The Brutus
U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts
[Appeal from the district court of the-United States for the district of Massachusetts. [In admiralty. Libel by Woodbury and' others against the privateer Brutus for the-distribution of the proceeds of prizes. There was a decree for libellants in the district court (case unreported), and the respondents appeal.
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[Appeal from the district court of the-United States for the district of Massachusetts. [In admiralty. Libel by Woodbury and' others against the privateer Brutus for the-distribution of the proceeds of prizes. There was a decree for libellants in the district court (case unreported), and the respondents appeal. The material facts in this case were as follows: The private armed schooner Brutus, William Austin commander, being fitted' for a cruise; about the third of October, 1814, shipping articles were entered into-by and between the owners, and the commander, officers and crew of the…
1Opinion of the Court
STOKY, Circuit Justice.
This cause has been argued with great ability on both sides. The questions involved in it are of considerable difficulty, and it is to be regretted, that so little light can be gleaned from authorities, to assist in the decision, which is now to be pronounced. We are called upon, in the first instance, to put a construction upon the shipping articles. These, like all other mercantile instruments, are drawn up in a very lax and inartificial manner. To construe the language by the technical rules of literal interpretation would be to defeat the manifest intention of the…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- HighMichigan Supreme Court · 1847
3Cited by2 opinions
- Ex parte O'HareCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1910
- In re the Will of SwartwoutNew Jersey Court of Chancery · 1874