110
11
178
owing to the time that must elapse before any
Communication be received from Annam, they
will be unable to appeal without special leave from the Privy Council. Their Lordships would doubtless grant leave, almost as a matter of course, but I expect that the Annamese, who as a race are the most timid of men, will be deterred from further proceedings by the difficulty of communicating with their advisers, and by their own want of knowledge of the steps necessary for bringing a cause before the Queen in Council. The writ issued against Lai Sin indicates the annoyance he would have experienced had he delayed his departure until after the delivery of the judgment; and it is hard that the King should now be placed at a disadvantage in consequence.
The Court has decided that the King of Annam has over and over again submitted himself to the jurisdiction, and that therefore he cannot now complain of the seizure of his ship, as an infringement of his Sovereign rights. The Court has further decided that the suit has been compromised, and that the King has thereby waived all claim to compensation; Mr Justice Snowden being also of opinion that the real issue in the case was whether the King had not incurred liabilities to Messrs. Landstein & Co., a trader, and that this could not be decided without a trial.
This compromise consisted in the plaintiff abandoning the suit and consenting to release the Pangwee upon Paulus Que acknowledging himself to be the real debtor, and giving a bond to pay $60,000. This Bond Lai Lin signed as surely