which day a commission against Spain, found on board a French privateer, was dated. May 25, 1793, Spain entered into an alliance with Great Britain.1 On May 26, 1794, Washington transmitted to Congress a copy of a certificate, communicated by the Spanish commissioners in the United States to the Secretary of State, without which American vessels could not be admitted to Spanish ports. This certificate was in the form of a sworn statement to be made by the shipper of the cargo that it was the growth or produce of the United States, and that no part of it was the produce of France or her colonies, or had received any advantage or improvement in France or any of her dependencies, or had in any manner contributed to her revenues.2

On November 1, 1794, the President nomiThomas Pinckney's nated Thomas Pinckney as envoy extraordiMission to Spain. nary and minister plenipotentiary to Spain, for the purpose of negotiating on the various questions pending between the two countries. When Pinckney arrived at Madrid on June 28, 1795, he found that William Short, who had been acting as the diplomatic representative of the United States in Spain, had already been in communication with the court on the treatment of American vessels, and that the Duke of Alcudia, while stating that no general orders on the subject could be published, had on the 6th day of April assured him that American vessels would be treated by Spain in accordance with the stipulations of the treaty between the United States and France. This assurance the Duke repeated in a conference which he held with Messrs. Pinckney and Short jointly.4

This assurance involved a very considerable Position of Spain. concession to the United States, and the duke was not disposed to construe it in as broad a sense as that which the American diplomatists ascribed to it.

1 Am. State Papers, For. Rel. I. 277, 425.

2 Am. State Papers, For. Rel. I. 463.

Am. State Papers, For. Rel. I. 469, 533.

4 Mr. Pinckney to the Sec. of State, July 21, 1795, Am. State Papers, For. Rel. I. 534. Of Manuel Godoy, Duke of Alcudia, afterward the Prince of Peace, it has been said that he "was a mild, enlightened, and intelligent minister, so far as the United States were concerned; capable of generosity and of courage, quite the equal of Pitt or Talleyrand in diplomacy, and their superior in resources." (Adams's History of the United States, I.

By a decree issued by the King of Spain at the beginning of the war-a decree which the certificate of cargo heretofore mentioned was designed to enforce-it was ordained that French produce, and even that of foreigners if it had been landed in France and paid duty there, should not be admitted into Spanish ports, though laden in neutral bottoms. By a privateering ordinance (ordenanza de corso) of May 1, 1794, however, Spain in substance professed a willingness to act upon the principles of the armed neutrality, one of which provided that the neutral flag should cover enemies' goods; but, being uncertain as to what course France would pursue, she deemed it prudent, before giving those principles full effect, to ascertain whether that power would adopt the same liberal policy. Spain therefore permitted her vessels of war and privateers to bring into her ports neutral vessels laden with French produce, till that point should be cleared up; and the Duke of Alcudia was inclined to construe what Messrs. Pinckney and Short deemed his assurance, as an "offer" to extend the principle of free ships free goods to American vessels, provided that France should, in conformity with her treaty with the United States, pursue the same course. Pinckney, however, contended that the statements made by the duke to Mr. Short constituted in effect an "agreement" to apply the principle of free ships free goods to American vessels, and insisted that, in view of the provisions of the treaty between the United States and France, and the assurances France had given the

The declaration of the Empress of Russia of 1780, which formed the basis of the armed neutrality, announced the following principles: "Article I. That all neutral vessels ought to navigate freely from one port to another, as well as upon the coasts of the powers now at war. Art. II. That the effects belonging to the subjects of the belligerent powers shall be free in neutral ships, excepting always contraband goods. Art. III. That Her Imperial Majesty, in consequence of the limits above fixed, will adhere strictly to that which is stipulated by the tenth and eleventh articles of her treaty of commerce with Great Britain, concerning the manner in which she ought to conduct toward all the belligerent powers. Art. IV. That as to what concerns a port blocked up, we ought not, in truth, to consider as such any but those which are found so well shut up by a fixed and sufficient number of vessels belonging to the power

which

evident

attacks it that one can not attempt to enter into such port without danger. Art. V. That these principles above laid down ought to

serve as a rule in all proceedings, whenever there is a question concerning the legality of prizes." (Wharton's Dip. Cor. Am. Rev. III. 608. See,

generally,

1780..

Fauchille's La Diplomatie Française et la Ligue des Neutres de

United States that she would observe the treaty, orders should be given to Spanish vessels of war and privateers no longer to bring into Spanish ports American vessels laden with produce belonging to Frenchmen, so that the delays, waste, and annoyance resulting from turning vessels from their course, and from bringing them in only to be sent away, might be prevented.1

Particular Complaints.

In the course of his correspondence with the Duke of Alcudia, Pinckney particularly discussed several cases of capture. On August 6, 1795, he called attention to the case of the brigantine Maria, of Boston, laden with provisions belonging to France and taken into Santander on June 11, and to that of the American ship Liberty, of New York, which was freighted at Bordeaux by an American house to take a cargo, consisting partly of whale oil and dried codfish, to Bilbao. The Liberty was captured at sea and carried into Bilbao by a Spanish privateer, who had the cargo condemned as good prize, under the decree issued at the commencement of the war, by which it was ordained that French produce, as well as that of foreigners which had been landed in France and had paid duty there, should not be admitted into Spanish ports. Pinckney maintained that the decree could not have been intended to apply to a case like that of the Liberty, in which entrance duties were not paid to France, and in which the property had not changed. Moreover, said Pinckney, the decree was modified by the principles of the ordenanza, by which the cargo, even if the vessel had belonged to Frenchmen, could not have been condemned.1

On the 14th of August the duke replied that the King had directed the minister of marine to order the liberation of the Maria and Liberty, and that His Majesty had also directed "that the captain of the Providence be paid for the pitch, tar, and turpentine, taken from him at Santander, as contraband articles;" and that "in like manner restitution be made for the cargo of the American brigantine Abigail, of New York, consisting of iron, steel, boards, and paints, confiscated by the marine judge of Santander.""

On August 30 Pinckney called attention to the case of the ship Betsey, of Philadelphia, which, after being detained for

Am. State Papers, For. Rel. I. 536.

2 Id. 537.

more than two years, while the master was pursuing his suit against the captors, was still detained, though the master had obtained a favorable decree from the tribunal of appeal, who were to judge his process in the last resort, because the captors were trying to have more judges appointed to pronounce definitive sentence. On the 3d of September he presented the case of the Three Friends, at Santander, and asked for the restoration of the vessel, on the strength of the ordenanza and the duke's statement of the 6th of April. "The circumstance," said Pinckney, "of this vessel having been found in the possession of Frenchmen can not change the case, because she would not have been deemed good prize if she had been carried into France; and even if all the cargo belonged to Frenchmen, it would be restored here, according to the last dispositions of His Majesty." On September 13, he called attention to the case of the vessels Rooksby and Greenway, carried into Cadiz in 1793 by the Spanish frigate Santa Cathalinda. It was supposed that these vessels had been put in thorough repair at the royal dock yards, but an agent who had been sent to Cadiz found that the repairs had not been made. "As to what regards the freight and other demands," said Pinckney, "I have no doubt but we shall be able to arrange them amicably, at the same time we regulate the principles of several other claims of the same nature.”2

On September 15, the Duke of Alcudia, who had now become the Prince of Peace, replied that orders had long since been given for the "repairing and refitting of the said vessels, agreeably to what has been proposed; but without attending to the pretended reclamations, for the reasons mentioned in my letters to Mr. Short upon this subject."3

On October 23, Pinckney wrote to the prince that his excellency apparently had not received correct information as to the immediate liberation of American vessels taken since the 6th of April, since, out of the five carried into Santander-the Liberty of New York, the Maria of Boston, the Providence of Philadelphia, the Abigail of New York, and the Three Friends of Salem-the Liberty was detained one hundred and ten days, the Three Friends was at last accounts still detained, and the three others put to sea without part of their cargoes, though

Am. State Papers, For. Rel. I. 538.

2 Id. 539.

3 Ibid. 539.

the latter had been ordered to be restored.' Though Pinckney did not admit any distinction between vessels taken before and those taken after the 6th of April, maintaining that the duke's assurance should operate retrospectively as well as prospectively, he referred to the date because the Prince of Peace in a note of the 18th of October had made such a distinction, saying that captures made before the date in question should be judged according to the general orders issued at the time; while vessels detained since that time should be treated "in the same manner as those which were then brought from the coast of Cantabria."

of Complaints.

Of the eight vessels particularly mentioned Ultimate Disposition in the preceding correspondence, there certainly were four, and probably were five, in respect of which compensation was obtained through the international commission to which this chapter relates. Indeed, the first awards of the commission were made in the cases of the Rooksby and Greenway, which were taken into Cadiz in 1793.3 It seems that an award was made also in the case of the Betsey.* In the five remaining cases-the vessels taken into Santanderawards were made in favor of the Liberty and the Three Friends. Of the Maria, Providence, and Abigail no mention is made in the list of awards; though, in a note to a list of the awards transmitted by one of the commissioners to Mr. Pickering, Secretary of State, on January 2, 1800, it is stated that no papers had appeared in the case of the "schooner" Maria, which His Catholic Majesty had ordered to be restored. This, probably, is the vessel mentioned in Mr. Pinckney's note of October 23 as having put to sea.

Proposal of Arbitration.

September 20, 1795, Pinckney addressed to the Prince of Peace a note in which he reviewed at length the whole subject of the claims. against Spain for the capture of American vessels by her menof war and privateers. The war between Spain and France

Am. State Papers, For. Rel. I. 545.

2 Am. State Papers, For. Rel. I. 544.

3 The awards in these cases were made December 27, 1797. In the case of the Rooksby the amount was $15,535.79; of the Greenway, $14,846.39. In each case interest at the rate of 6 per cent was allowed from a specified date on the amount awarded.

4 Am. State Papers, For. Rel. II. 283.

The award in the case of the Liberty was for $4,260.98; in the case of the Three Friends, $2,088.50. Each award bore interest.