recognizes and declares the passage of the canal of Constantinople, and the strait of the Dardanelles, entirely free and open to Russian ships under merchant flags, laden or in ballast, whether they come from the Black Sea to go into the Mediterranean, or whether, returning from the Mediterranean, they wish to re-enter the Black Sea. These vessels, provided they be merchantmen, of whatever size or tonnage they may be, shall not be exposed to any impediment or vexation whatever, as it has been stipulated above. The two courts shall come to an understanding with respect to the best means for preventing all delay in the delivery of the necessary clearances. In virtue of the same principle, the passage of the canal of Constantinople, and of the strait of the Dardanelles, is declared free and open for all the merchant vessels of the powers at peace with the Sublime Porte, whether bound to the Russian ports of the Black Sea, or returning from them--whether laden or in ballastupon the same conditions as those stipulated for the vessels under the Russian flag. In fine, the Sublime Porte, acknowledging the right of the imperial court of Russia to obtain guarantee of this full liberty of commerce and navigation in the Black Sea, solemnly declares that she will never, under any pretence whatever, throw the least obstacle in its way. She promises, above all, never to permit herself in future to stop or detain vessels, laden or in ballast, whether Russian or belonging to nations with which the Ottoman empire shall not be in a state of declared war, passing through the strait of Constantinople and the strait of the Dardanelles, to repair from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean, or from the Mediterranean to the Russian ports of the Black Sea. And if, which God forbid ! any of the stipulations contained in the present article should be infringed, and the reclamation of the Russian minister on that subject should not obtain a full and prompt satisfaction, the Sublime Porte recognizes, before-hand, the right in the imperial court of Russia to consider such an infraction an act of hostility, and immediately to retaliate on the Ottoman empire. Art. VIII.—The arrangements formerly stipulated by the 6th article of the Convention of Akermann, for the purpose of regulating and liquidating the claims of the respective subjects and merchants of both empires, relating to the indemnity for the losses experienced at different periods since the war of 1806, not having been yet carried into effect, and Russian commerce having since the conclusion of the aforesaid convention suffered new and considerable injury in consequence of the measures adopted respecting the navigation of the Bosphorus, it is agreed and determined that the Sublime Porte, as a reparation for that injury and those losses, shall pay to the imperial court of Russia, in the course of eighteen months, at periods which shall be settled hereafter, the sum of one million five hundred thousand ducats of Holland; so that the payment of this sum shall put an end to all claim or reciprocal pretensions on the part of the two contracting powers on the subject of the aforesaid cir cumstances. Art. IX. The prolongation of the war, to which the present treaty of peace happily puts an end, having occasioned to the imperial court of Russia considerable expenses, the Sublime Porte recog nizes the necessity of offering it an adequate indemnity. For this purpose, independently of the cession of a small portion of territory in Asia, stipulated by the 4th article, which the court of Russia consents to receive on account of the said indemnity, the Sublime Porte engages to pay to the said court a sum of money, the amount of which shall be regulated by mutual accord. Art. X.-The Sublime Porte, whilst declaring its entire adhesion to the stipulations of the treaty concluded in London on the 24th of June (the 6th of July), 1827, between Russia, Great Britain, and France, accedes equally to the act drawn up on the 10th (22nd,) of March 1829, by mutual consent, between these same powers, on the basis of the said treaty, and containing the arrangement of detail relative to its definitive execution. Immediately after the exchange of the ratification of the present treaty of peace, the Sublime Porte shall appoint plenipotentiaries to settle with those of the imperial court of Russia, and of the courts of England and France, the exe-cution of the said stipulations and arrangements. Art. XI. Immediately after the signature of the present treaty of peace between the two empires, and the exchange of the ratification of the two sovereigns, the Sublime Porte shall take the necessary measures for the prompt and scrupulous execution of the stipulations which it contains, and particularly of the 3rd and 4th articles, relative to the limits which are to separate the two empires, as well in Europe as in Asia; and of the 5th and 6th articles respecting the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, as well as Servia; and from the moment when these stipulations can be considered as having been fulfilled, the imperial court of Russia will proceed to the evacua→ tion of the territory of the Ottoman empire, conformably to the bases established by a separate act, which forms an integral part of the present treaty of peace. Until the complete evacuation of the territories occupied by the Russian troops, the administration and the order of things there established at the present time, under the influence of the imperial court of Russia, shall be maintained, and the Sublime Ottoman Porte shall not interfere with them in any manner. Art. XII.-Immediately after the signature of the present treaty of peace, orders shall be given to the commanders of the respective troops, as well by land as by sea, to cease hostilities. Those committed after the signature of the present treaty shall be considered as not having taken place, and shall occasion no change in the stipula tions which it contains. In the same manner, any thing which in that interval shall have been conquered by the troops of either one or the other of the high contracting powers, shall be restored without the least delay. Art. XIII. The high contracting powers, while re-establishing between themselves the relations of sincere amity, grant general pardon, and a full and entire amnesty to all those of their subjects, of whatever condition they may be, who, during the course of the war, happily terminated this day, shall have taken part in military operations, or manifested, either by their conduct or by their opinions, their attachment to one or the other of the two contracting powers. In consequence, not one of these individuals shall be molested or prosecuted, either in his person or his goods, on account of his past conduct, and every one of them, recovering the property which he possessed before, shall enjoy it peaceably under the protection of the laws, or shall be at liberty to dispose of it within the space of eighteen months, to transport himself, with his family, his goods, his furniture, &c. intò any country which he may please to choose, without experiencing any vexations or impediments what ever. There shall be granted besides to the respective subjects of the two powers established in the territories restored to the Sublime Porte, or ceded to the imperial court of Russia, the same term of eighteen months, to commence from the exchange of the ratification of the present treaty of peace, to dispose, if they think proper, of their property, acquired either before or since the war, and to retire with their capital, their goods, furniture, &c. from the states of one of the contracting powers into those of the other, and reciprocally. Art. XIV. All prisoners of war, of whatever nation, condition, or sex they may be, which are in the two empires, must immediately, after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty of peace be set free, and restored without the least ransom or payment; with the exception of the Christians who, of their own free-will, have embraced the Mahomedan religion in the states of the Sublime Porte, or the Mahomedans who, also of their own free-will, have embraced the Christian religion in the territories of the Russian empire. The same conduct shall be adopted towards the Russian subjects, who, after the signature of the present treaty of peace, in any manner whatever, have fallen into captivity, and be found in the states of the Sublime Porte. The imperial court of Russia promises, on its part, to act in the same way towards the subjects of the Sublime Porte. No repayment shall be required for the sums which have been applied by the two high contracting parties to the support of prisoners. Each of them shall provide the prisoners with all that may be necessary for their journey as far as the frontiers, where they shall be exchanged by commissaries appointed on both sides. Art. XV.-All the treaties, conventions, and stipulations, settled and concluded at different periods between the imperial court of Russia and the Ottoman Porte, with the exception of those which have been annulled by the present treaty of peace, are confirmed in all their force and effect, and the two high contracting parties engage to observe them religiously and inviolably. Art. XVI. The present treaty of peace shall be ratified by the two high contracting courts, and the exchange of the ratifications between the respective plenipotentiaries shall take place within the space of six weeks, or earlier, if possible. In faith of which, (Signed) Count ALEXIS ORLOFF, Count J. PAHLEN. In virtue, &c. (Signed) DIEBITSCH ZABALKANSKY. "SEPARATE ACT, (Relating to the Principalities of "The Hospodars are to administer the internal government of their provinces, with the assistance of their Divan, according to their own pleasure, but without permitting themselves any infraction of the rights guaranteed to the two countries by treaties or hattischerifs, nor shall their administration be disturbed by any command tending to the violation of those rights. "The Sublime Porte obliges it self conscientiously to keep watch that the privileges granted to Moldavia and Wallachia shall in no way be violated by the neighbouring governors, and that these shall in no way be allowed to interfere in the affairs of those two provinces; also to prevent the inhabitants of the right bank of the Danube from making excursions VOL. LXXI. upon the territory of Moldavia and Wallachia. All isles situated nearest to the left bank of the Danube are to be considered as part of the territory of those provinces, and to the point where it enters the Ottoman territory to the point of its confluence with the Pruth, the channel of the Danube is to form the boundaries of the two principalities. "To provide the more securely for the inviolability of the Moldavian and Wallachian territory, the Sublime Porte engages to retain no fortified point upon the left bank of the Danube, nor to permit any settlement there of its Mahometan subjects. It is accordingly irrevocably fixed, that no Mahometan shall ever be allowed to have his residence in Moldavia or Wallachia, and that only merchants provided with firmans shall be admitted, for the purpose of buying, on their own account, such articles as may be required for the consumption of Constantinople. "The Turkish cities situated on the left bank of the Danube are to be restored to Wallachia, to remain incorporated with that principality; and the fortifications previously existing on that bank are never to be repaired. Mahometans possessing landed property, either in those cities, or upon any point left of the Danube, provided they have not unfairly become possessed thereof (non usurpés sur des particuliers), shall be bound to sell such property to natives within eighteen months. "The government of the principalities being entitled to all the privileges of independence in their internal administration, it shall be lawful for the same to draw sanatory cordons, and to establish quarantine stations, along the line of 2 I the Danube, and wherever else it may be deemed necessary; nor shall any strangers, be they Christians or Mahometans, have a right to consider themselves above an exact compliance with such quarantine regulations. For the execution of the quarantine duty, the protection of the frontiers, the maintenance of order in the cities and in the open country, and for the purpose of obedience to their decrees, the government of each principality shall be permitted to maintain a sufficient military force. The numerical force of these troops is to be determined by the Hospodars and their respective Divans, upon the bases of former examples. "The Sublime Porte, animated by an earnest wish to secure to the two principalities every species of prosperity which they are capable of enjoying, and being aware of the abuses and oppression occasioned by the contributions for the supply of Constantinople, and the victualling of the fortresses of the Danube, renounces in the most complete and unconditional manner, its rights in this respect. Moldavia and Wallachia are accordingly for ever relieved of all those contributions of corn, provisions, cattle, and timber, which they were formerly bound to furnish. Nor shall, in any case, labourers be demanded from these provinces for any forced service (corvée). In order, however, in some degree to indemnify the grand seignorial treasury for the losses which may be sustained by this renunciation of rights, Moldavia and Wallachia are bound, independently of the yearly tribute paid under the denominations of Kadradsh Idiye, and Rakiabiye, by virtue of the hatti-scherif of 1822, to pay to the Sublime Porte yearly à pecu niary indemnity, the amount of which is hereafter to be determined. Moreover, upon every fresh nomination of a Hospodar, in consequence of death, resignation, or deposition, the principality where that event occurs shall be bound to pay to the Sublime Porte a sum equal to the yearly tribute of the province. With the exception of these sums, no tribute or present of any kind shall, under any pretext whatever, be demanded from the Hospodars. In consequence of the aboli tion of the above specified contributions, the inhabitants of the principalities are to enjoy an unlimited freedom of trade for all the productions of their soil and industry (as stipulated by the separate act of the treaty of Akermann) the same not to be liable to any other restraint except such as the Hospodars, with the consent of their Divans, may consider necessary for the due provisioning of the country; they shall be allowed to navigate the Danube with their own vessels, being provided with passports from their own government, and it shall be lawful for them to proceed for the purposes of trade to the other harbours and ports of the Sublime Porte, without suffering any persecution from the collectors of the Kharadsh, and without being exposed to any other act of oppression whatever. Duly considering, moreover, all the burthens which it has been necessary for Moldavia and Wallachia to support, the Sublime Porte, animated by a proper feeling of humanity, consents to release the inhabitants from the yearly tribute, payable to the treasury, for the space of two years, to be reckoned from the day of the total evacuation of the principalities by the Russian troops. |