ppeals on the 4th of June,
1781. It was discussed on the 25th of June, and again, on the 17th of
July, took up a great deal of time, but was recommitted. The committee
were instructed to prepare an ordinance regulating the proceedings of
the admiralty cases, in the several States, in instances of capture;
to codify all resolutions and laws upon the subject; and to request
the States to enact such provisions as would be in harmony with the
reserved rights of the Congress in such cases as were specified in the
Ninth Article. Accordingly, on the 21st of September, 1781, the
committee reported to Congress the results of their labor, in a bill
on the subject of captures. Upon the question of agreeing to the
following section, the yeas and nays were demanded by Mr. Mathews of
South Carolina:--

"On the recapture by a citizen of any negro, mulatto,
Indian, or other person from whom labor or service is
lawfully claimed by _another citizen_, specific restitution
shall be adjudged to the claimant, whether the original
capture shall have been made on land or water, a reasonable
salvage being paid by the claimant to the recaptor, not
exceeding one-fourth part of the value of such labor or
service, to be estimated according to the laws of the State
_of which the claimant shall be a citizen_: but if the
service of such negro, mulatto, Indian or other person,
captured below high-water mark, shall not be legally claimed
_by a citizen of these United States_, he shall be set at
liberty."

The delegates from North Carolina, Delaware, New Jersey, and
Connecticut, refrained from voting; South Carolina voted in the
negative: but it was carried by twenty-eight yeas, against two nays.
After a spirited debate, continuing through several days, and having
received several amendments, it finally passed on Dec. 4, 1781, as
follows:--

"On the recapture by a citizen of any negro, mulatto,
Indian, or other person, from whom labor or service is
lawfully claimed by _a State or a citizen of a State_,
specific restitution shall be adjudged to the claimant,
whether the original capture shall have been made on land or
water, _and without regard to the time of possession by the
enemy_, a reasonable salvage being paid by the claimant to
the recaptor, not exceeding 1-4th of the value of such labor
or service, to be estimated according to the la