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90.
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PROVINCE OF LOWER-CANADA.
COUMT OF ^PFE^LS.
In a Cause Between
WILLIAM PLENDERLEATH,
(^Ptaintiff in the Court behw)
and
NAPIER CHRISTIE BURTON,
(Defendant in tlie Court below)
^ Respondent.
and
the t^evd. JAMES TUNSTALL and
SARAH CHRISTIE, his Wife,
(Ojrposants in the Court below)
^ ' Appellants.
THE APPELLANTS' CASE.
T>
■ 'his is a case involving a large sum of money, but of itself of extreme simplicity. Tiie
aSarelrcomplexitv of the^ause'Iui.es .olely fro n the ^-^^-^-•'^^-^l^^^^^^^^^
aS^ted bv the Plai.wilTin the Court below ami m the onuss.on of th^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
irregularities of the Plaintiff's proceedings when brought under its consideiauon bj tbc p.e-
sent Appellants.
The facts out of which the present litigation has arisen, are not controverted by any of the
parties, and a»e the following :
On the 13th of %, 1789, Major General Christie, being then at London, and about to em-
bark for Canada, made his last Will and Testament.
By this Will he devised to Samh ChrSie, his wilV, WiUimn Ci;!^^«^;^«y "^/^^j^^;;;!
Andrew Dickie (the three last being resident in Great Hritam,) his null ami UndeU P'«P«'ty'
ivfateTn thetii^^^^ ofChambly,rn trust to sen,Ac. At'^^^'l"-' 'X^ne^^JchrW^^^^^^^^^^^
^500 to be uaidouv of the clear and net proceeds to arise from such sale, tiemial l.m isiiepio-
£lS to bequeath to the above muned gLtlemen asum of /^5000, .'!' '' -\;-'S;'-;iJ';."-
in ffood securities, to pay the interest or dividends of the said securities to I is widow, duung
Kfe' in SilSioi^J dower ; on the decease of his widow U. ^-^^^^'^^^:^
vidend^ equally unto and between his two daughters, Caderine f^^V"' '^.^.^ ^^^^^''^^j^^^^^^^
and Sarah Christie, (now Mrs. Tunsta 1); and after the decease of eilhe of Uie said aUies, to
SrerddwS: Si moiety of the said sum of £5000 between ^^^^'^f^^^^^^^'l^flZ
dying: the remaining moietv to be in hke mauiu-r shared between U^^^^^^^
vorof the said ladies uixm tlie decease of such survivor. I he festato next gave ami oe
quealSuiUotlifsaid tiuherine Christie, " the sum of t- thousand ive hundred J^^^^^^^
« of lawful money of Great-Britain, and unto the said Sarah Christie, ^^'^ ''^^ f ""' °;, ^ '^^^^
« of like lawful monev, over and besides such provision as he had already made tor tUem res-
« pe We Y bv tha S wdl to be paid unto e^ch of them at their resptu.tive ages of twenty-
" Sne vea?s or day o idaysof Marfiage which should first happen." After several other lega-
cierairof which ?4e^^^^^^^^ those Siade in fav.,r of his ^'^^ -'i "^rtS^^^
dir^ts to be paid out of his pei-sonal estate, and the proceeds of the ^^^^ "^ ^J^"^JJ^ '',; ^^.
Gueathed the residue of his personal estate and the whole of his real estate, othe. than tlie be
?or?-lntloLdm1rC at Sltambly, to Napier Christie Burton, with several remainders ov^-.
14'7?8:
On the 19t!i of January, 1799, at Montroal, the Testator departoiltliia life, having, aafurm
human foresight could il;), pro. ided (or the well-being of his tkmily.
The widow catised an inventory to bejnade in the usiial form.
Previous to tho ilpceaao of the Teatator, WilUain Christie, one of the TruMees named in the
will, had departed ihisJite. The other two Trustees refused to act, and the widow of the Tes-
tiUor di'dined to act in consequence. Upon the anival df Napier Christie Burton, in thin
country, in the year 1800, an instrument, denominated a transaction, was executed befori> Papi-
ncaunhd Confrire, Notaries, bearing date at Montreal, the 8t!i of August, 1800, to which, us
well the willow of the Testator as the said Napier Christie Burton and the said two daughicrs
of the Testator, were parties.
By this instrument Napier ChristieBurton approved the account rendered by the widow, and
released her from al' clain-.a arising out of the administration which she had had of the {roods
and lands of the Testator. She, on her part, assigned and transferred all the goods nnil lands
bequeathed to the Trustees, unto the said Napier Christie Burton, he engaging to accomplish
the several trusts contained in the will.
The clause relating to the two several sums of jf 2,300, bequeathed to Catherine and Sarah
Christie, absolutely and unconditionally, having given occasion to the present litigation, the
Appellant will here insert it : —
Et d ce faire^taient presentes Dame Catherine Christie, Spouse de John Robertson, Ecuier,
duement fondle de sa procuration, recue par Mtre. Chaboillez, Notaire, et son contuse, lo
cinq Avril dernier, etassistd du Sieur William Martin, Prc"ureur y denonime, et Dame Sarah
Chi-istie, epousedu Reverend James Tunstall, h ce present, qui I'autorise i I'eftet qui ensuit,
lesquels ont volontairement dii et declare avoir les pr^senJes pour agreablee, consententet ac-
cordent que le Testament de leurp(ire sus-mentionne soil execute selon sa forme et teneur, en
ce qui lesconcerne,se tiennent pour contentes de I'assignation taite par ces prcsentes, de la
somme de £5,000, sterling, dont I'int^rfit doit leur revenir &pr6a le dec^s de la dite Dame, leur
mdre, ainsi et comme il est expliqu6 ci-devant ; et quant a la somme de £2,300, sterling, ii
chacune d'elles, afr(Srantes aux desir du dit Testament; elles consentent et accordent paredle-
ment, que lea dites sommes de £2,500, sterling, chacune deuieurent pareillemeni assignees et
affeci^essur tons les biensimmeuWes situ^s en ceite Province, qui appartenoient au dit Testa-
teur; excepte seulement ceux qu'ilpourratrouvernecessaire de vendre, au meillcur iugemen*
de Son Excellence le Major General Burton, pour acquitter les dettes passives du dit Testateur
pour la rente de chacune des dites sommes leur (ire respectivement payee sur le pied de six p.^r
cent, par an, par le R^ceveur et Adminiatrat«ur des dits biens en cette Province, en deux paye-
mens egaux, de six mois en six mois, sur leur simple re^u pour leur usage, et mainlien particw
Her, leur vie durante, et apres leur decis le capital retournera a leurs enjahs respectivement.
The above clause divested not Mrs. Turnstall of her right of property in the £2500 and in
the interest thereon to accrue. It possessed none of the characters of an Act translative of
property for a valuable consideration — it was as clearly not a donation — It will not be con-
f ended that it was a last will or a contractual institution — It was merely a mental destination
infuturo of this property, which produced no effect. Property once vested can only be divest-
ed by some of the forms prescribed by law ; even the willing to cease to be proprietor ;s not
sufficient to extinguish the right of property. Ulpian, adverting to a difference between the
ri<»ht of property and of possession, el^antly expresses it thus — Differentia inter dominium etr
possessionem hiec est, quod dominium nihilo minus (jus manet, qui dominus esse non vult ; pas-
sessio aulem reccdit ut quisque constituit nolle possidere—h. 17, §. 1, ff. de adquir. ct amitt,
pass.
On the 30th Sei)t. ISIG, the above named Plenderleath, one of the legatees named in the
Testator's will, briuiglit his action in the Court of King's Bench for the District of Montreal,
tor the recovery of the balance of his legacy.
To this action Napier Christie Burton filed a plea of very peculiar charac^sr. He does not
deny the debt, but pleails very specially an agreement between the Plaintiff and Defendants,
that the property specified in the plea should be exempted fiom the operation of the Writ of
Execution to issue in the cause, and that certain other property also specified :n the plea should
be seized. Christie Napier Bmton concludes for the dismissal of the Plaintiff's action, " un-
" less he the said Plaintiff shall take and obtain the same, subject to the aforesaid limitation
" and condition."
The Plaintiff replies that he is ready and willing to take and obtain judgment under the said
re3trictions,&c. and accordingly prays for judgment, " subject to the limitations and conditions
" mentioned and contained in the aforesaid plea of the said Napier Christie Burton."
Judgment was renderedon the 19th day of October, 181G,
On the 10th December, 1816,«, Writ o( fieri facias, unprecedented inform, was issued at the
instance of the Plaintiff. The Sheriff is tfiereby commanded toseire** particular real estate
(the
■a*
E
cuier,
se-
en
(the mill, &c, of Chambly,) "charged with certain rentu and alio cliarged with the paymentof
<' ,£"11,11 1 2 2 currency, one halt' of which said last mentioned 8uin (bearins intereet to be
" discharged half-yearly) is lo be paid to the heirs of Sarah Christie, wife of the Reverend
" James Tunstall, at lier decease and the other half of the said sum (bearing interest to be
" dischargee! in like manner,) >s to he paid lo the heirs of Catherine Christie, widow jf the
" liiiu Col. John Robertson, at her decease, in conformity to an Act of transaction passed "ue-
«' fore Papineau and Banon, bearing date the 8th day of AugUdt, 1800."
When these proceedings came to the knowledge of Mrs. TurnsuU, and her sister Mrs.
Robertson, they were advised that their remedy was by an oppositioo qfin d'annuUer—Opj^-
sitions of this nature were accordingly filed.
The opposition of Mrs. Tunstall was on the day of dismissed with cosU.
It is difficult to conjecture on what grounds the court below proceeded
more clear than that the debt of Mrs. 1 unstall could not in law be considei
Nothing can be
considered as a cAar^^e, nor
that her rights could not be affected by a judgment rendered in a cause to which she was not
a party, nor by any proceedings had on such judgment withom notice to her.
In Augiiat,1813,the Appellants had filed with the Sheriff, in a suit ir. which one Dumas was the
Plaintiff, and the said Napier Christie Burton, Detendant, an opposition cfin de charge for one
moiety of the £3000 bequeathed to the widow of the Testator. It was obUcted that tliis
wag a mortgage and not the legitimate subject of an opposition ajin de charge. The Court be-
low maintained this objection and dismissed the opposition with costs, assigning as the reason
of their judgment " Que. les droits quails reclament ne pouvoient dormer lieu qu d ttne oppoti'
•' tion njin de conservtr les renvot/e et diboute de leurs oppositions qfin de charge,"
On the 19th of July, 1817, the Appellants filed an opposition ajin de conserver, for the be-
■ fore-mentioned sum cf ^£2300, bequeathed to Mrs. Tunstall, absolutely.
The Respondent pleaded the Deed of Transaction, and urged that it was a charge upan all
the real Estate of the Respondent.
The Court below maintained the Reiipondent's plea and dissmissed the Appellanu' opposi-
tion with costs.
Thus, the Appellant found herself deprived of the provision which her &ther had had the
■fore«>i<(ht to make for herself and family, and though entitled to a moderate competence finds
herself in pecuniary embarsassments.
It is from this judgment that the present appeal is brought.
Quebec, 93dJu{y, IS19.
■ un-