Gale v. Grannis

Bill in chancery to foreclose a mortgage. The defense set up was usury. The trial was under the old practice.

The ground upon which it was claimed that the contract was usurious was, that depreciated notes of a third person were taken in lieu of cash, as a part of the consideration. The Court below found the contract usurious, and gave a decree for the principal sum only. Had this finding been by a jury, it might have concluded the question. But this Court decides chancery causes on the merits (1).

We cannot sustain the decree rendered. Usury is mainly *142matter of intention. There is nothing in…