considered as of their body, and transferred with them to Louisiana. In 1717, Crozat transferred his rights to the compagnie d'Occident, at the head of which was the famous Law, 8. Raynal. 166. [edit. 1780.] which again in 1720, by union with others, became the Compagnie des Indes, who in 1731, surrendered the colony back to the king. 1. Valin, 20. But these various transfers from company to company, of the monopoly of their commerce, for that was the sum of what was granted them, and their final surrender to the king, could not affect the rights of the people, nor change the laws by which they were governed. When they returned to the immediate government of the king, their laws passed with them, and remained in full force until, and so far only as, subsequently altered by their legislator. That this was the sense of their *government may be inferred from a clause in the edict creating the Compagnie des Indes Occidentales, art. 34.

'Seront les juges établis en tous les dits lieux tenus de juger suivant les lois et ordonnances du royaume, et les officiers de suivre et se conformer à la coutume de la Prevôté et vicomté de Paris,

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The judges established in all the said places shall be held to adjudge according to the laws and ordinances of the kingdom, and the officers to follow and conform themselves to the customs of the

+ If it be objected that the incorporation of the Roman law with the customs of Paris, and their joint transfer to Louisiana does not appear, I answer, 1. At the date of Crozat's charter, the Roman law had for many centuries been amalgamated with the customary law of Paris, made one body with it, and it's principal part. By the customs of Paris were doubtless meant the laws of Paris, of which the Roman then made an important part, and might well be understood to be transferred with them. It was hardly intended that the new colonists were to unravel this web, and to take out for their own use only the fibres of Parisian customs, the least applicable part of the system to their novel situation. 2. If the term, coutumes de Paris in the charter be rigorously restrained to it's literal import, yet the judges of Louisiana would have the same authority for appealing to the Roman as a supplementary code, which the judges of Paris and of all France, had had; and even greater, as being sanctioned by so general an example. 3. The practice of considering the Roman law, as a part of the law of the land in Louisiana, is evidence of a general opinion of those who composed that state that it was transferred, and of an opinion much better informed, and more authoritative than ours can be. Or it may be considered as an adoption, by universal, though tacit consent, of those who had a right to adopt, either formally, or informally, as they pleased, as the laws of England were originally adopted in most of these states, and still stand on no other ground.

stivant laquelle les habitans pourront contracter, sans que l'on y puisse introduire aucune autre coutume, pour éviter la diversité.' 1. Moreau de St. Mery, 100.

Alluvion.

Prevoté and vicomté of Paris, according to which the inhabitants may contract, without that that any other custom may be introduced, to avoid diversity.' 1. Moreau de St. Mery, 100.

This then is the system of law by which the legal character of the facts of the case is now to be tested: and the plaintiff and his counsel having imagined that, in the Roman branch of it, they had found a niche in which they could place the batture to great advantage, have availed themselves of it with no little dexterity, and by calling it habitually an alluvion, have given a general currency to the idea that it is really an alluvion: insomuch that even those who deny their inferences, have still suffered themselves carelessly to speak of it under that term. Were we, for a moment to indulge them in this misnomer, and to look at their claim as if really an alluvial one, the false would be found to avail them as little as the true name. The Roman law indeed says, 'quod per alluvionem, agro tuo flumen adjecit, jure gentium, tibi adquiritur.' 'What the river adds to your field by alluvion, becomes yours by the law of nations.' Institute. L. 1. tit. 1. §. 20. Dig. L. 41. tit. 1. §. 7. The same law, in like manner, gave to the adjacent proprietors, the sand bars, shoals, islands rising in the river, and even the bed of the river itself, as far as it was contracted or deserted. Inst. 2. 1. 22. and 2. 1. 23. But the established laws of France differed in all these

cases.

'Par notre droit Français, dit Pothier, les alluvions qui se font sur le bord des fleuves, et des rivières navigables, appartiennent au roi. Les propriétaires riverains n'y peuvent rien prétendre, à moins qu'ils n'ayent des titres de la concession que le roi leur aurait faite du droit d'alluvion.' 1. Pothier. Traité de la propriété. 1 Part. c. 2. §. 3. art. 2. No. 159.

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'By our French law, says Pothier, one of their most respected authorities, the alluvions formed on the borders of navigable streams and rivers belong to the king. The proprietors of riparian heritages can have no claim to them, unless they have evidences of the grant made to them by the king, of the right of alluvion along their heritages.' Pothier, Part 1. c. 2. §. 3. art. 2. No. 159.. cited Der bigny, xviii.

And Guyot, in the Répertoire universel de Jurisprudence, a work also of authority and cited with approbation by the plaintiff and his counsel, [Liv. 21. Du Ponceau, 14.] under the word 'île,' says,

'Nous n'admettons pas comme les Romains, les alluvions, et les accroissemens, au profit des propriétaires riverains, soit par les changemens qui peuvent survenir dans le lit des rivières, soit relativement aux îles, et îlots qui peuvent s'y former. Chez eux le lit, et les bords des fleuves et rivières étaient censés faire partie des héritages riverains; et par une suite de ces maximes, le terrain qu'un fleuve ajoutait à ces héritages, appartenait à ceux qui en étaient propriétaires. Ils réunissaient de même à leurs possessions le lit que le fleuve abandonnait; et lorsqu'il se formait une île dans le milieu de son lit, les riverains y avaient un droit égal, et en partageaient la propriété. Suivant nos principes, les rivières navigables, leur lit, rives, et tous les terrains qui peuvent s'y former, appartiennent au roi, à raison de sa souveraineté. C'est la disposition précise de l'article 41. du tit. 37. de l'Ordonnance des eaux et forêts de 1669, qui a dissipé tous les doutes que l'on cherchait à faire naître dans plusieurs provinces, sur les fondemens des énonciations qui se rencontraient dans les anciennes concessions.

We do not admit, as the Ro mans, alluvions and accumulations to go to the riparian proprietors, either by changes which may happen in the bed of rivers, or relating to isles, and islots which may there be formed. With them the bed and borders of rivers and streams were considered as making part of the riparian inheritances; and as a consequence of these maxims, the earth which a river added to these inheritances, belonged to those who were the proprietors of them. They reunited in like manner to their possessions the bed which a river abandoned, and when an isle was formed in the middle of it's bed, the riparians had an equal right to it, and divided the property. According to our principles, navigable streams, their bed, banks, and all the grounds which may be formed there, belong to the king, in right of his sovereignty. It is the precise provision of art. 41. tit. 37. of the Ordonnance des eaux et forêts, which has dissipated all the doubts which they had endea. voured to raise in several provinces, on the grounds of the enunciations which were found in the ancient concessions.' Cited Derbigny 23.

Again, after laying down the Roman law of alluvion, and of

islands formed in the beds of rivers, Le Rasle, in the Law Dictionary, forming a part of the Encyclopédie Méthodique. Jurisprud. accession. 94, says,

And Ferriere, quoted also by the plaintiff, says,

And he refers to the edicts of 1683. 1693. and 1710. And to put aside all further question as to the law of France on this subject, Louis XIV. by an edict of December 15, 1693, says,

right of property which we have de propriété que nous avons sur

Having no copy of this Ordinance, I quote it from Mr. Derbigny, p. 20. Duponceau, p. 10. and l'Examen de la Sentence, p. 84. By putting together the parts they cite, for neither gives