Gordon

delivered the opinion of the Court. On the trial of this cause in the court below, the plaintiff recovered a judgment for the sum of $173, and $150 costs: from which judgment the defendant appealed. The respondent contends that this court has no jurisdiction, and that the amount in controversy does not exceed $200. The Constitution of this *157 State provides, that this court shall have appellate jurisdiction in all cases where the amount in controversy exceeds $200. In the cases of Smith v. -, and Gordon v. Ogden, 3 Peters, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the amount in controversy, on an appeal by the plaintiff, was the ad damnum as laid in the declaration; but on an appeal by the defendant, the actual amount of the verdict as found by the jury was to be considered the amount in controversy. These cases overrule the case of Wilson v. Daniel, 3 Dali., which proceeded on the doctrine, that the defendant should have the same right' to an appeal as the plaintiff, and that the ad damnum must govern in ascertaining the amount in controversy. Without stopping to inquire into the propriety of these latter decisions, we are called upon to determine if the costs in the…