That in or about the month of April or May 1800, subsequent to the interruption of the proceedings of the Commissioners at Philadelphia, Lord Grenville made the following Propositions to the Claimants, which his Lordship thought were stated to them in the same manner as the Questions in 1794; viz.

First: A renewed Commission, in conformity with the Treaty of Amity. Second: Or, to accept a sum of Money in lieu of the Claims under the 6th cle of the Treaty of Amity.

That various communications, in conse quence of these Propositions, took place between the London and Glasgow Committees or Agents of the Claimants and Lord Grenville; in some of which the Claimants expressed their wish for a stipulated sum to be paid to them, finally to put an end to the whole business; and with regard to the amount of the sum (they stated) they were more at a loss from not knowing the exact amount which had been claimed under the 6th Article of the Treaty of 1794, or the manner in which the different claims had been made up with regard to interest, &c.; but, from what they were informed of the amount being about Five Millions, and allowing that some part might be cut off, either from being improperly claimed or not sufficiently ascertained, both of which might be better known to his Majesty's Ministers (as they stated) and deducting such payments as might have been made on their debts before the ratification of the proposed agreement, they were willing, on obtaining the guarantee of the British Government, to accept of Two Millions and an half sterling, rather than those claims should continue as a subject of contention and a source of discontent between the two Countries, or that they should experience the hardships and vexations which they had reason to expect in the prosecution of their debts in that country, That his Majesty's Ministers declined advising his Majesty to guarantee to the Creditors the payment of any sums which the American Government might agree to give in liquidation of their demands.

That in or soon after December 1800, during the negociation which led to the Convention between his Majesty and the United States in January 1802, Mr. Macdonald, at the request of the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, communicated to him, that he conceived a sum between a million and an half and two

That other communications were madeTM in the year 1801 to his Majesty's Government by the Claimants, urging his Majesty's Ministers to take measures to procure their just demands, and stating, that if that was not done, their only resource would be to throw themselves, by an application to Parliament, upon the justice of the Nation, for fulfilment of the 4th Article of the Provisional Treaty with America, and of the 6th Article of the Treaty of Amity; or if, for political reasons, the execution of these Articles on the part of America should not be rigorously executed, that compensation should be made to the Claimants by Great Britain.

That a Convention was signed on 8th January 1802, between his Majesty and the United States of America, whereby the United States engaged to pay, and his Majesty consented to accept, for the use of the persons described in the said 6th Article of the Treaty of 1794, the sum of 600,000%. sterling, in satisfaction and discharge of the Money which the United States might have been liable to pay in pursuance of the provisions of the said 6th Article; which was thereby declared to be cancelled and annulled, except so far as the same might relate to the execution of the 7th Article of the said Treaty. And it was further agreed, that the Commissioners appointed in pursuance of the said 7th Article, and whose proceedings are therein and hereinbefore mentioned to have been suspended, in consequence of difficulties having arisen in execution of the 6th Article, should immediately reassemble and proceed in the execution of their duties.

That the said Convention was first communicated by Lord Hawkesbury, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, on the 14th day of January 1802, to the Committee of London Claimants. And they, by letter dated the 19th of that month, and the Committee of Glasgow

cept only a sum of 25,2841. 14s. Id. which had been previously paid in the year 1798.

Claimants, by a letter dated the 24th of the same month, expressed their dissatisfaction therewith, and claimed the due execution of the 6th Article of the Treaty of 1794, or a proper compensation for their losses.

That the said Convention was concluded by Lord Hawkesbury without the concurrence of the British Claimants, and his Lordship stated, that he could not speak as positively from recollection whether without their privity, but he had no reason to think it was with their privity; and he also said, that when he came into office as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he bad a personal communication from Lord Grenville, of all the circumstances of the Negociation as it then stood; that he had likewise one conversation at least with Mr. Pitt upon the subject; that his Lordship had likewise several interviews with Mr. Molleson and Mr. Nutt, and he had also access to all the documents at that time in the office-That the result of this information was an opinion formed by his Lordship, that the Claimants had no chance of recovering their dues in the American Courts--That the sum of 600,0001. then offered by the American Government was as large a sum as could be obtained, and that in consequence of the unfavourable change that had taken place in the American Government towards the end of the year 1800 or beginning of the year 1801, by the Federal Administration being changed for that of Mr. Jefferson and his friends, his Lordship was of opinion that if the offer then made had been refused, so favourable an offer was not likely to be renewed. And his Lordship having been asked whether the circumstances alluded to in his Lordship's answer had any object in them of a national nature, or were confined simply to the probability and improbability of the recovery of the demands made by the British Merchants, said, that he conceived the considerations to have been of both descriptions; that at the time when his Lordship accepted the sum of 000,000l. the 7th Article of the Treaty of Amity had been suspended; but the sittings of the Commissioners under the 7th Article of the Treaty of Amity, recommenced soon after by virtue of the 3rd Article of the Convention, and the sum of 1,369,4481. 15s. 10d. was paid by his Majesty's Government to American Citizens, in pursuance of awards made by the Commissioners under those Articles, ex

That in March 1803 the Claimants presented a Memorial to his Majesty's Government, and had an interview with Mr. Addington, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and thereby protested against the proceedings of Government in accepting the said sum of 600,000l.; whereupon Mr. Addington said he considered their case to be a hard one, so much so, that he had no objection to the Claimants applying to Parliament or to his Majesty's Government; but that he meant to give no opinion upon the merits of the case, and that as the losses were not ascertained, he did not conceive that Parliament would then entertain a Petition-To which the Claimants acceded, laying in their claim that such acquiescence should not be considered as barring them from bringing forward their case at a future time. And accordingly the Claimants did not then present any Petition to Parliament.

That an Act of Parliament was passed in April 1803, for the apportioning, dividing and distributing the said sum of 600,000l. amongst the several persons who should be found entitled to receive compensation out of the same; and Thomas Macdonald, Esquire, Henry Pye Rich, Esquire, and John Guillemard, Esq. were thereby appointed Commissioners, whose adjudications were to be final.

That the Commissioners so appointed were the same persons who had acted as the British Commissioners and the Fifth Commissioner at Philadelphia under the Treaty of 1794. And claims were made by the King's Subjects in general of various descriptions, to the amount of 5,408,7661. 65. And the Commissioners made adjudications thereon, to the amount in the whole of 1,420,000l. which were not completed until the 19th May 1811.

That such adjudications proceeded on an estimate in every case, from the various materials before the Commissioners, of the loss which they conceived had been sustained by the respective parties, and did not comprehend any losses excepting those which America was bound to compensate under the 6th Article of the Treaty of Amity; besides which, it appeared from the materials before the Board, that the British Creditors had sustained great losses for which the United States were not bound to give compensation under the

That the Commissioners having thus made adjudications in favour of various Claimants, to the amount in the whole of 1,420,000l. have apportioned and divided amongst those persons the above-mentioned sum of 600,000l. together with the further sum of 59,4931. which had been made as interest by investing the said

to its being divided amongst the Claimants; and the difference between the 659,4931. so divided, and the 1,420,000l. so adjudged, together with interest on such difference, from the 1st day of June 1804 (to which day the interest on the sums adjudged, had, by order of the Commissioners been calculated) constitutes the sum for which the Petitioners make the present application. 25 March 1812.

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