15 Vt. 560 | Vt. | 1843
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The court are frequently called on
On the question whether this decision was such an one as can be revised in this court, it is to be remarked that every question of law, decided by the county courts, may be revised in this court. Their decisions on questions of fact are final. When the trial of the issue is by the court, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between what they intended, as deciding a question of law, and what, as a question of fact. The case of Phelps v. Wood & Stewart, 12 Vt. R. 256, was determined by the county court, on an issue of fact joined to, and tried by, the court; yet the decision of the county court, on that issue, so far involved the determination of a question of law, that it was revised and reversed, on exception, by the supreme court. Where there is no dispute about the facts, and what the admissions are, which are insisted on, as taking a case out of the statute of limitation, their effect is a question of law. But if the facts are doubtful, it then becomes a mixed question of law and fact. This was the view taken by the court in New-York, in the case of Clarke v. Dutcher, 9 Cow.674, and is undoubtedly correct. In the case before us, the facts were undisputed. The county court say, in the exceptions, “ upon the foregoing ‘facts, the court considered the testimony was not sufficient ‘ to take the case out of the statute of limitations. ” This was a decision of a question of law arising from the facts, and is subject to be revised here on exceptions.