sworn, and authorised, to act exactly in the manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in the present article. The said commissioners shall meet at St Andrews, in the province of New Brunswick, and shall have power to adjourn to such other place or places as they shall think fit. The said commissioners shall have power to ascertain and determine the points above mentioned, in conformity with the provisions of the said treaty of peace of 1783; and shall cause the boundary aforesaid, from the source of the river St Croix to the river Iroquois or Cateraguy to be surveyed and marked according to the said provisions; the said commissioners shall make a map of the said boundary, and annex to it a declaration under their hands and seals, certifying it to be a true map of the said boundary, and particularizing the latitude and longitude of the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, of the north-western head of Connecticut river, and of such other points of the said boundary as they may deem proper and both parties agree to consider such map and declaration as finally and conclusively fixing the said boundary. And in the event of the said two commissioners differing, or both, or either of them, refusing, declining, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements, shall be made by them, or either of them, and such reference to a friendly sovereign or state shall be made in all respects, as in the latter part of the fourth article is contained, and in as full a manner as if the same was herein repeated. Art. 6. Whereas, by the former treaty of peace, that portion of the boundary of the United States from the point where the 45th degree of north latitude strikes the river Iroquois or Cateraguy, to the Lake Superior, was declared to be "along" the middle of said river into Lake Ontario, through the middle of said lake, until it strikes the communica. tion by water between that lake and Lake Erie, thence along the middle of said communication into Lake Erie, through the middle of said lake, until it arrives at the water communication into the Lake Huron, thence through the middle of said lake to the water communication between that lake and Lake Superior;" and whereas doubts have arisen what was the middle of the said river, lakes, and water communications, and whether certain islands lying in the same were within the dominions of his Britannic Majesty or of the United states. In order, therefore, finally to decide these doubts, they shall be referred to two commissioners, to be appointed, sworn, and authorised to act exactly in the manner directed with respect to those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless otherwise specified in this present article. The said commissioners shall meet, in the first instance, at Albany, in the state of New York, and shall have power to adjourn to such other place or places as they shall think fit. The said commissioners shall, by a report or declaration, under their hands and seals, designate the boundary through the said river, lakes, and water communications, and decide to which of the two contracting parties the several islands lying within the said rivers, lakes, and water communications, do respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the treaty of 1788. And both parties agree to consider such designation and decision as final and conclusive. And in the event of the said two commissioners differing, or both or either of them refusing, declining, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements, shall be made by them, or either of them, and such reference to a friendly sovereign or state shall be made, in all respects as in the latter part of the fourth article is contained, and in as full a manner as if the same was herein repeated. Art 7. It is further agreed, that the said two last mentioned commissioners, after they shall have executed the duties assigned to them in the preceding article, shall be, and they are hereby authorised upon their oaths, impartially to fix and determine, according to the true intent of the said treaty of peace of 1783, that part of the boundary between the dominions of the two powers, which extends from the water communication between Lake Huron and Lake Superior, to the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods; to decide to which of the two parties the several islands lying in the lakes, water communications, and rivers forming the said boundary, do respectively belong, in conformity with the true intent of the said treaty of peace of 1783, and to cause such parts of the said boundary as require it, to be surveyed and marked. The said commissioners shall by a report or declaration, under their hands and seals, designate the boundary aforesaid, state their decision on the points thus referred to them, and particularise the latitude and longitude of the most north-western point of the Lake of the Woods, and of such other parts of the said boundary as they may deem proper. And both parties agree to consider such designation and decision as final and conclusive, And in the event of the said two commissioners differing, or both, or either of them, refusing, declining, or wilfully omitting to act, such reports, declarations, or statements, shall be made by them, or either of them, and such reference to a friendly sovereign or state shall be made in all respects as in the latter part of the fourth article is contained, and in as full a manner as if the same was herein repeated. Art. 8. The several boards of two commissioners, mentioned in the four preceding articles, shall respectively have power to appoint a secretary, and to employ such surveyors or other persons as they shall judge necessary. Duplicates of all their respective reports, declarations, statements, and decisions, and of their accounts, and of the jour nal of their proceedings, shall be deli vered by them to the agents of his Britannic Majesty, and to the agents of the United States, who may be respectively appointed and authorized to manage the business on behalf of their respective governments. The said commissioners shall be respectively paid in such manner as shall be agreed between the two contracting parties, such agreement being to be settled at the time of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty. And all other expenses attending the said commis sions shall be defrayed equally by the two parties. And in the case of death, sickness, resignation, or necessary absence, the place of every such commissioner respectively shall be supplied in the same manner as such commissioner was first appointed, and the new commissioner shall take the same oath or affirmation, and do the same duties. It is further agreed between the two contracting parties, that in case of any of the islands mentioned in any of the preceding articles which were in the possession of one of the parties prior to the commencement of the present war between the two countries, should, by the decision of any of the boards of commissioners aforesaid, or of the sovereign or state so referred to as in the four next preceding articles contained, fall within the dominions of the other party, all grants of land made previous to the commencement of the war by the party having had such possession, shall be as valid as if such island or islands had by such decision or decisions been adjudged to be within the dominions of the party having had such possession. Art. 9. The United States of America engage to put an end, immediately after the ratification of the present treaty, to hostilities with all the tribes or nations of Indians with whom they may be at war at the time of such ratification, and forthwith to restore to such tribes or nations respectively, all the possessions, rights, and privileges which they may have enjoyed or been entitled to in 1811, previous to such hostilities. Provided always, that such tribes or nations shall agree to desist from all hostilities against the United States of America, their citizens and subjects, upon the ratification of the present treaty being notified to such tribes or nations, and shall so desist accordingly. And his Britannic Majesty engages, on his part, to put an end immediately after the ratification of the present treaty, to hostilities with all the tribes or nations of Indians with whom he may be at war at the time of such ratification, and forthwith to restore to such tribes or nations respectively, all the possessions, rights, and privileges, which they may have enjoyed or been entitled to in 1811, previous to such hostilities. Provided always, that such tribes or nations shall agree to desist from all hostilities against his Britannic Majesty and his subjects, upon the ratification of the present treaty being notified to such tribes or nations, and shall so desist accordingly. Art. 10. Whereas the traffic in slaves is irreconcileable with the principles of humanity and justice, and whereas both his Majesty and the United States are desirous of continuing their efforts to promote its entire abolition, it is hereby agreed that both the contracting parties shall use their best endea vours to accomplish so desirable an object. Art. 11. This treaty, when the same shall have been ratified on both sides without alteration by either of the contracting parties, and the ratifications mutually exchanged, shall be binding on both parties; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington, in the space of four months from this day, or sooner if practicable. In faith whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed this treaty, and have thereunto affixed our seals. Done in triplicate at Ghent, the twenty-fourth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and fourteen. (L. S.) GAMBier. (L. S.) H. Goulburn. L. S.) JOHN Russell. Declaration relative to the Slave Trade. The plenipotentiaries of the powers who signed the treaty of Paris, the 30th of May 1814, assembled in Congress : Having taken into consideration that the traffic known under the name of the African Slave Trade has been regarded by just and enlightened men of all ages, as repugnant to the principles of humanity and of universal morality; that the particular circumstances to which this traffic owes ite origin, and the difficulty of abruptly interrupt ing its progress, have, to a certain degree, lessened the odium of continuing it; but that at last the public voice in all civilized countries has demanded that it should be suppressed as soon as possible; that since the cha. racter and the details of this traffic have been better known, and the evils of every sort which accompanied it completely unveiled, several European governments have resolved to suppress it; and that successively all powers possessing colonies in different parts of the world have acknowledged, either by legislative acts or by treaties and other formal engagements, the obliga tion and necessity of abolishing it; that by a separate article of the last treaty of Paris, Great Britain and France engaged to unite their efforts at the Congress at Vienna, to engage all the powers of Christendom to pronounce the universal and definitive abolition of the slave trade; that the plenipotentiaries assembled at this Congress cannot better honour their mis sion, fulfil their duty, and manifest the principles which guide their august sovereigns, than by labouring to realize this engagement, and by proclaiming in the name of their sovereigns the desire to put an end to a scourge which has so long desolated Africa, degraded Europe, and afflicted humanity : The said plenipotentiaries have agreed to open their deliberations as to the means of accomplishing so salutary an object, by a solemn declaration of the principles which have guided them in this work. Fully authorized to such an act, by the unanimous adherence of their respective courts to the principles announced in the said separate article of the treaty of Paris, they in consequence declare, in the face of Europe, that, looking upon the universal abolition of the slave trade as a measure particularly worthy of their attention, conformable to the spirit of the age, and to the general principles of their august sovereigns, they are animated with a sincere desire to concur, by every means in their power, in the most prompt and effectual execution of this measure, and to act in the employment of those means with all the zeal and all the perseverance which so great and good a cause merits. Too well informed of the sentiments of their sovereigns not to foresee, that, however honourable may be their object, they would not pursue it without a just regard to the interests, the ha bits, and even the prejudices of their subjects; the said plenipotentiaries at the same time acknowledge, that this general declaration should not prejudge the period which each particular power should look upon as expedient for the definitive abolition of the traffic in slaves. Consequently the determination of the period when this traffic ought universally to cease, will be an object of negociation between the different powers; it being, however, well understood, that no means proper to ensure and accelerate its progress should be neglected; and that the reciprocal engagement contracted by the present declaration between the sovereigns who have taken part in it, should not be considered as fulfilled until the moment when complete success shall have crowned their united efforts. In making this declaration known to Europe, and to all the civilized nations of the earth, the said plenipotentiaries flatter themselves they shall engage all other governments, and particularly those, who, in abolishing the traffic in slaves, have already manifested the same sentiments, to support them with their suffrage in a cause, of which the final triumph will be one of the greatest monuments of the age which undertook it, and which shall have gloriously carried it into complete effect. Vienna, Feb. 8, 1815. Note from the Plenipotentiaries of his Majesty the King of Naples, to Lord Castlereagh. Vienna, Feb, 11, 1815. The undersigned ministers plenipotentiaries of his Majesty the King of Naples have had the honour of addressing to his excellency my Lord Viscount Castlereagh, principal secretary of state of his Britannic Majesty for foreign affairs, an official Note, dated the 29th of December last, soliciting the conclusion of the definitive peace between the crowns of Naples and Great Britain. His excellency my Lord Castle reagh was so good as to assure the undersigned first plenipotentiary of his Neapolitan Majesty, that he would Occupy himself with the object of that note. It has nevertheless remained to this day without any result. Although the king cannot but be keenly affected by this silence, from the eagerness with which he is desirous of entering into more intimate relations with England, he has too much dependence on the sincerity and justice of the English government, to allow him to doubt for a moment of its fidelity in fulfilling the engagements which it has contracted towards him. If all those reasons which the undersigned urged in their note of the 29th of December last required to be corroborated by others still more power ful, they might recall to his excellency my Lord Castlereagh the convention which he proposed at Troyes, with the three other principal coalesced powers, by which the Britannic government, recognising the political existence of the King of Naples, solicited an indemnity in favour of the King of Sicily, as an indemnification for the kingdom of Naples. Austria, Russia, and Prussia adhered by separate acts of accession, stipulated at Troyes, the 15th of February, 1814, to that convention, which has irrevocably consecrated the prin ciple of the political existence of the King of Naples. It belonged next to the powers in whose hands were all the disposable countries conquered from the enemy, to find and to proportion the indemnity to be given to the King of Sicily. His Neapolitan Majesty could concur no otherwise in this than by his good offices; and he has fulfilled on this point the engagements which he contracted by his treaty of alliance of the 11th of January, 1814, the undersigned having declared by the note which they have had the honour of ad dressing to his excellency my Lord Castlereagh, under date of the 29th of December last, that they were ready to concur in the arrangement which might be proposed for that effect. Thus, under whatever point of view the Britannic government wishes to view its position with regard to the King of Naples, it can only consider as just and reasonable the demand which the undersigned are charged with reiterating to his excellency my Lord Castlereagh, of proceeding to the prompt conclusion of a defini tive treaty of peace between the two crowns. No person can better be qualified than my Lord Castlereagh to enlighten the English government with respect to the affairs of Naples. Having con curred in the negociation which pre ceded and which followed the acces sion of his Neapolitan Majesty to the coalition, he was the organ of the engagements entered into by the Eng lish government towards the court of Naples, and his character for justice and probity is too well known to al low the undersigned to suppose that his political conduct will vary in any manner, and they are certain that he will support in London the engage ments which he contracted in the name of his government towards the King of Naples, as well as the pro |