then assigned the note and mortgage to the law firm to secure the payment of any judgment which it might recover for the fees due it. On June 29, 1954, the law firm assigned the note and mortgage to State. The rights and liabilities of *376 State and MacNeil under the note and mortgage have been the subjects of litigation between them almost continuously since that assignment.
The particular case in which the present appeals and exceptions arise is but one of numerous legal proceedings which have been brought by State and MacNeil against each other in various State and Federal Courts. This case was started on August 10, 1954, when State filed a bill in equity under the provisions of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act ofJune 11, 1956. On the basis of the record now before us it appears that no further action was taken by either party in the suit for foreclosure of the mortgage until October 16, 1967, eleven years, four *377 months and five days later, when MacNeil filed a motion for entry of a final decree after rescript.[1]
The burden which the activities of State and MacNeil have imposed on our courts has not been limited to the trial and appeal of the present case. During its now more than sixteen year life, this case has seemingly spawned countless other cases and proceedings in the courts of the Commonwealth and in the Federal courts. A judge of the Land Court, about one-half of all the judges of the Superior Court,