MERCHANDIZE. else for her use, he shall be reimbursed, and every Art. XLIX. owner pay his part. ART. LXVI. If the merchant obliges the master to insure the Insurances. ship, the merchant shall be obliged to insure the master's life against the hazards of the sea. ART. LXVII. If two ships strike against one another, and one of them unfortunately perishes by the blow, the merchandize that is lost out of both of them, shall be valued and paid for pro rata by both owners, and the damage of the ships shall also be answered for by both according to their value. Merchandize lost by ships striking aagainst each other. ART. LXVIII. may sell part In case of necessity the merchant of the merchandize to raise money for his ship's use; and the ship happening to be lost afterwards, the master shall however be obliged to pay the merchant for the said merchandize so sold, without pretending to deduct any thing for the freight. ART. LXIX. When the master is forced to sell any of the merchandize, he is obliged to pay the same price for them, as the same goods were sold for at the market for which they were designed, and the master shall be paid his freight for what goods are sold. Merchandize master. sold by the Art. LXX. SHIPS UNDER SAIL INJURING EACH OTHER. ART. LXX. Ship under sail injuring another vessel. If a ship under sail does damage to another, the master and mariners of the ship doing the damage must swear they did not do it designedly, and could not help it, and then the damage shall be borne by both ships in equal proportion; and if they refuse to swear, the damage shall be paid by the ship that did it. THE HANSE TOWNS. BEFORE we give an abstract of the laws of the Hanse Towns, the confederacy which enacted them, and whose commercial policy they regulated, is entitled to some notice. During the progress of successful commercial enterprize among the Italians, and towards the middle of the thirteenth century, the activity of the north was excited, and its attention was awakened to commerce. The Baltic was surrounded by nations immersed in extreme barbarism, whose piracies prevented the success of almost every maritime adventure, and compelled the cities of Lubeck and Hamburg, who had opened an intercourse with those people, to unite in a league of mutual defence. The immediate and extensive benefits resulting from this union, induced other towns to accede to it, and in a short time eighty-one cities of considerable importance, placed in those fertile and extensive countries which occupy the space between the lower part of the Baltic and the Scheld, became members of the Hanseatic league. It now obtained an influence in the affairs of Europe; and while its allies were enriched by an intercourse with its members, its friendship was courted, and its hostility dreaded by the most powerful monarchs. Among the means adopted by this association to insure prosperity to their trade, and protect them from controversies with each other, was the formation of a code for the regulation of their maritime enterprizes, and the circumstances incident to them. These laws are evidently founded on those of the neighbouring city of Wisbuy, and the justly celebrated Roll d'Oleron. They appear to have been first enacted and promulgated in the year 1597, at Lubeck, which is styled the "Mother of the Hanse Towns.” They were formed by a general assembly, called together for the purpose, and first appeared in the German language. After m |