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and other Officers of the Law, to arrest the brigantine May or George, mentioned in the said petition; as also to arrest the cargo of the said ship wherever the same may be found within Scotland; and all persons whatever are hereby prohibited and discharged from selling or disposing upon the said ship and her cargo, until further orders of court. And further ordains the before mentioned Mr. Patrick Colquhoun, merchant in Glasgow, to be served with a copy of the said petition, and of this interlocutor; and ordains him to give in answers thereto, within eight days of such service, with certification; and in the meantime, the said Patrick Colquhoun is hereby discharged and prohibited from taking any steps in the sale and disposal of the said ship and her cargo, with certification.

In pursuance of this interlocutor, upon the 8th of August 1777, a person employed for that purpose, did, before any procedure was had in the sale of the said cargo at Glasgow, under form of instrument, intimate the said interlocutor to the said John Jackson and Patrick Colquhoun, and required them to give obedience thereto; and upon the 8th of August 1777, the said ship and her cargo, in virtue of the said interlocutor, were arrested at Port Glasgow; and thereafter, upon the 18th of August 1777, the respondent, as Procurator Fiscal of the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland, did, in behalf of his Majesty, bring before the said court an action or process, concluding to have the said ship and her cargo condemned, and found to belong to his Majesty, in virtue of the act of parliament of the 16th of his present Majesty, etc. commonly called the Restraining Act.

In which process the said John Jackson and Patrick Colquhoun appeared, stating themselves as defendants, and gave in defences; to which the respondent having given in answers, and the said Messrs. Jackson and Colquhoun having replied thereto, the Judge Admiral did, on the 9th of December 1777, pronounce the fol-[413]-lowing interlocutor and decree:

Finds that the procedure had in the High Court of Admiralty of England, and all the after procedure had in consequence thereof, relative to the ship or brigantine the May or George, and her cargo libelled, is void and null, and can be of no avail nor effect in law as to the said ship and her cargo libelled; and therefore finds that the said John Monro, Esq. Pursuer, may proceed in this present action, and that in the same way and manner, and to the same effect, as if no such procedure had been had relative to the said ship and her cargo, and decerns.

Against which interlocutor and decree, the appellants preferred to the Judge-Admiral a reclaiming petition, who, on the 20th of January 1778, pronounced the following interlocutor:

Having advised the petition of John Jackson, Receiver-General of all droits and perquisites of the Admiralty of Great Britain, and Patrick Colquhoun, Esq. merchant in Glasgow, and likewise of George Gostling, jun. Esq. his Majesty's Procurator-General in his office of Admiralty, and the writs produced, and in particular the extract of the letters patent by his Majesty, under the great seal of Great Britain, of date the 2d of May 1776, directed to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty of Great Britain and Ireland, relative to the condemnation of American prizes, etc. and the extract of the commission or warrant issued in pursuance of the said letters patent, by the said Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, of date the 10th of May 1776, to the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of England, relative to the condemnation of the said prizes, etc. by the which letters patent the said Lords Commissioners are required by his Majesty, to issue such commission or warrant to the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of England as also to the several Courts of Admiralty within his Majesty's dominions, consequently to the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland, which the said Lords Commissioners have neglected to do; and having considered the whole circumstances of this case, finds that by the said commission or warrant, issued in pursuance of his Majesty's said letters patent, by the said Lords Commissioners to the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty of England, the territory of jurisdiction of the said court is not thereby extended or enlarged, so as to comprehend the kingdom of Scotland or any part of it; and finds that the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and the Judge thereof has, by law, sufficient jurisdiction and authority within Scotland, to proceed in the trial and condemnation of all prizes whatever, without any special commission or warrant from the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty for that purpose; and finds that the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland and