[Boundaries.]

No. 181.-TREATY between Hanover and Prussia, for the regulation of the disputed Frontiers on the Banks of the Weser. Signed at Bückeburg, 25th November, 1837.

Preamble. Reference to Treaties of 29th May and 23rd September,

1815.

1. Hanover cedes the Villages of Ovenstedt and Hävern to Prussia, and Prussia cedes the Villages of Glissen, Halle, Brüninghorstedt, and Westernfeldt to Hanover, in full Sovereignty.

2. Prussia cedes to Hanover the length of Causeway from Lemförde to Bohmte, through the Village of Reiningen.

3. The Villages ceded by Prussia contain more Inhabitants than those ceded by Hanover. The difference is to be deducted from the 1,654 Souls due to Hanover, and Prussia will pay a Poll-tax for the remainder, or a capital sum to redeem the obligation.

4. Reciprocal renunciation of Rights over the ceded Villages.

5. Boundary line from the Hanoverian Village of Wiedensahl, and the Prussian Village of Rosenhagen, to the Hanoverian Parish of Lär and the Prussian Town of Versmold.

6. Renunciation of previous Rights on each side of the Boundary line.

7. Revenues follow the cession of Territory.

8. Communications to be free for Subjects of both Parties and exempt from Tolls.

9. Justiciary and Police Regulations for the Frontier.

10. Hunting and Fishing Rights pass with the ceded Territory.

11. Domanial and Proprietary Rights belonging to the State are not ceded.

12. Rights of Private Persons and Corporations remain as before.

13. Rights and Obligations of Communal or Manorial Unions not to be restricted.

14. State Debts of the ceded Villages are to be considered as equalised. 15. Persons belonging to the ceded places, who are in Military Service to be

sent home.

16. Insurance of Buildings in the ceded places to pass over to the State to which they are to belong.

17. Ecclesiastical and Educational Establishments to remain as they are for the present.

18. Archives and Documents to be delivered over in original or attested

copy.

19. Map of the Boundary line to be prepared, and the line to be duly marked.

20. Boundary line to be inspected every 5 years.

21. All improper interference with the Boundary line and Marks to be

punished.

22. If, after the Ratification of the Treaty, any error should be discovered in the definition of the Boundary line, the Commissioners of the Parties are authorised to correct it.

23. Ratifications.

[Boundaries.]

(Translation.)

Reference to Treaties of 29th May; and 23rd September, 1815.

WHEREAS the Treaties of 29th May (No. 21); and 23rd September, 1815 (No. 35), between Prussia and Hanover have been carried out so far as they relate to the Cession of Territory, up to the transfer of 1,654 souls still due to Hanover in regard to the lower county of Lingen, but various difficulties have arisen respecting that transfer, and Prussia has expressed a wish to discharge her obligation in some other way, partly at least, than the actual transfer of subjects, and Hanover has taken that wish into consideration;

Whereas, moreover, it is considered expedient to adjust the Boundary, in several places doubtful and disputed, on the right bank of the Weser from the Hanoverian village of Wiedensahl and the Prussian village of Rosenhagen, as well as from the so-called Bückeburger Waldthor (the Place where the Hanoverian, Prussian, and Lippe-Bückeburg boundaries meet) to the Boundary stone on the post-dam from the Hanoverian parish of Lär to the Prussian town of Versmold;

And finally for the attainment of a suitable Boundary, it is desirable to remove by an exchange the disproportions in regard to the so-called mixed villages situated on the Boundary;

Therefore Plenipotentiaries have been appointed for these purposes:

By Prussia, President Charles Richter, Knight, &c.;

By Hanover, Councillor John Paul Wehner, Knight, &c.; Who, after exchanging their Full Powers, have agreed upon. the following stipulations:

ARTS. I. to XXIII. (See Table.)

Done at Bückeburg, 25th November, 1837.

(L.S.) CARL RICHTER.

(L.S.) JOHANN PAUL WEHNER.

[Servia.]

No. 182.-FIRMAN of the Sultan, respecting Servia. 24th December, 1838.*

(Translation as laid before Parliament.†)

Statute in the shape of a Firman granted by His Highness to the inhabitants of the Province of Servia.

To my Vizier Mouhliss Pasha (may he be glorified), and to the Prince of the Servian nation (Milosch Obrenovitz), may his end be happy.

Internal Administration. Prince of Servia.

IN virtue of the Privileges and Immunities granted to the inhabitants of my Province of Servia on account of their fidelity and of their devotion (Nos. 131, 169), and in conformity with the tenour of several Hatti-sheriffs issued previously (Nos. 146, 150, 169) and at different dates on my part, it has become necessary to grant to the said province an Internal Administration, and a stable, special, and privileged national Statute, on condition that the Servians punctually discharge for the future the duties of fidelity and obedience, and pay exactly at the appointed periods to my Sublime Porte the Tax, whereof the exaction has been fixed and determined upon.

In conformity then with the Organic Statute which I have just granted to the Servian nation, the dignity of Prince is conferred upon thee and upon thy family in recompense of thy fidelity and of thy devotion, and agreeably to the contents of the Imperial Berat which thou hadst previously received.

The Internal Administration of the Province is entrusted to thy faithful care, and 4,000 purses of annual revenue are assigned unto thee for thine own disbursements. I confide unto thee, at the same time, the appointment of the different officers of the Province, the execution of the established Regulations and Laws,

* See also General Treaty of 30th March, 1856, Arts. XXVIII and XXIX; and Protocol of 4th September, 1862.

+ For French version, see "State Papers," vol. xxvii, p. 811.

[Servia.]

the chief command of the garrisons necessary for the Police and for preserving from all infraction the good order and tranquillity of the country, the duty of levying and receiving the public Taxes and Imposts, of giving to all the officers and functionaries of the Province the orders and directions for their conduct which may be requisite, of inflicting the punishments to which the guilty shall have been condemned according to the Regulations, and I grant unto thee the right of pardoning, under suitable limitations, or at least of modifying the punishments.

These powers being entrusted unto thee, thou wilt consequently possess the absolute right, for the good administration of the country and of the inhabitants, whereof the duties are imposed upon thee, to select, nominate, and employ 3 persons, who, placed under thy orders, shall form the Central Administration of the Province, and shall occupy themselves, one with the affairs of the interior, another with the finances, and the third with the legal affairs of the country.

Thou shalt constitute a private Chancery, which shall be under the direction of thy Lieutenant, the Pristavnik, whom thou shalt charge with the delivery of Passports and with the direction of the relations subsisting between the Servians and the Foreign Authorities.

There shall be formed and organised a Council composed of the Primates and of the persons of the greatest consideration among the Servians.

The number of the Members of this Council shall be 17, one of whom shall be the President. No person who is not a Servian by birth, or who shall not have received the character of a Servian in conformity with the Statutes, who shall not have attained the age of 35 years, or who is not in possession of real Property, can form part of the National Council, nor be reckoned among the number of its members.

The President of the Council, as well as the Members, shall be selected by thee, on condition that they be perfectly well known among their fellow-citizens, by their capacity and their character for rectitude, for having rendered some services to their country, and for having merited general approbation. After the selection of the Members of the Council and their nomination, and previously to their entrance into office, each and all of them, beginning with thyself, shall swear in the presence of the Metropolitan that they undertake to do nothing contrary

[Servia.]

to the interest of the nation, to the obligations which their offices impose upon them, to those of their conscience, or to my Imperial will. The sole duty of the Council will be to discuss the public interests of the nation, and to afford unto thee its services and its aid.

No statute shall be adopted, no new Tax levied, without its having been in the first instance and previously adopted and approved by the Council.

The Allowances of the Members of the Council shall be fixed by thee, by common consent and in a suitable manner, and when they shall have met together in the place where the Central Administration of the Principality is fixed, the circle of their activity shall be confined and limited to the following matters :— To discuss and decide upon questions and matters concerning the Institutions and Laws of the country, justice, taxes, and other contributions.

To fix the allowances and emoluments of all the servants of the country, as likewise to create new offices if there should be occasion for them.

To estimate the expense annually requisite for the administration of the country, and to deliberate upon the means most suitable and best adapted for imposing and levying the contributions by which the expenditure is to be met.

And, finally, to deliberate upon the compilation of a law which shall specify the number, the pay, and the service of the national troops entrusted with the maintenance of good order and tranquillity in the country.

The Council shall have the right of drawing up the draft of any law which shall appear to it to be beneficial, and of submitting it after the President and Secretary of the Council shall have affixed their signature thereto; on condition, nevertheless, that such law in no way affects the legal rights of the Government of my Sublime Porte, which is master of the Country. In the questions debated in the Council, the decision which shall have had in its favour the majority of voices, shall be adopted.

The Council shall have the right to demand every year, in the course of March and April, from the 3 Directors above mentioned, a summary of their proceedings during the course of the year, and to examine their accounts.

The 3 High Functionaries, Directors of Internal Affairs, of the Finances, and of Justice, as likewise the Director of the