INTRODUCTION.

THE Compiler of this new translated Recopilacion of the Laws of Spain and the Indies, and of the Colonial Charters, and Local Ordinances of Great Britain, France and Spain, was engaged ten years since, by the government of the United States, at the suggestion of the late William Wirt, Esq. then Attorney General, to compile the laws, and provincial regulations of those kingdoms, relating to the concessions of lands within their respective dominions. That work, from the very scanty materials then at his command, and from the short period allowed by the President for its preparation, was necessarily deficient in matter, and limited in extent.

The copious notes and references, he had taken in the investigation of British and Spanish titles as a Commissioner of the United States, under the Florida Treaty, had placed at his disposal the means of embodying in a short time, for the immediate use of the government, the collection, such as it was, heretofore published under a Resolution of Congress in execution of the act of 1828.* That small work, although it has been three times published by the government of the United States, is not now to be had in any of the bookstores of those States most deeply interested in the principles of law, upon which foreign provincial titles are founded, and the edicts and ordinances by which they are guarded and maintained.

The Compilation, limited as it was, from the circumstances indicated, has been almost the only book referred to in the Supreme Court, and the local tribunals, upon the many important questions, of complicated foreign law, and perplexed Spanish Colonial Jurisprudence.

It is a source of inexpressible gratification to the Compiler, that his work was favorably received and approved by the accomplished scholar and jurist, at whose suggestion, and under whose patronage it was undertaken. The commendation of Mr. Wirt, who added to lofty genius, the most accurate and profound legal learning, the compiler trusts may here be alluded to, as it affords at the same time, the happy occasion for the expression of the respect and admiration he had for his talents and character, as well as gratitude for his friendship.

It was also honored by the approbation of the late Chief Justice Marshall, whose fame is identified with all that is great and good in the Republic, and interwoven with its firmest and most lasting foundations. There is no branch of our national jurisprudence that has received more light from that splendid intellect, which with giant steps mounted to the sources of foreign law, and provincial authority, and expounded, in a masterly manner, the just interpretation of treaties. In the hands of that illustrious man, obscurity vanished from the most abstruse subject, and the rights of the humblest foreigner, protected by law, was secure, against the power and patronage of government, and questions were disposed of without regard to executive influence, legislative denunciation, or popular clamor.

It is a matter also of congratulation and encouragement, that in no one instance in Congress, or the courts, has the

impartiality of the work or the accuracy of the translation been questioned. The greatest care had been taken to avoid the one, or the other. The President, who was charged with the execution of the act of 1828, with that upright and conscientious feeling which always distinguishes the scholar and statesman, gave directions that the work should embrace every law, ordinance, and local regulation, in favor of, as well as against, the claimants to lands in those States and Territories, formerly composing the provinces of the crowns of Great Britain, France and Spain. The Compiler had been the commissioner, and was then the counsel of the government. He trusts that he would have been incapable of such a commission, if it had been desired, that it should have been executed differently. It is as much the duty of a great and magnanimous nation to protect the property of individuals unwillingly, in some instances, transferred with the soil, in the same treaty that invests the nation with the vacant public domain, and enforces the political obligation of recognising and confirming the private right. To avoid errors of translation from one language into another, especially of terms of art, and obscure maxims of colonial laws, he had the whole carefully revised, compared, and collated at the Department of State by the authorised translator of the government.

That nothing might be omitted in matter, deemed important, after all was selected that was considered applicable to the general object, the Neuova Recopilacion de las leyes de las Indias, with various other books, were submitted to his friend Col. Achille Murat, a civilian and scholar, well versed in the Spanish language, with a request that he would translate all such edicts, ordinances, cedulas, and

provisions relating in any manner to the land system of Spain, or the Indies, the organisation of tribunals, powers of officers, forms, and authentication of papers, which might have been overlooked or omitted.

This was executed in the most faithful manner, and his contributions again re-examined at the Department of State, and incorporated as part of the work.

Since the year 1829, when the connection of the Compiler with the government ceased, as commissioner and counsellor, he has been extensively engaged in the courts in cases arising under these laws, and has been induced to continue his researches in France and Spain, for all the commissions of Viceroys, Governors, and Captains General, Intendants, &c., together with the royal instructions from the parent governments from time to time, to their subordinate Tribunals, Intendants, and Governors.

The Supreme Court and Congress have, in the last ten years, disposed of a number of these cases, and established principles for the government of others. There are, however, numerous other original questions founded upon commissions, and authorities heretofore inaccessible to the government involving interests of great magnitude to the United States, and to individuals. The publication of this work will establish a fact, that the United States have given confirmation to titles of the value of more than ten millions of dollars, upon a report of a register and receiver in Louisiana which were not entitled to confirmation. Whether it is to confirm just titles, or reject defective ones, the United States, as a just government, are much more interested than individuals, in the administration of justice which separates private property from the public domain.

The want of this information has caused a delay in the adjustment of titles which could, under no other state of circumstances, excuse any government. It is now thirty years since many titles in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri have been presented for confirmation. They have been delayed until the original grantees, and witnesses have died, and are now prosecuted with as much zeal, and as little progress as they were thirty years ago, by the heirs and legal representatives of the grantees. If the titles are valid, great injustice has been done to the owners; if not, the interests of the government have suffered, and the States in which such districts are reserved from sale, have cause of complaint against a delay that has produced great injury to them. Whether the title be good or bad, justice to the claimants, and to the United States, requires that they should be speedily decided. The postponement does not add to, or diminish their legal obligation, whilst the delay is ruinous to individuals, and prejudicial to the States. There is no power in the government to prevent a judicial investigation and decision. It may delay but cannot finally defeat it.

A number of important questions have been disposed of, but there are subordinate rights after the validity of an original grant has been adjudicated, of interest to individuals. These questions arise under the general laws of France and Spain, relating to persons and things, actions, descents, sales, curatorships, proofs, marriage rights, and prescription.

For Louisiana an act was passed soon after the cession to the United States authorising confirmation of titles, upon proof of ten years possession. It was more convenient for