Present
The honorable Edward Byam Esquire Judge. —
Our Sovereign Lord the King
against

The Sloop Mary Giles Mansfield Master and her lading seized and taken as Perquisites of the Admiralty by Morto Downey and others, and brought into the Harbour of Saint John in the said Island of Antigua. —

Proclamation being made and the Court called and sat and a Monition duly issued being proved by the Marshal of the said Court, The substance of the Libel was opened by Mr Attorney General of Counsel for his Majesty. —

Whereupon and upon hearing the preparatory Examinations taken in this Cause read, and also upon hearing the arguments of Mr Attorney General in support of the said Libel. —

Proclamation was made for all Persons having any Right, Title or Claim to the said Sloop Mary her Tackle, Apparel, and Furniture and the Goods, Wares, and Merchandize on board to come in and Claim the same and no person appearing His Honor the Judge proceeded to pronounce sentence in the following manner vizt. —

In the Name of God Amen, I Edward Byam, of the Island of Antigua Esquire Judge of his Majesty's Court of Vice-Admiralty of the said Island, and also duly appointed to hear and determine all and all manner of Causes and Complaints as to Ships; and Vessells and Goods seized and taken as Prize specially constituted and appointed having heard, seen, and understood and fully and maturely discussed the merits and circumstances of a certain Business of taking or seizing of a certain Sloop named the Mary whereof Giles Mansfield was Master her Tackle, Apparel and Furniture and the Goods taken therein by virtue of and under a certain Act of Parliament made and passed in the sixteenth Year of the reign of his present Majesty Intituled An Act to prohibit all Trade, and Intercourse with the Colonies of New Hampshire, Massachusets Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, the three lower Counties on Delawar, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, during the continuance of the present Rebellion within the said Colonies respectively; for repealing an Act made in the fourteenth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty to discontinue the landing and Discharging lading or Shipping of Goods, Wares and Merchandize at the Town and within the Harbour of Boston in the province of Massachuset's Bay, and also two Acts made in the last Session of Parliament for restraining the Trade and Commerce of the Colonies in the said Acts respectively mentioned, and to enable any Person or Persons appointed and authorized by his Majesty to grant Pardons, to issue Proclamations in the Cases, and for the Purposes therein mentioned by a certain non Commissioned Sloop named the Reprisal whereof Morto Downey was Master and brought into the Port of Saint John in the said Island of Antigua which was lately and still is depending before me as rights and Perquisites of the Admiralty, and against all Persons in General who have or pretend to have any Right, Title, or interest in the said Sloop Mary her Tackle, Apparel and Furniture and the Goods therein taken and I having duly proceeded therein do hereby pronounce, decree, and declare that the said Sloop Mary her Tackle, Apparel and furniture and the Goods therein taken were rightly and duly taken and seized by the said Non Commissioned Sloop Reprizal as being the Sloop and Effects of Open Enemies by virtue of and under the said Act of Parliament and as such ought to be accounted and reputed and liable and subject to Confiscation and to be adjudged and condemned as and for the Sloop and Effects of open-enemies And I do hereby adjudge and Condemn the said Sloop Mary her Apparel [and] Furniture and the Goods therein taken as and for the Sloop and Effects of open-enemies and rights and Perquisites of the Admiralty and liable to Confiscation by this my definitive Sentence or final Decree. —

Whereupon John Burke Esquire and Thomas Daniell Esquire of Counsel for Alexander Dover, Nicholas Taylor, and Thomas Bell, Bertie Entwisle, Samuel Jeaffreson, Joseph Brown, and Saml Brown, Thomas Montgomery, and Campbell Brown, John Wilkins, James Stilling, Robert Addison, and Thomas Willock, George Redhead, and John Otto Bayer Owners of the said Sloop Reprisal prayed that a proper reward or Gratuity might be decreed to the said Owners for seising and taking the said Sloop Mary her Tackle, Apparel, and furniture and the Goods therein taken and upon reading the Deposition of Thomas Bell of the Island of Antigua Merchant and the Schedules thereto annexed marked respectively A: B: & C: I the said Edward Byam do hereby further Order Adjudge and decree that the said Sloop Mary her Tackle, Apparel, and Furniture, and the Goods therein taken to be sold and disposed of at Public Sale by the Marshal of this Court or his lawfull deputy and that the monies arising by such sale be paid to such owners or some or one of them after deducting all necessary Costs and Charges, upon Good and sufficient Security being first given by them or some or one or more of them with two or more Securities to be approved of by me or my surrogate or by the Judge of the Admiralty for 'the time being of the said Island of Antigua or [illegible] surrogate to his Majesty his heirs and Successors to refund such Monies or any part thereof to his Majesty his heirs and Successors or to such other person or persons as shall be appointed to receive the same or any part thereof by his said Majesty his heirs or Successors or by any other person or persons thereby lawfully authorised in Case his Majesty his heirs or Successors shall think proper to Order and direct such monies or any part thereof to be refunded, And I do hereby further Order, Adjudge, and decree that the said Marshal or his Deputy do and shall within the space of Sixty Day's from the time of my Decree make a return of the Sale of the said Sloop Mary her Tackle, Apparel and Furniture and Goods therein taken and to whom sold and at what respective Prices the same were sold and that such return be signed by the said Marshal or his Deputy and by the Person who shall be appointed in this Island for receiving his Majesty's Casual Revenue thereof and by the said Owners of the said Sloop Reprisal, or any one or more of them. —

Whereupon Thomas Warner Esquire his Majesty's Attorney General prayed an Appeal from so much of the said Sentence as Ordered and directed any part of the Money arising by the sale of the said Sloop Mary her Tackle, Apparel, and Furniture and the Goods therein taken to be paid to the Owners of the said Sloop Reprisal

[Endorsed] Antigua March 7th 1777. A True Copy Geo: W^m Jordan Regstr in Admiralty.

[Second endorsement] No 11: Antigua. In the Court of Vice Admiralty Our Sovereign Lord the King against The Sloop Mary Giles Mansfield Master and her lading seized and taken as Perquisites of the Admity by Morto Downey and others. — Sentence of Condemnation. —

[Third endorsement] In Adml Young's Letter Dated 8 March 1777 —