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![handle is hein.slavery/ssactsengr0129 and id is 1 raw text is: CAMERON V. KYTE [1835]
issue., viz., whether the marriage be valid according to the law of Rome. The grounds
upon which I decide that question are not the statement of the witnesses as to what
passed upon the occasion, but on the ground, in the first place, that the parties
having renounced the Protestant religion, and becomne Catholics, is false and colour-
able--that is the basis. Secondly, that the license was granted only on the: supposi-
tion that the parties really wished to abjure Protestantism, and become Catholics;
that no sincere abjuration was made; that the licence was therefore void; that the
marriage ceremony, held by the law of the Roman Church to be a sacrament, was
grossly profaned; and, consequently, that the marriage set up in this case is, by the
law of Rome, null and void. The Court, therefore, pronounces that the marriage
is null and void, if any such marriage did take place, and that the lady is entitled
to be dismissed; and looking at all the circumstances of the case, I think it is the duty
of the Court to, decree that Mr. Swift should pay costs of the suit.
[Mews' Dig. tit. HUSBAND AND WIFE, I. MARRIAGE, b. Solemnisation, i. General
Formalities. See also Printed Cases Privy Council Appeals. On point as to
lex loci governing formal validity of marriage, see Simonin v. Mallac, 1860, 2
Sw. and Tr. 67; Burt v. Burt, 1860, 2 Sw. and Tr. 88; Reg. v. Allen, 1872, L.R.
1 C.C.R. 367, 376.]
[332] ON APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF CIVIL JUSTICE OF THE
COLONY OF BERBICE.
DONALD CHARLES CAMERON,-Appellant; MARY KYTE and ARTHUR RUL-
LOCK HOLLINGSWORTH, Executrix and Executor of CHARLES KYTE,
deceased,-Respondents* [Dec. 9, 21, 1835].
The Governor of a Colony has not, by virtue of his appointment, the sovereign
authority delegated to him, and an act done by him on his own authority,
unauthorized either by his Commission, or expressedly or impliedly by any
instructions, is not equivalent to such an act being done by the Crown itself;
and is consequently not valid [3 Knapp, 344, 346].
The Vendue Master of the Colony of Berbice being entitled under a resolution
of the Dutch West India Company, made previously to the capitulation of
the Colony to the British arms, to a commission of five per cent. on all sales
effected in the colony; the Governor not having any special powers by his
Commission or instructions, or by the Laws of the Colony, cannot by his own
authority reduce such commission [3 Knapp, 346].
Senible. The non-objection on the part of the Crown to a notification or pro-
clamation issued by a Governor of one of its ceded colonies does not imply
that the Governor had authority in the subject of the proclamation, nor
will its non-interference render the proclamation valid on the ground of
acquiescence [3 Knapp, 342].
The question raised by this appeal, was the right of the Deputy Vendue Master
of the Colony of Berbice, to recover commission at the rate of five per cent. on the
proceeds of an execution sale of a plantation and slaves conducted by him.
The appellant was the purchaser of the estate in question, and the respondents,
the representatives of the Vendue Master, by whom the action was originally brought.
[333] The facts were as follows:-
By a warrant of His late Majesty King Geo. III. bearing date the 24th day of
January, 1804, George Hallam, Esq., was appointed Vendue Master in the Colony
of Berbice, to hold, exercise, and enjoy the office, by himself or his sufficient deputy
or deputies during pleasure, together with all and singular the rights, profits,
privileges, fees, and emoluments to the said office belonging or appertaining.
The Vendue Master is an officer whose duty it is to sell all property sold by public
* Present:--Lord Brougham, Mr. Baron Parke, the Chief Judge of the Court
of Bankruptcy [The Hon. Thomas Erskine], and Sir Herbert Jenner.
678
III KNAPP, 332](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.slavery/ssactsengr0129&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)