5. A distinct statement of all goods struck off, but not actually sold. On all goods so struck off, the auction duties must be paid.

Every such account, within twenty days after its date, must be exhibited, if made out by an auctioneer appointed in a city, to the mayor or recorder thereof; if by an auctioneer appointed for a county, to any judge of the county courts of such county. The account must be sworn to by the auctioneer; the oath must be reduced to writing, endorsed on the account, and be subscribed by the auctioneer taking it. Every partner of such auctioneer, and every clerk or other person whatever, in any way connected in business with such auctioneer, who shall have made any sale contained in said account, must make and subscribe an oath to be endorsed on the account, that he believes it to be a just and true account in every particular.

Every partner or clerk, who shall have made any sale in behalf of an auctioneer, must, in the account rendered by such auctioneer, set his name, or the initials thereof, opposite to each sale made by him, mentioned in such account; and make and subscribe an affidavit to be annexed to such account, stating that sales so noted are all the sales liable to auction duties, public or private, made by him within the time mentioned in the account, and that the account of such sales, so therein stated, is just and true; that such sales were made by him, in the absence of such auctioneer, who was unable to attend from the causes specified in his account; and that in all acts performed by him, in behalf of such auctioneer, during the time aforesaid, he had endeavored to conform to the intent and meaning of the laws regulating sales by auctioneers.

The auctioneer must pay the duties accrued on the sales mentioned in his account, together with the additional sum of two and one half per cent. on the whole amount of such duties, within ten days after the exhibition of his account, for the use of the state; and immediately after such payment, he must deliver or transmit his account, with the affidavits endorsed thereon, and annexed thereto, to the comptroller, to be filed in his office. Every such payment, if by an auctioneer appointed for any other place than the city of New York, must be made to the Treasurer of the State; and by every auctioneer in the city of New York, to such bank in the city, as shall be designated by the comptroller, as entitled to the state deposites by law; and the receipt of the proper officer of the bank must be taken therefor; which receipt, the auctioneer must immediately transmit to the comptroller, who shall certify thereupon, such payment to the treasurer, and charge him with the amount.

Every auctioneer, who within the period limited for his accounting, shall have made no sales, public or private, of property liable to auction duties, must make and subscribe an affidavit of those facts, before any officer to whom his account, had such sales been made by him, might have been exhibited, and must transmit a copy of such affidavit, certified by the officer taking it, to the comptroller within the same time that an account is required to be rendered. Every auctioneer, partner or clerk of an auctioneer, and every person whatever in any way connected in business with an auctioneer, who shall refuse or neglect to perform any act or duty, which are required by any of the provisions above recited, commencing with the requisition that he shall make out his quarterly account on the first days of April, July, &c., is subject to a penalty. And

every such refusal or neglect by an auctioneer, shall be certified and published by the comptroller, in the state paper; and from the time of publication, the delinquent auctioneer therein named, shall be deemed to have forfeited his appointment, and shall be incapable of doing any act by virtue thereof.

All goods, wares and merchandise, and every other species of property, with the exceptions hereinafter mentioned, are subject each and every time they are struck off at public auction, within this state, to duties at the following rates:

1. All wines and ardent spirits, foreign or domestic, at the rate of two dollars in every hundred dollars.

2. All goods, wares, merchandise, and effects imported from any place beyond the Cape of Good Hope, and sold in packages, bales, trunks or casks, as imported, at the rate of one dollar on every hundred dollars.

3. All other goods, wares, merchandise, and effects, at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents on every hundred dollars. The duties are calculated on the sums for which the goods so exposed to sale shall be respectively struck off, and must in all cases be paid by the person making the sale.

All goods must be struck off to the highest bidder, and where the auctioneer or owner, or any person employed by them or either of them, shall be such bidder, they shall be subject to the same duties as if struck off to any other person; but this does not render valid any sale, that would otherwise be fraudulent and void. All articles except those to be hereafter mentioned, sold on commission by an auctioneer or clerk of an auctioneer, or by a person in any way connected in the auction business, or in auction sales with an auctioneer, whether at auction or private sale, are liable to the duties before enumerated.

No auction duties are payable upon the following goods and articles: ships and vessels; utensils of husbandry, horses, neat cattle, hogs and sheep; articles of the growth, produce or manufacture of this state, except distilled spirits; all fabrics of cotton, wool, hemp and flax, manufactured within the jurisdiction of the United States; goods and chattels otherwise liable to the auction duties are exempt therefrom, if sold under the following circumstances:

1st. If they belong to the United States or to this state.

2d. If sold under any judgment or decree of any court of law or equity, or under a seizure by any public officer, for or on account of any forfeiture or penalty, or under a distress for rent.

3d. If they belong to the estate of a deceased person and be sold by his executors or administrators, or by any other person duly authorized by a surrogate.

4th. If they are the effects of a bankrupt or insolvent, and be sold by his assignees appointed pursuant to law, or by a general assignment for the benefit of all the creditors of such bankrupt or insolvent.

5th. If they are goods damaged at sea, and be sold within twenty days after they shall have been landed, for the benefit of the owners or insurers.

All sales at public auction in the city of New York, not under the authority of the United States, and all such sales in other parts of the state, where duties are payable on the effects to be sold, must be made by an auctioneer who shall have given the security required, as was herein

before mentioned, or by a co-partner or clerk of an auctioneer duly authorized under the provisions of law; but where no duties are payable, all such sales except in the city of New York, may be made by any citizen of the state.

When an auctioneer cannot attend an auction by reason of sickness, by duty as a fireman, by military orders, or necessary attendance in a court of justice, or when he is temporarily absent from the place for which he is appointed, he may employ a partner or clerk to attend in his name and behalf; such partner or clerk having previously taken an oath, to be filed with the clerk of the county in which such auctioneer shall reside, fully and faithfully to perform the duties incumbent upon him; and which oath must also contain a true statement of the connection that exists between him and the auctioneer. Goods damaged at sea and sold for the benefit of the owners or insurers, shall be sold in the city of New York, under the direction of the wardens of the port.

Every auctioneer who, during his term of office, shall accept an appointment as auctioneer from any other state, or who shall be concerned as principal or partner in selling any goods, wares, merchandise, or effects, in any other state by public auction, or who shall receive any reward, compensation or benefit, for or on account of any such sale, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

No auctioneer in any city of this state can at the same time have more than one house or store, for the purpose of holding his auctions; and every such auctioneer, before he enters on the execution of his office, must designate, in a writing signed by him, such house or store, and also name therein the partner or partners, if any, engaged with him in business, and file such writing with the clerk of the city for which he shall be appointed.

No auctioneer shall expose to sale by public auction any goods or articles liable to auction duties, at any other place than that designated in the writing so deposited by him, except goods sold in original packages as imported, household furniture, and such bulky articles as have usually been sold in warehouses, or in the public streets, or on the wharves.

The common council of each city may designate such place or places, within such city, for the sale by auction of horses, carriages, and household furniture, as they shall deem expedient.

Every auctioneer in the city of New York must, under his own name, give previous notice in one or more of the city newspapers, of every auction sale that may be lawfully made by him; if connected with any person or firm, his name must, in all cases, precede separately and individually the name of such person or the title of the firm under which he transacts business.

No auctioneer, co-partner, or clerk of an auctioneer, or any other person in the city of New York, shall advertise a sale by auction, in any other manner than as above described, or be concerned in any sale by auction not advertised in such manner.

No auctioneer shall demand or receive more than two and one half per cent. commissions on the amount of any sales, public or private, made by him, unless by a previous agreement in writing, between him and the owner or consignee of the goods sold.

No auctioneer on the day and at the place where his public auction

shall be held, nor any person whatever, on the same day and place, shall sell at private sale any goods liable to auction duties.

When goods are struck off at auction, and the bargain shall not be immediately executed by the payment of the price, on the delivery of the goods, it is the duty of the auctioneer to enter in a sale book, to be kept by him for the purpose, a memorandum of the sale, specifying the nature, quantity, and price of the goods, the terms of sale, and the names of the purchaser, and of the person on whose account the sale is made.

All sales of goods by public auction, in the city of New York, shall be made between sunrise and sunset, excepting books or prints, and goods sold in the original package as imported, according to a printed catalogue, of which samples shall have been opened and exposed to public inspection at least one day previous to the sale.

A conviction of fraudulent practices for ever disqualifies an auctioneer from exercising the rights or pursuing the business of an auctioneerhe shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by fine, not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding one year, or either, in the discretion of the court. And if after said conviction, he undertakes to act as an auctioneer, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor for each offence and punishable as above. And any person who shall transact the business of an auctioneer without having first complied with the provisions of the law, is punishable in like manner.

The few remaining provisions of the statute in relation to the prosecution for forfeitures, it is not worth while to enumerate. An outline of the statute law has been given, even at the risk of incurring the imputation of prolixity. The general principles of law applicable to the agency of auctioneers, will be discussed hereafter.

ART. VII.-MERCANTILE LAW LITERATURE.

1. Commentaries on the Law of Agency, as a branch of Commercial and Maritime Jurisprudence, with occasional Illustrations from the Civil and Foreign Law. By JOSEPH STORY, L. L. D., Dane Professor of Law in Harvard University. Boston: 1839. Little & Brown.

THE profession, previous to this publication, were in possession of a treatise on the Law of Principal and A gent, by the late Samuel Livermore, a distinguished American lawyer, and of the English work on the same subject, by Paley. The present work is the commencement of a series of commentaries upon the different branches of commercial and maritime jurisprudence, to be prepared in pursuance of the original scheme of the Dane Professorship. It is designed not only for students, but for the profession generally; and being arranged with the method and learning which characterize all the publications of Judge Story, it must entirely supersede all other works upon the same title. It is not our province to criticise so elaborate a work; we can only say, that from the examination we have given it, it will confer increased honor upon its most accomplished and gifted author.

2. A Treatise on the Law relative to Sales of Personal Property. By GEORGE LONG, Esq. Second American Edition; with additions by BENJAMIN RAND, Esq. Boston: 1839. Little & Brown.

THE original work of Mr. Long acquired a reputation which rendered it worthy of introduction into the Law School at the University of Cambridge, as a text-book. The first edition being out of print, Mr. Rand, of the Boston bar, was invited to prepare a second, and acceded to the request. Knowing his extensive and profound legal acquirements, which are not surpassed by any lawyer in the United States, it is a source of regret that he considered himself precluded from preparing an original treatise, instead of becoming the editor of an existing work; though as an annotator he stands almost unrivalled for research and industry, as his edition of Powell on mortgages, fully establishes.

The present work treats of the parties to a sale, the disabilities of certain persons to contract, the validity of sales, warranties, the mode of transfer, the rescinding of contracts, and other kindred subjects. They are all treated with ability; wherever the original work was deficient, the editor has supplied the omission by the addition of the principles of the modern cases, in language clear and pertinent. The treatise as improved, will be a valuable acquisition to the public.

3. The American Conveyancer. By GEORGE T. CURTIS, Esq., of the Boston bar. Published by Little & Brown.

THIS is a small volume, containing " a large variety of legal forms and instruments adapted to popular wants and professional use throughout the United States, together with forms and directions for applicants under the Patent Laws of the United States, and the Insolvent Act of Massachusetts." We have examined this manual with some care, and pronounce it a valuable compilation. In many respects it is far preferable to the "elaborate work" of Mr. Oliver. The forms to be observed at the organization of corporations will be found very useful; for serious difficulties frequently arise in suits wherein corporations are parties, in consequence of the imperfect and loose manner in which their organization was effected and recorded. Equally useful are the forms, captions and returns of depositions, inaccuracy in which is often fraught with loss and disappointment to the party obliged to resort to that species of evidence. The forms used in Massachusetts under the insolvent laws, are numerous and accurate; they alone must render the work almost invaluable to those whose residences may not always admit of their obtaining ready and sound professional advice. Such a work must necessarily have a limited circulation, since much of it is of local value; to a certain degree, however, the Conveyancer is calculated for any meridian. It will be found a useful appendage to the counting-room.