Smith's Appeal
Smith's Appeal
Opinion of the Court
— Precedents cannot help us to arrive at the testator’s meaning in a case like this. It must be drawn from his words, and the context of the whole will. Payment of the debt was to be made by Seaton, “when entirely convenient to him, free from any charge of interest.” Had the testator meant that the debt was to come out of the legacy, he would have said so; for it appears from his language in other bequests, that he knew how to speak with precision. It seems he spoke in general terms, because Seaton’s necessities might have made the defalcation of the debt from his legacy much more than inconvenient to him. It is evident that the testator considered him to be a needy man, and meant to relieve him. Had he meant to give him a legacy less the amount of the debt owing to him, what was the use of saying the debt should not bear interest ? A legacy given in payment of a debt bears interest from the death, in order to counter
Decree affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.