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76

"The Government of the Republic, having heard read, by the Minister of Marine and Colonies, a despatch from the maritime prefect at Brest, announcing that two English frigates had taken two merchant vessels in the Bay of Andrieu, without any previous declaration of war, and in manifest violation of the law of nations,—

"All the English, from the ages of eighteen to sixty, or holding any commission from his Britannic Majesty, who are at present in France, shall immediately be constituted prisoners of war, to answer for those citizens of the Republic who may have been arrested and made prisoners by the vessels or subjects of his Britannic Majesty previous to any declaration of hostilities."