The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

492 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1793.
adopted. Mr. Hammond resided in Philadelphia as
minister from the British government, and Mr. Thomas
Pinckney represented the United States as minister
plenipotentiary at the court of St. James. No progress had been made, however, in negotiating a treaty
of commerce or removing the causes of complaint.
The catalogue of grievances had rather grown longer
than shorter. The posts on the frontier were still held,
contrary to the treaty of peace, and interferences with
the Indians continued. Vessels had been searched
and seamen impressed by British officers within the
acknowledged jurisdiction of the United States; and
the Bermuda privateers had committed depredations
upon American vessels not only with impunity, but
with the open sanction of the admiralty court in those
islands.
With the design of distressing France, by cutting
off her supplies, two orders were issued by the British
cabinet, one in June and the other in November, which
operated with peculiar force upon American commerce.
By the first order, British cruisers were instructed to
stop all ships loaded with corn, flour,, or meal, bound
to any French port, and send them to some convenient
port, where the cargoes might be purchased in behalf
of his Majesty's government. By the second, ships
of war and privateers were required to detain all vessels laden with goods produced in any colony belonging to France, or with provisions for any such colony,
and bring them to legal adjudication in the British
courts of admiralty. These orders were considered as a
direct and flagrant violation of neutral rights, and the
American government remonstrated against them as unjust in principle and extremely injurious in their effects.
When Congress assembled, the state of affairs, both
external and internal, was largely explained in the