Most secret
Sir

My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty having received well grounded Information that an English built Cutter Sloop of about 90 Tons bound to North America, being the property of some of the Inhabitants of the Rebellious Colonies there, is now at Havre de Grace, from whence it is expected she will sail about the 10th Instant, or as soon afterwards as wind & weather will permit; that she hath on board a quantity of powder & some small brass Guns, either mounted or in her hold; that she will be cleared out for some Foreign French Port with French Cocquets & Bills of Lading, hoist French Colours, & that her Master & Crew will be Frenchmen, And it being of the utmost consequence that the said Vessel should be intercepted & seized and the Dispatches & Papers she may have on board secured; I am commanded by their Lordships to signify their direction to you to proceed & cruize in the Ship you command, without a moments Loss of time, between Cape Barfleur & Cape La Hague, and use your utmost vigilance, attention and diligence to intercept the said Vessel which you will easily know by her being Folkstone built; And, upon your so doing, most strictly to examine her & to endeavour to discover whether she answers the abovementioned description or not; letting one of your people (in order to favor the suspicion) declare that he hath seen her lately in England: And, if she doth answer that description; or, notwithstanding any alteration she may have undergone since ー she hath been in France, you have good reason to believe her to be the Vessel in question, it is their Lordships orders that you do seize her; letting her Master know that it is done upon good grounds of suspicion that she belongs to the Americans, but, should it prove otherwise, she will, no doubt, be immediately released.

If she should be the Vessel alluded to, you will most probably find one or more Englishmen on board her and amongst them, her real Master or Owner, whose name is Hynson, who is a lusty black looking man, and will, as it is expected, endeavour to pass for a Passenger; it is therefore, their Lordships further direction that you very carefully and strictly examine the several persons who may be on board her in order to your ascertaining that Point; And, upon your discovering the said Hynson, or any other Englishman, to search very closely & narrowly their Persons, Cabbins, Chests &c (but more particularly Hynson's) for dispatches and Papers, and to secure all such as you shall find in their custody or any where else on board the sd vessel; And, having so done, to remove the said Persons into the Ship you command and to confine them; without however treating them with any unnecessary strictness or severity.

When this shall be effected it is their Lordships further direction that you make the best of your way with the said Vessel, persons, dispatches & other Papers to Spithead, where you are to remain until you receive further order; sending to me (with the utmost dispatch and by one of your own Officers), for their Lordships information, an account of your arrival & proceedings, together with all the dispatches & papers you may have found on board the said Vessel; and taking care that they are not soiled or damaged, that such of them as are sealed do remain in that state, and that the whole be inclosed under one or more Covers sealed with your own seal.

I have it further in Command from their Lordships to signify their direction to you to continue upon the above station or service for fourteen days after your departure from St Helens (in case you do not sooner fall in with & intercept the abovementd Vessel) and then return to that place, and remain there until you receive further order, sending me, by express, for their Lordships information, an Account of your Arrival and proceedings. I am Sir [&c.]

PS. In case you meet with & seize the above Vessel it is their Lordships orders that you give strict directions to the Officers & Persons whom you may appoint to take charge of & carry her into Port, to be particularly carefull that nothing belonging to her be embez[z]led, destroyed or damaged.

[Endorsed] Like Lres, to cruize on the stations against each exprest, to,