Though they purported to declare the usages on the subject which prevailed in the reign of Henry I.
In France a law of the Revolution (September 1790) purported to suppress all ecclesiastical jurisdictions.
All the while, however, the patents of the admiralty judge purported to confer on him a far ampler jurisdiction than the jealousy of the other courts would concede to him.
At a very critical moment, when the Kaiser had actually mesmerized Nicholas II into the conclusion of a secret and personal convention at Bjdrko, which purported to aim at a defensive agreement, but would have led by necessity to the disruption of the FrancoRussian Alliance and to the vassalage of Russia in a continental league against England, Count Benckendorff was invited to Copenhagen and had an opportunity of serving as a confidential intermediary between Russia and Great Britain.
A question thereupon arose as to the manner in which the privileges thereby purported to be conferred affected the jurisdiction of the sultan over such dhows, the masters of which, as was alleged, used their immunity from search for thepurpose of carrying on contraband trade in slaves, arms and ammunition.
