Relations with France. commissions from any foreign State or Prince; but, in case it should so happen, the party whose territorial rights shall thus have been violated, shall use his utmost endeavors to obtain from the offending party full and ample satisfaction for the goods and vessel or vessels so taken, whether the same be vessels of war or merchant vessels. board such vessel, that part only which belongs to months ART. 20. It shall be lawful for the citizens of either country to sail with their ships and merchandise (contraband goods always excepted) from any port whatever, to any port of the enemy of the other, and to sail and trade with their ships and merchandise with perfect security and liberty, from the countries, ports, and places of those who are enemies of both, or of either party, without any opposition or disturbance whatsoever; and to pass, not only directly from the places and ports of the enemy aforementioned, to neutral ports and places, but also from one place belonging to an enemy to another place belonging to an enemy, whether they be under the jurisdiction of the same Power, or under several; unless such ports or places shall be actually blockaded, besieged, or invested. And whereas, it frequently happens that vessels sail for a port or place belonging to an enemy, without knowing that the same is either besieged, blockaded, or invested, it is agreed that every vessel so circumstanced may be turned away from such port or place, but she shall not be detained, ART. 23. And that captures on light suspicions nor any part of her cargo, if not contraband, be may be avoided, and injuries thence arising preconfiscated, unless after notice she shall again at- vented, it is agreed that, in case either of the partempt to enter; but she shall be permitted to go to ties should be engaged in a war, the ships and any other port or place she may think proper; nor vessels belonging to the citizens of the other shall shall any vessel of either, that may have entered be furnished with sea-letters or passports, expressinto such port or place, before the same was actu- ing the name, property, and bulk of the ship, as ally besieged, blockaded, or invested by the other, also the name and place of habitation of the masbe restrained from quitting such place with her ter or commander of the said ship, that it may return cargo; nor, if found therein after the re-appear thereby that the ship really and truly beduction or surrender of such place, shall such vessel or her cargo be liable to confiscation, but they shall be restored to the owners or proprietors thereof. ART. 21. In order to regulate what is in future to be esteemed contraband of war, it is agreed that, under the said denomination, shall be comprised gunpowder, saltpetre, petards, match, ball, bombs, grenades, carcasses, cartridge-boxes, pikes, halberds, swords, belts, pistols, holsters, cavalry saddles and furniture, cannon, mortars, their carriages and beds, and, generally, all kinds of arms and instruments fit for the use of troops. All the above articles, whenever they are destined to the port of an enemy, are hereby declared to be contraband, and just objects of confiscation; but the vessel in which they are laden, and the residue of the cargo, shall be considered free, and not in any manner infected by the prohibited goods, whether belonging to the same or a different owner. ART. 22. It is agreed that in all cases where vessels shall be captured or detained on just suspicion of having on board enemy's property, or of carrying to the enemy any of the articles which are contraband of war, the said vessel shall be brought to the nearest or most convenient port of the country to which the captor belongs; and if any property of an enemy should be found on longs to the citizens of one of the parties; which sea-letter or passport shall be made out and granted according to the form annexed to this treaty; they shall likewise be renewed every year, that is, if the vessel should return home within the space of a year. It is likewise agreed that such ships, being laden, are to be provided not only with passports, as above mentioned, but also with certificates containing the several particulars of the cargo, the place from whence the vessel sailed, and whither she is bound, that so it may be known whether she carries any of the contraband goods specified in the twenty-first article of this treaty; which certificates shall be made out in the accustomed form of the country from whence the vessel sailed; and neither party shall require the exhibition of any papers or documents (the sea-letter and certificates aforementioned excepted) not required by the laws or usages of the party to whose citizens the vessels and their cargoes belong, nor in any other form than the laws and usages of such last mentioned party shall prescribe. And it is expressly stipulated and agreed, that, when the quality of the ship, goods, and master sufficiently appear from the passport and certificates aforesaid, it shall not be lawful for the commanders of armed vessels to exact any further proof, under any pretext whatever; and that when any Relations with France. merchant ship shall not be provided with such passport and certificates, such case may be examined by a proper judge or tribunal; and if it shall be found from other documents or proofs that the vessel truly belongs to the citizens of one of the parties, it shall not be confiscated, but shall be released with its cargo, (enemy's property and contraband goods, as aforesaid, excepted,) and be permitted to proceed on its voyage. If the master of the ship named in the passport should happen to die, or be removed by any other cause, and another put in his place, the ship and goods laden thereon shall, nevertheless, be equally secure, and the passport remain in full force. ART. 24. If the ships of the citizens of either of the parties shall be met with, either sailing along the coasts or on the high seas, by any ship of war, or by any privateers of the other, for the avoiding of any disorder, the said ships of war or privateers shall remain out of cannon shot, and may send their boats on board the merchant ship which they shall so meet with, and may enter her to the number of two or three men only, to whom the master or commander of such ship or vessel shall exhibit his passport concerning the property of the ship, made out according to the form annexed to this present treaty, and also the certificates aforesaid relative to the cargo; and, when the master or commander shall have exhibited such passport and certificates, and there shall not appear among the articles of the said cargo enemy's property, or any articles contraband of war, then such master or commander shall be at liberty to pursue his voyage, so as it shall not be lawful to molest or search his vessel in any manner, or to give her chase, or force her to quit her intended course: And it is expressly agreed that the neutral party shall in no case be required to go on board the examining vessel for the purpose of exhibiting his papers, or for any other examination whatever. them to the captor who has discovered them, in such case the captor, having received those goods as lawful prize, shall forthwith release the ship, and not hinder her by any means from prosecuting her voyage to the place of her destination. ART. 26. And that proper care may be taken of the vessel and cargo, and embezzlement prevented, it is agreed that it shall not be lawful to remove the master or commander of any captured vessel, or the supercargo thereof, from on board the same, neither during the time that the vessel may be at sea after her capture, nor pending the proceedings against her or her cargo, or any part thereof. And in all cases where a vessel of the citizens of either party shall be captured or seized, and held for adjudication, her officers, passengers, and crew, shall be hospitably treated. They shall not be imprisoned, nor deprived of any part of their wearing apparel, nor of the possession and use of their money, not exceeding, for the captain, supercargo, and mate, five hundred dollars each; and. for the sailors and passengers, one hundred dollars each. ART. 27. If it shall appear that the captor bribed, or attempted to bribe, any of the ship's crew or passengers to give any evidence, or make any declaration or disclosure whatever, respecting the vessel, her lading, or destination, or make use of any kind of torture upon the master of the ship, the crew, or others who shall be on board of the same, in such case, whatever grounds there might otherwise be for condemnation, the ship and her lading shall, without delay, be acquitted and restored, with costs and damages; and, also, such as shall be guilty of any of the said crimes, as well as their accomplices, shall suffer the most severe punishment suitable to their offences. And, to insure the observance of this article, provision shall be made by law in each country to carry the same into full effect. ART. 25. It is agreed that, in all cases where ART. 28. It is further agreed that all prizes shall vessels shall be captured, or detained by reason of be conducted to a port of the party at war; and, in their having on board enemy's property, or carry- all cases, the established courts for prize causes, in ing to the enemy any of the articles which are the country to which the prizes may be conducted, contraband of war, the captor shall give a receipt shall alone take cognizance of them. And whenfor such of the papers of the vessel as he shall re- ever such tribunal or court of either of the parties tain; which receipt shall be annexed to a descrip- shall pronounce sentence against any vessel, or tive list of the said papers, and the said vessel shall goods, or property claimed by the citizens of the be brought to the nearest and most convenient other party, the reasons or motives of such judgport of the country to which the captor belongs; ment shall be entered in the sentence or decree, and it shall be unlawful to break up or open the and a duly authenticated copy of all the proceedhatches, chests, trunks, casks, bales, or vessels foundings in the cause, and of the said sentence, shall, on board such ship, or to remove even the smallest parcel of the goods, unless the lading be brought on shore in the presence of the officers of the Admiralty, and an inventory made by them of the said goods; nor shall it be lawful to sell, exchange, or alienate the same in any manner, unless, after due and lawful process shall have been had against such goods, and the Judge or Judges of the Admiralty, respectively, shall, by sentence pronounced, have confiscated the same, saving, always, as well the ship itself as the other goods found therein; and if, when only part of the cargo shall consist of contraband goods, the master of the ship shall agree, consent, and offer to deliver if required, be delivered to the commander or agent of the said vessel without the smallest delay, he paying all legal fees and demands for the same. ART. 29. When process shall be moved, in the first or second instance, between those that have taken the prizes at sea and the persons interested therein, and the said interested persons shall come to obtain a favorable judgment or decree, the said judgment or decree shall have its execution, upon security given, notwithstanding the appeal of him that took the prize: but the same shall not hold, on the contrary, where the sentence goes against the claimers. ART. 30. The merchant ships belonging to the Relations with France. citizens of either of the two contracting parties, which intend to go to a port at enmity with the other, concerning whose voyage and the sort of goods on board there may be just cause of suspicion, shall be obliged to exhibit, as well on the high seas as in the ports and havens, not only their passports, but also their certificates expressing that the goods are not of the kind which are contraband, as specified in the twenty-first article of this treaty. ART. 31. And that more abundant care may be taken for the security of the respective citizens of the contracting parties, and to prevent their suffering injuries by the men of war or privateers of either party, all commanders of ships of war and privateers, and all others the said citizens, shall forbear doing any damage to those of the other party, or committing any outrage against them; and, if they act to the contrary, they shall be punished, and shall also be bound in their persons and estates to make satisfaction and reparation for all damages, and the interest thereof, of whatever nature the said damages may be. sale, if it be proved that the buyers knew, or had good reason to believe or suspect, that they had been piratically taken. ART. 34. Neither party will intermeddle in the fisheries on the coasts of the other, nor disturb the other in the exercise of the rights which it now holds or may acquire of fishing on the banks of Newfoundland, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or elsewhere on the American coast northward of the United States of America; but the whale and seal fisheries shall be free to both in every quarter of the world. ART. 35. It shall be free for the two contracting parties, respectively, to appoint Consuls for the protection of trade, to reside in the dominions and territories of each party. Either of the parties may except from the residence of Consuls such particular places as such party shall judge proper to be excepted. Before any Consul shall act as such, he shall be, in the usual forms, approved and admitted by the party to whose territory he is sent; and the said Consuls shall enjoy those liberties and rights which belong to them by reason of their For this cause all commanders of privateers, function. And it is agreed that the admission of before they receive their commissions, shall here- a Consul by the government of a colony, shall be after be obliged to give, before a competent judge, deemed such a provisional admission as to entitle sufficient security, by at least two responsible sure-him to act as such until the will of the Governties who have no interest in the said privateer; ment to which such colony belongs shall be formeach of whom, together with the said commander, ally made known. And it is hereby declared to shall be jointly and severally bound in the sum of be lawful and proper, that, in case of illegal or francs; or, if such ship be pro-improper conduct towards the laws or Government, a Consul may be either punished according to law, or dismissed, and even sent back; the offended Government assigning to the other their reasons for the same. dollars or vided with above one hundred and fifty seamen or soldiers, in the sum of dollars or francs, to satisfy all damages and injuries which the said privateer, or her officers or men, or any of them. may do or commit, during their cruise, contrary to the tenor of this treaty, or to the laws and instructions for regulating their conduct: and further, that in all cases of aggressions, the said commissions shall be revoked and annulled. ART. 32. It shall at be lawful for any foreign privateers, who hav commissions from any other Prince 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 ob tained their commissions. ART. 36. It is agreed that the first twelve articles of this treaty shall be permanent, and that the subsequent articles shall be limited to twelve years, to be computed from the day on which the ratifications of this treaty shall be exchanged. Nothing in this treaty shall be construed to operate contrary to former and existing public treaties with other Sovereigns or States. MAY 16. The following letter was received from the Secretary of State, and, on the next day, the letter under date of the 27th, was prepared, and forwarded with the several enclosures mentioned; duplicates and triplicates of this last despatch were also soon afterwards sent by different routes: DEPARTMENT OF STATE, ART. 33. It is further agreed that both the said contracting parties shall not only refuse to receive any pirates into any of their ports, havens, or towns, or permit any of their inhabitants to receive, proPhiladelphia, February 14, 1800. tect, harbor, conceal, or assist them in any man- GENTLEMEN: In your commissions, containing ner, but will bring to condign punishment all such your full powers, you are named "Envoys Extrainhabitants as shall be guilty of such acts or of- ordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the Unifences, And all their ships, with the goods or ted States to the French Republic," and you are merchandise taken by them, and brought into the authorized "to meet and confer with the Minister port of either of the said parties, shall be seized, as or Ministers of the French Republic, who shall far as they can be discovered, and shall be restored be appointed and commissioned with equal powto the owners, or their factors or agents duly de-ers, and with such Minister or Ministers to discuss puted and authorized in writing by them. (proper evidence being first given in the Court of Admiralty for proving the property,) even in case such effects should have passed into other hands by and settle by a treaty all controversies between the United States and France." Consequently, the circumstance of your letters of credence being addressed to the late "Executive Directory," need Relations with France. not prevent or impede the proposed negotiation, provided the existing Government in France are inclined to enter upon it, and to conclude a treaty. This is the President's opinion, and, by his direction, now communicate it to you. Indeed, the idea must have occurred to you, it being obvious that a satisfactory treaty, however negotiated, which shall be approved and ratified by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, will be alike valid as if conducted with the most minute attention to customary formalities. I am, with great respect, gentlemen, your most obedient servant, TIMOTHY PICKERING. OLIVER ELLSWORTH, &C., PARIS, May 17, 1800. SIR: We had the honor to write to you on the 18th ultimo, covering all the communications between us and the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the French Republic up to that date, and a duplicate and a triplicate of that despatch have also been forwarded. The quadruplicate of your letter, (No. -) arrived some time ago, and your letters of the 14th of February and 7th of March were received last evening. val at Paris, and, for some time past, we have heard of none. We know not, however, of any orders of this Government for the restraining of captures, except such as may have been the consequence of the enclosed law, repealing that of the 29th Nivose. Prisoners have been generally released, on a receipt being given by the American agents, promising the discharge of as many French seamen from confinement in the United States. The court lately established for deciding questions of prize administratively, as it is called, and before which there are many American appeals, has not yet made any decisions. We enclose, also, the copy of the law repealing the 1st article of the law of the 29th Nivose, and the arrêté of the Consuls respecting their new court, called "le conseil des prises." We have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, your most obedient servants, OLIVER ELLSWORTH, TIMOTHY PICKERING, Esq., Secretary of State. The following note was received, covering two acts of the French Government: 26th FLOREAL, (16th April.) The Ministers Plenipotentiary of the Republic have the honor to transmit to the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States the documents announced in the postscript to their last note, which had been accidentally omitted. REDERER, The enclosed copies, marked W. X., will give you the necessary information respecting the progress and present state of the negotiation. As the French Ministers entered on the business of their commission soon after their appointment, and at the seat of their Government, it seems to have been so arranged that they were to receive their instructions on important points as they They pray the Ministers of the United States tomight become necessary in the course of the ne-accept the assurance of their high consideration. gotiations. This duty was naturally attached to the office of Exterior Relations; and our progress has suffered some delay by the sickness of M. Talleyrand, who has been confined by a severe illness from about the 15th of April to the 14th or 15th of this month. You will observe, however, that, even during this period, the business has The Envoys Extraordinary of the United States been pressed forward on our part the whole length have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of of the proposed treaty, with a view of avoiding two acts of the French Government, mentioned all useless discussion, of fixing the attention of the in the postscript of the note of the Ministers of Ministers to the real points of difference, and of the Republic. These papers have been forwarded marking with certainty the progress of the nego-to the Government of the United States, who, as late as the 7th of March, had received no advices respecting the acts or measures of the present Government of France. tiation. The situation of the army of Italy, commanded by General Massena, has been extremely critical, and has attracted the particular attention of the Premier Consul; and the army of reserve, amounting to about sixty thousand men, has marched to its relief. The French are, however, very successful on the Rhine, and the Government is as yet unshaken; it professes justice and moderation, and appears to be desirous of peace, which, there is some reason to believe, may be the result of the present campaign. PARIS, May 19, 1800. They request the Ministers of the Republic to accept the assurance of their high consideration. OLIVER ELLSWORTH. WILLIAM R. DAVIE, WILLIAM V. MURRAY. MAY 23. The French Ministers had frequently mentioned in conversation the insuperable repugnance Our success is yet doubtful. The French think of their Government to yield its claim to the anit hard to indemnify for violating engagements, teriority assumed to it in the Treaty of Amity and unless they can thereby be restored to the bene-Commerce of 1778; urging the equivalent alleged fits of them. Very few American vessels have to be accorded by France for this stipulation; the been brought into European ports since our arri- meritorious ground on which they generally re Relations with France. hension on that head, have thought it expedient to propose the clause enclosed, as an addition to the thirty-second article of their project of a treaty. Accept, Citizen Ministers, the assurance of their OLIVER ELLSWORTH, W. R. DAVIE, W. V. MURRAY. To be added to the thirty-second article: continue in amity, make a treaty with any foreign Nor will either of the said parties, while they Sovereign or State, stipulating for the privateers and prizes of such Sovereign or State an asylum in the ports of either, unless they shall have assured to each other such right of asylum for the Privateers and prizes of each in the ports of the presented the treaty stood; denying strenuously MAY 24. The Envoys held a conference to-day for the purpose of taking into consideration the information received yesterday, and the critical state of the negotiation; and, considering that the judgment of the Premier Consul would probably be formed upon the impressions made by the report; that the instructions which would be the result might possibly be conclusive; and that, in any event, there might be some difficulty, and certainly delay, in procuring any alteration, it was deemed expedient to transmit the note following, under date of the 25th, with a view to obviate any apprehension that our Government contemplated further grants to their prejudice, and as containing an intermediate ground, conciliatory to the pride of the French Government, without sacrificing the honor or interests of the United States. The Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the French Republic. PARIS, May 25, 1800. CITIZEN MINISTERS: The undersigned having bestowed the most mature consideration upon the subject so often mentioned with so much interest by the Ministers of the French Republic, and being desirous of guarding against any misappre Speaking on this subject, the French Ministers always used the words "powers" and "instructions" synonymously. other. MAY 26. The following letter was received from the Secretary of State: DEPARTMENT OF STATE. Philadelphia, April 9, 1800. GENTLEMEN: On the 3d instant Capt. Barry arrived here with your letter, dated at Burgos, on the 10th of February, covering copies of your letters of December 7th from Lisbon, and January 18th from Corunna, and your correspondence with Mr. Talleyrand. These are the first and only despatches received from you since you left the United States. We are happy you escaped the perils of the sea in your attempting a voyage from Lisbon to L'Orient. The answer of Mr. Talleyrand confirms the opinion expressed in your letter to him, that the circumstance of your letters of credence being addressed to the Directory of the French Republic could be viewed merely as a formality of no moment to the object of your mission. Your powers are full to negotiate and settle by treaty all differences between the United States and the French Republic, and to make commercial arrangements. The person or persons vested with the Executive power of the nation, if really desirous of such an adjustment, could not possibly make any serious objection to the address of your letters of credence, which was perfectly correct at their date. For these reasons, and because no official notice has been received of any change in the form of the Government of France, or in the person administering it, the President does not think it necessary to send any new letters of credence. Mr. Talleyrand having said that "the form of your letters of credence would be no obstacle to the opening of negotiations, of which he ventured to foresee the happy success," must indeed be considered as removing all doubt on the subject. The ship Portsmouth, Captain McNeil, goes with this letter to Havre de Grace, whence he will send one of his officers to Paris, and receive your orders. The President supposes that by the time of her arrival, your negotiations will be con |