more or less satisfactory progress, in each state, towards a regular and settled form of government." At a subsequent period, in a communication made, in the first instance, to France, and afterwards to other powers, as well as to Spain, the same opinions were repeated; with this specific addition-that, in either of two cases, (now happily not likely to occur)-in that of any attempt on the part of Spain to receive the obsolete interdiction of intercourse with countries over which she has no longer any actual dominion; or in that of the employment of foreign assistance to reestablish her dominion in those countries, by force of arms; the recognition of such new states by his Majesty would be decided and immediate. After thus declaring to you, for the information of the court of Madrid, the deliberate opinion of the British government on the points on which Spain requires the advice of her allies, it does not appear to the British cabinet at all necessary to go into the conference, to declare that opinion anew, even if it were perfectly clear, from the tenor of M. Ofalia's Instruction, that Great Britain is in fact included in the invitation to the conference at Paris. Every one of the powers so invited has been constantly and unreservedly apprized, not only of each step which the British government has taken, but of every opinion which it has formed on this subject; and this dispatch will be communicated to them all. If those powers should severally come to the same conclusion with Great Britain, the concurrent expression of their several opinions cannot have less weight in the judgment of Spain, and must naturally be more acceptable to her feelings, than if such concurrence, being the result of a conference of five powers, should carry the appearance of a concerted dictation. If (unhappily, as we think) the Al lies, or any of them, should come to a different conclusion, we shall at least have avoided the inconvenience of a discussion, by which our own opinion could not have been changed;-we shall have avoided an appearance of mystery, by which the jealousy of other parties might have been excited; we shall have avoided a delay, which the state of the question may hardly allow. TREATY BETWEEN HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY AND THE KING OF THE NETHERLANDS, RESPECTING TERRITORY AND COMMERCE IN THE EAST INDIES. Signed at London, March 17, 1824. (Presented to both Houses of Parlialiament, by Command of His Majesty.) 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 Majesty the King of the Netherlands, desiring to place upon a footing, mutually beneficial, their respective possessions, and the commerce of their subjects, in the East Indies, so that the welfare and prosperity of both nations may be promoted, in all time to come, without those differences and jealousies which have, in former times, interrupted the harmony which ought always to subsist between them; and being anxious that all occasions of misunderstanding between their respective agents may be, as much as possible, prevented; and in order to determine certain questions which have occurred in the execution of the Convention made at London on the 13th of August, 1814, in so far as it respects the possessions of his Netherland Majesty in the East, have nominated their Plenipotentiaries; that is to say, His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Right Hon. George Canning, a Member of his said Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, a Member of Parliament, and his said Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and the Right Hon. Charles Watkin Williams Wynn, a Member of his said Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, a Member of Parliament, Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the Montgomeryshire Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry, and President of his said Majesty's Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India :And his Majesty the King of the Netherlands, Baron Henry Fagel, Member of the Equestrian Corps of the Province of Holland, Counsellor of State, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Belgic Lion, and of the Royal Guelphic Order, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of his said Majesty to his Majesty the King of Great Britain :And Anton Reinhard Falck, Commander of the Royal Order of the Belgic Lion, and his said Majesty's Minister of the Department of Public Instruction, National Industry, and Colonies: Who, after having mutually communicated the full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed on the following Articles : Article 1. The High Contracting Parties engage to admit the subjects of each other to trade with their respective possessions in the Eastern Archipelago, and on the Continent of India, and in Ceylon, upon the footing of the most favoured nation; their respective subjects conforming themselves to the local regulations of each settlement. 2. The subjects and vessels of one nation shall not pay, upon importation or exportation, at the ports of the other in the Eastern Seas, any duty at a rate beyond the double of that at which the subjects and vessels of the nation to which the port belongs are charged. The duties paid on exports or imports at a British port, on the Continent of India, or in Ceylon, on Dutch bottoms, shall be arranged so as, in no case, to be charged at more than double the amount of the duties paid by British subjects, and on British bottoms. In regard to any article upon which no duty is imposed, when imported or exported by the subjects, or on the vessels, of the nation to which the port belongs, the duty charged upon the subjects or vessels of the other shall, in no case, exceed six per cent. 3. The High Contracting Parties engage, that no treaty hereafter made by either, with any native power in the Eastern Seas, shall contain any article tending, either expressly, or by the imposition of unequal duties, to exclude the trade of the other party from the ports of such native power: and that if, in any treaty now existing in either part, any article to that effect has been admitted, such article shall be abrogated upon the conclusion of the present Treaty. It is understood that, before the conclusion of the present Treaty, communication has been made by each of the contracting parties to the other, of all treaties or engagements subsisting between each of them, respective ly, and any native power in the East ern Seas; and that the like communication shall be made of all such treaties concluded by them, respectively, hereafter. 4. Their Britannic and Netherland Majesties engage to give strict orders, as well to their civil and military authorities, as to their ships of war, to respect the freedom of trade established by Articles 1st, 2d, and 3d; and, in no case, to impede a free communication of the natives in the Eastern Archipelago, with the ports of the two governments, respectively, or of the subjects of the two governments with the ports belonging to the native powers. 5. Their Britannic and Netherland Majesties, in like manner, engage to concur effectually in repressing piracy in those seas: They will not grant either asylum or protection to vessels engaged in piracy; and they will, in no case, permit the ships or merchandize captured by such vessels to be introduced, deposited, or sold, in any of their possessions. 6. It is agreed that orders shall be given by the two governments to their officers and agents in the East, not to form any new settlement on any of the islands in the Eastern Seas, without previous authority from their respective governments in Europe. 7. The Molucca Islands, and especially Amboyna, Banda, Ternate, and their immediate dependencies, are excepted from the operation of the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th Articles, until the Netherland government shall think fit to abandon the monopoly of spices; but if the said government shall, at any time previous to such abandonment of the monopoly, allow the subjects of any power, other than a native Asiatic power, to carry on any commercial intercourse with the said islands, the subjects of his Britannic Majesty shall be admitted to such intercourse, upon a footing precisely similar. 8. His Netherland Majesty cedes to his Britannic Majesty all his establishments on the Continent of India; and renounces all privileges and exemptions enjoyed or claimed in virtue of those establishments. 9. The Factory of Fort Marlborough, and all the English possessions on the island of Sumatra, are hereby ceded to his Netherland Majesty: and his Britannic Majesty further engages, that no British settlement shall be formed on that island, nor any treaty concluded by British authority, with any native prince, chief, or state therein. 10. The town and fort of Malacca, and its dependencies, are hereby ceded to his Britannic Majesty ; and his Netherland Majesty engages, for himself and his subjects, never to form any establishment on any part of the peninsula of Malacca, or to conclude any treaty with any native prince, chief, or state therein. 11. His Britannic Majesty withdraws the objections which have been made to the occupation of the island of Billiton and its dependencies, by the agents of the Netherland government. 12. His Netherland Majesty withdraws the objections which have been made to the occupation of the island of Singapore, by the subjects of his Britannic Majesty. His Britannic Majesty, however, engages, that no British establishment shall be made on the Carimon Isles, or on the islands of Battam, Bintang, Lingin, or on any of the other islands south of the Straits of Singapore, nor any treaty concluded by British authority with the chiefs of those islands. 13. All the colonies, possessions, and establishments, which are ceded by the preceding Articles, shall be delivered up to the officers of the respective Sovereigns on the 1st of March, 1825. The fortifications shall remain in the state in which they shall be at the period of the notification of this Treaty in India; but no claim shall be made, on either side, for ordnance or stores of any description, either left or removed by the ceding power, nor for any arrears of revenue, or any charge of administration whatever. 14. All the inhabitants of the territories hereby ceded, shall enjoy, for a period of six years from the date of the ratification of the present Treaty, the liberty of disposing, as they please, of their property, and of transporting themselves, without let or hindrance, to any country to which they may wish to remove. 15. The High Contracting Parties agree that none of the territories or establishments mentioned in Articles 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, shall be at any time transferred to any other power. In case of any of the said possessions being abandoned by one of the present Contracting Parties, the right of occupation thereof shall immediately pass to the other. 16. It is agreed that all accounts and reclamations, arising out of the restoration of Java, and other possessions, to the officers of his Netherland Majesty in the East Indies, as well those which were the subject of a convention made at Java on the 24th June, 1817, between the Commissioners of the two nations, as all others, shall be finally and completely closed and satisfied, on the payment of the sum of 100,000l. sterling money, to be made in London, on the part of the Netherlands, before the expiration of the year 1825. 17. The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratification exchanged at London, within three months from the date hereof, or sooner, if possible. In witness whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and affixed thereunto the seals of their arms. Done at London, the 17th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1824. (L.S.) GEORGE CANNING. (L.S.) CHARLES WATKINS WILLIAMS WYNN. PRINCIPAL HEADS OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE FORMS OF PROCESS, AND COURSE OF APPEALS IN SCOTLAND. PROCEEDINGS IN ORDINARY CAUSES. ings in a cause are not carried on, as in England, by the counsel of the parties out of court; but the cause, in its first stage, is brought before a single Judge, called the Lord Ordinary, in the Outer House, to be prepared for judgment, under his superintendance and interlocutory orders, and although there have arisen in this stage of the proceedings, faults and imperfections which require correction, it appears to the Commissioners, that without changing this course of judicial superintendance, it is possible, by cerIn Scotland, the preparatory plead- tain alterations in the existing forms, IN considering the forms of proceeding in ordinary causes, the Commissioners have directed their attention, in the first place, to the preparation of the Cause which stands the first in order of the subjects to which they are required to attend. I. PREPARATION OF THE CAUSES. to attain a system of pleading, and preparation for trial, better adapted to the peculiarities of Scottish Jurisprudence, and more congenial with the habits of the people, than by any attempt to imitate the English practice of special pleading. Actions, in general, begin in Scotland by a summons, which differs essentially from the English writ. It is not intended merely for calling the defendant into court, but contains, in what is called the libel, a statement of the nature and facts of the case, and of the demand made against the defendant; together with conclusions drawn from the facts stated, and from the law assumed by the pursuer or plaintiff. The defence is lodged with the clerk of the Court, for the perusal of the pursuer, before the cause comes on to be heard by the Lord Ordinary, and it contains a written answer to the demand; sometimes specifying fully the particular facts alleged in opposition to the pursuer's statement, sometimes only announcing generally the pleas to be opposed to the conclusions of the summons. In cases simple in their nature, the summons on the one hand, and the defence on the other, may contain the whole of the material averments and pleas of the parties, both in fact and law, and upon the statements therein contained the parties may be willing to proceed. But in cases of a more complex nature, it has been found in practice to be difficult, and in some cases impracticable, to obtain from each party, in the very outset of the contest, a statement of the whole facts to which they may ultimately have occasion to resort. It is so, even in courts of strict law, as in England. But much more is this the case in Scotland, where the combination of law and equity in one complex system, tends very much to increase the difficulty of laying the original ground of action, and of stating the defence, and to suggest doubts of the expediency, or the justice of forcing a complete disclosure of the facts at the first coming into court. It has accordingly been the practice in Scotland, for a long course of years, that after the defences have been lod ged, the parties come before the Lord Ordinary, to be heard on the case, either in expectation of judgment, the facts being clear or admitted, on either hand, or, in more complex actions, with a view chiefly to the more full disclosure of the respective cases, both in fact and in law, and to have it settled what is the best course to be followed in preparing the cause for judgment. The Commissioners, in tracing the progress of the forms of proceeding, relative to the preparation of causes, have found, that much inaccuracy and vagueness have been gradually introduced. When facts were disputed, they were not tried by a jury, settling them by their verdict conclusively, but decided upon depositions of witnesses, who were originally examined before certain Judges of the Court of Session, (called Ordinaries on oaths and witnesses,) more lately by advocates, or others holding a commission from the judge, and the depositions so taken were reported to the Court for judgment. This unsatisfactory course of judicial discussion, led to certain Parliamentary inquiries in the reign of his late Majesty; and Commissioners were appointed, under whose recommendation some improvements were introduced. The Judges of the Court of Session had also themselves attempted, by means of orders of court, or acts of sederunt, to reform the course of pleading, and to bring parties to a more precise issue on their averments concerning matters of fact. In their endeavours thus to remedy the imperfection of the process of preparation, the Court of Session had their |