original equity jurisdiction

Original jurisdiction in equity, in a particular class of cases, conferred by the constitution on this court, has been interpreted to impose the duty to adjudicate according to such rules and principles as governed the action of the court of chancery in England, which administered equity at the time of the emigration of our ancestors, and down to the period when our constitution was formed. And when the constitution of the United States conferred that jurisdiction on this court, it cannot be construed to exclude the power possessed and constantly exercised by every court of equity then known, to use its discretion to award or refuse costs