Law v. United States.
terms and conditions therein expressed, the whole of which terms and conditions," the petitioner avers were performed by said Law, "in good faith; and if any part of the same were not by him so performed and observed," which is not admitted by petitioner, he avers that the said Law "was prevented from performing the same by the acts, orders, and interference of the king of France, or regent of the said kingdom, or his or their officers or agents;" and relieved, etc., "from any further performance of the same;" that from various accidents, &c., "many of the records and documents of the said company of the Indies have been lost and destroyed, so that the original of the grant or concession aforeimid cannot now be found or produced;" that the papers of Law "have also been dispersed and destroyed;" that "petitioner has caused diligent search to be made for the record of the said grant or concession to the said John Law, in various places, namely, in the archives of the Marine, in France, where the records of the colony of Louisiana were kept, and in the land-offices of the States and of the United States, at New Orleans, and in divers other places where it was natural to expect the same might possibly be found, but without success."
The petitioner further avers that, "there was such a grant or concession, that the same was duly and lawfully made," &c., and that be will "prove the nature, contents, and effect of the same, whereof mention is made in the histories of Charlevoix" and others; that Law, in 1719 and 1720, "took possession of the said tract of land by his agents, and settled thereon, fifteen hundred settlers, or other large number, and sent out from France and Germany numbers of others, who died on their passage, and was preparing to send out from L'Orient or some other port or ports in France, a large number of German families, when the same were countermanded and sent back, by order of the Regent of France or his officers and agents acting under his authority."
The petitioner further avers that the claim, right, and title to which he has succeeded, "is protected and secured by the treaty between the United States and the French Republic for the cession of Louisiana; and might have been perfected, and com-
