of mischief. Nevertheless, France, with a view to the bleffings of peace, offers England the choice of the pof feffions of Senegal or Goree, meaning that one or the other poffeffions fhall be reftored and guarantied to the King by his Britannick Majefty.

VIII. The island of Belleifle and the fortrefs conquered by the arms of England shall be restored to France, together with the artillery therein at the time of the conqueft.

IX. In confideration of the 8th Article to be granted by England, the King will cause his forces in Germany to evacuate the Landgraviate of Heffe, the county of Hanau, as well as the town, which fhall not be occupied by the troops of either power, leaving the navigation of the Maine free, and thofe parts of the Electorate of Hanover occupied by the French troops; and thefe evacuations fhall be preceded by a fufpenfion of arms between the two Crowns, which fufpenfion of arms fhall take place from the day of the ratification of the preliminaries, or the article of the definitive treaty, not only in Germany, but in all parts of the world where France and England

are at war.

X. As the King is under an engagement with the Emprefs Queen, to ftipulate nothing in his treaty of peace with England which may be difadvantageous to her Imperial Majefty, and as it was forefeen that, in cafe of a fufpenfion between the French and Britifh forces, the German troops in the pay of England might join thofe of the King of Pruffia against the Auftrian armies, the King, faithful to his engagements with his allies, and very far from intending to fettle any thing to her prejudice, propofes to the King of England, that it may be agreed between them, that his Britannick Majefty will undertake that no part of the forces which compofe Prince Ferdinand's army fhall, under any pretence whatever, or under any denomination, join the army of his Pruffian Majefty, or act offenfively against the Emprefs Queen or her allies; and in like manner, no French forces, under any pretence, fhall join the Imperial army, or ferve againft, the allies of Great Britain. To afcertain thefe pofitions, it fhall be farther concluded, that after thefe evacuations,

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evacuations, the army of the Upper Rhine, commanded by Marshal Broglio, fhall retire towards the Maine, the Necker, and the Rhine, occupying Francfort; and that of the Lower Rhine commanded by Marfhal Soubife, fhall, on the other fide, retire towards the Rhine, occupying Wefel and Guelders.

The countries belonging to the King of Pruffia, on the Lower Rhine, have been conquered, and are actually governed in the name of the Emprefs Queen: the King would not undertake to evacuate them without the confent of her Imperial Majefty, and before the fuccefs of the negociations at the Congrefs at Augfburg, which is to restore peace between, the Emprefs and the King of Pruffia; but as it would be difadvantageous to the two Crowns to maintain a confiderable body of national forces in Germany, which, in time of peace, would remain in abfolute inactivity, and, by the conventions of the treaty, would become useless in every respect to the allies of France and England, the King undertakes, that, from the time that his Britannick Majefty, recals the English whom he has fent to his army in Germany, he will caufe double the number of French forces in his Majesty's armies on the Upper and Lower Rhine to return to France, fo that no French troops fhall continue in those parts, but in proportion to thofe which the King of England fhall keep in pay.

XI. If before the execution of the treaty, one of the two powers fhould make any conquefts, in whatever part of the world it be, they fhall be restored without hesitation, and without requiring any recompence.

XII. The captures made at fea by England before the declaration of the war, are objects of legal reftitution, and which the King will willingly fubmit to the juftice of the King of England and the English tribunals; in fact, fubjects, who under the faith of treaties, the law of nations, and in time of peace, follow their trade and navigation, cannot with juftice become fufferers by the misunderstandings fubfifting in the cabinets of the two Courts, before they have any intimation of it. Declarations of war are established by the law of nations, for no other purpose but to make publick to the people the

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contefts between their Sovereigns, and to give them warning, that their perfons and fortunes are in danger from an enemy. Unless fuch declaration is agreed upon, there can be no publick fecurity; every individual would be in danger, or in fear, every moment that he ftepped beyond the limits of his own country. If thefe principles are inconteftible, nothing remains but to examine the date of the declaration of war, between the two crowns, and the date of the captures; all that has been taken prior to the declaration, cannot be adjudged lawful prize, without overthrowing the moft falutary laws; it will be in vain to alledge that the French began hoftilities, and that the captures were taken by way of reprifal. What connection can there be between fuppofed hoftilities offered at Fort Duquesne, and the capture of trading veffels in the fouth part of America? Thefe hoftilities are the motives for the declaration of war; but the effects of that declaration cannot take place, till after the said declaration is made public; and it would be unjust to make individuals fuftain a lofs, who are totally ignorant of the facts and circumstances of a latent hoftility in a corner of the world which has occafioned a general war between the two nations.

This argument is deemed unanfwerable in France; and it is on this footing that the King challenges the right of nations, to the end that fome expedient may be agreed upon in the future treaty as a recompence for the captures made upon his fubjects previous to the declaration of war, without entering into any difcuffion about reprifals, which fhould be forgotten when the two Courts draw near to an agreement. France confults nothing but the intereft of the individuals who have been fufferers, and does not pretend to include the King's fhips taken before the declaration in the fettlement of the captures, as the lofs of the King's fhips may be confidered as a confequence of the motives of the war.

XIII. Though, during the course of the prefent war, the article of former treaties which guaranty the fucceffion to the Throne of Great Britain, according to the present eftablishment, has not been infringed, nevertheless the

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King

King is well difpofed to comprise that guaranty in the future treaty, if the King of England defires it.

XIV. The prisoners made on each fide, as well by fea as land, fhall be fet at liberty, and fent home without ranfom, immediately on the ratification of the peace.

His Britannick Majefty will readily perceive, that these articles are not drawn in the form of a treaty; they are only offered to him as articles explained in their full extent, which elucidate the fentiments of France, and put the two Crowns in a condition to treat upon certain and diftinct objects.

This memorial was fent to London on the 15th of July. The date is mentioned, because the British Miniftry reproached the French Ministry with having delayed the difpatch of the memorial; and it is proper to obferve, that the last answer from England did not reach France till the ift of July; that there was a neceffity of having feveral conferences with Mr. Stanley, to form the scheme of a treaty, which comprehended the precise difcuffion of objects in every part of the world where the two Crowns are at war, and which was to produce the reestablishment of peace, or the continuance of the war, The reproach of a delay of fifteen days, upon fo interesting a business, was certainly an instance of injustice.

However that point be fettled, it is fubmitted to the difcernment and justice of all Europe to determine, whether the memorial of France of the 15th of July did not confirm the principles of reconciliation, which had hitherto appeared in every step taken by that Crown, The Court of France acted with fuch integrity, in the confidence the repofed in the pacific difpofition of Eng land, that having facrificed confiderable interests, she carried her forecaft fo far, as to intimate to the Court of London her apprehenfions left the matters which remained to be difcuffed between Spain and England, and which were not yet adjufted, should in the end prove an obftacle to the duration and folidity of the peace which the King and his Britannick Majefty were defirous of re-establishing between them.

In confequence of these apprehenfions, M. Buffy had orders to remind the Court of London, with refpect to

the

the fubject of the neutral Iflands, fpecified in the 20th article of the memorial, that his Catholick Majefty made fome claims upon thofe, Islands, with which the Court of Madrid had recently made that of Verfailles acquainted. The French Minifter was charged at the fame time to reprefent to Mr. Pitt, how dangerous it would be to determine the fate of thofe Iflands, without paying regard to the claims of his Catholick Majefty. M. Buffy was ordered to add, that it was evident that the Court of Spain would agree to the fettlement which thould be made between France and England, in relation to the four Ilands in question, provided that the three articles negociated at London on the part of the Court of Madrid, were adjufted at the fame time that the peace with France fhould be concluded there; and to teftify a fincerity as laudable as it was perfect, M. Buffy was charged to annex to the memorial of propofitions, the particular memorial which follows relative to Spain.

The private Memorial of France, of 15th July, 1761, relating to Spain.

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Sit is effential, and agreeable to the defire of France and England, that the projected treaty of peace hould ferve as a bafis for a folid reconciliation between the two Crowns, which may not be liable to be interrupted by the interests of a third power, and the engagements which either one or the other may have entered into previous to their reconciliation, he propofes that the King of Spain fhall be invited to guaranty the future treaty of peace between his Majefty and the King of Great Britain. This guaranty will obviate all prefent and future inconveniences with regard to the folidity of the peace.

The King will not difguife from his Majefty, that the differences of Spain with England fill him with apprehenfions, and give him room to fear, that, if they are not adjusted, they will occafion a fresh war in Europe and America. The King of Spain has communicated to his Majesty the three articles which remain to be difcuffed between his Crown and the Crown of Britain: which are,

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1. The