[Evacuation of France. Pecuniary Indemnity.] at the same time, the definitive execution of the said Treaty of 20th November, 1815,-His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on the one part, and His Majesty the King of France and Navarre, on the other part, have, for this purpose, named as their Plenipotentiaries, viz. : His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, Knight of the Most Noble and Illustrious Order of the Garter, His Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, &c. And the Most Excellent and Most Illustrious Lord, Arthur, Duke, Marquis, and Earl of Wellington, Marquis Douro, Viscount Wellington of Talavera and of Wellington, and Baron Douro of Wellesley; a Member of His Britannic Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, a Field-Marshal of his Forces, &c. And His Majesty the King of France and Navarre, the Sieur Armand Emanuel du Plessis Richelieu, Duke of Richelieu, Peer of France, His Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and President of the Council of His Ministers, &c.: Who, after having mutually communicated to each other their respective Full Powers, found to be in good and due form, have agreed upon the following Articles : Withdrawal of Army of Occupation from France. ART. I. The Troops composing the Army of Occupation shall be withdrawn from the Territory of France by the 30th of November next, or sooner, if possible. Strong Places and Fortresses to be given up to France. ART. II. The strong Places and Fortresses which the said Troops occupy, shall be given up to Commissioners named for that purpose by His Most Christian Majesty, in the state in which they were at the time of their occupation, comformably to Article IX. of the Convention (No. 42) concluded in execution of Article V. of the Treaty of 20th November, 1815 (No. 40). Pay, Equipment, and Clothing of Troops of Army of Occupation. ART. III. The sum destined to provide for the pay, the equipment, and the clothing of the Troops of the Army of Occupation, shall be paid, in all cases, up to the 30th of November next, on the same footing on which it has existed since the 1st of December, 1817. [Evacuation of France. Pecuniary Indemnity.] Pecuniary Indemnity to be paid by France to Allied Powers. ART. IV. All the accounts between France and the Allied Powers having been regulated and settled, the Sum to be paid by France, to complete the execution of the IVth Article of the Treaty of 20th November, 1815 (No. 40), is definitively fixed at 265,000,000 of francs. Payment in Inscriptions of Rentes. ART. V.* Of this sum the amount of 100,000,000, effective value, shall be paid by Inscriptions of Rentes on the Great Book of the Public Debt of France, bearing interest from the 22nd of September 1818. The said Inscriptions shall be received at the rate of the Funds on Monday the 5th of October, 1818. Payments by Monthly Instalments.† ART. VI. The remaining 165,000,000 shall be paid by 9 monthly instalments, commencing on the 6th of January next, by Bills on the Houses of Hope and Co. and Baring, Brothers and Co., which, as well as the Inscriptions of Rentes, mentioned in the above Article, shall be delivered to Commissioners of the Courts of Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, by the Royal Treasury of France, at the time of the complete and definitive evacuation of the French Territory. Bonds to be delivered by Commissioners of Allied Powers to Royal Treasury of France. ART. VII. At the same period, the Commissioners of the said Courts shall deliver to the Royal Treasury of France, the 6 Bonds not yet discharged, which shall remain in their hands, of the 15 Bonds delivered conformably to Article II. of the Convention concluded for the execution of Article IV. of the Treaty of 20th November, 1815. The said Commissioners shall, at the same time, deliver the Inscription of 7,000,000 of Rentes, created in virtue of Article VIII. of the said Convention. Ratifications. ART. VIII. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the * By Article I. of the Definitive Arrangement of the 2nd February, 1819, the Contract entered into between the Courts of Austria, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, and the houses of Hope and Company, and Baring, Brothers, and Company, for the realisation of the said Inscription of Rentes, was declared to be null and void. + See Protocol of 3rd November, 1818. [Evacuation of France. Pecuniary Indemnity.] Ratifications thereof exchanged at Aix-la-Chapelle in the space of a fortnight, or sooner if possible. In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have thereunto affixed the Seal of their Arms. Done at Aix-la-Chapelle, the 9th day of October, in the Year of our Lord 1818. (L.S.) CASTLEREAGH. (L.S.) WELLINGTON. (L.S.) RICHELIEU. NOTE. Similar Conventions were concluded at Aix-laChapelle, on the same day, between France and Austria, Prussia, and Russia, respectively. [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. |