STATE PAPERS. 



341 



alone, erroneously assuming that re- 

 peal to be complete, America has 

 claimed a revocation of the British 

 Orders in Council. 



His Royal Highness, upon a re- 

 view of all these circumstances, 

 feels persuaded, that so soon as this 

 formal declaration, by the govern- 

 ment of France, of its unabated ad- 

 lierence to the principles and pro- 

 visions of the Berlin and Milan 

 Decrees, shall be made known in 

 America, the government of the 

 United States, actuated not less by 

 a sense of justice to Great Britain, 

 than by what is due to its own dig- 

 nity, will be disposed to recall those 

 measures of hostileexclusion.which, 

 under a misconception of the real 

 views and conduct of the French 

 government, America has exclu- 

 sively applied to the commerce and 

 ships of war of Great Britain. 



To accelerate a result so advan- 

 tageous to the true interests of both 

 countries, and so conducive to the 

 re-establishment of perfect friend- 

 ship between them ; and to give a 

 decisive proof of his Royal High- 

 ness's disposition to perform the 

 engagements of his Majesty's go- 

 vernment, by revoking the Orders 

 in Council, whenever the French 

 Decrees shall be actuallj' and un- 

 conditionally repealed ; his Royal 

 Highness the Prince Regent has 

 been this day pleased, in the name 

 and on the behalf of his Mnjesty, 

 and by and with the advice of his 

 Majesty's Privy Council, to order 

 and declare ; 



•• That if at any time hereafter 

 the Berlin and Milan Decrees shall, 

 by some authentic actof the French 

 government, publicly promulgated, 

 be expressly and unconditionally 

 repealed, then, and from thence- 

 forth, the Order in Council of the 



7th day of January, 1807, and the 

 Order in Council of the 26th day 

 of April, 1809, shall, without any 

 further order, be, and the same 

 hereby are declared from thence- 

 forth, to be wholly and absolutely 

 revoked ; and further, that the full 

 benefit of this order shall be ex- 

 tended to any ship or vessel cap- 

 tured subsequent to such authentic 

 act of repeal of the French Decrees, 

 although antecedent to such repeal, 

 such ship or vessel shall have com- 

 menced, and shall be in the prose- 

 cution of a voyage, which, under 

 the said Orders in Council, or one 

 of them, would have subjected her 

 to capture and condemnation ; and 

 the claimant of any ship or cargo 

 which shall be captured at any 

 time subsequent to such authentic 

 act of repeal by the French govern- 

 ment, shall, without any further 

 order or declaration on the part of 

 his Majesty's government on this 

 subject, be at liberty to give in evi- 

 dence in the High Court of Admi- 

 ralty, or any Court of Vice-Admi- 

 ralty, before which such ship or 

 vessel, or its cargo, shall be brought 

 for ^judication, that such repeal by 

 the French government had been 

 by such authentic act promulgated 

 prior to such capture ; and upon 

 proof thereof, the voyage shall be 

 deemed and taken to have been as 

 lawful as if the said Orders in Coun- 

 cil had never been made ; saving 

 nevertheless to the captors such 

 protection and indemnity as they 

 may be equitably entitled to, in the 

 judgment of the said court, by rea- 

 son of their ignoranceor uncertainty 

 as to the repeal of the French De- 

 crees, or of the recognition of such 

 repeal by his Majesty's government, 

 at the time of such capture. 



" His Royal Highness, however, 



deems 



