[French Pecuniary Indemnity.] No. 83.-PROTOCOL of Conference between the Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and France. Signed at Aix-la-Chapelle, 3rd November, 1818. TABLE. Reference to Convention of 9th October, 1818. Pecuniary Indemnity to the Allied Powers: Injurious effect of the too frequent exportation of specie from France. Extension of period of payment and issue of Bills. Arrangements with Messrs. Baring. Reservations of Prussia. Further extension of periods of payment. Modification of arrangement as to Bills. Extension of Guarantee. (Translation as laid before Parliament.*) Reference to Convention of 9th October, 1818. Pecuniary Indemnity to the Allied Powers. Injurious effect of the too frequent exportation of Specie from France. THE Duke de Richelieu represented at the Conference that the terms for the payment of the 265,000,000 to be furnished by France, according to the Convention of the 9th of October (No. 82), having been fixed at very near periods, a too rapid exportation of specie has been occasioned, which tends to produce a depreciation in the inscriptions of Rentes, equally injurious to the interests of all the Contracting Parties. To remedy this inconvenience, the Duke de Richelieu, proposed the following arrangements: Extension of period of Payment and issue of Bills. 1st. That the 165,000,000 which France ought to discharge, according to Article VI. of the Convention (No. 82), by 9 equal monthly instalments, from the 6th of January to the 6th of September next, shall be paid by twelve monthly instalments, from the 6th of January to the 6th of December inclusive; the interest for the delay of three months being made good by France at the rate of 5 per cent. Arrangements with Messrs. Baring. 2nd. That the 100,000,000 to be discharged by inscriptions of Rentes, according to Article V. of the said Convention (No. 82), and for which the different Governments have treated with Messrs. Baring and Hope, shall be realized by payments made at the same epochs, and with the same allowance of Interest, *For French version, see "State Papers," vol. vi., p. 11. [French Pecuniary Indemnity.] by the drawers, on account of the delay which shall be granted them. 3rd. That arrangements shall be adopted with the abovementioned houses, in order that the Bills drawn upon them, conformably to Article VI., may be paid in assets at the different places which may suit the convenience of the Governments interested, in such a manner as to effect their discharge, and avoid the removal of too great a mass of specie. M.M. the Ministers and Plenipotentiaries of Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, were unanimously of opinion to admit the proposition of the Duke of Richelieu with the proviso that, with respect to Article III. particular arrangements shall be contracted with Messrs. Baring and Hope, to fix the terms on which the assets in foreign funds shall be accepted; and also that, in order to facilitate these arrangements, Mr. Baring should be invited to come to Aix-la-Chapelle, to take measures for that purpose, in concert with the persons charged with this business. Reservations of Prussia. Prince Hardenberg, moreover, placed on the Protocol the subjoined observations and reservations, relative to the private arrangement that the Prussian Government entered into with Messrs. Baring, for the part of the payments stipulated by the Convention of the 9th of October (No. 82), which accrue to the said Government. METTERNICH. WELLINGTON. HARDENBERG. BERNSTORFF. NESSELRODE. CAPO D'ISTRIA. Subjoined to the Protocol of the 3rd November, 1818. If the Prussian Government consents to the proposed modifications of the pecuniary stipulations of the Convention of the 9th of October, it is in the threefold supposition Arrangement with Messrs. Baring.* 1st. That its private arrangement with Messrs. Hope and Co. and Baring, Brothers, and Co. remain entire, except with regard * See Note, page 559. [French Pecuniary Indemnity.] to such modifications as the Prussian Government may ultimately agree upon with those houses. Modification of Arrangement as to Payment of Bills. 2nd. That the loss which may result from the proposed payment in assets, upon foreign places, shall be made good to the Allied Sovereigns; and Extension of Guarantee. 3rd. That the guarantee already stipulated for the payments shall also extend to the more remote periods now agreed upon, required. [Evacuation of French Territory.] No. 84.-NOTE addressed by the Plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia to the Duke of Richelieu. Aix-la-Chapelle, 4th November, 1818. [This Note formed Annex A to the Protocol of 15th November, 1818.] SUBJECT. Reference to Treaty of 20th November, 1815. Discontinuance of Military Occupation of French Territory. Final completion of the General Peace. Invitation to France to take part in the deliberations of the Allied Powers for the Maintenance of Peace, and the execution of the Treaties upon which it has been founded. (Translation.*) Reference to Treaty of 20th November, 1815. THE Undersigned Ministers of the Cabinets of Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, have received orders from their august masters to address to His Excellency the Duke of Richelieu the following communication: Called by Article V. of the Treaty of the 20th November, 1815 (No. 40), to examine, in concert with His Majesty the King of France, whether the military occupation of a part of the French territory, stipulated by the said Treaty, might cease at the end of the third year, or ought to be prolonged to the end of the fifth, their Majesties the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of all the Russias, have repaired to Aix-la-Chapelle, and have charged their Ministers to assemble there, in conference with the Plenipotentiaries of their Majesties the King of France and the King of Great Britain, in order to proceed to the examination of this important question. In this examination the attention of the Ministers and Plenipotentiaries had for its particular object the internal situation of France; it was said to be directed to the execution of the engagements contracted by the French Government, towards the cosubscribing Powers to the Treaty of the 20th November, 1815 (No. 40). The internal state of France having long been the subject of serious deliberations in the Cabinets, and the Plenipotentiaries assembled at Aix-la-Chapelle having mutually communicated the For French version, see "State Papers," vol. vi., p. 16. [Evacuation of French Territory.] opinions which they had formed in that respect, the august Sovereigns, after having weighed these opinions in their wisdom, have recognised with satisfaction, that the order of things happily established in France, by the restoration of the legitimate and constitutional Monarchy, and the success which has hitherto crowned the paternal care of His Most Christian Majesty, fully justify the hope of a progressive consolidation of that order of things so essential to the repose and prosperity of France, and so strictly connected with the great interests of Europe. With regard to the execution of the engagements, the communications which, since the opening of the Conferences, the Plenipotentiary of His Most Christian Majesty has addressed to the Ministers of the other Powers have left no doubt on this question, as they prove that the French Government has fulfilled, with the most scrupulous and honourable punctuality, all the clauses of the Treaties and Conventions of the 20th November (Nos. 40-46); and propose, with respect to those clauses, the fulfilment of which was reserved for more remote periods, arrangements which are satisfactory to all the contracting parties. Such being the results of the examination of these grave questions, their Imperial and Royal Majesties congratulated themselves, that they have only to listen to those sentiments and those personal wishes which induced them to put an end to a measure which disastrous circumstances, and the necessity of providing for their own security, and that of Europe, could alone have dictated to them, From that moment the august Sovereigns resolved to cause the Military Occupation of the French Territory to be discontinued; and the Convention of the 9th October (No. 82) sanctioned this resolution. They regard this solemn act as the final completion of the General Peace. Considering now, as the first of their duties, that of preserving to their people the benefits which that Peace assures to them, and to maintain in their integrity the transactions which have established and consolidated it, their Imperial and Royal Majesties flatter themselves that His Most Christian Majesty, animated by the same sentiments, will receive with the interest which he attaches to everything tending to the welfare of mankind, and to the glory and prosperity of his country, the proposition which their Imperial and Royal Majesties address to him, to unite henceforth his councils and his efforts to those which they will not cease to devote to so salutary a work. |