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 Duke University Libraries 
 
 Charge delivere 
 Conf Pam 12mo #121 
 
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George Washington Flowers 
 Memorial Collection 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 ESTABLISHED BY THE 
 
 FAMILY OF 
 
 COLONEL FLOWERS 
 
:XEY HILL, I 
 'rate Court ibr > 
 :rict uf Texas. ) 
 
 GRAND JUKY KOOM. Houston FcS. ,::iO. 1^(33. 
 
 Hou. WILLIAM PINKXEY HILL, 
 Judge of the Coiifeder; 
 the Easteni Distri 
 
 Sir : 
 
 I am requested Ijy the uuauimoub voice of tlu^ rirniul Jury of the 
 Confederrac Court, no^v iu session, to return you tlieir respects and 
 highest compliments for the lucid as well as patriotic charge you de- 
 livered to them on Tuesdny last. And further, as th«^ Bentiments and 
 opinions of your Honor are so just, so timely, so honor.ihie and so in- 
 spiring, in tiiis day of uar and trial, Ave respectfully ask of you a 
 copy for publication. 
 
 In closing this request, allou the Avriter to subscribe himself, in the 
 highest respect, Your humble and devoted friend, 
 
 JAS. W. BARNES, Foreman, &c. 
 
 Houston, February 20, 1862, 
 
 JAMES W. BARNES, Esq., 
 
 Foreman of the Grand Jmj : 
 
 Sir: 
 
 Y'our note in behalf of the Grand Jury, requesting for publication 
 a copy of my charge, is received, and I submit herewith a copy, as 
 requc'sted, to be disposed of as the Grand Jury may think best for 
 the public interests. 
 
 It is, and will always bo to my mind, a cause of gratification, that 
 the spirit and sentiments of my charge meet the approval of a body 
 of citizens so intelligent, patriotic and honorable as your official body. 
 I feel assured that in your hands the rights of the Government and 
 the citizen alike are safe, and that from you the Government and the 
 country will receive most valuable aid in the administration of the 
 laws. 
 
 Be pleased to assure the Grand Jury of my high regards, and 
 r.ccept for yourself, dear sir, the assurance of my cordial esteem and 
 friendship. With great respect, 
 
 Y^our obedient servant, 
 
 W\M. PINKNEY HILL. 
 
ij, l^' 
 
 
 GE.N'TLKMrX OF THE GrAXD JuRY : 
 
 
 On this occasion, it is proper to notice the interesting fact, that 
 yesterday, Ava.s th<? first clay of the existence of the Permanent Gov- 
 ernment of the Gonfederate States of America. On j^Ionday, the 
 record of the Provisional Government was made np and closed for- 
 ever. Tlie fncts and events of its origin and its career, beyond all pre4 
 cedence, beyond all comparison, constitute one the most interesting 
 and instructive chapters in the history of human affairs. Contempla- 
 ting its nioral, int(^llectual and political elements, and the results they 
 have combined to achieve, it has measured off, in one year, the most 
 splendid segmeiit of the cycle of time. But though its organization has 
 ceased, it will not be a lost Pleiad from the political heavens. From 
 its zenith in the Southern hemisphere, it will still shine, pointing the 
 true course, and lighting up the way byAvhich we are safely and tri- 
 uraphantly to p^ss through the sea of our troubles — now so vexed, and 
 raging with the tempest. 
 
 On yesterday, the Congress of the Confederate States of America 
 comnnmced its first session imder the permanent Constitution. Ought 
 we not to congratulate each other on this auspicious event, and to re- 
 new our faith and courage in the success and glory of our cause and coun- 
 try ? Thus far we have stood alone. Thus far we have wrought our 
 salvation, unaided by the resources of any other nation of people. 
 Commencing without a dollar — the Avealth and liberality of our own 
 citizens have created and replenished our Treasury — and, for the first 
 time in the history of nations, a new Government finds an unshaken 
 basis of credit, and ample supplies for its wants, in the confidence, 
 patriotism and resources of its people. 
 
 Commencing without an army, our own people, at the first call of 
 their country, from all classes and pursuits, gathered in mighty iK'Sts, 
 and have formed and maintained an invincible army. We have asked 
 no boon, and accepted no aid from any other Government or people. 
 It is true we have asked admittance into the family of nations, not as 
 a boon to us, but as a right, won by our own valor and v/isdom. We 
 have asked it with a power of argument and a prestige of facts, 
 greater than were ever before required to open the door for the admis- 
 sion of a new and struggling Government into the national family. 
 With ten millions of population — not burpassed for intelligence and 
 moral worth, and living under a Constitution, the model of a free and 
 popular Government, and inhabiting a vast territory, rich, varied, an d 
 delightful in soil and climate, with productions that annually furnish 
 forth to millions in other lands the material of industry and trade, by 
 which their hungry are fed and their naked are clothed, and all the 
 element of their commerce and prosperity are vitalized and sustained, 
 and which can be obtained from no other clime or people ; with all 
 this, we are yet unrecognized as a nation. But we have not asked for 
 recognition, only because of our population, our territory, and our 
 productions. We have maintained peace and security to our homes, 
 
 ^H-51b^ 
 
we have kept in motion, liarmonioiisljantl effectively, all the inncliinery 
 of Government and of civil and of social life ; we Iiavc met our boastful 
 enemy upon the border, and tried with him the Moody conclusions of 
 battle. By deeds of valor, by victory, v/on alonp; that border, from the 
 Atlantic to the Ivlissouri, by the display in tlie cabinet and in the lield, 
 of all those qualities which make a nation great and a peojde free 
 fnd prosperous, we have become entitled to demand an equal place 
 among the nations of the earth. It ma}^ be that foreign diplomacy 
 and European complications have postponed this act of justice to us, 
 until tlie events of yesterday and a few suceeding days shall put into 
 operation our permanent Government. If so, this period is looked to, 
 from the ends of the earth, to inaugurate new and important relations 
 for us, and a new era in the business and commerce of the world. 
 
 It is true, that these considerations do not bear directly upon your 
 practical duties as Grand Jurors. But as citizens you arc? deeply in- 
 volved in the plot, the action and the results of this great drama. As 
 the Grand Inquest of the nation for this District, and about to engage 
 in the administration of one of the Departments of the Government, 
 it is becoming for you, as citizens and in your oQicial capacity, to con- 
 sider the history, the proRpcets and the condition of your country, and 
 tliat you realize your important connection with public affairs. The 
 duties, devolved upon you at this icrm, are, principally, such as grow 
 out of the legislation rendered necessary by the events of the war, 
 and are directly referable to the policy of the Government in the con- 
 duct of the v/ar. I entrera. you to be impressed with the thought, that 
 you are empanneled to-day — not in the ordinaiy course of judicial 
 administration — but in obedience to a call made upon you by your 
 country to assist her in -the impending contest for life, freedom and 
 property. The necessity, policy and consequences of the sequestration 
 law, about which your inquiries will be mainly employed, aro not to bo 
 considered by you in your official character. To you is assigned a 
 delicate and responsible part in its administration and enforcement. 
 I am truly desirous of aiding your investigations, by giving you all 
 necessary instructions, and referring you, again, to the printed charge 
 Avhich will be handed to you, I v/iil, in addition, invite your attention 
 to the following clause in the instructions of the Attorney General : — 
 
 " All persons, ( are alien enemies ) who have a domicil Avithin the 
 States with which this Government is at war, no matter whether they 
 be citizens or not. " No doubt cases will come before you, in which 
 the material inquiry will be, v/hetlier certain persons are alien enemies. 
 To deter)nine this inquiry properly, it Avill become essential to find the 
 ^OiTi/c/^ of such persons. To do this, you must be instructed in the 
 true definition of the term domicil. In all codes of law, ancient and 
 modern, and by many law writers of eminent ability, this term has been 
 defined, but there is no enumeration of the ingredients which constitute 
 domicil, in which there is universal agre(>ment ; and, in some respects, 
 iliere are material differences in the definition. 
 
21 
 
 There are, however, a f;nv propositions wlilch are ^eiierrlly nct-ep'oxl 
 as jiostidates, and are not required to be supported by reasoni;)^ or by 
 authority. 
 
 Every person must have a domicil Sv^mewhere. A person can jiavo 
 but one domicil at one and tlie same time. Fact and ifite??t must concur 
 to constitute domicil — tliat is to sr.y — residence and the inteniion of 
 making- it the home of the pra-ty. 
 
 Applying these tests to each particular case, the questions tliey in- 
 volve may, most generally, be correctly solved. 
 
 A sim.ple and comprehensive detinition is as follows : " That place is 
 properly the 6?c>»7?«?r//of a person in which his habitation or residence 
 is fixed, without any present intention of removing therefrom. " 
 
 In the Roman law, is the following admirable deiinition : *' rhore is 
 no doubt that every person has his domicil in that jdace which lie makes 
 his family residence, and principal place of his business ; from which 
 he is not about to depart unless some business requires; when he leaves 
 it he deems himself a wanderer ; and when he returns to it he deems 
 himself no longer abroad." It is said that "it is sometimes a matter 
 of no small diHiculty to decide in what place a person has his true or 
 proper domicil. His residence is often of a very equivocal nature ; and 
 his intention r>3 to tliat residence is often still more obscure. Both are 
 sometimes to be gathered from yiight circumstancfs of mere presump- 
 tion, and from equivocal and conflicting ^'cts. " All the facts and cir- 
 cumstance tending to shovr that a man has his home or domicil in one 
 place, and all the facts and circumstances tending to establish it in an- 
 other place, are to be considered and weighed against eachoiher-lhus in- 
 volving a comparison of proofs. But there are soma facts which the 
 law deems decisive unless controlled and counteracted by other facts, 
 of more power and efiect. To illustrate this : — The place where a person 
 lives, is 7y?'m<c'y<7c-!>, to be tahen as his domicil. Or, the place where 
 a married man's family resides is generally to be deemed his domicil. 
 But (his presumption may be counteracted by showing that the resi- 
 dence of the party or of his f\imily, at a particular place, is only tempo- 
 rary, for transient business purposes and objects, or for pleasure, or for 
 health, and that, therefore, such place is not his domiril. 
 
 Again : If a person leaves his former home, and takes up his abode 
 a(t another place, it raises the presumption of an abandonment of the 
 old domicil. But if it is proven that this absence is only for temporary 
 purposes, but Avith an intention to return when the purposes of this 
 absence are accomplished, there is no abandonment of the old domicil. 
 
 Another illustration: A person may leave his old domicil and re- 
 move to another place for temporary purposes, with the honajide in- 
 tention of returning, but he may afterwards change his mind and de- 
 termine to remain at his \\^^\^ place of inhabitancy — thus engrafting 
 upon an inhabitancy originally taken for special and temporary purpo- 
 ses, an intention of permanent residence. In such a case the domicil is 
 fixed at the new place of residence as soon as the intention of returning 
 is abandoned* 
 
 ^^-ti-f^^^ 
 
22 
 
 Ag.iiu : To pres.'i ve tlio domicil, a persoi) Itavinj^ it inut;t liave a per- 
 sistent, certain and definite and continvirrr intention of retnrnin<i: to in 
 For, if lie actii-illy renio\<'s to another place, with an iulention to remait. 
 there an indefinite time, and as »place of 'ayi^iX present domicil, with only 
 a floatin_£^, contiiig-ent intention to return at some future and indefinite'' 
 period, then his ehanj^e of doinicil is complete. A pert^on may intend 
 to remove and acquire a new domicil, but unless he actually removes, 
 his intention has no effect. On the contrary, his actual removal, as 
 explained, without the intention of abandoning- the old and actjuiriuo;' 
 the new domicil, is equally without effect. The domicil of the husband 
 is the domicil of the wife, and that of the pa/ents is the domicil of the 
 inf.mt children. 
 
 With these principles and rules of laAv t^ enli<;hten tlie path of in- 
 quiry, you will, 1 trust, be able to soh e the comidieations of each case 
 that may come b<'fore you, and to arrive at just and true results. 
 
 The postulate that a person can have but one domicil at one and 
 the sam.e time, acquires new and peculiar point and force, from the 
 existing war between the Confederate and United States. No person 
 can have a domicil in the Confederate States and also in the United 
 States. He that is not for us is against us. There must be no mys- 
 tery or doubt now about any man's domicil or allegiance. When the 
 first gun sounded to the startled world, the tremendous fact that the 
 Union was dissolved — that tlic avgumerit of more than thirty years 
 was exhausted — and that States, foi-morly in union and peace, were 
 now separate nations, about to engage in the terrible conliicts of war, it 
 ir IS the duty of every man to stand to his arms, on one or the otlier side. 
 At once, the law drew between the people of the two nations a line of 
 division, and established for each tlio status of hostility. After war 
 was inaugurated, no person could continue in the United States unless 
 kept there by constraint, or his continnanco there was involuntary, 
 and avoid at least the suspicion of having his domicil in the United 
 States, and of being an alien enemy io the Confederate States. If he 
 desired to establish or to retain his domicil or citizenship here, and to 
 prevent the status of alien enemy being charged against him, it was his 
 duty, as soon as he reasonably could do so, to come into the Confede- 
 rate States and bear his share of tiie burdens, and take his chances of 
 the perils of this war. The point of time at which your inquiries must 
 begin is fixed by the law, and is the 21st of May, 18G1. All who 
 were alien enemies at that date or since, having property or debts 
 owing to them in the Confederate States, are within the provisions of 
 the Sequestration Law. Does it come to your knowledge that a person 
 was, under the rules laid down, domiciliated in the United States on the 
 21stgof May last, or since, and has property or debts within your 
 jurisdiction % It is your duty to inquire into and report as to sucli 
 property or debts. If he continued there for private business, plea- 
 sure or convenience, without the consent of the Confederate Govern- 
 ment, or to prevent the confiscation of his property in the United 
 States, or in any manner to claim tbe protection and benefit of its laws, 
 
^2 
 
 tlie presumption olNloinicii there and ofbeing nn alien enemy is cc^rtainly 
 stroni: against liim. 'Many facts wliicli, in time of ])eace, would coun- 
 teract the presumption of domicil, lose much of their force in time of 
 •war, because of the new relations assumed and the new and imperative 
 duties imposed by a state of war. In time of peace a person may ^o 
 where he pleases— consult his convenience or liis jjleasun; — tarry h)n<^ 
 or short in foreig-n lands, and may easily shoM' that all this is consistent 
 with a continuing domicil and citizensliip here, l^ut if, Avithout the 
 consent of his Government, in time of Avar, when the country requires 
 every man to do his duty, he voluntarily remains away from his post, 
 and remains, too, in the country of the enemy, he may find it exceed- 
 ingly difficult tu explain why he shall not be d^-alt Avith as an alien 
 enemy. To say of a person residing in the United States, that he is 
 friendly to our cause and wisiies our success, does not relieve him 
 from the character of an alien enemy. To say that he is not acitizen of 
 the United 8t;ites, but only residing there, Avill not chang«^ this legal 
 status. He may be a I'oreigner- — say an Knglishman or Frenchman — 
 Avho never intends to claim citizenship tliere, but if he is dojnicilcd'in 
 the United .States, he is an alien enemy, and his pro])eity in the Con- 
 federate States IS subject to sequestration. 
 
 It may be that some persons are domiciled in the I'nited States 
 ,>vlio are earnest, ardent well-wishers to us, and Avould rejoice to know 
 that AV(; had triumphed in the contest, and Avho may have a fixed or a 
 floating intention to remove to tln^ Confederate States Avhen the Avar is 
 end(>d. and the time of singing birds has come again; and if this be 
 so, and it Avas all proven conclusively, it would still leave them in the 
 condition of alien enemies. 
 
 Still another class of ])ersons may come to your knowledge : that of 
 those Avho Avcre here on the 21si of May last, but avIio sul)sequently 
 abandoned the Confederate States and removed their domicil to th(! 
 I'nited States. If such there are, they are not the less alien enemies, 
 because they A^er(.' once citizens of the Confederate States. 
 
 If you find property and debts within your jurisdiction belonging 
 to persons who Avere, on the 21st of May last, alien enemies accor- 
 ding to the rules and principles before stated, but Avho have since that 
 time removed to the Confederate States, their property is subject to 
 your inquiry and report ; and the opportunity Avill be given tliem to 
 shoAV Avhy judgment of sequestration shall not be rendered against 
 their property. * # # # ^^^^j jj^ ^j^jg connection, it 
 is Avell to remark, that if any person Avas domiciliated in the United 
 States on the 21st of May last, or since that time, and Avas then an alien 
 enemy, and afterwards r<'mov<3d into the Confederate States, for the 
 purpose of thereby shielding his property, from the consequence of 
 being an alien enemy, such removal does not protect his property 
 from sequestration. 
 
 It is to be observed, that the status of the person, as to his domicil 
 is the test of the liability of his property to sequestration. He must 
 be, not only an enemy, but an alien enemy. The property of a domes- 
 
tic orehizen iMiemy, if any snch then*- be. is not by reason of his ho?- 
 tility to tlio Gov(n-iiin('iit, subject to si'uiR'stration s(j long as he is domi- 
 ciliitcfl, or has liis home ainoiia; us. He may be guilty of treason, and 
 punished ibrit, ])ut his jjroperty is not tlien-for to be contiscatcd under 
 this law. The abddc or domicil of the party determines the question 
 of alienage, and the luvr estai)lishes his character as an c//?/tr//, as .'i 
 corollary from the fact of his being an alien resident in the United 
 States. ]3y the lav.' of nations, it is a necessary but terrible conse- 
 quence of the war, tliat every man, woman and child in the United 
 tStates is th(^ emiuy of every man, woman and child in the Confeder- 
 ate States. Fix his domicil there, and friendship, affection and kin- 
 ship can interj)ose no shield against this law. If you cannot iix the 
 domicil there, the propertA'is safe from the law. 
 
 liut, gentlemen, while you must not spare alien enemies — while 
 tlu'ir property must be sequestrated for the beneiicent and just j)ur- 
 poses of the law, you are instructed to exc^rcisc great care and cauiion 
 111 your inquiries and conclusions as to the fact of alien I'liemyship in 
 every case where doubts are to be solved.. In some cases there may 
 be conflicting facts ; a good citizen may have become entangled in a 
 net of circumstances, that, without due investigation, would Iix upon 
 liim the infamy of infidcdity to his country ; but when explained, 
 would leave his patriotism untarnished. The citizen is as much enti- 
 tled to exemption from the operation of the law, as is an nliini enemy 
 to be puisued with all the energy and eiFect of its provisions. 
 
 It is important to consider, that the mere fact of l)eing in the United 
 States on the 21st of May last, or since that time, does not in itself 
 constitute a ptn-sou an alien enemy. But in addition to that, the inten- 
 tion to remain there must exist. In ascertaining the intention of the party 
 as to his continuing permanently there, you may give much weight 
 to the. consideration that he continues there voluntarily and without 
 constraint, when it is the duty of every citizen of the Confederate 
 States to be at hom*.^. ; but in every case you ought to consider every 
 fact and circumstiince that may come to your knowledge, as well for 
 him as against him ; and from the whole case, you must decide 
 whether his domicil. is in the Unitt^d States, or in the Confederate 
 States. Having determined this question, if against him, the law 
 makes him an alien eiK'iny, and you will proceed to inquire into and 
 report his property. Length of residence in the United States is not 
 material, except as a fact tending to show the hdcntion of the })arty. 
 We morereadily infer an intention ofdomiciliation from a long continued 
 than from a short residence. We more readily mfer it in time of war, 
 than in time of peace. An inhabitancy of one day, coupled with the 
 intention to make it the home of the party, oven for an indefinite time, 
 at once fixes the domicil. 
 
 Of course, as to tliat large class of cases, in which there is no doubt 
 or question as to the domicil of a })arty, you can have no difficulty. 
 
 W. P. HILL, 
 
Hollinger Corp. 
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