of one of the parties; which passports shall be made out and granted according to the form annexed to this treaty. They shall likewise be recalled every year; that is, if the ship happens to return home in the space of a year. It is likewise agreed that such ships, being laden, are to be provided not only with passports, as abovementioned, but also with certificates containing the several particulars of the cargo, the place whence the ship sailed, and whither she is bound, that so it may be known whether any forbidden or contraband goods be on board the same; which certificates shall be made out by the officers of the place whence the ship set sail, in the accustomed form; and if any one shall think it fit or advisable to express in the said certificates the persons to whom the goods on board belong, he may freely do it.

ARTICLE XXIX.-(The case of ships not wishing to unload cargo.) "The ships of the subjects and inhabitants of either of the parties, coming upon any coast belonging to either of the said allies, but not willing to enter into port, or being entered into port, and not willing to unload their cargoes or break bulk, shall not be obliged to give an account of their lading, unless they should be suspected, upon some manifest tokens, of carrying to the enemy of the other ally any prohibited goods called contraband; and in case of such manifest suspicion, the parties shall be obliged to exhibit, in the ports, their passports and certificates in the manner before specified."

ARTICLE XXX.-(The ship of war of one state visiting merchant vessels of the other are to remain out of cannon shot; goods to be examined before being put or board.)-" If the ships of the said subjects, people or inhabitants of either of the parties, shall be met with, either sailing along the coast, or on the high seas, by any ship of war of the other, or by any privateers, the said ships of war or privateers, for the avoiding of any disorder, shall remain out of cannon shot, and may send their boats on board the merchant ship which they shall so meet with, and may enter her to the number of two or three men only, to whom the master or commander of such ship or vessel shall exhibit his passport concerning the property of the ship, made out according to the form inserted in this present treaty; and the ship, when she shall have showed such passport, shall be free and at liberty to pursue her voyage, so as it shall not be lawful

to molest or search her in any manner, or to give her chace or force her to quit her intended course. It is also agreed, that all goods, when once put on board the ships or vessels of either parties, shall be subject to no further visitation; but all visitation or search shall be made beforehand, and all prohibited goods shall be stopped on the spot, before the same be put on board the ships or vessels of the respective states; nor shall either the persons or goods of the subjects of his most christian majesty or the United States, be put under any arrest, or molested by any other kind of embargo for that cause; and only the subject of that state to whom the said goods have been or shall be prohibited, and shall presume to sell or alienate such sort of goods, shall be duly punished for the offence." 1

FRANCE.

INSTRUCTIONS TO COMMISSIONERS.

(September, 1776.)

"There is delivered to you herewith a plan of a treaty with his most christian majesty of France, approved of in Congress, on the part of the United States; and you are hereby instructed to use every means in your power for concluding it, conformably to the plan you have received.

"If you shall find that to be impracticable, you are hereby authorized to relax the demands of the United States, and to enlarge their offers agreeably to the following directions:

"If his most christian majesty shall not consent that the inhabitants of the United States shall have the privileges proposed in the second article, then the United States ought not to give the subjects of his most christian majesty the privileges proposed in the first article; but that the United States shall give to his most christian majesty the same privileges, liberties,

1 With the exception of the first and second articles, which place the citizens of each party on the footing of natives in trading with the other, there is hardly a new idea, or policy in respect to commerce in this plan of treaties. Much of it is taken word for word from the treaty of commerce of 1713 between France and England (Utrecht), and many of the articles appear in even earlier treaties.

and immunities at least, and the like favour in all things which any foreign nation the most favoured shall have-provided, his most christian majesty shall give to the United States the same benefits, privileges and immunities which the most favoured nation now has, uses, or enjoys.

"And, in case neither of these propositions of equal advantages is agreed to, then the whole of the said articles are to be rejected, rather than obstruct the further progress of the treaty. "The fourth article must be insisted on.

"The seventh article ought to be obtained, if possible; but should be waived, rather than that the treaty should be interrupted by insisting upon it.

"His most christian majesty agreeing, nevertheless, to use his interest and influence to procure passes from the states mentioned in this article for the vessels of the United States upon the Mediterranean.

"The eighth article will probably be attended with some difficulty. If you find his most christian majesty determined not to agree to it, you are empowered to add to it, as follows: -That the United States will never be subject, or acknowledge allegiance, or obedience, to the king, or crown, or parliament of Great Britain; nor grant to that nation any exclusive trade, or any advantages, or privileges in trade, more than to his most christian majesty; neither shall any treaty for terminating the present war between the king of Great Britain and the United States, or any war which may be declared by the king of Great Britain against his most christian majesty, in consequence of this treaty, take effect until the expiration of six calendar months after the negotiation for that purpose shall have been duly notified, in the former instance by the United States to his most christian majesty, and in the other instance by his most christian majesty to the United States; to the end that both these parties may be included in the peace, if they think proper.

"The twelfth and thirteenth articles are to be waived, if you find that the treaty will be interrupted by insisting on them. "You will press the fourteenth article; but let not the fate of the treaty depend upon obtaining it.

"If his most christian majesty should be unwilling to agree to the sixteenth and twenty-sixth articles, you are directed to

consent that the goods and effects of enemies, on board the ships and vessels of either party, shall be liable to seizure and confiscation.

"The twenty-fifth article is not to be insisted on.

"You will solicit the court of France for an immediate supply of twenty or thirty thousand muskets and bayonets, and a large supply of ammunition and brass field-pieces, to be sent under convoy by France. The United States engage for the payment of the arms, artillery and ammunition, and to indemnify France for the expense of the convoy.

"Engage a few good engineers in the service of the United States.

"It is highly probable that France means not to let the United States sink in the present contest. But as the difficulty of obtaining true accounts of our condition may cause an opinion to be entertained that we are able to support the war on our own strength and resources longer than, in fact, we can do, it will be proper for you to press for the immediate and explicit declaration of France in our favour, upon a suggestion that a re-union with Great Britain may be the consequence of a delay.

"Should Spain be disinclined to our cause, from an apprehension of danger to his dominions in South America, you are empowered to give the strongest assurances, that that crown will receive no molestation from the United States, in the possession of these territories."

FRANCE, 1778.

TREATY OF AMITY AND COMMERCE.

Concluded February 6, 1778; Ratified by the Continental Congress May 4, 1778; Ratifications exchanged at Paris, July 17, 1778.

"The Most Christian King, and the United States of North America, to wit, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, willing to fix in an equitable and permanent

manner the rules which ought to be followed relative to the correspondence and commerce which the two parties desire to establish between their respective countries, States, and subjects. His Most Christian Majesty and the said United States have judged that the said end could not be better obtained than by taking for the basis of their agreement the most perfect equality and reciprocity, and by carefully avoiding all those burthensome preferences which are usually sources of debate, embarrassment, and discontent; by leaving, also, each party at liberty to make, respecting commerce and navigation, those interior regulations which it shall find most convenient to itself; and by founding the advantage of commerce solely upon reciprocal utility and the just rules of free intercourse; reserving withal to each party the liberty of admitting at its pleasure other nations to a participation of the same advantages. It is in the spirit of this intention, and to fulfil these views, that his said Majesty having named and appointed for his Plenipotentiary, Conrad Alexander Gerard, Royal Syndic of the city of Strasbourg, Secretary of His Majesty's Council of State; and the United States, on their part, having fully impowered Benjamin Franklin, Deputy from the State of Pennsylvania to the General Congress, and President of the Convention of said State, Silas Deane, late Deputy from the State of Connecticut, to the said Congress, and Arthur Lee, Counsellor at Law; the said respective Plenipotentiaries, after exchanging their powers, and after mature deliberation, have concluded and agreed upon the following articles."

ARTICLE I.-(Declaration of Amity.) "There shall be a firm, inviolable and universal peace, and a true and sincere friendship between the Most Christian King, his heirs and successors, and the United States of America; and the subjects of the Most Christian King and of the said United States; and between the countries, islands, cities and towns situate under the jurisdiction of the Most Christian King and of the said United States, and the people and inhabitants of every degree, without exception of persons or places; and the terms hereinafter mentioned shall be perpetual between the Most Christian King, his heirs and successors, and the said United States."

ARTICLE II. "The Most Christian King and the United States engage mutually not to grant any particular favour to other