PRACTICE. An alien desiring to make the preliminary declaration may go to the clerk of any of the above courts, and, expressing his intention, he will receive from the clerk the proper form, or if the clerk cannot give it to him, may draw it up in the form given below, and make oath thereto. This will be recorded, and a certificate given him, which he should keep; but if he loses it, he may obtain a certified copy from the clerk. Then, when the time comes for his admission, he must go to the clerk of a court competent to admit him and present his certificate. The clerk will give him a deposition, stating the above facts, which he will take, and go with his witnesses (one being enough, unless the court requires more) before the court who examines the applicant and the witness under oath; and the depositions are then signed and sworn to by the parties in open court, and the court then makes an order for his admission, and the clerk gives him a certificate that he has been admitted as a citizen, and this certificate is thereafter evidence of the fact; and, if lost, a copy may be obtained from the clerk, the whole procedure being recorded. Annexed are forms proper for the whole procedure in naturaliza RESPECTFULLY REPRESENTS (here insert the name of the applicant) of (residence) in said District an alien, that he was born in (place and is now about in the year of of birth) on or about the (time of birth) day of our Lord eighteen hundred and years of age; that he arrived at (place where he first landed) in the District (or State) of (name of District or State) in the United States of America, on or about the (day of landing) day of eighteen hundred and in the year of our Lord ; that it then was, and still is, his bona fide intention to become a citizen of the United States of America, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, state, potentate, and sovereignty whatsoever, more especially to (name of sovereign or state to whom he owed allegiance) whose subject he has heretofore been. He therefore prays that this his declaration and intention may become a record of this honorable court, agreeably to the laws in such case made and provided. (Signature of Applicant). District (or State), to wit: Court, 187 Then the said (name of applicant) personally appeared before the clerk of said court, and made oath to the truth of the facts as set forth in the above declaration to the court, by him subscribed. 1, CERTIFICATE OF THE CLERK TO THE DECLARATION. A COPY. clerk of (naming the court), do hereby certify that the above is a true copy of the declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States, of the original whereof is on record in my office. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto signed my name and affixed the seal of said court, at in the year eighteen hundred and (Seal of the court). on the day of (Signature of Clerk) (3). APPLICATION FOR ADMISSION AS A CITIZEN. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. District, ss. To the Honorable the Judge of the (here insert the name of the court) within and for the District of (here give the district or county). RESPECTFULLY REPRESENTS (here give the name of the applicant) of (the an alien, that he was name of the town or city) in said district, of born in (insert here the place of his birth) on or about the day day of in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and that it is his bona fide intention to reside in and become a citizen of the United States of America, and to renounce all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, state, potentate, and sovereignty whatsoever, more especially to (here insert the name of the sovereign or state to which he owed allegiance) whose subject he has heretofore been: All which appears in the record of the honorable court (naming the court where he made his preliminary declaration), to wit, on the day of A.D. 18 And the said petitioner further represents, that he has ever since continued to reside within the jurisdiction of said United States, to wit, at said (the place or places of his residence in this country); that he has never borne any hereditary title, or been of any of the orders of nobility; that he is ready to renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty whatever, and particularly to (here repeat the name of the sovereign or state to which he has borne allegiance). whose subject he has heretofore been; that he is attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States of America, and well disposed towards the good order and happiness of the same. WHEREFORE your petitioner prays, that he may be admitted to become a citizen of the said United States of America, according to the forms of the statutes in such case made and provided. 187 (Signature of Applicant). Clerk. Sworn to by the said petitioner, Before me, If the applicant was a minor, and made no preliminary declaration, the form of his application must be the same as above, excepting that the words, "being then a minor under the age of years," must be inserted immediately before the words, "and it is his bona fide intention;" and the words, "all which appears in the record of," as far as "A.D. 18," must be stricken out. If the applicant comes as a sailor, who, having declared his intention as before provided, thereafter served three years in American vessels; or if he comes as one who enlisted in the regular or volunteer service of the United States, and has resided one year within the United States, a statement of the necessary facts must be inserted immediately before, "Wherefore your petitioner prays;" and such changes made in the application as the facts require. WE (4.) DEPOSITION AND OATH OF WITNESSES. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. District, to wit: city (or town) of 187 both citizens of said United States, severally the foregoing petitioner, depose and say, that we have known for five years last past, during which time he has resided in said and that he has resided within the State of Massachusetts one year at least; and has conducted himself and behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed towards the good order and happiness of the same. I, do solemnly swear, that I do absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty whatsoever, particularly to (name of the sovereign and state to which he has borne allegiance), whose subject I have heretofore been; and that I will support the Constitution of the United States of America, so help me God. District of the said (6.) CERTIFICATE OF CLERK TO THE OATH.' (Blanks to be filled in accordance with the facts.) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. to wit: Ar a special District Court of the United States, holden at said Boston, on the day of in the year of our Lord 187 having produced the evidence required by law, took the aforesaid oath, and was admitted to become a citizen of the United States of America; and the court ordered that record thereof be made accordingly. Attest: Clerk. (7.) CERTIFICATE OF CLERK FOR RECORD. (Blanks to be filled in accordance with the facts.) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. District, ss. BE IT REMEMBERED, That at a District Court of day of and seventy court at in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred Personally appeared before the clerk of said in said district, of alien and a free white person, an and by his declaration in on or about in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and is now about years of age; that he in the United States of America, on or about the in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and was, and still is, his bona fide intention to become a citizen of the United States of America, and to renounce forever all allegiance and fidelity to every foreign prince, state, potentate, and sovereignty whatsoever, more especially to whose subject he has heretofore been. He therefore prayed, that his said declaration and intention might become a record of said court, agreeably to the laws in such case made and provided. Whereupon the declaration of the said become a record of said court accordingly. was admitted to IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the (8.) CERTIFICATE OF THE CLERK TO BE GIVEN TO THE APPLICANT. (Blanks to be filled in accordance with the facts.) ING. District, ss. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. TO ALL PEOPLE TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,- GREETKnow ye, That at the holden at court of day of and seventy born in in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred having produced the evidence, and taken and subscribed the oath, required by law, was admitted to become a citizen of the United States, according to the acts of Congress, in such case made and provided. IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said court at aforesaid, this A.D. 187 and in the ninetyIndependence of the United States of America. Clerk of the FORMS ANNEXED TO THIS SECTION. 1. Preliminary declaration of intention. 5. Oath of petitioner. 6. Certificate of clerk to the oath. 7. Certificate of clerk for record. 8. Certificate of the clerk to be given to applicants. day of year of the Court for the SECTION XVII. ADMISSION OF NEW STATES. The framers of the constitution contemplated the possibility, perhaps the probability, of new States desiring and receiving admission into the Union. But we may look into the debates and discussions of those days, and nowhere, even among the most sanguine anticipations, shall we find even a hope expressed of the vast increase of the Union by the admission of new States. To the original thirteen, twenty-four have been added, making the whole number now thirty-seven; and we have also nine territories organized, |