them touching commercial affairs, and sometimes even others. The first mention of a consul of merchants in any English record, is in a. D. 1346 (1); and the first appointment of a consul for the merchants of England, in any of the countries within the Mediterranean, was in A. D. 1484, when king Richard, at the request of the English merchants, appointed a merchant of Florence to be consul of the English merchants at the city of Pisa and adjacent countries, and delegated to him the power of hearing and summarily determining all disputes between English subjects in those parts, and doing all other things pertaining to the office of a consul, with a right to receive one and a quarter per cent. on all sales and purchases of the English in the city and port of Pisa (2). In the fifteenth century this practice of sending consuls into foreign states appears to have become general in Europe; but it has been observed, that even at this day the custom of receiving them cannot be looked upon as universally established; besides, the right of these consuls, where they are admitted, differ very widely in different states; almost all the consuls who are sent out of Europe exercise a pretty extensive jurisdiction over the subjects of their sovereign. In Europe there are some places where the consuls exercise a civil jurisdiction, more or less limited, over their fellow-subjects residing there; in others they can exercise no more than a voluntary jurisdiction; and in others their functions are confined to watch over the commercial interests of the state, particularly the observation of the treaties of commerce, and to assist with their advice and interposition those of their nation whom commercial pursuits or connections have led them to the place for which they are named. (3)

office.

Vattel observes, that amongst the modern institutions for the Utility of the advantage of commerce, one of the most useful is that of consuls, or persons residing in the large cities, and especially the seaports, of foreign countries, with a commission to watch over the rights and privileges of their nation, and to decide disputes between her merchants there; and when a nation trades largely with a country, it is requisite to have a person charged with such a commission: and as the state which allows of this commerce

(1) 1 Macpherson's Ann. Com. 536, in notes.

(2) Id. 705.

(3) Marten's L. of Nat. 156, 7. Montef. Com. Dic. tit. Consuls.

must naturally favour it, for the same reason, also, it must admit the consul (1). The object and utility of this mercantile officer has been thus described in an able work upon the subject (2). "L'objet et le but principal de leur mission de leur éstablissement est, de veiller aux intérêts du commerce national, d'imaginer et de suggérer les moyens de l'améliorer et de l'éntendre dans les contrées ou ils resident, de protéger et de défendre les négocians qui y trafiquent; d'avoir l'oeil sur l'accomplissement et l'observation des traités, sur les atteintes et les infractions qu'on leur donne et fait, d'en porter au souverain des plaintes, de faire des remonstrances à ce sujet, de solliciter l'exécution de ce dont ou est convenu, de garantir les négocians et les gens de mer de leur nation de toutes les avanies et les vexations, de les assister et aider de leurs avis et de leurs conseils, de les maintenir dans la jouissance de leurs privilèges et de leurs immunités, de régler, d'ajuster, de terminer leurs affaires et leurs différens, de connoitre de leurs contestations, de les juger et décider, &c. On voit par cela de quelle etendue et de quelle importance est la commission dont les consuls sont ordinairément chargés, et quels sont les services que l'etat en attend, et quelles facultés leur sont communément attribuées. Il faut cependant observer que le pouvoir et les droits des consuls ne sont pas dans tous les pays de la même étendue. Les traités les modifient et les limitent différement. Pour parvenir à fixer les principes en cette matière, il faut feuilleter, parcourir, consulter les traités de commerce, en comparer les stipulations, en faire un précis, en tirer et en inférer des consequences et des résultats, et asseoir sur ces conclusions les idées et les principes." In France and in Spain the office of consuls is of two descriptions; domestic, having judicial power to settle and determine disputes between their own merchants, and traders; and foreign, in order to watch over the commercial interests of their own nation in a foreign state. But in all its commercial treaties the British government has stipulated for but little judicial authority for their consuls, except in those with the Barbary states (3). And in England consuls have no ju

(1) Vattel, b. 2. c. 2. s. 34. p. 147. Viveash v. Becker, 3 M. & S. 292. See also Beawes's L. Mer. vol. 2. p. 416. Pardessus, 4 tom. 136. Warden on Consuls, per tot. as to the utility of this office.

(2) Essai sur les Consuls par Mrs. De Steck, a Berlin, 1790, page 22.

(3) Warden on Consuls, 252. 260, 1. Pardessus, 4 tom. 160.

dicial power; and there is no consular establishment within the kingdom derived from our own laws and constitution, to settle and adjust matters of dispute and controversy in that easy, unexpensive, and summary manner, that some other nations have judged requisite to institute (1). Many observations and arguments have been made, and books written on the expediency of extending the power of English consuls in this respect. In a modern work there are some able observations on the right of a sovereign to require his subjects in foreign parts to submit to the jurisdiction and judicial authority of his consul there, and the expediency of such a regulation (2). It is however there admitted that a sovereign cannot invest a consul with judicial power, even over his own subjects, in a foreign country, so as in that country to enforce the judgment according to the municipal law, but that nevertheless the decision of a French consul in England, in questions between French subjects, will have effect in France (3). And it is there laid down, that in all christian countries by, as it were, common consent, with reference to the administration of penal laws, the prosecution of crimes against foreigners is left entirely to the municipal tribunal of the place where it is committed (4); and it is admitted that at all events a French consul cannot have a criminal jurisdiction in a foreign country, unless it be expressly given; and that there is no instance of such a power in any Christian country (5). It is laid down, however, that an exception prevails with reference to shipping concerns. (6)

Besides the advantage derived from the establishment of consuls in their protection of the subjects of their nation in a foreign country, many other advantages may result to the nation at large. A consul being always on the spot, and conversant with the practice of trade, and with the traders of foreign nations as well as his own, has greater opportunities than an ambassador, whose time is generally occupied with political business of far higher importance, of observing and pointing out to his own government the progress of his country's trade with the foreign state, and the measures to be adopted to facilitate the interests of the former, and may frequently prevent contests between the sub

(1) Postl. Dict. tit. Consuls. (2) Pardessus,4 tom. 157 to 163. (3) Id. 164, 5.

(4) Pardessus, 4 tom. 183.

(5) Id. 184.
(6) Id. 185,

jects of the two states, which might otherwise cause a public war (1). Nor are the advantages resulting from the consular office confined merely to trade; for an intelligent consul will acquire and communicate to his nation many improvements in all the various departments of knowledge. In France, even in the midst of revolution, at the request of the French committee of public instruction, the department of foreign affairs enjoined their consuls to keep up a regular correspondence on subjects of science, manufactures, and arts (2). It has been observed in an able modern treatise, by an American consul (3), that the English government, struck with the political and commercial advantages of consular establishments, selected for their direction men of talents and respectability, naval or military officers, with a salary suitable to their situations, whose particular duties are to support the dignity and privileges of their nations; to exercise á certain jurisdiction over English commerce and navigation; and to furnish the government with prompt information on every subject connected with its interest. And in a late publication it has been observed, that if England had three times her present number of consuls in some parts of the world, and especially in the Mediterranean, it would be of increased advantage to the country. (4)

Sometimes consuls general are appointed, who are to officiate for several places at the same time, or else they are placed at the head of several consuls; in other respects their functions, as well as those of their own consuls, differ but little from those of simple consuls (5). The vice-consul in France is bound to render to his principal an account of the proceedings in his office, independently of that rendered to the minister (6). Consuls may also in some cases appoint agents of commerce, whose duty it is to render all the good offices they can to the subjects of their state, and to correspond with the consul appointing him and exe

(1) Postl. Dict. tit. Consuls. (2) Warden, 28, 29.

(3) Warden on the Origin, Nature, &c. of Consular Establishments, p. 241. This work was published in English at Paris in A. D. 1813, and translated into French by Monsieur Barrere, French consul at Corogne, A. D. 1815.

(4) Reflections on the Commerce of the Mediterranean, &c. by Jno. Jackson, Esq. F.S.A. See also Warden on Consuls, 251.

(5) Marten's L. Nat. 158, 9. Pardessus, 4 tom. 137, 8. (6) Pardessus, 4 tom. 138.

cute his orders connected with his commission (1). In France there is a regular arrangement for the education of vice-consuls, but in this country there is no public establishment of that nature (2).

ment of consuls.

The right to send consuls into a foreign territory is founded Of the appoint on custom or express treaty (3); but there being no absolute and perfect obligation to receive a consul unless it has been expressly agreed upon, the nation that wishes to secure this privilege must procure that right by the commercial treaty itself; and the mere circumstance of a commercial treaty having been entered into, does not imply a right to require a resident consul in the foreign state (4). These treaties vary between the different countries; in the treaty between England and France concluded in 1786, it was stipulated, "that it should be permitted to their Majesties respectively to establish in the kingdoms and countries of each other, for the advantage of the subjects who trade there, national consuls, who shall enjoy those rights, immunities, and freedom which belong to them in virtue of their duties and functions, and they shall afterwards agree concerning the places where the said consuls may be established, and also concerning the nature and extent of their functions." And on the 7th of January 1787, a convention was thereupon executed, containing the following article: "Their Majesties having stipulated, by the 43d article of the said treaty, to determine the nature and extent of the functions of consuls, it is agreed that the convention relative to this subject shall be framed in the space of two months, and that in the meantime the consuls general, consuls, and vice-consuls shall act conformably to established usages concerning consulates in the respective states of the two sovereigns; and that they shall have all the privileges, rights, and immunities, which their quality supposes, and which are given to the consuls general, to the consuls and

(1) Pardessus, 138, 9.

them. Marten's L. of N. 156. (2) Id. 4 tom. 138. Warden (4) Vattel, b. 2. c. 2. s. 34. on Consuls, 185, 6. pp. 147, 8. Pardessus, Cours (3) France and Holland agreed de Droits Commercials, tom. 4. expressly, in their treaty of 1697, p. 137. 2 Ward's L. of N. art. 39, and 1739, art. 40, not to 331. See treaties reserving power send consuls; but from custom, to appoint consuls, 4 Ander. contrary to these treaties, those Hist. Com. 626. 649; and post, two powers continued to send vol. 3.