Slike strani
PDF
ePub

and aggressions shall be punctually executed; and if any subject or citizen of the said parties respectively shall accept any foreign commission or letters of marque, for arming any vessel to act as a privateer against the other party, it is hereby declared to be lawful for the said party to treat and punish the said subject or citizen, having such commission, or letters of marque, as a pirate.

ART. XVI. It is expressly stipulated, that neither of the said contracting parties will order or authorize any acts of reprisal against the other, on complaints of injuries and damages, until the said party shall first have presented to the other a statement thereof, verified by competent proof and evidence, and demanded justice and satisfaction, and the same shall either have been refused or unreasonably delayed.

ART. XVII. The ships of war of each of the contracting parties shall at all times be hospitably received in the ports of the other, their officers and crews paying due respect to the laws and government of the country. The officers shall be treated with that respect which is due to the commissions which they bear; and if any insult should be offered to them by any of the inhabitants, all offenders in this respect shall be punished as disturbers of the peace and amity between the two countries. And both contract. ing parties agree that in case any vessel of the one should, by stress of weather, danger from enemies, or other misfortunes, be reduced to the necessity of seeking shelter in any of the ports of the other, into which such vessel could not in ordinary cases claim to be admitted, she shall, on manifesting that necessity to the satisfaction of the government of the place, be hospitably received, and permitted to refit, and to purchase at the market price such neces saries as she may stand in need of, conformably to such orders and regulations as the government of the place, having respect to the circumstances of each case, shall prescribe. She shall not be allowed to break bulk or unload her cargo, unless the same shall be bona fide necessary to her being refitted; nor shall she be obliged to pay any duties whatever, except only on such articles as she may be permitted to sell for the purpose aforesaid.

ART. XVIII. It shall not be lawful for any foreign priva teers (not being subjects or citizens of either of the said parties) who have commissions from any power or state

in enmity with either nation, to arm their ships in the ports of either of the said parties, nor to sell what they have taken, nor in any other manner to exchange the same; nor shall they be allowed to purchase more provisions than shall be necessary for their going to the nearest port of that prince or state from whom they obtained their com

missions.

ART. XIX. It shall be lawful for the ships of war and privateers belonging to the said parties respectively, to carry whithersoever they please, the ships and goods taken from their enemies, without being obliged to pay any fees to the offices of the admiralty, or to any judges whatever, nor shall the said prizes, when they arrive at and enter the ports of the said parties, be detained or seized, nor shall the searchers or other officers of those places visit such prizes (except for the purpose of preventing the carrying of any part of the cargo thereof on shore in any manner contrary to the established laws of revenue, navigation, or commerce,) nor shall such officers take cognizance of the validity of such prizes, but they shall be at liberty to hoist sail, and depart, as speedily as may be, and carry their said prizes to the places mentioned in their commissions or patents, which the commanders of the said ships of war or privateers shall be obliged to shew.

No shelter or refuge shall be given in their ports to such as have made a prize upon the subjects or citizens of either of the said parties; but if forced by stress of wea-ther or the dangers of the sea to enter them, particular care shall be taken to hasten their departure, and to cause them to retire as soon as possible: nothing in this treaty contained shall however be construed to operate contrary to the former and existing publick treaties with other sovereigns or states: but the two parties agree, that while they continue in amity, neither of them will in future make any treaty, that shall be inconsistent with this or the preceding articles.

Neither of the said parties shall permit the ships or goods belonging to the subjects or citizens of the other, to be taken within cannon shot of the coast, nor within the jurisdiction described in article 12, so long as the provisions of the said article shall be in force, by ships of war, or others having commissions from any prince, republick, or state whatever: but in case it should so happen, the

party whose territorial rights shall thus have been violat ed, shall use his utmost endeavours to obtain from the offending party, full and ample satisfaction for the vessel or vessels so taken, whether the same be vessels of war or merchant vessels.

ART. XX. If at any time a rupture should take place (which God forbid) between his majesty and the United States, the merchants and others of each of the two nations, residing in the dominions of the other, shall have the privilege of remaining and continuing their trade so long as they do it peaceably, and commit no offence against the laws; and in case their conduct should render them suspected, and the respective governments should think proper to order them to remove, the term of twelve months, from the publication of the order, shall be allowed them for that purpose, to remove with their families, effects, and property. But this favour shall not be extended to those who shall act contrary to the established laws; and, for greater certainty, it is declared, that such rupture shall not be deemed to exist while negotiations for accommodating differences shall be depending, nor until the respective ambassadors or ministers, if such there shall be, shall be recalled or sent home on account of such differences, and not on account of personal misconduct, according to the nature and degree of which both parties retain their rights, either to request the recall, or immediately to send home the ambassador or minister of the other; and that without prejudice to their mutual friendship and good understanding.

ART. XXI. It is further agreed that his majesty and the United States, on mutual requisitions by them respectively, or by their respective ministers, or officers authorized to make the same, will deliver up to justice all persons, who, being charged with murder or forgery, committed within the jurisdiction of either, shall seek an asylum within any of the countries of the other; provided, that this shall only be done on such evidence of criminality, as, according to the laws of the place where the fugitive or person so charged shall be found, would justify his apprehension and commitment for trial, if the offence had there been committed. The expense of such apprehension and delivery shall be borne and defrayed by those who make the requisition, and receive the fugitive.

ART. XXII. In the event of a shipwreck happening in a place belonging to one or other of the high contracting parties, not only every assistance shall be given to the unfortunate persons, and no violence done to them, but also the effects which they shall have thrown out of the ship into the sea shall not be concealed, nor detained, nor damaged, under any pretext whatever. On the contrary, the above mentioned effects and merchandise shall be preserved, and restored to them, upon a suitable recompense being given to those who shall have assisted in saving their persons, vessels, and effects.

ART. XXIII. And it being the intention of the high contracting parties, that the people of their respective dominions shall continue to be on the footing of the most favoured nation, it is agreed, that in case either party shall hereafter grant any additional advantages in navigation or trade, to any other nation, the subjects or citizens of the other party shall fully participate therein.

ART. XXIV. The high contracting parties engage to communicate to each other, without delay, all such laws as have been or shall be hereafter enacted by their respective legislatures, as also all measures which shall have been taken for the abolition or limitation of the African slave trade; and they further agree to use their best endeavours to procure the co-operation of other powers for the final and complete abolition of a trade so repugnant to the principles of justice and humanity.

ART. XXV. And it is further agreed, that nothing herein contained shall contravene or affect the due execution of any treaty or treaties, now actually subsisting between either of the high contracting parties and any other power or powers.

ART. XXVI. This treaty, when the same shall have been ratified by his majesty, and by the President of the United States, with the advice of their Senate, and the respective ratifications mutually exchanged, shall be binding and obligatory on his majesty, and on the said States, for ten years, from the date of the exchange of the said ratification, and shall be reciprocally executed and observed with. punctuality and the most sincere regard to good faith.

In faith whereof, we, the undersigned plenipotentiaries on the part of his majesty, the king of Great Britain, ' and the commissioners extraordinary and plenipoten tiaries on the part of the United States of America, have signed this present treaty, and have caused to be affixed thereto the seal of our arms. Done at London, this thirty-first day of December, one thousand eight hundred and six.

[blocks in formation]

THE undersigned Henry Richard Vassall lord Holland, and William lord Auckland, plenipotentiaries of his Britannick majesty, have the honour to inform James Monroe and William Pinkney, commissioners extraordinary and plenipotentiaries of the United States of America, that they are now ready to proceed to the signature of the treaty of amity, commerce and navigation, on the articles of which they have mutually agreed.

But at the same time, they have it in command from his majesty, to call the attention of the commissioners of the United States, to some extraordinary proceedings which have lately taken place on the continent of Europe, and to communicate to them officially the sentiments of his majes ty's government thereupon.

The proceedings alluded to are certain declarations and orders of the French government issued at Berlin on the 21st of November last.

In those orders, the French government seeks to justify or palliate its own unjust pretensions, by imputing to Great Britain principles which she never professed, and practices which never existed. His majesty is accused of a systematick and general disregard of the law of nations, recognised by civilized states, and more particularly of an unwarrantable extension of the right of blockade; whereas his majesty may confidently appeal to the world, on his uniform respect for neutral rights, and his general and scrupu

« PrejšnjaNaprej »