RINGGOLD'S CASE. 19

"that all appeals from the decisions, orders, and decrees of the
Chancery Court, in cases where appeals properly lie," shall be
made within nine months, &c. ;(i) which declaration, it was after-
wards enacted, should "be confined to decretal orders." (j) Whence
it may be fairly inferred, that although the range of the right of
appeal might have been, under the previous laws, construed to
be, at least, co-extensive with the right of appeal from the Court
of Chancery of England, yet by this last law it was intended to
reduce it within much narrower limits, by declaring, that it should
"be confined to decretal orders."

Consequently, although it may be questionable, in many cases,
whether an appeal, which would be allowed in England, should be
granted here, yet it would seem to be perfectly clear, that where an
appeal will not lie from the English Court of Chancery, it cannot
now be granted from this court, (k) Hence, as it is settled in
England, that there can, in general, be no effectual appeal from a
decree by default; or from a decree, to the passing of which the
party has assented; or which, by his negligence or omission, he
has permitted to go against him, it would seem necessarily to follow,
that no appeal ought to be allowed to a party against whom any
such decree had been passed by this court, either in the ordinary
course, or according to the special provisions of the act of assembly,
which authorizes the court to proceed ex parte;(l) or under any of
the acts which authorize the court to take the bill, pro confesso, as
against an absent, or a contumacious resident defendant; since the
right of appeal has been reserved to such a party by no act of
assembly, in any case whatever; and if he were, notwithstanding,
to be suffered to appeal, such a decree would be thereby rendered,
in a great measure, utterly futile; and he might thus be enabled to
turn his own negligence to his particular benefit, by taking advan-
tage of errors and omissions in the proceedings, which must have
been waived, or might have been cured, or provided for, had he
appeared and answered. But this is a matter which yet remains
to be carefully considered and finally determined by the proper
tribunal.

The act for regulating the granting of appeals from and to the
courts of common law, declares, that the method and rule of the
prosecution of appeals shall be in the manner and form as therein
expressed, that is to say, the party appealing shall procure a tran-

(i) 1785, ch.72, s. 27.—(j) 1818, ch. 193, s. 1—(k) But see 1830, ch. 185, and

1832, ch. 197.—(i) 1820, ch. 161, s. 1