voyage to England, or shall pay any tax whatever to the English government is ipso facto declared denationalized, loses the protection afforded by its flag and becomes English property.

2. Should such vessels which are thus denationalized through the arbitrary measures of the English government enter our ports or those of our allies or fall into the hands of our ships of war or of our privateers they shall be regarded as good and lawful prizes.

3. The British Isles are proclaimed to be in a state of blockade both by land and by sea. Every vessel of whatever nation or whatever may be its cargo, that sails from the ports of England or from those of the English colonies or of countries occupied by English troops, or is bound for England or for any of the English colonies or any country occupied by English troops, becomes, by violating the present decree, a lawful prize, and may be captured by our ships of war and adjudged to the captor.

4. These measures, which are only a just retaliation against the barbarous system adopted by the English government, which models its legislation upon that of Algiers, shall cease to have any effect in the case of those nations which shall force the English to respect their flags. They shall continue in force so long as that government shall refuse to accept the principles of international law which regulate the relations of civilized states in a state of war. The provisions of the present decree shall be ipso facto abrogated and void so soon as the English government shall abide again by the principles of the law of nations, which are at the same time those of justice and honor.

5. All our ministers are charged with the execution of the present decree, which shall be printed in the Bulletin des lois.

F. British Order in Council, April 26, 1809. American State Papers, Foreign Relations, III, 241.

At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 26th of April, 1809; Present, the King's Most Excellent Majesty in council.

Whereas, His Majesty, by his order in council of the 11th of November, 1807, was pleased, for the reasons assigned therein, to order that "all the ports and places of France and

her allies, or of any other country at war with His Majesty, and all other ports or places in Europe, from which, although not at war with His Majesty, the British flag is excluded, and all ports or places in the colonies belonging to His Majesty's enemies, should from henceforth be subject to the same restrictions in point of trade or navigation as if the same were actually blockaded in the most strict and vigorous manner;" and also to prohibit "all trade in articles which are the produce or manufacture of the said countries or colonies;" and whereas, His Majesty, having been nevertheless desirous not to subject those countries which were in alliance or amity with His Majesty to any greater inconvenience than was absolutely inseparable from carrying into effect His Majesty's just determination to counteract the designs of his enemies, did make certain exceptions and modifications expressed in the said order of the 11th of November, and in certain subsequent orders of the 25th of November, declaratory of the aforesaid order of the 11th of November and of the 18th of December, 1807, and of the 30th of March, 1808;

And whereas, in consequence of diverse events which have taken place since the date of the first-mentioned order, affecting the relations between Great Britain and the territories of other Powers, it is expedient that sundry parts and provisions of the said orders should be ordered or revoked;

His Majesty is therefore pleased, by and with the advice of his privy council, to revoke and annul the said several orders, except as hereinafter expressed; and so much of the said orders, except as aforesaid, is hereby revoked accordingly. And His Majesty is pleased, by and with the advice of his privy council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that all the ports and places as far north as the river Ems, inclusively, under the government styling itself the Kingdom of Holland, and all ports and piaces under the Government of France, together with the colonies, plantations, and settlements in the possession of those Governments, respectively, and all ports and places in the northern parts of Italy, to be reckoned from the ports of Orbitello and Pesaro, inclusively, shall continue, and be subject to the same restrictions, in point of trade and navigation, without any exception, as if the same were actually blockaded by His Majesty's naval

forces in the most strict and rigorous manner; and that every vessel trading from and to the said countries or colonies, plantations or settlements, together with all goods and merchandise on board, shall be condemned as prize to the captors.

And His Majesty is further pleased to order, and it is hereby ordered, that this order shall have effect from the day of the date thereof with respect to any ship, together with its cargo, which may be captured subsequent to such day, on any voyage which is and shall be rendered legal by this order, although such voyage, at the time of the commencement of the same, was unlawful, and prohibited under the said former orders; and such ships, upon being brought in, shall be released accordingly; and with respect to all ships, together with their cargoes, which may be captured in any voyage which was permitted under the exceptions of the orders above mentioned, but which is not permitted according to the provisions of this order, His Majesty is pleased to order, and it is hereby ordered that such ships and their cargoes shall not be liable to condemnation, unless they shall have received actual notice of the present order, as were allowed for constructive notice in the orders of the 25th of November, 1807, and the 18th of May, 1808, at the several places and latitudes therein specified.

And the right honorable the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, His Majesty's principal Secretary of State, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and the Judge of the High Court of Admiralty, and Judges of the Courts of Vice-admiralty, are to give the necessary directions herein as to them may respectively appertain.

STEPHEN COTTRELL.

G. The Rambouillet Decree. March 23, 1810, Duvergier, Lois, XVII, 59.

Napoleon

considering that the Government of the United States, by an act dated March 1, 1809, which forbids the entrance of the ports, harbors and rivers of the said States to all French vessels, orders:

Ist. That, dating from the 20th of May following, the vessels under the French flag which shall arrive in the United

States shall be seized and confiscated, as well as their cargoes;

2d. That, after the same date, no merchandise and productions coming from the soil or manufactures of France or of its colonies can be imported into the said United States, from any port or foreign place whatsoever, under penalty of seizure, confiscation and fine of three times the value of the merchandise;

3d. That American vessels cannot repair to any port of France, its colonies or dependencies;

We have decreed and do decree as follows:

I. That all vessels navigating under the flag of the United States, or possessed in whole or in part by any citizen or subject of that Power, which, dating from May 20, 1809, may have entered or shall enter into the ports of our Empire, our colonies or the countries occupied by our armies, shall be seized, and the products of the sales shall be deposited in the surplus fund.

Vessels which may be charged with despatches or commissions of Government of the said States and which have not cargo or merchandise on board are excepted from this provision.

2. Our grand judge, minister of justice, and our minister of finance, are charged with the execution of the present de

cree.

78. Documents upon the Confederation of the Rhine.

The destruction of the Holy Roman Empire, begun in the treaties of Basel and Campo Formio (Nos. 48 and 55), was finally completed by the organization of the Confederation of the Rhine. The most important feature of document A is the relationship which it creates between France and each of the confederated states. By subsequent acts of accession nearly all the German states, except Austria and Prussia. became members. In the other documents the important features are the explanations for the action that is taken.

REFERENCES. Fyffe, Modern Europe, I, 303-306 (Popular ed., 204-260); Fournier, Napoleon, 335-340; Rose, Napoleon, II, 69-72; Sloane, Napoleon, II, 259-262; Lavisse and Rambaud, Histoire Generale, IX, 503-505.

MAPS. Droysen, Historischer Hand-Atlas, 48-49; Lane-Poole, Historical Atlas of Modern Europe, 12.

A.

Treaty for Establishing the Confederation. July 12, 1806. De Clercq, Traites, II, 171-179.

His Majesty the Emperor of the French, King of Italy, of the one part, and of the other part their Majesties the Kings of Bavaria and of Wurtemburg and Their Serene High nesses the Electors, the Archchancellor of Baden, the Duke of Berg and of Cleves, the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, the Princes of Nassau-Usingen and Nassau-Weilburg, the Princes of Hohenzollern-Heckingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, the Princes of Salm-Salm and Salm-Kirburg, the Prince of Isneburg-Birstein, the Duke of Aremberg and the Prince of Lichenstein, and the Count of Leyen, wishing, by suitable stipulations, to assure the internal peace of the south of Germany, for which experience for a long time past and quite recently still more has shown that the Germanic Constitution can no longer offer any sort of guarantee.

I. The States of . . [names of the parties of the second part] shall be forever separated from the territory of the Germanic Empire and united among themselves by a separate Confederation, under the name of the Confederated States of the Rhine.

3. Each of the Kings and Confederated Princes shall renounce those of his titles which express any relations with the Germanic Empire; and on the 1st of August next he shall cause the Diet to be notified of his separation from the Empire.

4. His Serene Highness the Archchancellor shall take the titles of Prince Primate and Most Eminent Highness. The title of Prince Primate does not carry with it any prerogative contrary to the plenitude of sovereignty which each of the Confederates shall enjoy.

6. The common interests of the Confederated States shall be dealt with in a Diet, of which the seat shall be at Frankfort, and which shall be divided into two Colleges, to wit: the College of Kings and the College of Princes.

12. His Majesty the Emperor of the French shall be pro