CAMPBELL'S CASE. 209

And it is further Decreed, that the defendant John Diffenderffer,
pay unto the defendant Charles R. Diffenderffer, or bring into this
court to be paid to him, the sum of $8,707 05, with legal inte-
rest thereon, from the 8th day of November, 1828, until paid or
brought in.

And it is further Decreed, that the defendant John Diffenderffer,
pay unto the plaintiffs, and to each one of the other parties, their
costs in this suit arising under the said decree to account to be
taxed by the Register.

See the report of this case as disposed of by the Court of Ap-
peals, 3 G. & J. 311.

CAMPBELL'S CASE.

Where an estate has been devised to be sold to pay debts, the trustee who has ac-
cepted the trust, may be ordered to proceed accordingly, and to sell, as directed
by the will, real estate lying out of this state.—Trustees, on failing to give bond
as required, may be removed, and another trustee appointed.

On petition and affidavit a writ de lunatico inquirendo may be issued.—It should be
directed to the county in which the person alleged to be insane resides; but if he
be not within the state, it should be directed to the county in which he last re-
sided; and in some cases, his appearance before the inquest may be dispensed
with.

In a creditor's suit the case may be submitted, to obtain a decree for a sale, without
having been regularly set down for hearing.—Formerly the estate of a lunatic
might be saved as far as practicable; and as regarded infant heirs and devisees,
the parol might demur; but now, on the answer of a lunatic by his committee, or
an infant by his guardian ad litem, in a creditor's suit, a sale of the realty may be
at once decreed to pay debts.—All devises to the prejudice of creditors are de-
clared to be void; but if not materially so, the creditors can only take the estate
devised for their satisfaction.

In England, private acts of parliament have only been passed in cases where the
parties could be relieved in no other way.—Such acts are considered only as con-
veyances, binding on those alone who are parties; and if tainted with fraud, may
be set aside.—Although the facts set forth in a bill of attainder cannot be ques-
tioned, yet the truth of a fact stated in a private act of parliament cannot be as-
sumed to the prejudice of any private right.—Here, as well as in England, apart
from any constitutional objection, a statute, because of its being inexplicable,
contradictory, or altogether absurd, may be declared void.—Here, as the sove-
reignty belongs to the people only, our government is limited, as well by its na-
ture as by special constitutional restrictions.—The general assembly can pass
no law impairing the obligation of contracts, or injuriously affecting the right of
private property; or exercise any authority whatever beyond its own sphere as a
legislature.—Private acts of assembly operate here like conveyances, binding only
on the parties, and are valid only in so far as they do not conflict with the con-