of the instructions. Shu- brick was farther directed that " all United States vessels and merchandize must be allowed by the local authorities of the ports of which you take possession, to come and go free of duty ; but on foreign vessels and goods reasonable duties may be imposed." But Commodore Stockton had already anticipated this instruction two days before it was written. On the loth August, he had imposed a duty of fifteen per cent, ad valorem on all goods imported from foreign ports, and a tonnage duty on foreign vessels of fifty cents per ton, but no duties were imposed on Ameri- can vessels and merchandize.
On finding these various instructions so exactly antici- pated, so minutely fulfilled by officers who had not re- ceived one line of intelligence from their government sub- sequent to the commencement of the war, it is impossible to resist the conviction, that the seizure of California had long before been deliberately planned, and that the inten- tions and wishes of the Government had been fully made known to the officers, the plan of proceeding agreed on, and the squadron stationed off the Californian ports, awaiting news from the Rio Grande as a signal for instantly seizing and seeming the prize for which the war was to be commenced on the Rio Grande.