that the same thing cannot be engaged to a second creditor, to the prejudice of the first. ART. 3248.-Mortgage differs from pledge in this : 1. That mortgage exists only on immoveables and slaves, or such other rights as shall be hereafter described; and that the pledge has for its object only moveables, corporeal or incorporeal. 2. That, in pledge, the moveables and effects subjected to it, are put into the possession of the creditor, or of a third person agreed upon by the parties, while the mortgage only subjects to the rights of the creditor the property on which it is imposed, without it being necessary that he should have actual possession. ART. 3249.-The mortgage is a legal right on the property bound for the discharge of the obligation. It is in its nature indivisible, and prevails over all the immoveables subjected to it, and over each and every portion. It follows them into whatever hands they pass. ART. 3250.-The mortgage only takes place in such instances as are authorized by law. ART. 3251.-The mortgage in accessory to a principal obligation, which it is designed to strengthen, and of which it is to secure the execution. ART. 3252.-Consequently, it is essentially necessary to the existence of a mortgage, that there shall be a principal debt, to serve as a foundation for it. Hence it happens, that in all cases where the principal debt is extinguished, the mortgage disappears with it. Hence also it happens that, when the principal obligation is void, the mortgage is likewise so: this, however, is to be understood with certain restrictions which are established hereafter. ART. 3253.-Mortgage is conventional, legal or judicial. ART. 3254.-Conventional mortgage is that which depends on covenants. Legal mortgage is that which is created by operation of law. Judicial mortgage is that which results from judg ments. ART. 3255.-Mortgage, with respect to the manner in which it binds property, is divided into general mortgage and special mortgage. General mortgage is that which binds all the property, present and future, of the debtor. Special mortgage is that which binds only certain specified property. ART. 3256.-The following objects alone are susceptible of mortgage: 1. Immoveables subject to alienation, and their accessories considered likewise as immoveables es; 2. The usufruct of the same description of property with its accessories, during the time of its duration; 3. Slaves; 4. Ships and other vessels. SECTION 1. Of Conventional Mortgages. ART. 3257.-The conventional mortgage is a contract, by which a person binds the whole of his property, or a portion of it only, in favour of another, to secure the execution of some engagement, but without divesting himself of the possession. ART. 3258.-A mortgage may be stipulated for the fulfilment of any obligation whatever, even for the completion of a deed. ART. 3259.-A mortgage may be given for an obligation which has not yet risen into existence, as when a man grants a mortgage by way of security for endorsements, which another promises to make for him. ART. 3260.-But the right of mortgage, in this case, shall only be realized in so far as the promise shall be carried into effect by the person making it. The fulfilment of the promise, however, shall impart to the mortgage a retrospective effect to the time of the contract. ART. 3261.—A mortgage may be given for a part only of the principal obligation. ART. 3262.-It is not necessary that the mortgage should be given by the person contracting the principal obligation; it may be given for the contract of a third person. ART. 3263.-When a person has given a mortgage on his property for the obligation of a third party, it is necessary to inquire whether he only gave the mortgage, or whether he bound himself personally for the fulfilment of the obligation. ART. 3264.—In the former case, that is, if he has only mortgaged his property to secure the fiulfilment of an obligation by a third person, no right of action exists against him personally, but merely an action of mortgage against the thing, to have it seized and sold, so that if it perishes, he who mortgaged it, shall be released from every species of obligation. ART. 3265.-On the other hand, if the person who has given a mortgage for another, has bound himself personally for the fulfilment of the obligation, independently of the mortgage there shall exist against him a right of personal action, and he shall not be released, even if the thing mortgaged should perish. ART. 3266.-Although the nullity of the principal obligation includes that of the mortgage, this is to be understood, with respect to a person giving a mortgage for another, only in so far as the principal obligation is rescinded by an absolute nullity; for if the principal debtor has only obtained a rescision by a plea merely personal, such as minority or coverture, the mortgage given for him by a third person is not less valid, and shall have its full and entire effect. ART. 3267.-Conventional mortgages can only be agreed to by those who have the power of alienating the property which they subject to them. ART. 3268.-Such as only have a right, that is suspended by a condition and may be extinguished in certain cases, can only agree to a mortgage, subject to the same conditions, and liable to the same extinction. ART. 3269.-The property of minors, of persons under interdiction, of absentees and corporations, cannot be mortgaged by contract, in any other form and manner than that directed by law. ART. 3270.-An attorney can only hypothecate the property of his principal, so far as he has a special power for that purpose. Nevertheless, if the attorney, on effecting a loan for his principal, had granted a mortgage, and the latter had received the money for the loan, or if it had been use fully employed for his benefit, the principal would be bound to ratify the mortgage, and might be compelled to execute it. ART. 3271.-If a person contracting an obligation towards another, grants a mortgage on property of which he is not then owner, this mortgage shall be valid, if the debtor should ever after acquire the ownership of the property, by whatever right. ART. 3272.-A conventional mortgage can only be contracted by an act passed in presence of a notary and two witnesses, or by an act under private signature. No proof can be admitted of a verbal mortgage. Hypothecations of ships and other vessels are made according to the laws and usages of commerce. ART. 3273.-To render a conventional mortgage valid, it is necessary that the act establishing it shall state precisely the nature and situation of each of the immoveables on which the mortgage is granted. ART. 3274.-If it be slaves who are mortgaged, their names, sex, and, as nearly as may be, their age and nation, must be mentioned in the act of mortgage, that their persons may be more easily identified. ART. 3275.-A debtor may mortgage his whole present property, or only a specific part, but in either case, it ought to be expresslye numerated, as it is said in the two preceding articles. ART. 3276.-Future property can never be the subject of conventional mortgage. ART. 3277.-To render a conventional mortgage valid, it is necessary that the exact sum, for which it is given, shall be declared in the act. ART. 3278.-The conventional mortgage, when once established on an immoveable, includes all the improvements which it may afterwards receive. SECTION 11. Of Legal Mortgages. ART. 3279. The law alone, in certain cases, gives to the creditor a mortgage on the property of his debtor, without it being requisite that the parties should stipulate it: this is called legal mortgage. It is called also tacit mortgage, because it is established by the law, without the aid of any agreement. ART. 3280.-No legal mortgage shall exist, except in the cases determined by the present code. ART. 3281.-The rights and credits on which legal mortgage is founded, are those enumerated in the following articles. ART. 3282.-Minors, persons interdicted and absentees, have a legal mortgage on the property of their tutors and curators, as a security for their administration, |