to N. laden with N. the faid fhip having been examined before her departure, in the ufual manner, by the officers of the place appointed for that purpose. And the faid N. or fuch other perfon as fhall happen to fucceed him, fhall produce this licence in every port or haven which he may enter with his fhip, to the officers of the place, and fhall give a true account to them of what fhall have paffed or happened during his voyage; and he fhall carry the colours, arms, and enfigns of N. during his voyage.

In witness whereof, we have figned thefe prefents, and fet the feal of our arms thereto, and caufed the fame to be counterfigned by N. at in the year, &c. &c.

day of

[The following CONVENTION of January 1787 is printed from the copy which was published by authority in 1787.]

The Convention between his Britannic Majefty and the Moft Chriftian King. Signed at Verfailles, the 15th of January, 1787.

THE King of Great Britain, and the most Christian King, being willing, in conformity to the 6th and 43d articles of the treaty of navigation and commerce, figned at Verfailles the 26th of September, 1786, to explain and fettle certain points which had been referved, their Britannic and moft Chriftian Majefties, always difpofed more particularly to confirm the good understanding in which they are happily united, have named, for that purpose, their refpective Plenipotentiaries, to wit, on the part of his Britannic Majefty, William Eden, Efq; Privy Counfellor in Great Britain and Ireland, Member of the British Parliament, and his Envoy Extraordinary and Minifter Plenipotentiary to his moft Christian Majefty; and on the part of his moft Christian Majefty, the Count de Vergennes, Minifter and Secretary of

State

State for the department of Foreign Affairs, and Chief of the Royal Council of Finances; who, after having communicated to each other their refpective full powers, have agreed upon the following articles.

I. Their Majefties having ftipulated, in the 6th article of the faid treaty, "That the duties on hardware, cutlery, cabinet ware, and turnery, and on all "works, both heavy and light, of iron, fteel, copper, and brafs, fhall be claffed; and that the highest duty fhall not exceed ten per cent. ad valorem," it is agreed, that cabinet ware and turnery, and every thing that is included under thofe denominations, as alfo mufical inftruments, fhall pay ten per cent. ad

valorem.

All articles made of iron or fteel, pure or mixed, or worked or mounted with other fubftances, not exceeding in value fixty livres Tournois, or fifty fhillings per quintal, fhall pay only five per cent. ad valorem; and all other wares, as buttons, buckles, knives, fciffars, and all the different articles included under the defcription of hardware and cutlery, as alfo all other works of iron, fteel, copper, and brafs, pure or mixed, or worked or mounted with other fub'ftances, fhall pay ten per cent. ad valorem.

If either of the two Sovereigns fhould think proper to admit the faid articles, or only fome of them, from any other nation, by reafon of their utility, at a lower duty, the fubjects of the other Sovereign fhall be allowed to participate in fuch diminution, in order that no foreign nation may enjoy in this refpect any preference to their disadvantage.

The works of iron, fteel, copper, and brafs abovementioned, are not to be understood to extend to bar iron or pig iron, or in general to any kind of iron, fteel, copper, or brafs, in the ftate of the raw mate

rial.

II. Their Majefties having alfo ftipulated in the 6th article, "That, for the better fecuring the due VOL. I. "collection

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"collection of the duties payable ad valorem, which "are fpecified in the tariff, they will concert with "each other the form of the declarations to be made, "and the proper means of preventing fraud with re

fpect to the real value of the goods and merchan"dizes," it is agreed that each declaration fhall be given in writing, figned by the merchant, owner, or factor, who answers for the merchandizes at their entry; which declaration fhall contain an exact lift of the faid merchandizes, and of their packages, of the marks, numbers, and cyphers, and of the contents of each bale or cafe, and fhall certify that they are of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the kingdom from whence they are imported, and fhall alfo exprefs the true and real value of the faid merchandizes, in order that the duties may be paid in confequence thereof. That the officers of the cuftom-house where the declaration may be made, fhall be at liberty to make fuch examination as they fhall think proper of the faid merchandizes, upon their being landed, not only for the purpose of verifying the facts alledged in the faid declaration, that the merchandizes are of the produce of the country therein mentioned, and that the ftatement of their value and quantity is exact, but also for that of preventing the clandeftine introduction of other merchandizes in the fame bales or cafes: Provided, nevertheless, that fuch examinations shall be made with every poffible attention to the convenience of the traders, and to the preservation of the faid merchandizes.

In cafe the officers of the cuftoms should not be fatisfied with the valuation made of the merchandizes in the faid declaration, they fhall be at liberty, with the confent of the principal officer of the customs at the port, or of fuch other officer as fhall be appointed for that purpose, to take the faid merchandizes according to the valuation made by the declaration, allowing to the merchant or owner an overplus of ten per cent. and refunding to him the duties he may

have paid for the faid merchandizes. In which cafe, the whole amount fhall be paid without delay, by the custom-house of the port, if the value of the effects in queftion fhall not exceed four hundred and eighty livres Tournois, or twenty pounds fterling; and within fifteen days, at lateft, if their value fhall exceed that fum.

And if doubts fhould happen to arife, either refpecting the value of the faid merchandizes, or the country of which they are the produce, the officers of the customs at the port fhall come to a determination thereupon, with all poffible dispatch, and no greater fpace of time fhall be employed for that purpose, in any cafe, than eight days, in the ports where the officers who have the principal direction of the cuftoms refide, and fifteen days in any other port whatsoever.

It is fuppofed and understood, that the merchandizes admitted by the prefent treaty fhall be refpectively of the growth, produce, or manufacture of the dominions of the two Sovereigns in Europe.

To oblige the traders to be accurate in the declarations required by the prefent article, as alfo to prevent any doubt that might arife on that part of the tenth article of the faid treaty, which provides, that if any of the effects are omitted in the declaration delivered by the mafter of the fhip, they fhall not be liable to confifcation, unless there be a manifeft appearance of fraud; it is understood that, in fuch cafe, the faid effects fhall be confifcated, unless fatisfactory proof be given to the officers of the cuftoms that there was not any intention of fraud.

III. In order to prevent the introduction of callicoes, manufactured in the Eaft Indies, or in other countries, as if they had been manufactured in the refpective dominions of the two Sovereigns in Europe, it is agreed, that the callicoes manufactured in the faid dominions for exportation from one country to the other refpectively, fhall have at the two ends of each piece a particular mark, woven in the piece, to

be fettled in concert by the two governments, of which mark the respective governments fhall give nine months previous notice to the manufacturers; and the faid mark fhall be altered from time to time, as the cafe may require. It is further agreed, that until the faid precaution can be put in execution, the faid callicoes mutually exported, fhall be accompanied by a certificate of the officers of the cuftoms, or of fuch other officer as fhall be appointed for that purpose, declaring that they were fabricated in the country from whence they were exported, and alfo that they are furnished with the marks already prefcribed in the refpective countries, to diftinguifh fuch callicoes from thofe which come from other countries.

IV. In fettling the duties upon cambricks and lawns, it is understood that the breadth fhould not exceed, for the cambricks, feven-eighths of a yard, Englifh measure (about three quarters of an ell of France) and for the lawns, one yard and a quarter, English measure (one ell of France) and if any fhall hereafter be made of a greater breadth than what is abovementioned, they fhall pay a duty of ten per cent. ad

valorem.

V. It is alfo agreed, that the ftipulations in the 18th article of the treaty fhall not be conftrued to derogate from the privileges, regulations, and ufages already established in the cities or ports of the refpective dominions of the two Sovereigns: and further, that the 25th article of the faid treaty fhall be conftrued to relate only to fhips fufpected of carrying, in time of war, to the enemies of either of the high contracting parties, any prohibited articles, denominated contraband; and the faid article is not to hinder the examinations of the officers of the customs, for the purpose of preventing illicit trade in the refpective dominions.

VI. Their Majefties having ftipulated, by the 43d article of the faid treaty, that the nature and extent of