1790. J DISCUSSIONS IN LONDON. 203 



ambassador, yet the act of violence against British subjects described 

 in his note necessarily suspended all discussion of the claims ad- 

 vanced by him, until adequate atonement should have been made 

 for the outrage. In the mean time, they demanded the immediate 

 restoration of the vessel seized, reserving further proceedings on the 

 subject until more complete details of the circumstances could be 

 obtained. 



This unexpected answer, with other circumstances, induced the 

 Spanish cabinet to suspect that more was meant than had been 

 openly declared by Great Britain ; that this power was, in fact, only 

 seeking an occasion to break the peace with Spain for some ulte- 

 rior object : and, under the influence of this suspicion, preparations 

 for war were commenced in all the naval arsenals of the latter king- 

 dom. The king of Spain being, however, anxious to prevent a 

 rupture, if possible, his ambassador at London addressed another 

 note to the British government in April, declaring that, although 

 the Spanish crown had an indubitable right to the continent, islands, 

 harbors, and coasts, of America on the Pacific, founded upon trea- 

 ties and immemorial possession, yet, as the viceroy of Mexico had 

 released the vessel seized at Nootka, his Catholic majesty regarded 

 the affair as concluded, without entering into any disputes and dis- 

 cussions on the undoubted rights of Spain ; and, desiring to give a 

 proof of his friendship for Great Britain, he should rest satisfied, if 

 her subjects were commanded to respect those rights in future. 



This last communication was received about the time when 

 Meares arrived in London from China ; and the information brought 

 by him was not calculated to render the British government inclined 

 to accept the pacific overture of Spain. On the contrary, orders 

 were issued for arming two large fleets, and the whole affair, which 

 had been previously kept secret, was submitted to Parliament by a 

 message from the king on the 5th of May. 



In this message, his majesty states that two vessels, belonging to 

 his subjects, and navigated under the British flag, and two others, 

 of which the description was not then sufficiently ascertained, had 

 been captured at Nootka Sound, by an officer commanding two 

 Spanish ships of war ; the cargoes of the two British vessels had 

 been seized, and their crews had been sent as prisoners to a Span- 

 ish port ; — that, as soon as he had been informed of the capture 

 of one of these vessels, he had ordered a demand to be made for 

 her restitution, and for adequate satisfaction, previous to any other 

 discussion ; from the answer to which demand, it appeared that the 



