manufacturers who had come from Venice; in 1662, to the Dunkirkers, whose town he had acquired by purchase from England; and, lastly, to strangers settled at Marseille, that city having become the entrepôt of products from the Levant.

Ambassadors and persons in their suite were not subject to the Droit d'Aubaine; nor did it affect persons accidentally passing through the country.

That the Droit d'Aubaine existed in Italy, in the papal states, in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, seems established by Muratori, Antiq. Ital. Medii Ævi,' fol. Mediol. 1739, tom. ii. col. 14.

An extensive treatise on the Droit d'Aubaine has been already quoted in the works of Jean Bacquet, avocat de Roi en la Chambre de Thresor, fol. Paris, 1665. See also 'Mémoires du Droit d'Aubaine,' at the end of M. Dupuy's Traitez touchant le Droits du Roy très-Chrestien,' fol. Par. 1655; and the Coutumes du Balliage de Vitry en Perthois,' par Estienne Durand, fol. Châlons, 1722, p. 254. But the most comprehensive view of this law, in all its bearings, will be found in the Répertoire Universel et Raisonné de Jurisprudence,' par M. Merlin, 4to. Paris, 1827, tom. i. p. 523,

art.

6

"Aubaine;" tom. vii. p. 416, art. "Heritier." The Moniteurs of 1818 and 1819 contain abstracts of the discussions while the abolition was passing through the two Chambers at Paris. See the latter year, pp. 314, 315, 509, 510, 728, 729. The chief passages in the former year have been already quoted.

AUCTION, a method employed for the sale of various descriptions of property. This practice originated with the Romans, who gave it the descriptive name of auctio, an increase, because the property was publicly sold to him who would offer most for it. In more modern times a different method of sale has been sometimes adopted, to which the name of auction is equally, although not so correctly applied. This latter method, which is called a Dutch auction, thus indicating the local origin of the practice, consists in the public offer of property at a price beyond its value, and then gra

dually lowering or diminishing that price until some one consents to become the purchaser. An auction is defined by 19 Geo. III. c. 56, § 3, and 42 Geo. III. c. 93, § 3, to be "a sale of any estate, goods, or effects whatever, by outcry, knocking down of hammer, by candle, by lot, by parcel, or by any other mode of sale at auction, or whereby the highest bidder is deemed to be the purchaser." According to the revenue laws, every auction at which property is put up and bidden for is a "sale," so as to raise the charge of duty, without regard to the subsequent completion of the purchase by the delivering possession or actual transfer of the thing sold. There must, however, be an actual competition as to price, or biddings, or an invitation made to a competition of biddings, and if a single bidding is made the liability to pay auction duty is incurred.

The sale by auction was used by the Romans for the disposal of military spoils, and was conducted sub hasta, that is, under a spear, which was stuck into the ground upon the occasion. This expression was continued, and sales were declared to be conducted sub hastâ in cases where other property was sold by auction, and probably after the spear was dispensed with. The phrase "asta pubblica” is still used by the Italians to signify a public sale or auction: the expression is, "vendere all'asta pubblica," or "vendere per subasta." The auctio transferred to the purchaser the Quiritarian ownership of the thing that he bought.

At the present day persons are sometimes invited to a "sale by the candle," or "by the inch of candle." The origin of this expression arose from the employment of candles as the means of measuring time, it being declared that no one lot of goods should continue to be offered to the biddings of the persons who were present for a longer time than would suffice for the burning of one inch of candle; as soon as the candle had wasted to that extent, the then highest bidder was declared to be the purchaser.

In sales by auction, the assent of the buyer is given by his bidding, while the assent of the seller is signified by the fall of the auctioneer's hammer;

and until this declaration has been made, the bidder is at liberty to withdraw his bidding.

It is a common practice for the owner of property offered for sale by auction to reserve to himself the privilege of bidding, and, as it is termed, buying in his goods, if the price offered by others should not suit him. As late as the time of Lord Mansfield, private biddings at auctions were considered to be illegal. In the present day, however, they are not only allowed by the law, but the legislature has so far recognised the propriety of the practice, that in cases where the property has been bought in either by the proprietor or by his declared agent, who is in general the auctioneer, no auction duty is chargeable; but if bought in by the owner personally, he must do so openly, and if bought in by an agent, he must do so by authority of a written notice. When a buyer-in afterwards becomes a purchaser, the transaction is narrowly looked after by the officers of the revenue, and the auctioneer's bond is liable to be put in suit if the auction duty has been fraudulently evaded.

It has been laid down that the buyer of goods at an auction cannot be held to the performance of his contract in cases where he was the only bona fide bidder at the sale, and where public notice was not given of the intention of the owner of the goods to bid, even though his agent was authorized to bid only to a certain sum. This rule is intended to act as a protection to purchasers against the practice commonly resorted to by disreputable auctioneers, of employing persons to make mock biddings with the view of raising the price by their apparent competition: the persons thus employed are aptly called puffers. In many large towns, and more especially in London, many persons make a trade of holding auctions of inferior and ill-made goods; persons called barkers are generally placed by them at the door to invite strangers to enter, and puffers are always employed, who bid more for the articles than they are worth, and thus entice the unwary. Many ineffectual attempts have been made to put a stop to these practices.

The auctioneer is considered the agent |

It

of both parties, vendor and purchaser. In the language of the judges in a late case, "a bidder, by his silence when the hammer falls, confers an authority on the auctioneer to execute the contract on his behalf." He can therefore bind the parties by his signature according to the requisition of the Statute of Frauds, which renders it necessary in contracts of sale of "lands or any interest in or concerning them," and of goods above the value of 101., and that some "note or memorandum should be signed by the parties or their agents lawfully authorized." Such signature is now held sufficient even in an action brought by the auctioneer against the vendor in his own name. has been doubted therefore, whether a bidder may not retract (in cases within the statute) at any time before the actual written entry. The auctioneer also stands in the situation of a stakeholder of the deposited part of the purchase-money, which he is not at liberty to part with till the sale has been carried into effect; and he cannot, at least after notice, discharge himself by paying over the amount to the vendor. It has been settled by a late decision that he is not liable for any interest on, or advantage which he may make from, the money in his hands. In this respect his situation differs from that of a mere agent, and also from that of one of the contracting parties (the vendor), from whom "interest is recoverable in the nature of damages for a breach of the original contract on the part of the vendor, by whose failure to make a good title the vendee has for a time lost the use of his money." (Mr. Justice James Parke.) An auctioneer (like any other agent and trustee concerned in the sale of property) is forbidden to buy on his own account; and when he sells without disclosing the name of his principal, an action will lie against himself for damages on the breach of contract.

The conditions of sale constitute the terms of the bargain, and purchasers are bound to take notice of them. The late Lord Ellenborough said that "a little more fairness on the part of auctioneers in framing particulars would avoid many inconveniences. There is always either

In case the sale of an estate be declared void, through defect of title, the duty that has been paid may be claimed again within three months after the time when the defect has been discovered.

It is very common to stipulate that the buyer shall pay the amount of duty in addition to the sums bid by him.

The duty on sales by auction in Great Britain was first imposed during the American war, in 1777 (17 Geo. III. c. 50), and in Ireland in 1797. In the last twenty years the amount of goods sold in the United Kingdom on which auction-duty was charged has varied from 10,148,571. in 1825, to 6,326,4817. in 1831; and the amount of the duty has been as high as 328,8337. and as low as 218,0841. In 1840 the duty was 320,0581. charged on sales amounting to 8,720,9857. In 1841 the duty amounted to 314,0677.; 296,9647. in 1842, and 284,9167. in 1843. In 1842 it appears, from a table in M'Culloch's Dictionary, that the duty arose from the several articles enumerated below:

During the sitting of the Commissioners of Excise Inquiry they were waited upon by seven of the most eminent auctioneers in London, who represented that the duty of sevenpence in the pound, equivalent to three per cent. on the amount of the purchase-money, had for some time past caused a rapid and universal decrease in the number of actual sales by auction. One auctioneer stated that, in consequence of all sales of property in Chancery being exempt from auction-duty, "many bills are filed in the Court of Chancery, when the property is large, for no other purpose than saving the auction-duty, notwithstanding the great amount of law

expenses." Another of the deputation complained of the duty as "an unequal, oppressive, and impolitic tax," and suggested that instead thereof "there should be an additional ad valorem duty of one per cent. upon all transfers of real property, conveyed by deed or written instrument, whether sold by auction or private contract." The Commissioners in their report (twelfth) state that the auction-duty is open to great objections, and should be "wholly repealed as soon as practicable.” They conceive that this impolitic tax has been "borne with patience solely in consequence of the exemptions, either direct or indirect, which the more powerful interests of the country, manufacturing and agricultural, have succeeded in obtaining from its operation." The auction-duty still exists, and the various recommendations of the Commissioners respecting it have not yet been carried into effect.

The Romans imposed taxes on the produce of certain sales, and it may be presumed on all such sales, whether public or private. In the time of Augustus (Dion Cassius, lv. 31), a tax of two per cent. was imposed on the produce of sales of slaves. This tax is spoken of by Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 31) as being then a tax of four per cent. (if the reading is right). In the time of Nero it was enacted that the seller should pay the tax, from which it may be inferred that the buyer had hitherto paid it. The buyers of slaves were generally Romans, and the sellers were foreign dealers. This change in the mode of paying the duty was called a remission of the tax, but as Tacitus observes, it was a remission in name, not in effect, for the tax was still paid by the purchaser in the shape of a higher price. After the civil wars, and during the time of Augustus, a tax of one per cent. was imposed on the produce of sales by auction at Rome. In the time of Tiberius the tax was reduced to one-half per cent. (Tacit., Ann. i. 78, ii. 42); but after the death of Sejanus it was again raised to one per cent. Caligula (Suetonius, Calig. 16) remitted the tax again, by first reducing it to onehalf per cent., and then remitting it altogether. (Dion Cassius, lviii. 16, and the note of Reimarus.)

AUCTIONEER, a person whose pro

fession or business it is to conduct sales by auction. It is his duty, previously to the commencement of every sale, to state the conditions under which the property is offered; to receive the respective biddings; and to declare the termination of the sale: for this purpose, he commonly makes use of a hammer, upon the falling of which the biddings are closed.

It is a legal implication that an auctioneer is authorized by the highest bidder or purchaser to sign for him the contract of sale, and the fact of the auctioneer's writing down in his book the name of such purchaser is sufficient to bind the purchaser, provided no objection be made by him previous to such entry. An auctioneer can also act as the agent of persons wishing to purchase, who may intrust him to make biddings for them. The auctioneer thus being the agent of both parties, his signature of the buyer's name in the catalogue to which the conditions of sale are annexed, opposite to the lot purchased, together with the price bid, has been considered a sufficient note or memorandum in writing of the bargain within the Statute of Frauds; but where the conditions of sale are not annexed to the catalogue, nor expressly referred to by it, the signature of the buyer's name in the catalogue is not a compliance with the statute.

Every person acting as an auctioneer in the United Kingdom is required by 6 Geo. IV. c. 81, to take out a licence, which must be renewed on the 5th of July in every year, and for this licence the charge of five pounds is annually made. The penalty for selling by auction without licence cannot be evaded by putting down the biddings on paper, &c., it having been decided that any mode of sale whereby the highest bidder is deemed the purchaser renders a licence necessary. Distinct licences must be taken out for selling various kinds of property, amounting in all to 301. The London auctioneers would prefer one general licence of 101. An auctioneer must also enter into a bond with sufficient sureties to deliver to the officers of Excise, within a certain period, a true and particular account of every sale held by him, and to pay the amount of auction-duty accruing thereon.

For

this purpose, twenty-eight days are allowed, within the limits of the chief office of Excise in London, and six weeks beyond those limits. The auctioneers complain of the inconvenience to their sureties of having their bonds renewed annually. The bonds of auctioneers in London are for 10007., and two sureties of 2001. each; and the bond required from auctioneers in the country is one of 500l. and two sureties of 501. each.

An auctioneer intending to hold a sale within the limits of the chief office of Excise in London must give two days notice thereof at the said office. If the sale is to be held beyond those limits, three days' notice must be given to the collector of Excise, at the nearest Exciseoffice. Wrecked vessels and their cargo may be sold at any place after only twenty-four hours' notice; but the circumstance must be specially reported to the Board of Excise. (Board Order, 1822.) Green or perishable fruit may also be sold at the port of importation on one day's notice, but not without a catalogue. (Order, 1833.) Imported goods may also be sold at the port of importation after a like notice. (Treasury Warrant, 1834.) These official regulations are from Bateman On the Excise, ed. 1843. The notices here mentioned must be in writing, and signed by the auctioneer, and must specify the particular day when such sale is to be held. It is further obligatory upon him to deliver in a written or printed catalogue, likewise attested by his signature, or by that of his authorized clerk, enumerating every lot and article intended to be offered at such auction. The Commissioners of Excise Inquiry recommended that notices of sales in towns should be restricted to one day; and that books, approved by the Excise, should be kept by the auctioneer for the entry of all sales, and signed by his employer, in substitution of the catalogues now furnished to the Excise. At present, in case of books being returned as imperfect and the property being put up a second time, the duty is chargeable on both sales. He is liable by law for the amount of the auction-duty, but may recover the same from the vendor. "The auctioneer acts for the government, both as the assessor