delivered the opinion of the court.
The conclusions to which we have come in this cause do not require from us any comment upon its facts.
We concur with the learned judge in the Circuit Court, in setting aside the purchases by which Nicholas Girod and Jean Francois Girod became the possessors of their testator’s entire estate. *553 - But the morality and policy of the law, as, it is administered ifi courts of equity, induce us to add, , that those purchases were fraudulent and void, and may.:be declared to- be so, without any : further inquiry, upon, the ground that they were made by the. interYbntion of persons -who. were nominal buyers of the ¡property for the .pürpose of conveying it to the executors. Such a transaction carries fraud upon the face of- it. Lord Hardwicke v. Vernon, 4 Ves. jun. 411 ; 14 Ves. jun; 504 ; 2 Bro. C. C. 410, note. It matters not, in such a ease, whether the sales are made witb ot without the sanction of judicial authority, or with ministerial exactness. The . rule of equity is, in every code of jurisprudence with which we are acquainted, that a purchase by a trustee or agent of the particular property of which he -has . the sale, or in winch he represents another, whether he has an interest inIt or not, — per interpositam personam,■, —carries, fraud on the face of it. In. tbjs instance, Laignel and St; Felix Were the instruments: of the executors. They bid off the property, paid nothing, received th ties, and conveyed what they nominally bought to the executor». In this way Nicholas Girod -became the purchaser of all the testator’s property in New Orleans, -and himself and his brother Jean Frano^is, the other, executor, were joint- purchasers of the.-lands and slaves in the parish of Assumption, and of the testator’s lands, elsewhere. ■ Jean Francois, some years afterwards, sold - out his half of their joint purchase to Nicholas, for seventy thousand dollars. Thus ' the latter became the.' possessor of the entiré estate» and held it until he died, to the exclusion of all the other testamentary heirs. Some of those heirs, and the representatives of others of them, now sue the representatives of Nicholas Girod-, and seek to set aside the purchases of the executors. They allege that they.were fraudulently made, ask that they may hare, assigned to them their respective portions of the estate, with an account of rents and profits^, excepting from their claim for the latter the moiety which had been received by Jean Franjois Girod., The defendants reply, and deny fraud in fact or in intention on the part of the executors. They declare,.that the sales were judicially ordered and conducted, that the purchases were "rightfully made, for a fair price, at public auction, that the complainants have no standing in a court of equity by reason of their long silence, laches, and acquiescence in the acts of which they complain, and that ■ their rights are barred by lapse of time, under the laws of Louisiana. They also say, that receipts or acquittances were given to the executors by two of the complainants,- which are valid and obligatory upon them. The bill and answers, and the arguments of the learned counsel for the appellants, then, involve- the question of the right' of executors to purchase any part of the estate which ■ they administer, for a fair price, at a public sale-judicially ordered and conducted.- Remarking-, first, that an executor or.administra *554 tor is in equity a trustee for heirs, legatees, and creditors, we proceed to give our opinion of the law in respect to purchases óf the , estate represented by them, and of purchases made by other trustees and agents, and all persons qui negotia aliena gerunt. The rule as to persons incapable of purchasing particular property except under particular restraints, on account of the rules of equity, is compendiously given, by Sir Edward Sugden, in his second section of purchases • by trustees, agents,- &c. It has been adopted by almost every subsequent writer, and we cite the passage with confidence, having verified its correctness by an examination of all the cases cited by him ; by an examination, álso,,pf other cases in the English courts, ana of cases in the courts of chancery of several of the States in our Union, sustaining the doctrine, to the fullést extent, of the incapability of trustees and agents to purchase particur lar property, for the sale of which they act representatively, or in whom the title may be for another. He says, — “ It may he laid down as a general proposition, that trustees, — unless they are nominally such to preserve contingent remainders, —; agents, commissioners of bankrupts, assignees of bankrupts, solicitors to the commission, auctioneers, creditors who have been consulted’as to the mode qí sale, or any persons who, by their connection with any other person, or by being employed or concerned in his affairs, have acquired a knowledge of his property, are incapable of purchasing, such property themselves, except under the restraints which will shortly be mentioned- For if persons having a confidential character were permitted to avail themselves of any knowledge acquired in that capacity, they might be induced to conceal their information, and not, to exercise it for the benefit of the- persons. relying upon their integrity. The characters are inconsistent. JEmptor emit quam mínimo potest, venditor vendit quam maxima potest2' Sugd. Vendors and Purchasers, 109,. London ed., 1824. * The principle has been extended to a purchase by an *555 attorney from his client whilst the relation subsists. Bellew v. Russell, 1 Ball & Beatty, 96 ; 9 Ves. jun. 296 ; 13 Ves. jun. 133. As to gifts. Lord Selsey v. Rhoades, 2 Sim. & Stu. 41 ; Williams v. Llewellyn, 2 You. & Jer. 68 ; Champion v. Rigby, 1 Russ. & Myl, 539. Nor can an arbitrator buy up the unascertained claims of any of the parties to the reference. Blennerhasset v. Day, 2 Ball & Beatty, 116 ; Cane v. Lord Allen, 2 Dow, 289. Where a person cannot purchase the estate himself, he cannot buy it as agent for another.. 9 Ves. jun. 248; Ex parte Bennet, 10 Ves., jun. 381.
The general rule stands upon our great moral obligation to refrain from placing ourselves in relations which ordinarily excite a conflict between self-interest and integrity. It restrains all agents, public and private ; but the value of the prohibition is most felt, and its application is more frequent, in the private relations in which the vendor and purchaser may stand towards each other. The disability to purchase is a consequence of that relation between them which imposés on the one a duty to protect the interest of the other, from the faithful discharge of which duty his own personal, interest may withdraw him. In this conflict of interest, the law wisely interposes. It acts not on the possibility, that, in some cases, the sense of that duty may prevail over the'motives of self-interest, but it provides against the probability in many ■eases, and the danger in all cases, that the dictates of self-interest will exercise a predominant influence, and supersede that of duty. It therefore prohibits a party from purchasing on his own account that which his duty or tru3t requires hinti'-to sell on account of another, and from purchasing on -account of another that which he sells on his own account. In effect, he is not allowed to unite the two opposite characters of buyer and seller, because his interests, when he is the seller or buyer on his own account, are directly conflicting with those of the person on whose account he buys or sells. 2 Burge’s Comm. 459. Cases have been frequently decided in the courts of Louisiana, which maintain thé rule in all its integrity. In . Pennsylvania it is enforced, though, on looking over its reports, we find a case, but unsustained by any reference to adjudged cases, in which it is said that an executor might buy at a sale of the testator’s effects, if he did so for a fair price, at public auction. In Maryland, the courts of chancery carry out the rule to the fullest extent of the principles upon which it is founded, and as they have'just been stated by us. In the case of Wormley
v.
Wormley,
In New York there hásbeen no relaxation of it, since the decision in the casé of Davoue
v.
Fanning,
Such is the proceeding adopted in Louisiana, when property in which a minor is interested is offered for sale, as may be seen by the case in 5 Louisiana R. 16, McCarty?;. Steam Cotton Press Company et al. The property was sold at auction, and the mother of the minor became the purchaser. It was contended that this purchase was null and void, because the property had descended to the children immediately after the death of the father, and the mother, who, by the effect of the law, was. their natural tutor, could not buy it. The court said it was a general rule. But it having been shown that the mother and purchaser had petitioned the Court of Probates for a ratification of the sale, and that the court ,had ratified it upon thé advice of a family meeting, the sale was confirmed. And the court held, that under the Spanish law (20) a tutor could purchase the property of his ward, with the permission of the judge.
We have said more upon the relaxation of the rulé in the case of executors thap we would have done, if the learned counsel for the appellants had not pressed, as an exemption from the rule, purchases' made by executors without fraud at -open sale, especially when by the will they were empowered to sel), the estate of their testator for the benefit of heirs and legatees^ and were heirs or legatees themselves. And if it had not been urged, that the decisions of the Supreme Court of Louisiana were unsafe guides in interpreting the Spanish laws in respect to the incapacity of persons to purchase at judicial sales particular property, on account of the official or financiering re-lation in which they stood.to the persons who owned the property. It was supposed that the qualifications of the rule by-the civil law embraced executors, or might do so by the ;eason upon which those qualifications were sustained. It imposes upon us the task of showing, that the relaxations of the rule by the civil law were never permitted by the Spanish-law which prevailed in Louisiana,'and were never extended under the civil law, to permit the executor testamentarius or executor dativus to buy the property which he was appointed to administer. It is a subject of curious and instructive examination to trace the rule or prohibition, in the course of its application under, the jurisprudence of different nations. In all of them, there, were limited and occasional relaxations of the rule in particular cases, in what are sometimes called hard cases, but in no one nation have purchases by executors been permitted, as .a relaxation of the civil law rule. For a general historical examination of the subject, we have not time ; we wish we had. A brief examination, however, of the qualifications of the rule. by. the civil law will; not be inappropriate upon an appeal from a court held in Louisiana, where the civil *559 láw exists in a modified form, and is still often the rule of decision by its énlightened jurists. The prohibition of the civil law is thus expressed : — “ Tutor rem pupilli emere non potest; idemque porrigendum est ad similia, id est, ad curatores, procuratores, et qúi negotia aliena gerunt.” Dig., Lib. 18 tit. 1,1. 34 ; Inst., Lib. 1, tit. 21, 23. _ . . . '
. . . The rule as expressed embraces every relation in which there may arise a Conflict between the duty which the vendor or purchaser owes to the person with whom he is dealing, or on whose account he is acting, and. his own individual interest. Nór was it ever relaxed or qualified by the civil law, further than to allow the guardian to purchase the property of the ward, palam et bond fide, at public auction. <c Cum ipse tutor nihil ex bonis pupilli, quae distrahi possunt,. comparare.' palam et bona fide prohibetur; multo magis uxor ejus hoc facére potest.” Cod., Lib. 4, tit. 38, 1. 5. But foreseeing the mischief which might grow out of the relaxation, it required that the purchase must be made by the guardian himself, -palam, et bona fide, and not per interpositam pefsonam. “ Sed si per interpositam personam rem pupilli emerit, in eá causa ut emptio nullius momenti sit, quia non bona fide videtur rem géssisse. Et ita esx rescriptum a D. Severo et Antdiiino.” Dig., Lib. 26, tit. 5,1. 5, § 3. A purchase by a guardian from his co-guardian was permitted, if it took place in public, and bond fide. “ Item ipse tutor et emptoris ét venditoris officio fungi non potest. Sed enim si contutorem habeat, cujus auctoritas sufficit, procul-tiubio emere potest. . Sed si mala fide emptio intercesserit, nullius erit momenti, ideoque nec usucapere potest. Sane; si suae aetatis factus comprobaverit emptionem, contractus valet.” Dig., Lib. 26, tit. 8,1. 5, § 2.
The guardian might purchase at a sale made at the suit of a creditor. “ Si creditor pupilli distrahat, aeque emere bona fide poterit.” Dig., Lib. 26, 1. 5, § 5. .Such is the extent of the qualification of the rule of the civil law. And, its limitation not being well understood, persons have often been misled to apply it to •what they supposed to be analogous agencies, such as executors, when there was no authority either in the text of the civil law, or-in the practice under it, for doing só. But, further, those qualifications of the rule mentioned were confined in practice to those territories-in Europe in which the civil law prevailed without modificaron. And it is remarkable, considering what were the influences upon Christendom of the civil law, after its. discovery in the twelfth eentury, — and when not until some time after it began to be used as a rule of law by which public and private rights were determined, — when'in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it was the study of the wisest men, — it is remarkable that the qualifications of the rule, as they have been stated, Were considered imperfections, and were rejected by every nation , in Europe whose codes are generally ad-» mitted to have been compiled from the civil law, with an intimate *560 knowledge of human nature, as it has always shown itself in the business of life. Here, appropriate to what has been just said, is the language of Pothier. “ Nous ne pouvons acheter, ni parnousmémes, ni par personnes interposées, les choses que font partie des biens dont nous avons l’administration; ainsi un tuteur ne peut acheter les choses qui appartiennent a son mineur ; un administrateur ne peut acheter aucune chose dé bien dont il a Padministration. ” Tr. du Contraf de Vente, part. 1, n. 13. The rule of the civil law, without qualification, is adopted in the codes of Holland. “ Qua;'vero de tutoribus cauta, eaquoque in curatoribus, procuratoribus, testamentorum executorihús, aliisque similibus, qui aliena gerunt negotia, probanda sunt.” Voet., Lib. 18, tit. 1, n. 9 ; 2 Burge’s Comm. 463. In Spain, the rule was enforced without relaxation, and with stem uniformity. Judge McCaleb cites in his opinion, from the Novissima Recopilación, the'rule, in the following words. “ No man, who is testamentary executor or guardian of minors, nor any other man or woman, can purchase the property which they administer, and whether they purchase publicly or privately the act is invalid, and on proof being made of the fact, the sale must be set aside.” This was the law of Louisiana when the executors in this instance made their ' anchases, and rt is conclusive of the invalidity.
We hive thus shown, that those purchases are fraudulent and void, from having been made
per interpositam personam,
and if they were not so ®n that account, that they are void by the rule in equity in the courts of England, and as it prevails in the courts of equity in the United States. It has also been shown, that they are void by the law of Louisiana, as it was when they were made by the executors, and that such purchases never were countenanced in that State by any qualification of the civil law rule pro1hibiting purchases by those who stood in such fiduciary relations to others ; that the act could not be generally done, without creating a conflict between self-interest and integrity. In every aspect in which we have viewed this case, we are called upon to direct that the purchases made by Nicholas and Jean Francois Girod of their testator’s estate should be set aside. We shall order it to be done. Nor do we think that the complainants have lost their rights by negligence, or by the lapse of time. We can. only see in their conduct the fears and. forbearance.of dependent relatives, far distant from the'scene of the transactions of which they complain, desirous of having what was due to them,, and suspecting it had been withheld, but unwilling to believe that they had been wronged by brothers, with whom they had been associated in a common interest by another brother who was dead. In a case of actual fraud, courts of equity give relief after a long lapse of time,' much longer than has passed since the executors, in this instance, purchased their testator’s estate. In general, length of. time is no'
*561
bar to' a trust clearly established to have once existed ; and where fraud is imputed and proved, length of time ought not to exclude relief. Prevost
v.
Gratz,
The receipts or acquittances given by two of the complainants to the executors do not affect their rights. They were obviously given^ without full knowledge of all die circumstances connected with the disposal and management of the estate. Indeed, it is plain that such information had been withheld by the executors. It is. true that an account was presented to them, with official signatures to it, but without vouchers of any kind to verify its correctness, apd it was accompanied by a letter from Nicholas Girod, in which menaces of displeasure áre mingled with intimations of. future kindness.
We shall also direct the official proceedings which were had *562 upon the account of Nicholas Girod, against the estate of Claude, to be set. aside and annulled. But there will be allowed to the representatives of Nicholas, in the settlement of the estate, the sum of $ 6,574-20, with interest at five per-cent. The proofs in the cause show that, a few months before die death of the- testator, there had been a settlement of accounts between hijn and Nicholas, and we allow that amount, as it is charged' in the general account, disallowing all the other items. We suppose it to be an inadvertency in (hawing up the decree, that the sum just mentioned was not allowed, as the learned judge, in his opinion, states that a settlement had taken place, with that result.
We shall also direct that the actual cost of all permanent improvements which were made upon any part of the estate by Nicholas Girod shall be allowed to his representatives, with interest .at five per cent, in the settlement which shall be made with the complainants and the other.persons having an interest under the will of Claude. And also an allowance for taxes, and the expenses and cost paid in recovering the property gained by alluvion. A .reference to a master will be directed. We regret to perceive from the record, that all the persons who.are interested in the estate, of Claude F. Girod are not parties to this proceeding. -We shall direct, that they shall be permitted to make themselves parties, if they please to become, so. But in giving the order, it is not intended to delay those from receiving their portions in whose behalf this decree is made. The fruits of their "vigilance can be apportioned according to their respective rights in the estate, when one of the original testamentary heirs claims, and the Circuit Court, fin the further- proceedings in the cause under the mandate of this court, will of course take care to ascertain who are the representatives of others of them who are dead. ■
Jean Francois Girod is not-ajparty in this cause,, and therefore we can give no decree against him, but should he offer to become a party for the purpose of claiming what under the will was his portion of the estate of Claude, or should it be claimed by any representative of his, we think it right to remark, for the purpose of preventing further litigation in this matter, that such claim will be subject to all the equities subsisting between Jean Francois and Nicholas, and especially to the allowance to the representatives of Nicholas of the purchase money which was given by Nicholas-to Jean, for the one half of their joint .purchase of the property of-their testator, with interest at the . rate according to their contract up to the times when the purchase money was paid, and after-wards at five per cent.
Order.
This cause came on to be heard on the transcript of the record from the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern Bis *563 trict of Louisiana,' and was argued by counsel. Whereupon it is considered by the court,
1. That the plaintiffs are residuary legatees of Claude Francois Girod, deceased, in the following proportion, namely: Peronne Bernardine Girod, the widow of Jean Pierre Hector Pargoud, for one eighth; Rosalie .Girod, the widow of Louis Adam, for one, eighth ; Franjoise Peronne Quitand, the wife of J. A. Allard, for one forty-eighth,; Marie Philippine Rose Quitand, for. one forty-eighth ; Marie Bernard Quitand, for one forty-eighth ; Louis Joseph Poidebard, for opé forty-eighth; Benoite Collide Nicoud, for two two-hundred-and-eighty-eighths ; Maurice Emilie Nicoud, and Jenny; Benoite Nicoud, represented by Jean Berger, their tu-. tor; each for two two-hundred-and-eighty-eighths ; Jean Francois Gitod, the nephew, in his own right, and as testamentary heir of Pierre Nicholas Girod, his brother, and represented by Jean Firman Pepin, the syndic of his. creditors, for one twentieth ; and Fran-Í:oise Clementine Girod, wife of Pierre Francois Pemond, for one ortieth.
2. That the adjudication of landed property, with the. slaves thereto attached, situated on Bayou Lafourche; made on the 18th of February, 1814, to Charles St. Felix; the retrocession of said property by said Charles St. Felix to Nicholas and Jean Francois Girod, on the 23d of February, 1814; the adjudication of the property situated'in the parish of Orleans made to Simon Láigiíeí on the 9th of April, 1814, and the notarial seal made to the same on the 26th of April, 1814, in pursuance of said adjudication ; and the conveyance of said property to Nicholas Girod, of the 28th of April, 1814, be set aside and annulled, saving, however, the just rights of third persons, to whom two tracts of land on Bayou Lafourche, two slaves, and a piece of ground in the city of New Orleans were conveyed by the said Nicholas Girod in his lifetime, as appears from the admissions in the pleadings.
3. That for the purpose of giving to the residuary legatees of the late Claude Francois Girod their proportions respectively of the estate of the testator, the said'Circuit Court should direct either a sale of the said property, both real and personal, at such time and manner as said court shall see fit, or cause a partition in kind to. be made of said property, as in the judgment of the said court might be deemed most advisable ; and that in either case the said court should direct all the proper conveyances to be made accordingly.
4. And for greater, certainty it is hereby declared, that the property, of which undivided portions- are to be conveyed and assigned to the plaintiffs as aforesaid, is all the property and slaves which were inventoried in the parishes of Ascension, Assumption, and Lafourche Interior,'after the death of said Nicholas Girod, as belonging to his estate ; and all the property which was inventoried after the death of said Nicholas Girod, as situated in the Municipal *564 ity No. 2 of the city of New Orleans, including the property which is an alluvion, and accessory to the property derived from the estates of Claude Fránjois Girod, and which was abandoned toNicho ■ las Girod by the heirs of Bertrand Gravier, by an act of compromise executed on the 29th day of March, 1823, and also the house and lot situated at the corner of St. Louis and Chartres Streets, in Municipality No. 1 of the city of New Orleans.
.5. That the adjudication made in the Parish Court of the Parish-of Orleans, in the year 1815, in favor of Nicholas Girod, for $40,418-09, and claimed by the said Nicholas in the account filed in the Court of Probates by Nicholas and Jean Ffanjois Girod, in May, 1817, be set aside, and instead thereof that the representatives of said Nicholas Girod be allowed, in the settlement of the accounts by the master in this cause, the sum of $ 6,576-20, with interest thereon at the rate of five per cent, per annum from the 1st day of August, 1813.
6. That the two acquittances and releases given, in 1817j by the plaintiffs, Madame Adam and Madame Pargoud, to Jean Franjáis Girod, be set aside, and be allowed no other force or effect than as acknowledgments of the receipt by Madame Pargoud for 5,242 francs 75 c., and. by Madame Adam for the sum of 10,242.francs 75c.,. making respectively the sum of $ 975-15, and $ 1,905-15, in .the currency of the United States, as stated in said receipt; and that the said amounts should be deducted from their portions respectively in the distribution.
. 7. That a reference be made to a master in chancery to take an account of what is due from the estate of Nicholas Girod to the plaintiffs, on account of 4he .property belonging to the estate of Claude Franjois Girod, and alienated by said Nicholas Girod, for rents and profits, and for interest; and of what may be due by the complainants to the estate of Nichqlas Girod, for payments made by the said Nicholas on account of the debts of the said' Claude Franjois Girod, and of the legacies paid by him, and of permanent improvements ; and, in taking said account, said master shall charge the said estate with the value of the crop .alleged to have been on hand,.when the' property in Lafourche was adjudicated to Charles-St. Felix, with interest thereon ; with the amounts which, by the aforesaid account ofl817, the said executors acknowledged to have received, or for which they consented to become responsible, from the time the same were received ; with the price at which the two tracts of land on Bayou Lafourche and the two slaves were sold,., and which are mentioned in the pleadings as having heretofore been sold, with interest thereon from the time when, according to the bill of sale, said price was payable ; with the sum of thirtyhve thousand dollars, this being the admitted value of the price of the ground donated by Nicholas Girod to the Female Orphan Asylum, with interest thereon from the time said donation' was madewith the *565 rents and profits of the plantation and slaves, the house at the comer of Chartres and St. Louis Streets, and the property in Faubourg St. Mary, now called the Second Municipality, from the adjudication of 1814, and at the rate which might reasonably, and with a proper administration, have been obtained for the same, it being .understood that from the years 1829 and 1830, when the property in Faubourg St. Mary, or Second. Municipality, still undisposed of, was leased to John F. Miller, the rents and profits thereon are to be charged at the rate at which the rent was stipulated in the lease to said Miller.
8. And the said master shall credit the estate of Nicholas Girod, on said account, with the amount with which said executors -credited themselves in their account of the 23d of May, 1817, with interest thereon, except the personal claim of $ 40,418-09, in lieu of which this court has directed the allowance of $ 6,576-30, being one of the items of the general account which was claimed by Nicholas Girod against Claude Frangois Girod after the death of the said Claude, and the estate of Nicholas Girod shall be credited with any payments that have been made on account of legacies left by the said Claude, with interest' thereon. And the estate of the said Nicholas Girod shall be credited with one half of the rents and profits of the plantation and slaves of Bayou- Lafourche, up to the time when Jean Frangois sold his interest in the same to Nicholas Girod. And the said master shall also credit the estate of the said Nicholas Girod with, the actual cost in money expended by the said Nicholas in permanent improvements, still in existence, of or upon any part of the estate of Claude Frangois Girod, including improvements of the property gained by alluvion, accessory to the property derived from the estate of Claude Francois Girod, which was abándoned to Nicholas Girod by the heirs of Bertrand Gravier, by an act of compromise, executed on the 29th of March, 1823, and the expenses and cost paid by him in recovering the alluvion before mentioned, and including also improvements on the lot at the corner of St. Louis and Chartres Streets, and with improvements on the lands on Bayou Lafourche, deducting from these last the value of the labor of the slaves on the said plantation aiding and making such improvements, and of the materials procured fro.m the same. And the actual cost in money of all improvements made by said Nicholas shall be allowed, with interest at five percent. upon the same from the time it shall be ascertained or found by the master that the sums were expended. And' allowance is also to be made to the estate of said Nicholas for all taxes paid on the property of Claude Frangois Girod. And the said master is hereby authorized, for the discoyery of the matters aforesaid, to receive from the parties, upon oath, books, and papers, and writings in their custody and power relating thereto, and also to examine witnesses orally or upon written interrogatories, in regard to the cost *566 of all improvements, due notice of his proceedings in this matter being given to the parties or their attorney.
9. And the said master shall compute what amount of the balance so to be found against the estate of Nicholas Girod shall be paid to each of the plaintiffs, according to their declared"proportionate interest in the estate of Claude Francois Girod, and said balance shall be paid to them, with interest from the date up to which the master’s report may present a calculation of interest; and said payment shall be made by the dative testamentary executors ofNicholas Girod, out of the funds of said estate, in preference to any legacies under the will of sáid Nicholas Girod. And for the better discovery of matters aforesaid, the parties are to produce before the sáid master, upon oath, all books, papers, and writings in their custody or power relating thereto, as the said master shall direct. Andrfhe said master shall, when necessary, examine said parties upon written interrogatories.
10. That any other person or persons, not now parties to the proceedings, claiming title to the funds or estate in controversy, or to any part thereof, should be allowed to present their claims respectively before the said Circuit Court, to make due proofs thereof, and to become parties to the proceedings, for the due establishment and adjudication thereof.And that the costs of this suit which have hitherto accrued in the said court should be paid by the said dative testamentary executors out of the funds of said estate.
11. It .is thereupon now here- adjudged and decreed by this court, drat so much of the decree of the said Circuit Court as conforms to the decree and opinion of this court be and the same is hereby affirmed. And that this cause be and the same is hereby remanded to the said Circuit Court, with directions to allow- any person or. persons not now parties and claiming title to any portion of the estate in controversy to become parties to the suit, to present their claims and make due proof thereof, and for such further proceedings to be had therein, .in conformity to the decree and opinion of this court, as to law and justice shall appertain.
Notes
Trustees. — Fox v. Mackreth, 2 Bro. C.C. 400; 4 Bro. P. G. (Tomlins's) 258; Hall v. Noyes, 3 Bro. C. C. 483, and see 3 Ves. jun. 748; Kellick v. Flexny, 4 Bro. C. C. 161; Whitcote v. Lawrence, 3 Ves. jun. 740; Campbell v. Walker, 5 Ves. jun. 678, and Whiteckre v. Whitackre, Sel. Chan. Cases, 13.
Remainders. — See Parks v White, II Ves. jun. 226.
Agents. — York Buildings Company v. Mackenzie, 8 Bro. P. .C. 42; Lowther v. Lowther, 13 Ves. jun. 95,; see Watt v. Grove, 2.Sch. & Lef. 492; Whitcomb v. Minchin, 5 Madd. 91; Woodhouse v. Meredith, 1 Jac. & Walk. 204.
Commissioners of Bankrupts. — Ex parte Bennet, 10 Ves. jun. 381; Ex parte Dumbell, Aug. 13,1806, Mónt., notes, 33, cited; Ex parte Harrison, 1 Buck, 17.
Assignees of Bankrupts. — Ex parte Reynolds, 5 Ves. jun. 707-; Ex parte Lacey,' 6 Ves. jun. 625; Ex parlé Bage, 4 Madd. 459Ex parte Badcock, 1 Mont. & Mac. 231.
Solicitors to the Commission. — Owen v. Foulkes, 6 Ves. jun. 630, note i; Ex parte Linwood ’; Ex parte Churchill, 8 Ves. jun. .343, cited; Ex parte Bennet, 10 Ves. jun. 381; Ex parte Dumbell, Áug. 13,1806, Mont., notes, cited; see 12 Ves. jun. 372 ; 3 Mer. 200.
Auctioneers, creditors consulted as to mode of sale, or any persons who hy their connection with, or concern in, the affairs have acquired a knowledge, 8fC. — See Ex parte Hughes, 6 Ves. jun. 617; Coles v. Trecotnick, 9 Ves. jun. 234; 1 Smith’s Rep. 233; Oliver v. Court, 8 Price, 127.