time, in addition to
the directions already in your possession, you are most positively
ordered to prevent every person whatever from coming on board the ship
you command, except the officers and men who compose her crew; nor is
any person whatever, whether in His Majesty's service or not, who does
not belong to the ship, to be suffered to come on board, either for
the purpose of visiting the officers, or on any pretence whatever,
without express permission either from the Lords Commissioners of the
Admiralty, or from me. As I understand from Captain Sartorius, that
General Gourgaud refused to deliver the letter with which he was
charged for the Prince Regent, to any person except his Royal
Highness, you are to take him out of the Slaney, into the ship you
command, until you receive directions from the Admiralty on the
subject, and order that ship back to Plymouth Sound, when Captain
Sartorius returns from London."

Along with the above order, I received a letter from Lord Keith, of
which I give some extracts.

"You will perceive by the newspapers, that the intelligence had
reached London before Captain Sartorius, owing to his long passage. I
have a letter from Lord Melville to-day, enforcing in the strongest
manner the former orders,--even that no person, myself or Sir John
Duckworth excepted, shall be suffered to come on board the ship, till
orders are sent from Government; which you will be so good as strictly
to comply with. Let him and his want for nothing; and send to me for
any thing Brixham cannot furnish; I will send it to you by a small
vessel. You may say to Napoleon, that I am under the greatest personal
obligations to him for his attention to my nephew, who was taken and
brought before him at Belle Alliance, and who must have died, if he
had not ordered a surgeon to dress him immediately, and sent him to a
hut. I am glad it fell into your hands at this time, because a
Frenchman had been sent from Paris on the mission, a Monsieur Drigni."

Buonaparte recollected the circumstance alluded to, and seemed much
gratified with Lord Keith's acknowledgments.

Napoleon and all his attendants were very anxious to see as many
newspapers as possible, but particularly the Courier, which they
considered the Ministerial paper, and most likely to contain the
intentions of Government respecting them. They received little
encouragement from any of them, but least of all from those which are
supposed to take the Minister