"And all persons in the said island are hereby cautioned, not to oppose in any wise the execution of this our edict, or any part thereof, such opposition being high-treason; of which all who are suspected shall be transported in fetters from Britain to Prussia, there to be tried and executed according to the Prussian law.
"Such is our pleasure.
"Given at Potsdam, this twenty-fifth day of the month of August, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, and in the thirty-third year of our reign.
"By the king, in his council.
"RECHTMÆSSIG, Sec."
Some take this edict to be merely one of the king's jeux d'esprit: others suppose it serious, and that he means a quarrel with England: but all here think the assertion it concludes with, "that these regulations are copied from acts of the English parliament respecting their colonies," a very injurious one; it being impossible to believe, that a people distinguished for their love of liberty; a nation so wise, so liberal in its sentiments, so just and equitable towards its neighbours, should, from mean and injudicious views of petty immediate profit, treat its own children in a manner so arbitrary and tyrannical!
FOOTNOTES:
[116] This intelligence extraordinary, I believe, first appeared in the Public Advertiser. I have reprinted it from a copy which I found in the Gentleman's Magazine. B. V.
[117] A tous presens et à venir. Original.