[Extract]
Sir
I have received the honour of Your Excellency's Letter of the 24. June. It is with the utmost Concern I observe, that Your Excellency lays it down as a Principle, that You ought to make no distinction between the faithful loyal Subjects of His Brittannick Majesty, and those in open Rebellion, or indeed who have traiterously withdrawn themselves from their Allegiance . . . As Your Excellency thinks proper to allow the American Rebels that same ingress, or egress under Your Government, as You do to the loyal Subjects of Great Britain, and that at this time there are several American Privateers in Your Harbours; I beg leave to tell Your Excellency, that the protection You allow these Pirates (for Such those are declared to be, who plunder the property of British Subjects upon the High Seas), I say, Your Protection to these Vessels, and their Crews, is of infinite prejudice to the British Islands in the West Indies, for if they had not Your Ports to fly to, they could not remain in these Seas to molest the British Subjects and obstruct the Trade of Our Islands.
I take the liberty to send Your Excellency a Copy of a most extraordinary Letter, which I have lately received, signed by Eleven Commanders of American Privateers then at St Pierre. It does not become me to correspond with Rebels and the insolent Expressions in their Letter are better answered by Contempt. But as They make a pretence of what they falsely alledge, in order to use His Majesty's Loyal Subjects who may fall into their hands with Cruelty and Barbarity; To prevent which & for the sake of humanity, I will desire the favour of Your Excellency to give directions, that these Commanders of American Privateers be informed, "That The American Prisoners taken out of American Privateers, & brought here were put under Confinement as Enemies and Rebels, as well for the peace of this Island as for the safety of the Shipping in the Harbour. That They have a very ample dayly Supply of Provisions, and are all in good health, and from being very lean and meagre when they came, are now grown fat & lusty, in good Spirits, and perfectly well contented. It would therefore become these Commanders, who talk so much of humanity to treat their Prisoners in the same manner."
It is only the Men out of the American Privateers, that are put under confinement. These who are taken in American Merchant Ships are immediately at their liberty to go on board any Vessel, not bound to any Colony in Rebellion. I had some of these the other day, who immediately the same day entered themselves on board a Vessel bound to Newfoundland.
I should return Your Excy my thanks for your kind treatment of Mr John Wall, and particularly for ordering his Vessel to be restored to him.
I beg leave to inform Your Excellency, that for sometime past Small French Vessels have come frequently to this Island; They bring Your Excellency's passport as having passengers, or under some such pretence; but I apprehend from their Manoeuvre in seldom coming to An Anchor, that they are rather employed by the Americans as Spies, or at least they have somebody on board for this purpose, to find out what is going forward here & to procure all the Intelligence they can. I would intreat Your Excelly to put a stop to this proceeding, if possible Jean Baptiste Le Blanc of the Sloop Le Chasseur with One Durham of Bermudas, whom I take to be a man much to be suspected, arrived Sunday Morning the 3d lnstt and did not come to an anchor altho' ordered but was driven on shore on Tuesday by a Westerly Wind from the Sea.
I have the honour to be &ca
Copy
[Endorsed] (2) In Govr Hay's (No 20) of 24th October 1777
