120 COMMISSIONERS TO TAKE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. [ART. 21.

3. Every commissioner so appointed shall take and subscribe
an oath before a justice of the peace in the city or county in
which he shall reside, well and faithfully to execute and perform
all the duties of such commissioner, under and by virtue of the
laws of this State, and shall also procure an official seal, a dis-
tinct impression of which, taken upon wax, or some other sub-
stance capable of receiving and retaining a clear impression,
together with his signature, in his own proper handwriting,
thereto attached, shall, with the oath of office aforesaid, be trans-
mitted to and filed in the office of the Secretary of State.

4. Every commissioner so appointed and qualified shall have
authority to administer an oath to any person desirous to make
such oath before him, and such oath shall be as good and effec-
tual as if made before a justice of the peace in this State.

5. Any acknowledgment made or proof taken before any such
commissioner in the manner directed by the laws of this State,
and certified to under his seal, and endorsed on or annexed to
the deed or instrument of writing, shall have the same effect as
if the same had been made or taken before a judge of a court of
record of another State.

6. The Secretary of State, immediately upon the receipt of the
evidence of qualification of any such commissioner, shall make a
short entry of the same upon the record of appointments or
civil list, and a certificate of the Governor, under the Great Seal
of the State, to the appointment and qualification of any such
commissioner as appearing from the said record of appointments
or civil list, shall be sufficient evidence of the appointment and
qualification of such commissioner.

7. The Governor may also, by and with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate, appoint one or more commissioners in any
foreign country, who shall continue in office during the pleasure
of the Governor, and shall have authority to take the acknow-
ledgment and proof of the execution of any deed or other con-
veyance or lease of any lands lying in this State, or any contract,
letters of attorney or any other writing, under seal or not, to be
used and recorded in this State.

8. Every commissioner appointed under the last preceding
section, before performing any duty or exercising any power in
virtue of his appointment, shall take and subscribe an oath