SPAIN. be obliged, with regard to the public exercise of religion, to govern and Vol. 1. Ch. II. behave themselves with all modesty, without giving any scandal in word or deed, or uttering any blasphemies and the same shall be done and observed by the subjects and inhabitants of the countries of the said Lords the States, coming into the lands of the said Lord the King. : 20. The merchants, masters of ships, pilots, seamen, their ships, merchandizes, commodities, and other goods belonging to them, may not be seized and arrested, either by virtue of any general or particular commission, or for any other cause whatsoever, nor upon the account of war or otherwise, nor even under the pretext of employing them for the preservation and defence of the country. However, we do not here mean to comprehend the seizures and arrests of justice in the ordinary methods upon account of debts, proper obligations, and valid contracts of those upon whom such seizures shall have been made; in which case actions and suits shall be carried on according to right and reason. 21. Certain judges shall be appointed on both sides in equal number, in form of the Chambre Mipartie, who shall sit in the Low Countries, and in such other places as shall be found convenient and proper, and that every where, sometimes under the obedience of the one, and sometimes of the other, according as shall be agreed by mutual consent; which judges appointed on both sides, shall (conformably to the commission and instruction that shall be given them, and upon which they shall make oath according to a certain form to be settled on both sides for that effect) have regard to the negociations of the inhabitants of the said Provinces of the Low Countries, and to the burdens and duties which of both sides shall be laid upon merchandizes and if the said Judges perceive that any excesses are committed on either side, or of both sides, they shall regulate and moderate the said excesses. : Moreover the said judges shall examine into disputes touching a failure in the execution of the Treaty, and the contraventions thereof, which from time to time may happen in the Countries on this side, as also in the distant Kingdoms, Countries, Provinces, and Islands of Europe; and shall summarily and fully determine therein, and decide as they see agreeable and conformable to the Treaty: the sentences and determinations of which judges shall be executed by the ordinary judges of the place where contravention shall have been committed, upon the persons of the contraveners, according as occasion and circumstances shall require nor must the said ordinary judges neglect to do the said execution, or suffer it to be neglected, but repair the contraventions within the space of six months after they the said ordinary judges shall have been hereto required. : 22. And if any sentences or judgments should pass upon the person of any of either Party, whether in a civil or criminal matter, they must not be put in execution against the persons of the condemned, nor against their goods. Nor shall any letters of mark or reprisal be granted, but upon cognizances of the cause, and in cases allowed by the imperial laws and constitutions, according to the order by them established. 23. It shall not be lawful to come ashore, enter, or stop at the ports, harbours, shallows, or roads of one another, with men of war and soldiers, in such number as may cause suspicion, without the leave and permission of Him to whom the said ports and harbours, shallows and roads, belong, unless they are forced in by storm, or obliged thereto through necessity, or Vol. I. Ch. II. A particular article concern ing navigation and commerce, concluded at Munster, the 4th day of Feb. 1648. 30. The subjects and inhabitants of the United Low Countries, may, every where in the lands under the obedience of the said Lord the King, employ such advocates, procurators, notaries, solicitors, and agents, as they shall think proper, whereto they shall be appointed by the ordinary judges, when it shall be needful, and the said judges shall be required. And on the other hand, the inhabitants and subjects of the said Lord the King coming into the countries of the said Lords the States shall have the same assistance. 62. The subjects and inhabitants of the countries of the said Lords the King and the States, of whatever quality or condition they be, are declared capable of succeeding to one another, as well without as with a will, according to the customs of the places; and if any successions of legacies have formerly fallen to any of them, they shall be maintained and preserved in their right thereto. 75. And to the end that the present Treaty may be the better observed, the said Lord the King and the States respectively promise to use their endeavours, and employ their power, each in his place, to render the passages free, and the seas and rivers navigable and secure from all incursions of pirates, corsairs, and robbers; and, if they can catch them, to chastise them with rigour. Done at Munster in Westphalia, 30th January 1648. The subjects and inhabitants of the United Provinces may sail and trade with all freedom and safety, in all the Kingdoms, States, and Countries which are or shall be in amity or neutrality with the States of the United Provinces; and they may not be disquieted or molested in their navigation and traffic aforesaid, upon the account of hostilities which happen, or may happen afterwards, between the said Lord the King of Spain, and the aforesaid Kingdoms, Countries, States, or any of them that may be in amity or neutrality with the said Lords the States as above; yet without permission to carry to the declared enemies of the said Lord the King, prohibited or contraband goods or merchandises. And in order to prevent this, and that the course of commerce may not be interrupted, they shall be obliged, when they enter into any harbours of the said Lord the King, with a design to go from thence to the harbours of the enemy, to shew their passports, containing the particulars of their loading, attested and marked with the ordinary mark, and approved by the officers of the Admiralty of that quarter from whence they part; but they must not over and above be visited or searched, and far less detained under any pretext whatsoever: as also when they are in the open sea, or come into any roads, without designing to enter into harbours, or break their bulk, they shall not be obliged to give any account of their lading. But it must be observed, that the Lords the States shall expressly forbid all their subjects to carry any prohibited or contraband merchandises to the enemies of the said King; and they shall give countermarks, in order the better to know the validity of the said passports of the admiralty, that so they may not be falsified provided always that the navigation and commerce of the subjects of the United Provinces with France, may reciprocally continue as formerly, on condition they do not carry into France merchandises coming from the States of the said King of Spain, that may be employed against Him and His States. And in case there be found in the said ships such goods, merchandises, or commodities as are declared prohibited and contraband shall be challenged and confiscated; but the ship and the other goods, merchandises, and commodities, in the said ship may not, for that reason, be molested or confiscated in anywise. And reciprocally the subjects of the said Lord the King shall have the same liberty of navigation and SPAIN. traffic, in case there should be any hostility between the said Lords the Vol. I. Ch. II. States, and the Kingdoms, States, or Countries, or any of them, which are or shall be in amity or neutrality with the said Lord the King of Spain, and that conformably to the aforesaid conditions and restrictions specified in this Article. This Article shall be observed, executed, and held as inserted in the Treaty of Peace, ratified by the Lord the King of Spain, and the Lords the States General of the United Provinces of the Low Countries, as the said principal Treaty, within two months after the exchange of the ratifications of the said principal Treaty, concluded and signed the 30th of January of this present year 1648, or as soon as possible after the said exchange; and the ratifications shall be exchanged and delivered on both sides in due and valid form. Done at Munster, the 4th of February 1648. Don Philip, by the Grace of God, King of Castille, of Leon, of Arragon, of the Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of Portugal, of Navarre, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Mallorca, of Sevilla, of Sardinia, of Cordua, of Corçega, of Murcia, of Jaen, of the Algarves, of Algecira, of Gibraltar, of the Íslands of the Canaries, of the East and West Indies, Islands, and Terra Firma of the Ocean, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgoña, of Brabant, and of Milan, Count of Apsburg, of Flanders, Lord of Biscay, and of Molina, &c. For as much as on the part of you Richard Anthony, Consul of the English nation, by you, and in the name of the vassals of the King of Great Britain, information hath been given to me, that by means of the Peace, which between this and that Kngdom is settled, those which do reside and commerce in Andaluzia, principally in the City of Sevilla, San Lucar, Cadiz and Malaga, humbly intreat me that I would be pleased to confirm to you the privileges, exemptions, and liberties which appertain to you, as well by the Articles of the said Peace, as by the confirmations of them, and other favours and indultos, which the King my Lord and Father (now in glory) granted you, and all others whatsoever, that have been granted by my Crowns of these my Kingdoms of Castille and of Portugal, commanding that they be observed and accomplished in all, and through all, without any limitation, and that they may be of more force, to grant them anew, with the qualities, amplifications, conditions, and declarations, which may be most convenient for you, imposing punishments upon whom shall contradict them, and not observe them; and that it may be known what they are, that there be given copies of them, of what favour I have granted them, having a due regard to the aforesaid, and because that for the occasions which I have of wars, you have offered to assist me with 2500 ducats of silver, paying 1000 down, and the other 1500 remaining, in the month of April, of this present year, for which Don Francisco Moreno, with the intervention of Don Antonio de Campo-Redondo y Rio, Knight of the Order of St. James, of my Privy Council, and of my Exchequer, in your name and by virtue of your Power, passed a writing or obligation in form, before John Cortez de la Cruz my notary, I have thought fit, and by these presents, of my own proper motive, certain knowledge, and Royal and absolute power, which in this part I will use, and do use, as King and natural Lord, not acknowledging any superior in temporals, I confirm and approve the said privileges of exemptions, and liberties, which appertain to you, as well by the Articles of the said Peace, as by the confirmations of them, and the rest of the favours, indultos, which the King my Lord and father granted you, and any others whatsoever, (1) Referred to in Treaty of 1667, Art. 9. Cedula of privi leges granted by His Majesty to the English which reside in Sevilla (1), San Lucar, Cadiz, and Malaga. SPAIN. Vol. I. Ch. II. which have been granted by my Crowns of Castille and Portugal, to the said vassals in all, and through all, as therein, and in every thing, and in part thereof is specified, contained, and declared, that they may be firm, stable, and valid to you, and be observed to you, kept and fulfilled, because that my intention and deliberate will is, that all those of the said nation may enjoy, and do enjoy them without any limitation, with condition, that during the time they shall reside in Andaluzia, the said English may not be put upon any office, or in any public post, nor made guardians, trustees, nor collectors, although they may be of the duties of Alcavalus, and Millones, or other duties which relate to my Royal Treasury; nor shall they demand from you loans, or donatives, nor oblige you to farm any rents, nor take your horses or slaves. And to do you further favour in conformity of what is capitulated in the said Peace, I will and permit that you may and do trade and commerce freely, and sell your merchandizes and goods, and buy those of my Kingdoms, and carry them thence, observing what is ordained by the laws and decrees that treat thereof, paying into my Royal Treasury the duties that ought to be paid, prohibiting as I do prohibit, and command that they do not take from you by force any merchandizes, as wheat or barley, although it be for dispatch of my armadas, fleets or galloons, neither for the Assentistas nor Estanqueros, and the said privileges shall be as to wheat and barley, according to the tax; and as to other things and merchandizes, as you shall covenant and agree for, without taking them from you till they have paid you for them, and that they shall not, upon the account aforesaid, give you any manner of trouble or vexation. And because that many of you trade in bringing to the ports of Andaluzia, City of Sevilla, and other parts, a great quantity of bacallao, and other kinds of fish, dry and salted, which being the most necessary provisions that can be, and creates you a great deal of cost and trouble, I will and command that you enjoy the custom of the City of Sevilla, in which it is ordered that those which arrive with any fish, dry and salted, there may not be imposed any rate, but that they sell at the price they will, without that it be necessary that they manifest it more than to the Ministers which recover my Royal revenues, and that if the ships in which they bring the said bacallao be great, that they cannot come up the river, and shall unload them in barks, the Judge of the Admiralty or any other may not put in the said barks any guards at the cost of the owners of them. In like sort I command that in case it appears that the said fish is rotten, and can not be spent, it be burnt or cast into the sea, without that by reason thereof there may be made any process against the owners, or persons that sold it, or be imprisoned or informed against. And because that the administrator of the Almoxarifazgos, and divers other duties, which are recovered on goods and merchandizes, have been used, upon information given, to seize the person they suspect, which to men of trade occasions much discredit, costs, and vexations: my will is, and I command, that upon the said informations, they only proceed against the merchandizes, and not against the persons permitting them, as I do permit them, that they may make, and do make their defences against the said vexations. And whereas, according to one Article of the said Peace, which treats in matter of religion, notwithstanding that in some law suit, it hath been endeavoured that they declare, whether they be Roman Catholics, or not, excusing, giving credit to the oath which they make, as being parties, or as witnesses, I command therefore, that in those matters, they shall not meddle with the natives of the said Kingdom: but that the said condition be fully observed, without making them any such questions, and to the oath you shall tender them in Court, the same faith and credit shall be given, as if they were natural Spaniards, without that upon this account, they are molested Vol. I. Ch. II. or troubled, or receive any grievance. And by reason that for justification of some causes, the judges and justices pretend, that the merchants should exhibit their books of trade, and thereupon they receive vexation and trouble, I command and will, that the books of the merchants of the said nation be not taken from them, but that they produce them in their own houses, to take out the article which shall be appointed, without demanding others, nor may be taken from them any other papers, upón punishment of him that shall contravene herein, to be chastised according to law. And because likewise the merchants enter their goods in the Custom-house of the City of Sevilla, of all the duties, which, because they are many, is made upon one sheet of paper, and firmed and signed by all the officers, and remains in possession of the warehouse-keeper of the Custom-house, that by virtue thereof, he may deliver such goods as go in bales, packs, trunks, and chests, and after they have taken them out, and put them in their houses, and warehouses, the head-waiter of the Custom-house, and the officers of the half per cent. shall not search your houses, nor goods, causing you trouble and vexation, asking of you the dispatches, it being manifest that you cannot have them, having left them in the power of the said head-waiter. I prohibit therefore and command, that the houses of the said merchants shall not be visited, nor be asked of them the dispatches of their goods, which doth not remain in their custody, so that this is to be understood, and is understood of the houses which are within the walls of the said city. And that it may be known, those who are of the said nation, let copies be given of the said privileges and exemptions which concerns you, and were granted you, as well by the Articles of the said Peace, as in any other manner whatsoever; and for the execution and accomplishing of all the aforesaid, I command those of my Privy Council, and the rest of my Counsellors, Juntas, and Tribunals of my Court, and the Presidents and Justices of my Courts, as also the Judges and Justices of the Peace belonging to my House, Court, and Chancery, and the Regent, and Judges of my Court de Grados, in the city of Sevilla, and the Chief Magistrate of the Court thereof, and all Mayors, Governors, Magistrates, and other inferior officers, as well of the said cities of Sevilla, Cadiz, and Malaga, and San Lucar de Barrameda, as of all other cities, towns, and places, of these my Kingdoms and Dominions, and judges and justices thereof, of whatever quality and condition they may be, to whom principally or accidently it shall concern in any manner whatsoever, the accomplishing of all that is contained in this my letter, that as soon as they shall have been required herewith, or with a copy thereof, signed by a public notary (to which shall be given as much credit as to the original) each one for that part which shall concern him, observe and accomplish, cause to be observed and accomplished, in all, and through all, as is contained therein, without that in the whole, or in part, there be put any impediment, or other doubt, or difficulty that shall oppose, or contravene its tenor, and form, nor consent, or allow that it be interpreted, limited, or suspended in whole or in part, contrary to the Cedulas, provisions, or other orders for observance thereof, in that part which shall relate to each of you, and that they provide, and give the necessary orders for the greater security of the favour, which by this my letter I grant you, and that at all times this favour may be certain and secure to you, that you may have a Judge Conservator, for Andaluzia, principally for the said cities of Sevilla, Malaga, Cadiz, and San Lucar de Barrameda, to whom I shall give sufficient commission for the preservation and accomplishing of the said privileges, liberties and exemptions (which may oblige and compel all and every person whatsoever, of whatsoever condition or quality soever they be) as shall concern the said nation, as well in those in which they shall be defendants, as in those in which they shall be SPAIN. |