hereditary claim to some more formidable Enemy. The man could do no
more mischief; and that which he had done was not only from the vice of
his education, but was as much the fault of the Nation in restoring
him after he had absconded June 21st, 1791, as it was his. I made
the proposal for imprisonment until the end of the war and perpetual
banishment after the war, instead of the punishment of death. Upwards of
three hundred members voted for that proposal. The sentence for absolute
death (for some members had voted the punishment of death conditionally)
was carried by a majority of twenty-five out of more than seven hundred.

I return from this digression to the proper subject of my memorial.(1)

1 This and the preceding five paragraphs, and five following
the nest, are omitted from the American pamphlet.--
_Editor._.

Painful as the want of liberty may be, it is a consolation to me to
believe, that my imprisonment proves to the world, that I had no share
in the murderous system that then reigned. That I was an enemy to it,
both morally and politically, is known to all who had any knowledge of
me; and could I have written french as well as I can English, I would
publicly have exposed its wickedness and shewn the ruin with which it
was pregnant. They who have esteemed me on former occasions, whether in
America or in Europe will, I know, feel no cause to abate that esteem,
when they reflect, that _imprisonment with preservation of character is
preferable to liberty with disgrace_.

I here close my Memorial and proceed to offer you a proposal that
appears to me suited to all the circumstances of the case; which is,
that you reclaim me conditionally, until the opinion of Congress can be
obtained on the subject of my citizenship of America; and that I remain
in liberty under your protection during that time.

I found this proposal upon the following grounds.

First, you say you have no orders respecting me; consequently, you
have no orders _not_ to reclaim me; and in this case you are left
discretionary judge whether to reclaim or not. My proposal therefore
unites a consideration of your situation with my own.

Secondly, I am put in arrestation because I am a foreigner. It is
therefore necessary to determine to what country I belong. The right of
determining this question cannot appertain exclusively to the Committee
of Public Safety or General Surety; because I appeal to the Minister of
the United S