining land, nature of

LEGACIES,
equity procedure for payment of, out of land, 190-191. origin of executor's duty to pay, 225-226.
in

Roman

law, 230.

pecuniary, constituting charge upon land, 284.

charged upon land, 286.

LEGAL RIGHTS,

1-18, 219-238. absolute or relative, i, 3, 219. use of terms, 229, n. violation of, tort or breach of obligation, 3. absolute rights, personal or rights of property, I, 220-221. personal rights, nature and origin, 220. of property, nature and origin, 220-221. corporeal and incorporeal, meaning of distinction, 220. cotenancy, 221.

remainders and reversions, 221. division of real property among several owners, 221.

424

INDEX.
V^\Q\{1S>

LEGAL

Continued.
on

relative rights, either obligations or duties, 1-3, 221-230. obligations, personal or real, how imposed, 2-3, 221-224. real obligations, when sufficient for owner to impose obligation

himself, 221-224. against land, imposed by grant and reservation, 222. against personalty, imposed by delivery of possession, 222. origin of real obligations in Roman law, 2, 222. origin of easements and profits d prendre in Roman servitudes, 222."

hypotheca ; represented in our law by pledges and liens, 2, 223. easements and profits in gross, analogous to Roman personal
servitudes, 224. violation of obligations, Lumley v. Gye j conditional obligations, 3. duties, public or private, 224-228. distinguished from obligations, 224. of executor to pay legacies, 225-226. of administrator to distribute, 226. to set apart tithes, 226. of heir to assign dower, 226. of travellers upon the public highways or navigable waters, 226. imposed upon common carriers and innkeepers, 226. of care imposed upon professional men, 226. domestic duties, 227. of corporations toward stockholders, 227. of care to avoid injury to others, 227. distinguished from personal rights, 228. how far absolute property rights with pecuniary value, 229-230. distinction between personal and real obligations and duties, 230.

Roman pignus and

absolute rights,
incorporeal, creation

and classification, 230-237. powers and licenses, 231-232. rights dependent upon a condition, 232.
in intellectual creations, 232. created by the state, 233.

tithes, ofiices, dignities, franchises, patents and copyrights, 233-237. negative and affirmative rights, classification of, 237-240.

advowsons,

distinctions between, 239-240. negative rights, nature of, 237. negative real obligations, impossibility of, 237-238. authorities, 238. negative duties, impossibility of, 238.

LEGATEES,
bills by, jurisdiction of equity over, 155-156. pecuniary, administration on bill filed by, 164-166, 170. rights of, against personal representative, 274.

i> Residuary Legatee; Legacies.

LICENSES,
creation and operation of, 231-232.

LIENS,
as example of real obligation, 2, 196. on beasts, datnage feasant. 2, n. of landlord, for payment of rent, 2, n. of vendor of resl estate, for purchase money, 16. no judicial remedy furnished to creditor, 196-197. relation of, to Roman hypotheca, 223. resulting from judgment or recognizance, 223.

INDEX.
M.

425

MARKETABLE

TITLE,

as relating to specific performance of contracts, 54. as to part only of land contracted for, 54. title defective as to whole of land contracted for, 54. lack of, always of the essence as bar to specific performance, 58.

MARSHALLING,
MINING,

ls-16.

conversion of realty into personalty, 302.

MISFEASANCE AND NON-FEASANCE,

in relation to torts

and breaches of

obligation, 39.

MONOPOLIES. MORTGAGES,

See Franchises

and Monopolies.

successive, creating numerous equitable rights, 8. redemption in equity, 13-14, 256-257. sale before and after death of mortgagor, devolution of surplus, 266.

MULTIPLICITY OF SUITS,
avoidance
as as as as as as basis of actions in rem founded upon ownership, 22. for injunction in equity, 34. of incidental relief by accounting for profits, 67. for recovery in equity of debt resulting from accounting, 91. of decree for payment, upon accounting of executor, 143-144. ground for jurisdiction over creditor's bills against heirs or devisees
of,

basis basis basis basis

of debtor, 152-153.
^

MUSICAL COMPOSERS,
rights in compositions, 233.

MUTUALITY,
doctrine
of,

applied to specific performance of contracts, 50-51.

N.

NEGATIVE CONTRACTS, 67-72. NEGATIVE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS,

nature
of,

237-238.

impossibility of negative real obligation, 237-238. imposed by equity on owner of legal right, 258.

See Rights.

NEGATIVE AND AFFIRMATIVE RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS,

in relation to specific performance, 41-42.

See Rights.

NEGLIGENCE,
duty to avoid, 227.

NEXT OF

KIN,

of equity over, 155-156. administration of decedent's estate in equity at suit of, 163-164. ascertainment of, by court of equity in administration suit, 163. mode of succession of, to personal estate, 273-274. not to benefit from equitable conversion of land in absence of gift of proceeds, 346-348.

bills by, jurisdiction

NON-FEASANCE,
torts consisting in, 39.

See Misfeasance

and Non-feasance.

436

INDEX.
defined and distinguished from trespass, 31. difficulties involved in enjoining, 33. carrying on offensive trade, 34. caused by erection of costly buildings, 34. infringement of patents and copyrights, 34. abatement of, by courts of equity, 37-38.

NUISANCE,

permanent, damages decreed

for, after

assessment on a feigned issue, 38.

O.

OBLIGATIONS,
distinguished from duties, 224.

See Equitable Rights

and Obligations

Legal Rights.

OFFICES, OPTIONS,

233-234.

for the purchase of land, unwarrantable extension of doctrine of equitable conversion to, 269-273, 362.

PARTNERS. PATENTEE,

See Co-partners.

relation of, with manufacturer, 93-94.

PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS,

classification of, 30.

infringement of, constituting nuisance, 34. accounting in connection with injunctions against infringement nature and origin of, 237. infringement of copyrights, 249.

of, 36.

PEACE, BILLS OF.

equitable relief connected with connected with connected with

See Bills of Peace.

PENALTIES AND FORFEITURES,

against, 14, 257.

debts of record and specialty debts, 141-142. recovery of land by condition subsequent, 202-203. recovery of rent by right of entry, 204.

PERSONAL CHATTELS.
erty.

See

Chattels Personal; Personal Prop-

PERSONAL PROPERTY,
devolution
of,

upon death of owner,

274.

See

Chattels Personal; Equitable Conversion.

PIGNUS,
Roman law, nature and development, 194-195, 222-223. recognition in our law. 6, 194-195, 223. collateral nature of obligation, 195.
in

PLEDGES,
origin in Roman /j^j, 195, 223. power of sale by pledgee, 196-197.

POWERS,
creation

and operation, 231.

PREDIAL TITHES,
devolution of rights in, upon death of owner, 199. as a principal real obligation, 199. comparison of, with rent, 215.

INDEX.

427

PREDIAL TITHES Continued.

obligation created by law alone, 216. payable in kind, to be set apart, 216. created by canon law, and first enforced by personal obligation, 216-217. acquisition of jurisdiction over, by equity, 217. absence of " real " security for performance of obligation, 217-218. duty to set apart, imposed by the canon law, 226. as incorporeal right created by the state, 233.

PREFERENCES,
by executors, not prevented by
equity,
1

78-179.

PREVENTION,
remedy by, exceptional nature
of, 41.

PRIVITY,
as requisite to obligation to account, 80-82. between cotenants, 94. between co-owners upon tortious sale of property by one co-owner, 96.

PROFESSIONAL MEN,
duty
of, to

exercise care, 226.

servitudes, 222. servitudes, 224.

PROFITS A PRENDRE,
origin in

Roman

PROFITS IN GROSS,
relation of, to

Roman

PUBLISHERS,
nature of liability to author, 93.

QUIA EMPTORES, STATUTE OF.

R.

See

Statute of Quia Emptores.

RAILROADS,
compelled by equity to perform contract, 47, n. United States statute authorizing mortgage of property
of, 236.

REAL OBLIGATIONS,
origin of, in Roman law, 192-193. present necessity of, 193. two methods of obtaining security

upon property,

194.

pignus and hypotheca, 194-195.

regarded as collateral olsligations, 195. place in English law, 195-196.
liens, 196-198.

remedy afforded by the law

in case of pledges, hypothecations, and liens, 196-197. to holder of obligation, 196-197. to obligor, 197-198. as principal obligations, rent and predial tithe, 199-283. rent, 199-215. created by grant or reservation, 199. rent reserved, creation, nature and incidents, 200. rent granted, 200. effect of statute quia emptores, 200-201. common-law remedies for recovery of, 201, 204. right of assize, 201. right of annuity, 201-202. covenant, 202.

428

INDEX.
debt, 202.
distress, 202.

REAL OBLIGATIONS 0/?<r(/.

condition subsequent for forfeiture on non-payment of, 202-203. right of entry, 203-204. attornment, 204. legislation to aid recovery of, 204-206. in England, by extension of distress and forfeiture, 205. in the United States, 205-206. adequacy of legal remedies, 207-210. classification of rents, 207-208. rents reserved upon ordinary lease, 207, 208. annual rent reserved upon grant for long term, 207, 209. grant of rent without grant of land, 207-208. when common-law remedy is sufficient, 208.
is insufficient, 209-210. annuity, in relation to annual rents, 210. equity jurisdiction over, 211-215. legal remedies, how far adequate, 211. legal remedies, where inadequate, 211. authorities, 21 1-215. when rent is reserved out of incorporeal property, 213. when land from which rent issues cannot be identified, 213. when owner of rent cannot distrain, 213-214. form of relief granted by equity, 214-215.

when common-law remedy

sale of land, 214. appointment of receiver to apply net incidental relief against tenant, 215.

income

to rent, 214.

predial tithes, 215.

rent, 215-218. obligation created by the law alone, 216. payable in Icind, set apart by tithe-payer, 216. origin in and enforcement by the canon law, 216-217. acquisition of jurisdiction by equity, 217. absence of " real " security for performance of obligation, 217-Z18. nature of infringement of right created by, 242. cannot be created by equity, 254. charge upon land, 282. rent charge as example of, 283.

comparison with

See Rights.

REAL PROPERTY.
contract to convey, devolution of right on death of obligee, 1 7. doctrine of mutuality applied to contracts for, 51-52. destruction of, before or after time for performance of contract of sale, 59-63. of deceased debtor, 144-153. division of ownership and rights of property in, 221, 243. method of imposing obligations upon, 221-222. nature of property right in, 243-244. rights of owner of. in land of another, 244-247. right to support of land or buildings from adjoining land, 244-246. rights in, with respect to water courses, 245. rights in, determination of infringement of, by place of infringement, 247. devolution of, upon death of owner, 273. specially charged with the payment of debts and pecuniary legacies, 286.
.y^^

Specific Performance; version.

Creditors' Bills; Equitable Con-

RECEIVERS,
obligation of, to account, 75. appointed by equity to receive

income from land subject to

rent, 214.

INDEX.

429

RECOGNIZANCE,
creating debt of record, 141. not impeachable, 1 50. conusees of, right to have debtor's land extended, 150. constituting lien on land, 223.

RECORD,
debts of, 140-142. not impeachable,
.150.

creditor's right of extent, 150-151. creditor's right to bill in equity against debtor, 151-152.

owner of land of deceased

RECOVERIES. RELATION,
doctrine
of,

See Fines

and Recoveries.

as basis for accounting in equity, 44. burden of loss by destruction of subject-matter of contract, 60-61. doctrine of English courts, 60-61. doctrine of, in connection with equitable conversion, 65. misapplication of doctrine to options for the purchase of land, 272-273.
effect of doctrine in fixing

RELIEF,
use of term in equity, 19.

REMAINDERS AND REVERSIONS,

REIMEDIES,
ways

221.

in which actions protect rights, 19. actions, in personam and in rem^ distinctions, 20.

actions in rem founded upon ownership, 20-22. four-fold division of jurisdiction over remedies, 22. exclusive and concurrent, in what sense equitable remedies are, 22-23. operation of legal and equitable remedies, comparison of, 24-25, 26. common law remedies, in personam or in rem, classification of, 27.
replevin, 27. detinue, 27-28. deficiencies in common law remedies supplied by equity, 28. injunctions, foundation of jurisdiction, 28-35. accounting for past profits in connection with injunction, 35-36. specific reparation of torts, 36-37.

permanent
issues, 38.

nuisance, damages decreed after assessment

upon feigned

against representatives of tort-feasor, to compel restoration, at law, 38-39.

when no

action

See

Assumpsit, Bills of;

Accounts and Accounting; Creditors' Bills; Equitable Injunctions; Specific Performance.

RENT,
as a principal real obligation, 199.

devolution of rights in, upon death of owner, 199. created by reservation or by grant, 199-200. common-taw remedies for recovery of, 201-204. necessity of attornment to assignee of, 204. legislation to aid recovery of, 204-206.
in

in the

England, 205. United States, 205-206.

207.
to various classes of,

forms

of, classified,

consideration of 208-210.

common-law remedies as applied

208-209. 209-210.

when when

sufficient,

insufficient,

jurisdiction of equity over, authorities, 211-215. when rent is reserved out of incorporeal property, 213.

430

INDEX.
when land from which rent issues cannot be when owner of rent cannot distrain, 213.
form of relief granted by equity, 214. comparison of, with tithe, 215-218.
as instance of legal real obligation, 283. following analogy of crops with respect to conversion, 300-301.
identified, 213.

RENT Continued.

REPLEVIN, 27. RESCISSION,

after breach, as

opposed

to specific performance, 58.

RESIDUARY LEGATEE,
administration of decedent's estate on bill by, 158-163. in relation to lapsing of gifts from proceeds of land or

charged upon land,

294-295.

RESULTING TRUSTS,
RIGHTS.
why
See See

12, 256.

Equitable Rights and Obligations; Legal Rights.

RIGHTS IN REM,
equity cannot create, 6.

Legal Rights.

ROMAN LAW,
doctrine of artificial legal personality, 127-128. real obligations originating in, 192-195, 222. as origin of executor's duty to pay legacies, 225-226. haeres foetus and haeres natus, 230.

SALES,
without previous contract, 261-262.

SECURED CREDITORS,
bill filed

relief in equity against

when

by, on behalf of unsecured creditors, 183, n. deceased debtor's estate, 187-188. debtor dies insolvent, bankruptcy rule applied, 187-188.
in

SERVITUDES,
Roman,~ how represented
our law, 222-224.

SET-OFF.

See Cross-claims

or Set-off.

SETTLEMENTS,
sale of settled estates subject to mortgage, and disposition of surplus, 266. seizure by the State of settled lands, and disposition of proceeds, 266. sale of settled lands under power and disposition of proceeds, 266. covenants in, as cause of equitable conversion, on principle, 315-320, 328.

nature

of,

315-320.

covenant in, upon covenantor's estate, 320. covenants in, as cause of equitable conversion, 320-324. covenants in, distinguished from bilateral contracts for the purchase and sale of land, 361-362. of land, in trust to sell and reinvest in land, 371-376. covenants for purchase and settlement of lands, whether resulting in
effect of

equitable estate, 381-389. termination of equitable conversion under, 397-404. See Equitable Conversion.

SHERIFFS,
obligation of, to account to judgment creditors, 98.

SPECIALTY DEBTS,
classification of, 140-141.

rights of creditors against heir

bound

to the extent of inheritance, 145-147.

INDEX.
SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE,
more accurately termed specific reparation when applied in relation to negative and affirmative duties, 41-43.
tracts,

43

to contracts, 40.

impracticability of enforcing strict performance of affirmative con-

42-43.
for

mandatory injunctions, 42. specific reparation supplemented by accounting

mutuality of relief in bilateral contracts, 44-46. difficulty in procedure, 46.

damages, 43.

pre-requisites of assumption of jurisdiction for, over affirmative obligations,

47-49.

inadequacy of legal remedy in specific contracts of giving, 48. usually dependent on nature of subject-matter, 49.
land, vessels, chattels personal, 49. mutuality, 50-51. as applied to bilateral contracts where performance

is

not mutually

dependent, 50.
as applied to bilateral contracts where performance
is

mutually de-

pendent, 51. conditions for relief by

way

of,

52-54.

sufficiency of consideration, 52. good-faith, 52-53. diligence of plaintiff, 53. ability of defendant to perform, 53.

marketable title, 54-55. when vendor can make good

title

only as to part of land,

fault, 55.

54..

when title is defective as to the whole, 54. when contract rendered impossible without vendor's

not barred by breach of implied conditions precedent, 55-56. bill filed by plaintiff after breach, 57. when plaintifl's only obligation is to pay money, 57. when time is of the essence, 57. burden of showing that breach is of the essence, 58. defective title always of the essence, 58. rescission as opposed to specific performance, 58. of contract for conveyance of real estate, followed by destruction of subject-matter, 59-63. doctrine of English courts, 60-63. due in part to doctrine that a contract to convey land is in equity an actual conveyance, 62-63. due in part to misapplication of doctrine of equitable conversion, 63-65. of legal duties not amounting to obligations, 65. distinguished from specific performance of affirmative contracts, 65. of negative contracts and affirmative torts, 67-68. analogous in mode of equitable relief, by injunction, 67. not analogous in extent of, or reason for exercise of jurisdiction, 68. of negative contracts, 68. where negative covenant or promise is unilateral, 68-69. where negative covenant or promise is independent, 69. where consideration for the covenant or promise has been fully performed, 69-70. where consideration for the covenant or promise has been partially performed, 70.

and partly unilateral, 70. where negative covenant or promise constitutes only part of one side
partly bilateral

of contract, 71. negative in substance though expressed affirmatively, 72. in relation to obligation to set apart tithes, 217-218. doctrine of, in relation to equitable conversion, 306, 310, 325.

432

INDEX.
Co^/rf. of building contracts, in relation to equitable conversion, 314-315. right of, dependent upon complainant's readiness to perform, 388.

SPECIFIC

PERFORMANCE

SPECIFIC REPARATION,
of torts, difficulties involved in, 36-37. by courts of equity, seldom attempted, 37. to be distinguished from specific performance, 40, 43.

See Specific

Performance.

STAKE-HOLDER,
liability to

account, gf

STATUTE OF DISTRIBUTIONS,
vesting in ordinary exclusive jurisdiction over rights of next of kin, 156. imposing duty of distribution upon administrator, 226. origin ot administrator's duty to next of kin, 274, 277.

STATUTE OF QUIA EMPTORES,

effect of,

upon creation

of rent, 200-201.

STATUTES,
creating debt of record, 141. not impeachable, 150. conusees of, right of extent of debtor's land, 151.

STOCK-BROKERS,
liability to

nature of

liability to

account in equity, 92. customer, 93.

STOCKHOLDERS,
duty of corporations toward, 277.

SUBROGATION,
rights of, created by equity, 14-15, 256-257. marshalling, 15-16. employed by equity to subject land to claims of simple contract creditors,

189-190.

SURETYSHIP,
doctrine of subrogation, 14-16, 256-257.
in connection with real obligations

under the

Roman

law, 195.

T.

THURLOW, LORD,
decision of, in Ackroyd v. Smithson, 335-342. decision of, in Robinson v. Taylor, 344-345.

TIMBER,
conversion
of, into

personalty, 301.
cut,

ownership and right to

wrongful severance
of,

intervention of equity to cut and

vested in owner of inheritance, 301. sell, for benefit of all concerned, 301-302.

by

life-tenant, 302.

TIME,

when

of the essence, 57.

TITHES.

See Predial Tithes.

TORTS,
nature of, 239. negative and affirmative, 239-240. analogous to affirmative and negative contracts, 67. every breach of dut^ a tort, 240. distinguished from breaches of obligation, 241. whether committed by interference with personal obligation, equitable, when wrongly so called, 5, 251-252. to equitable obligees, 17-18.

3.

INDEX.

433

TORTS Continued
classification of, with respect to jurisdiction of equity, 30. threatened, injunction against, 35. accounting for profits from commission of, in connection with injunction, 35-36. specific reparation of, 36-37. recovery of unjust enrichment from representative of tort-feasor, 38-39. consisting in non-feasance, 39. committed by infringement of right created by real obligation, 241-242. affirmative, difficulty of identifying right infringed by, 242. against land and rights. in land, determined by place of commission of tort, 247. consisting in infringement of trade-mark, nature of, 250.

See

Wrongs.

TRADE-MARKS,
nature of right in, 250. nature of tort committed by infringement
of,

250.

TRESPASS TO LAND,
jurisdiction of equity over, 31. accounting incidental to injunction against, 36.

TRUST,
to purchase or sell land,

creation of, resulting from declaration in writing by holder of legal right, 256. passive constructive trust as means of enforcing direct equitable conversion, 306. active and passive, in relation to direct and indirect equitable conversion,
306. as basis of equitable conversion, 324-327, 328-329. extent of equitable conversion caused by testamentary trust for sale, 329-358-

See

Equitable Conversion.

TRUSTEE,
accountability of, to cestui que trust, 97. executor as such never a triistee, 278. effect of devise of land to, with bare direction or

power

to sell, 279-280.

V.

VESSELS,
contract for, subject of specific performance, 49.

W.

WASTE,
equitable, semblance to equitable tort, 5, 251. defined and distinguished from trespass, 30-31. acts in the nature of, raising questions of title, 32-33. accounting in connection with injunction against, 36. permissive, cannot be specifically repaired in equity, 66.

WATERCOURSES,
nature of right
in,

245.

WRONGS,
torts

and breaches of obligation, 239. breaches of obligation, negative and affirmative, 241. torts, negative and affirmative, 239, 240-250. every breach of duty a tort, 240.
'

28

434

INDEX.
torts distinguished

WRONGS Continued.
from breaches of obligation, 241. affirmative torts involved in infringement of relative right regarded as absolute, 241-250. relation between, and rights infringed, 242. difficulty of identifying right infringed by, 242-243. rights of property in land, division of, 243-247.
nature of, 244. rights in land of another, 244-246. to support of land or buildings

from adjoining land, 244-246. writh respect to watercourses, 245. infringement of, to be determined by place of infringement, 247. infringement of incorporeal rights, 248-250. literary and dramatic compositions, 248. monopolies, franchises, copyrights, 249. trade-marks, 250.

KF 399 L27 1908 c.l

Author
Vol.

Langdell, C.C.
Title

Copy

Brief Survey of Equity J\irisdicti on

Date
Borrower's

Name