52] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



government proceeded to measures 

 which respected the foreign re- 

 lations of the republic. 



In the beginning of December, 

 a board of admiralty was instituted, 

 with the intention of promoting or- 

 der, economy, energy, and that 

 promptitude and secrecy which na- 

 val designs and operations so often 

 require, and which can be ensured 

 only by unity of assent and action. 

 It was intended for the purpose of 

 giving the supreme maritime autho- 

 rity that preponderance and dignity 

 requisite for exciting emulation, 

 and restoring the marine to its for- 

 mer lustre and glory. The commis- 

 sioners to whom the first consul 

 gave it in charge to inquire into, 

 and propose the best means for an- 

 swering the ends proposed by that 

 establishment, were instructed to 

 investigate the institutions of the 

 English marine, and the naval ad- 

 ministrations of other countries. 



The commerce of France, during 

 1 799) was reduced, as it had been 

 for several years before, to a mere 

 piratical trade, which had its ad- 

 vantages and disadvantages ; but of 

 which the disadvantages greatly pre- 

 ponderated. As this is a matter of 

 the highest importance in the pre- 

 sent period of extended intercourse, 

 when all nations are, more or less, 

 united by the golden chain of com- 

 merce, and the reciprocity of their 

 interests, becomes every year and 

 day more and more apparent, it 

 may not be improper to bestow upon 

 it more attention than is permitted 

 by our plan to the temporary intri- 

 gues and expedients of politicians, 

 which, though they may perhaps be 

 more amusing, affordless groundfor 

 useful inference and instruction. 



The first act of French jurispru- 

 dence, respecting corsairs or priva- 



teers, bears date at the end of the 

 fourteenth century. From that 

 period, down to the middle of the 

 seventeenth, this branch of maritime 

 legislation, in every country in Eu- 

 rope, was involved in a chaos of ob- 

 scurity,confusion,and contradiction . 

 At last, by certain articles in the 

 treaty of the Pyrenees, it was esta- 

 blished, that merchandise of any 

 kind, found on board an enemy's 

 ship, and to whomsoever belonging, 

 might be confiscated : at the same 

 time, the goods even of enemies, 

 not contraband, were to be safe to 

 their owners, when carried in neu- 

 tral vessels. This twofold principle, 

 that, on the one hand, an enemy's 

 flag condemns all that it covers, and, 

 on the other, that neutral or free 

 ships make free goods, was super- 

 seded, in some degree, by an ordi- 

 nance of the French king and par- 

 liament of 1 681, by which it was 

 declared, that all ships carrying any 

 merchandise of an enemy, as well 

 as any merchandise found on board 

 an enemy, should be equally consi- 

 dered as lawful prizes. A regula- 

 tion of 1744 went still farther. It 

 confiscated not only the fabrics or 

 manufactures of an enemy, but 

 whatever was of the physical pro- 

 duce of his country, whether raw 

 materials, or those wrought into 

 any species of manufacture. 



It is, howevei', to be observed, 

 that, as the French government was 

 obliged to apply, as well as to make 

 the law, it was judged good policy 

 to make the law very severe, that it 

 might admit, without any injury to 

 the state, of modification in practice. 

 Accordingly, we find, that, in all 

 wars before the present, in every 

 instance in which a vigorous appli- 

 cation of the maritime law might be 

 inconsistent with the in terests of the 



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