The second incident occurred on February 4, 1806.  The commanding officer of H.M.  Armed vessel Sentinel was lying in Shields harbour.  He sent word to a man named Stephen Mitchell, who caused the watch of the Revenue cutter Eagle to hoist the Eagle’s pendant half-mast.  Mitchell naturally replied that he dared not do so without his captain’s orders.  Mitchell, therefore, sent to his captain, George Whitehead, but before the latter’s arrival the pendant was hauled down and carried on board the Sentinel with threats that Whitehead should be prosecuted for wearing a pendant.  Whitehead accordingly wrote to the Collector and Controller of the Customs at Newcastle to lodge a complaint.  The latter, in turn, wrote to Lieut.  W. Chester, R.N., commanding this Sentinel gun-brig asking for an explanation.  The naval officer replied by referring them to Articles 6 and 7 of the Admiralty Instructions regarding ships or vessels in the service of any public office, by which it was ordered that they should wear the same Ensign and Jack as ships having Letters of Marque, except that in the body of the Jack or Ensign there should be likewise described the seal of the office they belonged to.  All vessels employed in the service of any public office were forbidden to wear pendants contrary to what was allowed, and officers of ships-of-war were permitted to seize any illegal colours.  Chester contended that the Eagle was hailed and requested to lower her colours half-mast, as an officer of the Navy was being interred at South Shields, and all the other vessels in the harbour “had their colours half staff down” except the Eagle.  Because the latter refused, Chester requested her mate to come on board the Sentinel, as the former wished to explain why the colours should be lowered.  An officer was thereupon sent on board the Eagle to haul them down.  Chester demanded an apology for the disrespect to the deceased officer.

And one could easily quote other similar instances between H.M.S. Princess and the Revenue cutter Diligence:  and H.M. gun-brig Teazer and the Revenue cruiser Hardwicke.

  Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. 
  Edinburgh & London

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Typographical errors corrected in text: 

   Page 94:  seizurss replaced by seizures.

   Page 99:  “waved us to keep of” replaced with “waved us to keep off”