king this proposal, was to render the people of different
nations more fraternal than they had been, or then were. I observed that
almost every branch of Science had possessed itself of the exercise
of this right, so far as it regarded its own institution. Most of the
Academies and Societies in Europe, and also those of America, conferred
the rank of honorary member, upon foreigners eminent in knowledge, and
made them, in fact, citizens of their literary or scientific republic,
without affecting or anyways diminishing their rights of citizenship
in their own country or in other societies: and why the Science of
Government should not have the same advantage, or why the people of
one nation should not, by their representatives, exercise the right of
conferring the honor of Citizenship upon individuals eminent in another
nation, without affecting _their_ rights of citizenship, is a problem
yet to be solved.

I now proceed to remark on that part of the letter, in which the writer
says, that, _from what he can learn from all the late Americans, I
am not considered in America, either by the Government or by the
individuals, as an American citizen_.

In the first place I wish to ask, what is here meant by the Government
of America? The members who compose the Government are only individuals,
when in conversation, and who, most probably, hold very different
opinions upon the subject. Have Congress as a body made any declaration
respecting me, that they now no longer consider me as a citizen? If they
have not, anything they otherwise say is no more than the opinion
of individuals, and consequently is not legal authority, nor anyways
sufficient authority to deprive any man of his Citizenship. Besides,
whether a man has forfeited his rights of Citizenship, is a question not
determinable by Congress, but by a Court of Judicature and a Jury; and
must depend upon evidence, and the application of some law or article of
the Constitution to the case. No such proceeding has yet been had, and
consequently I remain a Citizen until it be had, be that decision what
it may; for there can be no such thing as a suspension of rights in the
interim.

I am very well aware, and always was, of the article of the Constitution
which says, as nearly as I can recollect the words, that "any citizen
of the United States, who shall accept any title, place, or office, from
any foreign king, prince, or state, shall forfeit and lose his right of
Citizenshi