STATEMENT of the Distribution of the British Naval Force, at the Commencement of Hostilities, February 1793.

TOTAL.

1st Rate,

100 & up.

2d Rate,

98 to 90.

3

5

47

20 102

。 5 TOTAL.

10

10

11

6

5

4

2002

68 211

0

0

1

8 54

0

65685

12503

20000

8-972

118

7! 23 120 25 94 42 97 408

STATEMENT of the Distribution of the British Naval Force, at the Conclusion of Hostilities, July 1815.

TREATIES.

I. CONVENTION BETWEEN HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY AND THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA.

SIGNED AT ST. PETERSBURGH, THE TH JUNE 1801.

In the Name of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity. THE mutual desire of his Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, being not only to come to an understanding between themselves with respect to the differences which have lately interrupted the good understanding and friendly relations which subsisted between the two States; but also to prevent, by frank and precise explanations upon the navigation of their respective subjects, the renewal of similar altercations and troubles which might be the consequence of them; and the common object of the solicitude of their said Majesties being to settle, as soon as can be done, an equitable arrangement of those differences, and an invariable determination of their principles upon the rights of neu trality, in their application to their respective monarchies, in order to unite more closely the ties of friendship and good intercourse, of which they acknowledge the utility and benefits; have named and chosen for their plenipotentiaries, viz.—His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Alleyne Lord Baron St. Helens, his said Majesty's Privy Counsellor, and his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias; and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, Sieur Nikita Count de Panin, his Privy Counsellor, Minister of State for the Department of Foreign Affairs, present Chamberlain, Knight Grand Cross of the Orders of St. Alexander Newsky and of St. Anne, of the first class, and that of St. Ferdinand and of Merit, of the Red Eagle, and of St. Lazarus ; who, after having communicated their respective full powers, and found them in good and due form, have agreed upon the following points and articles:

Article I. There shall be hereafter between his Britannic Majesty and his Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, their subjects, the states and countries under their dominion, good and unalterable friendship and understanding, and all the political, commercial, and other relations of common utility, between the respective subjects, shall subsist as formerly, without their being disturbed or troubled in any manner whatever.

Article II. His Britannic Majesty and the Emperor of all the Russias declare, that they will watch over the most rigorous execution of the prohibitions against the trade of contraband of their subjects with the enemies of either of the high contracting parties. Article III. His Britannic Majesty and his Imperial Majesty of all the Russias having resolved to place under a sufficient safeguard the freedom of commerce and navigation of their subjects,

in case one of them shall be at war, whilst the other shall be neuter, have agreed

1. That the ships of the neutral power may navigate freely to the ports, and upon the coasts of the nations at war.

2. That the effects embarked on board neutral ships shall be free, with the exception of contraband of war, and of enemy's property; and it is agreed not to comprise under the denomination of the latter, the merchandize of the produce, growth, or manufacture of the countries at war, which should have been acquired by the subjects of the neutral power, and should be transported for their account, which merchandize cannot be excepted in any case from the freedom granted to the flag of the said power.

3. That in order to avoid all equivocation and misunderstanding of what ought to be considered as contraband of war, his Britannic Majesty, and his Imperial Majesty of all the Russias, declare, conformably to the 11th Article of the Treaty of Commerce concluded between the two crowns on the 10th (21st) February 1797, that they acknowledge as such the following articles only, viz. -Cannons, mortars, fire-arms, pistols, bombs, grenades, balls, bullets, firelocks, flints, matches, gunpowder, saltpetre, sulphur, cuirasses, pikes, swords, sword-belts, knapsacks, saddles and bridles, excepting, however, the quantity of the said articles which may be necessary for the defence of the ship and of those who compose the crew; and all other articles whatever not enumerated here shall not be reputed warlike and naval stores, nor be subject to confiscation, and of course shall pass freely, without being subjected to the smallest difficulty, unless they be considered enemy's property in the sense above specified. It is also agreed, that that which is stipulated in the present article shall not be prejudicial to the particular stipulations of one or the other crown with other powers, by which articles of a similar kind should be reserved, prohibited, or permitted.

4. That in order to determine what characterises a blockaded port, that denomination is given only to a port where there is, by the dispositions of the power which attacks it with ships stationary, or sufficiently near, an evident danger in entering.

5. That the ships of the neutral powers shall not be stopped but upón just causes and evident facts; that they be tried without delay, and that the proceeding be always uniform, prompt, and legal.

In order the better to ensure the respect due to the stipulations, dictated by the sincere desire of conciliating every interest, and to give a new proof of their uprightness and love of justice, the high contracting parties enter here into the most formal engagement to renew the severest prohibitions to their captains, whether of ships of war or merchantmen, to take, keep, or conceal, on board their ships, any of the articles which, in the terms of the present convention, may be reputed contraband, and respectively to take care of the execution of the orders which they shall have published in their admiralties, and wherever it shall be necessary.

Article IV. The two high contracting parties, wishing also to prevent all subject of dissension in future, by limiting the right of search of merchant ships going under convoy, to those cases only in which the belligerent power might experience a real prejudice by the abuse of the neutral flag, have agreed

1. That the right of searching merchant ships belonging to the subjects of one of the contracting powers, and navigating under

convoy of a ship of war of the said power, shall only be exercised by ships of war of the belligerent party, and shall never extend to letters of marque, privateers, or other vessels, which do not belong to the royal or imperial fleet of their Majesties, but which their subjects shall have fitted out for war.

2. That the proprietors of all merchant ships, belonging to the subjects of one of the contracting sovereigns, which shall be destined to sail under convoy of a ship of war, shall be required, before they receive their sailing orders, to produce, to the commander of the convoy, their passports and certificates, or sea-letters, in the form annexed to the present treaty.

3. That when such ship of war, having under convoy merchant ships, shall be met with by a ship or ships of war of the other contracting party who shall then be in a state of war, in order to avoid all disorder, they shall keep out of cannon-shot, unless the state of the sea, or the place of meeting, render a nearer approach necessary; and the commander of the ship of the belligerent power shall send a boat on board the convoy, where they shall proceed reciprocally to the verification of the papers and certificates that are to prove, on the one part, that the ship of war is authorized to take under its escort such or such merchant ships of its nation, laden with such a cargo, and for such a port: on the other part, that the ship of war of the belligerent party belongs to the royal or imperial fleet of their Majesties.

4. This verification made, no search shall take place if the papers are found in form, and if there exist no good motive for suspicion. In the contrary case, the commander of the neutral ship of war (being duly required thereto by the commander of the ship or ships of war of the belligerent power) is to bring to and detain his convoy during the time necessary for the search of the ships which compose it, and he shall have the faculty of naming and delegating one or more officers to assist at the search of the said ships, which shall be done in his presence on board each merchant ship, conjointly with one or more officers appointed by the commander of the ship of the belligerent party.

5. If it happen that the commander of the ship or ships of the power at war, having examined the papers found on board, and having interrogated the master and crew of the ship, shall see just and sufficient reason to detain the merchant ship, in order to proceed to an ulterior search, he shall notify such intention to the commander of the convoy, who shall have the power to order an officer to remain on board the ship thus detained, and to assist at the examination of the cause of her detention. The merchant ship shall be carried immediately to the nearest and most convenient port belonging to the belligerent power, and the ulterior search shall be carried on with all possible diligence.

Article V. It is in like manner agreed, that, if any merchant ship, thus convoyed, should be detained without just and sufficient cause, the commander of the ship or ships of war of the belligerent power shall not only be bound to make to the owners of the ship and of the cargo, a full and perfect compensation for all the losses, expences, damages, and costs, occasioned by such a detention, but shall moreover undergo an ulterior punishment for every act of violence or other fault which he may have committed, according as the nature of the case may require. On the other hand, the convoying ship shall not be permitted, under any pretext whatso

ever, to resist by force the detention of the merchant ship or ships, by the ship or ships of war of the belligerent power; an obligation which the commander of a ship of war with convoy is not bound to observe towards letters of marque and privateers.

Article VI. The high contracting parties shall give precise and efficacious orders that the judgements upon prizes made at sea shall be conformable with the rules of the most exact justice and equity; that they shall be given by judges above suspicion, and who shall not be interested in the affair in question. The government of the respective states shall take care that the said decisions shall be speedily and duly executed, according to the forms prescribed. And, in case of an unfounded detention, or other contravention to the regulations stipulated by the present article, the owners of such ship and cargo shall be allowed damages proportioned to the loss occasioned thereby. The rules to observe for these damages, and for the case of unfounded detention, as also the principles to follow for the purpose of accelerating the process, shall be the matter of additional articles, which the contracting parties agree to settle between them, and which shall have the same force and validity as if they were inserted in the present act. For this effect, their Britannic and Imperial Majesties mutually engage to put their hand to the salutary work, which may serve for the completion of these stipulations, and to communicate to each other, without delay, the views which may be suggested to them by their equal solicitude to prevent the least grounds for dispute in future.

Article VII. To obviate all the inconveniences which may arise from the bad faith of those who avail themselves of the flag of a nation without belonging to it, it is agreed to establish for an inviolable rule, that any vessel whatever, in order to be considered as the property of the country the flag of which it carries, must have on board the captain of the ship and one half of the crew of the people of that country, and the passports in due and perfect form; but every vessel which shall not observe this rule, and which shall infringe the ordinances published on that head, shall lose all rights to the protection of the contracting powers.

Article VIII. The principles and measures adopted by the present act shall be alike applicable to all the maritime wars in which one of the two powers may be engaged, whilst the other remains neutral. These stipulations shall in consequence be regarded as permanent, and shall serve for a constant rule to the contracting powers in matters of commerce and navigation.

Article IX. His Majesty the King of Denmark, and his Majesty the King of Sweden, shall be immediately invited, by his Imperial Majesty, in the name of the two contracting parties, to accede to the present convention, and at the same time to renew and confirm their respective treaties of commerce with his Britannic Majesty; and his said Majesty engages, by acts which shall have established that agreement, to render and restore, to each of these powers, all the prizes that have been taken from them, as well as the territories and countries, under their dominion, which have been conquered by the arms of his Britannic Majesty, since the rupture, in the state in which those possessions were found at the period at which the troops of his Britannic Majesty entered them. The orders of his said Majesty for the restitution of those prizes and conquests shall be immediately expedited, after the exchange of the ratifications