Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 18 Part 2c.djvu/228

 FRANCE, 1788. 221 Amuetr. V. _ The Consulsfand Vice-Censnls respectively shall have the exclusive ps, W 0 H, M. .i right ot receiving in their ehancery, or on board of vessels, the declar- duties of c<>¤¤¤1¤. ations and all other the acts which the captains, masters, crews passengers, and merchants of their nation may chuse to make there ’even their testaments and other disposals by last will : And the copies bf the said acts, duly authenticated by the said Censnls or Vice-Censnls, under the seal of their consulate, shall receive faith in law, equally as their originals would, in all the tribunals of the dominions of the Most Christian King and of the United States. They shall also have, and exclusively, in case of the absence of the testamentary executor, administrator, or legal heir, the right to inventory, liquidate, and proceed to the sale of the personal estate left by subjects or citizens of their nation who shall die within the extent of their consulate; they shall proceed therein with the assistance of two merchants of their said nation, or. for want of them, of any other at their choice, and shall cause to be deposited in their chancery the effects and papers of the said estates; and no officer, military, judiciary, or of the police of the country, shall disturb them or interfere therein, in any manner whatsoever: But the said Censnls and Vice-Censnls shall not deliver up the said effects, nor the proceeds thereof, to the lawful heirs, or to their order, till they shall have caused to be paid all debts which the deceased shall have contracted in the country; for which purpose the creditors shall have a right to attach the said eifects in their hands, as they might in those of any other individual whatever, and proceed to obtain sale of them till payment of what shall be lawfully due to them. When the debts shall not have been contracted by judgment, deed, or note, the signature whereof shall be known, payment shall not be ordered but on the creditor’s giving sniiicicnt surety, resident in the country, to refund the sums he shall have unduly received, principal, interest, and cost ; which surety nevertheless shall stand duly discharged, after the term of one year iu_ time of peace, and of two in time of war, if the demand in discharge cannot be formed before the end of this term against the heirs who shall present themselves. And in order that the heirs may not be unjustly kept out of the effects of the deceased, the Censnls and Vice- Censnls shall notify his deathin some one of the gazettes published within their consulate, and that they shall retain the said effects in their hands four months to answer all demands which shall be presented; and they shall be bound after this delay to deliver to the persons succeeding thereto, what shall be more than sufficient for the demands which shalhhave been formed. Anrrorn VI. The Censnls and Vice-Censnls respectively shall receive the declara- Declarations and tions, protests, and reports of all captains and masters of their respect- pr<>¤¤¤f¤· ive nation on account of average losses sustained at sea; and these captains and masters shall lodge in the chancery of the said Censnls and Vice-Censnls the acts which they may have made in other ports on account of the accidents which may have happened to them on their voyage. If a subject of the Most Christian King and a citizen of the Settlement of United States, or a foreigner, are interested in the said cargo, the aver- 1°”°° M “°“· age shall be settled by the tribunals of the country, and.not by the Censnls or Vice-Censnls; but when only the subjects or citizens of their own nation shall be interested, the respective Consuls or Vice-Censnls shall appoint skilful persons to settle the damages and average. Anrretm vu. In cases where, by tempests or other accident, French ships or vessels Power of consnls shall be stranded on the coasts of the United States, and ships or vessels in ¤¤·¤¢>¤ of ¤h¤P· of the United States shall be stranded on the coasts of the dominions of ‘"°“k‘