XX. His Britannic Majefty grants to his Highnefs the fum of fifteen thousand pounds fterling, to answer the first expenses of equipping this corps; payment of which shall be made inmediately after the fignature of this treaty, and shall be carried to the account of levy money.

XXI. Deferters fhall be faithfully delivered up on both fides; and neither the foldiers, nor any other perfons belonging to the corps of Heffe Darmstadt, fhall be permitted to fettle in the dominions of his Britannic Majefty.

In witness whereof, we the undersigned, authorised by the full power of his Majesty the King of Great Britain on one fide, and of his Serene Highness the reigning Landgrave of Heffe Darmstadt, on the other, have figned the prefent treaty, and have caused the seals of our arms to be affixed thereto.

Done at Franckfort, the tenth of June, one thousand feven hundred and ninety-fix.

Treaty of Navigation and Commerce between his Britannic Majefty and the Emperor of Ruffia, figned at Saint Petersburgh, February 10-21, 1797

In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.

HIS Majefty the King of Great Britain and his Majesty the

Emperor of all the Ruffias, already united by the ties of the most intimate alliance, and having it equally at heart to cement more and more the good correfpondence which fubfifts between them and their refpective kingdoms, and, as much as it is in their power, to make the reciprocal commerce between their fubjects profper, have judged it proper to collect under one point of view, and to fix the reciprocal rights and duties, upon which they have agreed amongst themselves, in order to encourage and facilitate the mutual exchanges betwixt the two nations. In confequence of which, and in order without delay to proceed to the perfection of so falutary a work, their faid Majefties have chofen and nominated, for their plenipotentiaries, that is to fay, his Majesty the King of Great Britain, the Sieur Charles Whitworth, his envoy extraordinary and minifter plenipotentiary at the Imperial court of Ruffia, knight of the order of the Bath; and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Ruffias, the Sieur Alexander Count of Besborodko, his actual privy counsellor of the first class, fenator minifter of the council of ftate, director general of the pofts, and knight of the orders of St. Andrew, of St. Alexander Newsky, of St. Anne of the first clafs, and grand crofs of St, Wladimir of the first

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first clafs; the Sieur Alexander Prince of Kourakin, his vicechancellor, actual privy counsellor, minifter of the council of state, actual chamberlain, and knight of the order of St. Andrew, of St. Alexander Newfky, and of St. Anne of the first class, as alfo of the orders of Denmark, of Dannebrog, and of the Perfect Union; and the Sieur Peter of Soimonow, his privy counsellor,! fenator prefident of the college of commerce, and knight Grand Crofs of the order of St. Wladimir of the fecond clafs; who, in virtue of their full powers, have agreed and concluded upon the following articles:

Article I. The peace, friendship, and good intelligence, which have happily hitherto fubfifted between their Majefties the King of Great Britain and the Emperor of all the Ruffias, fhall be confirmed and established by this treaty, in fuch manner, that from the prefent, and for the future, there fhall be between the crown of Great Britain on one fide, and the crown. of all the Ruffias on the other, as alfo betwixt the ftates, countries, kingdoms, domains and territories under their dominion, a true, fincere, firm and perfect peace, friendship, and good intelligence, which fhall last for ever, and fhall be inviolably obferved equally by fea and by land, and upon the fresh waters; and the fubjects, people, and inhabitants on each fide, of whatever state or condition they may be, fhall mutually treat each other with every poffible kind of benevolence and affiitance, without doing each other any wrong or damage whatsoever.

II. The fubjects of the two high contracting powers fhall have perfect freedom of navigation and of commerce in all their dominions fituated in Europe, where navigation and commerce are permitted at prefent, or fhall be fo hereafter, by the high contracting parties, to any other nation.

III. It is agreed that the fubjects of the two high contracting parties may enter, trade, and remain with their thips, veffels, and carriages, laden or empty, in all the ports, places, and cities, where the fame is permitted to the fubjects of any other nation. whatsoever; and the failors, paffengers, and hips, whether British or Ruffian (although amongst their crews there should be found the fubjects of fome other foreign nation), fhall be received and treated as the most favoured nation; and neither the failors nor the paffengers fhall be forced to enter, against their will, into the fervice of either of the two contracting powers, with the exception of fuch of their fubjects whom they may require for their own fervice: and if a servant or failor fhali defert from his fervice or fhip, he fhall be restored. It is io like manner agreed that the fubjects of the high contracting parties may purchase all forts of things which they may be in want of at the current price; repair and refit their hips, veffels, and carriages; buy all the provisions neceffary for their fubfiftence or voyage; ftay or depart

at

at their pleafure, without moleftation or hindrance, provided that they conform themselves to the laws and ordinances of the refpective dominions of the high contracting parties, where they may be. In like manner, the Ruffian fhips which thall be at fea for the purpose of navigation, and shall be met by English fhips, fhall not be hindered in their navigation, provided that in the British fea they conform themfelves to cuftom; but every fort of affiftance fhall be given to them both in the ports fubject to Great Britain, and in the open fea

IV. It is agreed that the fubjects of Great Britain may carry, by water or by land, in their own thips and carriages, or in those which they shall have freighted or hired for that purpose, into any province whatever of Ruffia, all forts of merchandife or effects, of which the trade or entry is not prohibited; that they thail be permitted to keep them in their houses or magazines, to fell or exchange them wholesale, freely, and without moleftation, without being obliged to become citizens of fuch city or place where they shall refide or trade. By felling whole fale, is underfood one or more bales of goods, chefts, cafks, barrels, alfo feveral dozens of fmall articles of merchandise of the fame kind, collected in the fame place, and in confiderable lots or other forts of package. It is further agreed, that the subjects of Ruffia may earry, in the fame manner, into the ports of Great Britain and of Ireland, where they shall be established or refide, all forts of merchandise or effects, of which the trade or the entry is not prohibited, which is understood equally of the manufactures and productions of the Afiatic provinces, provided that it be not actually prohibited by fome law now in force in Great Britain; that they fhall be permitted to keep them in their houses or magazines, to fell or exchange them wholefale, freely; become citizens of fuch city, or place where they fhall refide or trade; and that they may buy and tranfport out of the dominions of Great Britain all forts of merchandise and effects which the fubje&s of any other nation may there buy and transport elsewhere, parti cularly gold and filver, wrought or unwrought, except the coined money of Great Britain. It is agreed that British fubjects, traling in the dominions of Ruffia, fhall have the liberty, in cafe of death, of an extraordinary event, or of an abfolute neceffity, when there remain no other means of procuring money, or in cafe of bankruptcy, of difpofing of their effects, either in Ruffian or foreign merchandise, in the manner in which the perfons interested fhall think most advantageous. The fame thing thall be obferved with regard to Ruffian fubjects in the dominions of Great Britain. All this is to be understood with the reftriction, that every permiffion on either fide, fpecified in this article, fhall be in no wife contrary to the laws of the country, and that the Ruflian

Ruffian fubjects, as well as the British subjects, and their clerks, conform themselves, on both fides, punctually to the rights, ftatutes, and ordinances of the country in which they fhall trade, in order to obviate all forts of frauds and pretexts. It is for this reafon the decisions of the faid cafes happening to the British fac tories in Ruffia fhall depend, at St. Petersburgh, upon the college of commerce, and in the other cities, where there is no college of commerce, upon the tribunals which have cognizance of commercial affairs.

V. And in order to preserve a juft equality between Ruffian and British fubjects, both the one and the other fhall pay the fame duties of exportation and of importation, whether it be in Ruffia or in Great Britain and Ireland, whether it be in Ruffian or in British veffels; and no regulation fhall be made by the high contracting parties in favour of their own fubjects, which the subjects of the other high contracting party fhall not enjoy, and that understood bona fide, under whatever name or form it may be, in fuch manner as that the subjects of one of the powers shall have no advantage over those of the other in the respective dominions.

VI. Every affistance and poffible difpatch thall be given for the loading and unloading of veffels, as well as for the entry and departure of their merchandise, according to the regulations made for that purpose; and they shall not in any manner be detained, upon the penalties announced in the faid regulations. In like manner, if the fubjects of Great Britain make contracts with any chancery or college whatfoever, for delivering certain merchandife or effects, on the declaration that thofe merchandifes are ready to be delivered, and after they fhall have been actually delivered within the term fixed in those contracts, they shall be received, and the accounts fhall be regulated and liquidated, in confequence, between the faid college or chancery and the British merchants, within the time which fhall have been fixed in the faid contracts. The fame rule fhall be obferved in the dominions of Great Britain towards Ruffian merchants.

VII. It is agreed that the subjects of Great Britain may, in all the cities and places of Ruffia where it is allowed to any other nation to trade, pay for merchandise bought in the fame current money of Ruffia which they have taken for their merchandife fold, unless the contrary fhould be ftipulated in their contracts. The fame is to be understood equally refpecting Ruffian merchan➡

dife in the dominions of Great Britain.

VIII. In the places where embarkations are usually made, it shall be permitted to the subjects of the high contracting parties to load their fhips or carriages with, and to tranfport by water and by land all forts of merchandise which they may have bought (with the exception of those of which the exportation is pro VOL, VI. hibited),

hibited), on paying the custom-houfe duties, providing that thofe ships and carriages conform themfelves to the laws.

IX. The fubjects of the high contracting parties thall not pay more duties upon the entry or departure of their merchandife than are paid by the fubjects of other nations. Nevertheless, in order to prevent, on both fides, the custom-house from being defrauded, in the cafe of the difcovery of merchandise imported clandeftinely, and without paying the custom-houfe duty, they fhall be confifcated, and the merchants convicted of contrabanding fhall be fubjected to the fine eftablished by the law in fuch cafes.

X. It shall be permitted to the high contracting parties to go, come, and trade freely in the states with which the one or the other of thofe parties fhall be, in prefent or in future, at war, provided that they do not carry ammunition to the enemy: with the exception, nevertheless, of places actually blockaded or befieged, whether by fea or land; but at all other times, and with the exception of warlike ammunition, the subjects aforesaid may transport into thofe places every other fort of merchandife, as well as paffengers, without the fmalleft hindrance. With respect to the fearching of merchant fhips, fhips of war and privateers fhall conduct themselves as favourably as the courfe of the war then exifting may poffibly permit it towards the most friendly powers which fhall remain neuter, obferving, as much as poffible, the acknowledged principles and rules of the law of nations.

XI. All cannons, mortars, fire-arms, piftols, bombs, gre nades, balls, bullets, mufkets, flints, matches, powder, faltpetre, fulphur, cutlaffes, pikes, fwords, belts, cartouch-boxes, faddles and bridles, beyond the quantity which may be neceffary for the use of the fhip, or beyond that which each man ferving on board the veffel, or paffenger, fhall have, fhall be esteemed warlike provifions or ammunition; and if any are found, they fhall be confifcated, according to the laws, as contraband or prohibited effects; but neither the fhips, paffengers, nor the other merchandise found at the fame time, thall be detained or prevented from continuing their voyage.

XII. If, which God forbid, peace fhould be broken between the two high contracting parties, neither perfons, fhips, nor merchandife, fhall be detained or confifcated; but the term of a year at leaft fhall be granted, for the purpose of felling, difpofing of, or carrying away their effects, and withdrawing themselves wherever they hall pleafe, which is to be understood equally refpecting all those who shall be in the fea and land fervice; and they fhall be permitted, previous to or at their departure, to confign the effects of which they fhall not have difpofed, as well as the debts to which they may have a claim, to fuch perfon as they hall judge proper, to be difpofed of according to their will and

profit;