CHAP.
LXXIX.
Bill may be
taken pro con-
fesso, &c.
A commission
may issue to one
person, &c.
 
 
 

In case of es-
cheat land, suit
may be brought,
&c.
 
 
 
 
 
 

All costs to be
charged to the
complainant,
&c.
 
 
 

Defendant ap-
pearing to an-
swer, &c.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Property taken
to be delivered
back, &c.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

On injunction,
bond to be can-
celled, &c.

allegations of a suitor pro confesso, BE IT ENACTED, That in all cases whatever, where the chancellor
is authorised to decree without the appearance of the defendant or defendants, it shall be at the dis-
cretion of the chancellor, either to take the bill pro confesso, or direct a commission for taking deposi-
tions ex parte, as by law is directed in certain cases where the defendants are nonresidents.

VI. AND BE IT ENACTED, That hereafter, with the consent of the party or parties in court,
and with the approbation of the chancellor, a commission for any purpose whatever, which may law-
fully issue from the chancery court in any cause there depending, or hereafter to be instituted, may
be directed to one person only, or to three persons, with power to any two, and the person or per-
sons to whom it shall be directed shall have the same authority as has heretofore been reposed in any
greater number.

VII. AND BE IT ENACTED, That in all cases where land has escheated, or shall escheat, to the 
state, or hath or shall become the property of the state, from the purchase thereof by an alien, or
hath been confiscated as the property of a British subject, any person having any claim to the said
land, or any part thereof, or having a lien or charge upon the same, or a title in equity, may bring
a suit against the state in any court of law or equity, as the case may required, in the same manner as
it might have been brought in the chancery court, the attorney-general shall be the defendant in behalf of
the state, between whom and teh complainant or complainants there shall be such proceedings as
might have been between the said complainant or complainants and the persons whose title hath de-
volved on the state; provided, that in no case shall the state be burthened with costs, or otherwise
in consequence of having the said title.

VIII. AND BE IT ENACTED, That in all cases whatever, where a suit shall hereafter be instituted
against the state in the said court of chancery, all costs in the said suit shall be charged to the com-
plainant or complainants, and the state shall not be answerable for any part thereof, unless the chan-
cellor shall be of opinion that the necessity of bringing such suit hath not been owing to the fault
or negligence of the said compainant or complainant, and in case the chancellor shall be of such 
opinion, he shall have power to decree with the respect to costs as to him justice shall seem to require;
provided, that in no case shall the state be liable to costs in which it is not at present liable.

IX. AND BE IT ENACTED, That in case any defendant shall hereafter appear in the court of chan-
cery, either in person or by a solicitor, agreeably to an order limitting a day for such appearance, or
shall voluntarily so appear to a bill filed in chancery, he shall put in a good and sufficient answer to
each interrogatory contained in the bill, or a plea or a demurrer to the same, on or before the fourth
day of the term succeeding such appearance, he shall otherwise be liable to pbe proceeded against, if
a resident of the state, as if he had been duly summoned and appeared as in ordinary cases, and if he
be a nonresident, either the bill shall be taken pro confesso, or, at the discretion of the chancellor, a
commission shall issue for taking depositions ex parte, and the chancellor may thereon proceed to
decree.

X. AND, whereas it sometimes happens, that an injunction from teh court of chancery prevents
the sheriff from proceeding to sell after he hath taken in execution property of a perishable nature,
and doubts are entertained respecting the power, duty and liability of the sheriff, and whatever the
law may be, great invonveniencies must arise to one of the parties, or to the sheriff, whether injunc-
tion be afterwards dissolved or decreed to be perpetual, BE IT ENACTED, That in case any injunction
from the court of chancery shall hereafter issue to prevent a sheriff or other officer from selling
personal property taken in execution, immediately on the service of such injunction on the sheriff,
or other officer, he shall deliver back the property so taken in execution to the party from whom it
was taken, and shall not be answerable to the plaintiff or plaintiffs at law on account of the same;
and in all cases where personal property hath been taken in execution, and the sheriff or other officer
hath been prevented, by injunction from the chancery court, from selling the same, the sheriff or
other officer may deliver the same, if in his possession, to the party from whom it was taken, and shall
not be answerable for the same to the plaintiff or plaintiffs at law; and in every case of injunction
heretofore issued, if the sheriff or other officer hath taken any personal property out of the possession
of the defendant at law who hath obtained the injunction, the said sheriff, or other officer, shall be
answerable at law for the said property to the party from whom it was taken.

XI. AND BE IT ENACTED, That in all cases where the chancellor has or shall decree a perpetual
injunction against the state of Maryland, in favour of persons who have purchased British property
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