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Proclamation of the Senate of Hamburg regarding the Danish Oc.cupation of the City, March 29, 18011

As circumstances of a political nature have created the necessity for the Imperial Danish troops to remain in the neighborhood of this city, and as nothing is to be apprehended on that account, either with respect. to the freedom and independence of the State, or the property and safety of the inhabitants; therefore the most illustrious Senate exhort all citizens and inhabitants to confide in their pressing intercessions upon the occasion; and that, with the assistance of the College of Citizens, they will do their utmost for the advantage and safety of the State. And the most illustrious Senate trust that every one will demean himself peaceably and obediently, and especially with decency and propriety towards the foreign military; by which alone the general safety can be ensured, and those inconveniences avoided, to which any inconsiderate and opposite conduct would inevitably subject the city. Given at our Senate-house, the 29th March 1801.

Danish Ordinance of March 29, 1801, laying an Embargo on English
Ships and Goods2

We Christian VII, etc., declare as follows: Whereas all amicable means for taking off the embargo laid on the ships and property of our subjects in English ports, have proved fruitless; we have been obliged to give directions that all ships and goods belonging to the subjects of the British Government, and which are now in our ports, shall be detained and laid under an embargo. All magistrates of towns, and officers of our customs, are directed to assist in carrying this measure into effect.

The same persons are to prepare every thing that is necessary for the preservation of the goods and ships so detained; and every care must be taken of the crews of the ships.

Given under our hand and seal at Copenhagen, on the 29th of March 1801.

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Declaration of the King of Prussia, March 30, 1801, to the Royal and Electoral College at Hanover and to the Commanders of the Hanoverian Troops 1

In consequence of the oppressions which neutral navigation and commerce have sustained on the part of the English navy, since the commencement of this war, the different Powers therein interested could no longer abstain, after so many ineffectual complaints, from protecting their violated rights with a greater degree of energy.

The result was the convention formed on the 16th of December, 1800, at St. Petersburg, between Russia, Denmark and Sweden, the just and moderate principles of which had formerly been adopted and followed by the Court of London itself; and His Majesty the King of Prussia, who had likewise felt this violence injurious to his States and his flag, did not hesitate to accede to that treaty.

The contracting Courts were on the point of communicating to the belligerent Powers the convention they had agreed to, and of forming arrangements with them, when England, by an unexpected proceeding, disconcerted this amicable design, by laying an embargo on all the vessels of the naval Powers of the north in her ports, and thus declaring herself their enemy.

It might have been expected that His Majesty the King of Prussia would not regard this conduct with satisfaction or indifference. Accordingly he soon after transmitted to the Court of London the declaration already known, of the 12th of February, formally and publicly avowing his accession to the convention of St. Petersburg, and indicating, at the same time, the means by which the differences that had taken place might be accommodated, and a total rupture avoided.

But, instead of adopting the proposed expedient, England passed over in silence the answer transmitted to Lord Carysfort, at Berlin. She continued to treat the flags of the north in a hostile manner; and in a note transmitted by the Secretary of State, Lord Hawkesbury, to the Swedish Envoy, Baron Ehrensward, dated the 7th of March, at London, she has once more manifested those false principles which have been so often refuted:

Under these circumstances, the embargo on Swedish vessels can be considered in no other view than as an act of just and necessary precaution, which will not be revoked, so long as the Court of 1Collection of State Papers, vol. 11, p. 243.

Stockholm continues to form a part of a confederacy, which has for its object, to impose by force on His Majesty a new system of maritime law, inconsistent with the dignity and independence of his Crown, and the rights and interests of his people.

A similar declaration was soon after sent to the Court of Denmark, adding, that she must abandon the coalition of the north, and enter into a separate negotiation with England. After receiving a negative answer, the English Chargé d'Affaires, Drummond, and the Plenipotentiary Extraordinary, Vansittart, left Copenhagen on the same day; and in the mean time the English fleet, under the orders of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, destined for the Baltic Sea, had actually arrived on the coasts of Zealand.

It appears from all these events, that the Court of London has no inclination to desist from her inadmissible demands, and accept the proposed means of amicable conciliation. His Majesty the King of Prussia therefore feels himself compelled, in conformity to the obligations he has contracted, to take the most efficacious measures in support of the convention attacked, and to retaliate for the hostile proceedings against it for this purpose, he will not only shut the mouths of the Elbe, and Weser, and the Ems, but likewise take possession of the States belonging to His Majesty the King of England, as Elector of Brunswick Lunenberg, situate in Germany.

His Majesty the King of Prussia accordingly demands and expects from the Electoral College of Privy Councilors at Hanover, and from the Board of Generals, that they will submit to this disposition without delay or reply; and that they will voluntarily obey the orders which shall be given relative to the occupation of the electorate by the Prussian troops, and likewise with respect to the electoral countries. His Majesty principally demands that the Hanoverian corps which has hitherto occupied part of the northern line of demarcation, shall be disarmed and be disbanded, with a proportional part of the other troops. His Majesty requires that the generals and other officers shall engage in writing, not to serve against His Majesty the King of Prussia; but, on the contrary, to follow strictly his orders until the present affair be brought to a conclusion. The troops which shall continue embodied, shall be cantoned, part on the right bank of the Leine, and part on the left bank of the Aller, and behind the Luhe as far as the Elbe, where they shall remain distributed among the towns of Hanover, Gifhorn, Belgen, Lunenberg, and the other smaller towns and villages of that

district. All the other places, including the fortress of Hameln, shall be delivered up to the Prussian troops, under the orders of Lieutenant General Klein.

His Majesty declares, at the same time, that the Prussian troops. shall be subsisted at the expense of the electoral territory, commencing from the end of the month of April. His Majesty has sent his Cabinet Minister, Count Schullenburg to notify the present declaration to the Electoral College of Privy Councilors and commanders of troops. In these circumstances, all connection between the Electoral College and His Majesty the King of England will cease; and the authorities are, in consequence, responsible to His Majesty the King of Prussia for their administration and the revenues. In case, as it is to be hoped, of a voluntary submission, His Majesty is disposed, and ready to promise solemnly, as well to the nobility as to the burgesses and to all the inhabitants of the electorate, the complete enjoyment of tranquility, and the security of their property.

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But, on the contrary, should the Government and the general officers attempt to impede the execution of the measures taken, and entrance of the Prussian troops, His Majesty would be obliged, though against his inclination, to revoke his promises, and to treat the electoral States in a hostile manner. The civil and military officers are therefore responsible for the fatal consequences which may in this case result from their conduct. For this reason His Majesty advises them to submit to this summons, and to prevent the rigorous measures which will inevitably be adopted in case of a refusal.

By order of His Majesty,

(Signed) HAUGWITZ

BERLIN, March 30, 1801.

Instructions from the British Admiralty to Admiral Dickson, April 3, 18011

Whereas we transmitted to Lord Grenville late one of His Majesty's principal secretaries of state your letter to our secretary dated the

1Thorvald Boye, op. cit., p. 359.

16 of last month with letter which accompanied it from Captain John Hampstead commander of His Majesty's ship Squirrel representing that in pursuance of the orders he had received from you to proceed to the coast of Norway and knowing there were several vessels in the harbor of Oster Risoer he had entered the said harbor and on the next morning had brought away the Swedish vessels named in the margin; and whereas Lord Hawkesbury (who hath succeeded his Lordship) hath by his letter of the 27 instant signified to us His Majesty's pleasure that the four ships and vessels above mentioned belonging to the subjects of His Swedish Majesty should be immediately released and be allowed to return with their masters and crews to the ports from whence they were brought away and to furnish them with the necessary passports for that purpose and also to signify to Captain Hampstead His Majesty's disapprobation of his proceedings on that occasion in the strongest terms.

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Convention of June 17, 1801, between Great Britain and Russia

relative to Neutral Trade and Additional Articles of October 20, 1801 1

In the Name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity:

The mutual desire of His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, being not only to come to an understanding between themselves with respect to the differences which have lately interrupted the good understanding and friendly relations which subsisted

1Translation. British and Foreign State Papers, vol. 1, pt. 1, p. 405.

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