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parties, respectively, to appoint consuls for the protection of trade, to reside in the dominions and territories of the other party; but, before any consul shall act as such, he shall in the usual form be approved and admitted by the government to which he is sent; and it is hereby declared, that in case of illegal or improper conduct towards the laws or government of the country to which he is sent, such consul may either be punished according to law, if the laws will reach the case, or be sent back, the offended government assigning to the other the reasons for the

same.

It is hereby declared, that either of the contracting parties, may except from the residence of consuls, such particular places as such party shall judge fit to be so excepted.

Art. v. This convention, when the same shall have been duly ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of their Senate, and by his Britannick majesty, and the respective ratifications mutually exchanged, shall be binding and obligatory on the said United States and his majesty for four years from the date of its signature; and the ratifications shall be exchanged in six months from this time, or sooner, if possible. Done at London, this third day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifteen.

(L. s.)

JOHN Q. ADAMS,
HENRY CLAY,
ALBERT GALLATIN,
F. J. ROBINSON,
HENRY GOULBURN,
WILLIAM ADAMS.

Now, therefore, be it known, that I, JAMES MADISON, President of the United States of America, having seen and considered the foregoing convention, have, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, accepted, ratified, and confirmed the same, and every clause and article thereof, subject to the exception contained in a declaration made by the authority of his Britannick majesty, on the twenty-fourth day of November last, a copy of which declaration is hereunto annexed.

In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed, and have signed the same with my hand. Done at the (L. s.) city of Washington, this twenty-second day of December, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States the fortieth.

By the President,

JAMES MADISON.

JAMES MONROE,

Secretary of State.

DECLARATION.

THE undersigned, his Britannick majesty's charge d'affaires in the United States of America, is commanded by his royal highness the prince regent, acting in the name and on the behalf of his majesty, to explain and declare, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the convention concluded at London, on the third of July of the present year, for regulating the commerce and navigation between the two countries, that in consequence of events which have happened in Europe subsequent to the signature of the convention aforesaid, it has been deemed expedient, and determined, in conjunction with the allied sovereigns, that St. Helena shall be the place allotted for the future residence of general Napoleon Bonaparte, under such regulations as may be necessary for the perfect security of his person, and it has been resolved, for that purpose, that all ships and vessels whatever, as well British ships and vessels as others, excepting only ships belonging to the East India company, shall be excluded from all communication with, or approach to that island.

It has therefore become impossible to comply with so so much of the third article of the treaty as relates to the liberty of touching for refreshment at the island of St. Helena, and the ratifications of the said treaty will be exchanged under the explicit declaration and understanding, that the vessels of the United States cannot be allowed to touch at, or hold any communication whatever with the said island, so long as the said island shall continue to be the place of residence of the said Napoleon Bonaparte. ANTHONY ST. JOHN BAKER.

Washington, Nov. 24, 1815.

CORRESPONDENCE

RELATIVE TO THE COMMERCIAL CONVENTION WITH GREAT BRITAIN. JAN. 16, 1816.

Extract of a Letter from the American Commissioners, Messrs. Clay and Gallatin, to the Secretary of State, dated London, May 18, 1815.

"HAVING had reason to believe, that the British government had abstained from answering the communication of the joint commission from Ghent, of the day

of December, 1814, until they received official information of the American ratification of the treaty of peace, we thought it advisable, soon after that event was known to us, to repair to this city in order that we might ascertain the disposition of this government as to the commercial intercourse between the two countries.

"Shortly after our arrival here we were invited by lord Castlereagh to an interview with him. A minute of the substance of the conversation which took place on that occasion as drawn up and agreed to by the parties, is enclosed. We communicated to Mr. Goulburn, the next day, our answer upon the three subjects to which the conversation related.

"In the interview with lord Castlereagh, he had stated, that four or five days might be necessary on their part to prepare for the proposed conversation. Nearly three weeks having elapsed without hearing further on the subject, we took what appeared to us, a fit occasion to intimate our intention of leaving London. A few days after, we received an invitation from the vice-president of the board of trade, Mr. Robinson, to call at his office on the 11th instant; we accordingly attended, and were received by him and Messrs. Goulburn and Adams, two of the British commissioners, who had negotiated the treaty of Ghent.

They opened the conversation by adverting to what had led to this interview, and professed themselves to be ready to receive any propositions we might choose to make. We observed, that in the treaties which America had heretofore made, particularly with this country, regulating commer

cial intercourse, there were generally comprised two subjects, one, which respected commercial regulations, applicable to a state of peace, as well as of war; the other, which respected the rights and duties of the parties; one being at war, and the other remaining at peace. Accord

ingly our government had instructed us to bring forward both those subjects.

As to the commercial intercourse, without at this time going into details, or minor points, which it might be necessary in the progress of the negotiation to adjust, we would content ourselves in this unofficial conversation, with touching on the most important topicks, which it seemed to us desirable to discuss and arrange. These were, that the two countries should respectively be placed on the footing of the nation the most favoured; that in the trade between America and the British European dominions, all discriminating duties, on tonnage and on merchandise, either imported or exported, should be abolished. That the trade between America and the British West Indies, should be regulated, and placed on some more permanent basis, than the occasional acts of the colonial authorities: That the nature and kind of intercourse between America and the adjoining British provinces, should be defined, and provided for: And that the trade with the British India possessions, should be opened to America on liberal principles.

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In regard to the discriminating duties, we remarked, that a proposition to abolish them, first came from Great Britain, and a provision to that effect was inserted in the unratified treaty of 1806. Congress had taken up the matter at their last session, and passed an act, which we explained. We thought it desirable that they should be abolished, in order to prevent those collisions, and that system of commercial warfare, in which the two countries would probably be involved by an adherence to them. As an example, we mentioned the great extra duty, to which, as we understood, the article of cotton was liable, by the British laws, when imported in foreign vessels, and which, if persisted in, would certainly be met by some countervailing regulations.

With respect to the trade to British India, we observed, that we had no equivalent to offer for it; that it was for Great Britain to consider, whether a commerce consisting, as it did, almost entirely in the exchange of our spe

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cie for India produce, was not of a nature to deserve the most liberal encouragement; but, that we had rather enter into no stipulation on the subject than be restricted to a direct intercourse as had been proposed by the unratified treaty, both on the outward and return voyage.

On the other subject, the rights and duties of the parties, one being at war, and the other in a condition of peace, we proceeded to remark, that whilst the prospect of a long European peace appeared to exist, as was the case when the treaty of Ghent was concluded, it was less important to provide for questions arising under this head. But it was impossible to shut our eyes to the demonstrations every where making of a new war, which, if it should assume a maritime character, might again menace the harmony and good understanding between the two countries. It was desirable, therefore, to anticipate and provide for the evil. The first and most important point was that of impressment. Great Britain had always professed a willingness to receive and consider any proposition which America should be disposed to make on that subject. It would, perhaps, be unprofitable at this time to go into a discussion of the right; as to which we would merely remark, that it was impossible that there could be a stronger conviction on the part of Great Britain, that it was with her, than there was on the part of America, that it was on her side. It was better to look to some practicable arrangement, by which, without concession of right by either party, the mischiefs complained on both sides might be prevented. To this end the attention of our government has been turned. We believed that Great Britain had never heretofore contended that the American government was bound to prohibit the merchants of the United States from employing foreign seamen, any more than it was bound to forbid their shipping contraband articles. America was, however, now willing to take upon herself such an obligation, and to exclude British seamen from her merchant service, and we believed such exclusion might be as effectually executed as our revenue laws.Here we called their attention to the act which Congress had passed on that subject, and to the message of the President to that body towards the close of its last session, upon the supposition, that the exclusion of British seamen should be absolute and entire, there would no

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