United States Statutes at Large/Volume 6/14th Congress/1st Session/Chapter 108
Chap. CVIII.—An Act for the relief of certain owners of goods, entered at Hampden, in the district of Maine.
Claims of U. S. to forfeiture of certain merchandise, released.Be it enacted, &c., That on the trial of any information, libel, or other suit for the forfeiture or condemnation of goods and merchandise, which between the twenty-fifth day of October, and the thirty-first day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fourteen, were entered at Hampden, in the district of Maine, and have been since seized as imported or entered contrary to law, all claims to forfeiture and condemnation be, and hereby are released, arising from want of lawful authority to enter and deliver said goods at Hampden, or from the illegality of importing the said goods into Orrington, or depositing them there, or from the illegality of trading between Orrington and Hampden, in a neutral vessel not licensed for the coasting trade: Provided, That the claimants of the goods and merchandize so entered as aforesaid, shall pay and satisfy all the reasonable expenses and charges attending the seizure and keeping thereof, and all the expenses, costs, and charges of prosecuting the informations, libels, and suits instituted against the same, to be taxed by the court in which final judgments shall be rendered against the respective claimants, whether the final judgments shall be in favor of the claimants respectively or against them.
Approved, April 27, 1816.