28 Tenn. 557 | Tenn. | 1848
delivered the opinion of the court.
On the trial of this case in the circuit court, his Honor instructed the jury among other things not necessary to
Did the court err in the foregoing instructions? It is a well settled principle, that in general, the interpretation, as well as the- construction ■ of a written instrument,, is a matter of law for the court, and not for the jury. 1 Greenleaf on Ev. sec. 277, note 1. And in the interpretation of a written instrument, the duty of the court is to ascertain, not what the parties may have secretly intended, as contradistinguished from what their words express, but what is the meaning of the words they have used. 1 Green, on Ev. sec 277, note 1. The terms of every written instrument are to be understood in their plain, ordinary and popular sense, unléss by the known usage of trade or otherwise, they have generally acquired a peculiar sense or technical meaning distinct from the popular sense of the same words, or unless from the context it appears evident that the parties, in the particular instance, intended them to be understood in some other and particular sense. 1 Green, on Ev. sec. 278.
Applying these principles to the cáse under consideration, we think the circuit judge did not err in assuming to interpret the proper meaning of the stipulation in the covenant, that the defendant should put the road in “ good order,” nor did he err in his interpretation of these words.
Upon the whole we affirm the judgment.