STATE PAPERS. 



171 



privateers, liaving letters of marque 

 against France, given at our court 

 at Sc. James's ihe 8th day of iniif, 

 17&3, we thought fit to declaie, 

 that it should be lawful to stop ar.d 

 dtlaiii all ships laden wholly, or in 

 part- with corn, hour, or meal, 

 bound to any port in France, or any 

 port occupied by the armies of 

 France, and to send tbem to such 

 ports as should be most convimint, 

 in order that such corn, meal, or 

 flour, mi^ht be purchased on be- 

 half of our government, and the 

 ships he released after such pur- 

 chase, and after a due allowance for 

 freight, or that the masters of such 

 ships, on giving due security, to be 

 approved by our court of admiralty, 

 should be permitted to dispose of 

 ihei: cargoes of corn, me>\l, orliour, 

 in the ports of any power in amity 

 with us. We not judging it expe- 

 dient to cor.iinue for the present the 

 purchase of the said cargoes on be- 

 half of our governm, nt, are pleased 

 to revoke the said article, until our 

 farther order therein ; and to de- 

 clare, that the same shall no longer 

 remain in force. But we strictly en- 

 join all our commanders of onrships 

 of war and privateers, to observe 

 theremaining articles of the said in- 

 structions ; and, likewise, all other 

 instructions which we have issued, 

 and which still continue in force. 



Gmeral order published by the Duke 

 of York, at his head-fjuartvrs, 

 Sept. 22, 1/94- 



IT is with the greatest regret that 

 his royalhighness thinks himself 

 obliged once mo.e to order the se- 

 verest measures to be pursued, in 

 order to put a stop to the most 

 shameful acts of violence and plun- 



der, which dishonour the army un- 

 der his command. His royal high- 

 ness is sostn.ngly convinced of the 

 necessity of this severity, since five 

 men of the 3Stli regiment, discove- 

 red yesterday in the act of plunder- 

 ing, have actualb. been condemned 

 to death by a court-martial, which 

 sentence, out of humanity only, his 

 highness mitigated into a less se- 

 vere! punishment. His highness, 

 in order to prevent such dishonour- 

 able excesse- for the future, orders, 

 that hereafter, wl.enever a soldier 

 should be detected in the act 01 

 plundering, the provost marshal, 

 with his assistants, is charged to ex 

 ccute the offender upon the spot ; 

 and, in case of the absence of tiie 

 provost, fliat the criminal, instead 

 of being hanged, shall be shot. 



Besides the publication of this re- 

 solution, his royal highness thinks it 

 his duty to exhort the officers of ihe 

 army under his command, and to 

 request of them, as they value the 

 national character (it being their 

 duty to unite tlieir personal honour 

 to that of his majesty's service, as 

 well as to that of their country), to 

 prevent all violence and pilfering, 

 ( f which unli.ippily they but too 

 ofttn have Liiiicrto been the eye- 

 witnesses ; and, to prevent wliich, 

 nmhing is so necessary as a strict 

 miiilaiy discipline. 



His highness wishes not to be 

 under the necessity of taking any 

 severe measures against ilie officers. 

 His highness will expect the above 

 Older j)unctually executed, particu- 

 larly by the commanders of regi- 

 ments, and will certainly give in- 

 formation tohibmajesty, if, b, their 

 neglect, thedepredations should Con- 

 tinue, which, by this general order, 

 his royal higliness endeavours to put 

 an end to. 



Proclamation 



