160 ADMIRAL T Y The vice admiralty courts in the colonies are of two de scriptions. The one has power to inquire into the causes of detention of enemies or neutral vessels, to try and con demn the same for the benefit of the captors, as well as to take cognisance of all matters relating to the office of the lord high admiral. The other has only power to institute inquiries into misdemeanours committed in merchant ves sels, and to determine petty suits, &c., and to guard the privileges of the admiral. The former are usually known by the name of prize courts, the latter by that of instance courts. Appeals from vice-admiralty courts abroad lay formerly to the high court of admiralty in England, and from that, if need were, to the high court of delegates, or in prize cases to the prize commissioners. By an Act of her present Majesty, all such appeals lie direct to the sovereign, who refers them to the judicial committee of the privy council. The following are the colonies and foreign possessions in which vice-admiralty courts are now. (1874) established. Others are constituted as occasion may require, in case of Aden. (Slave trade juris diction only.) Antigua, Montserrat, and Barbuda. Australia, South. Australia, West. Bahamas. Barbadoes. Bermuda. Bombay. British Columbia. British Guiana. Calcutta. Canada. Cape of Good Hope. Ceylon. Dominica. Falkland Islands. Gambia. Gibraltar. Gold Coast. Grenada. Halifax, Nova Scotia. Honduras. Hong Kong. Jamaica. Labuan. Lagos. Malta. Mauritius. Montserrat. Natal. Nevis. New Brunswick. Newfoundland. New South Wales. New Zealand. Prince Edward s Island. Quebec. Queensland. St Christopher. St Helena. St Lucia. St Vincent. Sierra Leone. The Straits Settlements. (Prince of Wales Island, Singapore, and Malacca.) Tasmania. Tobago. Tortola and Virgin Islands. Trinidad. Vancouver s Island. Victoria. Zanzibar. (Limited slave t radc jurisdict ion only. ) Madras. By the provisions of the Vice-admiralty Courts Act of 1863, The governor of a colony is ex qfficio vice-admiral, and the chief-justice ex qfficio judge of the vice-admiralty court. In none of the patents to the lord high admiral, vice- admiral, or judge, is any mention made of prize jurisdiction. Lord Mansfield had occasion to search into the records of the court of admiralty in Doctors Commons, to ascertain on what foundation this jurisdiction was exercised by the judge of the admiralty; but he could not discover any prize-act books farther back than 1643; no sentences far ther back than 1648. The registrar could go no farther back than 1690. "The prior records," says his lordship, "are in confusion, illegible, and without index." The prize jurisdiction may therefore be considered as of modern authority, and distinct altogether from the ancient powers given to the admiral. To constitute the authority for trying prize causes, a commission under the great seal issues to the lord high admiral at the commencement of every war, to will and require the court of admiralty, and the lieu tenant and judge of the said court, his surrogate or surro gates, to proceed upon all manner of captures, seizures, and reprisals, of all ships and goods that are or shall be taken ; and to hear and determine according to the course of the admiralty, or the law of nations; and a warrant issues to the judge of the admiralty accordingly. The admiralty court being in this respect a court in which foreigners of all nations may become suitors, an appeal may be had from its decisions to a committee of the lords of the privy council, who hear and determine according to the established laws of nations. At the breaking out of a war, the lord high admiral also receives a special commission from the crown, under the great seal, to empower him to grant letters of marque and reprisals against the enemy, he having no such power by his patent. These letters are either general or special: general, when granted to private men to fit out ships at their own charge to annoy the enemy ; special, when in the case of any of our merchants being robbed of their estates or property by foreigners, the king grants them letters of reprisal against that nation, though we may be in amity with it. Before the latter can be sued for, the complainant must have gone through the prosecution of his suit in the courts of the state whose subjects have wronged him; where, if justice be denied, or vexatiously delayed, he must first make proof of his loses and charges in the admiralty court here; whereupon, if the Crown is satisfied he has pursued all lawful means to obtain redress, and his own interceding should produce no better effect, special letters of reprisal are granted; not, however, as must be evident, until a very strong case has been made out. This custom, which we may now consider as obsolete, seems to be a remnant of the law of ancient Greece, called androlepsia, by which, if a man was slain, the friends and relations of the deceased might seize on any three citizens of the place where the murderer took refuge, and make them slaves, unless he was delivered up. Both Oliver Cromwell and King Charles II. granted letters of reprisal. In 1638 the Due d Epernon seized on the ship "Amity" of London, for the service of the French king against the Spaniards, promising full satis faction ; but none being made, the owners obtained letters of reprisal from the Protector, and afterwards, in 1665, from Charles II. In 1666 Captain Butler Barnes had letters of reprisal against the Danes. The Dutch having burnt six English merchant vessels in the Elbe, within the territories of Hamburg, which city, instead of giving any assistance or protection, hindered the English from defending them selves, letters of reprisal were granted to the sufferers against that city. Lastly, one Justiniani, a noble Genoese, being indebted in a large sum to Joseph Como, a merchant in London, which he had several years solicited for with out obtaining satisfaction, Captain Scott, commander of his Majesty s ship the " Dragon," stationed at that time in the Mediterranean, received orders to make reprisals upon the ships of that republic; upon which the debt was paid. 2. The Judge. The patents to the judge of the admiralty and vice-admiralty courts run pretty nearly in the same manner as those of the lord high admiral, and point out the several matters of which he can take cognisance. The Par liament of 1640 established the office of judge of the admi ralty court in three persons, with a salary of 500 a-year to each. At the Restoration there were two judges of the high court of admiralty, which sometimes proved incon venient; for when they differed in opinion, no judgment could be had. These judges, before the Revolution, held their appointment only during pleasure. At that period, and under the provisions of the Bill of Rights, Sir Charles Hedges was constituted judge under the great seal of England, quamdiu se bene gesserit, with a salary of 400 a- year, and an additional 400 out of the proceeds of prizes and perquisites of the admiralty; but in the year 1725 the latter sum was diminished from the ordinary estimate by the House of Commons. The salary of Sir James Marriott, from 1778 to 1782, during the American war, was 800 a year, and 3700 added for fees. From 1794 to 1798, the salary was 1 780, and 2500 for fees. During the six
teen years that Sir William Scott (Lord Stowell) was judge,
