11 F. Cas. 686 | U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Rhode Island | 1838
The act of Rhode Island (Digest 1822, p. 246, § 3) provides, “That no guardian shall be appointed or removed under this act, unless all persons interested shall have had reasonable notice in writing, signed by the clerk” (of the probate court), “and served by the town sergeant or constable, that he, she, or they may appear, to object to the same.” This appointment is a special authority conferred on the' court of probate (the town council), a court of limited jurisdiction; and, therefore, its jurisdiction can be rightfully exercised only in the cases and in the mode prescribed by the legislature. If the mode prescribed for the exercise of the authority is not complied with, the appointment is utterly void. Admitting, that there might be an appeal to the superior tribunal in such a case; still, if the proceeding is a nullity in law, the exception to the jurisdiction and that nullity may be insisted on in an action like the present. The question is, therefore, reduced to the mere consideration, whether the notice, given in the present case, was within the statute. The argument is, that a notice by reading of the order of the court by the officer is a notice in writing in the sense of the statute. I think otherwise. I understand, that the notice must be a notice in writing; that the officer must leave with the party a written notice, an original from the clerk, or at least, a certified copy in writing thereof. In no