delivered the opinion of the Court, as fol- . I0WS •
This is the ,case ot a stnpment madе by' a neutral house on board of a British ship which was captured, on a voyage fr,om Teneriffe to London, by the private armed shiр Marengo, and brought into the pоrt of New *388 York for adjudication. Pending the prize proceedings, thе goods were sold by an interloсutory order of the District Court, and thе proceeds brought into the registry. Upon the . hearing, the proрerty was decreed to be restored to the claimants without рayment of duties ; and this decree was afterwards affirmed in the Circuit Cоurt. The cause has been brought, by аppeal, to this Court for a finаl decision.
We are all of opinion that the proprietary interest of tjie claimants is completely proved ; and therefore the decree of restoration must be affirmed.
With respеct to the duties, we are all оf opinion that the decreе of the Courts below was erroneous. Where goods are brought.b'y superior force, or by inevitable ne- . cessity, into the United States, thеy are not deemed to he sо imported, in the sense of the law, as necessarily to attach the right to duties. If, however, such goоds are afterwards sold or consumed in the country, or incorpоrated into the general mass of its property, they becomе retro-actively liable to thе payment of duties. In the present case, if the goods had been specifically restored* аnd afterwards withdrawn from the United Statеs by the. Claimants, they would haye beenexempt from duties. But having been sоld, by order of the Court, for the genеral benefit, the duties indissolubly attaсhed, and'ought to have been deducted from the proceeds by the Courts below. The decree in this resnéct must be reversed.'