CHAN 
It is common to give relief in chancery, notwithftand- 
ing there is an agreement between the parties that there 
/hall be no relief in law or equity, i Mod. 141, 3.05. In 
cafes which tend to re (train freedom, or introduce cor¬ 
ruption into marriage contracts, the court are always 
moft ready to afford relief. If a portion be given to a 
woman, provided (lie marries not without the content of 
a certain perfon, although the marries without fuch con- 
lent, (lie /hall be relieved in chancery, and have her por¬ 
tion ; unlefs the portion, on fuch marriage, had been 
limited over to another, in which cafe it is otherwife. 
1 Danv. 752. 1 Mod. 300. If a father, on the marriage 
of his fon, take a bond of the fon that he lhall pay him 
fo much, &c. this is void in equity, being adjudged by 
coercion while he is under the awe of his father. 1 Salk. 
158. Alfo where a fon, w'ithout privity of the father, 
treating the match, gives bond to return any part of the 
portion, inequity it is void. Ibid. 156. But a man is 
not bound to difcover the confideration of a bond gene¬ 
rally given, which in itfelf implies a confideration. Hard. 
200. If a factor to a merchant hath money in his hands, 
it lhall be accounted his own ; for equity cannot follow 
money : but it may goods, to make them the merchant’s, 
which may be known, though money cannot. 1 Salk. 
260. Where truftees convert money railed out of land 
for payment of debts to their own ufe, the heir lhall have 
the land difcharged, which hath borne its burden, and 
the truftees are liable to the debts in equity. 1 Salk. 153. 
If a lelfee for years, without impeachment of w r afte, about 
the end of his term cuts down timber-trees, the court of 
chancery may flop him by injunction. 1 Rol. Abr. 380. 
And tenant after pofiibility of iffue extinCf, or for life, 
difpunilhable of wafte, may be flopped in equity from 
pulling down houfes, &c. 1 Dannj. 761. 
The following is a general and comprehenlive view of 
the nature and reafon of the pleadings in chancery, ex¬ 
tracted from Mr. Mitford’s treatile. Chancery will not 
retain a fuit for any thing under ten pounds value, ex¬ 
cept in cafes of charity, nor for lands under forty /hil¬ 
lings per annum. A fuit to the extraordinary jurilctiCtion 
of the court of chancery, on behalf of a fubjeCt merely, is 
commenced by preferring a bill (ligned by counfel) in 
the nature of a petition to the lord chancellor, lord 
keeper, or lords commiflioners of the great feal; or to 
the king himfelf, in his court of chancery, in cafe the 
perfon holding the feal is a party, or the leal is in the 
king’s hand. But if the fuit is inftituted on behalf of 
the crown, or of thofe who partakeof its prerogative, or 
whofe rights are under its particular proteClion, as the 
objeCts. of a public charity, the matter of complaint is 
offered by way of information, given by the proper offi¬ 
cer; ufually the attorney-general. Except in fome few 
inftances, bills and informations have been always in the 
Englilh language ; and a fuit thus preferred is therefore 
commonly termed a fuit by Englilh bill, by w'ay of dif- 
tinClion from the proceedings in luits within the ordi¬ 
nary jurifdiCtion of the court, which, till the flat, of 
4Geo. II. c. 26. were entered and enrolled more anciently 
in the French or Roman tongue, and afterwards in the 
Latin ; in the fame manner as the pleadings in the other 
courts of common law. Every bill mull have for its ob- 
jeCt one or more of the grounds upon which the jurif¬ 
diCtion of the court is founded; and as that jurifdiCtion 
fometimes extends to decide on the fubjeCt, and in fome 
cafes is only ancillary to the decilion of another court, 
or a future luit, the bill may, 1, either complain of fome 
injury which the perlon exhibiting it fuffers, and pray 
relief according to the injury; or, 2, without praying 
relief, may feek a difcovery of matter neceflary to fup- 
port, or defend another fuit; or, 3, although no aCtual 
injury is fuffered, it may complain of a threatened wrong; 
and. Hating a probable ground of poflible injury, may 
pray the afliftance of the court to enable the plaintiff, 
or perfon exhibiting the bill, to defend himlelf againlt 
Von. IV. No. 180. 
C E R Y. 89 
the injury whenever it /hall be attempted to be com¬ 
mitted. 
As the court of chancery has general jurifdiCtion in 
matters of equity which are not within the bounds, or 
which are beyond the powers, of inferior jurifdiCtions, 
it affumes a controul over thofe jurifdiCtions, by remov¬ 
ing from them fuits which they are incompetent to de¬ 
termine. To effeCt this it requires the party injured to 
inftitute a fuit in the court of chancery, the foie objeCt 
of which is the removal of the former fuit, by means of 
the writ of certiorari; and the prayer of the bill ufed for 
this purpofe, is confined to that objeCt. The bill, ex¬ 
cept it merely prays the writ of certiorari, in which cafe 
is does not require any defence, nor can there be any 
pleading beyond the bill, requires the anfwer of the de¬ 
fendant or party complained of, upon oath, unlefs the 
party is entitled to privilege of peerage, or as a lord of 
parliament, or unlels a corporation aggregate is made a 
party. In the firft cafe the anfwer is required upon the 
honour of the defendant, and in the latter upon the cor¬ 
poration feal. In the cafe of exhibiting a bill againlt a 
peer, the lord chancellor writes a letter to him, called a 
letter miflive; and if he does not put in his anfwer, a fub- 
pcena iffues, and then an order to fhew caufe why a fe- 
queftration lhould not iffue; and if he ftill Hands out, 
then a fequeftration is granted ; for there can be no pro- 
cefs of contempt againlt the perfon of a peer. The pro- 
cefs is the fame againlt a member of the houfe of com¬ 
mons, except the letter miflive. 
An anfwer is thus required in the cafe of a bill, feek- 
ing the decree of the court on the fubjeCt of the com¬ 
plaint, with a view, 1. To obtain an admiflion of the 
cafe made by the bill either in aid of proof; or, 2. to 
fupply the want of it. 3. To obtain a dilcovery of the 
points in the plaintiff’s cafe, controverted by the defend¬ 
ant ; and, 4. of the grounds on which they are contro¬ 
verted. 5. To gain a difcovery of the cafe on which the 
defendant relies; and, 6. of the manner in which he 
means to fupport it. If the bill feeks only the afliftance 
of the court to proteCt the plaintiff againfl; a future in¬ 
jury, the anfwer of the defendant, upon oath, may be 
required to obtain an admiflion of the plaintiff’s title, 
and a difcovery of the claims of the defendant, and the 
grounds on which thofe claims are intended to be fup- 
ported. When the foie objeCt of the bill is a difcovery 
of matter neceflary to fupport or defend another fuit, the 
oath of the defendant is required to compel that dif¬ 
covery ; which oath, however, the plaintiff may, if he 
thinks proper, dilpenfe with, by confenting to or ob¬ 
taining an order of court for the purpofe; and this is 
frequently done for the convenience of parties. 
To the bill thus preferred, unlefs it is merely for a 
certiorari, it is neceflary for the perfon or perlons com¬ 
plained of to make defence, or to difclaim all rights to 
the matters in queftion. As the bill calls upon the de¬ 
fendant to anfwer the feveral charges it contains, he mull: 
do fo, unlefs he can dilpute the right of the plaintiff to 
compel fuch anfwer; either, x, From fome impropriety 
in requiring the difcovery /ought; or, 2, From fome ob¬ 
jection to the proceeding to which the difcovery is pro- 
pofed to be afiiltant; or, 3, Unlefs by di/claiming all right 
to the matters in queftion, he fhews a further aniwer from 
him to be unnecelfary. The grounds on which defence 
may be made to a bill either by anfwer, or by difputing 
the right of the plaintiff to compel fuch anfwer, are va¬ 
rious. 1. The lubjeCt of the fuit may not be within the 
jurifdiCtion of a court of equity. 2. Some other court of 
equity may have the proper jurifdiCtion. 3. The plain¬ 
tiff may not be entitled to fue, by reafon of /ome per- 
fonal difability. 4. The plaintiff may not be the perfon 
he pretends to be. 5. He may have no intereft in the 
lubjeCt; or, 6. Though he has fuch intereft, he may have 
no right to call upon the defendant concerning it. 7. The 
defendant may not be the perfon he is alleged to be by 
A a the 
