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Opinion of the Court.

such payment, the bonds were discharged to the extent of their interests; and, that with respect to the plaintiff, Mary Meade and John N. Opie, they were, each, entitled to receive from Castleman (regarding the original interest of the widow as one-third) one-fourth of two-thirds of the original amount of said bonds, principal and interest; and that the deed of trust remained as a valid security for their claims. The release, by Conrad, of the deed of trust was set aside and declared to be of no effect as to the interests of the plaintiff, John N. Opie and Mary Meade. By the final decree it was found and adjudged that the amount due April 16, 1888, to the plaintiff, Mary Meade and John N. Opie, each, was $6369.15. The lands in question were ordered to be sold in satisfaction of those claims, which were given by the decree priority over all other debts against Castleman's estate including even that due to Smith's estate.

The allegation, in the bill, that the personal representatives of Opie were induced by fear or persuasion to accept Confederate money in payment of Castleman's bonds falling due in 1861 and 1862, and Virginia bank notes in payment of those falling due in 1863 and 1864, is unsupported by the evidence. Nor is there any proof of fraud committed by Castleman, unless it was a fraud upon his part to pay his bonds in the only kind of money that was current or in general use in the locality. where he and they, at the time of payment resided. Castleman testified that the personal representatives of Opie accepted Confederate notes in payment of the bonds of 1861 and 1862 without the slightest hesitation or objection, and on the occasion of that payment expressed their willingness to accept payment, in like money, of the bonds of 1863 and 1864; but that shortly before the maturity of the bond of 1863 he was notified by them to make payment in Virginia bank notes. And this demand was complied with by him. The bond of 1863 was paid in money of that kind, and was surrendered by the personal representatives. Sinclair, through whom the bond of 1864 was paid, testifies that no objection was made by either of the personal representatives to payment in Virginia bank notes, and that the written order for the release of

Opinion of the Court.

the trust deed was prepared and delivered to him for Castleman by Thomas Opie himself. If the statements of Castleman and Sinclair, upon these points, were not strictly in accordance with the truth, the contrary could have been proven by the personal representatives. But their depositions were not taken. The plaintiff gave notice to take their depositions in Baltimore, and Castleman attended, with counsel, at the time and place designated in the notice. But neither the plaintiff nor his counsel appeared, and the depositions were never taken. No reason is suggested why they were not taken. It must, therefore, be taken as conclusively established that the personal representatives of Opie voluntarily accepted payment of the bonds of 1861 and 1862 in Confederate money, and that they demanded and received Virginia bank notes in discharge of the bonds of 1863 and 1864.

But this is not all. Castleman testified that the plaintiff was present when the bonds of 1861 and 1862 were paid in Confederate notes, and counted out the money for his mother. The plaintiff testifies that he was not present at any of the payments. But the plaintiff admits that he learned, from the representatives of his father, of the payments of 1862 and 1863, shortly after they were made, and that after the war the Virginia bank notes were divided among the heirs, he receiving his portion of them. It is absolutely certain, from the evidence, that the plaintiff knew at least fifteen years prior to the commencement of this action, that Castleman's bonds, falling due in 1861, 1862, 1863, and 1864, were paid off, during the war, partly in Confederate money and partly in Virginia bank notes. And it cannot be doubted that these facts were known, during the whole of the same period, to Mary Opie, who reached her majority in January, 1863, and to John N. Opie, who reached his majority in March, 1865. If this were not so, they would have testified as witnesses, and stated the contrary.

Under such circumstances, is the plaintiff entitled to the aid of a court of equity as against the estate of Castleman? Avowing his purpose not to hold the personal representatives of his father's estate responsible for having accepted Confederate

Opinion of the Court.

money and Virginia bank notes in discharge of Castleman's bonds, and for having directed the release of the trust deed given to secure those bonds, can he be heard to say that these settlements, some of the fruits of which he and his codistributees enjoyed, and of which he had full knowledge for at least fifteen years prior to the commencement of this action, ought not to have been made and should be now disregarded? These questions can be answered only in one way in a court of equity.

The present case in some of its features is not unlike that of Glasgow v. Lipse, 117 U. S. 327, 334. The facts in that case were these: Lipse's executors having authority to dispose of the real property of the testator, who died in Virginia, sold certain lands in that State to Spears in 1860. One of the payments fell due in October, 1861, another in October, 1862. The bonds were paid in a check on a Virginia bank, which was deposited in that bank by the resident executor who received it. Against that deposit the executor drew his checks, which were paid in Confederate notes. The principal question in the case was whether the debtor was discharged from liability to pay his bonds in lawful money of the United States. This court, after referring to the doctrine declared by the Court of Appeals of Virginia, (Patteson v. Bondurant, 30 Gratt. 94,) that a debtor who pays to an executor in depreciated currency a debt payable in gold or its equivalent, knowing at the time that the currency is not needed for the payment of debts or legacies, or other uses of the estate, and that the safety of the debt does not require its collection, may also be charged as a participant in the devastavit, said: "The present case does not come under the doctrine. It falls within the class where, for debts payable in lawful money, the depreciated currency of the country where they were contracted and the executor resides can be used at its face value in payment of legacies, and, therefore, may be accepted by him without a breach of trust. The notes received had in October, 1862, to a great extent, superseded the use of coin, and became the principal currency of the Confederate States. All business transactions there were had with reference to them. They were a standard of

Opinion of the Court.

value, according to which contracts were made and discharged. Having, therefore, an exchangeable value, they were sought for by residents within the Confederacy." In reference to the issue as to whether the legatees were estopped to question the action of the executor, the court said: "The resident executor there, however, hesitated to accept them [Confederate notes] in payment of the last bond of Spears, which, being made in October, 1860, must be considered as payable in lawful money, and he consulted the wishes of legatees in Virginia, among whom the greater part of the money was to be distributed. They desired him to take the notes, and received them in discharge of their distributive shares. So far as those legatees are concerned their approval of his action was shown by their expressed wishes, and their acceptance of the notes. They, at least, are stopped from questioning the propriety of his conduct."

The plaintiff alleges, in his bill, that his father's estate was perfectly solvent; in nowise involved in debt. The only persons, therefore, interested in the collection of Castleman's bonds were the widow and the children of Heirome L. Opie. The court below correctly held that the widow and Thomas Opie were concluded, as to their interests, by the voluntary acceptance of Confederate money and Virginia bank paper in discharge of Castleman's obligations. Upon every principle of justice, the plaintiff is equally concluded by his knowledge shortly after, if not at the time of, the surrender to Castleman of the bonds of 1861 and 1862, that they were paid in Confederate notes; by his voluntary acceptance of his part of the Virginia bank notes paid by Castleman in discharge of the bonds of 1863 and 1864; and by his failure, for more than fifteen years, to assail, in some direct legal mode, the validity and good faith of the settlements with Castleman. The reason given by the plaintiff why he was so long silent is, that he removed from Virginia to Kentucky in 1873, and from the close of the civil war up to the fall of 1880 was not, although himself a lawyer, financially able to bring this suit or to carry it on. We cannot regard this as a sufficient excuse for his inaction, even if it had been competent for him, after his accept

Opinion of the Court.

ance of a part of the Virginia bank notės paid by Castleman, to have questioned the action of the personal representatives. With respect to the interests of the two distributees, who were not of full age when Castleman paid the bonds of 1861 and 1862, it is only necessary to say that Mrs. Meade had reached her majority when Castleman made his last payment, and both were of full age when, after the war, the Virginia bank notes received from Castleman were divided among the distributees. We cannot suppose, from the evidence, that they . were ignorant of the settlements made by the personal representatives with Castleman. So far as the record discloses, no fraud was practised upon them; nothing was concealed from them. When the Confederacy fell, Confederate notes and Virginia bank notes, based upon Confederate bonds, became, of course, of no value. Then it was that Mrs. Opie sent back, by mail, to Castleman, some of the bank notes paid by him; those, perhaps, which she had retained for herself. At that time, if not before, all the facts were necessarily known to Mrs. Meade and John N. Opie, as they were known to the plaintiff. the plaintiff, Mrs. Meade and John N. Opie, have determined not to hold their mother and brother liable for having voluntarily received payment from Castleman in the only currency used in the locality where all the parties resided, Castleman's estate, he not being chargeable with fraud, ought to be equally exempt from liability.

If

According to the decided preponderance of evidence, the plaintiff, Mrs. Meade and John N. Opie, during the entire period from the close of the war until the institution of this suit, acted as if they did not intend, by legal proceedings, to question the validity of the settlements made with Castleman. And they so acted with full knowledge, or with ample opportunity to acquire knowledge, of all the material facts affecting their rights. By their long silence, and their unreasonable delay in commencing proceedings for relief, they have forfeited whatever right they had to invoke the aid of a court of equity. What they did and what they failed to do is sufficientindependently of any statute of limitations, and apart from any question as to the legal right of the personal representa

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