examinations, the property does not sufficiently appear to be neutral, the claimant is often indulged with time to send over affidavits to supply that defect. If he will not show the property by sufficient affidavits to be neutral, it is presumed to belong to the enemy. Where the property appears from evidence not on board the ship, the captor is justified in bringing her in, and excused paying costs, because he is not in fault; or, according to the circumstances of the case, may be justly entitled to receive his costs.

"If the sentence of the Court of Admiralty is thought to be erroneous, there is in every maritime country a superior Court of Review, consisting of the most considerable persons, to which the parties who think themselves aggrieved may appeal; and this superior court judges by the same rule which governs the Court of Admiralty, viz., the law of nations and the treaties subsisting with that neutral power whose subject is a party before them.

"If no appeal is offered, it is an acknowledgment of the justice of the sentence by the parties themselves, and conclusive.

"This manner of trial and adjudication is supported, alluded to, and enforced by many treaties.

"In this method all captures at sea were tried during the last war by Great Britain, France, and Spain, and submitted to by the neutral powers. In this method, by Courts of Admiralty acting according to the law of nations, and particular treaties, all captures at sea have immemorially been judged of in every country in Europe. Any other method of trial would be manifestly unjust, absurd, and impracticable.

"Such are the principles which govern the proceedings in the prize courts.

"The following are the measures which ought to be taken by the captor, and by the neutral claimant, upon a ship and cargo being brought in as a prize. The captor, immediately upon bringing his prize into port, sends up or delivers upon oath to the registry of the Court of Admiralty, all papers found on board the captured ship. In the course of a few days the examinations in preparatory of the captain and some of the crew of the captured ship are taken upon a set of standing interrogatories, before the commissioners of the port to which the prize is brought, and which are also forwarded to the registry of the Admiralty as soon as taken. A monition is extracted by the captor from the registry, and served upon the Royal Exchange, notifying the capture, and calling upon all persons interested to appear and show cause, why the ship and goods should not be condemned. At the expiration of twenty days the monition is returned into the registry with a certificate of its service; and if any claim has been given, the cause is then ready for hearing, upon the evidence arising out of the ship's papers, and preparatory examinations. The measures taken on the part of the neutral master or proprietor of the cargo are as follows:-Upon being brought into port, the master usually makes a protest which he forwards to London, as instructions (or with such further directions as he thinks proper) either to the correspondent of his owners, or to the consul of his nation, in order to claim the ship and such parts of the cargo as belong to his owners, or with which he was particularly intrusted : or the master himself, as soon as he has undergone

his examination, goes to London to take the necessary steps.

"The master, correspondent, or consul applies to a proctor, who prepares a claim supported by an affidavit of the claimant, stating briefly to whom, as he believes, the ship and goods claimed belong; and that no enemy has any right or interest in them. Security must be given to the amount of sixty pounds, to answer costs, if the case should appear so grossly fraudulent on the part of the claimant as to subject him to be condemned therein.

"If the captor has neglected in the meantime to take the usual steps (but which seldom happens, as he is strictly enjoined, both by his instructions and by the Prize Act, to proceed immediately to adjudication), a process issues against him on the application of the claimant's proctor, to bring in the ship's papers and preparatory examinations, and to proceed in the usual

way.

"As soon as the claim is given, copies of the ship's papers and examinations are procured from the registry, and upon the return of the monition the cause may be heard. It, however, seldom happens (owing to the great pressure of business, especially at the commencement of a war) that causes can possibly be prepared for hearing immediately upon the expiration of the time for the return of the monition. In that case, each cause must necessarily take its turn. Correspondent measures must be taken by the neutral master if carried within the jurisdiction of a Vice-Admiralty Court, by giving a claim supported by his affidavit, and offering security for costs, if the claim should be pronounced grossly fraudulent.

"If the claimant be dissatisfied with the sentence, his proctor enters an appeal in the registry of the court where the sentence was given, or before a notary public (which regularly should be entered within fourteen days after the sentence), and he afterwards applies at the registry of the Lords of Appeal in prize causes (which is held at the same place as the registry of the High Court of Admiralty) for an instrument called an inhibition, and which should be taken out within three months if the sentence be in the High Court of Admiralty, and within nine months if in a Vice-Admiralty Court, but may be taken out at later periods, if a reasonable cause can be assigned for the delay that has intervened. This instrument directs the judge, whose sentence is appealed from, to proceed no further in the cause. It directs the registrar to transmit a copy of all the proceedings of the inferior court; and it directs the party who has obtained the sentence to appear before the superior tribunal to answer to the appeal. On applying for this inhibition, security is given on the part of the appellant to the amount of two hundred pounds to answer costs, in case it should appear to the Court of Appeals that the appeal is merely vexatious. The inhibition is to be served upon the judge, the registrar, and the adverse party and his proctor, by showing the instrument under seal, and delivering a note or copy of the contents. If the party cannot be found, and the proctor will not accept the service, the instrument is to be served 'viis et modis,' that is, by affixing it to the door of the last place of residence, or by hanging it upon the pillars of the Royal Exchange. That part of the process above described, which is to be

s 5

executed abroad, may be performed by any person to whom it is committed, and the formal part at home is executed by the officer of the court. A certificate of the service is indorsed upon the back of the instrument, sworn before a surrogate of the superior court, or before a notary public, if the service is abroad. If the cause be adjudged in a Vice-Admiralty Court, it is usual, upon entering an appeal there, to procure a copy of the proceedings, which the appellant sends over to his correspondent in England, who carries it to a proctor, and the same steps are taken to procure and serve the inhibition, as where the cause has been adjudged in the High Court of Admiralty. But if a copy of the proceedings cannot be procured in due time, an inhibition may be obtained by sending over a copy of the instrument of appeal, or by writing to the correspondent an account only of the time and substance of the

sentence.

"Upon an appeal fresh evidence may be introduced, if, upon hearing the cause, the Lords of Appeal shall be of opinion that the case is of such doubt as that further proof ought to have been ordered by the court below.

"Further proof usually consists of affidavits made by the asserted proprietors of the goods, in which they are sometimes joined by their clerks and others acquainted with the transaction, and with the real property of the goods claimed. In corroboration of these, affidavits may be annexed, original correspondence, duplicates of bills of lading, invoices, extracts from books, &c. These papers must be proved by the affidavits of persons who can speak to their authen