governments was necessarily carried on through them. This was rather a new class of obligations for naval officers, but it was one which, from their being the only disinterested individuals on the spot, they alone were qualified to undertake. The greater number of the misunderstandings alluded to arose out of commercial regulations, which the merchants complained of as oppressive; sometimes they originated in the actual seizure of English vessels, on the plea that attempts were made to introduce goods without paying the established duties; sometimes the merchants were accused of concealing Spanish property in their ships; at others the laws of the port, or of the country generally, were said to be infringed, the imputed delinquency being followed by imprisonment, or by confiscation of property. On these, and many other occasions, appeals to Government, from the captains of his Majesty’s ships, were looked for; it was, however, their special duty merely to remonstrate, and, if possible, to arrange matters amicably, but on no occasion to threaten or to act hostilely without instructions from the commander-in-chief, in reply to the representations made to him of all the circumstances. But, in almost every case, it was of immediate consequence to the advancement of the commercial interests, that such disputes as have been alluded to should be settled at the moment. The state of trade, indeed, and of every political circumstance in these countries, was liable to such perpetual fluctuation, that, long before an answer could be received from the Commodore, every thing material in the case might be altered. The impossibility of foretelling changes, or of estimating, with any precision, the probable effect of the great political convulsions by which the country was torn, rendered it a matter of great difficulty for the commander-in-chief to give instructions to his officers, for whose proceedings, however, he was officially responsible. Still less, it may be supposed, could his Majesty’s Government at home have any clear conception of what ought to be the details of management, in the midst of such a prodigious confusion of circumstances, varying every hour. In the end, it became obvious that the only method was, to make the officers well aquainted with the general principles by which their conduct was to be regulated, and to leave them afterwards, as a matter of absolute necessity, to act to the best of their judgment and abilities, according to circumstances, but always in the spirit of their instructions. With every possible care, however, cases would sometimes occur, so difficult and complicated, as to seem utterly incapable of adjustment, without an extension of their powers. On such occasions, a reference to higher authority became indispensable.
“The port duties, on the other hand, were of an easier nature, relating chiefly to matters of difference between our own countrymen, and regulated, to a certain extent, by established written authorities, which might be referred to. As the number of merchant ships in harbour was generally considerable, these discussions became very engrossing, and, when super-added to our ordinary professional avocations, often left us little leisure for