as their cargoes, without exception or distinction of commodities or merchandize.-II. The captains of vessels who shall enter the ports of France, shall, on the day of their arrival, proceed to the office of the imperial customs, and there make a declaration of the place from which they sailed, of the ports they have put into, and exhibit their manifests, bills of lading, sea-papers, and logbooks. When the captain shall have signed and delivered his declaration, and communicated his papers, the head officer of the customs shall interrogate the sailors separately, in the presence of two overseers. If it results from this examination that the vessel has touched at England, independent of the seizure and confiscation of the said ship and cargo, the captain, as well as those sailors, who, upon examinations shall have made a false declaration, shall be deemed prisoners, and shall not be set at liberty until after having paid the surn of 60,000 franks, as a personal penalty for the captain, and 500 franks for each of the sailors so arrested, over and above the pains incurred by those who falsify their papers and log-books.-III. If advice or information communicated to the directors of our customs give rise to any suspicions as to the origin of the cargoes, they shall be provisionally warehoused until it is ascertained and decided that they do not come from England or her colonies.--IV. Our commissaries for commercial relations, who deliver certificates of origin for merchandize laden in the ports of their residence destined for that of France, shall not confine themselves to an attestation that the merchandize or commodities do not come from England or her colonies or commerce;

they shall indicate the place of origin, the documents which have been laid before them in support of the declaration which has been made to them, and the name of the ship on board of which they have been primarily transported from the place of origin into that of their residence.

Decree against English Commerce, dated at Milan, Dec. 17, 1807, and signed by the Emperor Napoleon. Together with a Supplement by the French Minister of Marine.

Napoleon, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, and Protector of the Rhinish Confederation :-Observing the measures adopted by the British government, on the 11th of November last, by which vessels belonging to neutral, friendly, or even powers the allies of England, are made liable, not only to be searched by English cruizers, but to be compulsorily detained in England, and to have e tax laid on them of so much per cent. on the cargo, to be regulated by the British legislature.---Observing that by these acts the British government denationalizes ships of every nation in Europe, that it is not competent for any government to detract from its own independence and rights, all the sovereigns of Europe having in trust the sovereignties and independance of the flag; that if, by an unpardonable weakness, and which, in the eyes of posterity, would be an indelible stain, such a tyranny was allowed to be established into principles, and consecrated by usage, the English would avail themselves of it to assert it as a right, as they have availed themselves of the tolerance of governments to establish the infamous principle, that the flag of a nation does not cover goods, and to give to their right of

which infringes on the sovereignty of every state; we have decreed and do decree as follows:-Art. I. Every ship, to whatever nation it may belong, that shall have submitted to be searched by an English ship, or to a voyage to England, or that shall have paid any tax whatsoever to the English government, is thereby, and for that alone, declared to be denationalized, to have forfeited the protection of its king, and to have become English property.-Art. II. Whether the ships thus denationalized by the arbitrary measures of the English government, enter into our ports, or those of our allies, or whether they fall into the hands of our ships of war, or of our privateers, they are declared to be good and lawful prizes.-Art. III. The British islands are declared to be in a state of blockade, both by land and sea. Every ship, of whatever nation, or whatsoever the nature of its cargo so may be, that sails from the ports of England, or those of the English colonies, and of the countries occupied by English troops, and proceeding to England, or to the English colonies, or to countries occupied by English troops, is good and lawful prize, as contrary to the present decree; and may be captured by our ships of war or our privateers, and adjudged to the captor.-Art IV. These measures, which are resorted to only in just retaliation of the barbarous system adopted by England, which assimilates its legislation to that of Algiers, shall cease to have any effect with respect to all nations who shall have the firmness to compel the English government to respect their flag. They shall continue to be rigorously in force as long as that government does not return to the principle of the law of nations,

VOL I. PART. I.

which regulates the relations of civilized states in a state of war. The provisions of the present decree shall be abrogated and null, in fact, as soon as the English abide again by the principles of the law of nations, which are also the principles of justice and of honour.All our ministers are charged with the execution of the present decree, which shall be inserted in the Bulletin of the Laws.

No. 6.-Proclamation of the President of the United States.

During the wars which, for some time, have unhappily prevailed among the powers of Europe, the United States of America, firm in their principles of peace, have endeavoured, by justice, by a regular discharge of all their national and social duties, and by every friendly office their situation has admitted, to maintain, with all the belligerents, their accustomed relations of friendship, hospitality, and commercial intercourse. Taking no part in the questions which animate these powers against each other, not permitting themselves to entertain a wish but for the general restoration of peace, they have observed, with good faith, the neutrality they assumed, and they believe that no instance of a departure from its duties can be justly imputed to them by any nation. A free use of their harbours and waters, the means of refitting and refreshment, of succour to their sick and suffering, have, at all times, and on equal principles, been extended to all; and this too amidst a constant recurrence of acts of insubordination to the laws, of violence to the persons, and of trespasses on the property of our citizens, committed by officers of one of the belligerent parties received among us. In truth, these abuses of

the laws of hospitality have, with few exceptions, become habitual to the commanders of the British armed vessels hovering on our coasts, and frequenting our harbours. They have been the subject of repeated representations to their government. Assurances have been given that proper orders should restrain them within the limit of the rights, and of the respect due to a friendly nation; but those orders and assurances have been without effect, and no instance of punishment for past wrongs has taken place. At length, a deed, transcending all we have hitherto seen, or suffered, brings the public sensibility to a serious crisis, and our forbearance to a necessary pause. A frigate of the United States, trust ing to a state of peace, and leaving her harbour on a distant service, has been surprised and attacked by a British vessel of superior force, one of a squadron then lying in our waters, and covering the transaction, and has been disabled from service, with the loss of a number of men killed and wounded.

This enormity was not only without provocation or justifiable cause, but was committed with the avowed purpose of taking, by force, from a ship of war of the United States, a part of her crew; and, that no circumstance might be wanting to mark its character, it had been previously ascertained that the seamen demanded were natives of the United States. Having effected his purpose, he returned to anchor with his squadron within our jurisdiction. Hospitality, under such circumstances, ceases to be a duty; and a continuance of it, with such uncontroulled abuses, would tend only, by multiplying injuries and irritations, to bring on a rupture between the two nations.

This

extreme resort is equally opposed to the interests of both, as it is to assurances of the most friendly dispositions on the part of the British government, in the midst of which this outrage has been committed. In this light, the subject cannot but present itself to that government, and strengthen the motives to an honourable reparation of the wrong which has been done, and to that effectual controul of its naval commanders, which alone can justify the government of the United States in the exercise of those hospitalities it is now constrained to discontinue.

In consideration of these circumstances, and of the right of every nation to regulate its own police, to provide for its peace, and for the safety of its citizens, and consequently to refuse the admission of armed vessels into its harbours or waters, either in such numbers or of such description, as are inconsistent with these, or with the maintenance of the authority of the laws, I have thought proper, in pursuance of the authorities specially given by law, to issue this my proclamation, hereby requiring all armed vessels, bearing commissions under the government of Great Britain, now within the harbours or waters of the United States, immediately, and without any delay, to depart from the same, and interdicting the entrance of all the said harbours and waters to the said armed vessels, and to all others bearing commissions under the authority of the British government.

And if the said vessels, or any of them, shall fail to depart as aforesaid, or if they, or any others, so interdicted, shall hereafter enter the harbours or waters aforesaid, I do in that case forbid all intercourse with them, or any of them, their officers