TREATIES OF PEACE. THE articles of the treaty of peace with France are at length before the public; and high as this country had been raised by her recent military achievements, and by her two-andtwenty years of manly struggle, sometimes single-handed, for her own independence and the liberties of Europe, she is raised, if possible, still higher by her conduct during the late negociations, and by the happy results to which they have been brought. The history of diplomacy cannot, we believe, furnish an instance of a treaty concluded by so many great powers, in which private views have been so completely merged in considerations of public good, and in which so much prudent caution and foresight have been employed, to prevent the possibility of future dispute and collision. It will stand to future ages a monument of the wisdom, firm ness, magnanimity, and moderation of the allied governments, and it furnishes a gratifying illustration of the growing influence which the principles of morality and the claims of humanity have acquired in international deliberations.

The treaty signed at Paris on the 30th May, 1814, and the definitive act of the congress of Vienna, of the 15th June 1815, are confirmed in every particular which is not altered or modified by the present treaty. The modifications, however, are considerable. The general ground on which they have been introduced is thus explained:-"The allied powers, having, by their exertions and the triumph of their arms, preserved Frauce and Europe from the convulsions with which they were threatened by the late enterprize of Napoleon Bonaparte, and by the revolutionary system reproduced in France for its support; now participating with his most Christian majesty in the wish, by the inviolable maintenance of the royal dignity and by putting again in full force the constitutional charter, to consolidate the order of things happily re-established in France, and to bring back between France and its neighbours those relations of reciprocal confidence and good will which the mournful consequences of the Revolution, and of the system of conquest, had so long interrupted; and convinced that this object cannot be at

tained except by an arrangement cal culated to afford a just indemnity for the past, and solid security for the future; have deliberated, in concert with the king of France, on the means of effecting such an arrangement." With this view it is stipulated

1. That the frontiers of France shall remain as they were in 1790, with certain specified exceptions, viz. The fortresses of Philippeville, and Marienbourg, and the whole of the ancient duchy of Bouillon; the fortress of Sarrelouis and the course of the Sarre, together with the fortress of Landau, shall be separated from France. A small cession is made, for the purpose of establishing a free communication between Geneva and the Swiss Cantons. From Geneva to the. Mediterranean Sea, the line will be the same which in 1790 separated France from Savoy and the county of Nice. The principality of Monaco shall be detached from France, and united to Savoy. The boundaries shall be precisely fixed by commissioners, to be named in three months from the signature of the treaty.

2. That the places thus ceded by France shall be delivered up in ten days after the signing of the treaty, the king renouncing, for ever, all right of sovereignty over them.

3. That the fortifications of Huningen, which have proved a constant source of annoyance to the city of Bâle, shall be demolished, and no fortifications shall in future be erected nearer Bâle thaa three leagues.

4. That France shall pay to the allied powers, a sum of 700 millions of franes, by way of indemnity; the mode of payment to be regulated by a separate convention.

5. That the state of fermentation which still exists in France, notwithstanding the paternal intentions of the king and the advantages which all classes derive from the charter, making measures of temporary precaution absolutely necessary, a corps of the allied troops, which shall not exceed 150,000 men, shall occupy military positions along the frontiers of France; but so as not to infringe on the sovereignty of the king of France. This army will occupy Condè, Valenciennes, Bouchain, Cambray, Quesnoy, Maubeuge, Landrecies,

Avesnes, Rocroy, Givet with Charlemont, Mezieres, Sedan, Montmedy, Thionville, Longwy, Bitsch, and the Tête de Pont of Fort Louis; and it will be maintained by France, according to the regulations of a separate convention. This military occupation is to cease, at the latest, at the end of five years; but sooner, if the return of France to peace and order shall seem to the allies to justify an earlier evacuation.

6. That all foreign troops, not included in this army of 150,000 men, shall forth with quit France.

7. That a separate convention shall regulate the measures necessary for giving complete efficacy to the claims of foreigners, and particularly of the British, on the French government.

8. That all prisoners shall be restored on both sides, with the least possible delay.

The convention which regulates the payment of the pecuniary indemnity stipulates, that the whole 700 millions shall be liquidated in five years by a payment, every four months, of about 47 millions, without any charge of interest for this extension of time.

The military convention stipulates, that every thing relative to the composition and command of the army of occupation shall be determined by the allies; that the French government shall furnish, in kind, lodgings, firing, light, provisions and forage, the quantities to be furnished being very minutely and clearly specified,-shall pay towards the pay and clothing of the troops in the first year 30, and in every succeeding year 50, millions of francs, and shall provide for the whole expense of the fortifications and their stores, which are temporarily placed in the hands of the allies; that the king of France may keep garrisons in such towns of the frontier departments as are not occupied by the allies, but they are not to exceed a specified number; that the military command of these departments shall be vested in the general of the allied troops, with the exception of the fortresses occupied by the French troops, and a circle of 1000 toises around each; that the civil administration, and that of the customs, shall remain in the hands of the king's agents, and that the commanders of the allied troops, instead of obstructing, will aid them; that all deserters shall be given up on both sides; that medicines and other necessaries for the hospitals, and carriages for transporting

the baggage and the sick, shall be furnished at the expense of France; and that clothing for the troops shall be introduced free from duties.

The conventions for securing the liquidation of the claims of foreigners on the French government stipulate generally, that France shall make good all such claims, when properly verified by commissioners;-and particularly all sums due on contracts regularly made with individuals for supplies to the French armies or garrisons; pay or salaries due to individuals, now become the subjects of other powers; monies sent by post, but which were seized in their transit; bills, bonds, or mandates issued by the French government in favour of persons or communes, now no longer within the French territory; monies borrowed by the French authorities, under a promise of payment; indemnities due to individuals, for the occupation of their land or the destruction of their buildings by the French military authorities; the claims of the Hamburg bank, which will be the subject of a separate convention; and the claims of persons who were forced to pay twice over the duties and double duties of customs, by an order dated 8th May 1813. A commission shall be appointed to determine the claims of Holland to the non-payment of, the interest of the public debt. Various other classes of claims are recognized, and very precise rules are laid down for their liquidation. Those of British subjects form the subject of a separate convention, by which it is agreed, that they shall be repaid the value of all property, whether in the funds, in lands, or in merchandize, which was confiscated by the revolutionary government contrary to the faith of treaties, toge ther with interest on the same, in some cases at three, and in others at four per cent. Commissioners are to be ap. pointed on the part of France and Eng land, with power to administer oaths, and call for books and papers, by whom all British claims shall be examined.

On the same day, the 20th of November, on which the above treaty with France was signed, the all ed powersnamely, Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia-concluded a treaty, bind. ing themselves mutually, “as the repose of Europe is essentially dependant on the security of that order of things which is founded on the maintenance of the royal authority and the constitutional charter," that they well employ

the minds of the people, and abstaining from every act contrary to such a system, may not only succeed in maintaining the public tranquillity, but also in re-establishing universal union and confidence-relieving, as much as the proceedings of the government can effect it, the allied powers from the painful necessity of having recourse to those measures which, in case of any new convulsion, would be imperiously prescribed to them by the duty of providing for the safety of their own subjects and the general tranquillity of Europe."

A separate treaty fixes the fate of the seven Ionian Islands, Corfu, CephaIonia, Zante, St. Maure, Ithaca, Cerigo, and Paxo, with their dependencies. They are to be placed uhder the immediate government of the British Crown, and shall enjoy a free and representative government, the form of which shall be regulated by Great Britain and Russia in concert. The fortresses shall be delivered to his Britannic Majesty, and both they and the Ionian troops shall be entirely under his command. The flag of the Ionian Islands shall be acknowledged by all the powers as a free and independent flag; and the trade of Russia and Austria shall enjoy there the same facilities as that of Great Britain.

We have been particularly pleased with a note addressed by lord Castlereagh to the ministers of the allies, and which has been published among the diplomatic papers, on the subject of the claims preferred by various German, and Flemish, and Italian states, for the restoration of the works of art of which the French had plundered them. It would, he says, be the height of weak ness, as well as of injustice, and would tend to prevent the French people from returning to moral and peaceful habits, if the allies should refuse to attend to the claims in question, and especially those of the feebler states. He disclaims the most remote view to the possession by England of any of these monuments. So far from it, the prince regent would not be disposed even to take advantage of the pecuniary difficulties of the legitimate owners, in order to purchase them, but would rather aid them with the means of replacing them in the same galleries from which they were taken. As for the king of France, he cannot believe his dignity heightened, or his title improved by remaining surrounded with monuments

of art which recal no less the sufferings of his illustrious house than the misfortunes of other nations. If the French desire peace in the spirit of peace, can they wish to preserve this source of animosity between them and other na- tions? If they do not, is it good policy to flatter their vanity and to feed the hopes which the view of these trophies is calculated to excite? Can even the army reasonably desire it? The memory of its campaigns can never perish : they are inscribed in the mili tary annals of Europe: they are graven on the public monuments of their own country. Is it necessary to their new successes in the field of battle, that they should consecrate a system of pillage, by the adoption of which, in contempt of the laws of modern warfare, the Chief who conducted them to battle did in fact tarnish the glory of their arms? The principle of property is the only one which can here be safely and justly applied. Let all these works of art, whether seized by force, or still more shamefully extorted under the mask of treaties, be restored to their lawful owners. Perhaps there is nothing at the present moment which will more tend to fix the public spirit of Europe, than such homage, rendered by the king of France, to a principle of virtue, conciliation, and peace.

There still remains, however, an important part of the negociations of Paris to be noticed; we mean that which regards the SLAVE TRADE. On the 27th of July, 1815, lord Castlereagh addressed a letter to prince Talleyrand, calling his attention to the necessity of guarding under existing circumstances against any possible revival of the Slave Trade. The assurance the king had given to the British ambassador at Ghent had tranquillized the prince regent's ministers on that subject; but now that his majesty is restored to his throne, they are anxious to be enabled to relieve the solicitude of the British nation, by declaring that this question is now for ever closed. The answer of prince Talleyrand, dated the 30th July, 1815, signifies, that the king has issued directions, that on the part of France, the Slave Trade may cease from the present time every where and for ever. What the Usurper had done was null and void: it had only been done with a view to his own interest, and because he had ill appreciated the British government and people. At the time the

former treaty had been concluded, the king, yielding to the prejudices which then existed, had with regret stipulated to continue the traffic for five years. "Since that period, these prejudices had been attacked in several publications with such effect, that his majesty could now follow without reserve the dictates of his inclination; the more so, since it has been proved by inquiries made with the greatest care, that the prosperity of the French colonies, not being compromised by the immediate abolition of the trade, the abolition is not contrary to the interests of his subjects, which, above all, he is bound to consult."

The following article on the subject has been introduced into the general treaty just concluded between France and the allies, viz.: "The high contracting powers sincerely desiring to give effect to the measures on which they deliberated at the Congress of Vienna, relative to the complete and universal abolition of the Slave Trade, and having each in their respective dominions prohibited, without restriction, their colonies and subjects from taking any part whatever in this traffic, engage to renew conjointly their efforts with the view of securing final success to those principles which they proclaimed in the Declaration of the 4th of February, 1815, and of concerting, without loss of time, through their ministers at the courts of London and of Paris, the most effectual measures for the entire and definitive abolition of a commerce so odious, and so strongly condemned by the laws of religion and of nature."

Thus has another great step been gained towards the complete extinction of this barbarous and cruel traffic. Still we must lament that no means have yet been agreed upon for giving effect to the humane and benevolent intentions of the contracting parties. How are these prohibitory engagements to be enforced? Will they not prove a mere dead letter, unless a right of visitation and search on the coast of Africa is granted to the national vessels of the different states? Without this, will the mere letter of the treaty prevent Frenchmen from fitting out slave ships, and carrying off slaves from that coast, and landing them in Martinique and Guadaloupe; or Portugueze slave ships from still crowding the shores of Northern Africa, on which Portugal has engaged that her subjects shall no

longer trade for slaves? We trust that this point will be immediately attended to, otherwise we may expect that the peace of Europe, by taking away the privilege of search which attaches to belligerents, will only pave the way for a more extensive and secure Slave Trade than has hitherto been carried on. By the establishment indeed of a Registry of Slaves, but by that expedient alone, we may prevent the illicit importation of slaves into our own colonies; and therefore we sincerely hope that Mr. Wilberforce's bill for carrying into effect that important measure will pass into law, notwithstanding the vehement clamours of the West-Indian party. But still it would be impossible, without the right of search, to give any efficacy whatever to our treaties with Portugal, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, or France on the subject of the Slave Trade, or even to execute our own abolition laws. A British subject, it is obvious, may safely embark his property in the Slave Trade under a foreign flag, provided our cruizers are debarred from institnting any examination of the ship or property which that flag covers.

We also regret the entire silence of the treaty with respect to Hayti. Must it still be left in doubt whether France shall be at liberty to fit out fleets and armies to sweep the inhabitants of this beautiful island from the face of the earth? The abolition of the slave trade, if means should be adopted for rendering that abolition effectual, will doubtless remove one great temptation to such an attempt. We know, however, too well, the extravagant views, and the burning thirst for Haytian blood, of the ancient colonists of St Domingo, not to fear that, while the question as to the fate of that island remains undecided, they will be eagerly watching for the opportunity of glutting their savage vengeance. France negociated the independence of the United States of America. The Haytians have been embarked with us in the tremendous conflict with the military power of Bonaparte. They have nobly achieved their liberty. Would it not have been just, would it not have been politic, in us to have followed the precedent which France herself had set us, and to have secured to the Haytians the fruits of their gallant and successful struggle, and to ourselves the lasting gratitude of that interesting people? We trust, that the reasons of our forbearance on