CONVENTIONS STATE PAPERS. AND BRITISH. TREATIES LAID BEFORE PARLIAMENT. (No. 1.)-PORTUGAL. Convention between Great Britain and Portugal, signed at Vienna, 21st January, 1815, in the English and Portuguese Languages. IS Britannic Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, being equally desirous to terminate amicably all the doubts which have arisen relative to the parts of the coast of Africa with which the subjects of the Crown of Portugal, under the laws of that kingdom and the Treaty subsisting with his Britannic Majesty, may lawfully carry on a trade in slaves; and whereas several ships, the property of the said subjects of Portugal, have been detained and condemned, upon the alleged ground of being engaged in an illicit traffic in slaves; and whereas his Britannic Majesty, in order to give to his intimate and faithful ally the Prince Regent of Portugal, the most unequivocal proof of his friendship and the regard he pays to his Royal Highness's reclamations, and in consideration of regulations to be made by the Prince Regent of Portugal for avoiding hereafter such doubts, is desirous to adopt the most speedy and effectual measures, and without the delays incident to the ordinary forms of law, to provide a liberal indemnity for the parties whose property may have been so detained under the doubts as aforesaid; in furtherance of the said object, the high contracting Parties have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries, viz. His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable Robert Stewart Viscount Castlereagh, &c.; and his Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, the Most Illustrious and Most Excellent Don Pedro de Sousa Holstein Count of Palmella, &c.; the Most Illustrious and Most Excellent Anthony de Saldanha da Gama, &c.; and Don Joachim Lobo de Silveira, &c.; who, having mutually exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles : Art. 1. That the sum of three hundred thousand pounds be paid in London, to such person as the Prince Regent of Portugal may appoint to receive the same; which sum shall constitute a fund to be employed under such regulations, and in such manner as the said Prince Regent of Portu gal (No. 2.)-PORTUGAL. Treaty between Great Britain and Portugal, signed at Vienna, the 22d of January, 1815, in the English and Portuguese Languages. His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal having, by the 10th article of the Treaty of Alliance, concluded at Rio de Janeiro on the 19th February 1810, declared his determination to cooperate with his Britannic Majesty in the cause of humanity and justice, by adopting the most efficacious means for bringing about a gradual abolition of the Slave Trade; and his Royal Highness, in pursuance of his said declaration, and desiring to effectuate, in concert with his Britannic Majesty and the other powers of Europe, who have been induced to assist in this benevolent object, an immediate abolition of the said traffic upon the parts of the coast of Africa which are situated to the northward of the Line: his Britannic Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal, equally animated by a sincere desire to accelerate the moment when the blessings of peaceful industry and innocent commerce may be encouraged throughout this extensive portion of the Continent of Africa, by its being delivered from the evils of the Slave Trade, have agreed to enter into a treaty for the said purpose, and have accordingly named as their Plenipotentiaries (Plenipotentiaries as before.) Art. 1. That from and after the ratification of the present treaty, and the publication thereof, it shall not be lawful for any of the subjects of the crown of Portugal to purchase slaves, or to carry on the slave trade, on any part of the coast of Africa to the northward of the Equator, upon any pretext, or in any manner whatsoever provided, nevertheless, that the said provision shall not extend to any ship or ships having cleared out from. the ports of Brazil, previous to the publication of such ratification; and provided the voyage, in which such ship or ships are engaged, shall not be protracted beyond six months after such publication as aforesaid. : Art. 2 His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal hereby agrees, and binds himself to adopt, in concert with his Britannic Majesty, such measures as may best conduce to the effectual execution of the preceding engagement, according to its true intent and meaning; and his Britannic Majesty engages, in concert with his Royal Highness, to give such orders as may effectuaily prevent any interruption being given to Portuguese ships resorting to the actual dominions of the Crown of Portugal, or to the territories which are claimed in the said treaty of alliance, as belonging to the said Crown of Portugal, to the southward of the Line, for the purposes of trading in slaves, as aforesaid, during such further period as the same may be permitted to be carried on by the laws of Portugal, and under the treaties subsisting between the two crowns. Art. 3. The treaty of alliance concluded at Rio de Janeiro, on the 19th Feb. 1810, being founded on circumstances of a temporary nature, which have happily ceased to exist, the said treaty is hereby declared to be void in all its parts, and of no effect; without prejudice, however, to the ancient treaties of alliance, friendship, and guarantee, which have so long and so happily subsisted between the two crowns, and which are hereby renewed by the High Contracting Parties, and acknowledged to be of full force and effect. Art. 4. The High Contracting Parties reserve to themselves, and engage to determine by a separate treaty, the period at which the trade in Slaves shall universally cease, and be prohibited throughout the entire dominions of Portugal; the Prince Regent of Portugal hereby renewing his former declaration and engagement, that during the interval which is to elapse before such general and final abolition shall take effect, it shall not be lawful for the subjects of Portugal to purchase or trade in slaves upon any parts of the coast of Africa, except to the southward of the Line, as specified in the second Article of this Treaty: nor to engage in the same, or to permit their flag to be used, except for the purpose of supplying the trans-Atlantic possessions belonging to the Crown of Portugal. Art. 5. His Britannic Majesty hereby agrees to remit, from the date at which the ratification mentioned in the first article shall be promulgated, such further payments as may then remain due and payable upon the loan of 600,000l. made in London for the service of Portugal, in the year 1809, in consequence of a Convention signed on the 21st of April of the same year; which Convention, under the conditions specified as aforesaid, is hereby declared to be void and of no effect. ADDITIONAL ARTICLE. It is agreed, that in the event of any of the Portuguese settlers being desirous of retiring from the settlements of the Crown of Portugal on the coast of Africa to the northward of the Equator. with the Negroes bona fide their domestics, to some other of the possessions of the Crown of Portugal, the same shall not be deemed unlawful, provided it does not take place on board a slave-trading vessel, and provided they be furnished with proper passports and certificates, according to a form to be agreed on between the two governments. The The present Additional Article shall have the same force and effect as if it were inserted word for word in the treaty signed this day, and shall be ratified, and the ratifications exchanged at the same time. (No. 3.)-FRANCE. Convention between Great Britain and France, signed at London 7th of March, 1815. The trade in salt and opium throughout the British sovereignty in India having been subjected to certain regulations and restrictions which, unless due provision be made, might occasion differences between the subjects and agents of his Britannic Majesty and those of His Most Christian Majesty; their said Majesties have thought proper to conclude a Special Convention for the purpose of preventing such differences, and removing every cause of dispute between their respective subjects in that part of the world, and in this view have named for their respective Plenipotentiaries, viz.: his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Robert Earl of Buckinghamshire, &c.; and his Majesty the King of France and Navarre, the Sieur Claude Louis de La Chartre, &c.; who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles : Art. 1. His Most Christian Majesty engages to farm to the British Government in India, the exclusive right to purchase at a fair and equitable price, to be regulated by that which the said Government shall have paid for salt in the districts in the vicinity of the French possessions on the coast of Coromandel and Orixa respectively, the salt that may be manufactured in the said possessions, subject however to a reservation of the quantity that the agents of his Most Christian Majesty shall deem requisite for the domestic use and consumption of the inhabitants thereof; and upon the condition, that the British Government shall deliver in Bengal, to the agents of his Most Christian Majesty, the quantity of salt that may be judged necessary for the consumption of the inhabitants of Chandernagore; reference being had to the population of the said settlement: such delivery to be made at the price which the British Government shall have paid for the said article. Art. 2. In order to ascertain the prices as aforesaid, the official accounts of the charges incurred by the British Government, for the salt manufactured in the districts in the vicinity of the French settlements on the coasts of Coromandel and Orixa respectively, shall be open to the inspection of a Commissioner to be appointed for that purpose by the agents of His Most Christian Majesty in India; and the price to be paid by the British Government shall be settled according to an average to be taken every three years, of the charges as aforesaid, ascertained by the said official accounts, commencing with the three years preceding the date of the present Convention. The price of salt at Chandernagore to be determined, in the same |