I have just received the acknowledgement of the Commandant General of Galicia, from which I perceive that in consequence of the Orders which we issued in August he sent the American Privateer out of Ferrol where she was, she having scarcely provided herself with such things as she re­quired upon Sufficient Cause & which related merely to the Ship.² Another Privateer had come into the Coruna, & it being signified to her that she must return to sea, she was about to execute it as soon as she had repaired her damage.³ And besides three Prizes which she had taken were already gone for other parts.

These new Events will prove to Yr Exy the good faith & readiness of the King's Ministers to attend to the just Sollicitude of your Court. But at the same time I cannot avoid representing to Yr Exy that according to the Accounts received from various Ports, there are English Frigates & other Vessels of War within sight of these Ports, in order to seize the above Privateers. This would be a just cause for the Americans refusing to go out to sea, nor could we on our Part oblige them to do so, without committing an improper Action inconsistent with the Law of Nations.

Yr Exy will reflect on the weight of these Considerations and I con­clude with wishing that Our Lord may preserve your Life &c [St Ildefonso 30 Sepr 1777.] ⁴

[Endorsed] In Lord Grantham's No 55 6 Octr