High Court of Errors and Appeals, of Pennſylania :
April Seſſions, 1780.
Montgomery verſus Henry et al.
This caſe, which was an appeal from a decree in the Admiralty, having been elaborately argued on the 6th of May, the President delivered the opinion of the Court.
Reed, Preſident:—The caſe upon which we are now to give our judgment, comes before us under the following circumſtances:—Captain Montgomery was maſter and commander of the ſhip, called the General Greene, deſigned for a voyage to Martinicp. While the ſhip lay in the river, a ſevere froſt happened, which occasioned a great delay, and the owners thought proper to alter their plan. Differences then aroſe; they diſmiſt Capt. Montgomery, and took the ſhip from him. Upon this he preferred his libel in the Court of Admiralty, complaining of the injury, as done to him in the port of Philadelphia, and within the juriſdiction of the Court of Admiralty. The anſwer of the owner to the libel is, that they had a right to remove their captain when they pleaſed, and that they are willing to pay him any damages he may have received by the removal.
Two general queſtions ariſe: Firſt—Is the matter complained of within the Admiralty juriſdiction? Secondly, On the merits, had the owners a right to remove Capt. Montgomery?
The firſt queſtion is ſubdivided into two others. Firſt—Had the Court of Admiralty cognizance of this cauſe, conſidering the place where the offence is charged to have been done?—Secondly, Is the ſubject matter of Admiralty cognizance?
All the proceedings are laid to have taken place within the port of Philadelphia. The reſpondents ſay, that the river Delaware is not within the Admiralty juriſdiction, and to prove this, they cite Ld. Raym. 1453.—But, it appears to us, that, from the 12th and 15th Rich. 2d. the Admiralty has had juriſdiction on all waters out of the body of the county.—There has been great debates as to what is
meant
