Gilmer v. Felhour

Citations

• 45 Miss. 627

Syllabus

<p>1. Chancery court — pleading — cross-bill — character op relief grantable under A cross-bill. — Where a cross-bill seeks not only discovery, but relief, the relief prayed by the cross-bill should be equitable relief, otherwise it is demurrable.</p> <p>2. Same—pleading and practice —fate op a cross-bill praying only LEGAL RELIEP, ON DISMISSAL OP ORIGINAL bill. — Where the original bill, upon final hearing, was dismissed for want of equity, and the matters of the cross-bill were purely of a legal character, there is no equity in the cause to sustain the jurisdiction of the court to grant relief upon the cross-bill, and, therefore, that bill should also have been dismissed on final hearing.</p> <p>3. Same —same —office op a cross-bill.—A cross-bill is a matter of defense. It cannot introduce new and distinct matter not embraced in the original suit, and, if it does so, no decree can be founded on the matter.</p> <p>A Same —same—want op equity is no defense to a cross-bill, BROUGHT FOR DEFENSE, SO LONG AS THE ORIGINAL BILL IS RETAINED. — Where the original bill is retained, and contains sufficient equity to give jurisdiction to the court, the want of equity is no defense to a cross-bill brought forward by way of defense.</p> <p>5. Same —SAME—ORIGINAL AND CROSS-BILLS—DISMISSAL.—A cross-bill is a mode of defense. The original bill and cross-bill are but one cause. A cross-bill is treated as a dependency upon the original suit. Prom this it necessarily follows that when the original bill is dismissed, the dismissal carries with it the cross-bill.</p> <p>6. Same — same—exceptions to the rule op dismissal op cross-bills ALONG WITH ORIGINAL BILLS — ORIGINAL BILL FOR SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE and cross-bills por rescission of a written contract. — There are exceptions to the rule that the cross-bill must follow the fate of the original bill. When, for instance, the original bill seeks the specific performance of a contract, which the. defendant endeavors, by a cross-bill, to can