Excuse me…but exactly what is left of this 300+ year old wreck-a few ribs? Wat is the big fuss over?
“His Christian Majesty” was one of the formal ways that the Kings of France were referred to; not a reference to the Pope.
I could see that argument, but the counter-argument is that the Griffon was part of the King of France’s sovereignty in relation to the French colony of Canada. The King of France surrendered that claim to the King of Great Britain. Although the King of Great Britain abandoned all claims to sovereignty over the 13 colonies by the Treaty of Paris, 1783, he did not cede any of his sovereignty over Canada to the United States.
You saucy intruder, you!
This is an interesting point. Were I counsel for France, I suppose I’d argue that the grant gives title to real property but not personal property. I haven’t done any research on the issue though, so I’m not sure how much support there is in the cases.
Except France is making the claim that the ship was carrying out a Crown function, and that’s why its claim is still good. The King of France surrendered all claims to sovereignty to the King of Great Britain. I don’t think that Crown sovereignty would be dependent on whether a particular piece of property was real or personal (or in this case, meuble or immeuble). I would also imagine that all the meubles/personal property of the Crown in the Governor’s mansion were also turned over to the British by the Treaty.