or his allies, and should send them in, with their cargoes, for adjudication; and also all vessels laden wholly, or in part, with naval or military stores, bound to any port of the said islands, and should send them into some convenient port belonging to his majesty, in order that they, together with their cargoes, might be proceeded against according to the law of nations: and whereas, in consideration of the present state of the commerce of this country, as well as of that of neutral countries, it is expedient to revoke the said instructions, we are pleased hereby to revoke the same; and in lieu thereof, we have thought fit to issue these our instructions, to be observed from henceforth by the commanders of all our ships of war and privateers, that have or may have letters of marque against France, Spain, and the United Provinces.

1. That they shall bring in for lawful adjudication all vessels, with their cargoes, that are laden with goods, the produce of any island or settlement belonging to France, Spain, or the United Provinces, and coming directly from any port of the said islands or settlements to any port in Europe, not being a port of this kingdom, nor a port of that country to which such ships, being neutral ships, shall belong.

2. That they shall bring in for lawful adjudication all ships, with their cargoes, that are laden with goods, the produce of the said islands or settlements, the property of which goods shall belong to subjects of France, Spain, or the United Provinces, to whatsoever ports the same may be bound.

3. That they shall seize all ships that shall be found attempting to enter any port of the said islands or settlements, that is or shall be blockaded by the arms of his majesty, and shall send them in, with their cargoes, for adjudication, according to the terms of the second article of the former instructions, bearing date the 8th day of June, 1793.

4. That they shall seize all vessels laden, wholly or in part, with naval or military stores, bound to any port of the said islands or settlements, and shall send them into some convenient port belonging to his majesty, in order that they, together with their cargoes, may be proceeded against according to the rules of the law of nations.

By His Majesty's Command,

PORTLAND.

Lord Grenville to Mr. King. Downing Street, March 22,

1799.

THE undersigned, secretary of state of his Britannick majesty, has received his majesty's commands to acquaint Mr. King, minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America, that the king, judging it expedient to avail himself of the superiority of his naval forces for the defence of his dominions, has signified his commands to the lords commissioners of the admiralty to cause the most rigorous blockade to be established at the entrance of all the ports of Holland, which will be maintained and enforced in the strictest manner, according to the usages of war, acknowledged and observed in similar cases.

Mr. King is therefore requested to apprize the American consuls and merchants residing in England, that the above mentioned ports of the United Provinces are, and must be considered as being in a state of blockade, and that from this time no neutral vessel can be suffered to enter them upon any consideration, or under any pretence whatsoever; and that all the measures authorized by the law of nations, and the respective treaties between his majesty and the different neutral powers, will henceforth be adopted and executed, with respect to vessels destined for the said ports, or such as shall attempt to enter them after this notice.

Lord Grenville to Mr. King.

THE undersigned secretary of state has received his majesty's command to inform Mr. King, that his majesty has judged it expedient to suspend for the present the blockade of all the ports in the United Provinces, which was established by his majesty's orders, and which was announced to Mr. King, by the undersigned, in his note dated March 22.

Supposed to be November 27, 1799.

GRENVILLE.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS

By the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, &c.

THE right honourable lord Pelham, one of his majesty's principal secretaries of state, having transmitted us, as additional instructions, under his majesty's signet and sign manual, dated the 24th June, 1803, as follows:

To the Commanders of His Majesty's Ships of War and Privateers.

IN consideration of the present state of commerce, we are pleased hereby to direct the commanders of our ships of war and privateers not to seize any neutral vessel which shall be carrying on trade directly between the colonies of enemies, and the neutral country, to which the vessel belongs, and laden with the property of inhabitants of such neutral country: provided, that such neutral vessels shall not be supplying, nor shall have on the outward voyage supplied, the enemy with any articles contraband of war, and shall not be trading with any blockaded port. By His Majesty's Command,

PELHAM.

We send you herewith a printed copy of the said additional instructions for your information and guidance, dated 13th July, 1303.

[Signed by the lords of the admiralty.] To the Judge of the Vice Admiralty Court of the Island of Ceylon.

Mr. Merry to Mr. Madison. Washington, April 12, 1804.

SIR, Mr. Thornton not having failed to transmit to hismajesty's government an account of the representation which you were pleased to address to him, under date of the 27th October last year, respecting the blockade of the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe, it is with great satisfaction, sir, that I have just received his majesty's

commands signified to me by his principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, under date of the 6th January last, to communicate to you the instructions which have, in consequence of your representation, been sent to commodore Hood, and to the judges of the vice admiralty courts in the West Indies.

I have, accordingly, the honour to transmit to you, sir, enclosed, the copy of a letter from sir Evan Nepean, secretary to the board of admiralty, to Mr. Hammond, his majesty's under secretary of state for foreign affairs, specifying the nature of the instructions which have been given.

His majesty's government doubt not that the promptitude, which has been manifested in redressing the grievance complained of by the government of the United States, will be considered by the latter as an additional evidence of his majesty's constant and sincere desire to remove any ground of misunderstanding that could have a tendency to interrupt the harmony which so happily subsists between this government and that of the United States.

I have the honour to be, &c.

ANTH. MERRY.

Admiralty Office, January 5, 1804. ŠIR,-Having communicated to the lords of the admiralty lord Hawkesbury's letters of the 23d ultimo, enclosing the copy of a despatch which his lordship had received from Mr. Thornton, his majesty's charge d'affaires in America, on the subject of the blockade of the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe, together with the report of the advocate general:

Thereupon, I have their lordships' commands to acquaint you for his lordship's information, that they have sent orders to commodore Hood not to consider any blockade of those islands as existing, unless in respect of particular ports which may be actually invested, and then not to capture vessels bound to such ports unless they shall previously have been warned not to enter them, and that they have also sent the necessary directions on the

subject to the judges of the vice admiralty courts in the West Indies and America.

I am, &c.

EVEAN NEPEAN.

George Hammond, Esq.

Mr. Merry to Mr. Madison. Washington, April 12, 1804.

SIR, I have the honour to acquaint you that I have just received a letter from rear admiral sir John Duckworth, commander in chief of his majesty's squadron at Jamaica, dated the second of last month, in which he desires me to communicate to the government of the United States, that he has found it expedient for his majesty's service to convert the siege, which he lately attempted, of Curracoa, into a blockade of that island.

I cannot doubt, sir, that this blockade will be conducted conformably to the instructions which, as I have had the honour to acquaint you in another letter of this date, have been recently sent on this subject to the commander in chief of his majesty's forces, and to the judges of the vice admiralty courts, in the West Indies, should the smallness of the island of Curracoa still render necessary any distinction of the investment being confined to particular ports.

I have the honour to be, &c.

ANT. MERRY.

Circular from Lord Harrowby to the Ministers of Neutral Nations residing in London, communicated to Colonel Monroe. Downing Street, Aug. 9, 1804.

THE undersigned, his majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, has received his majesty's commands to acquaint Mr. Monroe, that the king has judged it expedient (for the protection of his subjects and the annoyance of his enemies) to establish the most rigorous blockade at the entrances of the ports of Fecamp, St. Vallery-au-Caux, Dieppe, Treport, the Somme, Etaples, Boulogne, Calais, Gravelines, Dunkirk, Newport, and Ostend, and to maintain and enforce the same in the strictest manner, according to the usages of war acknow