Page:History of the Wars of the French Revolution, vol. 2 (1817).djvu/365

Rh of May, a definitive treaty of peace between his Britannic Majesty and his most Christian Majesty Louis XVIII was signed at Paris, of which the subjoined copy is a faithful transcript:—



“In the name of the most Holy and Undivided Trinity. His Majesty, the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his allies, on the one part; and his Majesty the King of France and of Navarre on the other part; animated by an equal desire to terminate the long agitations of Europe, and the sufferings of mankind, by a permanent peace, founded upon a just repartition of force between its states, and containing in its stipulations the pledge of its durability; and his Britannic Majesty, together with his allies, being unwilling to require of France, now that, replaced under the paternal government of her kings, she offers the assurance of security and stability to Europe, the conditions and guarantees which they had with regret demanded from her former government, their said majesties have named plenipotentiaries to discuss, settle, and sign a treaty of peace, and amity; namely,

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Honourable Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh his Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, &c. &c. &c. the Right Honourable George Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to his Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty; the Right Honourable William Shaw Cathcart, Viscount Cathcart, his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias; and the Honourable Sir Charles William Stewart, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to his Majesty the King of Prussia; and his Majesty the King of France and Navarre, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Perigord, Prince of Benevente, his said Majesty’s Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; who, having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles:—

Art. I.—There shall be from this day forward perpetual peace and friendship between his Britannic Majesty and his allies on the one part, and his Majesty the King of France and Navarre on the other, their heirs and successors, their dominions and subjects respectively.

The high contracting parties shall devote their best attention to maintain, not only between themselves, but, inasmuch as depends upon them, between all the states of Europe, that harmony and good understanding which are so necessary for their tranquillity.

II.—The kingdom of France retains its limits entire, as they existed on the 1st of January, 1792. It shall further receive the increase of territory comprised within the line established by the following article;—

III.—On the side of Belgium, Germany, and Italy, the ancient frontiers shall be re-established as they existed the 1st of January, 1792, extending from the North Sea, between Dunkirk and Nieuport, to the Mediterranean, between Cagnes and Nice, with the following modifications:—

1st.—In the department of Jemappes, the cantons of Dour, Merbes-le-Chateau, Beaumont, and Chimay, shall belong to France; where the line of demarkation comes in contact with the canton of Dour, it shall pass between that canton and those of Botisau and Paturage, and likewise further on it shall pass between the canton of Merbes-le-Chateau, and those of Binck and Thuin.

2.—In the department of the Sambre and Meuse, the cantons of Walcourt, Florennes, Beauraing, and, Gedinne, shall belong to France; where the demarkation reaches that department, it shall follow the line which separates the cantons from the department of Jemappes, and from the remaining cantons of the department of Sambre and Meuse.

3.—In the department of the Moselle, the new demarkation, at the point where it diverges from the old line of frontier, shall be formed by a line to be drawn from Perle to Fremersdorff, and by the limit which separates the canton of Tholey from the remaining cantons of the said department of the Moselle.

4.—In the department of La Sarre, the cantons of Saarbruck and Arneval shall continue to belong to France, as likewise the portion of the canton of Lebach which is situated to the south of a line drawn along the confines of the villages of Herchenbach, Ueberhofen, Hilsbach, and Hail, (leaving these different places out of the French frontier) to the point where, in the neighbourhood of Querselle (which place belongs to France), the line which separates the cantons of Arneval and Ottweler reaches that which separates the cantons of Arneval and Lebach. The frontier on this side shall be formed by the line above described, and afterwards by that which separates the canton of Arneval from that of Bliescastel.

5.—The fortress of Landau having, before the year 1792, formed an insulated point in Germany, France retains beyond her frontiers a portion of the departments of Mount Tonnerre and of the Lower Rhine, for the purpose of uniting the said fortress and its radius to the rest of the kingdom.

The new demarkation from the point in the neighbourhood of Obersteinbach (which place is left out of the limits of France) where the boundary between the department of the Moselle and that of Mount Tonnerre reaches the department of the Lower Rhine, shall follow the line which separates the cantons of Weissenbourg and Bergzabern (on the side of France) from the cantons of Pirmasens, Dahn, and Annweiler (on the side of Germany) as far as the point near the village of Vollmersheim where that line touches the ancient radius of the fortress of Landau. From this radius, which remains as it was in 1792, the new frontier shall follow the arm of the river de la Queich, which on leaving; the said radius at Queichheim (that place remaining to France) flows near the villages of Merlenheim, Knittelsheim, and Belheim (these places also belonging to France) to the Rhine, which from thence shall continue to form the boundary of France and Germany.

The main stream (Thalweg) of the Rhine shall constitute the frontier; provided, however, that the changes which may hereafter take place in the course of that river-shall not affect the property of the islands. The right af possession in these islands shall be re-established as it existed at the signature of the treaty of Luneville.

6.—In the department of the Doubs the frontier shall be so regulated as to commence above the Ranconniére near Locle, and follow the Crest of Jura between the Cerneux, Pequignot, and the village of Fontenelles, as far as the peak of that mountain, situated about seven or eight thousand feet to the north-west of the village of La Brevine, where it shall again fall in with the ancient boundary of France.

7.—ln the department of the Leman, the frontiers between the French territory, the Pays de Vaud, and the different portions of the territory of the republic of Geneva (which is to form part of Switzerland), remain as they were before the incorporation of Geneva with France. But the cantons of Frangy and of St. Julien (with the exception of the districts situated to the north of a line drawn from the point where the river La Loire enters the territory of Geneva near Chancy, following the confines of Sesequin, Laconex, and Seseneuve, which shall remain out of the limits of France) the canton of Reignier, with the exception of the portion to the cast of a line which follows the confines of the Muras, Bussy, Pers, and Cognier, (which shall be out of the French limits) and the canton of La Roche (with the exception of the places La Roche,