XII. If, what God forbid! the peace fhould come to be broke between the two high contracting parties, the perfons, fhips, and commodities, fhall not be detained or confifcated; but they fhall be allowed, at leaft, the space of one year, to fell, difpofe, or carry off, their effects, and to retire wherever they please; a ftipulation that is to be equally understood of all those who fhall be in the fea or land fervice; and they shall farther be permitted, either at or before their departure, to confign the effects which they fhall not as yet have di pofed of, as well as the debts that fhall be due to them, to fuch perfons as they fhall think proper, in order to difpofe of them according to their defire, and for their benefit; which debts, the debtors shall be obliged to pay in the fame manner as if no fuch rupture had happened.

XIII. In cafe of a fhipwreck happening in any place belonging to one or other of the high contracting parties, not only fhall all kind of affiftance be given to the unhappy fufferers, and no fort of violence fhall be offered to them, but even the effects which they fhall have faved themfelves, or which they fhall have thrown overboard into the fea, fhall not be concealed, withheld, or damaged, under any pretext whatsoever; on the contrary, the above-faid effects and commodities fhall be preferved and restored to them, upon their giving a moderate recompenfe to those who fhall have affifted them in faving their lives, their fhips, and their commodities.

XIV. Permiffion fhall be granted to British merchants to build, buy, fell, and hire houfes in all the territories and towns of Ruffia, excepting, however, with regard to the permiffion of building and buying houses in those towns of Ruffia which have particular rights of burghership, and privileges inconfiftent with fuch indulgence; and it is exprefsly fpecified, that at St. Petersburgh, Mofcow, and Archangel, the houses which the British merchants fhall buy, or caufe to

be

be built, fhall be exempt from all quartering of foldiers, as long as they fhall belong to them, and shall be inhabited by them; but with regard to the houses which they fhall hire or let, these fhall be fubject to all the ufual charges of the town; the tenant and landlord fettling that matter between them. As to every other town of Ruffia, the houses which they fhall purchase or cause to be built, in the fame. manner as thofe which they fhall hire or let, fhall not be exempted from the quartering of foldiers. Permiffion fhall likewife be granted the Ruffian merchants to build, buy, fell, and let houfes in Great Britain and Ireland, in the fame manner as is done by the fubjects of the most favoured nations. They fhall enjoy the free exercise of the Greek religion in their houfes, or in fuch places as are deftined for that purpofe; and in like manner the British merchants fhall enjoy the free exercife of the Proteftant religion. The fubjects of either power, eftablished in Ruffia or in Great Britain, fhall have power to difpofe of their eftates, and to leave them by will to whomfoever they think proper, following the cuftoms and laws of their own proper country.

XV. Paffports fhall be granted to all British fubjects who defire to quit the dominions of Ruffia, two months after they fhall have fignified their design of departing, without obliging them to give fecurity; and if, in that time, there appear no juft caufe for detaining them, they fhall be allowed to go; nor fhall they be obliged to apply for that purpose to any other quarter than to the college of commerce, or to that which may hereafter be eftablished in its place. The fame eafy methods of departing fhall, upon like occafions, and agreeable to the cuftom of the country, be granted to Ruffian merchants, who want to quit the dominions of Great Britain,

XVI. British merchants, who fhall hire or employ domeftics, fhall, in this particular, be obliged

to

to conform themfelves to the laws of this empire. And Ruffian merchants fhall be equally obliged to do the fame in Great Britain.

XVII. In all law-fuits and other proceedings, the British merchants fhall be amenable only to the colJege of commerce, or to that which fhall hereafter be eftablished for the adminiftration of juftice between merchants. But, if it fhould happen that the British merchants fhould have law-fuits in any place at a distance from the above-mentioned college of commerce, both they and the adverfe party fhall prefer their complaints to the magistrate of the faid towns; with this provifo, however, that the British merchants hall have the right to appeal from the fentence of the magiftrate, and to demand that of the college of commerce, if they find themfelves aggrieved. The Ruffian merchants in the dominions of Great Britain fhall, in their turn, have the fame protection and justice, which, according to the laws of that kingdom, are granted to other foreign merchants, and fhall be treated as the fubjects of the most favoured nation.

XVIII. The British merchants in Ruffia, and the Ruffian merchants in Great Britain, fhall not be obliged to fhew their books or papers to any perfon whatever, unlefs it be to make proof in the courfe of juftice; ftill lefs fhall the faid books or papers be taken or detained from them. If, however, the cafe fhould happen, that any British merchant becomes bankrupt, he fhall be amenable at St. Petersburgh to the college of commerce, or to that which fhall hereafter be eftablifhed for the adminiftration of juftice in mercantile affairs; and in other remote towns, to the magiftrate of the place; and he fhall be proceeded against according to the laws that are or fhall be made for this purpofe. Neverthelefs, if the British merchants, without becoming bankrupt, refufe to pay their debts, whether to the treafury of her Imperial Majefty, or to individuals, it fhall be lawful to lay an

arreft

arrest upon part of their effects equivalent to their debts; and, in cafe thefe effects fhould not be fulficient for difcharging fuch debts, they may themfelves be arrested and detained in cuftody, until fuch time as the greater part of their creditors, as well with refpect to number, as to the value of their refpective demands, have confented to their enlargement. With regard to their effects laid under arreft, they fhall remain as a depofit in the hands of those who fhall be named and duly authorifed for that purpose, by the greater part of their creditors, as is above specified; which delegates fhall be obliged to appraise the effects as foon as poffible, and to make a juft and fair diftribution of them to all the creditors, in proportion to their refpective demands. The fame procedure fhall, in like cafes, be observed towards the Ruffian merchants in the dominions of Great Britain, and they fhall be there protected agreeably to the regulations made in the preceding article.

XIX. In cafe of complaints and law-fuits, three perfons of fair and unblemished character among the foreign merchants fhall, with a proper regard to circumftances, be named by the college of commerce, and where there is no fuch college, by the magistrate, to examine the books and papers of the parties; and the report they fhall make to the college of commerce, or to the magiftrate, of what they fhall find in the faid books or papers, fhall be held a good proof.

XX. The commiffioners of the customs fhall have the charge of examining the fervants or clerks of the Ruffian merchants, when they caufe their goods to be entered, whether they have, for that effect, the orders or full powers of the mafters; and if they have not fuch, they fhall not be credited. The fame condu& fhall be obferved towards the fervants of the British merchants; and, when the faid fervants, having the orders or full powers of their matters, fhall caufe their goods to be entered on account of their mafters, thefe

laft

laft fhall be as refponfible as if they themselves had caused them to be entered. All the Ruffian fervants employed in the fhops fhall likewife be registered, and their masters fhall anfwer for them in the affairs of trade, and in the bargains which they make in their

name.

XXI. In cafe the Ruffian merchants who are indebted to the British merchants withdraw from the places of their abode to other parts or diftricts, the'college of commerce, after complaints fhall have been made to them on the fubject, and proofs of the debts have been adduced, fhall cite them three times, allowing them a fufficient fpace to appear in perfon; and if they do not appear within the term prefcribed, the faid college fhall condemn them, and fhall fend, at the expence of the plaintiff, an exprefs to the Governors and Waywodes, with orders to put the fentence in execution, and thus fhall oblige the debtors to pay the fums fpecified. to`pay

XXII. The brokerage fhall be fettled with juftice, and the brokers fhall be refponfible for the quality of the goods and fraudulent package, and fhall be obliged, after fufficient proofs produced against them, to make up the loffes to which they have given occafion.

XXIII. A regulation fhall be made to prevent the abufes that may be commited in the package of leather, hemp, and flax; and, if any difpute happen between the buyer and the feller concerning the weight or the tare, the commiffioners of the cuftoms fhall determine it according to equity.

XXIV. In order the more effectually to encourage and promote the trade of Great Britain, it is agreed, that for the future the English woollen cloths, hereafter specified, fhall not pay any greater duties on entry than are fettled in this article, viz. English cloth for the ufe of the foldiery, fhall pay (in rixdollars) only two copecs (or pennies) for every arfheen (or 71

yards)