Extract from the Gazette of the Court of St. Petersburg regarding an Embargo on British Vessels in Ports of the Island of Malta, November 7, 18001

We have been informed that the Island of Malta, which up to the present time has been in the hands of the French, has surrendered to English troops. It is not yet known, however, whether the regulation on this subject, dated December 30, 1798, has been complied with; namely, that upon the capture of this island it should be restored to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of which the Emperor of all the Russias is Grand Master. Consequently, it has pleased His Imperial Majesty, for the purpose of maintaining his rights, to order that in all the ports of his empire an embargo shall be placed on the English vessels therein until this convention shall have been fulfilled.

First Note of Lord Carysfort to Count Haugwitz regarding the Occupation of Cuxhaven by Prussian Troops2

BERLIN, November 16, 1800.

The instant Lord Carysfort, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, learned that His Prussian Majesty was preparing to order a detachment of his troops to enter Cuxhaven, and that the reason which the public thought proper to assign for that measure, was the refusal given by the Government of Hamburg, to cause a vessel to be released, which, taken by one of the ships of war of His Britannic Majesty, had been compelled, in order to avoid the dangers of the sea, to enter that port, he thought it his duty to demand an audience of his Excellency Count Haugwitz, Minister of State and of the Cabinet, for the purpose of obtaining information with respect to that affair.

He received from his Excellency the assurance that the intentions of His Prussian Majesty were in no view hostile or contrary to the interests of Great Britain; but that the occupation of Cuxhaven had for its principal object the maintenance of the authority of His Prussian Majesty, in his character of chief and protector of the neutrality

1Translation. French text at Martens, Recueil de Traités, vol. 7, p. 2Collection of State Papers, vol. 10, p. 198.

155.

of the north of Germany, and that it was conducted with the consent of the city of Hamburg itself.

Lord Carysfort not being exactly acquainted with the circumstances under which the vessel in question found itself, deferred to another occasion, the observations which he might have wished to submit to his Excellency. He has now grounds to believe, that, laden with contraband goods, it was captured by one of His Britannic Majesty's ships as it was entering into the Texel; that is to say, into a port belonging to the enemies of His Majesty; and that it was restored as soon as the officer who had the charge of it could be informed of the orders of his superiors.

With respect to the occupation of the town of Cuxhaven by the Prussian troops, which must have been founded on particular conventions between His Prussian Majesty and the Senate of Hamburg, he does not think himself called upon to take part in that discussion; but he feels himself authorized to claim, in favor of the subjects and vessels of the King his master, all the rights to which they have a just pretension in a neutral port belonging to a republic, whose connections with the States of His Majesty are very ancient, and generally known; no convention made between the city of Hamburg and His Prussian Majesty being capable of invalidating or altering his rights.

In consequence of these considerations he dares hope that His Prussian Majesty may still suspend the occupation of Cuxhaven, until the two Courts shall have the means of entering into mutual explanations, more particularly since such occupation, in the actual circumstances, might give room to ill-disposed minds to attribute to His Prussian Majesty views not less opposite to the sentiments of justice and moderation which govern all his measures, than to the friendship and the good harmony which subsist between him and His Britannic Majesty. At all events, it will not escape the wisdom and humanity of His Majesty, that the entrance of a numerous corps of troops into a village both poor and with a small extent of territory, would probably augment the misery of the inhabitants; and that the city of Hamburg having always possessed that place, so indispensably necessary to the preservation of the navigation of the Elbe, all which may trouble that possession, derange ancient customs, and influence the pilots there at present to seek a refuge elsewhere, would strike a sensible blow at the commerce of all the countries of the north of Germany, and even at that of the States of His Prussian Majesty.

(Signed) CARYSFORT

Second Note of Lord Carysfort to Count Haugwitz regarding the Occupation of Cuxhaven by Prussian Troops1

BERLIN, November 18, 1800.

The undersigned, Extraordinary Envoy and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, thinks himself obliged again to address himself to his Excellency Count Haugwitz, relative to the intention of His Prussian Majesty, in taking military possession of Cuxhaven. When the undersigned had the honor of transmitting to his Excellency the verbal note of the 16th, it was not exactly known "that the Prussian vessel brought into that port had been restored." The fact being now certain, as well as the zeal manifested by the Senate of Hamburg to fulfil the wishes of the King, the surprise and consternation excited from the moment when the orders for marching a detachment of troops were known, would be raised to their utmost height, if it were ascertained, that, notwithstanding the complete satisfaction given to His Prussian Majesty on all the points respecting which he thought proper to complain, he should not appear less attached to his determination of causing Cuxhaven to be occupied by his troops. In fact, it appears at first sight that this occupation would be so calculated to give the most serious alarms to all commercial nations, that, without alluding to the interpretations which calumny might be desirous of giving to the measure, strong hopes are entertained from the justice and moderation of His Prussian Majesty, for that reason only, that he will not come to the resolution of carrying it into effect.

The undersigned would not, however, think he had executed his duty, should he neglect to represent to his Excellency the lively alarms which necessarily result from the uncertainty in which the affair remains. The reiterated assurances which the undersigned has received from his Excellency of the friendship and good wishes of His Prussian Majesty towards the King of Great Britain, do not allow him to believe that any misunderstanding can arise between the two Courts; but he can not avoid thinking that the enemies of humanity and public tranquillity will endeavor to turn to their purposes the alarm which is generally diffused, in order to scatter discord among the Powers, which will all unite and maintain the safety and independence of Europe at large.

1Collection of State Papers, vol. 11, p. 199.

(Signed) CARYSFORT

Order of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia relative to the Embargo on English Vessels, November 18, 18001

The crews of two English vessels in the port of Narva having, at the approach of the military force instructed to arrest them, in conformity with the decreed embargo, resisted, fired their pistols, and sunk a Russian vessel, and thereupon having weighed anchor and taken flight, His Imperial Majesty has seen fit to order the burning of a vessel which had remained in that port.

ST. PETERSBURG, November 21.

As a result of information received from Palermo, with regard to the part played in the taking of Malta by Italinskoi the present Chanberlain, it has pleased the Emperor to have delivered to the members of the diplomatic corps residing at his Court a note, signed by the Presiding Minister of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Count Rostopsin and by the Vice Chancellor, Count Panin, of the following

tenor:

His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias has received detailed information concerning the surrender of Malta, confirming the report that, in spite of repeated representations, both on the part of his Minister at Palermo and of the Ministry of His Sicilian Majesty, the English commanders have taken possession of Valetta and the Island of Malta in the name of His Majesty the King of Great Britain, and that they have raised their flag there to the exclusion of all others. His Majesty, justly irritated by such a violation of good faith, has therefore resolved not to raise the enibargo placed upon English vessels in the ports of Russia until the stipulations of the convention concluded in 1798 have been fully complied with.

Reply of Count Haugwitz to Lord Carysfort, November 20. 18002 The undersigned, Minister of State and of the Cabinet, is authorized by the orders of the King to completely tranquillize the anxieties

1From the Court Gazette.

de Traités, vol. 7, p. 155.

Translation.

2Collection of State Papers, vol. 11, p. 200.

French text at Martens, Recueil

and apprehensions which my Lord Carysfort, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty, expressed to him in his two notes of the 16th and 18th of November. The Prussian vessel, the Triton, has, it is true, been restored to its owner; but the mode of release was in every respect as irregular as the proceedings which had previously taken place with respect to it; and after an examination of all the circumstances relative to the incident which formis the subject of complaint, there appears throughout the whole a manifest infraction of the principles of the neutrality of the north of Germany. It is this superior consideration, added to the unjust refusa! of the magistracy of Hamburg, which dictated to the King the resolution of causing a body of his troops to occupy the port of Cuxhaven, and the bailiwick of Ritzebüttel. This measure was executed the moment it was determined upon, and it is no longer capable of being revoked, the example of what has taken place, imposing on His Majesty the necessity of effectually watching over the maintenance of that neutrality which he has guaranteed to his coestates. The King can not imagine that His Britannic Majesty, after participating, in his character of Elector of Hanover, in the advantages and benefits of this happy neutrality, can conceive the smallest alarm at seeing a Prussian garrison enter into the port which England has fixed on as her point of communication with the north of Germany. Being thus placed under the immediate guarantee of the King, it will be the more effectually put out of the reach of all violation, and the troops of His Majesty will have no other duty to perform than that of causing the laws of good order and equity to be respected. The utmost confidence may be placed in the prudent dispositions of the reigning Duke of Brunswick, who is invested with the command of the line of demarcation.

But, if more particular assurances be requisite upon this subject, the King feels a pleasure in giving them by the present communication to His Britannic Majesty, and in declaring to him, in express and positive terms, that the present order of things will in no respect interrupt the freedom of commerce and navigation in the port of Cuxhaven; nor, above all, the continuation of the correspondence with England. On the contrary, the officer commanding the troops of the King garrisoned in the bailiwick of Ritzebüttel, will make it his duty to give it every possible facility.

On the whole, the proceeding which the King has, from necessity,