the purview of section 23 of the law before cited, to set free the said Kracke from the military service of Prussia.

Sincerely regretting not to be able on this occasion to give you a proof of my eager desire to serve you, I have the honor to offer you, sir, the assurance of my high consideration.

His Excellency Mr. BARNARD, &c., &c., &c.

MANTEUFFEL.

Baron Gerolt to Mr. Marcy.

PRUSSIAN LEGATION, Washington, July 11, 1853.

With reference to our verbal conversation, some days ago, in relation to the liabilities to which emigrants from Prussia and other German States, who have become citizens of the United States, are subjected when they voluntarily return to those States, after having left their native country without the necessary permission of emigration, and without fulfilling their military duties prescribed by law after having attained a certain age, I beg leave to inclose hereby an extract from the laws of Prussia and from the constitution of Prussia on this subject, by which you will perceive that Prussia does not pretend to enforce any allegiance upon the said emigrants, but that, if they return to Prussia, they are made responsible for having violated our laws in the cases above mentioned and are considered as criminals forfeited to the punishment of the law, from which no citizenship of any nation can liberate them.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, FR. VON GEROLT.

Hon. W. L. MARCY,

Secretary of State of the United States, Washington.

Extract from the Laws of Prussia, of December 31, 1842, concerning the loss of the quality of a Prussian subject.

§ 15. The quality of a Prussian subject is lost:
1. By discharge upon the subject's request.
2. By sentence of the competent authority.

3. By living ten years in a foreign country.

4. By the marriage of a female Prussian subject with a foreigner. § 16. The discharge has to be asked from the police authority of the province in which the subject's domicil is situated, and is effected by a document made out by the same authority.

§ 17. The discharge cannot be granted:

1. To male subjects who are between seventeen and twenty-five years of age, until they have got a certificate of the military commission of recruitment of their district, proving that their application for discharge is not made merely to avoid the fulfilling of their military duty in the standing army.

2. To actual soldiers, belonging either to the standing army or to the reserve; to officers of the militia and to public functionaries, before their being discharged from service.

3. To subjects having formerly served as officers in the standing army or the militia, or having been appointed military employés, with the rank of officers, or civil functionaries, before they have got the consent of their former chief.

4. To the persons belonging to the militia, not being officers, af er their having been convoked for actual service.

§ 18. To subjects wishing to emigrate into a State of the German Confederacy the discharge may be refused if they cannot prove that the said State is willing to receive them. (See act of the German Confederation, Art. 18, Nro. 2, lit. A.)

§ 19. For other reasons than those specified in §§ 17 and 18, the discharge cannot be refused in time of peace. For the time of war, special regulations will be made.

§ 20. The document of discharge effects, at the moment of its delivery, the loss of the quality as Prussian subject.

§ 21. If there is no special exception, the discharge comprehends also the wife and the minor children that are still under their father's authority.

§ 22. Subjects living in a foreign country may lose their quality as Prussians by a declaration of the police authority of Prussia, if they do not obey, within the time fixed to them, the express summons for returning to their country.

§ 23. Subjects who either

1. Leave our States without permission, and do not return within ten years, or

2. Leave our States with permission, but not return within ten years after the expiration of the term granted by the said permission, lose their quality as Prussian subjects.

§ 24. Entering into public service in a foreign State.

The entering of a subject into public service in a foreign State is allowed only after his discharge (see § 20) has been granted to him. Anybody who has obtained it, is permitted to do so without restriction. § 25. A subject which

1. Either takes public service in a foreign State, with our immediate permission,

2. Or is appointed in our States by a foreign power, in an office established with our permission, as, for instance, that of consul, commercial agent, &c., remaining in his quality as a Prussian.

§ 26. General disposition.

Subjects who emigrate without having obtained their discharge, or violate, by their entering into public service in a foreign State, the disposition of § 24, are to be punished according to the laws existing in that respect.

Given under our hand and seal, Berlin, this 31st of December, 1842. [L. S.] FREDERICK WILLIAM.

Extract from the Constitution of Prussia, of 1850.

TIT. I. Rights of the Prussians.

Art. 1. The right to emigrate cannot be restricted by the State, except with respect to the duty of military service.

Accompanying this is a copy of a letter from Mr. Bromberg, United States consul at Hamburg, addressed to the secretary of legation, on the subject of the holding of American citizens to military service in Germany, and some other matters, and his answer thereto.

I have received two letters from Mr. Bates, United States consul at Aix-la-Chapelle; one respecting the case of B. Meyer.

I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM L. MARCY,

Secretary of State, &c.

P. D. VROOM.

Mr. Vroom to Mr. Bates.

[Extract.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
Berlin, October 24, 1853.

SIR: I have received your communication of the 6th instant, in relation to the case of Mr. Meyer; and, on referring to the records of the legation, I find that my predecessor, Mr. Barnard, considered the case as settled in point of principle, and that he thereupon appealed to the government in behalf of Mr. Meyer as a matter of favor, which appeal has not been responded to. In this state of things, I do not consider it advisable to present the case anew without some change of circumstances to justify it. No new instructions have been received at this legation other than what may be considered as contained in Mr. Marcy's letter to Mr. Hulsemann, which has not yet been officially communicated; and if it had, I should deem it unwise to make that

the ground for opening cases which have already been passed on and settled, unless specially instructed to do so.

I was desirous of saying a word to you more particularly on a matter which I promised to bring before you, and which is simply one of the many cases which have arisen, and one of the more which I think are likely to arise, regarding individuals who emigrate to America from Prussia without first receiving permission from the Prussian government to do so, and return again voluntarily to their native country after having been duly naturalized in ours.

The case is that of Mr. Meyer, which is fully stated in my communication to the legation under date of July 2, 1852, to which I respectfully beg leave to refer you.

Mr. Barnard replied to my letter on the 5th, promising to lose no time in bringing it before the government, which he did.

Not hearing from him meanwhile on the subject, I addressed him again on the 13th August, 1852, for the purpose of bringing it to mind. In reply, on the 18th August, he stated that the doctrine of the absolute and independent right of expatriation to which I had referred was not admitted by the European governments, but that this was not the only question of international law in these cases; that Mr. Wheaton, in his time, refused to interpose in behalf of a naturalized citizen, formerly a Prussian subject, who had temporarily returned to Prussia and was seized for a soldier, on the ground that his native domicil and national character reverted, and that he was bound to obey the laws in all respects, exactly as if he had never emigrated, and that the Department at Washington seems to have acquiesced in this view; but that he (Mr. Barnard) could not agree with this doctrine in the broad sense in which it was laid down; on the contrary, he thought that if an emigrant returned merely as a traveler, or temporarily on some matter of business, he should be deemed an American citizen, and treated as such, and not as a Prussian subject. He added that he had made an earnest and strong representation to induce the Prussian government to give up in Meyer's case, and altogether, their demand as well for the fine as for the military service, and hoped for a favorable result, at least for the military service,

Nothing more passed on the subject till October 26, when Mr. Fay advised me (Mr. Barnard being absent) that the Prussian government had just returned a negative answer to his application for Mr. Meyer to visit Paderborn temporarily without being incorporated in the Prussian army; and, in reply to my letter of 28th October, in which I asked whether the affair must be considered as definitely settled in this case and all others like it, he stated that he supposed it must, but that he could not, of course, tell what instructions would be given by the State Department in the matter, nor what would be the result of any which may be given. So the matter now stands.

Mr. Meyer was here a short time since, and desirous of going immediately to Paderborn. I read to him the correspondence which I had on the subject-the substance of all which, however, I had previously communicated him by letter-and advised him not to go. He spoke of your coming, and anticipated that you would be able to do something more effectual; and I promised to make you acquainted with his case as soon as you arrived, and to beg you to inform me if you had any instructions from Washington with regard to negotiations on this subject, and if, in your opinion, there was any hope that the result would be favorable to persons in his position. He repeated his assertion, that it was absolutely necessary for him to go to Paderborn, and that he must place himself at the mercy of the King if he could do nothing else.

It is already a question of no little importance, as recent events have shown, and is daily becoming more so, whether the government of the United States is to protect naturalized citizens who return temporarily and voluntarily to their native country, to the same extent that it would native-born citizens, and also whether any and what protection is to be afforded to individuals who have simply taken the preliminary steps and declared their intention of becoming American citizens. In my experience here, I have endeavored, in several cases, to protect both these classes, but have been cautious not to commit myself with regard to the latter; for I see not how they can have any claim whatever upon us, except a friendly one.

English legislation excludes naturalized aliens from any positive claim to the protection of their adopted country, when they are beyond its frontiers.

Our own does not; and it is highly desirable that the intention of our government in this respect be clearly made known. You will much oblige me by instructing me as to the course to be pursued in future.

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Mr. VROOM, Minister at Berlin.

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J. C. BATES.

I am afraid of troubling you too much, but I cannot omit to inquire if any recent instructions have been received at your legation, concerning