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Ps' petition is founded on promissory notes, payable to a person named in the note, 'or bearer,' and states, that the notes were 'duly transferred, assigned and delivered' to Ps, 'who thereby became the lawful bearer thereof, and entitled to payment of the sums therein specified; and that Ds, in consideration of their liability, assumed,' &c. The Planters' Bank (P) pleads to the jurisdiction of the Court, and alleges, that it is a corporation, of which the State of Georgia, and certain individuals, who are citizens of the same State with some of the Ps, are members. The persons to whom the notes mentioned in the petition were made payable, were citizens of the State of Georgia, and, therefore, incapable of suing P in a Circuit Court of the United States; and being so incapable, could not, by transferring the notes to Ps, enable them to sue in that Court. Ps demurred, and Ds joined in demurrer. The judges were divided on whether there was jurisdiction and whether Ps were entitled to a judgment. The basic question was whether the State of Georgia is a party defendant.

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