198 HEWITT'S CASE.

and if the land be sold by the acre, the quantity is always ascer-
tained by a survey under its authority. But I never have, nor can
admit, that a trustee, after the sale has been ratified, shall be al-
lowed, in any manner, of himself and without the previous express
authority of this Court, to compromit, or abandon any right in re- .
lation to the sale so made, or to relinquish the bond, bill, or note
taken for the purchase money, or to dispose of the property, or
purchase money to any one, or upon any ground whatever. And
moreover, I never have nor can admit, that any Court of common
law, or concurrent Court of equity, much less a justice of the peace,
should undertake to pronounce, in a suit upon a bond, bill, or note
taken to secure the purchase money of a sale made under the au-
thority of this Court, that the consideration of such instrument had
in part, or altogether failed; because of some fraud or mistake in
the proceedings of this Court, or its trustee. If any trustee or ju-
dicial authority, other than the Court of Appeals, were to be suf-
fered, upon any ground or pretext, thus to thwart the regular
course of this Court, some of its most important proceedings might
be paralyzed or perverted: and the injury to its suitors would be
incalculable. Therefore, although the amount of value involved in
this case is exceedingly small, I cannot permit myself, in anyway,
to tolerate or sanction what has been done by this trustee and the
justice of the peace.

Whereupon it is ordered, that the said report of the trustee filed
on the 21st instant, be, and the same is hereby dismissed with costs
to be taxed by the register.

184 HEWITT'S CASE.

ANSWER OF LUNATIC BY HIS COMMITTEE.—PARTITION OF REAL AND PER-
SONAL PROPERTY.

Where it is charged in the bill, that the defendant is in custody as a lunatic.
it is of course for his committee to answer for him; but if the committee
be interested in the matter in controversy, then the lunatic must have a
guardian appointed for him.

This Court has jurisdiction to make partition of real and personal estate; bur
if the personal estate be in the bands of an executor or administrator, it
must, in general, be distributed under the direction of the Orphans
Court, (a)

THIS bill was filed on the 22d of January, 1831, by Eli Hewitt
against Rezin D. Hewitt and Jacob Hewitt; it states that Eli

(a) Cited in Williams r. Holmes, 9 Md. 287; Phdps v. Stewart, 17 Md. 340
As to partition of real estate, see Tomlinson v. McKaig, 5 Gill, 256, note. A-
to partition of personal property, see Crapster v. Griffith, 2 Bland, 5, note.