Anonymous, 1 N.C. 190, 1 Mart. 190 (1793)

1793 · United States Circuit Court for the District of North Carolina
1 N.C. 190, 1 Mart. 190

*Anonymous.

Pasch. 2 Car.

One who owed money to Alderman Cripps, paid it after his death to his wife, with the consent of his son, to whom administration belonged at that time, he being dead intestate. The money was spent circa funeralia, and for the maintainance of his family during the great plague, afterwards a stranger took the administration in due course of law, and sued the man in the Mayor and Alderman’s Court. The debtor, on the equity of the case, removed the suit in the Mayor’s Court, who decreed that as he had paid the money to one who was not administrator, or executor, he ought to pay it over; but as in this case the money was paid to those, in whose power it was to have the administration, and was the money was spent for the benefit of the estate, he denied to give the administrator the decree. *192Whereupon administrator sued a procedendo at judic. et alias procedendo vel causam signfices. Whereupon the cause was returned, as here, but with a custom, that the Mayor had power to examine.

Sir Nicholas Hyde, C. J. Jones, J. and Whitlock, J.

said that without some precedent, they would not examine the equity. They thought that the case ought to be decided according to the conscience of the Mayor alone, and it does not belong to the King’s Bench to examine whether his decree be equitable or not: No more than in case of a Spiritual Court, this court does not examine, whether they proceed according to the spiritual law or not. It will only take care that they do not transgress any of the fundamental rules of the common law. They asked of Stone, one of the city counsels, whether he ever knew any case, in which the equity was inquired into in this court. He answered in the negative. Then it was said that the words vel causam nobis significes are to no purpose in the procedendo. But the court took no notice of this.