steady loyalty of all classes of his Majesty's subjects: and they may depend on my efforts to improve our present advantages in such manner as may best provide for the general tranquil lity of Europe, and maintain the high character which this country enjoys amongst the nations of the world."

PROCLAMATION.

Whitehall, Oct. 19, 1815. Whereas it has been humbly represented to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, that a considerable number of persons at Shields, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sunderland, and in the neighbourhood of those places, have unlawfully assembled themselves together in a disorderly and tumultuous manner, for the purpose of compelling the ship-owners and others concerned in the trade of the above-mentioned ports, to comply with certain regulations prescribed by them with respect to the navigating ships and vessels proceeding to and from those ports; and have actually detained and prevented divers ships and vessels from sailing from the said ports, and have proceeded to other acts of violence: and whereas it has been further represented to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, that these misguided persons have formed themselves into committees, and have administered illegal oaths, with a view to the purposes before mentioned; and have also upon various occasions used force or intimidation to compel persons to join such unlawful assemblies, and to prevent their engaging with the said shipowners; his royal highness being duly sensible of the mischievous consequences which must inevitably arise from such illegal and dangerous proceedings if not speedily suppressed, and deeming it indispensably necessary to have recourse to the most effectual

measures, with a view of bringing to justice the persons concerned therein, has already caused an adequate military and naval force to be assembled and stationed in those parts where the disturbances have prevailed, for the purpose of assisting the civil power (if necessary) in supporting the same, and is hereby pleased, in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, to promise his most gracious pardon to any person or persons who have been concerned in the illegal proceedings before mentioned (except the president, or person acting as president, in any such committee, or any person having actually administered any such unlawful oath, or having used any actual force or intimidation for any of the abovementioned purposes), who shall come forward and give information against any of the persons who have administered the said oaths, or assisted in the administering the same, or who have acted in a committee of any such unlawful assembly as aforesaid, or who shall have used force or intimidation to compel persons to join those unlawful assemblies, or who shall have prevented any persons from engaging themselves in the service of any of the ship-owners before mentioned: and, as a further encouragement, his Royal Highness the Prince Regent is hereby pleased to promise to any person or persons (except as aforesaid) who shall discover and apprehend, or cause to be discovered and apprehended, the authors, abettors, or perpetrators of any of the illegal proceedings beforementioned, so that they or any of them may be duly convicted thereof, the sum of One Hundred Pounds for each and every Person so convicted; the said sum to be paid by the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's treasury.

Sidmouth.

Convention between Great Britain and the United Netherlands, signed at London on the 13th of August, 1814.

Article 1. Great Britain agrees to restore the Dutch colonies, with the exception of the Cape of Good Hope, Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, to be disposed of in a supplementary convention.

2 and 3. Great Britain cedes to the Netherlands the Island of Banca, in the Eastern Seas, in exchange for Cochin and its dependencies, on the coast of Malabar. The places and forts in the respective settlements to be exchanged in the state in which they were at the signing of the present convention.

4. Grants the same privileges to the subjects of the Netherlands in British India as are granted to the most favoured nations. No forts to be erected in the Dutch settlements which are within the limits of the British sovereignty in India, and only the number of troops necessary for the maintenance of police to be maintained.

5. The places to be restored on the American continent to be given up within three months; those beyond the Cape of Good Hope within six, from the date of the convention.

6. No persons in the places to be restored to be questioned for their former political opinions.

7. The natives and aliens in the countries in which a change of sovereignty takes place are allowed six years for the disposal of their property, and retiring if they think fit.

8. The sovereign of the Netherlands engages to prohibit all his subjects, in the most effectual manner, and by the most solemn laws, from taking any share whatsoever in that inhuman traffic, the slave trade.

9. Stipulates for the ratification within three weeks, or sooner if pos sible.

The first additional article stipulates, that to provide for the defence and incorporation of the Belgic provinces with Holland, and also a com pensation in virtue of the 9th article of the treaty of Paris, for the cessions made by Sweden, which Holland should furnish, Great Britain engages to defray the following charges :-

1st. The payment of one million sterling to Sweden, in satisfaction of the claims aforesaid, and in pursuance of a convention executed with his Swe dish majesty's plenipotentiary to that effect.

2dly. The advance of two millions

sterling, to be applied in concert with the Prince Sovereign of the Netherlands, and in aid of an equal sum to be furnished by him towards augmenting and improving the defences of the Low Countries.

3dly. To bear, equally with Holland, such further charges as may be agreed upon between the said high contracting parties and their allies, towards the final and satisfactory settlement of the Low Countries in union with Holland, and under the dominion of the house of Orange, not exceeding in the whole, the sum of three millions, to be defrayed by Great Britain. In consideration of the above engagements, the Cape of Good Hope, Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice, are ceded to Great Britain, but with condition that the Dutch proprietors have liberty under certain regulations to trade with Holland. It is also agreed that Dutch ships may resort freely to the Cape of Good Hope for the purposes of refreshment and repairs, without being liable to other charges than such as British subjects are required to pay.

Second additional article. The small district of Bernagore, situated close to Calcutta, is ceded to his Britannic Majesty, upon a payment of such sum annually to his royal highness, as may be considered by commissioners to be appointed by the respective governments, to be just and reasonable.

A Treaty of Peace and Amity between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America; signed at Ghent, December 24, 1814.

His Britannic Majesty and the United States of Anierica, desirous of terminating the war which has unhappily subsisted between the two countries, and of restoring, upon prin

ciples of perfect reciprocity, peace, friendship, and good understanding between them, have for that purpose appointed their respective plenipotentiaries, that is to say, his Britannic Majesty, on his part, has appointed the Right Honourable James Lord Gambier, late Admiral of the White, now Admiral of the Red Squadron of his Majesty's Fleet; Henry Goul burn, Esq. a member of the Imperial Parliament, and under Secretary of State; and William Adams, Esq. Doctor of Civil Laws-and the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate thereof, has appointed John Quincey Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, citizens of the United States: who, after a reciprocal communication of their respective full powers, have agreed upon the following Articles :

Art. 1. There shall be a firm and universal peace between his Britannic Majesty and the United States, and between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns, and people, of every degree without exception of pla ces or persons. All hostilities both by sea and land shall cease as soon as this treaty shall have been ratified by both parties as herein-after mentioned. All territory, places, and possessions whatsoever, taken by either party from the other during the war, or which may be taken after the signing of this treaty, excepting only the islands hereafter mentioned, shall be restored without delay, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any of the artillery, or other public property, originally captured in the said forts or places, and which shall remain therein upon the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, or any slaves or other private property. And all archives, records, deeds, and papers, either of a public nature, or belonging to private persons, which in the course of the

war may have fallen into the hands of the officers of either party, shall be, as far as may be practicable, forthwith restored, and delivered to the proper authorities and persons to whom they respectively belong.

Such of the islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy as are claimed by both parties shall remain in the possession of the party in whose occupation they may be at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty, until the decision respecting the title to the said islands shall have been made in conformity with the fourth article of this treaty.

No disposition made by this treaty as to such possession of the islands and territories claimed by both parties, shall in any manner whatever be construed to affect the right of either.

Art. II. Immediately after the ratifications of this treaty by both parties, as hereinafter-mentioned, orders shall be sent to the armies, squadrons, officers, subjects, and citizens of the two powers, to cease from all hostilities. And to prevent all causes of complaint which might arise on account of the prizes which may be taken at sea after the said ratifications of this treaty, it is reciprocally agreed, that all vessels and effects which may be taken after the space of twelve days from the said ratifications, upon all parts of the coast of North America, from the latitude of 23 degrees north to the latitude of 50 degrees north, and as far eastward in the Atlantic Ocean as the 36th degree of west longitude from the meridian of Greenwich, shall be restored on each side: that the time shall be thirty days in all other parts of the Atlantic Ocean north of the equanoc. tial line or equator, and the same time for the British and Irish Channels, for the Gulf of Mexico, and all parts of the West Indies: forty days for the North Seas, for the Baltic, and for all parts of the Mediterranean; sixty days for the Atlantic Ocean

south of the equator, as far as the la titude of the Cape of Good Hope; ninety days for every other part of the world south of the equator, and one hundred and twenty days for all parts of the world without exception.

Art. III. All prisoners of war ta. ken on either side, as well by land as by sea, shall be restored as soon as prac ticable after the ratification of this treaty as herein after mentioned, on their paying the debts which they may have contracted during their captivity. The two contracting parties respectively engage to discharge in specie the advances which may have been made by the other for the sustenance and maintenance of such prisoners.

Art. IV. Whereas it was stipula ted by the 2d article in the treaty of peace of 1783, between his Britannic Majesty and the United States of Ame rica, that the boundary of the United States should comprehend" all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States, andly. ing between lines to be drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part and East Florida on the other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such islands as now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of Nova Scotia ;" and whereas the several islands in the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which is part of the Bay of Fundy, and the island of Grand Menan, in the bay of Fundy, are claimed by the United States, as being comprehended within their aforesaid boundaries, which said islands are claimed as belonging to his Britannic Majesty, as having been at the time of, and previous to the aforesaid treaty of 1783, within the limits of the province of Nova Scotia; in order, therefore, finally, to decide upon these claims, it is agreed that they shall be referred to two commissioners, to be appointed in the following manner, viz.-One com

missioner shall be appointed by his Britannic Majesty, and one by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the senate thereof; and the said two commissioners, so appointed, shall be sworn impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims, according to such evidence as shall be laid before them on the part of his Britannic Majesty and of the United States respectively. The said commissioners shall meet at St Andrews, in the province of New Brunswick, and shall have power to adjourn to such other place or places as they shall think fit. The said commissioners shall, by a declaration or report under their hands and seals, decide to which of the two contracting parties the several islands aforesaid do respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the said treaty of peace of 1783: and if the said commissioners shall agree in their decision, both parties shall consider such decision as final and conclusive.

It is further agreed, that in the event of the two commissioners differing upon all or any of the matters so referred to them, or in the event of both or either of the said commissioners refusing or declining, or wilfully omitting to act as such, they shall make, jointly or separately, report or reports, as well to the government of his Britannic Majesty, as to that of the United States, stating in detail the points on which they differ, and the grounds upon which their respective opinions have been formed, or the grounds upon which they, or either of them, have so refused, declined, or omitted to act. And his Britannic Majesty and the government of the United States hereby agree to refer the report or reports of the said commissioners to some friendly sovereign or state, to be then named for that purpose, and who shall be requested

to decide on the differences which may be stated in the said report or reports, or upon the report of one commissioner, together with the grounds upon which the other commissioner shall have refused, declined, or omitted to act, as the case may be. And if the commissioner so refusing, declining, or omitting to act, shall also wilfully omit to state the grounds upon which he has so done, in such manner that the said statement may be referred to such friendly sovereign or state, together with the report of such other commissioner, that such sovereign or state shall decide, ex parte, upon the said report alone; and his Britannic Majesty and the government of the United States engage to consider the decision of such friendly sovereign or state to be final and conclusive on all the matters so referred.

Art. 5. Whereas neither that point of the highlands lying due north from the source of the river St Croix, designated in the former treaty of peace between the two powers as the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, nor the north-westernmost head of Connecticut river, have yet been ascertained; and whereas that part of the boundary line between the dominions of the two powers, which extends from the source of the river St Croix, directly north to the above mentioned north-west angle of Nova Scotia, thence along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean to the north-westernmost head of Connecticut river, thence down along the middle of that river to the 45th degree of north latitude, thence by a line due west on said latitude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cateraguy, has not yet been surveyed, it is agreed that for these several purposes two commissioners shall be appointed,