I have this morning received the honour of your letter on the subject of the trade of Sweden, in which you are pleased to observe that the Marquess of Wellesley had communicated to you that he had received information that some of the ships under my orders have detained and captured some ships from a Swedish port destined to the port of London, to which I beg leave to state that the information must have been incorrect, the detention or capture of any vessel of that description being contrary to the orders I have given to the cruisers on this station, and no report having been made to me of any having been detained. I beg further to observe, that to every application made to me by any of the merchants, I gave my decided opinion that Swedish ships trading to England, or to those countries where Swedish produce was admitted, were not liable to detention, and that they would not be molested by the cruisers under my orders. Knowing the extreme distress that Sweden must suffer from the interruption of her coasting trade, I acted upon the instructions I received with the utmost possible moderation, consistent with the tenor of those instructions. They were not acted upon until I had an opportunity of communicating with the Consul at Gothenburg, and some of the principal merchants, who appeared perfectly satisfied with the indulgence I allowed to the trade of Sweden under the existing circumstances, and the same has been signified to me by the Swedish Government, who have expressed themselves satisfied with the mildness and consideration with which I have uniformly acted to this country. I shall therefore feel most sensibly, if any unfavourable cases have been made by misstatements upon any part of my conduct since I came upon this station. There being no immediate appearance of the Russian fleet putting to sea, I propose to remain here some time longer, for the greater facility of communicating with England, as well as for accelerating the trade from this rendezvous.
I have the honour to be, with great regard, &c.
James Saumarez.
To the Right Hon. C. Yorke.
Everything being now adjusted to the satisfaction of both Governments, the trade was carried on by means of licences to the ports in Russia and Prussia, while the Swedish coasters and packets met with no interruption. The Swedes began to look for a successor to the throne to fill the place of the late lamented Crown Prince. The candidates were the King of Denmark, the Prince of Oldenburg, and the French General Bernadotte, the Prince of Ponte Corvo. The last was proposed by Count Mörner, to whom he had shown much kindness when a prisoner. In order to secure his election he sent over a large sum of money by means of the Swedish Stralsund packets, which performed their voyage unmolested; and the first intimation of this event was obtained by the author about the 15th of August, when he met the waggons loaded with specie on their route from Ystad to Stockholm. Soon after which he was informed that Admiral Krusenstjerna was to arrive at Carlsham on the 20th, and he accordingly met him with Sir James's assurance, that he would be received on board the Victory and permitted to depart after having made his communication to the Admiral.
This will be best explained by Sir James's public despatches to the first Lord of the Admiralty, of which the following is a copy.
Victory, Hano Bay, 21st Aug. 1810.
Sir,
Admiral Krusenstjerna has done me the honour this morning to come on board the Victory, with a verbal communication which he has been charged to make to me from the King of Sweden relative to the election of an heir apparent to the throne. After expressing to me the regard and confidence of his Swedish Majesty for my services to Sweden, Admiral Krusenstjerna signified to me that he was desired by his Swedish Majesty to communicate to me his Swedish Majesty's intentions to maintain the harmony and good understanding that subsist between the respective nations, in which the interest of Sweden is so particularly concerned. In order to the maintenance of that harmony, as well as for the existence of Sweden, it was indispensable that the Government should be headed by a person who was independent, and not liable to submit to the will of others. He was directed to inform me that of the four persons who have been proposed to be successor to the throne of Sweden, the Prince of Augustenburg had declined the acceptance of that distinction, in favour of his Majesty the King of Denmark, but who, from political circumstances, was not considered eligible. The Prince of Oldenburg had also been mentioned, but insuperable objections also arose to prevent the choice fixing upon his Serene Highness. The Prince of Ponte Corvo, through the medium of the Swedish minister at Paris, had offered himself a candidate for the high situation, and was the person recommended by the King of Sweden to the Diet now assembled at Orebro, to be successor to the late Crown Prince.
Admiral Krusenstjerna was also instructed to signify to me that the Prince of Ponte Corvo, in offering himself for this distinction, had professed his firm intentions, as far as depended on him, to maintain the relative situations between England and Sweden, and that his proposing himself was without the participation of Buonaparte. He further mentioned that he was of all others the person who would have the firmness to oppose the intentions of Buonaparte, or his agents and ministers, in the intercourse with other countries.