with inclosed, viz. my notes to Mr. de Rosenkrantz of November 27, 28, and 29 (Ños. 9, 10, and 11), Mr. de Rosenkrantz his unofficial note of December 1st (No. 12), my reply of same date (No. 13), Mr. de Rosenkrantz his official note of December 2d (No. 14), relate to this matter, which you will be pleased to observe was very satisfactorily settled.

The last list of vessels which had passed this way, was dated October 9; since then a few scattered vessels have presented themselves, viz.

The "Dolphin," Latham, "America," Briggs,

from Petersburgh to the United

·States passed without inter

• ruption.

"Ann," How, arrived safely at Christiansand.

"Sally," Brown, turned away from Amsterdam by the English, continued her voyage towards this place, and was wrecked on the coast of Jutland.

"Adriana," Abrahams, of Baltimore, belonging to Smith & co. with a cargo of hides, convoyed by the Danes from Gottenburg to Copenhagen (having Danish license), cargo sold in Copenhagen and re-convoyed to Elsineur.

"Columbia," Jennison, (owners unknown) from St. Ubes with salt, much under the same circumstances. "Swanwick," Clark, with a cargo of tobacco, property of Pratt and Kintzing, of Philadelphia, do. do.

"Asia," Ormsby, (Brown and Ives, of Providence) with 3500 chests of tea, arrived at Gottenburg some months since, in her voyage from thence to Copenhagen, captured by a Danish privateer, but immediately released, having the king's permission to come hither and sell. This completes the account of our trade for the last year, as far as particulars have come to my knowledge. In my dispatch No. 12, I transmitted certain statements relating to that trade; triplicate of those statements were sent with No. 14, with the addition of a printed tariff of the duties payable on all merchan dize passing through the Sound: a duplicate of the tariff is herewith inclosed. I have lately seen a printed statement of our exports from Petersburgh during the last year, made by a commercial house of that place. It agrees in general with the document No. 3, inclosed with my aforesaid dispatch. It is, however, more complete as to the number of vessels, including all those which went up through the Belt, and gives a total of 127 (noting that in 1810, the total was 100 only), but states that 29 of the 127 were bound to European ports, having as part of their cargoes 23,615 paods of flax! Most of these 29

probably returned through the Belt; such as passed the Sound must have had false clearances. In the course of judicial investigations the Danes have already discovered, as is supposed, sufficient grounds of distrusting the character of our commerce: such printed information from what is called a "respectable American house" at Petersburgh, recommending itself to its correspondents by this species of industry, cannot fail to augment that distrust.

All the old and new cases being now disposed of, I herewith inclose a table (No 19) bringing the whole of them, and the proceedings which have been had on them, into one view. I beg you, sir, to observe that of 38 cases of Danish capture ON THE LIST OF 1811, there have been only three appeals of the captors against the sentences of acquittal given by the inferior tribunal, so little have been their expectations of procuring final condemnations, and that excepting the three English and English license cases (" President," "Neptune," and "Aurora, there has been but one final condemnation, viz. the "Brutus." I hope that upon the whole this view will be satisfactory to the president. Mr. de Rosenkrantz told me in an early interview that the administration of justice was as impartial and as prompt here as in any other country; he added (referring to the dispositions of the king) that in future we should have nothing to complain of. How far his assertion was correct, or his promise has been complied with, I will not presume to determine; but I must do that minister the justice to say that he spoke with perfect sincerity, and under impressions the most just and friendly, and to believe, that where the results fall short of our expectations, it has not been from any failure of those dispositions.

I have taken occasion in former dispatches to mention, and in frequent representations to Mr. de Rosenkrantz to remonstrate, against the practices of fining and taxing vessels acquitted in the tribunals. These practices, nearly indiscriminate as they are, I found to be quite unreasonable, in their application frequently most unjust; yet, after all, for the amount of the exactions, they are not oppressive, perhaps had they been abolished altogether, we might not have had quite so many vessels captured; there would certainly have been more appeals, and might have been more condemnations. The lists herewith enclosed (paper marked No. 20) shew the sums which the cases have been charged under the several heads of costs, fines, and two per mille tax in the tribunals of Copenhagen: the two per mille goes to the king's coffer; the fine goes to the captor for his trouble in capturing, where he is supposed to have had just grounds of suspicion; the court expenses are invariably forty

rix dollars (equal to five and a half dollars) in each case. There are no other expenses but advocate's fees: here, as in all countries, the amount of these is settled by agreement between the council and the client; in the inferior tribunal no advocate is employed.

The situation of the masters of our vessels condemned here, was formerly made the more distressing, by the prosecutions to which they were exposed, on account of wages due to their sailors, the laws here compelling them to provide for their crews: these laws had been executed with great rigour, and large sums had been frequently adjudged to be paid by masters, who could scarcely find credit for their own subsistence. The consul had, by frequent representations, endeavoured to remedy this evil, but without success. When I came to act in this matter, I was answered, that if the master deceived the men by engaging them in a vessel which was not in fact American, as he pretended, it was but just that he should pay them, his sufferings then were chargeable only to his own misconduct: however, I finally obtained that it should be laid before the chancery; that tribunal, by a report of January 11, adopted by his majesty, decreed that "no law-suit regarding the wages due to North American mariners from their captains shall be admitted before the tribunals." I did not succeed in obtaining payment for the men out of the condemned vessel, but on this point thought it not prudent to go far.

With the most perfect respect and consideration, I have the honour to be, sir, your very obedient servant,

GEORGE W. ERVING.

Mr. Monroe, Secretary of State.

No. 7. B.

Mr. Erving to Mr. de Rosenkrantz.

1

Copenhagen, April 10, 1812.

Sir, In one of the first interviews which I had with your excellency, you assured me, on the part of his majesty, "That for the future the United States should have nothing to complain of" Fully relying then on the good faith and friendly sentiment in which this declaration was made, to those favourable dispositions of his majesty I have addressed all my subsequent reclamations; and the reports which I have, from time to time, submitted to my government, have corresponded to the harmony thus established in our proceedings. Judge then, sir, with what extreme concern and regret I now find myself under the necessity of protesting and reclaiming against a sentence of the high court of admiralty, grounded on the king's own deci

sion, against the American ship Brutus and her cargo, the ge nuine property of American citizens, in favour of which I have been for several months negotiating with your excellency; respecting which I have furnished documentary evidence of great importance, and the circumstances of which I was so fully authorized to consider as peculiarly favourable: judge, sir, of the concern with which I see, in the sentence now given, that the reclamation which I have made in this case, has been passed over; the documents which I have furnished have been set aside, and that grounds for condemnation have been assumed, wholly insufficient, and, in part, even contrary to facts as established by those documents. I am perfectly certain, that his majesty does not believe that I am capable of attempting to support any cause but the just cause of a genuine American citizen, nor shall I readily abandon the conviction, that he is still actuated by the just and friendly dispositions which motived the declaration above cited; hence I must presume that the misrepresentations which have been made to him, and the influence which has been produced in his mind, on the present occasion, are of a very extraordinary character. This conclusion is the more unavoidable, since, certainly, I have long since succeeded in convincing your excellency, who has such high and indisputable title to the entire confidence of his majesty, that the cause of the Brutus is a just one; nor can I in this view fail to notice that the opinion of the chancery was in its favour; that there was a division of opinion among the members of the high court, and that the vessel was fully acquitted by the inferior court in Norway. By my note of December 13, 1811, I furnished to your excellency proofs that the captor's appeal from that sentence had been made only because the American captain (Fenno) refused to pay 6000 rix dollars by way of compromise, and this complaint having been laid, by his majesty's order, before, and having been duly investigated by, the chancery, was deemed to be so well founded and so reasonable, that a new and severe law upon that subject was judged to be expedient. This is, in fine, the only case which has come before the king wherein he has decided unfavourably against a prior sentence of acquittal by one of his tribunals; and it is the only case, as far as I know, wherein a difference of opinion amongst the members of the high court existing, he has not decided in favour of the claimant. To the just and liberal principles which actuated his majesty on such occasions, in this case was added that, which even in default of other favourable circumstances, it was to be supposed could not but determine him to release the vessel-the offer on the part of the captors, and the refusal on the part of the Ame

rican captain to compromise; for what stronger presumption can be furnished against the justice of the captors' claim than their offer to compromise it for a small sum, or what more favourable to a belief in the American captain's innocence than his refusal to pay that sum ? v

By the copy of the sentence which I have herewith the honour to inclose, your excellency will perceive that the tribunal has commenced by an assertion that captain Fenno, during his detention, attempted to escape, and that, upon this supposed attempt, are grounded its "suspicions;" but in the note which I addressed to you on the 4th January, I inclosed a document which proved most incontestably that no such attempt was made, and that the assertions of the captors, in this respect, were altogether false. How astonishing then that the high court should venture to place its sentence on such ground. The other motives mentioned in the sentence, considered as objections to the neutrality of this ship and cargo, are scarcely entitled to comment. What if different hand writings are found in a sea letter which issues from a department where many clerks are employed? what if "omissions" or "errors" in such or other documents? I must observe, however, that the sea letter in question was submitted to the examination of the American consul, Mr. Saabye, and that he gave a formal certificate that the paper was genuine ; which certificate was submitted to the court by the claimant's council. As to the certificates of the French consul, the American captains must receive them as the consuls may please to give them, with whatever errors or absurdities they may contain. But it is worthy of particular observation that the objection made in this case to the French consul's certificate originated in the tribunal itself; the captor did not deem that certificate to be of any importance; no objection was taken to it in any of the prior proceedings; the counsel of the American captain, of course, had not any opportunity of defending his client on that head. We herein see an innovation on judicial proceedings, of a character entirely novel : the court placing itself in the situation of the accusing party, and condemning the property in litigation, on grounds not assumed by the captor. The only documents of real importance to be considered are, 1st. the register; is it or is it not a genuine document, proving the vessel to be the property of the persons therein named? 2d. the clearance; did the vessel or did it not come from New-Orleans, as the captain pretends? 3d. the bills of lading and invoice; do they or do they not describe the cargo actually on board? These points satisfactorily established, what else can be wanting where the intention is to do justice to the captured, and to respect the neutral rights of the country to which [G]

VOL. I. PART I.