shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall be fined not more than two thousand dollars, and shall be imprisoned not exceeding three years.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, enlist or enter himself, or hire or retain another person to enlist or enter himself, or to go beyond the limits or jurisdiction of the United States with intent to be enlisted or entered in the service of any foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people, as a soldier, or as a marine or seaman, on board of any vessel of war, letter of marque, or privateer, every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding one thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding three years: Provided, That this act shall not be construed to extend to any subject or citizen of any foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people, who shall transiently be within the United States, and shall on board of any vessel of war, letter of marque, or privateer, which at the time of its arrival within the United States, was fitted and equipped as such, enter and enlist himself, or hire or retain another subject or citizen of the same foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people, who is transiently within the United States, to enlist or enter himself to serve such foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people, on board such vessel of war, letter of marque, or privateer, if the United States shall then be at peace with such foreign prince, state, colony, district, or people.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall, within the limits of the United States, fit out and arm, or attempt to fit out and arm, or procure to be fitted out and armed, or shall knowingly be concerned in the furnishing, fitting out, or arming of any ship or vessel with intent that such ship or vessel shall be employed in the service of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district or people, to cruise or commit hostilities against the subjects, citizens, or property of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people with whom the United States are at peace, or shall issue or deliver a commission within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, for any ship or vessel, to the intent that she may be employed as aforesaid, every person so offending shall be guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall be fined not more than ten thousand dollars, and imprisoned not more than three years; and every such ship or vessel, with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, together with all materials, arms, ammunition, and stores, which may have been procured for the building and equipment thereof, shall be forfeited; one-half to the use of the informer, and the other half to the use of the United States.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That if any citizen or citizens of the United States shall, without the limits thereof, fit out and arm, or attempt to fit out and arm, or procure to be fitted out and armed, or shall knowingly aid or be concerned in the furnishing, fitting out, or arming, any private ship or vessel of war, or privateer, with intent. that such ship or vessel shall be employed to cruise, or commit hostilities, upon the eitizens of the United States, or their property, or shall take the command of, or enter on board of any such ship or vessel, for the intent aforesaid, or shall purchase any interest in any such ship or vessel, with a view to share in the profits thereof, such persons so offending shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and fined not more than ten thousand dollars, and imprisoned not more than ten years; and the trial for such offense, if committed within the limits of the United States, shall be in the district in which the offender shall be apprehended or first brought.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That if any persons shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, increase or augment, or procure to be increased or augmented, or shall knowingly be concerned in increasing or augmenting, the force of any ship of war, cruiser, or other armed vessel, which, at the time of her arrival within the United States, was a ship of war, or cruiser, or armed vessel, in the service of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people, or belonging to the subjects or citizens of any such prince or state, colony, district, or people, the same being at war with any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people with whom the United States are at peace, by adding to the number of the guns of such vessel, or by changing those on board of her for guns of a larger caliber, or by the addition thereto of any equipment solely applicable to war, every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not more than one year.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, begin or set on foot, or provide or prepare the means for any military expedition or enterprise, to be carried on from thence against the territory or dominions of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace, every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding three thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not more than one year.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the district courts shall take cognizance of complaints, by whomsoever instituted, in cases of captures made within the waters of the United States, or within a marine league of the coasts or shores thereof.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That in every case in which a vessel shall be fitted

out and armed, or attempted to be fitted out and armed, or in which the force of any vessel of war, cruiser, or other armed vessel, shall be increased or augmented, or in which any military expedition or enterprise shall be begun or set on foot, contrary to the provisions and prohibitions of this act; and in every case of the capture of a ship or vessel within the jurisdiction or protection of the United States as before defined, and in every case in which any process issuing out of any court of the United States shall be disobeyed or resisted by any person or persons having the custody of any vessel of war, cruiser, or other armed vessel of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people, or of any subjects or citizens of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people, in every case it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, or such other person as he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ such part of the land or naval forces of the United States, or of the militia thereof, for the purpose of taking possession of and detaining any such ship or vessel, with her prize or prizes, if any, in order to the execution of the prohibitions and penalties of this act, and to the restoring the prize or prizes in the cases in which restoration shall have been adjudged, and also for the purpose of preventing the carrying on any such expedition or enterprise from the territories or jurisdiction of the United States against the territories or dominions of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace.

SEC. 9. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States, or such person as he shall empower for that purpose, to employ such part of the land or naval forces of the United States, or of the militia thereof, as shall be necessary to compel any foreign ship or vessel to depart the United States in all cases in which, by the law of nations or the treaties of the United States, they ought not to remain within the United States.

SEC. 10. And be it further enacted, That the owners or consignees of every armed ship or vessel sailing out of the ports of the United States, belonging wholly or in part to citizens thereof, shall enter into bond to the United States, with sufficient sureties, prior to clearing out the same, in double the amount of the value of the vessel and cargo on board, including her armament, that the said ship or yessel shall not be employed by such owners to cruise or commit hostilities against the subjects, citizens, or property of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace.

SEC. 11. And be it further enacted, That the collectors of the customs be, and they are hereby, respectively authorized and required to detain any vessel manifestly built for warlike purposes, and about to depart the United States, of which the cargo shall principally consist of arms and munitions of war, when the number of men shipped on board, or other circumstances, shall render it probable that such vessel is intended to be employed by the owner or owners to cruise or commit hostilities upon the subjects, citizens, or property of any foreign state, or of any colony, district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace,, until the decision of the President be had thereon, or until the owner or owners shall give such bond and security as is required of the owners of armed ships by the preceding section of this act.

SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That the act passed on the fifth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, entitled "An act in addition to the act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States," continued in force, for a limited time, by the act of the second of March, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, and perpetuated by the act passed on the twenty-fourth of April, one thousand eight hundred, and the act passed on the fourteenth day of June, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, entitled "An act to prevent citizens of the United States from privateering against nations in amity with, or against the citizens of, the United States," and the act passed the third day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventeen, entitled "An act more effectually to preserve the neutral relations of the United States," be, and the same are hereby, severally repealed: Provided, nevertheless, That persons having heretofore offended against any of the acts aforesaid may be prosecuted, convicted, and punished as if the same were not repealed; and no forfeiture heretofore incurred by a violation of any of the acts aforesaid shall be affected by such repeal.

SEC. 13. And be it further enacted, That nothing in the foregoing act shall be construed to prevent the prosecution or punishment of treason, or any piracy defined by the laws of the United States.

APPENDIX No. III.

MEMORANDUM BY MR. ABBOTT.

THE FOREIGN ENLISTMENT ACT.

(59 Geo. III, c. 69, July 3, 1819.)

The foreign enlistment acts of Great Britain and the United States, the circumstances under which they were passed, as well as the principles of neutrality involved in them, are so similar that a.consideration of the British must necessarily be prefaced by an account of the history of the American act.*

THE UNITED STATES FOREIGN ENLISTMENT ACT.

When, after the execution of Louis the XVIth, the French national convention declared war, on the first of February, 1793, against England and Holland, one of their first acts was to appoint a representative to proceed to the United States to solicit the support of the sister republic, and to reclaim the privileges to which they considered France to be entitled under the two treaties of the 6th of February, 1778.t

The first of those treaties was a treaty of friendship and commerce, and contained the following articles:

[Translation.]

"Re

“ARTICLE XVII. It shall be lawful for the ships of war of either Martens : party, and privateers, freely to carry whithersoever they please the cueil des Traités," tom. 1, p. 145. ships and goods taken from their enemies, without being obliged to pay any duty to the officers of the admiralty or any other judges; nor shall such prizes be arrested or seized when they come to and enter the ports of either party; nor shall the searchers or other officers of those places search the same, or make examination concerning the lawfulness of such prizes; but they may hoist sail at any time, and depart and carry their prizes to the places expressed in their commissions, which the commanders of such ships of war shall be obliged to show; on the contrary, no shelter or refuge shall be given in their ports to such as shall have made prize of the subjects, people, or property of either of the parties; but if such shall come in, being forced by stress of weather or the danger of the sea, all proper means shall be rigorously used, that they go out and retire from thence as soon as possible.

"ARTICLE XXII. It shall not be lawful for any foreign privateers, not belonging to subjects of the Most Christian King, nor citizens of the said United States who have commissions from any other prince or state in enmity with either nation, to fit their ships in the ports of either the one or the other of the aforesaid parties, to sell what they have taken, or in any other manner whatsoever to exchange their ships, merchandises, or any other lading; neither shall they be allowed even to purchase victuals, except such as shall be necessary for their going to the next port of that prince or state from which they have commissions."

The other treaty, styled "Traité d'Alliance Eventuelle et Défensive," provided (Article XI) for the mutual guarantee of the French and United States possessions in North America.

[Translation.]

tom. 1, p. 145.

"Re

"The whole as their possessions shall be fixed and assured to the said Martens : states at the moment of the cessation of their present war with Eng-cueil des Traités," land;" and, (Article 12,) “In order to fix more precisely the sense and application of the preceding article, the contracting parties declare, that in case of a rupture between France and England, the reciprocal guarantee declared in the said article shall have its full force and effect the moment such war shall break out; and if such rupture shall not take place, the mutual obligations of the said guarantee shall not commence until the moment of the cessation of the present war, between the United States and England, shall have ascertained their possessions."

The national convention assumed that under these stipulations they might claim the exclusive right to arm and commission privateers within American ports, to bring into them their prizes, to cause the prizes thus brought in to be condemned by French consuls and sold, and even to capture enemy's vessels within the limits of the maritime jurisdiction of the United States. At least such were the pretensions of their envoy, Monsieur, or as he styled himself, Citizen Genet, a Girondist of the most exaggerated type, whose avowed object was to excite the people of the United States to a war with Great Britain.

* Fifteenth Congress, sess. 1, chap. 8, April 20, 1818.

+ Signed by Benjamin Franklin.

Tucker's "His- On the other hand, Washington, then entering on his second term otry of the United of office as President, was determined to preserve the neutrality of his States," ed. 1856, vol. i, pages 504 to country, and immediately on receiving intelligence of the outbreak of war, hastened from Mount Vernon to Philadelphia, and summoned his cabinet to consider:

517.

1. Whether a proclamation of neutrality should be issued.

2. Whether a minister should be received from the party then in power in France. 3. Whether the United States were bound by the guarantee in the treaty of 1778. The cabinet differed on the second and third points, but were unanimous in favor of the issue of a proclamation.

On referring to the history of the United States for this period, it will be seen that the President was placed in a position which made it very difficult for him to carry out the policy of neutrality which he had decided upon.

The sympathies of the people of the United States were warmly

Tucker's "His engaged on behalf of France. The hostility against England genertory of the United ated during the war of independence was kept alive and fostered by States." Guizot. the excesses committed by the frontier Indians, who, it was alleged, Washington. were encouraged by the British authorities; disputes had been raised as to the interpretation of the treaty of 1783; American seamen were pressed for the British navy; the English government was said to exercise the right of search at sea, and to interfere with American merchant vessels in an arbitrary and unfriendly manner. Besides the difficulties arising from these and other similar complaints against the British government, which rendered any measure which might be supposed to be favorable to England in the highest degree unpopular, the cabinet of the President was divided into factions headed respectively by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury. The former, who had served from 1782 to 1789 as minister at Paris, was at the head of the party who advocated the rights of separate government in the several States. He was a republican of extreme views, and favored the French cause. The latter, the leader of the federal or centralization party, was inclined toward the constitutional system of England, with which country he consequently in some degree sympathized.

It is necessary to take some notice of these obstacles to the President's policy of neutrality as explaining the subsequent proceedings of the United States government. The nation at large and two of the cabinet, Jefferson and the Attorney General, Edmund Randolph, were for affording assistance to France in the first instance, and even for engaging eventually in the war. Washington, with Hamilton and Henry Knox, the Secretary for War, advocated a strict neutrality, and were supported in their views by the federalist party. Washington's strength of character overcame the opposition of the French party, and he succeeded in commencing and maintaining that policy of non-intervention in European affairs which has since been consistently followed by his country up to the present time.

The proclamation of neutrality was issued on the 22d of April, 1793, American State and was as follows: Papers, vol. i, p. 140.

"Whereas it appears that a state of war exists between Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Great Britain, and the United Netherlands on the one part, and France on the other part; and the duty and interest of the United States require that they should with sincerity and good faith adopt and pursue a conduct friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers:

"I have therefore thought fit, by these presents, to declare the disposition of the United States to observe the conduct aforesaid toward those powers respectively, and to exhort and warn the citizens of the United States carefully to avoid all acts and proceedings whatsoever which may in any manner tend to contravene such disposition. "And I do hereby also make known, that whosoever of the citizens of the United States shall render himself liable to punishment or forfeiture under the law of nations, by committing, aiding, or abetting hostilities against any of the said powers, or by carrying to any of them those articles which are deemed contraband by the modern usage of natious, will not receive the protection of the United States against such punishment or forfeiture; and further, that I have given instructions to those officers to whom it belongs to cause prosecutions to be instituted against all persons who shall, within the cognizance of the courts of the United States, violate the law of nations with respect to the powers at war, or any of them.

"WASHINGTON.

In the mean while, M. Genet had sailed from France provided with blank commissions, or letters of marque, for distribution in the ports of the United States. He

ted States minis

arrived at Charleston on the 8th of April; but the intelligence of his landing was not received by the United States government at Philadel- Mr. Jefferson to phia until the day on which the proclamation was issued. He at once Mr. Morris, Uniorganized a system of privateering, and within a week commissioned ter at Paris, Aug. four vessels, the Republican, the Sans Culotte, the Anti-George, and the 16, 1793. Citizen Genet. He also authorized the French consuls in the United American State States to hold courts of vice-admiralty on any vessels their cruisers Papers, vol. i, p. might capture, to condemn them and sell the prizes. Instead of proceeding by sea to Philadelphia, M. Genet made a triumphant progress by land, haranguing the people, instituting "bonnet rouge" clubs, and page 509. endeavoring to excite the citizens of the towns through which he passed to afford active aid to the French republic in spite of the President's declaration of neutrality.

167.

Tucker, vol. i,

Mr. Hammond lost no time in remonstrating against these proceedings, and on the 8th of May addressed the following note to Mr. Jefferson:

in Mr. Ham

"The undersigned, her Britannic Majesty's minister plenipotentiary M S. inclosure to the United States of America, has the honor of informing the Secre- mond's dispatch tary of State that he has received intelligence from his Majesty's consul to Lord Grenat Charleston, South Carolina, that two privateers have been fitted out ville, May 17, 1793. from that port under French commissions. They carry six small guns, and are navigated by forty or fifty men, who are for the most part citizens of the United States. One of these privateers left the harbor of Charleston on the 18th ultimo, and the other was, on the 22d ultimo, ready to depart.

"The undersigned does not deem it necessary to enter into any reasoning upon these facts, as he conceives them to be breaches of that neutrality which the United States profess to observe, and direct contraventions of the proclamation which the President issued upon the 22d of last month. Under this impression he doubts not that the executive government of the United States will pursue such measures as to its wisdom may appear the best calculated for repressing such practices in future, and for restoring to their rightful owners any captures which these particular privateers may attempt to bring into any of the ports of the United States.'

Jefferson's

557.

Mr. Hammond, at the same time, forwarded to Mr. Jefferson three Mr. Jefferson to other notes, complaining respectively of the illegal prize court estab- Mr. Hammond, lished by the French consul at Charleston, of the intended shipment of May 15, 1793. arms and munitions of war for France from American ports, and of the seizure of the British bark Grange by the French frigate Abondance in the Delaware River. In acknowledging the receipt of these communications, Mr. Jefferson observed, with reference to the export of arms, that "American citizens Works, vol. iii, p. have always been free to make, vend, and export arms; it is the constant occupation and livelihood of some of them; to suppress their callings, the only means perhaps of their subsistence, because a war exists in foreign and distant countries in which we have no concern, would scarcely be expected; it would be hard in principle and impossible in practice; the law of nations, therefore, res pecting the rights of those at peace does not require from them such an internal derangement of their occupations; it is satisfied with the external penalty pronounced by the President's proclamation, that of confiscation of such portion of those arms as shall fall into the hands of any of the belligerent powers on the way to the ports of their enemies; to this penalty American citizens are warned that they will be abandoned, and that even private contraventions may work no inequality between the parties at war; the benefit of them will be left equally free and open to all."

"Mr. Jefferson also declared that the United States government 'condemned in the highest degree the conduct of any of its citizens who might personally engage in committing hostilities at sea against any of the nations who were parties to the war, and that it would exert all the means with which the laws and constitution armed them to discover such as offended therein, and would bring them to condign punishment,' and that the practice of commissioning, equipping, and manning vessels in American ports to cruise on any of the belligerent parties was equally and entirely disapproved, and that the government would take effectual measures to prevent a repetition of it." He likewise promised that the government would take measures for the liberation of the crew of the Grange, and restitution of the vessel and cargo, and concurred with Mr. Hammond that the establishment of a French prize court at Charleston was "not warranted by the usage of nations nor by the stipulations existing between the United States and France."

Mr. Hammond's note requesting the restoration of the prizes was reserved for further consideration. American State

147.

M. Genet reached Philadelphia on the 16th of May, 1793. The previous day a note had been addressed to his predecessor, M. Ternant, by Papers, vol. i, p. Mr. Jefferson, recounting the claims of violations of neutrality preferred by the British minister, Mr. George Hammond, and calling his attention to the seizure of the English bark Grange by the French frigate Abondance in the Delaware River.