cafe he should not caft anchor there, the vifit certainly would take place. Captain Van Dockum then informed the officer who had come on board, that, in fuch cafe, he would make refistance. On this the Eng, lith captain made the fignal to examine the convoy. The boat of the frigate, which was the Emerald, prepared to execute this order. Some mufketry was fired down from the Danish frigate, and one of the English failors was thereby wounded. This frigate alfo took poffeffion of a boat of the English frigate, the Flora, and did not releafe it, till after the English captain had given captain Dockum to underftand, that if he did not furrender it immediately, he fhould commence hoftilities. The Danish frigate then repaired with its convoy to the bay of Gibraltar. There fome difcufcuffions took place between lord Keith, commander of the British forces in the Mediterranean, and captain Van Dockum, whom lord Keith thought proper to confider as perfonally refponfible, and guilty of the injury done to a fubject of his king. He thought it impoflible, he faid, that the captain could be authorized to act in fuch a manner by the inftructions of his court. To clear up the bufinefs, the Englifh admiral fent an officer to Van Dockum, requesting that he would flew him thefe inftructions, and explain their nature. The Dane refufed to let the admiral fee his inftructions, alleging that he was forbid to do lo; but he told the officer that their import was, not to permit vifitation of his convoy, and. that, in firing on the English boats, he only fulfilled his orders. The captain himfelf afterwards made like anfwer; and, on his word of honour, in

converfation with lord Keith and the governor of Gibraltar; promifing at the fame time, to furrender himself before a judge, and to give notice of his appearance, on which promife, he was told that he might return on board: but, having entered his boat, he fent a letter to the admiral, in which he refufed to give the notice required. What had happened, was reprefented to the Danish miniftry by Mr. Merry, the British envoy at Copenhagen, on the 10th of April, 1800, and a demand made, in the name of his government, for a dif avowal, apology, and reparation. This affair, without any other reparation than a difavowal, was fatisfactorily adjufted. As it was not the intereft of Denmark to go to war, the refiflance made to vifitation, by captain Van Dockum, was a matter of furprile to many, and a fubject of various conjecture. The Danes probably entertained an expectation, that Great Britain, amidst fo many difficulties as thofe in which he was now involved, after experiencing a determination to relift, on the part of the neutrals, would relax her vigour and prompitude în enforcing her maritime claims, as he had done during the fhort exiflence of the armed neutrality, from 1780 to the peace of 1783. A fimilar expectation, from a like conduct, was probably entertained by the Swedes. The general furprise was ftill more excited, by an engagement which took place between a Danish frigate, the Freya, on the 25th of July, 1800, at the mouth of the channel, and no lefs than four English frigates, a brig, and a lugger. An officer from the foremost of the English frigates came on board the Freya, and defired to fearch the

convoy.

fineur, a fituation chofen by the ad miral for three reafons: first, to afford fecurity and protection to the British trade in the Baltic; fecondly, for fafety to the fquadron; and laftly, by his actual prefence, to give weight to the negotiation lord Whitworth was charged with. With thefe views, the fquadron bore up on the 19th for Elfineur At three, in the afternoon, it anchored and rode in fafety in the Sound, notwithstanding that the pilots had declared it to be impofble. Here the admiral stopped, in order to make his arrangements for paffing the cattle and the Danish quadron, in the event of hollihities on their part; but he had fcarcely caft anchor, when he received a very polite letter from commodore Leekins, commander of the Danish hips, inviting him, in the name of his king, to come to Elfingur roads. Here he alfo received difpatches from lord Whitworth to the fame effect. Directions were therefore given that evening, accompanied by an order of anchorage, for the fhips to weigh feparately on the fucceeding morning, and paffing the fort and Danith line, to anchor above them, agreeably to the prefcribed order. In the morning the admiral went on board the Romney, and, paffing very near the caf tle, proceeded about twelve miles up, and anchored off Sophienburg, where, on the day thereafter, he was met by lord Whitworth. A plan of co-operation was agreed on, in confequence of which, the Romney advanced to Copenhagen, and four bomb and two gun-vellels occupied the intermediate fpace between the fhip and the fquadron, for the purpote of communication, which, by means of a telegraph,

established by fir Home Popham, was both rapid and correct. On the 22d, the Danish men of war, feeing themfelves cut off, made a movement, anchored above the Britifh fquadron, and moored up and down the channel leading to Copenhagen. For this movement, they gave as a realon, that they had anchored on bad holding ground. The British admiral, therefore, pleading the fame excufe, made a counter-movement, and placed his fquadron in the fame pofition with that of the Danes; but, from the numbers of the English, they were advanced a good way above them; and in a fituation to cut them off as effectually as at firft, without the fear of being annoyed by the fort: On the 21th, the Danish ships made another movement, which the Englifh admiral intended in the evening to counteract, and weighed for that purpofe; but they again got under fail, and ran higher up: and the next day they proceeded to Copen hagen, pafled the Romney, and moored across the harbour.

In Denmark it is common during the harvest to permit the free men belonging to the army to affift in getting in the corn; but the whole of them were now called in to join their feveral regiments. Some regiments of cavalry, and other troops, were marched from Eckerford and Renburg to Gluck ftadt on the Elbe, the capital of Danish Holftein. A great quantity of artillery and ammunition was fent to that place, and its fortifications were put into thẻ beft ftate of defence that time and circumftances admitted. Batteries were alfo erected on feveral places on the coat; and three floating batteries were, on the 23d, placed in the roads of Copenhagen. In thefe preparations

preparations, and in repairing and frengthening the fortrefs of Cronberg, and the works around Cronberg, all the country was bufily employed. But it was found, on inquiry, that he British armament was very formidable. That the British veffels, chofen for communication, were composed of bombs, placed alfo in a fituation to bombard the city of Copenhagen, and that the fquadron continued to advance, fo as to be able to cover and protect them in the execution of that fervice. The Danish governvernment, therefore, came into terms, and matters were amicably adjusted. On the 29th, a convention was figned by lord Whitworth, the English plenipotentiary, and by count Bernftorf, the Danish minifter; the fubftance of which, was, "That the Danish frigate and convoy, carried into Deal, were to be repaired at the expenfe of Great Britain. The difcuffion refpecting the right, allerted by the English, of vititing convoys, to be adjourned to a farther negotiation in London. Until this point fhould be decided, the Danish fhips were to fail, under convoy, only in the Mediterranean, for the purpose of protection from the Barbary corfairs; and the Danish fhips were to be liable to be fearched, as heretofore."

The works of defence, begun by the Danes, on the approach of our fquadron, were not difcontinued, till brought to a completion, after its departure. For defraying the heavy expenfe of thefe, a tax was levied of two-and-a-half per cent. on all commerce.

Though the difpute between Great Britain and Denmark was hushed for a time, it was not fettled. Denmark did not diftinctly abandon the principles of the armed neutrality. The caufe of the difference that had taken place remained: and a future mifunderstanding, from the very ticklish fituation of Europe, particularly of the north, was apprehended. The Danes therefore continued to ftrengthen their naval force, which was already very confiderable.*

The emperor Paul, whofe animofity against England was still on the increafe, being informed of the capture and detention of the Da nifh frigate with her convoy, laid an embargo on all Engliffhips. in his harbours. This, however, was taken off as foon as he learned that the difpute about the frigate was amicably adjufted. But his, zealous endeavours to unite the ather northern powers with himself, in confederacy against Great Britain, were continued. The fame prince, who, in 1798, applauded our detention of the Swedish convoy, and who threatened Denmark with war, in 1799, for affifting the commeree of the French republic, not only joined, but took the most active part in a league among thofe very powers, for the purpose of affifting that common enemy, whom he had engaged to Britain, and to the world, to refift, to the utmost extent of his power. He recruited his armies as well as his navy. The movements of his troops towards the confines of Turkey in Europe, appeared to indicate fome plan concerted between him and the chief

VOL. XLIII.

[H].

conful,