de Paris du 30 Mai 1814, sera réunie aux Etats de Sa dite Majesté, à l'exception de la commune de St. Julien, qui sera remise au Canton de Génève. Les Cabinets des Cours réunies employeront leurs bons offices pour disposer Sa Majesté Sarde à céder au Canton de Génève, les communes de Chesne, Thouex, et quelques autres nécessaires pour désenclaver le territoire Suisse de Jussy, contre la rétrocession de la part du Canton de Génève, du territoire situé entre la route d'Evron, et le lac qui avait été cédé par Sa Majesté Sarde dans l'Acte du 29 Mars 1815.

Le Gouvernement Français ayant consenti à reculer ses lignes de douane des frontières de la Suisse du côte du Jura, les Cabinets des Cours réunies employeront leurs bons offices pour engager Sa Majesté Sarde à les faire reculer également du côté de la Savoie, au moins au delà d'une lieue de la frontière Suisse, et en dehors des Voirons de Salève et des monts de Sion et de Waache.

[See also NEUCHATEL and SAVOY.]

(Translation.)

(1.)—Extract from the Vienna Congress Treaty of 9 June 1815.

Article LXXXIV.

THE Declaration of the 20th of March, addressed by the Allied Powers who signed the Treaty of Paris to the Diet of the Swiss Confederation, and accepted by the Diet through the Act of Adhesion of 27th May, is confirmed in the whole of its tenour; and the principles established, as also the arrangements agreed upon, in the said Declaration shall be inviolably maintained.

(2.)- Declaration of the Eight Powers on the Affairs of the Helvetic Confederation ; signed at Vienna, 20 March 1815.

THE Powers called upon to mediate in the arrangement of the affairs of Switzerland, in order to carry into effect Article VI. of the Treaty of Paris of the 30th May 1814, having acknowledged that the general interest demands that the Helvetic States should enjoy the benefit of a perpetual neutrality; and wishing, by territorial restitutions and cessions, to enable it to secure its independence, and maintain its neutrality;

After having obtained every information relative to the interests of the different Cantons, and taking into consideration the claims submitted to them by the Helvetic Legation;

Declare:

That as soon as the Helvetic Diet shall have duly and formally acceded to the stipulations contained in the present instrument, an Act shall be prepared, containing the acknowledgment and the guarantee, on the part of all the Powers, of the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland, in her new frontiers; which Act shall form part of that which, in execution of Article XXXII. of the Treaty of Paris of the 30th May, was to complete the arrangements contained in this Treaty.

TRANSACTION.

Article I.

The integrity of the 19 Cantons, as they existed in a political body at the period of the Convention of the 29th December 1813, is acknowledged as the basis of the Helvetic system.

Article II.

The Valais, the territory of Geneva, and the Principality of Neuchâtel, are united to Switzerland, and shall form three new Cantons. The Valley of Dappes which formed part of the Canton of Vaud, is restored to the latter.

Article III.

The Helvetic Confederation, having expressed a desire that the Bishopric of Basle should be united to it, and the Mediating Powers wishing to settle definitively the fate of these countries, declare that the said bishopric, and the town and territory of Bienne, shall in future form part of the Canton of Berne.

The following districts only are excepted:

1. A district of about three square leagues in extent, including the communes of Altschweiler, Schönbuch, Obersweiler, Terweiler, Ettingen, Fürstentein, Plotten, Pfeffingen, Aisch, Bruck, Reinach, Arlesheim; which district shall be united to the Canton of Basle.

2. A small enclave, situated near the Neuchâtel village of Lignieres, being at present with respect to civil jurisdiction, under the sovereignty of the Canton of Neuchâtel; and, with respect to criminal jurisdiction, under that of the Bishopric of Basle, shall belong, in full sovereignty, to the Principality of Neuchâtel.

Article IV.

1. The intrabitants of the Bishopric of Basle and Bienne, united to the Cantons of Berne and Basle, shall enjoy, in every respect, without any distinction of religion (which shall be maintained in its present state), the same political and civil rights which are enjoyed, or may be enjoyed, by the inhabitants of the ancient parts of the said Cantons. They shall, consequently, be eligible equally with them for the places of Representatives, and for other offices, according to the constitutions of the Cantons. Such municipal privileges as are conformable with the constitution and the general regulations of the Canton of Berne, shall be continued to the town of Bienne, and to the villages that formed part of its jurisdiction.

2. The sale of the national domains is confirmed; the feudal rents and tithes cannot be re-established.

3. The respective Acts of union shall be framed conformably to the principles above declared, by Commissions, composed of an equal number of Deputies from each of the interested parties. Those from the Bishopric of Basle shall be chosen by the Canton Director from amongst the most eminent citizens in the country. The said Acts shall be guaranteed by the Swiss Confederation. All the points upon which the parties cannot agree shall be decided by an arbitrator appointed by the Diet.

4. The ordinary revenues of the country shall be collected on account of the present Administration, until the date of the accession of the Diet to the present transaction. The arrears of the said revenue shall be collected in like manner, but the extraordinary taxes, which have not yet been paid into the public chest, shall not be demanded.

5. No indemnity having been received by the Prince Bishop of Basle, for the quota of the revenues accruing to him from the Bishopric which hitherto formed a part of Switzerland, and a stipulation having been made in the Recess of the German Empire of 1803, in favour of those countries only which have become an integral part of the said Empire, the Cantons of Berne and Basle are to pay him, in addition to the said annuity, the sum of 12,000 florins of the Empire, dating from the union of the Bishopric of Basle to the Cantons of Berne and Basle; the fifth part of this sum shall be applied to, and remain as a provision for, the support of the canons of the ancient cathedral of Basle, in order to make up the annuity which has been settled by the Recess of the German Empire.

275.

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The

The Helvetic Diet shall determine whether it be expedient to retain a Bishopric in this part of Switzerland, or whether this diocese may not be united to that which, pursuant to the new arrangements, shall be formed out of the Swiss territory which belonged to the Diocese of Constance.

In case the Bishopric of Basle should be continued, the Canton of Berne shall furnish, in the same proportion as the other countries which shall in future be placed uuder the spiritual administration of the Bishop, such a sum as may be necessary for the support of this prelate, of his chapter, and of his seminary.

Article V.

In order to secure the commercial and military communications of the town of Geneva with the Canton of Vaud and the rest of Switzerland, and with a view to fulfil, in that respect, Article IV. of the Treaty of Paris, His Most Christian Majesty consents to place the line of custom-houses so that the road which leads from Geneva into Switzerland by Versoy shall at all times be free, and that neither the post, nor travellers, nor the conveyance of merchandise shall be molested by any examination of the officers of the Customs, nor subjected to any duty.

It is equally understood that the passage of Swiss troops shall not in any manner be obstructed.

In the additional regulations to be made on this subject the execution of the Treaties relative to the free communication between the town of Geneva and the jurisdiction of Peney, shall be guaranteed in a manner the most suitable to the interests of the inhabitants of Geneva. His Most Christian Majesty consents likewise that the gendarmerie and militia of Geneva, after having communicated on the subject with the nearest military post of the French gendarmerie, shall pass on the high road of Meyrin in the said jurisdiction, to and from the town of Geneva.

The Contracting Powers, moreover, interpose their good offices for the purpose of obtaining for the town of Geneva a suitable accession of territory on the side of Savoy.

Article VI.

With a view to provide mutual compensations, the Cantons of Argovia, Vaud, Tessin, and St. Gall, shall furnish to the ancient Cantons of Schwitz, Unterwald, Uri, Glaris, Zug, and Appenzell (Rhode Interior), a sum which shall be applied to the purposes of public instruction, and to the expenses of general administration, but principally to the former object, in the said Cantons.

The quality, the mode of payment, and the proportions of this pecuniary compensation are determined as follows:

1. The Cantons of Argovia, Vaud, and St. Gall, shall furnish to the Cantons of Schwitz, Unterwald, Uri, Zug, Glaris, and Appenzell (Rhode Interior), the sum of 500,000 Swiss livres.

2. Each of the former Cantons shall pay the interest of its quota, at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, or have the option of discharging the principal, either in money or landed property.

3. The proportions, either of the payment of this sum or of the receipt of it, shall be determined according to the scale of contribution regulated for providing the Federal expenses.

The Canton of Tessin shall pay every year to the Canton of Uri the half of the produce of the tolls in the Levantine valley.

A Commission appointed by the Diet shall superintend the execution of the preceding arrangements.

Article VII.

To put an end to the disputes which have arisen with respect to the funds placed in England by the Cantons of Zurich and Berne, it is agreed :

1. That the Cantons of Berne and Zurich shall preserve the property of the funded capital as it was in 1803, at the period of the dissolution of the Helvetic Government, and shall enjoy the interest thereupon dating from 1st January

1815.

2. That

2. That the accumulated interest due since the year 1798, up to the year 1814 inclusive, shall be applied to the payment of the remaining capital of the national debt, known under the denomination of the Helvetic Debt.

3. That the surplus of the Helvetic Debt shall remain at the charge of the other Cantons, those of Berne and Zurich being exonerated by the above arrangement. The quota of each of the Cantons, charged with this surplus, shall be calculated and paid in the proportion fixed for the contributions destined to the payment of Federal expenses. The countries incorporated with Switzerland since 1813 shall not be assessed on account of the old Helvetic Debt.

If an excess of interest should remain, after discharging the above debt, such excess shall be divided between the Cantons of Berne and Zurich, in proportion to their respective capitals.

4. The same dispositions shall be observed with regard to other debts, the deeds concerning which are now in the custody of the President of the Diet.

Article VIII.

The Mediating Powers, wishing to conciliate all contentions respecting the lauds cancelled without indemnity, have determined that an indemnity shall be paid to the individuals, proprietors of lauds. For the purpose of avoiding all future dispute on this subject between the Cantons of Berne and Vaud, the latter shall pay to the Government of Berne the sum of 300,000 Swiss livres, to be afterwards divided between the claiming Bernese proprietors of lauds. The payments shall be made at the rate of one-fifth each year, commencing from January 1816.

Article IX.

The Mediating Powers, acknowledging the justice of securing to the Prince Abbot of St. Gall an honourable and independent existence, direct that the Canton of St. Gall shall pay to him an annuity of 6,000 florins of the Empire, and to those under him an annuity of 2,000 florins. These pensions shall be paid by instalments (commencing from the 1st of January 1815) into the hands of the directing Canton every three months, which shall place them at the disposal of the Prince Abbot of St. Gall, and of those under him respectively.

The powers mediating in the affairs of Switzerland by the above Declaration afford a manifest proof of their desire to secure the internal tranquillity of the Confederation. They also feel it a duty to omit nothing which may accelerate its accomplishment.

They expect, therefore, that the Cantons, laying aside for the public good every secondary consideration, will no longer delay their accession to the Federal Union, freely consented to by a great majority of the Swiss States, the common interest imperiously demanding that every part of Switzerland should unite as soon as possible under the same Federative Constitution.

The Convention of the 16th of August 1814, annexed to the Act of the Federal Union, can no longer be an obstacle to their union; its end being already attained by the Declaration of the Powers: it is, in fact, annulled.

To ensure still further the repose of Switzerland, the Powers desire that a general amnesty be granted to all individuals who, led astray at a period of uncertainty and irritation, might have acted in some respect or other contrary to the present order of things. Far from weakening the legitimate authority of Governments, this act of clemency will afford them a new claim to exercise that salutary severity against whoever shall attempt in future to excite disturbance in the country.

Finally, the Mediating Powers trust that the patriotism and the good sense of the Swiss people will point out to them the propriety as well as the necessity of mutually obliterating the remembrance of those differences which have divided them, and of consolidating the work of their re-organization by endeavouring to perfect it, in a spirit conducive to the public good, without any recollection of the past.

The present Declaration has been inserted in the Protocol of the Congress assembled at Vienna at its sitting of the 19th March 1815.

Done and certified by the Plenipotentiaries of the eight Powers who signed the Treaty of Paris. Vienna, the 20th March 1815.

(3.)—Act of Accession of the Swiss Confederation to the Declaration of the Eight Powers assembled in Congress at Vienna, of the 20th March 1815, signed at Zurich, 27 May 1815.

THE Diet of the Swiss Confederation, at its special sitting held at Zurich, having received in its sitting of the 3rd of April 1815, through the mediation of the Ministers accredited to the Confederation, viz. :

M. de Schraut, Austrian Minister, in the name of His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, as also, by virtue of special powers, of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of Portugal;

M. Stratford Canning, accredited on the part of His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland ;

The Count Augustus Talleyrand, on the part of His Most Christian Majesty the King of France, as also, by virtue of special powers, of His Majesty the King of Spain and the Indies;

The Baron Ghambrier d'Olleyres, in the name of His Majesty the King of Prussia;

The Baron Krudener, Chargé d'Affaires of His Majesty the Emperor of Russia;

The Declaration relative to the affairs of Switzerland, inserted in the Protocol of the Congress of Vienna the 19th, and signed the 20th March 1815, by the Plenipotentiaries of the eight Powers who were parties to the Treaty of Paris of the 30th May 1814;

Hastened to communicate this Act to the nineteen Confederated Cantons, inviting them to give their sanction to the Diet's declaring, in due and proper form, the general accession of Switzerland to the arrangements contained in the said instrument.

The chief authorities of each Canton having maturely considered the object of this communication, and having successively made known to the Federal authority their final determination;

The Diet of the Swiss Confederation, in pursuance of the Acts deposited in their archives, and of the declarations inserted in their Protocol, by which it appears that a number of Cantons, exceeding that which the Federal Union prescribes for the acceptance of the most important resolutions of the Helvetic Body, have declared their consent thereto; which, according to the terms of the Constitution, becomes thereby that of the whole Confederation;

Have adopted the following Resolutions:

1.. The Diet accedes, in the name of the Swiss Confederation, to the Declaration of the Powers assembled at the Congress of Vienna, under date of the 20th March 1815, and promises that the stipulations contained in the "Transaction," inserted in this Act, shall be faithfully and religiously observed.

2. The Diet expresses the eternal gratitude of the Swiss nation towards the High Powers, who, by the above Declaration, assign to them, with a boundary far more advantageous, its ancient important frontiers, unite three new Cantons to the Confederation, and promise solemnly to acknowledge and guarantee the perpetual neutrality of the Helvetic Body, as being necessary to the general interest of Europe. The Diet feels the same sentiments of gratitude for the uniform kindness with which the august Sovereigns have exerted themselves in bringing about a reconciliation of the differences which had arisen between the Cantons.

3. In pursuance of the present Act of Accession, and of the note addressed to the Swiss Envoys at Vienna, the 20th March 1815, by Prince Metternich,, President of the Conferences of the Eight Powers, the Diet declares its wish that. the Ministers of Their Majesties residing in Switzerland, would, in pursuance of the instructions which they have received, and of the powers with which they have been invested, give effect to the dispositions of the Declarations of the 20th March, and carry into execution the engagements therein contained.