Chapter C: J. Fox (1)

* * * * *

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Passy, April 27th, 1783.

Sir,

The Count del Veome, an Italian nobleman of great distinction, does me the honor to be the bearer of this. I have not the satisfaction to be personally acquainted with this gentleman, but am much solicited by some of my particular friends, to whom his merits and character are known, to afford him this introduction to you. He is, I understand, a great traveller, and his view in going to America is merely to see the country and its great men. I pray you will show him every civility, and afford him that counsel, which as a stranger he may stand in need of.

With great respect, I am, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

* * * * *

COUNT DE VERGENNES TO B. FRANKLIN.

Translation.

Versailles, May 5th, 1783.

Sir,

I have received the two letters of yesterday and today, which you have done me the honor to write to me, and a copy of the three articles discussed between the Commissioners of the United States and Mr Hartley. You are aware that I shall want a sufficient time to examine them, before submitting to you the observations, which may relate to our reciprocal interests. Receive, in the meantime, my sincere thanks for this communication.

I hope to have the honor of seeing you tomorrow at Versailles. I trust you will be able to be present with the foreign Ministers. It is observed, that the Commissioners from the United States rarely show themselves here, and inferences are drawn from it, which I am sure their constituents would disavow, if they had a knowledge of them.

I have the honor to be, &c.

DE VERGENNES.

* * * * *

TO COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Passy, May 5th, 1783.

Sir,

It was my intention to pay my devoirs at Versailles tomorrow. I thank your Excellency, nevertheless, for your kind admonition. I omitted two of the last three days from a mistaken apprehension, that being holidays there would be no Court. Mr Laurens and Mr Jay are both invalids; and since my last severe fit of the gout, my legs have continued so weak, that I am hardly able to keep pace with the Ministers who walk fast, especially in going up and down stairs.

I beg you to be assured, that whatever deficiency there may be of strength, there is none of respect in, Sir, your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant,

B. FRANKLIN.

* * * * *

TO DAVID HARTLEY.

Passy, May 8th, 1783.

Dear Friend,

I send you enclosed the copies you desired of the papers I read to you yesterday.[17] I should be happy if I could see, before I die, the proposed improvement of the law of nations established. The miseries of mankind would be diminished by it, and the happiness of millions secured and promoted. If the practice of privateering could be profitable to any civilized nation, it might be so to us Americans, since we are so situated on the globe, as that the rich commerce of Europe with the West Indies, consisting of manufactures, sugars, &c. is obliged to pass before our doors, which enables us to make short and cheap cruises, while our own commerce is in such bulky, low priced articles as that ten of our ships taken by you are not equal in value to one of yours, and you must come far from home at a great expense to look for them. I hope therefore that this proposition, if made by us, will appear in its true light, as having humanity only for its motive. I do not wish to see a new Barbary rising in America, and our long extended coast occupied by piratical States. I fear lest our privateering success in the two last wars, should already have given our people too strong a relish for that most mischievous kind of gaming, mixed blood; and if a stop is not now put to the practice, mankind may hereafter be more plagued with American corsairs, than they have been and are with the Turkish. Try, my friend, what you can do, in procuring for your nation the glory of being, though the greatest naval power, the first who voluntarily relinquished the advantage that power seems to give them, of plundering others, and thereby impeding the mutual communications among men of the gifts of God, and rendering miserable multitudes of merchants and their families, artizans, and cultivators of the earth, the most peaceable and innocent part of the human species.

With great esteem and affection, I am ever, my dear friend, yours most sincerely,

B. FRANKLIN.

FOOTNOTE:

[17] See the Proposition about privateering, p. 67 of this volume.

* * * * *

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO B. FRANKLIN.

Philadelphia, May 9th, 1783.

Dear Sir,

We have yet had no information from you subsequent to the signature of preliminary articles by France, Spain, and Great Britain; though we have seen a declaration for the cessation of hostilities signed by you, Mr Adams, and Mr Jay.

We grow every day more anxious for the definitive treaty, since we have as yet discovered no inclination in the enemy to evacuate their ports; and in sending off the slaves, they have directly infringed the provisional treaty, though we on our part have paid the strictest regard to it. This will be more fully explained by the enclosed copy of a letter from General Washington, containing a relation of what passed between him and General Carleton at a late interview. Let me again entreat, that no doubt may be left in the treaty relative to the time and manner of evacuating their ports here. Without more precision and accuracy in this than we find in the provisional articles, we shall soon be involved in new disputes with Great Britain.

Our finances are still greatly embarrassed. You may in part see our distress, and the means Congress are using to relieve themselves, by the enclosed pamphlet, which I wish you and your colleagues to read, but not to publish.

The enclosed resolution imposes a new task upon you. I hope you will find no great difficulty in procuring the small augmentation to the loan which it requires. Be assured that it is extremely necessary to set us down in peace.

None of the States, though frequently called upon, have sent me the estimates of their losses by the ravages of the British, except Connecticut and Rhode Island, and their accounts are extremely imperfect. Such as they are I enclose them. For my own part, I have no great expectation that any compensation for these losses will be procured; however, if possible it should be attempted. Commissioners might be appointed to ascertain them here.

Great part of the prisoners are on their way to New York, and the whole will be sent in a few days. They will amount to about six thousand men.

Our ports begin to be crowded with vessels. There is reason to fear that a superabundance of foreign articles will, in the end, produce as much distress as the want of them has heretofore occasioned.

I have the honor to be, &c.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

* * * * *

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON TO B. FRANKLIN.

Philadelphia, May 31st, 1783.

Sir,

I informed you sometime since, that I had written to the Court of Appeals on the subject of the Nossa Senhora da Soledado San Miguel e Almas, and laid before them the papers you sent me. The cause has since been determined in such a way as will, I hope, be satisfactory to her Portuguese Majesty. I enclose the copy of a letter from the first Judge of the Court of Appeals on that subject.

Nothing has yet been done as to the acceptance of your resignation, nor will, as I believe, anything be done very hastily. Many think your task will not be very burdensome now, and that you may enjoy in peace the fruit of your past labors.

As this will probably be the last letter, which I shall have the pleasure of writing to you in my public character, I beg leave to remind you of the affairs of the Alliance and the Bon Homme Richard, which are still unsettled. I must also pray you not to lose sight of the vessels detained by his Danish Majesty. This will be a favorable opportunity to press for their restitution. I do not see how they can decently refuse to pay for them. Great Britain is bound in honor to make them whole again.

Preparations for the evacuation of New York still go on very slowly, while the distress of our finances has compelled us to grant furloughs to the greater part of our army.

If it were possible to procure any addition to the last six millions, it would be extremely useful to us at present.

An entire new arrangement with respect to our foreign department is under consideration. What its fate will be, I know not.

I am, &c.

ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

* * * * *

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Passy, June 12th, 1783.

Sir,

I wrote to you fully by a vessel from Nantes, which I hope will reach you before this. If not, this may inform you that the ratification of the treaty with Sweden is come, and ready to be exchanged when I shall receive that from Congress; that the treaty with Denmark is going on, and will probably, be ready before the commission for signing it arrives from Congress. It is on the plan of that proposed by Congress for Sweden.

Portugal has likewise proposed to treat with us, and the Ambassador has earnestly urged me to give him a plan for the consideration of his Court, which I have accordingly done, and he has forwarded it. The Congress will send commissions and instructions for concluding these treaties to whom they may think proper; it is only upon the old authority, given, by a resolution, to myself with Messrs Deane and Lee, to treat with any European powers, that I have ventured to begin these treaties in consequence of overtures from those Crowns.

The definitive treaty with England is not yet concluded, their Ministry being unsettled in their minds as to the terms of the commercial part; nor is any other definitive treaty yet completed here, nor even the preliminaries signed of one between England and Holland. It is now five months since we have had a line from you, the last being dated the 13th of January; of course we know nothing of the reception of the preliminary articles, or the opinion of Congress respecting them. We hoped to receive before this time such instructions as might have been thought proper to be sent to us for rendering more perfect the definitive treaty. We know nothing of what has been approved or disapproved. We are totally in the dark, and therefore, less pressing to conclude, being still (as we have long been) in daily expectation of hearing from you. By chance only, we learn that Barney is arrived, by whom went the despatches of the Commissioners, and a considerable sum of money. No acknowledgment of the receipt of that money is yet come to hand, either to me or M. Gerard. I make no doubt that both you and Mr Morris have written, and cannot imagine what has become of your letters.

With great esteem, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

_P. S._ I beg leave to recommend to your civilities the bearer of this, Dr Bancroft, whom you will find a very intelligent, sensible man, well acquainted with the state of affairs here, and who has heretofore been employed in the service of Congress. I have long known him, and esteem him highly.

B. F.

* * * * *

THE AMBASSADOR FROM SWEDEN TO B. FRANKLIN.

Translation.

Paris, June 13th, 1783.

Sir,

I have just received his Majesty's ratification of the treaty of commerce concluded with the United States, which I will have the honor to send you as soon as it can be exchanged for the one from Congress.

Permit me, Sir, on this occasion to repeat the request which the Ambassador has made you respecting Mr Franklin, your grandson. He had the honor to tell you, that it would afford the King a pleasure to have a person residing with him, in the capacity of the Minister of Congress, who bears your name in conjunction with such estimable qualifications as young Mr Franklin possesses. He charged me before he departed, to repeat to you the same assurances, and you will allow me to add, on my part, my best wishes for the success of this matter.

I have the honor to be, &c.

LE BARON DE STAEL.

* * * * *

FROM THE GRAND MASTER OF MALTA TO B. FRANKLIN.

Translation.

Malta, June 21st, 1783.

Sir,

I received with the most lively sensibility the medal, which your Excellency sent me, and the value I set upon this acquisition leaves my gratitude unbounded. This monument of American liberty has a distinguished place in my cabinet.

Whenever chance or commerce shall lead any of your fellow citizens or their vessels into the ports of my Island, I shall receive them with the greatest welcome. They shall experience from me every assistance they may claim, and I shall observe with infinite pleasure any growing connexion between that interesting nation and my subjects, especially if it will tend to convince your Excellency of the distinguished sentiments with which I am, Sir, &c.

The Grand Master,

ROHAN.

* * * * *

TO HENRY LAURENS.

Passy, July 6th, 1783.

Dear Sir,

We have been honored with several of your letters, and we have talked of writing to you, but it has been delayed. I will therefore write a few lines in my private capacity.

Our negotiations go on slowly, every proposition being sent to England, and answers not returning very speedily.

Captain Barney arrived here last Wednesday, and brought despatches for us as late as the first of June. The preliminary articles are ratified. But General Carleton, in violation of those articles, has sent away a great number of negroes, alleging, that freedom having been promised them by a proclamation, the honor of the nation was concerned, &c. Probably another reason may be, that if they had been restored to their masters, Britain could not have hoped anything from such another proclamation hereafter.

Mr Hartley called yesterday to tell us, that he had received a letter from Mr Fox, assuring him that our suspicions of affected delays or change of system on their side were groundless; and that they were sincerely desirous to finish as soon as possible. If this be so, and your health will permit the journey, I could wish your return as soon as possible. I want you here on many accounts, and should be glad of your assistance in considering and answering our public letters. There are matters in them of which I cannot conveniently give you an account at present.

Nothing could be more seasonable than success in the project you proposed, but we have now very little expectation.

Please to give my love to your valuable and amiable son and daughter, and believe me, with sincere esteem, &c.

B. FRANKLIN.

* * * * *

FROM M. ROSENCRONE, MINISTER OF DENMARK, TO B. FRANKLIN.

Translation.

Copenhagen, July 8th, 1783.

Sir,

It was with the greatest alacrity, that I laid before his Majesty the letter you did me the honor to write to me, as also the project of a treaty of amity and commerce that accompanied it. The King observed, with the greatest satisfaction, the assurances contained in that letter, of the good disposition of Congress to form connexions of amity and commerce with his kingdoms, such connexions being equally conformable to the interests of the two States, and to his Majesty's sincere desire to cement, by every possible means, that harmony, union, and confidence, which he wishes to establish forever between his Crown and the United States.

The enclosed _Counter Project_ differs in nothing essential from the project sent by you, being drawn up entirely conformable to the same principles, which you will be certainly convinced of, Sir, by the note explaining the reasons for adding some articles, and only giving a different turn to others, so that I flatter myself, that I shall soon hear that you are perfectly satisfied with them, having observed the most perfect reciprocity carefully established throughout.

As to the object mentioned in the letter with which you have honored me, you already know, Sir, his Majesty's generous intentions towards the individuals in question, and his Majesty is the more induced to avail himself of the first opportunity to manifest these intentions, as he thinks he may reasonably hope that Congress will also consider them as a distinguished proof of his friendship and esteem for that respectable body.

There remains nothing further for me to add, but that the King will adopt with great pleasure the most proper means to accelerate the conclusion of the treaty, which we have begun. For myself, it will be the most agreeable part of my office, Sir, to assist in perfecting such happy connexions with a minister of such universal reputation as yourself; and it is with sentiments of the most distinguished regard, that I have the honor to be &c.

ROSENCRONE.

* * * * *

_Counter Project of a Treaty with Denmark._

Translation.

Counter Project of a Treaty of Amity and Commerce between his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, and the United States of America.

His Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, and the United States of America, wishing to fix in an equitable and permanent manner the regulations necessary in the commerce, which they are desirous to establish between their respective countries, conceive that they cannot accomplish this object better, than by taking as the basis for their conventions, the most perfect equality and reciprocity, leaving to each party the liberty of making such interior regulations, with respect to commerce and navigation, as shall appear suitable, and founding the advantages of commerce on reciprocal utility, and the just laws of free competition. It is in consequence of these principles, and of mature deliberation, that the contracting parties have agreed upon the following articles.

ARTICLE I.

There shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal peace, and a true and sincere friendship, between his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, his heirs and successors, on the one part, and the United States of America on the other, and between the citizens and subjects of the said powers, and likewise between the countries, islands, cities, and places situated within their respective jurisdictions, and the people and inhabitants thereof, of whatever rank or condition they may be, without exception of persons or places.

ARTICLE II.

The subjects of his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, may frequent the countries and latitudes of the United States, reside and traffic there in all kinds of merchandise and effects, the importation or exportation whereof is not, or shall not be prohibited, and in all places where the navigation or commerce are not, or shall not be reserved solely for the citizens and inhabitants of the United States; and they shall not pay in the ports, harbors, roads, countries, islands, cities, and places of the United States, other or greater duties or imposts of any kind or denomination whatever, than such as the most favored nations pay, or shall pay. They shall, moreover, enjoy all the rights, liberties, privileges, and exemptions, with respect to trade, navigation, and commerce, which the most favored nations do or shall enjoy, and they shall also conform to the laws and ordinances, which the said nations are, or shall be bound to observe, whether in passing from one port to another of the dominions of the said States, or in returning from any part, or to any part of the world whatever.

ARTICLE III.

In like manner, the citizens and inhabitants of the United States of America may frequent the States of his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, reside and traffic there in all kinds of merchandise and effects, the importation or exportation whereof is not, or shall not be prohibited, and in all places where the navigation and commerce are not, or shall not be reserved solely to his Danish Majesty's subjects, and they shall not pay in the ports, harbors, roads, countries, islands, cities, and places belonging to his said Majesty, other or greater duties and imposts of any kind or denomination whatever, than such as the most favored nations do, or shall pay. They shall, moreover, enjoy all the rights, liberties, privileges, and exemptions, which the most favored nations do, or shall enjoy, and they shall also conform to the laws and ordinances which the said nations are, or shall be bound to observe, whether in passing from one port to another of his Danish Majesty's dominions, or in going to, or returning from any part of the world whatever. And the United States of America, with their subjects and inhabitants, shall allow his Danish Majesty's subjects peaceably to enjoy their rights in the countries, islands, establishments, and seas, in the East and West Indies, without molestation or opposition.

ARTICLE IV.

His Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, shall use every means in his power to protect and defend all the vessels and effects belonging to the citizens or inhabitants of the said United States of America, as shall be in his ports, harbors, or roads, or in the vicinity of his territories, countries, islands, cities, and places, as far as his jurisdiction extends, as to the sea, and shall use his efforts to recover and cause to be restored to the lawful proprietors, the vessels and effects which shall be taken from them within the extent of his said jurisdiction, and his ships of war, or any other convoys whatever, sailing under his authority, shall, on all occasions where there may be a common enemy, take under their protection all the vessels belonging to the citizens or inhabitants of the United States, or any of them which may be holding the same course, or going the same route, and they shall defend the said ships as long as they shall hold the same course, or follow the same route, against every attack, force, or violence of the common enemy, in the same manner as they are bound to defend and protect the vessels belonging to his said Majesty's subjects.

ARTICLE V.

In like manner, the said United States and their ships of war, sailing under their authority, shall protect and defend, in conformity with the preceding article, all the vessels and effects belonging to the subjects of his Danish Majesty, and shall use all their efforts to recover and cause to be restored the said vessels and effects, which shall have been taken within the extent of the jurisdiction of the said States, and each of them.

ARTICLE VI.

It is agreed and determined that every merchant, captains of merchant vessels, or others, his Danish Majesty's subjects, shall have entire liberty in all places within the dominions and jurisdiction of the United States of America, to manage themselves, their own affairs, and to employ whomsoever they please to manage them, and they shall not be obliged to make use of any interpreter or broker, nor to pay them any fee, unless they make use of them; and with respect to the time and manner of loading or unloading their ships and whatever belongs to them, they shall always be considered and treated as the most favored nations, and shall pay no fee or salary, which the said nations are not bound to pay in similar cases. The citizens, inhabitants, and subjects of the United States of America shall reciprocally have and enjoy the same privileges and liberties in all the places belonging to his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway.

ARTICLE VII.

Whenever one of the contracting parties shall be at war with other powers, the communication and free commerce of the subjects of the other party with the States of the said powers, shall not on that account be interrupted. On the contrary, in this case it is agreed and stipulated, that every ship and vessel of the neutral party may freely navigate from port to port, and on the coasts of the States at enmity with the other party, and that the vessels and ships being free, shall likewise secure the liberty of merchandise; so that everything shall be judged free which shall be found on board of the vessels belonging to the subjects of one of the contracting parties, although the loading, or part of it, should belong to the enemies of one of them; it being, nevertheless, well understood, that contraband goods shall be always excepted; and it is also agreed, that this same liberty shall extend to the persons of such as shall be found on board of the free vessel, even though they should be enemies of one of the two contracting parties, and they shall not be taken from on board the said vessels, unless they are military characters, and actually in the service of the enemy.

ARTICLE VIII.

The merchant vessels of one of the two contracting parties, coming either from a port belonging to the enemy, or from their own, or a neutral port, and navigating towards a port of an enemy of the other, shall be bound every time they shall be required, to exhibit, as well on the high seas as in port, their passports, or sea letters, and other public documents, which shall expressly prove that their loading is not of that kind, which is prohibited as contraband; it being well understood, nevertheless, that in all cases, where such merchant vessels shall be escorted by one or more vessels of war, the simple declaration of the officer commanding the convoy, that these vessels do not carry any contraband goods, shall be considered as fully sufficient, and they shall not require to examine the papers of the escorted vessels.

ARTICLE IX.

It shall no sooner be found by the sea letters, passports, or other public documents, or by the verbal declaration of the commanding officer of the convoy, that the merchant vessels are not laden with contraband goods, than they shall be at liberty to continue their voyage without any hinderance; but if, on the contrary, the exhibition of the said passports or other documents, in case the vessels are not escorted, tends to discover that the said vessels carry merchandise reputed contraband, consigned to an enemy's port, it shall not, however, be permitted to break open the hatches of the said vessels, nor to open any chest, case, trunk, bale, package, or cask, which shall be found on board, or to displace or overturn the least part of the merchandise, whether the vessel belongs to his Danish Majesty's subjects, or to the citizens or inhabitants of the United States, until the cargo has been landed in presence of the officers of the Courts of Admiralty, and that the inventory has been made of it. And it shall not be permitted to sell, exchange, or alienate the merchandise reputed contraband, in any manner whatever, before trial has been held and legally finished, to declare them contraband, and that the Courts of Admiralty shall have pronounced them confiscated, without any prejudice, nevertheless, to the vessels or to the merchandise, which by virtue of the treaty shall be considered free. It shall not be permitted to retain these merchandises under pretence, that they have been intermixed with the contraband merchandise, and still less confiscate them as legal prizes. In case where a part only, and not the whole of the loading, shall consist of contraband merchandises, and that the commander of the vessel consents to deliver them up to the privateer, which shall have discovered them, then the captain, who shall have made the prize, after having received the merchandise, must immediately release the vessel, and shall not in any wise prevent the continuation of his voyage; but in case the contraband merchandise cannot all be taken on board the captor, then the captain of the said vessel shall be at liberty, notwithstanding the offer to deliver the contraband goods, to conduct the master to the nearest port, in conformity to what is prescribed above.

ARTICLE X.

In order to obviate entirely every disorder and violence, it is stipulated, that whenever the merchant vessels and ships of the subjects and inhabitants of one of the two parties, navigating alone, shall be met by any vessel of war, privateer, or armed vessel of the other party, the said vessels of war, privateers, or armed vessels, shall remain on their part constantly out of cannonshot, and shall not send above two or three men in their boats on board the merchant vessels or ships, to examine the passports or other documents, which shall prove the property and cargoes of the said vessels or ships. Such of the vessels of war, privateers, or armed vessels of the one party, as shall molest or damage in any manner whatever the ships or vessels of the other, shall be obliged to answer for it in their persons and property, and consequently, to render satisfaction for all damage and interest over and above the reparation due for the insult shown the flag.

ARTICLE XI.

It is agreed that everything that is found laden by the respective subjects or inhabitants on board of vessels belonging to the enemies of the other party, or to their subjects, shall be confiscated without distinction of prohibited merchandise, in like manner as though it belonged to the enemy, excepting always such effects and merchandise as shall have been put on board of said vessels, before the declaration of war, or even after said declaration, if, at the time of lading, it was unknown, so that the merchandises of the subjects of the two contracting parties, whether they are of the number termed contraband or otherwise, which, as has just been said, shall have been laden on board of a vessel belonging to the enemy before the war, or even after the declaration, when it was not known, shall in no wise be subject to confiscation, but shall be faithfully and _bona fide_ returned without delay to their proprietors who shall claim them, it being well understood, nevertheless, that it shall not be permitted to carry into the enemy's ports merchandise of a contraband nature. And in order that every dissension may be avoided, it is agreed, that after the term of six months being elapsed from the declaration of war, the respective subjects, from whatever part of the world they may come, shall not allege the ignorance mentioned in the present article.

ARTICLE XII.

All vessels and merchandise of whatever nature soever, whenever they shall have been recovered from the hands of pirates on the high seas, shall be brought into some port of one of the two States, and shall be delivered to the care of the officers of the said port, in order to be restored entire to their true proprietor, as soon as he shall have duly and sufficiently proved his property.

ARTICLE XIII.

The ships of war belonging to the two parties, as also those of their subjects which are armed, shall conduct at full liberty wheresoever they please, the prizes they shall have made from their enemies, without being obliged to pay any other duties than such as the most favored nations; the said vessels or the said prizes, on entering into the ports of his Danish Majesty, or of the said United States, shall not be subject to be stopped or seized, nor shall the officers of the places have any power to take cognizance of the validity of the said prizes, which shall go out, and be freely conducted in full liberty, to the places mentioned in the commissions, which the captains of the said vessels shall be obliged to produce.

ARTICLE XIV.

In order to favor as much as possible the commerce on both sides, it is agreed, that if a war should happen between his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, and the United States of America, (which God forbid) nine months after the declaration of war shall be granted to the subjects on both sides to collect, sell, and transport freely, the merchandise and effects belonging to them, and to withdraw themselves; and if anything is taken from them, or if any injury is done to them during the above prescribed time, by one of the two parties, full and entire satisfaction shall be given them in this respect.

ARTICLE XV.

No subject of his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, shall take a commission or letter of marque (to arm any vessel or vessels, for the purpose of acting as a privateer against the said United States, or any of them, or against their subjects, people, or inhabitants, or against their property, or that of any among them) from any Prince whatever, with whom the said United States shall be at war. In like manner no citizen, subject, or inhabitant of the said United States, or of any of them, shall demand or accept of any commission or letter of marque (to arm any vessel or vessels, to cruise against the subjects of his said Majesty, or any of them, or their property) from any Prince or State whatever, with whom his Majesty shall be at war; and if any one of either nation should take such commissions or letter of marque, he shall be punished as a pirate.

ARTICLE XVI.

In case the vessels of the subjects and inhabitants of one of the two contracting parties should approach the coasts of the other, without however designing to enter into the port, or to discharge the cargo, or to break bulk after having entered, they shall be at liberty to depart, or to pursue their voyage without molestation, in the same manner as is practiced by the vessels belonging to the most favored nations.

ARTICLE XVII.

The liberty of navigation and commerce, mentioned in the 7th article of this treaty, shall extend to all kinds of merchandises, excepting those which are designated by the name of contraband. Under this name of contraband, or prohibited merchandise, are only to be comprehended, arms, cannon, powder, matches, pikes, swords, lances, spears, halberts, mortars, petards, grenades, saltpetre, fusils, balls, bucklers, helmets, drums, coats of mail, and other arms of that kind fit to arm soldiers, swivels, shoulder belts, horses with their equipages, and all other instruments of war whatever, excepting always the quantity that may be necessary for the defence of the vessel and such as compose the crew. All other effects and merchandise not expressly designated above, of whatever kind or denomination they may be, and however fit they may be, even for the building, the repairing, and equipment of vessels, or for the making of any machine or warlike instrument by land or by sea, shall not be considered as contraband, and they may consequently be transported and conducted in the freest manner by the subjects of the two contracting parties to places belonging to the enemy, excepting, nevertheless, such as shall be actually besieged, blocked up or invested, and such shall only be considered so, where the vessels of the power that attacks shall be so near, and posted in such a manner, as that there shall be evident danger to enter.

ARTICLE XVIII.

The passports or sea letters, which shall prove the property of the neutral vessels, according to the tenor of the 8th Article of the present treaty, shall be prepared and distributed according to the model which shall be agreed on. Every time that the vessel shall have returned to its own country, it shall be furnished with new passports of the like kind; at least, these passports must not be of an older date than two years after the time the vessel has returned last to its own country. Moreover, the vessels being loaded, must be provided with such certificates, or manifests, or other public documents, as are commonly given to vessels which depart from the ports from whence they have last sailed, containing a specification of the cargo, of the place from whence the vessel has departed, and that of her destination, in order that it may be known whether there are any contraband effects on board of the vessels, and whether they are destined to carry them to an enemy's country, or not. If the names of the persons to whom the effects on board belong, are not expressed in the said documents, this omission shall not, however, give cause for confiscation, as the freedom of the vessel secures the freedom of the effects.

ARTICLE XIX.

Should it happen that the ships or vessels of one of the two contracting parties, or of their subjects, should strike against the rocks, or strand, or be shipwrecked on the coast of the other, the respective subjects shall enjoy both for their persons and their ships and vessels, effects and merchandise, all the aid and assistance possible, as the inhabitants of the country, and shall only pay the same expenses and duties, which the proper subjects of the State on whose coasts they shall have stranded or have been shipwrecked, are subject to in similar cases.

ARTICLE XX.

If the subjects or inhabitants of one of the two parties, compelled by storm, or by the pursuit of pirates, or of the enemy, or by any other accident, find themselves constrained to take refuge with their ships in the rivers, bays, ports, and roads belonging to the other, they shall be received and treated with every humanity and kindness, and they shall be permitted likewise to refresh and to furnish themselves at a just price with every kind of provisions, and everything necessary for the maintenance and support of their persons, and for the reparation of their ships, provided they carry on no commerce contrary to the laws and ordinances of the place or port into which they have entered.

ARTICLE XXI.

It is agreed, that the subjects of each of the contracting parties, and their ships, vessels, merchandise, and effects, shall not be subject to an embargo or detention in any of the countries, islands, towns, places, ports, or domains whatever of the other party, for any military expedition, public or private use, in any manner whatever, and in cases of seizure, detentions, or arrests for debts contracted, or faults committed by any subject of one of the parties in the States of the other, the said seizures, detentions, or arrests shall be made only by order and authority of the justice, and according to the ordinary means; and with regard to debts and faults, process ought to be made by way of equity, and agreeably to the forms of the justice of the place.

ARTICLE XXII.

The two contracting parties have mutually granted permission to have in their respective ports, consuls, vice consuls, agents, and commissaries, which they shall appoint themselves, and whose functions shall be regulated by a particular convention whenever either of the parties wish to establish it.

ARTICLE XXIII.

The subjects of his Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, may in the country of the United States of America dispose of their effects by testament, donation, or otherwise; and their heirs, subjects of his said Majesty, shall succeed them, without any impediment in all their effects, moveable and immoveable, either by testament or ab intestat; so that they may take possession of the inheritance, either by themselves, or by attorney, and dispose of it as they please, after having discharged the different duties established by the laws of the State where the said succession shall have been left; and in case that the heirs of the said dead subjects should be absent or minors, and that the deceased shall not have appointed guardians or executors, the property left shall then be inventoried by the Notary Public, or by the magistrate of the place, and disposed of in such manner that they may be kept and preserved for the legal proprietors; and, supposing that there should arise a dispute about such inheritance among several pretenders, then the Judges of the places where the effects of the deceased shall be found, shall decide the process by a definitive sentence agreeably to the laws of the country. The contents of the present article shall be reciprocally observed, with respect to the subjects of the United States of America, in the States of his Danish Majesty.

ARTICLE XXIV.

A perfect liberty of conscience shall be granted to the subjects and inhabitants of each party within the respective States, and they may, consequently, freely attend the worship of their religion without being disturbed or molested, provided that they submit, as to the public demonstration, to the ordinances and laws of the country.

ARTICLE XXV.

His Majesty, the King of Denmark and Norway, and the United States of North America, have agreed, that the present treaty shall be in full effect during the space of fifteen successive years, reckoning from the day of its ratification; and the two contracting parties reserve to themselves the power of renewing it at the expiration of that time.

ARTICLE XXVI.

The present treaty shall be ratified on both sides, and the ratifications shall be exchanged within the space of eight months from the date of the signature.

EXPLANATION OF THE COUNTER PROJECT

_Of a Treaty of Amity and Commerce received from Denmark._

Translation.

Although the simple comparison of the enclosed Counter Project, with the Project proposed by Mr Franklin, evidently proves the attention that has been shown on our part here to the negotiation set on foot, and which, in the main, has been agreed upon as to the principles, which have been adopted for the basis of a treaty, as well as the most essential stipulations, we could not avoid, however, explaining more distinctly certain points of the Counter Project; and the eclaircissements that will be given of them will at the same time prove the amicable intentions, with which it has been endeavored to facilitate the consequences of an affair too important to the welfare of the two nations, not to merit the attention and cares of the powers which govern them.

The second and third articles will regulate the conduct of the reciprocal subjects in the respective States. Taking things as they now are, it is easily perceived that the stipulations of the said articles, although apparently reciprocal, give however superior advantages to the United States. For, according to the system of commerce, which subsists in Denmark and Norway, the most favored nations pay there no greater imposts or other duties than the proper subjects of the State, and the proper subjects of the State enjoy considerable diminutions with respect to unprivileged nations, as well for their vessels as their merchandise. It is evident, therefore, that the subjects of the United States of America being received among the most favored nations in Denmark and Norway, would not only gain by that means a competition with the said most favored, but also a preference over several other nations, even in the neighborhood of Denmark, with whom no treaties of commerce have been concluded, and who, therefore, are still in the number of unprivileged, as to navigation and commerce, in the States of his Danish Majesty.

On the other hand, if the advantages, which would result from these articles, as to the commerce of the subjects of Denmark in the territories of the United States, are considered, the said advantages would be confined to the simple competition with every other foreign nation; but, as there is no nation that we know of, which actually pays in the territories of the United States other or greater duties, than what the privileged or most favored nations are bound to pay, the Danish subjects would not find in the territories of the United States the same preference, which the subjects of the United States would obtain in Denmark and Norway. The preceding considerations are not advanced for the purpose of taking any advantage, but they are pointed out only to show the impartiality and good will, with which we desire to contribute to the mutual connexions of amity and commerce between the two nations, who will, it is to be hoped, more and more unite. As to the periods inserted in these articles, they do not essentially change the stipulations projected by the Minister of the United States; they only add therein some proper determination to prevent every misunderstanding on the subject of the reciprocal liberties and privileges, and to guaranty some rights, which the subjects of his Danish Majesty enjoy with respect to certain countries and colonies, as Iceland, Greenland, Finmarson, Faro, the establishment of Tranquibar, and, in certain respects, the Islands of St Croix, St Thomas, and St John; and if, at any time, it should please the United States to reserve for its own subjects similar rights, with respect to certain places, or certain kinds of merchandise, and to exclude therefrom every foreign nation, the same stipulations shall then suit their intentions. In like manner the same mark of reciprocity has been given to every change, excepting only the last clause of the third article, which has not been susceptible of the same turn, considering the local position of the United States, and which, undoubtedly for the same reason, has been inserted in the treaty of the United States with Holland, in the same manner as it is here in the Counter Project.

After having pointed out the privileges, which the subjects of his Danish Majesty enjoy in the islands of St Croix, St Thomas, and St John, it will not be useless to observe, that it is only the commerce and navigation between the said islands and Europe, which Denmark has appropriated to itself in any manner; but the commerce, which is conducted between those islands and North America, although always subject to the same interior regulations on both sides, has been for a long while authorised by his Danish Majesty's commercial laws, and his said Majesty has, moreover, granted to the islands of St Thomas and St John privileges, which will give the commerce of these islands, with America in particular, a freer course, and very different from that of the commerce of the colony. The advantages, which the United States may derive from a more close commercial connexion with the said privileged islands, and whose ports, distinguished by the security they insure to vessels, appear to invite the commercial subjects of America, are too evident to need any circumstantial detail. There shall only be added, therefore, to what has been said, this single observation, that his Danish Majesty, having it very much at heart to open every possible road to industry and commerce, finds himself much disposed to favor the connexion in question, and that, if for this purpose the United States, after the conclusion of the present treaty, which shall fix the general commercial points between the contracting parties, should desire a particular convention to agree upon the reciprocal and local advantages proper to accomplish this object, his said Majesty would willingly come into it, provided that the United States were equally disposed on their part to facilitate the affair.

The fourth and fifth articles have only been modified in order to remove the doubts, which might arise with respect to the defence and protection due to the vessels belonging to the respective subjects. It is only in cases of attack from the common enemy, against whom it was conceived possible to confine each other by these articles; for in case that one of the parties was at war and the other at peace, the vessels belonging to the neutral party could not protect the vessels belonging to the belligerent party, without taking a part and quitting its neutrality.

The privileges of the most favored nations undoubtedly guaranty to the respective subjects the favors mentioned in the sixth, eleventh, fourteenth, and seventeenth articles of the Project. For this reason it has appeared, that it would be better to reduce the points detailed in these articles to the number of general liberties of the most favored nations, and this is what has been done in the sixth, thirteenth, sixteenth, and twentyfirst articles of the Counter Project, contenting ourselves here with the assurance, that the subjects of his Danish Majesty in the cases mentioned here, as well as in any other, shall be regarded and treated in the territories within the dominions of the United States as the most favored nations, and in expectation that the United States will not demand anything more in these respects.

The seventh, eighth, and ninth articles of the Counter Project only contain the spirit and ideas of the fifteenth, seventh, and eighth articles of the Project, to which has been added some further stipulations, conformable to the principles, which have been established and acknowledged with respect to the commerce of neutral nations in time of war.

The term of two months, which has been proposed in the ninth article, and that of six months named in the twelfth article of the Project, did not appear to correspond with the extent of commerce, which is carried on, particularly with the East Indies, nor with difficulties, which the merchants or inhabitants sometimes find in arranging their affairs to change their abode. It is for this reason, that instead of two and six months, the terms six and nine months have been substituted, it being nevertheless well understood, that from the friendship and good understanding, which is about being strengthened between the two nations, the subjects of neither party will ever have cause to take refuge on account of a rupture.

Although no fault has been found as to the merchandise, which the Project has called contraband, or not contraband in time of war, there is however reason to think, that it would still be better for the conveniency of the contracting parties, only to name in express terms the contraband, without detailing the free merchandise, with respect to which no better explanation could be given, as it appears, than by agreeing that everything that is not called contraband shall be comprehended in the number of free merchandise; consequently, on this principle, the seventeenth article of the Counter Project has been arranged, and at the end of the article has been added the definition of a port that is blocked up.

The new articles that have been proposed on this side principally turn on reciprocal points and favors, which justice and equity demand, and which humanity and the rights of nations ordinarily grant, even without stipulation by express conventions; but it is usage that has introduced them into treaties, and it is conceived that it is no less necessary to conform thereto.

As to the passports mentioned in the eighteenth article of the Counter Project, there is nothing easier than to agree about them after the conclusion of the treaty, or at the time when it is concluded, and the models that shall be agreed on can then be officially exchanged and published in case of necessity.

* * * * *

GIACOMO F. CROCCO TO B. FRANKLIN.

Cadiz, July 15th, 1783.

Sir,

His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Morocco, did me the honor to appoint me to be the bearer of his answer to the United Provinces of North America, with which he is willing to sign a treaty of peace and commerce, and in consequence has already given orders to his Captains of men of war not to molest on the open seas the American vessels, which agreeable news I have already given to Mr Richard Harrison. According to my instructions, I am to accompany to the Court of Morocco the Ambassador, that will be appointed to conclude the treaty of peace. I presume, that your Excellency is already acquainted, that the travelling expenses and other charges of ambassadors, or envoys, sent to Europe by the Emperor of Morocco, are to be paid by the Court, or Republic, that demands his friendship. In a few days I intend to set out for Madrid, where I will remain till I receive your Excellency's answer to this letter, directed to William Carmichael, the United States Chargé d'Affaires at the Court of Spain, who, I make no doubt, will receive orders to supply me with the money I may want on the occasion.

As soon as I arrive at Paris I shall have the satisfaction to entertain at large your Excellency on the present negotiation, not doubting it will soon be concluded to the advantage of both Courts.

In the meantime I remain, most truly, Sir, &c.

GIACOMO FRANCISCO CROCCO.

_P. S._ I was obliged to call on a friend to write you this letter in English, otherwise I could only do it in the Italian language.

G. F. C.

* * * * *

TO ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON.

Passy, July 22d, 1783.

Sir,