[Treaty of Ackermann. Moldavia and Wallachia.] urgent necessity is recognised on either side, and it is well understood that the Beschlis shall continue to be formed and organised as they were previous to the disturbances of 1821, that the Agas shall continue to be chosen and appointed in the same manner as previous to the said period, and, in short, that the Beschlis and their Agas shall never fill any other functions than those for which they have been originally appointed, not being able to interfere in the affairs of the country, or of taking upon themselves any other duties. Restoration of Wallachian Territory. The usurpations over Wallachian territory near Ibraila, Giurgevo, and Coulé, and beyond the Olta, shall be restored to the proprietors, and a term shall be fixed for their restitution, in the Firmans relating thereto, which shall be addressed to whom it may concern. Boyards to return freely to their Country. Those Moldavian and Wallachian Boyards who were obliged. to leave their country solely on account of the late disturbances, shall be allowed to return freely, without being molested in any way, and be restored to the full and entire enjoyment of their rights, prerogatives, goods, and estates, as in time past. Payment of Tribute and Dues. Liberty of Commerce. The Sublime Porte, taking into consideration the misfortunes which have weighed on the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, from the late disturbances, will grant unto them 2 years' exemption from Tributes and Dues which they are bound to pay; at the expiration of the term of exemption above mentioned, the said tributes and dues shall be paid according to the rates fixed by the Hatti-Sheriffs of 1802, and shall not be increased under any circumstances whatever. The Sublime Porte will also grant to the inhabitants of the two Principalities liberty of Commerce in all productions of the soil and of their industry, which they shall be at liberty to dispose of as they like, save the exceptions required on the one side for the annual supplies due to the Sublime Porte, of which these Provinces are the granaries, on the other, for the victualling of the country. All the provisions of the Hatti-Sheriff of 1802, relative to those supplies, of their regular payment at the current prices, according to which they are to be settled, and the [Treaty of Ackermann. Moldavia and Wallachia.] rating of which shall, in case of litigation, be settled by the respective Divans, shall be renewed and observed for the future with scrupulous punctuality. Submission of Boyards to the Hospodars. The Boyards shall be bound to execute the orders of the Hospodars and be in perfect submission to them. On their part, the Hospodars shall not act harshly against the Boyards, nor shall they make them undergo undeserved punishments and unless they shall have committed some proved fault, and the latter shall not undergo any punishment until they have been judged according to the laws and customs of the country. Framing of General Regulations for the Internal Administration of each Principality. The disorders of the last few years in Moldavia and Wallachia, having caused the most severe injury to order in the different branches of Internal Administration, the Hospodars shall be bound with the least possible delay, together with the respective Divans, to take the necessary measures to improve the condition of the Principalities confided to their care, and those measures shall form the subject of a general regulation for each province, which shall be put into immediate execution. Maintenance of Rights and Privileges. All the other rights and privileges of the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, and all the Hatti-Sheriff's relating thereto, shall be maintained and observed, in so far as they are not modified by the present Act. Therefore we, the Undersigned, Plenipotentiaries of the Emperor and Padishah of All the Russias, furnished with sovereign Full Powers, jointly with the Plenipotentiaries of the Sublime Ottoman Porte, have concluded and determined, with reference to Moldavia and Wallachia, the above clauses, which are the result of Article III of the explanatory and confirmatory Convention of the Treaty of Bucharest, concluded in 8 Articles, at the Conference at Ackermann, between us and the Ottoman Plenipotentiaries. Accordingly, the present Separate Act has been drawn up, [Treaty of Ackermann. Servia.] sealed, and signed by us, and delivered into the hands of the Plenipotentiaries of the Sublime Porte. 25th September, Done at Ackermann, 1826. 7th October, (L.S.) COMTE M. WORONZOW. (L.S.) RIBEAUPIERRE. (Annex 2.) SEPARATE ACT relating to Servia. (Translation.†) Privileges to be granted to the Servian Nation. THE Sublime Porte, with the sole intention of faithfully fulfilling the stipulations of Article VIII of the Treaty of Bucharest, having heretofore allowed the Servian Deputies at Constantinople to lay before her the demands of their nation upon the matters most suitable for the consolidation of the security and well-being of the country, those Deputies had heretofore set forth in their memorial the wish of the nation with respect to certain of those matters, such as freedom of Religious Worship, the choice of its Chiefs, the Independence of its Internal Administration, the re-annexation of the Districts detached from Servia, the consolidation of the various Taxes into a single sum, the making over to the Servians the administration of the Properties belonging to Mussulmans, subject to the payment of the proceeds thereof at the same time with the tribute, liberty of Commerce, permission for the Servian merchants to travel in the Ottoman dominions with their own Passports, the establishment of Hospitals, Schools, and Printing-houses; and, finally, the prohibition to Mussulmans, other than those belonging to the Garrisons, to establish themselves in Servia. Whilst the Articles above specified were being inquired into and settled, certain obstacles which occurred were the occasion of their being deferred. But the Sublime Porte, still persisting at the present time in the firm resolution of granting to the Servian nation the advantages stipulated in Article VIII * See Treaty of 14th September, 1829, Art. VI; Firmans of 1st October, 1829; October, 1830; December, 1833; and 24th December, 1838; General Treaty of 30th March, 1856, Art. XXVIII; and Protocol of 4th September, 1862. + For French version, see "State Papers," vol. xiii, p, 907. [Treaty of Ackermann. Servia.] of the Treaty of Bucharest, will settle, in concert with the Servian Deputies at Constantinople, the above-mentioned demands of that faithful and submissive nation, as well as all the other demands which may be laid before her by the Servian Deputation, and which may in no respect be contrary to the character of subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Court of Russia to be informed of Privileges granted to Servia. The Sublime Porte will acquaint the Imperial Court of Russia with the manner in which Article VIII of the Treaty of Bucharest shall have been executed, and will communicate to it the Firman decorated with the Hatti Sheriff, by which the abovementioned advantages shall be granted. Wherefore, we the Undersigned, Plenipotentiaries of His Majesty the Emperor and Padishah of All the Russias, furnished with sovereign Full Powers, in concert with the Plenipotentiaries of the Sublime Ottoman Porte, have agreed upon and settled, with respect to the Servians, the above points, which are the result of Article V of the Convention explanatory and confirmatory of the Treaty of Bucharest, concluded in 8 Articles in the conferences at Ackermann, between us and the Ottoman Plenipotentiaries. Accordingly, the present Separate Act has been drawn up, sealed, and signed by us, and delivered to the Plenipotentiaries of the Sublime Porte. Done at Ackermann, the 25th September, 7th October, 1826. (L.S.) COMTE M. WORONZOW. (L.S.) RIBEAUPIERRE. [Hostilities. Portugal and Spain.] 1 No. 132.—BRITISH CIRCULAR to Foreign Ministers in London, relative to the Hostilities between Portugal and Spain. Foreign Office, 14th December, 1826. THE Undersigned, &c., has the honour to transmit to... for the information of the Court of...... copies of a Message from His Majesty, delivered on Thursday, the 11th instant, to both Houses of Parliament, and of the Addresses voted by the two Houses in return. ....... " In making this communication to .... the Undersigned is expressly commanded by His Majesty to assure .... that the Declarations contained in His Majesty's Message, and the measures which are in preparation in conformity thereto, far from menacing any interruption of the General Peace, have, in His Majesty's judgment, become indispensably necessary for the prevention of a War between the two nations of the Peninsula. Repeated inroads into the territory of Portugal by bands of Portuguese deserters, harboured, supported, and equipped in Spain, prove a connivance, if not an encouragement, on the part of the Spanish authorities, which could not fail to produce, at no distant time, measures of justifiable retaliation on the part of the Portuguese Regency. * These inroads constitute a case in which, under the faith of Treaties, Portugal is entitled to call, and does call, upon His Majesty for assistance. His Majesty has no choice but to comply with the requisition of his Ally, by sending a military force for the defence of the Territories of Portugal against an aggression foreign in its character, although the instruments with which it has been executed may be Portuguese. To that single defensive purpose the British corps, now under orders for Lisbon, is intended to be applied. His Majesty disclaims the right, and abjures the intention, of interfering in the internal concerns of any nation. But His Majesty will not endure that foreign force or foreign intrigue shall introduce confusion and Civil War into a country with which Great Britain has been for centuries in relations of the The Treaties appealed to by Portugal were those of the 23rd June, 1661, Arts. XV-XVII, and Secret Article; 16th May, 1703, Arts. I-III; British Guarantee of Treaty, 6th February, 174; and Treaty of 22nd January, 1815, Art. III. (See Appendix.) |