338 INHERITANCE. [ART. 47.

made to the satisfaction of the court of the due publication as
aforesaid, and on the non-appearance of the person so absent, it
shall be lawful for the person next entitled to come in and make
election, in the same manner as if the person so absent had
appeared and refused to take the estate.

48. If any person entitled to make election as aforesaid, shall
be "non compos mentis," or otherwise disqualified to declare his
intention, in such case the person next entitled shall be author-
ized to make his election, in the same manner as if the person
disqualified had refused to make election.

49. In case the eldest male shall not be of age to make his
election, it shall be lawful for the eldest female, if of the age
of twenty-one years, to elect to take the lands at the valua-
tion of the commissioners, notwithstanding the existence of
any male minor, and any husband may elect to take in right
of his wife.

50. Every person entitled to elect or refuse to take the whole
or any part of any estate at the value ascertained and returned
by the commissioners, may make such election or refusal in
writing, to be signed by such person in the presence of one or
more witnesses, who shall attest the same in writing; and such
written election or refusal, when filed with the clerk among the
proceedings in the case, shall have the same effect and validity
as if such person had made his election or refusal in open court.

51. The person making an election to take the estate, or any
part thereof, at the valuation of the commissioners, at the time
of making the election, shall give bond or bonds with two or
more sufficient sureties, to be approved by the court in which
the proceedings may be had, to the other person or persons
entitled to said estate, for their several proportions of the sum
of money at which said estate is valued, which bonds shall bear
interest from the date of the said election, and shall be made
payable in such instalments as the court shall direct; and such
bonds shall be and remain a lien on the lands for the purchase of
which they were given until the said bonds shall be wholly paid.

SALES BY COMMISSIONERS.

52. If all the persons entitled to elect to take the estate, or
any part thereof, at the valuation, shall refuse, then the estate or