9 Geo. 4, c. 32.

Affirmation to be sufficient instead of oaths in all cases, criminal as well as civil.

3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 49. Allows Quakers and Moravians to make affirmation in all cases where an oath was formerly required.

1 & 2 Vict. c. 5 and c. 15. Allows Quakers to be admitted to municipal offices, and regulating oaths to be taken by them.

5 & 6 Wm. 4, c. 62. For the suppression of voluntary and extrajudicial affidavits, and substituting declarations in lieu thereof. (Vide Act for the Administration of Oaths Abroad, Section III.)

ORDERS, FOREIGN.-The annexed Order in Council relating thereto, being very important, is appended for the information of the Consul:

The Queen has been pleased to direct that the following regulations respecting foreign Orders and Medals shall be substituted for those now in force:

Regulations respecting Foreign Orders.

1. No subject of Her Majesty shall accept a foreign Order from the Sovereign of any foreign country, or wear the insignia thereof, without having previously obtained Her Majesty's permission to that effect, signified by a warrant under Her Royal sign manual.

2. Such permission shall not be granted to any subject of Her Majesty, unless the foreign Order shall have been conferred in consequence of active and distinguished service before the enemy, either at sea or in the field; or unless he shall have been actually and entirely employed, beyond Her Majesty's dominions, in the service of the foreign Sovereign by whom the Order is conferred.

3. The intention of a foreign Sovereign to confer upon a British subject the insignia of an Order must be notified to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, either through the British Minister accredited at the Court of such foreign Sovereign, or through his Minister accredited at the Court of Her Majesty.

4. If the service for which it is proposed to confer the Order has been performed during war, the notification required by the preceding clause must be made not later than two years after the exchange of the ratifications of a treaty of peace.

If the service has been performed in time of peace, the notification must be made within two years after the date of such service.

5. After such notification shall have been received, Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs shall, if the case comes within the conditions prescribed by the present regulations, and arises from naval or military services before the enemy, refer it to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the War Department, previously to taking Her Majesty's pleasure thereupon, in order to

ascertain whether there be any objection to Her Majesty's permission being granted.

A similar reference shall also be made to the Commander-in-Chief, if the application relates to an officer in the army, or to the Lords of the Admiralty, if it relates to an officer in the navy.

6. When Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs shall have taken the Queen's pleasure on any such application, and shall have obtained Her Majesty's permission for the person in whose favour it has been made to accept the foreign Order, and wear the insignia thereof, he shall signify the same to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, in order that he may cause the warrant required by Clause 1 to be prepared for the Royal sign manual.

When such warrant shall have been signed by the Queen, a notification thereof shall be inserted in the Gazette, stating the service for which the foreign Order has been conferred.

7. The warrant signifying Her Majesty's permission may, at the request and at the expense of the person who has obtained it, be registered in the College of Arms.

8. Every such warrant as aforesaid shall contain a clause providing that Her Majesty's licence and permission do not authorize the assumption of any style, appellation, rank, precedence, or privilege appertaining to a Knight Bachelor of Her Majesty's realms.

9. When a British subject has received the Royal permission to accept a foreign Order, he will at any future time be allowed to accept the decoration of a higher class of the same Order, to which he may have become eligible by increase of rank in the foreign service, or in the service of his own country, or any other distinctive mark of honour strictly consequent upon the acceptance of the original Order, and common to every person upon whom such Order is conferred.

10. The preceding clause shall not be taken to apply to decorations of the Guelphic Order which were bestowed on British subjects by Her Majesty's predecessors, King George IV. and King William IV., on whose heads the crowns of Great Britain and of Hanover were united.

Decorations so bestowed cannot properly be considered as rewards granted by a foreign Sovereign for services rendered according to the purport of Clause 2 of these regulations. They must be rather considered as personal favours bestowed on British subjects by British Sovereigns, and as having no reference to services rendered to the foreign Crown of Hanover.

Regulations respecting Foreign Medals.

1. Application for permission to accept and wear medals which, not

being the decoration of any foreign Order, are conferred by a foreign Sovereign on British subjects in the army or in the navy for military or for naval services, should be addressed, as the case may be, to the Commander-in-Chief, the Master-General of the Ordnance, or the Lords of the Admiralty, who, if they see fit, may submit the same to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for Her Majesty's sanction, upon obtaining which they may grant such permission without any other formality.

2. Permission to wear a foreign medal cannot be granted to a British subject unless such medal is bestowed for military or naval services performed by the command or with the sanction of Her Majesty. But no permission is necessary for accepting a foreign medal if such medal is not to be worn. CLARENDON.

OWNERS OF SHIPS.-(Vide Consular Instructions, page 38.) The ownership or title to a vessel can be acquired in several ways, as by purchase, building, or capture. In regard to the first, it is generally done by a bill of sale, of which there are two kinds; the first is where the ship passes from the builder to the first purchaser, and is called the grand bill of sale; the second is where the owner of the ship, not being the builder, transfers his interest to another purchaser. Upon the death of the owner, his interest devolves upon his executors or his personal representatives. Special conditions may be introduced which may vest the property in the purchaser, although the vessel may not have been completed, such as the payment of a certain part of the purchase money, when a part of the vessel has been completed; and he may insist upon the completion of that vessel, and the builder cannot require him to accept any other. A ship's boat does not constitute the part of a vessel's tackle, apparel, and furniture, etc.

As regards title by capture, it consists of acquiring the property of a ship in time of war, legalised and sanctioned by a sentence of condemnation in a Court of the capturing power.

As prizes cannot be condemned, having been carried into a neutral port while remaining there, the purchaser thereof cannot have a legal title thereto. This, however, will be different if the vessel be carried into a port of a country in alliance with the captors, and at war with the common enemy, as the port is then considered the same as that of the capturing country. In the case of Wilson v. Forster, 6 Taunt. 25, and 1 Marsh. 425; and Woodsworth v. Larkin, 1 Esp. 288, it has been decided, that if a neutral sell a vessel, there being no sentence of condemnation, the property in the vessel is not changed. As regards the

liability of owners for repairs, it is impossible to furnish sufficient dicta on this head, and the reader is therefore referred to Abbot, Steel, etc.

PIRACY.-The Acts for the suppression of piracy consist of the following:

27 Hen. 8, c. 4.

Piracy is directed to be tried in such shires as may King's Commission, and in what cases taking of articles from necessity shall not be deemed piracy.

be directed by the

11 & 12 Wm. 3, c. 7. For the trial of piracy under Admiralty Commission, and who shall be deemed pirates and accessories.

2 Geo. 2, c. 28. For the more effectual suppressing of piracy, trading with pirates to be deemed piracy; and persons who under the 11 & 12 Wm. 3, c. 7, might be deemed accessories, are to be considered principals.

18 Geo. 2, c. 30. Natural-born subjects or denizens who, during war, commit hostilities at sea, under colour of the enemy, or give aid to enemies on the sea, may be tried as pirates under 11 & 12 Wm. 3, c. 7.

7 Wm. 4, and 1 Vict. c. 88. Piracy, when murder is attempted, or when attended with stabbing, wounding, etc., punishment-death; other cases, transportation for fifteen years or life.

12 & 13 Vict. c. 96. Making further provision for the apprehension and trial of piracy in Colonies.

13 & 14 Vict. c. 26, and c. 27. Bounties on pirates taken or killed, and jurisdiction given to Admiralty Courts. Property captured from pirates liable to condemnation as droits of Admiralty, but to be restored to rightful owners on payment of one-eighth of the value of salvage, and providing for the assignment of rewards for services against pirates.

PRIZES OF WAR.-In cases of the registration of prizes of war, the certificate of condemnation must be produced. They cannot be registered in the Isles.

The principal Acts relating to prizes consist of the 33 Geo. 3, c. 38, enlarging the time for appeal in prize cases, etc. 45 Geo. 3, c. 72, and 49 Geo. 3, c. 12, provisions respecting letters of attorney for receiving prize-money. 52 Geo. 3, c. 132, explaining and amending certain Acts, and many others relating to prize-money.

For the process of condemnation in regard to prizes of war, vide Capture.

PRIVY COUNCIL.-By the 2 & 3 Wm. 4, c. 92, the powers of the High Court of Delegates were transferred in maritime cases to a Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, whose duties are defined by the 3 & 4 Wm. 4, c. 91, and whose jurisdiction was extended as to its

proceedings; appeals from the Admiralty Court were determined by the 3 & 4 Vict. c. 65, and further amended by the 6 & 7 Vict. c. 38, and 7 & 8 Vict. c. 69.

Appeals in cases of capture, etc., lie in the Privy Council from the Admiralty Court, within fifteen days from the day of judgment, by a notarial act executed by a proctor. An inhibition can also be taken out, which ties the hands of the Judge of Admiralty Court, and consequently stops the sale of the vessel and other proceedings on the part of the Court of Admiralty.

From the final decision of the Privy Council there is no appeal, and they have the power of either reversing the judgment of the Admiralty Court, with or without costs, or confirming the same. The costs for an appeal to the Privy Council are about 300l.; for further information vide Capture.

PROPERTY OF BRITISH SUBJECTS DYING IN COUNTRY WHERE CONSUL IS ACCREDITED TO.-In many countries it has been stipulated in treaties that Consuls shall have the power to nominate curators to the estate of their deceased countrymen, and in many instances to administer the residue thereof for the benefit of the heirs of the deceased. The clause generally inscribed in the treaties is as follows: "If any subject or citizen of either of the two high contracting parties shall die without will or testament in any of the territories, dominions, or settlements of the other, the Consul-General or Consul of the nation to which the deceased belonged, or in his absence, the representative of such Consul-General or Consul, shall have the right to nominate curators to take charge of the property of the deceased, so far as the laws of the country will permit, for the benefit of the lawful heirs and creditors of the deceased; giving proper notice of such nomination to the authorities of the country."

The following is the list of the treaties having clauses to the above effect: