Philadelphia, 22 Feb. 1805. Allen petitions the president and Congress that in 1795, Governor Thomas Chittenden gave him instructions to purchase arms in Europe for the Vermont militia. In France, Allen obtained 20,000 muskets and 24 brass cannons on credit. Allen states that the purchase was “Consistant with the Laws of Nations,” but in 1796 when the arms were traveling to New York on the ship Olive Branch, a British ship of the line captured the vessel and took it to England. An admiralty court at first condemned the cargo on suspicion that the arms were intended to supply rebels in Ireland, but the property was later released on bail to Allen. He consigned the cargo to a British mercantile firm that later went bankrupt, and he is unable to receive just compensation for his expenditures. Allen argues that the actions of the admiralty court were a violation of the law of nations and he “Solissits the Interfearance of the Government of the United States” by sequestering funds intended to be paid to British merchants for claims.