dеlivered^ the opinion of the Court. This case comes up on a writ of érror from the circuit court, of the Maryland district. It is an action of assumpsit. The declaration contains the common money coúnts, and also counts for goods sold and delivered, work, labourland serviсes, and an insimul computassent.. There is an averment in the declaration, that the plaintiffs are citizens of the state of Maryland, and the defendant an alien, and subject of the king of Spain. The defendant pleaded the general issue, and also a plea in abatеment, alleging that Domingo. D’Arbel, one of the plain
The question arising upon the first exceрtion, turns upon the admissibility, in evidence of the'passport given by the secretary ófstate, introduced to prove the citizenship of Domingo D’Ar-bel. The record states, that the plaintiffs, further to support the i'ss'ue on their part, on the plea in abatement to the jurisdiction of this сourt filed in this cause, offered in evidence •the following paper, purporting to be a passport from the secretary of state of the United States, and which was admitted to be an original paper from the department of state, signed by John Quincy Adams, then secrеtary of state of the United States ; and also offered evidence, that the several indorsements on safd paper, were respectively in the handwriting of the several persons signing the same ; and that the said persons were the respective officers of'the government of Mexico, as they style themselves in the said indorsements, at the periods at -which the same were made. It was also admitted, that at the date of the', said passport, said D’Arbel was then in Mexico, and that'(he said passport was applied for, and obtained fоr him, at his instance, and by his request, by one of-the co-plaintiffs, who transmitted the same to the said D’Arbel, into whose possession it came, and by whom- it was used. The only proof of said use being the said indorsements so made thereon. The passport is as follows: “United States of America. To all to whom these presents shall come,- greeting. I, the undersigned, secretary of state of the United States of America, hereby request all whom it may concern, to permit safely and freely to pass, Domingo D’Arbel, a citizen of the United States, and in case of need, to give him' a'll lawful aid and protection. Given under my hand, aud the impression of the seal of the department of state, at the ci ty* of Washington, the 22d day of March 1824, in the forty-eighth year of the independence of. these United States. John.Quincy Adams.”.
There is some diversity of opinion on the bench, with respect to the admissibility in evidence of this passport, arising^ in some measure, from-the circumstances under which the offer was made, and its connexionwith other mattеrs which had been given-, in evidence. Upon the general and abstract question, whether the passport,.pér se, was legal and competent evidence of the fact of citizenship, we are of opinion that it was not.
There.is no Jaw of the United States, in any manner regulating the issuing of passports, or directing upon what evidence . it may be done, or declaring their legal effect. It is understood, as matter of practice, that some evidence of citizenship is required, by the secretary of state, before issuing a passport. This,- however, is entirely discretionary' with 'him.' .No inquiry is instituted by him to ascertain' the fact of citizenship, or any proceedings had, that will iri any manner bear the character of a judicial inquiry. It is a' document, which, from its nature and object, is addressed-to foreign powers; purporting only to be á request, that the bearer of it may pass safely and freely ; and is to be. considered rather in the. character of á political document, by which,the bearer is recognized, in foreign countries, as an American citizen; and which, by usage and the law of nations, is received as еvidence of the fact. But. this-is a-very different light, from that in which it is to be viewed in a court, of justice, where the inquiryis, as to the fact of citizenship. It is. a mere ex parte certificate; ‘and if founded upon any evidence produced to the secretary of state, establishing the fact of citizenship, that evidence, if of a character admissible in a court of justice, ought jo be produced upon ihe trial, as higher and better evidence of the ,iact.- But whether the circuit court erred, in admitting the passport in evidence, under ithe circumstancеs stated in the exception, this court is divided in opinion, and the point is of course undecided.
Whether the district court Of the United States was bound tо.receive this as satisfactory evidence of the right of D’Arbel to remove the cause from the state court, is not at all material! It was received by the United States district court as sufficient, and the cause, was removed and proceeded in accordingly. But .therе can be no doubt, that the United States court had a right to examine and decide for itself upon the grounds on which D’Arbel claimed to have his. cause .removed into the United States court. . That court had a right to decide upon its Own jurisdiction and remand the cause, if sufficient grounds'*
The third exception on tüe part of the defendant is to the ruling of the. court upon the plaintiff’s prayer, which is as follows. The еvidence having been given, as set forth in the two prior exceptions by the plaintiffs, which is.to be considered as forming á part of this exception; the defendant, further to support the issue, on the plea in abatement, gave in evidence by competent witnesses, that the said D’Arbel declared himself to have been' a native Frenchman and born near the borders between France and Spain ; and that the said D’Arbel, mentioned'in the .foregoing evidence, is the same D’Arbel mentioned in the commission aforesaid. Thereupon the plaintiffs prayed the court, that if the defendant offers ho other evidence on the issue joined on the defendant’s plea of abatement, than there is now before the jury; that then the plaintiffs are entitled to the verdict, if the jury believe the plaintiffs’ evidence." Which praye- was grаnted by the court.
■This prayér is rather obscurely stated, and the real point intended to be raised is not very apparent; Evidence had been; given both as to the defendant and plaintiff; and the . prayer would .seem to ask the court to instruct the jury, that the plaintiffs were entitled to the verdict if the jury believed the plaintiffs' evidence, and the court so instructed the jury. If this is the interpretation to' be given to the prayer, the instruction was erroneous. The evidence given by the defendant was taken entirely from the consideration of the •jury, and the verdict was mаde to depend upon their belief of the plaintiffs’ evidence. But the decision upon this exception is not very important, as it will not affect the result upon the present writ of error; and it is not likely it will arise in the same form on another trial: and this remark applies to the two remaining exceptions on the merits arising on the accounts offered in evidence, and the decision and instructions given by the court thereupon. Questions of law and fact, growing out of the prayers and instructions on this part of the case, are so blended, and' presented in süch a shape, that it is extremely difficult to decide upon them; and as the cause must go back, and as .these matters may not be presented on
The judgment of the circuit court is reversed, and the cause . sent back-with directions to issue a venire de novo.
This cause came on to be heard on the transcript of the re'-. cord from the circuit court of the United States for the,district' of Maryland, and was argued by сounsel. On consideration whereof, it is adjudged and ordered by this court, that the judgment .of the said circuit court in this cause be and the same is hereby reversed, and that this cause be and the same is hereby remanded to the said circuit court, with directions to; award a 'Venire facias de novo.