-210 
 
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
The consignees here would, then, probably, as has been done in like cases
al- 
ready, where vessels of neutrals were concerned, apply to me for instructions

to the captain of such vessel to proceed here, to which place he has been

chartered, as long as no "legal blockade" exists, and up to this
evening there 
has been "no actual presence of a blockading force" at Swinemiinde.
A 
,squadron of Daish vessels-of-war has been in sight for an hour or so at
different 
times-that is all; but the same has not been" stationary, nor sufficiently
near" 
at any time, so as to effect a "valid blockade" of that port. 
Should this state continue, I think, myself, no neutral vessel is bound to
re- 
spect either the notification from the Danish admiral, of which I have had
the 
honor to inform you, and which was sent in by a British merchantman from
a 
place in the open sea about fifty miles distant from SwinemiInde, nor the
notices 
of the pretended blockade given by Danish pilots to vessels passing the sound

or the belts; but in order to be sure, what to do when applied to, respectfully

ask for your instructions on the subject the earliest day possible, and the
more 
so as my opinion thereon is frequently asked by other foreign consuls here,
and 
I am somewhat uncertain as to (my way of reading) Wheaton being right or
not. 
I have the honor to be, sir, yours sincerely obedient servant, 
CHARLES J. SUNDELL, 
United States Consul. 
Hon. N. B. JUDD, 
Minister Plenipotentiary of tble U. S. A., at Berlin, 4-c., cc. 
Mr. Sundell to Mr. Judd. 
No. 2.]              CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERI A, 
Stettin, April 4, 1864. 
HON. SIR: Yours, greatly esteemed, of the 2d instant, I have had the honor

to receive, and in regard to the notified blockade, by Danish vessels of-war,
of 
the six seaports in this consular district, of which I had the honor to report

under the 29th of last month, I now beg to state, in addition, that it is
being 
generally considered here that no such blockade as notified by the Danish

government under the 12th, and again by the commander of the Danish squad-

ron somewhere in the Baltic, under the 18th of same month, has at any time,

up to this present, ever existed de facto. 
In support of this opinion, which, as stated in my last, is also cherished
by 
most of the consuls of the neutral powers residing at this place, the enclosed

expos6 has been gotten up here for circulation in Great Britain, and which,
as I 
feel bound to admit, gives the nature of the case exactly as it exists, leaving

the arguments therein contained at what they are worth, and to be considered

separately. 
The greatest strength of the notified blockade has hitherto been in the notifi-

cation itself, and in the fact also of the Danes commanding the sound and
the 
belts, where every neutral vessel passing is being officially notified that
the 
ports named are blockaded, and the captains believing therein, in order to
avoid 
supposed dangers, run into some other port, not among the pretendingly block-

aded, to discharge or dispose of their cargoes. 
Concerning the irregularity in notifying the consuls of the neutral powers
of 
the blockade, the matter stands thus: When, after the naval engagement on

the 17th of March, the Prussians returned to Swinemtinde, and the Danes to

Men, a British merchantman fell in with the Danish squadron when at sea,

and was induced to appear on board the flag-ship Szalland, where he received

a permit to proceed on his voyage to Stettin, and at the sale time Contre

Admiral von Dockum handed him six sealed letters for delivery when in port,