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Article IV. The Consuls and Vice-Consuls respectively, may establish a chancery, where shall be deposited the consular determinations, acts, and proceedings, as also testaments, obligations, contracts, and other acts done by or between persons of their nation, and effects left by decedents, or saved from shipwreck.
They may, consequently, appoint fit persons to act in the said chancery, qualify and swear them in, commit to them the custody of the seal, and authority to seal commissions, sentences, and other consular acts, and also to discharge the functions of notaries and registers of the consulate.
Article V. The Consuls and Vice-Consuls respectively, shall have the exclusive right of receiving in their chancery, or on board their vessels, the declarations and all other the acts which the captains, masters, crews, passengers, and merchants of their nation may choose to make there, even their testaments and other disposals by last will: and the copies of the said acts, duly authenticated by the said Consuls or Vice-Consuls, under the seal of their consulate, shall receive faith in law, equally as their originals would, in all the tribunals of the dominions of the M. C. King and of the United States.
They shall also have, and exclusively, in case of the absence of the testamentary executor, guardian, or lawful representative, the right to inventory, liquidate, and proceed to the sale of the personal estate left by subjects or citizens of their nation, who shall die within the extent of their consulate; they shall proceed therein with the assistance of two merchants of their said nation, or, for want of them, of any other at their choice, and shall cause to be deposited in their chancery, the effects and papers of the said estates; and no officer, military, judiciary, or of the police of the country, shall disturb them or interfere therein, in any manner whatsoever: but the said Consuls and Vice-Consuls shall not deliver up the said effects, nor the proceeds thereof, to the lawful representatives or to their order, till they shall have caused to be paid all debts which the deceased shall have contracted in the country; for which purpose the creditor shall have a right to attach the said effects in their hands, as they might in those of any other individual whatever, and proceed to obtain sale of them, till payment of what shall be lawfully due to them. When the debts shall not have been contracted by judgment, deed, or note, the signature whereof shall be known, payment shall not be ordered, but on the creditor’s giving sufficient surety resident in the country, to refund the sums he shall have unduly received, principal, interest, and costs; which surety, nevertheless, shall stand duly discharged after the term of one year, in time of peace, and of two, in time of war, if the discharge cannot be formed before the end of this term, against the* representatives who shall present themselves.
And in order that the representatives may not be unjustly kept out of the effects of the deceased, the Consuls and Vice-Consuls shall notify his death in some one of the gazettes published within their consulate, and that they shall retain the said effects in their hands four months, to answer all just demands which shall be presented; and they shall be bound, after this delay, to deliver to the persons succeeding thereto, what shall be more than sufficient for the demands which shall have been formed.
Article VI. The Consuls and Vice-Consuls, respectively, shall receive the declarations, protests, and reports of all captains and masters of their respective nations, on account of average losses sustained at sea; and these captains and masters shall lodge in the chancery of the said Consuls and Vice-Consuls, the acts which they may have made in other ports, on account of the accidents which may have happened to them on their voyage. If a subject of the M. C. K. and a citizen of the United States, or a foreigner, are interested in the said cargo, the average shall be settled by the tribunals of the country, and not by the Consuls or Vice-Consuls; but when only the subjects or citizens of their own nation shall be interested, the respective Consuls or Vice-Consuls shall appoint skilful persons to settle the damages and average.
Article VII. In cases where by tempest, or other accident, French ships or vessels shall be stranded on the coasts of the United States, and ships or vessels of the United States shall be stranded on the coasts of the dominions of the M. C. K.,the Consul or Vice-Consul nearest to the place of shipwreck shall do whatever he may judge proper, as well for the purpose of saving the said ship or vessel, its cargo and appurtenances, as for the storing and the security of the effects and merchandise saved. He may take an inventory of them, without the intermeddling of any officers of the military, of the customs, of justice, or of the police of the country, otherwise than to give to the Consuls, Vice-Consuls, captain, and crew of the vessels shipwrecked or stranded, all the succor and favor which they shall ask of them, either for the expedition and security of the saving and of the effects saved, as to prevent all disturbance.
And in order to prevent all kind of dispute and discussion in the said cases of shipwreck, it is agreed that when there shall be no Consul or Vice-Consul to attend to the saving of the wreck, or that the residence of the said Consul or Vice-Consul (he not being at the place of the wreck) shall be more distant from the said place than that of the competent judge of the country, the latter shall immediately proceed therein, with all the despatch, certainty, and precautions, prescribed by the respective laws; but the said territorial judge shall retire, on the arrival of the Consul or Vice-Consul, and shall deliver over to him the report of his proceedings, the expenses of which the Consul and Vice-Consul shall cause to be reimbursed to him, as well as those of saving the wreck.
The merchandise and effects saved, shall be deposited in the nearest Custom-house, or other place of safety, with the inventory thereof, which shall have been made by the Consul or Vice-Consul, or by the judge who shall have proceeded in their absence, that the said effects and merchandise may be afterwards delivered (after levying therefrom the costs), and without form of process, to the owners, who, being furnished with an order for their delivery, from the nearest Consul or Vice-Consul, shall reclaim them by themselves, or by their order, either for the purpose of re-exporting such merchandise, in which case, they shall-pay no kind of duty of exportation, or for that of selling them in the country, if they be not prohibited there; and in this last case, the said merchandise, if they be damaged, shall be allowed an abatement of entrance duties, proportioned to the damage they have sustained, which shall be ascertained by the affidavits taken at the time the vessel was wrecked or struck.
Article VIII. The Consuls and Vice-Consuls shall exercise police over all the vessels of their respective nations, and shall have on board the said vessels, all power and jurisdiction in civil matters, in all the disputes which may there arise; they shall have an entire inspection over the said vessels, their crew, and the changes and substitutions there to be made. For which purpose they may go on board the said vessels whenever they may judge it necessary: well understood, that the functions hereby allowed shall be confined to the interior of the vessels, and that they shall not take place in any case, which shall have any interference with the police of the ports where the said vessels shall be.
Article IX. The Consuls and Vice-Consuls may cause to be arrested the captains, officers, mariners, sailors, and all other persons, being part of the crews of the vessels of their respective nations, who shall have deserted from the said vessels, in order to send them back, and transport them out of the country. For which purpose, the said Consuls and Vice-Consuls shall address themselves to the courts, judges, and officers competent, and shall demand the said deserters in writing, proving by an exhibition of the registers of the vessel or ship’s roll, that those men were part of the said crews: and on this demand, so proved (saving, however, where the contrary is proved), the delivery shall not be refused¦; and there shall be given all aid and assistance to the said Consuls and Vice-Consuls, for the search, seizure, and arrest of the said deserters, who shall even be detained and kept in the prisons of the country, at their request and expense, until they shall have found an opportunity of sending them back. But if they be not sent back within three months, to be counted from the day of their arrest, they shall be set at liberty, and shall be no more arrested for the same cause.
Article X. In cases where the respective subjects, or citizens, shall have committed any crime, or breach of the peace, they shall be amenable to the judges of the country.
Article XI. When the said offenders shall be a part of the crew of a vessel of their nation, and shall have withdrawn themselves on board the said vessel, they may be there seized and arrested by order of the judges of the country: these shall give notice thereof to the Consul or Vice-Consul, who may repair on board, if he thinks proper: but this notification shall not, in any case, delay execution of the order in question. The persons arrested shall not afterwards be set at liberty, until the Consul or Vice-Consul shall have been notified thereof; and they shall be delivered to him, if he requires it, to be put again onboard of the vessel on which they were arrested, or of others of their nation, and to be sent out of the country.
Article XII. All differences and suits between the subjects of the M. C. K. in the U. S., or between the citizens of the United States within the dominions of the M. C. K. and particularly all disputes relative to the wages and terms of engagement of the crews of the respective vessels, and all differences of whatever nature they be, which may arise between the privates of the said crews, or between any of them and their captains, or between the captains of different vessels of their nation, shall be determined by the respective Consuls and Vice-Consuls, either by a reference to arbitrators, or by a summary judgment, and without costs.
No officer of the country, civil or military, shall interfere therein, or take any part whatever in the matter: and the appeals from the said consular sentences shall be carried before the tribunals of France or of the United States, to whom it may appertain to take cognizance thereof.
Article XIII. The general utility of commerce, having caused to be established within the dominions of the M. C. K. particular tribunals and forms, for expediting the decision of commercial affairs, the merchants of the U. S. shall enjoy the benefit of these establishments; and the Congress of the U. S. will provide in the manner the most conformable to its laws, equivalent advantages in favor of the French merchants, for the prompt despatch and decision of affairs of the same nature.
Article XIV. The subjects of the M. C. K. and citizens of the U. S. who shall prove by legal evidence, that they are of the said nations respectively, shall, in consequence, enjoy an exemption from all personal service in the place of their settlement.
Article XV. If any other nation acquires, by virtue of any convention whatever, a treatment more favorable with respect to the consular pre-eminences, powers, authority, and privileges, the Consuls and Vice-Consuls of the M. C. K. or of the U. S., reciprocally, shall participate therein, agreeably to the terms stipulated by the second, third, and fourth articles of the treaty of amity and commerce, concluded between the M. C. K. and the U. S.
Article XVI. The present convention shall be in full force during the term of twelve years, to be counted from the day of the exchange of ratifications, which shall be given in proper form, and exchanged on both sides, within the space of one year, or sooner, if possible.
In faith whereof, we, Ministers Plenipotentiary, have signed the present convention, and have thereto set the seal of our arms.
Done at Versailles, the 14th of November, one thousand seven hundred and eighty eight.
L. C. De MONTMORIN. L. S.
Signed.
Th: Jefferson. L. S.
LETTER CLXVIII.—TO JAMES MADISON, November 18, 1788
TO JAMES MADISON.
Paris, November 18, 1788.
Dear Sir,
My last to you was of the 31st of July; since which, I have received yours of July the 24th, August the 10th, and 23rd. The first part of this long silence in me was occasioned by a knowledge that you were absent from New York; the latter part, by a want of opportunity, which has been longer than usual. Mr. Shippen being just arrived here, and to set out to-morrow for London, I avail myself of that channel of conveyance. Mr. Carrington was so kind as to send me the second volume of the American Philosophical Transactions, the Federalist, and some other interesting pamphlets; and I am to thank you for another copy of the Federalist, and the report of the instructions to the ministers for negotiating peace. The latter unluckily omitted exactly the passage I wanted, which was what related to the navigation of the Mississippi. With respect to the Federalist, the three authors had been named to me. I read it with care, pleasure, and improvement, and was satisfied there was nothing in it by one of those hands, and not a great deal by a second. It does the highest honor to the third, as being, in my opinion, the best commentary on the principles of government, which ever was written. In some parts, it is discoverable that the author means only to say what may be best said in defence of opinions, in which he did not concur. But in general, it establishes firmly the plan of government. I confess, it has rectified me on several points. As to the bill of rights, however, I still think it should be added; and I am glad to see, that three States have at length considered the perpetual re-eligibility of the President, as an article which should be amended. I should deprecate with you, indeed, the meeting of a new convention. I hope they will adopt the mode of amendment by Congress and the Assemblies, in which case, I should not fear any dangerous innovation in the plan. But the minorities are too respectable, not to be entitled to some sacrifice of opinion in the majority; especially, when a great proportion of them would be contented with a bill of rights. Here, things internally, are going on well. The Notables now in session, have, indeed, passed one vote, which augurs ill to the rights of the people; but if they do not obtain now so much as they have a right to, they will in the long run. The misfortune is, that they are not yet ripe for receiving the blessings to which they are entitled. I doubt, for instance, whether the body of the nation, if they could be consulted, would accept of a habeas corpus law, if offered them by the King. If the Etats Generaux, when they assemble, do not aim at too much, they may begin a good constitution. There are three articles which they may easily obtain; 1. their own meeting, periodically; 2. the exclusive right of taxation; 3. the right of registering laws and proposing amendments to them, as exercised now by the parliaments. This last would be readily approved by the court, on account of their hostility against the parliaments, and would lead immediately to the origination of laws: the second has been already solemnly avowed by the King; and it is well understood, there would be no opposition to the first. If they push at much more, all may fail. I shall not enter further into public details, because my letter to Mr. Jay will give them. That contains a request of permission to return to America the next spring, for the summer only. The reasons therein urged, drawn from my private affairs, are very cogent. But there is another, more cogent on my mind, though of a nature not to be explained in a public letter. It is the necessity of attending my daughters, myself, to their own country, and depositing them safely in the hands of those, with whom I can safely leave them. I have deferred this request as long as circumstances would permit, and am in hopes it will meet with no difficulty. I have had too many proofs of your friendship, not to rely on your patronage of it, as, in all probability, nothing can suffer by a short absence. But the immediate permission is what I am anxious about; as by going in April and returning in October, I shall be sure of pleasant and short passages, out and in. I must intreat your attention, my friend, to this matter, and that the answers may be sent me through several channels.
Mr. Liniozin, at Havre, sent you, by mistake, a package belonging to somebody else. I do not know what it contained, but he has written to you on the subject, and prayed me to do the same, he is likely to suffer if it be not returned.
Supposing that the funding their foreign debt will be among the first operations of the new government, I send you two estimates; the one by myself, the other by a gentleman infinitely better acquainted with the subject, showing what fund will suffice to discharge the principal and interest, as it shall become due, aided by occasional loans, which the same fund will repay. I enclose them to you, because collating them together, and with your own ideas, you will be able to advise something better than either; but something must be done. This government will expect, I fancy, a very satisfactory provision for the payment of their debt, from the first session of the new Congress. Perhaps, in this matter, as well as the arrangement of your foreign affairs, I may be able, when on the spot with you, to give some information and suggest some hints, which may render my visit to my native country not altogether useless. I consider as no small advantage, the resuming the tone of mind of my constituents, which is lost by long absence, and can only be recovered by mixing with them; and shall, particularly, hope for much profit and pleasure, by contriving to pass as much time as possible with you. Should you have a trip to Virginia in contemplation, for that year, I hope you will time it so as that we may be there together. I will camp you at Monticello, where, if illy entertained otherwise, you shall not want books. In firm hope of a happy meeting with you in the spring, or early in summer, I conclude, with assurances of the sincere esteem and attachment, with which I am, Dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
LETTER CLXIX.—TO A. DONALD, November 18,1788
TO A. DONALD.
Paris, November 18,1788.
Dear Sir,
Often solicited by persons on this side the water, to inquire for their friends in America, about whose fate they are uncertain, I can only hand on their requests to my friends in America. The enclosed letter from, the Chevalier de Sigougne desires some inquiry after his brother, whom he supposes to have settled at Todd’s Bridge. As this is within your reach, I must refer the request to your humanity, and beg of you, if you can hear of him, you will be so good as to give me an account of him, returning me the enclosed letter at the same time.
The campaign between the Turks and Russians has been tolerably equal. The Austrians have suffered through the whole of it. By the interposition of Prussia and England, peace is likely to be made between Russia, Denmark, and Sweden. This is a proof that England does not mean to engage in the war herself. This country will certainly engage herself in no manner, externally, before the meeting of her States General. This assembly has been so long disused, that the forms of its convocation occasion difficulty. The Notables have been convened to prescribe them, and they are now in session. I am in hopes this will end in giving a good degree of liberty to this country. They enjoy, at present, the most perfect tranquillity within; their stocks, however, continue low, and money difficult to be got for current expenses. It is hoped, that Mr. Necker’s talents and popularity, with the aid of a National Assembly, will extricate them from their difficulties. We have been daily expecting to hear of the death of the King of England: our last news is of the 11th, when he was thought in the utmost danger. This event might produce a great change in the situation of things: it is supposed Mr. Fox would come into place, and he has been generally understood to be disposed for war. Should the King survive, I think the continuance of peace more probable at present, than it has been for some time past. Be so good as to contrive the enclosed letter, by a very safe conveyance. Remember me in the most friendly terms to Dr. Currie, and be assured yourself of the esteem and attachment, with which I am. Dear Sir, your affectionate friend and servant,
Th: Jefferson.
