It might be urged, with much force, that the bond given in 1816, by order of the Court, had relation back, so as to make effectual the act of emancipation under the order of 1806, and that the plaintiff, although born before the bond was executed, was free by the force and effect of the emancipation of her mother. But, admiting that the sovereign, if such was its pleasure, might insist that the act of emancipation was not valid, because of the omission to give the bond, we are clearly of opinion, that Reuben Jones, the executor, whose duty it was to give the bond, and no one claiming under or through him, can take advantage of that omission ; much less can a mere wrong doer, after the lapse of so many years.— More than forty years have allowed to pass from the act of emancipation and the birth of the plaintiff, before any claim was made to hold her as a slave ; during all which time, she passed as a free person and was so treated and considered by the community, in which she lived. After so long an acquiescence, almost any thing will be presumed, in order to give effect to the act of emancipation.
There was no error in the Court below.
Per Curiam. Judgment affirmed.