The King's Advocate prayed-That the captors might be allowed their expences.

Laurence-Objected that the captors had materially deteriorated the cargo, by perfifting to unliver the cargo, although they were told that it was unneceffary, and that the farther proof was arrived; that the cargo belonged to the fame owner as the fhip, and that it might stay on board the ship as a warehouse ; that the commiffion of unlivery was a matter of form, on ordering of farther proof, but not neceffary to be carried into execution in fuch a cafe as this; that the claimants, instead of being made fubject to the expences, ought to be indemnified for the deterioration, which the cargo had sustained.

[Court. Did you object to the Commiffion?]

Anfwered-That it paffed in the ufual courfe before a Surrogate.

The King's Advocate replied-That if it had been omitted, the captors would have been liable to demurrage; that the captors had been guilty of no mifconduct; that the commiffion paffed in the ordinary form without oppofition; and that fo foon as the objection was made on the part of the claimants, the captors defifted from the unlivery; that it was fo far from being abfolutely unneceffary in the present cafe, that two lighters of rotten fish had been taken out, which had spoiled on board.

The
POLLY.

Feb. 5th,
1800.

1

The POLLY.

Feb 5th, £800.

Court. I fee nothing to affect the captors with misconduct; when the ship was brought in the claimant refused to accept the reftitution of the fhip without the cargo, contending that it was not a cafe of farther proof. The Court determined that it was; and it does not appear that any communication was made, after the order for the captors to restrain them from proceeding to unlivery. The commiffion of unlivery paffed as of course, and they proceeded in the execution of it till intimation was given on the part of the claimant, and on the firft intimation the captors ftopped their hand. I can impute no blame to the captors and I fhall give them what I was dif posed to give them before the objection was taken, the expences of farther proof.

LA ROSINE,-or The King against

THIS

-Boxes of Tin.

HIS was a case of several boxes of tin plates, faid to be fuch as are ufed for canniftering shot, feized by order of the officers of the Fife dragoons, at Dover, on information that they had been put on a French cartel fhip, by a brazier of that place. The fhip had been detained, but was immediately released by an order from the Duke of Portland. On application to condemn thefe tin-plates as Droits of Admiralty:

Court.-There must be fome witness who can prove the putting on board. It is a very serious thing to

stop

3

ftop a cartel fhip, or confifcate any thing that is on board. If they had fuch articles on board, without any intention of landing them, there could be no reafon for stopping them. The fact of fhipping them in England is the material circumstance to be proved. The depofition of the witnefs, who is a ferjeant of the Fife dragoons, ftates, "that between eleven and twelve on the night of the 13th September, he faw fundry perfons, the crew of the cartel fhip, carrying boxes from the brazier's, and putting them on board the fhip, which was lying near the quay, with her fails fet, and ready to fail; that he broke open one of the boxes, and finding it contained tin in fheets, he immediately detained the fhip, and placed fentinels on board, and went and informed his officer; that on returning he found the mayor, and that fome of the officers of the customs had got on board, and had taken poffeffion of the goods on board, and landed them, &c." This is rather too loose: He does not fay the goods in question, but the goods on board. It might apply to any other goods.-But I perceive there is an affidavit, of the fame perfon, which is more precife: It states, "that they searched the said boxes, and found they contained each from one to two hundred fheets of tin, &c.; and that in confequence thereof, the faid boxes, fixty-nine in number, were immediately taken from on board the faid fhip and carried to the custom-house." On this evidence I fhall condemn these boxes of tin as Droits of Admiralty.

The

R NE.

Feb. 1th, 1800.

i

ORDERS OF COURT,

JANUARY 28th, 1801.

THAT no warrant of arrest, either of perfons or fhips, fhall iffue out of the Inftance Court, without an affidavit of debt being previously made by the perfon on whose behalf fuch warrant is prayed, or his lawful attorney.

MARCH 13th, 1801.

THAT the cafes of all ships detained in the ports, in which claims have been given, fhall be brought before the Court on the two laft fittings in each month, which two laft fittings fhall exclufively be appropriated to fuch cafes, if they are numerous enough to occupy it entirely.

SUCH detained fhips, for which claims have been given as are not brought by the captors before the Court on the faid two laft fittings in each month in which they fhall have been brought in, fhall, if they are restored at any later fittings upon the original proof, be entitled to demurrage, to be computed from the time at which they ought to have been brought before the Court, in pursuance of the former part of this Order.

ADDITIONAL NOTE to the War Onskan, p. 300, comprizing a fummary review of French proceedings in matters of prize during the present war.

IN pointing the attention of the Reader to the feries of facts, which have juftified the change of practice, rather than of principle, that has taken place in our Court of Admiralty during the present war, in respect to the allowance of salvage on recapture of neutral property out of the hands of French cruifers; the Editor is happy to be able to abftain from any other obfervations, on the proceedings of the cruisers and the Courts of France, than those which are supplied by French writers, and those, writers of authority on this fubject.

After defcribing the acts of violence and outrage against the American flag, which is ftill farther evidenced by the acts of hoftility which have enfued,) the author of Le dix huit Brumaire, pub- Vol. 1. p. 286. lished at Paris, 1800, reproaches the proceedings of his countrymen in these terms: "Le pavillon Danois effuya mille avanies; mais ce qu'il y a de remarquable c'eft que, malgré le grand intérêt, que nous avions a ménager fa Majefté Prufienne, fon pavillon ne fut pas plus refpecté, que les autres; fi elle eút voulu chercher un prétexte pour rompre avec nous, les corfaires Français lui en euffent offert mille, &c.-On ne se contenta pas de traiter de la forte des puiffances neutres; l'on en agit encore avec plus de rapacité à l'égard de la République Batane, notre alliée, notre amie ;—notwithAtanding the fervices, described at length, "il falloit encore, que les corfaires Français leur enlevaffent jusque dans leur eaux, jusque fous le canon de leur places, le peu de petits bâtiments, qu'ils

ofoient