Folio 391: [Earl of Hillsborough] to R. Walpole. Agrees with him that the Queen's...

Folio 391: [Earl of Hillsborough] to R. Walpole. Agrees with him that the Queen's decree of 30 August `in so far as it prohibits English shipping of any kind from free entry into the ports of Portugal, does most certainly contravene the Treaty of 1654, article 18.'Hillsborough denies that `the Dutch ever took a similar step with regard to us, and I do not apprehend that if they had, Lord Weymouth, who is perfectly well acquainted with the treaty, could possibly have said that he had no objection to the same being done by the Court of Portugal.' Walpole must politely but firmly correct Ayres de Sá on these two points; and he can reassure him that the British government does not intend to use Lisbon as a base of naval operations. Regarding the Kite and Rattlesnake incidents, he hopes the matter has been allowed to drop. Hopes that the rumours of allowing the importation of French cloth, and of making Belem the terminal for the Falmouth packet-boat are unfounded; but if they prove true, Walpole must remonstrate against them, as being evidence of an `unfriendly disposition which we neither expect nor deserve to find in the Court of Portugal'.

Date and place: 1780 Dec 9 London.