DESPATCHES, REPORTS, CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 93 



deems the capture to have been unquestionably within its jurisdiction; 

 and that, according to the rules of neutrality, and the protection it 

 owes to all persons while within its limits, it is bound to see that the 

 crew be liberated, and the vessel and cargo restored to their former 

 owners. The Attorney-General of the United States has made a 

 statement of the grounds of this determination, a copy of which I 

 have the honour to enclose you. I am, in consequence, charged by the 

 President of the United States to express to you his expectation, and, 

 at the same time, his confidence, that you will be pleased to take im- 

 mediate and effectual measures for having the ship Grange and her 

 cargo restored to the British owners, and the persons taken on board 

 her set at liberty. 



I am persuaded, Sir, you will be sensible, on mature consideration, 

 that, in forming these determinations, the Government of the United 

 States has listened to nothing but the dictates of immutable justice : 

 They consider the rigorous exercise of that virtue, as the surest means 

 of preserving perfect harmony between the United States and the 

 Powers at war. 



I have the honour to be, &c. TH : JEFFERSON. 



No. 4. Report of the Attorney-General enclosed in above. 



The Attorney General of the United States has the honour of sub- 

 mitting to the Secretary of State his opinion concerning the seizure 

 of the ship Grange. 



The essential facts are, That the River Delaware takes its rise 

 within the limits of the United States ; 



That, in the whole of its descent to the Atlantic Ocean, it covered 

 on each side by the territory of the United States; 



That, from tide water, to the distance* of about 60 miles from the 

 Atlantic Ocean, it is called the Ricer Delaware; 



That, at this distance from the sea, it widens and assumes the name 

 of the Bay of Delaware, which it retains to the mouth ; 



That its mouth is formed by the Capes Henlopen and May; the 

 former belonging to the State of Delaware, in property and jurisdic- 

 tion, the latter to the State of New Jersey ; 



That the Delaware does not lead from the sea to the dominions of 

 any foreign nation ; 



That, from the establishment of the British provinces on the banks 

 of the Delaware to the American revolution, it was deemed the pecul- 

 iar navigation of the British Empire; 



That, by the treaty of Paris, on the third day of September, 1783, 

 His Britannic Majesty relinquished, with the privity of France, the 

 sovereignt} 7 of those provinces, as well as of the other provinces and 

 colonies ; 



And that the Grange was arrested in the Delaware, within the 

 capes, before she had reached the sea, after her departure from the 

 port of Philadelphia. 



It is a principle, firm in reason, supported by the civilians, and 

 tacitly approved in the document transmitted by the French Min- 

 ister, that, to attack an enemy in a neutral territory, is absolutely 

 unlawful. 



