70 STRIKE'S CASE.

this instance, where the decree speaks of " the court's directions,5'
and of all equities being reserved, its phraseology must be made
compatible in all its parts. The reservation of all equities must not
be used to fritter away, and to abnegate the substance of any mat-
ter, which had been, in a previous part of the decree, carefully and
solemnly decided. No directions, therefore, will or can now be
given, which are incompatible with the points settled by the
decree. It is now brought before the court to be executed and
completed, not in any manner to be revised or impaired.(b)

The decree of May, 1822, is founded upon the existence of a
debt due to the plaintiffs; but it does not specify the exact amount,
nor does it say any thing of the interest thereon. Interest, in
equity, is held to be something more than a mere incident; it is
the production, the fruit of the money due. In this case these
creditors may now call for directions as to these particulars. An
exact estimate of their claim could not, with propriety, have been
made until after the sale of the property decreed to be liable for its
payment; because, according to the course of the court in such
cases as this, where the proceeds are insufficient to pay all, the
interest is to be calculated only up to the day of sale. This, then,
is the first point left open by this decree; but it is a matter which
may be reduced to a certainty by the calculation of the auditor, to
be made according to established principles, from the proofs in the
cause; any further special directions in this instance, therefore, are
deemed wholly unnecessary.

In this case, the bill expressly prays, that the defendants may
be ordered to account for the rents and profits of the property in
question. The decree has determined, that it was unlawfully
detained, by declaring the deeds, under which it was held, null
and void. It follows, therefore, as a consequence of this deci-
sion, that an account of the rents and profits should now be
ordered, and that directions should be given, as to the time for
which the account is to be taken, and as to the manner of taking
it. This is the second point left open by this decree; and, as to
which the Chancellor will now give directions.

The decree totally annuls the deeds under which Strike claims,
without retaining them as a security for any thing. He can now,
therefore, claim nothing whatever under them as against the com-
plainants. But if, under all the circumstances of this case, apart

(6) The Santa Mari, 10 Wheat. 442.