1788.
the war: the municipal law of the country operated upon him as a ſubject, and he could not be an object of the law of nations.
The objection to the Courts of this State, as a ſovereign independent State, interpoſing to prevent the recovery of a debt, on account of the confiſcation of it in another independent State, is in a great meaſure obviated by the ſtatement which I have before made of the peculiar relation that theſe States ſtand in to one another. Though free and independent States, they appear not to be ſuch diſtinct ſovereignties as have no relation to each other but by general treaties and alliances, but are bound together by common intereſts, and are jointly repreſented and directed as to national purpoſes, by one body as the head of the whole. The offence, which incurred the forfeiture, was not an offence againſt the State of Connecticut alone, but againſt all the States in the union: And the act, which directed the forfeiture, was made in conſequence of the recommendation of Congreſs, compoſed of the Repreſentatives of all the States, and was a caſe within the general powers veſted in them as conductors of a war, in which we were all equally principals. Our Courts muſt, therefore, neceſſarily take notice of the confiſcation made in a ſiſter State on theſe grounds.
It remains, then, only to confider, whether this debt was veſted in the State of Connecticut, and, if it was, whether it is reveſted in the Plaintiff by the treaty of peace?
All this eſtate, both real and perſonal, in that State was confiſcated. All things come within the deſcription of confiſcable perſonal eſtate, which a man has in his own right, whether they be in action or poſſeſſion: This debt was due from a perſon then reſiding within the State of Connecticut, and was, conſequently, confiſcated as other debts due there, and the right of action, as well as the debt, was veſted in the State.
The 4th article of the treaty of peace, which directs that creditors, on either ſide, ſhall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of all bona fide debts theretofore contracted, is moſt certainly confined to real Britiſh ſubjects, on the one ſide, and the citizens of America, on the other; and it has been always ſo conſtrued.
As to the reſtitution of eſtates, rights, and properties, already confiſcated, it is not required by the treaty to be done, even as to real Britiſh ſubjects. It is agreed, indeed, by the 5th article, that Congreſs shall recommend it to the ſeveral Legiſlatures to provide for ſuch a reſtitution; and, as to thoſe of another deſcription, they have liberty given them by the treaty, to reſide twelve months in the United States to ſolicit a reſtitution and compoſition with the purchaſers of their eſtates, and Congreſs is to recommend to the States, that they be reſtored on refunding the money paid for them.
