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Edmund P. Gaines and Wife v. Beverly Chew, Richard Relf, and others U.S. 619 (1844)

handle is hein.slavery/ussccases0317 and id is 1 raw text is: JANUARY TERM, 1844.                            619
Gaines et ux. v. Chew et al.
direct the enforcement of said judgment, according to the laws regu-
lating the remedy when said judgment was entered and the contract
made. Wheredpon, it is now here ordered and adjudged by this
court, that it be so certified to the judges of the said Circuit Court.
EDMUND P. GAiNEs AND WiFE V. BE-vRLY CHEW, RicHARD RELF, AND
OTHERS.
It, is impossible to lay down any general rule as to what con'stitutes multifa-
riousness in a bill in equity. Every case must be governed by its own cir-
cumstances, and the court must exercise a sound discretion.
A bill filed against the executors of an estate and all those who purchased from
them, is nbt, upon that account alone, multifarious.
Under the Louisiana law, the Court of Probate has exclusive jurisdiction in the
proof of wills; which includes those disposing of real as well as personal
estate.
In England, equity will not set aside a will for fraud and imposition, relief being
obtainable in other courts.
Although by the general law, as well as the local law of Louisiana, a will must
be proved before a title can be set up under it, yet a court of equity can so
far exercise jurisdiction as to compel defendants to answer, touching a will
alleged to be spoliated. And. it is a matter for grave consideration, whether
it cannot go further and set tip the lost will.
Where the heir at -law assails the validity of the will, by bringing his action
against the devisee or'legatee who sets up the will as his title, the District
'Courts of Louisiana are the proper tribunals, and the powers of a Court of
Chancery are necessary, in order to discover frauds which are 'within the
knowledge of the defendants.
Express trusts are abolished in Louisiana by tme law of that state, but that
implied trust, which is the creature of equity, has not been abr9gated.
The exercise of chancery jurisdiction by the Circuit Court of the United States,
sitting in Louisiana, does not introduce any new or foreign, principle. It is
only a change of the mode of redressing wrongs and protecting rights.
Tns case was a sequel to that which came before the court twice
before, and is reported in 13 Peters, 404, and 15 Peters, 9.
It came up again ftoin the Circuit Court of the United States for
the eastern district of Louisiana, sitting as a court of equity, on a
certificate of a division of opinion in that court; upon the three fol
lowing questions:

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